Taking shape

A few days ago I showed you something a bit stripey which looked a lot like a scarf, did you have any guesses as to what it could be the startings of? Well it's now taken shape.....

It now covers a 350 mm polystyrene ring.  It is the start of a wreath, I found the inspiration from Lucy over at ATTIC24 and her May Rose Wreath.  I had to work out my width and length for myself as Lucy used a smaller ring. For a 350 mm ring the width needed to be 40 stitches and the length was approx 40 inches as I didn't want it to be loose so it stretches nice and snuggly across and around the ring.  Do you remember I wasn't weaving in the ends, well this is why .....

They were a very useful addition to the pins to pull the joins together ready for sewing and once all sewn together it looked like this on the back....

Not the neatest of sewing but it's not the back that is going to be on show :-)

Next is the exciting bit of decorating, got so many flower patterns I want to try, just got decide on which ones to do.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joanne x

Something a bit stripey

Sorry I forgot to take a picture in the daylight so not the best quality I'm afraid but it was even worse with the flash on.  Anyway this is my latest project but can you guess what it is?  And no it's not a scarf....lol, and no cheating Emma Wood cos you already know what it is :-)  Excuse all the ends, I normally always weave them in after a few rows but there is a reason I have left them this time round. Hopefully in the next day or two all will be revealed, once I get to the needed length.  This is a great stash buster project and I'm using up all those last bits from the Cosy Stripe Blanket, plus I must confess to buying 3 other colours to go with them, so 18 colours all in all.

Joanne x

Colour Decisions

If like me you struggle to make decisions on colour combinations my good friend Emma directed me to a fabulous website called DESIGN SEEDS.  It's a real colour inspiring site, I can see this becoming one of my most visited sites.  I'm about to take part in a couple of Afghan CAL's (Crochet A-Longs), one is already sorted with the wool on order, they had some great colour combo packs already put together so that was easy, so just need to decide on a combo for the other, hopefully my job has now been made easier. The site pulls out the colours from a picture, below is just one example

Off to continue my inspiration browse.

Joanne x

A hooky weekend

Good Morning from a snowy East Yorkshire, my goodness it's freezing out there today, but the sun is shining which makes the snow look so pretty.  I've had a productive weekend with finishing the raindrops cushion and hooking up a hat.

Firstly the cushion, I so love this new splash of colour to the sofa which matches nicely with the new cosy stripe blanket.

As you can see the sun is streaming through the windows making the photo's a little hazy.  Loving both sides of the cushion but the coloured buttons look fab.

The Crochet Crowd runs a monthly challenge and for January it was a lovely vintage peaked hat (the pattern is available for free from here.)

I don't think I'll be entering it into the challenge, I just loved the style of the hat and fancied making myself a new hat, but unfortunately once I tried it on the style really did not suit me, so it will be put away for now and I'm sure it will make a lovely gift for someone in the future.

All ready now for my next project but just need to nip out for a few things so I can get started.  So I best get wrapped up, defrost the car and clear off the snow and get going :-)

Keep safe in the slippery conditions everyone, sounds like it could be quite a wintery week ahead.

Joanne xx

My little helper this evening

Normally it's Mollie who is right by my side getting tangled up in the wool, but this evening Felix got in on the act of helping me with my wool...lol

He may look happy and sleepy here but he had me jumping about with those claws in my leg every time I moved the wool, little devil :-)

Joanne xx

Argyle Bean Bag

Loving this bean bag/pouffe and the pattern is free :-)

Argyle Bean Bag by Red Heart

One for my to-do list I think.

Joanne xx

The raindrops cushion coming along

As you can see this pattern is working up very quickly, over half way :-)
http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/raindrops-stitch.html

Joanne xx

Raindrops Cushion in the making

I made a start yesterday on my next crochet project, another lovely Christmas present.  A very colourful cushion to go with the colourful cosy stripe blanket I've just completed.  The pattern is again by Lucy from Attic24 using the wool pack available from The Wool Warehouse.

The stitch is called Raindrops, you can see how to do it here, you'll also find a link there for the cushion details.
It's a lovely stitch to work once you get going and I'm zooming along in very little time :-)
Looking forward to sharing my progress with you tomorrow.

Joanne xx

How gorgeous is this...

Love, love, love this pretty little flower cardi - http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/flower-cardigan-3

Joanne xx

Some of my previous makes......

Good morning, is it all snowy where you are?  We have a very light dusting here in East Yorkshire, but it's lovely and sunny at the moment.
I thought I would share with you this morning pictures of some crochet projects I have done over the last year in my learning journey.

Urban Granny Dog Sweater by Lion Brand Yarn

Jolly Chunky Bag by Attic24

My Christmas bunting, alphabet pattern by Tamara Kelly

Aloysius the African Flower Owlet by Heidi Bears

Jedi the Curious Giraffe by Heidi Bears

Happypotamus the Happy Hippo by Heidi Bears

My one big massive Granny Square Throw

Click links to see more details of patterns, Heidi Bears need to be purchased but the others are all free.  Have a great day :-)

Joanne xx

Completed Cosy Stripe Blanket

It's taken a little under 3 weeks to complete, which I think is my quickest made blanket yet.  I stuck to Lucy's (Attic24) pattern and colour order right up to the very last 5 stripes and the edging.  I was aware that with Lucy's that the wool for the edging would be quite tight especially for the 4th and final edging row, with 5 stripes to go I decided to lay out the blanket and measure the length, the width was about ok but the length was already very close to Lucy's finished length, so decided to not continue the remaining stripes. Originally sticking to the colour order of the edging I found that I was one short edge short on the copper, so I had to start again and used the 4 colours that I had omitted for the final stripes which were grape, gold, claret and lime, as there was still a good 40g left of each of these.  I'm pretty happy with this colour combo, though copper was one of my favourites and I actually preferred the lime to the meadow for the final edging row.  So if you are working on this blanket, please keep checking your measurements, it all really depends on how tight or loose you crochet, and Lucy has pointed this out throughout the pattern, weighing your wool is another good way of keeping tabs of how you are going.

Here are some pictures of the finished blanket, with Mollie helping to show it off....lol, Mollie is a proper little poser and you'll probably see her quite a lot on here posing and even modelling finished items.

The nose in the air is a common little Miss Snooty pose Mollie likes to use :-)

I have really enjoyed this blanket project and have loved working with all the colours and it's just finished in time for the impending wintery spell expected.

Remember you can follow the pattern for the Cosy Stripe Blanket over on Attic24 here
And purchase the wool pack if you want to follow Lucy's colour order over at Wool Warehouse here

I'm now getting started on my next project which was another Christmas present which is again another one of Lucy's pattern's and wool pack, so please check back soon to follow my next project journey.

Thanks for stopping by

Joanne xx

Pretty crochet hydrangea's

How gorgeous are this wonderful hydrangea's - http://besenseless.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/hydrangea-ortensia-crochet.html#.VLBwqyusWja

Joanne x

Cosy Stripe Blanket Update

I'm now on stripe 70 on the Cosy Stripe Blanket, it really is now a very cosy blanket to work on, as it's long enough now to cover my tootsies whilst working on it.  Not too far to go now on the stripes then it will be finished off with a nice edging.  I started it 2 weeks ago, yep I got hooking on Xmas Day in front of the TV in the evening, and it is the perfect pattern to do in front of the TV, as after the first few stripes you just sort of go on auto pilot and only need to follow the colour order rather than a pattern.  I'm so loving all the colours, mixing colours has always scared me a little when it comes to chosing my own colours for projects, I think this project will give me a bit more confidence to experiment in the future.

Thanks for stopping by, hopefully the next update will be with all the completed stripes.

Joanne x

How to Crochet Vintage Fan Ripple Stitch

I'm always looking to learn new stitches, and this one is fabulous from The Crochet Crowd

http://thecrochetcrowd.com/vintage-fan-ripple-stitch/

Welcome to my first post....

Well it's been a few years since I've been a blogger, I was an avid blogger throughout my papercrafting days but now it is time to share with you my new love of crochet.
I plan to do update posts on my crocheting projects throughout the making journey through to the final finished piece.  I also hope to share some wonderful creations I stumble upon from other talented crocheters and maybe a few links to some patterns.  For 2015 I would like to have a bash at creating some of my very own patterns, I have lots of ideas for my own creations but I have never written out a pattern before so it will be a real learning curve, so please bear with me on that one.  It's been a little over a year since I started to learn crochet properly, in that time I've crocheted up numerous hats, scarves, gloves, toys, blankets.... and the list goes on, you could say I'm totally hooked :-)

So here is my first picture to share with you.  I was very lucky to receive for Christmas the 'Cosy Stripe Blanket' kit from the Wool Warehouse.  The kit was put together by the ever so talented Lucy from Attic24 for her 'crochet-a-long' project throughout November and December last year.  You can find the pattern HERE.
Well I'm working my way through it quite nicely, it's now very much at the lap blanket stage so it's starting to keep me warm over the past few days of chilliness. It's a lovely easy pattern to follow and the colours are all gorgeous.

Well that's my first post for my brand new blog, I will continue to update on this Cosy Stripe Blanket as I go along.  Thank you for stopping by and any comments are much appreciated.

Joanne x