Hello! It's been a while since I've blown the cobwebs off my poor neglected blog, but I didn't realise it has been quite so long since the last post!! Where has that time gone! I am going to try (again) to get back in the habit of blogging, it is such a nice way to record what I've been making and other stuff. So in that spirit, here's some little houses I have been having fun making recently. They are quite small, so will make good brooches or woolly pins for project bags, or very cute hanging decorations for the Christmas tree. The lovely knitting pattern is by Julia Marsh at Hand Knitted Things , she has other cute house patterns too! I made a couple of mods to the pattern to get the size I wanted, and I think it has worked well! I used 2 strands of different 4plys to give a marled effect and get to the 8ply for the pattern, the yarns are mostly Jamieson Shetland wool. I love the rustic nature of this wool, and there are heaps of colours to play with, so it's ticking all the boxes for this project! These are destined for my Yarn Advent Boxes that I'm sending out in November, I've promised to include a few cute little extras and this is the first one I've made, they are kind of a surprise, but I doubt many people will read this far! They have all their tails stuffed inside making them a little bit puffy. :) So much fun playing with colour combos, and I really enjoyed embroidering the doors and windows! I have plenty of other things I need to share on here, so lets hope I get the blogging habit back and it becomes a regular part of my life again! Have a lovely day everyone, thanks for reading, it's been great to get posting again!

Hello! It's been a while since I've blown the cobwebs off my poor neglected blog, but I didn't realise it has been quite so long since the last post!! Where has that time gone! I am going to try (again) to get back in the habit of blogging, it is such a nice way to record what I've been making and other stuff. So in that spirit, here's some little houses I have been having fun making recently. They are quite small, so will make good brooches or woolly pins for project bags, or very cute hanging decorations for the Christmas tree. The lovely knitting pattern is by Julia Marsh at Hand Knitted Things , she has other cute house patterns too! I made a couple of mods to the pattern to get the size I wanted, and I think it has worked well! I used 2 strands of different 4plys to give a marled effect and get to the 8ply for the pattern, the yarns are mostly Jamieson Shetland wool. I love the rustic nature of this wool, and there are heaps of colours to play with, so it's ticking all the boxes for this project! These are destined for my Yarn Advent Boxes that I'm sending out in November, I've promised to include a few cute little extras and this is the first one I've made, they are kind of a surprise, but I doubt many people will read this far! They have all their tails stuffed inside making them a little bit puffy. :) So much fun playing with colour combos, and I really enjoyed embroidering the doors and windows! I have plenty of other things I need to share on here, so lets hope I get the blogging habit back and it becomes a regular part of my life again! Have a lovely day everyone, thanks for reading, it's been great to get posting again!

Hello! I hope you all have lovely weekends planned! We had a heap of rain here last night and it is still really wet, so we will be doing indoor things I think. I have been shopping at a few local farms this morning and tonight we will be having a totally local meal, with lots of vegies from my garden and other local produce, so I am pretty happy about that! Seeing how it is so miserable outside I am planning to do some fun crafty things this afternoon while the boys have friends over, can't wait to get started! Hope to have photos soon! I am joining a 'linky party' today over on Annemaries blog, so if you have some time to fill in and you want to see some inspiring crafty goodness, go have a look! It is actually a blog hop, but I am not sure how to get the code onto my blog (still a novice obviously), so I am just linking to it. See you soon!

Hello! How are you going? I have been busy, want to see what I have been hooking up over the weekend? I have been making some little crochet stamps. You know, like postage stamps but woolly! I know that this is a totally impractical and whimsical thing to make, not really useful, but I think they are really cute and would be a lovely thing to receive stuck on a bit of snail mail. (Maybe somewhere inside the envelope not actually on the outside of the mail!) And that is why I decided to have a go at making a crochet postage stamp, I like to add a postcard with a thank you message to all yarn orders that go out of my shop, and I like to stick a little decorative bit of crochet, like a flower or heart or whatever I have been making. One of the ladies who did the Blog with Pip course, Yvette of Bear Loves Dove, has started a little linky thing called 'Smile Inducers', and that is what I was trying to create when people open up there postcard, a little smile inducing moment. I was thinking it would be nice to make an actual stamp out of yarn to go on the postcard. So this is what I came up with! I thought I'd make a little tutorial so you can make your own crochet stamps too, to pretty up your mail or gifts. So get out your small hooks and fine thread and lets make a stamp ! Ok, firstly crochet up some little squares, mine where 12 stitches by 12 rows, I used a 4ply cotton and a 2mm hook. Make 2 of each colour, 1 for the front and 1 for the back. Next, get your embroidery cottons out and have a bit of a play embroidering on patterns of your own choice to personalise your stamps, you can do anything you like! Some suggestions - words, flowers, hearts, geometric patterns, smiley faces, etc. Embroider onto one piece of your crochet that will become the front of your stamp. I have embroidered some flowers on mine. Next, get your back and front and crochet them together using a slip stitch through both layers, with picots every second stitch to create a kind of 'stampy' edge all the way around your stamp. This means that all the messy back bits of the embroidery are hidden inside the two layers. I used a 1.5mm hook for the edge. Sew in your ends and there you have it, a crochet stamp! What do you think? I am really happy how this little project turned out. I know these are purely decorative, but sometimes it is nice to make something just for the fun of it, to create something to put a smile on your face. I might hook up some more of these for a wooly stamp collection, or just to add something whimsical to my thank you postcards. It was nice to do some embroidery for a change too. ......this is what the backs look like, quite neat and tidy........ ......so that is what I have been up to, have you been making anything fun? Are you someone who makes practical things, or are you more into the cute little useless fun make? I think I do a bit of both. Or course it is great if you can make something practical that is cute and fun as well! I just had a thought that they would make nice brooches if you sewed a pin to the back, so quite multi functional after all! Have a great happy day. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have to say, I am still loving making washcloths! Quickish, easy and colour filled, what's not to love I guess! Kate over at Just Pootling has put together a lovely post in honour of the humble washcloth, There are lots of lovely examples out there in blogland, I think I will be giving everyone I know a little bundle of washers this Christmas! I am enjoying the combo of red, pink and white in this one, I am going to use the softer pink as a border, what do you think? And in other exciting (!) news I have finally finished putting my little crochet star kits together. It took me longer than I had thought, I couldn't decide how to package them, and then I started having doubts about the whole thing, so they just sat there for a few days. But I have decided to just put them out there and see what happens. I ended up wrapping them in brown paper ( you know, a few of my favourite things and all that..) and adding a couple of washi tape stripes for a bit of colour. Nice and simple and low tech, but still a bit pretty. I have made up two different colour combos to start with, one a Christmas Star, and the other I call a Sunny Star, in some of my fav colours, a combo I seem to use a fair bit! I have a few other combos to try, but I will see how these two go first. If you'd like to have a look at them I have put them into my shop today, ready to go! I'd love to hear what you think of them and any improvements you could suggest. :) What have you been making today? I'm joining in with Christina for Made by Hand today too.

This is where I will put all my posts about this project, so they are all in one place! Mixed stripey blanket beginnings...wanna join in? Well, I have finally got around to starting my next mixed-stitch-stripey blanket, I have been procrastinating a lot regarding this blanket. However, on our last trip to Melbourne I bought this book, and there are so many fantastic stitch patterns in here that I could put it off no longer! There were many patterns with similar effects to what I was looking for in my experimenting, so why reinvent the wheel? I will just use the similar ones in here I think. These are a few I like and think I could incorporate into my blanket, along with some old favourites, they might not all make the cut but it is good to have lots of options in a blanket like this! What do you think? Aren't they lovely! I do like nice solid looking patterns, I actually think the Interlocking Diamonds would be gorgeous for a blanket all on it's own! Maybe next project there! Soooo......here is my beginning, 3 rows of hdc (htr) in blue,watermelon and green. Choosing the colours for this blanket has been quite a challenge, do I go for a different look or choose old favourites? Lots of different colours or a limited palette? In the end I've decided to go with the flow and see what takes my fancy as I get to each new stitch pattern. It's going to be fun! Definitely going to be one interesting blanket! If anyone would like to crochet along with me on the own mixed-stitch-stripey blanket, feel free, I'd love to see what you come up with! I am hoping to start a page dedicated to this blankets progress with the patterns and mini tutorials on it so you can see what I am doing. But feel free to do your own thing, choose what ever stitches you like and lets create a unique blanket together! I am using 8 ply wool (DK I think equivalent) with a 3.5 mm hook, but use what ever hook you feel comfortable with, I want a nice firm tight stitch, but you may prefer a looser fabric. To begin with I chained 390ish stitches ( I kind of lost count and then kept loosing count when I went back to check) because I want a big blanket for our bed, but you can chain as many as you like to suit your own wants. Because of all the different stitch patterns, there will probably be a bit of adjusting of each row, depending on which pattern is being used; they all have various stitch repeats, if you get what I mean. As long as we keep the same number of stitches in each row, we should end up with a fairly straight sided piece. There is a bit of improvising inthids project, so please bear with me! So the first few rows are of hdcs (htr), just to give us a nice firm base to start with, I am going to do a couple more before moving on to a different pattern. Stay tuned, I will try and update this blanket whenever I have made a pattern change, but that's enough to get us started! Have a great day! Crochet along update ..... It looks a bit crooked, but I think it will be fine with some blocking! Hello! So I have done a bit more of the mixed stripe blanket. I finished the 5 rows of hdc, and then decided to do the granny stripes in red and pink. I know you all probably know how to do the granny stripe pattern, but I will try and explain it just in case you are starting out and are not sure. It is really only the start and end of the rows that are a tiny bit tricky... ( Sc = dc, dc = tr, tr = dtr, ) Granny stripes: Row 1 : Ch 3, then 3dc in next st, skip 2sts, 3dc in next st, skip 2sts, 3dc in next st ......and so on to the end of the row. Bind off.( My row did not finish off evenly so I did 2dc in the second last st, and then 1dc in the last stitch, to make a straighter edge) Row 2 :Join pink to red 3rd chain, and chain 3, 1dc in gap between the chain stitches and the 3dc clusters, then 3dc between each cluster of the first row till the end of the row . Bind off. ( To finish, I did my last dc into the last st of the row and made sure the stitch count stayed the same to avoid the blanket gaining stitches overall) Row 3 : Join red to pink 3rd ch, chain 3, and then 3dc in the gaps between the clusters of the previous row, continue till the end of the row, and finish with 3 dc in the last gap. here are the ends of each row After the 3 granny stripe rows, I did 2 rows of hdc. In the dark blue row, every third stitch I did into the gap between the previous rows clusters. The pale blue row is just hdcs straight across. Next I am doing a bit of a chevron type stitch. Pattern: (On wrong side) Ch 1, *1hdc into next st, 1dc into next st, 3tr into next st, 1dc into next st, 1hdc into next st, 1sc into next st ; rep from * to end.......turn. Change colour for 2nd row..1ch, skip1 st, 1sc into next st (counts as sc2tog), 1sc into each of next 2 sts, *3sc into next st, 1sc into each of of next 2 sts, over next 3 sts work sc3tog, 1sc into each of next 2 sts; rep from*......... ....till the last 5sts, 3sc into next st, 1sc into each of next 2 sts, over last 2 sts work sc2tog, turn. 3rd row : as 2nd row. how to do sc3tog, draw up the first loop of the next 3 stitches...... ....then yarn over and draw through all 4 loops on hook, decreasing 3sts to 1. So this is where I am up to at the moment, on the 3rd row of the chevron pattern, next I am going to use the green again to fill in the dips of the chevrons and make it flat again. Sorry I haven't done that yet to complete this little pattern segment. I will edit this post and add it in when I am up to that bit! Of course you can do more granny stripes if you like, (and in your own colours!) or leave them out completely, but they are one of the patterns that I will be repeating throughout this blanket, and I am liking the chevron wave too, so will be doing more of these too! I think once I have done one patch of all the patterns I am going to use, these posts will get shorter as I won't repeat all the detailed instructions, so sorry for this long winded post! Anyway, how is your blanket going, are you having fun ? A few people have been a bit concerned about how the blanket stays straight with all the different patterns, but I think just remember to keep the same number of stitches in each row and it will all work out in the end. ( ie, if we decrease in one row, in the next we increase the same number to keep it all square, hope you get what I mean!) I am sure it will all be fine! Ok, I am going to go and hook a few stitches before bed! Have a great day! Edited to add: 4th row of chevron pattern: Join the green wool, ch 4, skip 1 st, 1tr into next st (counts as tr2tog), *1dc into next st, 1hdc into next st, 1sc into next st, 1hdc into next st, 1dc into next st, over next 3 sts work tr3tog ; rep from * for rest of row. Crochet Along Update #2..... Hello! So here is the next bit of the crochet along! I think last time I had finished the chevron stripe pattern, so after that section I have added rows of sc in 3 colours. Starting with the right side facing, I have done 1row of sc in dark blue, then turned and gone back, so ending up with a double row of sc. Then I've repeated this in pale pink, and mid blue. 4dc cluster pattern Next, I have done a row of 4dc clusters, with 3 sts skipped between them (this keeps the stitch count even overall). The first cluster is made of 3chs and 1dc, then the rest are 4dcs. Next, a row of sc in lime. Next, another row of 4dc clusters in blue. Next, a double row of sc in green ( 1 row, turn, second row) Bobble Pattern Next I am setting up for my bobble row with 1 row of dcs in pale blue. The middle row of the bobble section is where you do the bobbles . There is a great tutorial over at Tales from Cuckoo Land here that shows you exactly how to do the bobbles in another colour, which is how I learnt how to do it, have a look over there to find out how to do this part. Then I did another row of dcs in pale blue to finish off this bit. Next another double row of sc in green. (I am going to call this next 3 rows Outlined Cluster Pattern in future) Next, one row of sc in red. Next, one row of 4tr clusters in turquoise, made the same way as the 4dc clusters, but with trs instead. Next row, ch1(counts as 1st st), 1sc in next stitch, then 2trtog into centre skipped st of the first row of sc in red, *then 3sc across top of cluster sts, then 2trtog into centre skipped st of first row of sc in red*, and repeat to end of row. (hope that's not too confusing!) Next, I row of hdc in blue. Okay that's where I'm up to at the moment, I am pretty happy with how it is working out, I have decided not to use any white in this blanket, so I hope the colours keep looking good together. I am going to try and work a bit of Catherine Wheel pattern in soon, so hope that works out ok, then it might be time for some repeating of the chevron stripe and granny stripes, I'll have to wait and see! How are you going with this blanket? Still having fun? Getting frustrated with my slow posting? (Sorry!) Are you doing your own bit of winging it crochet? Have a great day, and happy hooking! Crochet along Update #3 Hello. How are you going today? I have got the next bit of the crochet along for you today, so here what I've done: After the aqua and red outlined cluster pattern, and the 1 row of blue hdc, I turned the work and went back with another row of blue hdc. Next was a row of pale pink hdc, then turn the work and go back, so you end up with a double row of pale pink hdc. Next is a 4 row pattern called Catherine Wheel. Special Abbreviation CL (Cluster) : work [yo, insert hook, yo, draw loop through, yo, draw through 2 loops] over the number of sts indicated, yo, draw through all loops on hook. Row 1(wrong side) : In red, join and make 1ch in first st (counts as first st), 1sc in next st, * skip 3sts, 7dc into next st, skip 3 sts, 1sc into each of next 3sts; rep from * to lats 4 sts, skip 3sts, 4dc into last st, turn. Row 2 (right side) : In pink, join to first st and make 1ch, 1sc into first st, 1sc into next st, *3ch, 1CL over next 7sts, 3ch, 1sc into each of next 3 sts; rep from * to last 4 sts, 3ch, !cl over last 4 sts, skip tch, turn. Row 3 (wrong side) : still with pink, 3ch, 3dc into first st, * skip 3ch, 1sc into each of the next 3scs, skip 3ch, 7dcs into the loop that closed next CL; rep from *to end, finishing with skip 3ch, 1sc into each of last 2sc, skip tch, turn Row 4 (right side) :In red, join and 3ch (counts as 1dc), skip first st, 1CL over next 3 sts, * 3ch, isc into each of next 3 sts, 3ch, 1CL over next 7sts; rep from* finishing with 3ch, 1sc into next st,1sc into top of tch, turn. This pattern can be a bit tricky at the start and end of rows, depending on how many stitches are in your blanket, so here is the graphic pattern to help you work out your ends and starts. Just adjust your ends and starts to keep your sides straight, according to where you are in the pattern repeat. (sorry it's a bit blurry, it's getting late here!) Of course you can do this pattern in whatever colours you like! Catherine Wheel Stitch Pattern, from Basic Crochet Stitches , edited by Erika Knight. Next is a chunk of sc rows. Row 1 : (Right side) Lime green, sc across the row, doing 10sc evenly across each pattern repeat of the Catherine Wheel row below to ensure the stitch count stays the same. Turn. Row 2 : (Wrong side) 1ch, skip first st, sc in each st across row. Row 3 : (RS) Mid green, Sc in each st across row, turn. Row 4 : (WS) 1ch, skip first st, sc in eachst across row. Rows 5 -11 : Sc across the row, doing one row of each colour, working all on the right side. Colour sequence that I used : Light blue, red, dark blue, red, dark blue, red, light blue. Next is a chunk of Granny stripe pattern (see earlier pattern notes) in watermelon, spearmint green, and mid blue. You can add more or less granny stripes if you would like. I think I will add a couple more to this chunk, but I haven't quite got to that yet. Ok that's all I have for you at the moment, school holidays are coming up next week, so I might have a bit more time to devote to this while the boys have their holiday sleep ins, so there hopefully won't be quite as big a wait for the next instalment! Sorry for my slowness, but this is a huge blanket and each row is taking ages! Just a note on the yarns I am using, I am using quite a few different Australian brands, (to get a good colour range), mainly Heirloom Colorworks 8ply and Cleckheaton Country 8ply, with some stash bits and pieces as well. I think they are DK equivalent. They are probably hard to find overseas (although Cleckheaton is very common here), so you can use any dk weight yarn that takes your fancy, I like to work with wool, but I am sure it would be just as nice in any yarn you choose. Have a great day! Hello ladies, here is the latest bit of my mixed stripey blanket! Once again, apologies for slowness of my progress, I am doing my best, but crochet time is short at the moment. Anyway, heres what I have done, I finished my block of 5 rows of granny stripe. The colours, watermelon, mint, blue, mint, watermelon. Next row in light blue, sc across, with every 3rd st sc into the space between watermelon clusters. Next row, in pink, (on right side), hdc in each st across, turn, ch2 (count as as 1st st), (on wrong side), hdc in each st across. Next row in light blue, sc each st across. Next I did a section of chevron stripe in dark blue with an aqua stripe. After the chevron stripe section I did a chunk of 5 double rows of sc (10 rows in all) in the colour sequence red, mid green, pale pink, pale blue and lime. If you prefer, you could do double rows of hdc or dc if you want thicker stripes, and you could do more rows if you like, or less! So that is where I am at right now, slowly growing! You might also like: Crochet along update #5 Hello! Ok, so here's the next bit I have finished : After the double row of lime sc, I did one more double row of sc in aqua. Next, I did another chunk of a bobble row (1 row of dc in red, 1 row of dc and bobbles in red and blue, 1 row of dc in red) Next, a double row of sc in aqua again Next, 1 row of 4dc cluster pattern in pink, then 1 row of sc in blue, then 1 row of 4dc cluster pattern in light pink, then 1 row of sc in blue . Next is a double row of sc in mid green. Next is a stripe of Catherine Wheel pattern in Pale blue and lime. So that is where I am up to at the moment! Happy crocheting:) Crochet Along Update #6 Well I have been busy crocheting away on my big blanket recently, so I thought it was time for a new bit of the crochet along, in case anyone is still persevering with this on going project! I have put the next 2 photos close together so you can see what I have done in a bit more detail, there is a bit of overlap, but I hope you can see what I mean. Ok, here's what I have added : After the lime and pale blue Catherine Wheel section comes 2 rows of sc in light aqua, (up and back), Catherine Wheel section in salmon and mid blue, 2 rows of sc in mid green, (up and back), 4 single rows of sc alternating dark blue and mid green, 3 rows of tr clusters granny stripes in red, lime, and red again, 2 rows of sc (up and back) in each of the following colours, mid green, pale blue, spearmint, watermelon, and dark blue, a section of outline cluster pattern in pink and light aqua, (see earlier update for this pattern) ....and that's where I'm up to at the moment! I measured my progress so far and it is around 75 cm long so far, so I'm about a third of the way through. How is your blanket growing? Would you like me to organise a little linky thing so we can all share our blanket progress? I will add this post to the bottom of the Crochet along Page so it is easier to find all these updates. Talk soon! xxxxxxxxxxxxxx So here is the new bit I have made since the last update: UPDATE #7 After the pink and light aqua outline cluster pattern, in mint, starting on right side, 2 rows sc (up and back), then in light blue 1 row 4dc cluster pattern, then in dark blue 2 rows sc (up and back), then a section of chevron stripe in red and light pink, then in pale blue 2 rows sc, then a section of bobbles in green and mid blue, then 4 x 2rows of sc in pale blue, celery,red and light aqua, then 3 rows of granny stripes in flamingo, pale pink and flamingo again. So that is where I am up to at the moment! Crochet Along Update #8 Hello. Life has been so busy recently, I'm afraid to say I have let my blogging slip, there has just not been enough hours in the day to find inspiration and take photos for posts. I am busy doing interesting things that I will tell you about soon, just got to find the time to put a few posts together! Anyway, today I thought it was time for an update on the mixed stripe crochet along blanket, I had a look and the last update was way back in April! Yikes! This year has kind of slipped away from me, so I apologise for the lack of posts about this project, I have been distracted up other crochet fun along the way. On the other hand, I have seen lots of great mixed stripy blankets being completed on Ravelry, so obviously you are taking this pattern and running with it yourselves. And I've even seen another crochet along inspired by my blanket and she is much more organised than me! I'm glad you are not necessarily waiting for my updates to forge ahead, it could be a bit frustrating for you if you are! So now I am going to make a concerted effort to finish this blanket! Heres what I have added this week: After the pink granny stripe and 2 rows of sc in red (start 1st row on front then turn and do 2nd row going back), Next: 2 rows sc in green, Next: Catherine Wheel section in sky blue and dark blue (see earlier post for details on Catherine wheel stitch), Next: 2 rows sc in green again. (10 sc in each repeat of the catherine wheel pattern to keep the same stitch count in the rows) Then I did a section of sc stripes, with 2 rows of sc in the following colours: pale pink pale blue pale lime watermelon mid pink watermelon pale lime pale blue pale pink Then I did a row of 4 dc clusters, with 3 stitches between each cluster. (Start this row with 2 dc, miss 3sts the 4dc in next st and so on) Next, 1 row of sc across top of cluster row, with every 4th stitch going into the gap between clusters. So that is where I'm up to at the moment, hoping very much to have another update next week, this is going to be my main project for a while, to try and get it finished! Have a great day, and happy hooking! Crochet Along Update #9 Hello. I have been making some headway with the mixed stripe crochet along blanket, so here is the next bit! After the red dc cluster row and the dark blue row of sc, 1 row of 4dc clusters in spearmint, ( 3 stitches between each cluster), then, 1 row sc in dark blue across top of clusters,, (every 4th sc in gap between clusters), then, skinny stripes, 5 rows of sc, all done on the right side, alternating between pale pink and sky blue, then, a zig zag section in light aqua and flamingo, then, 2 rows sc in mid blue, (up and back), then, 2 rows sc in green, (up and back), then, a section of outlined clusters in pale blue and celery, then, 2 rows sc in dark pink . That's where I am up to at the moment. I thought I would show you a couple of pictures of the blanket at the minute, so you can see what it's looking like all together, (very busy!!) it is starting to get nice and big! I am over half way now, so the end is in sight! I know a lot of you have already gone ahead and finished your blankets, (well done!) but I am still going to complete this project, I'm just a bit slower than you guys! I am lacking a bit of self discipline and let myself get side tracked by other ideas that just have to be made right now! CAL update #10 Hi there. I have been working steadily away at my big blanket now for ages, and I have decided it is big enough! So I have the final instalment for my epically long CAL, and then I will do the edge and it will be finished!! I'm not planning anything fancy for the edge, there is so much going on in this blanket already that I think something plain and simple will be fine. Anyhoo, here is the last !! section of my blanket: After the 2 rows of dark pink, double row of SC in red (right side, then turn work and go back on wrong side), then 1 row of 4dc clusters in sky blue, then 1 row of sc in red, then 1 row of 4dc clusters in spearmint, then 1 row of sc in pale pink, then 1 row of 4dc clusters in dark blue, Then a section of double rows of sc in light aqua red spearmint flamingo pale blue celery Next I did a section of bobble stitch in flamingo and green. Then a double row of sc in celery, and another double row of sc in red. Next I did a section of granny stripes in sky blue and pale blue then sky blue again. The last section of the blanket is 5 double rows of sc in red dark blue mid green celery flamingo.! And that is the end of the main part of the mixed stitch stripy blanket!! Just the edge to go now, so close to finishing, I really want to get this finalised before the weather gets much warmer, it is a very heavy, warm blanket! Thank you if you are still with me on this CAL, I know I have been unreliable in it's progress, and a lot of people have got on with it and made up their own sequence, which is great. I have seen many beautiful blankets finished months ago! I apologise for my poor CAL admin duties, it seems I am not great at regular postings, maybe next time I will choose a smaller, more manageable project! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the process, and created something unique and special along the way! These instructions will be put onto the CAL page so that anyone can have a go at making their own mixed stripy blanket when ever they like, it's never too late to join in! I'll be back with a post about the edging and a few pics of the whole thing finished, this blanket deserves a tadah, even if we are all sick of the sight if it!! :) Have a great day y'all, and thanks for visiting! CAL update #11 - The edge! Well, I have come to the end of my CAL, it's been a big project and taken longer than I expected, but it feels great to finally complete this second mixed stripy blanket. All we have left to do is edge the blanket. You can choose to edge it with whatever border you like, I have chosen something very simple and plain as I think there is plenty going on in this blanket already! :) I chose to use flamingo for the edge, just because I still had a big ball left. I couldn't face weaving in all those ends so I have made a casing edge that encloses all the ends without having to weave them in. Lazy, I know, but I am happy with how it looks and it's chunkiness makes the blanket nice and sturdy. I used a hook one size smaller so it wouldn't be too loose (3.00mm) So anyway, in the edge colour, crochet a row of dcs down the side of the blanket, spacing your stitches as evenly as possible. Push all ends to the back and crochet around them. After the first row, turn and do a row of dcs back along the previous row. Do this twice more so you have 4 rows of dc in total. Do the same thing along the other side. Next, simply fold the edge over and with a needle and wool, and stitch the top dc to the loops of the first row of dcs, where they attach to the side of the blanket. Put the loose ends to the inside of the fold and they are enclosed as you sew. And that is it! This is the second time I have made the edge and I love how easy it is! So that is the end of the CAL, I hope you enjoyed making this blanket if you have taken part, Now that the instructions are finished, they will be there for anyone to have a go at whenever they want. I've got a little tadah tomorrow to show you how it looks all completed.

1+2. My little bottle project is all finished! These are sitting above the desk where I use the computer, so nice to see such colourful things in my shadow box! I'll be taking them to the next market, but I really don't mind if they don't sell! 3+4. Ranunculus from the garden, I love their petal overload and the amazing colours they come in. I thought they looked great on my new tablecloth. 5. Dealing with the washing. Sigh. It's never ending. 6. I've been doing a boot more on this blanket this week too, think I will try and finish it this week. (Except I have got myself distracted by a cute idea that I just had to try out this afternoon, you know how that goes, and I think it is going to work! yay! But more on that later. :) ) How has your week been? Joining in with The Beetle Shack this week.

beautiful cards at Playing in The Attic Hello there! I hope you all had lovely weekends and got to do something fun. I had a little weekend away with Gary, well it was really only 24 hours away from home, but sometimes that's all you need to feel like you've had break. My husband is partial to the road trip and enjoys driving, which is fine by me, I enjoy watching the scenery change and doing a bit of car crochet, so we are a perfect match really! :) We went down the South Gippsland coast and stopped in the town of Meeniyan for lunch. I also got to visit Playing in the Attic, the lovely shop owned by Trudy. I have been following Trudy's blog and Instagram accounts for a while now, so it was lovely to meet her in person and indulge in a bit of retail therapy in her gorgeous shop! So many beautiful things, stationery, magazines, washi tapes, art supplies and so many other cute things, it is a really lovely space! I ended up bringing quite a few things home with me! Actually, there were several beautiful shops in Meeniyan that I couldn't resist, I added to my cute crockery collection with some very special floral cups from another shop ( I can't remember what it was called now :( ) Here's a few photos of Trudy's shop. .......I got a fair bit of this blanket made as well, so bonus there! .......we stayed the night in Inverloch on the South Gippsland coast, this was the view from our room's verandah, it was a chilly day and sea was quite wild, I love how the wind has made the gums grow twisted and spindly, a typically coastal landscape..... .....I went for a nice dusk walk, it was getting very cold by then, so I didn't venture too far, but the sky was quite beautiful. It was great to get away from the routines of our normal life and we had a lovely dinner and some good chatting over a few relaxing drinks. Noice. ......I tend to go a bit of a magazine binge when we do road trips, don't really know why! Here are a few of the mags I bought over the weekend! ( Also found a newish copy of Simply Crochet in a newsagency, we don't get that locally so I had to buy it! :) ) Lots of good reading here, and I guess the colouring book isn't really a magazine, so that doesn't count. :) Now it's time to get on with this new week, I have quite a busy one planned, although my car is playing up so I might be more house bound than I intended. I have a newsletter to get out, a yarn club to plan (exciting!!), a blanket to finish, crochet classes to run, and new stock to source and order! Lots of fun work to be done. :) What's on your plate this week? xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi there! It's been a while! I seem to have lost my grip on my blogging mojo recently, over a week since a post, so sorry, but I have been t...

Hello. Today I have been finishing off this red rabbit softie, the weather has been horrible with severe winds and rain on and off all day, so a good excuse to sit down and do a bit of crafting. (I always forget how windy Spring is, it surprises me every year!) This poor softie has been sitting in a pile of pieces for a couple of years, so it was high time I got him Finished Off! I really need to work on my embroidery skills, a bit rough I think! I made this using the basic pattern from my kitty cat, with a modification to ears to make them more rabbity. I had forgotten how much I like making toys, they are fun to make and I am glad I have another finished project to tick off my list. .......here he is sitting with his softie mates, cat and pig, nice cheery peeps! I have used Heirloom Colorworks , Heirloom Babywool 8ply and Loyal DK for these toys, they have such lovely vibrant colours to choose from, and make very soft, cosy toys. (As well as the blanket behind them!) What have you been up to today? Has it been windy where you are? I think we have more wind coming our way tomorrow here in Melbourne, so hang onto your hats!

OK here we go people, the stripey blanket all finished, wrapped up, complete! Be warned quite a few photos in this post! .....here it is on our bed..... ......I like it folded long ways too....... ........Stripe details.... .......it looks quite small folded on the bed, but here I am looking happy with myself, so you can see that it is bigger than I am!..... I am very happy how this has finished up, pretty close to how I imagined it! So a few facts for you all: * the finished blanket weighs around 2kgs, so takes 20 100g balls of wool to make, no wonder it took a while! *I used a variety of 100% 8ply wools in the blanket, brands include Colourworks, Cleckheaton Country 8ply, Bendigo Wool Mill, and some others that I can't remember. These are the left over bits of the wools I used, I think all the colours are here, 18 in all I think! *Sorry ladies, I made the pattern up as I went, so don't have a pattern to show you as such. I think part of this blanket's charm is the random nature of the pattern, so I think just have a go at varying the stitches and colours and see how you go. It is lovely and cosy and warm, I am sure it will get lots of use next winter! So that is the end of the Stripey Blanket, it's been quite an epic crochet adventure, and I thank you all for the lovely encouragement I have received along the way, I am happy so many of you like this blanket! The edge that I ended up doing was quite plain, as there is already plenty going on in the main blanket I think! Pleased to report that my anti weaving in edging seemed to work! I ended up crocheting around in sc, then 4 rows of dc along each side that had all the loose yarns to weave in. Then I folded over the dc rows to form a casing for the yarn ends and sewed this edge down. Hey presto, yarn ends all safe and sound hidden inside the edge! Hope that makes sense. Have a great day!

Brioche creates a fully reversible fabric and gives a very different effect from regular knits and purls. I have tried it a few times from reading different tutorials but I didn't have much success. But my friend Meaghan at the Unapologetic Knitter has put together an AMAZING video series on how to brioche knit.

Hello. Well another week is flying by, already Thursday, where have those days gone! I don't know what's happened to my resolve to blog more often either. Sorry about that. Anyway, here is my latest finished thing, the Autumn Harlequin blanket, I so love making these blankets that they seem to take half the time of other things. It has been fun working with a new colour palette, and I have grown to really like the warmer, slightly more sombre tones in this blanket. What do you think? Are you into more muted colours, or bright and vibrant? I think I like them all!! So here are a few details: This blanket is 110cm x70cm approximately, (Cot sized or a nice knee rug size) including the border. I used 19 balls of 50g wool: Yarn: Heirloom Merino Magic 8 ply. Here's the colour breakdown: Mustard (509) x 3 Papaya (502) x 3 Rusty orange (209) x 1 Plum (216) x 2 Peacock blue (232) x 1 Sea blue (217) x 2 sea green (221) x 2 grass green (223) x 3 Grey (206) x 2 (I think this colour scheme could be really nice for granny squares or stripes too. I am thinking of making an Autumn star stitch blanket next.) This wool is available in my shop if you would like to have a closer look!) The pattern was the basic Harlequin tapestry crochet pattern that I have been going on about for ages now, it is such a lovely technique! I haven't written it up properly yet as a pattern, but I am sure you can figure it out from my tutorial over here if you are interested. So that is one thing out of the way. I am trying to finish off lot of projects that I have lying around the place. I am doing the Western Port Craft Festival again this year in April, and I don't want to take all the same stuff as last year! Nothing like a craft stall to give me motivation to Get Things Finished! :) How has you week been? Have you been finishing things off too? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

this post contains affiliate links Hello! I'm running behind again with my Friday Finds, haven't quite got there till today and it's Sunday! Possibly I should not have put Friday in the title of these posts, it seems I have trouble sticking to the weekly schedule! Anyway, better late than never I guess, so here they are! ------------------------------------ 1. I am loving the modern vibe of these gorgeous crocheted ice-creams and watermelon cushions from Adele at ThreeBeansinaPod, lovely for a cute addition to a bedroom or couch. Adele also has a pattern for an amazing "mono spot' modern baby blanket in her shop. :) ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2. WindandWillowHome is a lovely shop full of wooden bowls and vessels like these great little succulent planters and neon painted salad bowls. Araya is the creative talent behind this very hip shop! ------------------------------------------------------ 3.Nadia and Tania are the clever ladies at PhilominaKloss who makes these sweet teddies with loads of personality! :) Lots of cuties to be found here! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. I love the idea of the 'Instant Comfort Pocket Box' found at kimslittlemonsters, what a nice thing to give to someone needing a little cheering up ! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Emily Martin is the artist at theblackapple, her gorgeous prints and illustrations are available here, as well as these beautiful postcard sets. I think I may have featured Emily's shop before, but I just love her work! :) --------------------------------------------------- 6. And just because I love speckled yarn so much, I am adding a sixth find this week, Amanda Perkins at LambyToesShop has lots of lovely speckled yarns that would knit the most amazing socks!! Look at the colours in these skeins! Swoon! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Well that's it for today, I am going to try and get back here a bit more often this week, I feel like I am neglecting my little blog at the moment, life has become quite hectic and the weeks are flying by! I do have things I'd like to blog about, it is just making the time to post it on here! Thanks so much for visiting, talk soon! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello! How are you going today? I am pretty happy because I have finished my Skinny Stripe blanket! All those ends are woven in and the edge is complete too! I have to say for such a simple pattern, just rows of sc, this blanket really makes me smile. Maybe it has something to do with using one of my favourite colour palettes, I do seem to go back to my old favourites time and again. So anyway, here are some pictures! I love all the little snippets of colour! ...and here are the colours I used in case you are interested. 15 different shades, randomly striped, I chose red for the border, but I think I could have picked any one of them and it would have worked and given a different look to the finished blanket. I have put together a Skinny Stripe colour collection in my shop if any one feels the need to create one of these happy blankets! Of course you could make up your own favourite colour palette, the skies the limit with this one! I chained 150 stitches to start and I think there are about 110 coloured stripes in total. I think I used more than one ball of red and mid green and mid blue, but I wanted a few extra stripes in these colours. You will also need an extra ball of your border colour to finish off, I just did a few rounds of sc with simple picots for added cuteness! So have you finished anything fun recently? It feels good to get some finished projects under my belt! Have great colourful day! xxxxxxxxxxxx

Blogtober 31st It is the last day of Blogtober, which has been mostly fun, and Halloween ( do you get into the whole trick or treat thing?), and I have a completed project to show you ! YaY! Remember the little flowers I was making? Well this is what they were for .......... .... a lovely little flower vine garland! It was really fun to make and I have lots of ideas for some different adaptations. I got the idea from the beautiful blog About Mo and Me and she has a great tutorial here. It is a great inspiring blog! Go and have a look for yourself! It is made from lovely coloured cottons that are 3 or 4 ply I think. What do you think? Have a great day!

Hello! I hope you're having a lovely day! You know how I really like crochet flowers? Well, I have a little pattern to share with you all today. I have been fiddling around with this flower pattern for a while, I like how the inner ring of tiny petals are nestled in the big petals. I am calling it the Dotty Flower because of the inner ring of small petals (dots). It is not very hard to make, and it is always fun coming up with 3 colour combos. :) I made mine in MoYa DK cotton, just because I like the washed out look of the colours, but you could use any yarn that takes your fancy, just make sure you use the right size hook for your yarn. I think I'll write the pattern out in one chunk, then you can look at the photos for extra help if you need it. This pattern uses US terminology. Ok here goes! Dotty Flower 4 mm hook, small quantities of 8ply/DK yarn in 3 colours Special instructions: 2dc Cluster: Yo, insert hook in stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops ( 2 loops left on hook) , yo, insert hook in same stitch, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops (3 loops left on hook) , yo and pull through all loops on hook. Petal Cluster: Step 1- *Yo twice, insert hook into 2 ch space, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, leave last loop on hook ( 2 loops on hook) * . Repeat * to * (3 loops on hook) Step 2 - Yo 3 times, insert hook in skipped stitch of round 1, yo and pull up a loop, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, yo and pull through 2 loops, leave last loop on hook ( 4 loops on hook) Repeat Step 1 into the same 2 ch space ( 6 loops on hook) . Step 3- Yo and pull through all loops on hook. ( I know that was a long winded explanation of a petal cluster, if you are confused there are photos of these steps to help you see what I mean) Pattern: Chain 4, slip stitch into 1st chain to form a ring. Round 1: ch2 (does not count as a stitch), 12 dc into ring, slip stitch join to 1st dc, fasten off. Round 2: Join next colour to any stitch, ch2, make a 2dc cluster into same stitch, *ch2, skip 1 stitch, make a 2dc cluster in next stitch, * . Repeat * to * 4 more times, to make 6 cluster, ending with 2ch and slip stitch join to 1st cluster. Fasten off. Round 3: Join next colour to any 2ch space. *Ch 4, make a petal cluster, ch 4, slip stitch into same 2 ch space, slip stitch into next 2ch space. * Repeat * to * making 6 petals around the flower in the 2 ch spaces of previous round. Slip stitch into 1st space to join, fasten off and weave in all threads. All finished! :) Helpful photos! Round 1 done............ Round 2 done........ How the petal cluster should look, from right to left on the hook - the 4 chains, then 2 trebles made into the space, then 1 double treble made into the skipped stitch of the 1st round, then 2 trebles made into the space again, leaving the last loop of each stitch on the hook. ( 6 loops in total) ....then you yarn over and pull through all the loops....... .......and make 4 chain........ ....... then slipstitch into the same space to finish off the petal...... ........Slip stitch across to the next space and make the next petal in the same way....... .......all finished ! ......... I hope that wasn't too confusing, they are really pretty easy to make. I hope you have fun with this if you give it a go. Have a lovely crafty day! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello. Things have been pretty busy around here lately, the days are getting away from me and I feel like I am chasing my tail all the time. I have signed up for an e-course called 'Blog with Pip' of Meet me at Mike's fame, and it has started this week. It is fabulous, with heaps of great info, but already I feel behind, lots of other students are sharing what they are doing and they are really achieving a lot in a week! Gotta get my act into gear!! We are able to interact together through a Facebook page and comments on the course page, but I find myself feeling quite shy and hanging back a bit. I think I will make myself get more involved, even if it is out of my comfort zone. I am hoping to give this blog a bit of a make over, you know, new banner, tidier sidebar, better tags to make it easier to find things, that sort of thing. I am contemplating offering some form of sponsorship down the side, I have seen a lot of blogs recently that have advertising down the side and it doesn't seem to detract from their blogs, and it would be a way for me to contribute to our family finances while still doing the things I love. ( and I would not have to look for work outside home!) Anyhoo, I have lots of thoughts floating around in my skull at the minute, really must try and sort some of them out! On the crafty front, I have finished my second harlequin cot blanket. Yay! I was trying to work on this exclusively so I could get a fair idea of how much time these take to make, but as usual, a couple of other projects needed attention, so I have a rough idea only. I am having a lot of fun with this pattern, and I love the tapestry crochet technique, it will probably be boring for you guys, but I think I will make another one of these in a different colour scheme. I am thinking about writing this pattern up and making 'blanket kits' with all the wool and instructions in them and selling them in my shop. What do you think? Anyhoo, that's a little catch up from round these parts, have you been doing anything special? What do you think about advertising on blogs? Have you got any on yours? What are you making at the moment? Talk soon. xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello! How was your weekend, good I hope. We had a good one, I managed to make some good progress on my new blanket that I am calling my Big Hearted Blankie. I am hoping to have this finished next week at some stage. The plan is to write up a pattern for this one and get it out on Ravelry as soon as I can. I thought my stripes of hearts looked very colourful all rolled up, I love looking at colour sandwiches like this! ---------------------------------------------------- We went to the Victorian State Dahlia Show the other day, I really love dahlias and want to get more colours in garden next year. There were so many gorgeous showy blooms it was a sight to behold. I had a good chat with the dahlia people, it always amazes me how people with a passion are so good to talk to about their interest, so generous with their knowledge, I always find their enthusiasm rubbing off on me and I want to experience their level of interest, no wonder I have so many hobbies! Anyway, I bought a few new colours for my garden and am going to go down to a huge dahlia farm outside Geelong in a few weeks where you can see masses of varieties in bloom and order them for the next season. I am feeling a bit inspired by my garden at the moment, have to keep chipping away at my jungle while the motivation lasts! :) .....a room full of colour..... ....love these spidery ones at the front....... ........I love this peachy coral coloured one, I will be looking to get a few in these shades I think...... ,.......these are the humble offering from my garden this week, I love the red and white one, I must remember to divide this one in a few months! So, what have you been up to lately? Have you got a heap of hobbies vying for your time like me? Bye for now! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello! How is your week going? I am actually keeping very busy with crochet type things, I have received a couple of orders for things from people who visited my stall at the market, which is a lovely bonus and means I will be kept busy with the hook for the next week or so. I feel like I almost have a 'proper' job with all my different yarny endeavours - the market, orders and my online shop and blog all add up to keeping me pretty busy, I am so happy that I can work for myself with such a nice variety of tasks to do day to day, I feel very lucky! Thank you all for the lovely encouragement and support you wonderful crafty peeps have given to me over the last few years, it really is worth following your dreams, I am so glad I decided to follow mine! xxx So anyway, I thought I'd show you how my neon stripe blanket finished up, I crocheted the edge last night and I think it has turned out really well! I am really liking the grey with the brights, I hope my lovely customer, like it too, it will be winging it's way across the ocean very soon! .....here's how it looks flat out, it has ended up about cot sized I think, and took about 18 balls of wool! In case anyone is interested, the yarns I used were: Zara for the neon stripes, 1 ball of each colour, and Loyal DK in the dark grey 13 balls. It is just the basic skinny stripe pattern of 1 double row of sc in a neon colour, alternated with 4 double rows of grey. My other skinny stripe blankets with single stripes of colour are here and here. Have a great hooky day! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello. It has turned quite chilly here, we have been spoiled with some lovely mild weather recently, so I guess it was just a matter of time before we got some proper cold stuff with Winter just around the corner. Quite appropriately for such a gloomy day, I have been hooking up some clouds, a new pattern in the tapestry crochet technique. I'm pretty happy with how it is turning out. My husband only needed one guess to get that they were clouds, so that's a win. (Although he also thought they looked a bit like space invaders, but clouds was his first guess, so I'm going with that.) This is going to be a little cloudy washcloth. I love making washcloths using tapestry crochet. They are just the right size to stave off boredom and get finished in a day or two. I think I might have a little play with a different edging pattern this time. I usually go for a picot edging, but this might look good with a nice scalloped edge. Hmmm, we'll see. It is also time for a winner of the May giveaway! Thank you for the great response to these giveaways, I can't believe so many peeps enter, it is so nice to hear from so many readers, thanks so much for leaving a comment. I wish I had something for you all! xxx Anyway, the winner for May is Rie! Congratulations Rie! I'll be in touch to get a postal address and pop your prize in the mail for you. So, that's about it for now, I'm off to finish my clouds and make some soup. What are you up to? xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello! So today I thought I'd chat a bit about the very cool crochet technique called tapestry crochet. Tapestry crochet allows you to create a piece of crochet that plays with colour changes and flat patterns. You use two coloured pieces of yarn and crochet over the colour not in use, so you can alternate between two colour as the pattern requires. That is pretty much it in a nut shell, so if you know how to crochet, draw up a pattern on graph paper and give it a try! Tapestry crochet creates a nice thick fabric, and you can be very creative with the patterns. I am thinking of lots of things I could make using this technique! More on that later! A few people asked for a pattern, so if you want a bit more detail, I have done a little tutorial and step by step guide, I hope it doesn't get too confusing. So this is how I made my basic harlequin pattern: Firstly, I used graph paper to draw up my pattern, as you can see it's very simple! Each square represents 1 sc stitch. My harlequin squares are 13 stitches wide, if you wanted a bigger square you could continue increasing by 2 stitches each row until you get the size you want ( i.e., 15, 17, 19, 21 stitches wide, etc) This is a repeating pattern, so you can make your piece as wide as you like depending on the number of repeats you do. I am doing 3 repeats, so the first row of my pattern is 6, 1, 13, 1, 13, 1, 6 = 41 chains to start. So chain 41 in first colour (pink) then lay the second colour (blue) across the yarn (see above) and ch 1 in pink to trap the blue yarn in the st so it is ready to be carried along the top of the row. Sc the first 6 st according to the pattern going over the blue yarn, when you get to the last pink st, change to blue to complete the st, so you are ready to use blue for the next st. ready to do a blue st! . (This is how you change colours throughout the pattern, the stitch before the changed colour, you finish off with the new colour and then proceed in the next stitch with the right colour. I hope that makes sense, and I''m not too confusing!) Then you continue on with 1 blue st and 13 pink st, and so on, changing colours as needed and crocheting over the unused colour. ....this is how the first row looks at the end..... .....bring the unused colour across front of work and 1 ch in pink, then turn work and start the second row, reading the pattern from left to right for every wrong side (even numbered) row, and right to left for odd numbered front side rows. You get a nice neat edge by trapping the unused yarn at each turn. ...you can see the pattern forming.....so just continue changing from pink to blue and blue to pink as needed....... ....at the last row with 13 blue st, change the colour from pink to blue in the last stitch of the previous row, then trap the pink wool and ch and turn, so you are able to do blue stitches from the start of the row ......here is what it looks like half way through the pattern, now we just mirror the pattern that we have done to form the top half of the squares. At this point you can change the pink wool to a different colour if you want to have different colours for all you rows of squares, like I have done below, or you can continue on with the pink and blue to create a checkered effect. This is just a very basic guide to tapestry crochet, but I hope you can see it's creative possibilities, I think it could be used for many lovely projects, I am planning a harlequin cot blanket and I think it would make great face washers and potholders in cotton, I will be trying out some different patterns for those I think. (Also cushions, bags, purses, hotwater bottle covers......I could go on and on!) Anyway, that's it for now, if you do have a go at this and find problems with my instructions, please let me know and I will try and fix them up. Have a great weekend! xxxxxx Edited to add: If you would like to have a go at a spotty pattern for tapestry crochet I have another post over here with a graph for spots. xx

A better way to make a buttonhole in knitting using a special technique to reinforce the corners for neater results.

OK here we go people, the stripey blanket all finished, wrapped up, complete! Be warned quite a few photos in this post! .....here it is on our bed..... ......I like it folded long ways too....... ........Stripe details.... .......it looks quite small folded on the bed, but here I am looking happy with myself, so you can see that it is bigger than I am!..... I am very happy how this has finished up, pretty close to how I imagined it! So a few facts for you all: * the finished blanket weighs around 2kgs, so takes 20 100g balls of wool to make, no wonder it took a while! *I used a variety of 100% 8ply wools in the blanket, brands include Colourworks, Cleckheaton Country 8ply, Bendigo Wool Mill, and some others that I can't remember. These are the left over bits of the wools I used, I think all the colours are here, 18 in all I think! *Sorry ladies, I made the pattern up as I went, so don't have a pattern to show you as such. I think part of this blanket's charm is the random nature of the pattern, so I think just have a go at varying the stitches and colours and see how you go. It is lovely and cosy and warm, I am sure it will get lots of use next winter! So that is the end of the Stripey Blanket, it's been quite an epic crochet adventure, and I thank you all for the lovely encouragement I have received along the way, I am happy so many of you like this blanket! The edge that I ended up doing was quite plain, as there is already plenty going on in the main blanket I think! Pleased to report that my anti weaving in edging seemed to work! I ended up crocheting around in sc, then 4 rows of dc along each side that had all the loose yarns to weave in. Then I folded over the dc rows to form a casing for the yarn ends and sewed this edge down. Hey presto, yarn ends all safe and sound hidden inside the edge! Hope that makes sense. Have a great day!

Ribbed Baby Jacket Free Knitting Pattern

Hello friends. Thank you all so much for the lovely response to my little crochet stamps, I'm glad they brought a smile to your faces too! :) It is funny how a little bit of whimsy can cheer you up, I am imagining a whole heap of crochet stamps whizzing around the world connecting us through little bits of crafty love and care! How wonderful that would be, especially today with all the terrible news from around the world, days like this I wonder what makes us humans tick, capable of such extremes of behaviour, it is hard to comprehend why people do what they do sometimes..... Anyway, I am trying not to listen to too much news today, it is just so sad, and a bit scary.... on to other lighter matters I think! I have my 5 Friday finds here for you, a nice little bit of escapism for a grim day. 1. LittleDoolally has made this lovely baby blanket, and sells the pattern in her shop. There is lots of crochet goodness to be found in this shop, I do like the colours she has used.... :) -------------------------------------------------- 2.MarinskiHandmades makes these gorgeous girl bowls, so cute! I think I might have to add one or two to my quirky ceramics collection, Marina does beautiful work! ------------------------------------------------------------- 3.Pomadour's Craft Cafe is a fabulous resource for crafty types, I am sure you have probably heard of this great shop before, full of the Japanese craft books that are styled so beautifully. There is something about the Japanese craft aesthetic that is very charming! Definite crochet eye candy! While most of the books are in Japanese, the crochet ones have charts for the patterns so it is not difficult to follow. I found a lot of new titles available since my last visit. ------------------------------------------------------ 4.ValekRollingPins makes these lovely embossed rolling pins for patterned cookies, what a cute idea! There are different patterns to choose from, I like this classic geometric pattern, but there are some very cute robots and dinosaurs too. The baker in me really likes these! -------------------------------------------------------- 5. Lisa Congdon is an amazing artist who amongst other things, creates beautiful images with inspirational quotes, she also has a couple of gorgeous books out. What a talent, I love her work! ---------------------------------------------------- So that's it for today, what have you got planned for the weekend? I am hoping to get to the Bendigo Wool Show, can't wait to check out all the wooly goodness! Talk soon! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx This post contains affiliate links.

Knit hats, toques, beanies, winter caps: whatever you call them they're cuter with a fun pattern knit into them. Colourwork is a skill that is a little intermediate, but usually, these kinds of projects only require the basic knit and purl stitches. You just add some colours in there for a fun design. These kinds

Very Pretty Knitting Blanket This knitting pattern / tutorial is available for free... Full post: Very Pretty Blanket

Nativo es una propuesta a crochet, oversize (holgado), muy cómodo, de largo adaptable y lleno de texturas.Vamos a tejer con puntos que de seguro ya conoces, con leves variaciones que logran una textura maravillosa, muy simple y de armonía perfecta!Tejeremos por piezas, en recto con esta hermosa trama que nos permite avanzar rapidísimo y con un resultado que amarás!En el patrón digital te muestro distintas fotos del proceso, el paso a paso escrito, gráficos, las distintas medidas y tallas y por supuesto, está cargado de videos tutoriales donde te muestro cómo trabajar cada vuelta, costuras y terminaciones para que te quede perfecto.Incluye 6 tallas, más de 30 combinaciones de color, material imprimible de apoyo mientras tejes y muchísimos tips para que te quede perfecto.Info técnica:Técnica: Crochet, por piezaConstrucción: tejido rectoNivel: básico/intermedio

Hi everyone! View this post for Rosebud Raglan help + join the Rosebud Raglan Facebook help group here! If you have previously purchased this pattern, you will receive an automatic updated version unless you purchased on Etsy, whose platform unfortunately does not allow for automatic updates. If you purchased on Etsy and would like an

Hello! It has been busy around here recently! I have been hooking away at these circles and I think the end is in sight! What do you think of the cream background? I am really happy how it is looking so far, I think the blues and greens will stand out nicely and make good pops of colour. My pile of squares is now much bigger than my pile of circles, and I am going to try really hard to finish them off tonight and then sew them all together tomorrow. I am wondering if I should block each individual square or if I could sew them together and then block the whole blanket.... This fab pattern is Wheels within Wheels by Frankie Brown, I found it on Ravelry. :) Okay, I have to go and get busy with my hook! Talk soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello! How is your week going, good I hope! I have been to a funeral today, which always leaves me feeling rather flat and emotionally drained, so I am here to share some bright and colourful pictures as a little antidote to the sads. I hope you are all not too sick of seeing this blanket, it is finally all together and totally complete! Yay! I think this was one of my most enjoyable make of recent times, I love using this cotton and the colours just seemed to work together so nicely, it was a really fun crochet time. I am thinking of making another one in cool pastels of mauves, lilacs, pinks and mints, I think that would be lovely too! And the sewing together went quite smoothly which was good, I was worried it would look messy, but I think it has gone together quite neatly! ....a few people were wondering what the back looks like, so here is a picture of the front (above) and the back (below), as you can see there is not a lot of difference, just the seam is a little more noticeable on the back. :) You've gotta love tapestry crochet for that, it makes a great reversible fabric! So that is a wrap for the Big Heart Blanket! Thanks for all the nice comments you have left recently, I really do appreciate all the kind support I receive over here on the blog and also on Instagram, everyone is so super nice!!! :) One other thing, I have actually written up this pattern and finished loading it onto my Ravelry store, so I now have a grand total of 2 patterns for sale over there! lol. Here is the link to Ravelry if you are interested to have a go at one of these yourself! I don't think it is available to the UK at the moment, I have to have a look at how to do that with the new tax laws over there. Talk soon! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello! So today I thought I'd chat a bit about the very cool crochet technique called tapestry crochet. Tapestry crochet allows you to create a piece of crochet that plays with colour changes and flat patterns. You use two coloured pieces of yarn and crochet over the colour not in use, so you can alternate between two colour as the pattern requires. That is pretty much it in a nut shell, so if you know how to crochet, draw up a pattern on graph paper and give it a try! Tapestry crochet creates a nice thick fabric, and you can be very creative with the patterns. I am thinking of lots of things I could make using this technique! More on that later! A few people asked for a pattern, so if you want a bit more detail, I have done a little tutorial and step by step guide, I hope it doesn't get too confusing. So this is how I made my basic harlequin pattern: Firstly, I used graph paper to draw up my pattern, as you can see it's very simple! Each square represents 1 sc stitch. My harlequin squares are 13 stitches wide, if you wanted a bigger square you could continue increasing by 2 stitches each row until you get the size you want ( i.e., 15, 17, 19, 21 stitches wide, etc) This is a repeating pattern, so you can make your piece as wide as you like depending on the number of repeats you do. I am doing 3 repeats, so the first row of my pattern is 6, 1, 13, 1, 13, 1, 6 = 41 chains to start. So chain 41 in first colour (pink) then lay the second colour (blue) across the yarn (see above) and ch 1 in pink to trap the blue yarn in the st so it is ready to be carried along the top of the row. Sc the first 6 st according to the pattern going over the blue yarn, when you get to the last pink st, change to blue to complete the st, so you are ready to use blue for the next st. ready to do a blue st! . (This is how you change colours throughout the pattern, the stitch before the changed colour, you finish off with the new colour and then proceed in the next stitch with the right colour. I hope that makes sense, and I''m not too confusing!) Then you continue on with 1 blue st and 13 pink st, and so on, changing colours as needed and crocheting over the unused colour. ....this is how the first row looks at the end..... .....bring the unused colour across front of work and 1 ch in pink, then turn work and start the second row, reading the pattern from left to right for every wrong side (even numbered) row, and right to left for odd numbered front side rows. You get a nice neat edge by trapping the unused yarn at each turn. ...you can see the pattern forming.....so just continue changing from pink to blue and blue to pink as needed....... ....at the last row with 13 blue st, change the colour from pink to blue in the last stitch of the previous row, then trap the pink wool and ch and turn, so you are able to do blue stitches from the start of the row ......here is what it looks like half way through the pattern, now we just mirror the pattern that we have done to form the top half of the squares. At this point you can change the pink wool to a different colour if you want to have different colours for all you rows of squares, like I have done below, or you can continue on with the pink and blue to create a checkered effect. This is just a very basic guide to tapestry crochet, but I hope you can see it's creative possibilities, I think it could be used for many lovely projects, I am planning a harlequin cot blanket and I think it would make great face washers and potholders in cotton, I will be trying out some different patterns for those I think. (Also cushions, bags, purses, hotwater bottle covers......I could go on and on!) Anyway, that's it for now, if you do have a go at this and find problems with my instructions, please let me know and I will try and fix them up. Have a great weekend! xxxxxx Edited to add: If you would like to have a go at a spotty pattern for tapestry crochet I have another post over here with a graph for spots. xx

I think I told you last post that I'm enjoying making toys at the moment, well here is another one! It's supposed to be a cat, hope you could tell! Maybe I'll call her Kitty Cat, not too original but whatever...... She is a bit bigger than Eddie Owl, and took a bit longer with the arms and legs, but fun to make! ....whiskers are a bit wonky....but what the hey..... Who can believe all the rain we are having, and all the terrible flooding up north, so sad and terrifying. I hope everyone is safe and dry, with plenty of time to get out of the waters path. Although it looks like some areas were taken completely by surprise, very scary. Mother Nature is certainly showing how wild and extreme she can be. Stay safe all you Queenslanders.

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{sigh} I have been fighting with the Wordpress editor all morning. I made a post but when I viewed it there were too many weird things happening (like 20 tin, near invisible lines at the end, and …