Without a Pattern!

My mums shoulders get cold in bed at night when she sits up and reads. She's always hated cold shoulders and I have many memories of her curled up to the nose in blankets, literally the top of her hair showing alone.
I blogged previously about some bootee style slippers that I knitted for mum in a lilac double knit wool for babies.
I decided to expand my crochet skills and have a go at something more substantial. Eh Voila!

I used three stitches here, a double crochet, a treble crochet and a scallopy style sea shell effect thingy. Modelled here by my lovely husband. And here's the back:


I'm very pleased with this. I nearly got disheartened with it a couple of times because of the amount of stitches per 'row'.. each row seemed to take forever. Ah well.. all done now!

Share Time!

A while ago I knitted myself a bobble scarf, and one of my friends commented on how much she liked it. So, not needing any excuse to cast on, I fell in love with this yarn and cast on the following day.
My friend received her scarf today and it suits her so much!!! I kidnapped this picture of the pretty lady wrapped up warm:

Another Scarf Jumps off the Crochet Hook!

Husband talked us into going to see a film last night, one which neither me nor Hannah were particularly keen on watching. On the way I insisted that if I were going to sit through a film, I would need wool to keep me busy.

A quick jaunt to a local market and Hannah has fallen in love with some brightly coloured eyelash yarn. Now I've never worked with this stuff before, but snap up 3 balls, thinking a scarf might be in the offing.

I crocheted happily through the film and on stepping into the light, I had to rip back most of the newest creation. The tension was all over the place. It bagged in some places and became almost rigid in others. Got the mostly ripped piece back home (I ripped it whilst sat in the car on the way home) and sadly had to waste the rest. Down to two balls of the brightly coloured stuff, there wasn't going to be enough to complete anything wearable.

It's then I remembered a ball of black eyelash yarn I'd had lurking around for a while. 1 ball of multi, 1 ball of black, 1 ball of multi and here we are, the finished article for Hannah:


Note to self: I don't like eyelash yarn!!

Early morning Creations

Being a bit of an insomniac, and a crafter, when the mood takes me I get creative. I happened to have 24 match boxes hanging around. No, seriously! I saw this project a while ago and bought the match boxes in the pound shop next time I visited. They have languished un touched all over Christmas but tonight, they reach their new potentials!


So, having done away with the matches, I set about piercing each one. Phew! 24 holes! Then I set about painting them. I managed to paint most of my fingers too - they're fiddly to hold and paint at the same time. Being the impatient thing that I
am, I started putting split pins through the front of the match boxes....





A looooot of match boxes to paint and pierce.....






A bit more jiggery pokery, some tape and glue and we're getting there! Can you see what it is yet?

I had to make a top and bottom too, cut out of very sturdy cardboard and covered in some very nice scrapbooking paper I had hanging about.
More of the decoration in a mo...





I used the same scrapbooking papers to cover the match box sides.

Mmmm just maybe one thing missing I think....










Ta Dah!!! A few stick on gems and it's done.
Of course, you can see it's a bespoke jewllery box now, can't you?!

I made it especially for Hannah, who started a new job this week after a long haul searching.
Congratulations hun!!


If anyone wants the *real* tutorial, where I got my inspiration from, it can be found here:
http://www.bubblyfunk.co.uk/tracie-hudson-christmas-advent-a-39.html

enjoy!

Home Making

Baskets galore! Last night saw me fiddling with the hook again, and combining 3 different strands for strength. I managed to hook up these rather spiffy baskets for the bathroom, perfect for keeping hold of the knitted cleaning cloths I made from cotton some time ago. The baskets are resting on my big, ongoing project that I keep returning to in amoung all the other crafting I find myself returning to!

I can share!

Here is the meditation shawl I made for my dear friend. I made it a little while before Christmas and finished it last week. My friend regularly practices meditation and I made this to keep her shoulders warm. I made it a work of intention. In other words, whilst working on it I focussed on protection and on love and compassion. I made it in blue because I associate blue with the emotions, and with protection. There are a whole load of other little things I did to make it personal. On the bottom I added charms of Kuan Yin, to bestow love and compassion to my friend.

Happily, I think she liked it, and she posted this photograph on her own blog. I kidnapped it though hehee:

I'll even share my experiments!

I haven't even worked in the ends on this one! This is an experiment, not something I'll be wearing in public believe me! However, I wanted to try a crochet pattern for a hat, and I have an unusually large head. I tried it in regular double knit and couldn't get it to fit for love nor money. Eventually I had the brain wave to work two yarns together, and it being the early hours of the morning I couldn't go stash diving. I had to work with what was close. Happened to be red and yellow!

The good news is: It fits and it covers my ears. The bad news it it looks atrocious.

At least I learned to make a hat to cover my huge head!

In future I think I'm going to stick with my bought ones.

Whilst ill...

Hi again!
Thanks for dropping by. I've been sick for a while with various infections, but I'm pretty much up and running now. Whilst ill, there was plenty of opportunity for yarn crafting! Two pictures I cannot share with you, as they are gifts for people and are winging their way to their recipients as I type. The others though, I can share!


I made my mum a pair of bootee slippers like the ones here for Christmas and I gave them along with some peppermint foot soak and foot stuff. They were very happily received but a week or so later, and mum wants another pair. Apparently, her bootees have made their way into bed, and they are oh so comfy warm in her wellies too! So, I whipped up this second pair for her, to match the lilac pyjamas I got her for Christmas too. I intend on whipping up another pair for her too, so she'll have two in the post to keep her tootsies warm.

Whilst looking around the patterns, I found these:
Being fairly new to crochet, I thought they were a good beginners looking pattern, so I got my hook out.

I was very impressed with how quickly they hooked up, and I chose the colours because the earthy tones and the red, well, I just fancied them together lol.

However, in my impressed mode, I made hubby try them on. In a flash, he'd claimed them. Apparently his feet had been cold recently and he hates the way slippers are too bulky or too flip flop like and come off his feet when he tucks them under himself on the sofa. So, as fetching as they looked on me, they are now keeping hubby's feet warm!

I have other stuff to share, but I wanted to just update you all, and let you know I'm still alive and kicking!

Look What I did!!!

Here I am all snuggled up in my bobbly scarf. It came together so easily and quickly, and Hannah has already decided she wants one in her own colourways. It's so snuggly and warm and soft. I have a new favourite scarf!