By Helen

crochet sunflower pattern...

August has been soooo very busy, I am afraid that there is no crochet flower of the month, this month.  I simply have not found the time.  That said my month has been quite flowery, with the fabric flower course and my crochet for Yorkshire Day.  Instead of bringing you a new crochet flower of the month, I thought that I would share with you the pattern for last month’s Sunflower…

Here goes, using dark brown yarn to crochet the Sunflower’s centre

Round 1: into a magic loop 2ch, 9dc, slst to join…

Round 2: 2ch, 1dc into each ch, slst to join…

Round 3: 2ch, 1dc into same dc, 1dc into next dc, *2dc, 1dc,* slst to join…

Round 4: 2ch, 1dc into same dc, 1dc into next 2 dc, *2dc, 1dc, 1dc, * slst to join…

Round 5: 2ch, 1dc into same dc, 1dc into next 3 dc, *2dc, 1dc,1 dc,1 dc,* slst to join and fasten off.  Weave in any ends to secure.  Crochet two of these…

To make the petals, use a lighter coloured yarn. 

Round 6: join the two centres together using  double crochet…

When you are part way round joining the two centres, lightly stuff them…

Then finishing joining together…

Now crochet the rest of the petals..

Round 7:  7ch and slst into dc…

Repeat this all the way round, until you have finished your Sunflower…

I used a garden stick as my stem, which I covered using green yarn slip stitched around it.  I planted my Sunflowers in plasticine and then covered the pot with a simple crochet cover in rainbow colours for extra cheerfulness.  I’ll share that pattern later: if you want?

Go on crochet yourself some sunshine!

 

baking up a treat…

It seems like ages since I blogged about baking, in fact it was way back in June .  That is not to say I haven’t baked since then, I have baked lots and lots.  This last week Si has been a bit under the weather and I have to confess that I am not the best of nurse-maids.  I get frustrated, even though I know it is not his fault that he is feeling unwell.  I get annoyed that we don’t eat together; Si seems to have existed to toast and tomatoes soup (from a tin).   Tonight I am going to tempt him with chicken casserole with herby dumplings.  Yesterday I decided to stop feeling frustrated and really treat myself.  I decided to bake something just for me.  I decided to bake an old favourite, something that my Grandma used to bake.  I decided to bake really posh sausage rolls!  I scaled back the recipe so it was just for me, just for one, and this is what I ended up with…

I would encourage you to make these, they are wonderful, perfect as a treat.  Here is the recipe that I made, just for me, but it is really easy to scale up to feed as many hungry mouths as you have.

For one person, you will need:

• 3oz plain flour
• A pinch of mustard powder
• 1 1/2oz of butter, or margarine – whatever you have to hand
• 1oz grated cheese
• 1 egg – separated
• Water
• 1 sausage – skin taken off
• Chutney – I used some of my homemade tomatoes, date and apple chutney from last year

This is what you do:

• Put the flour, mustard powder, butter and cheese in a bowl and rub together until the butter has incorporated into the mixture.
• Add the egg yolk (keep the white you will need it later) and mix in.  Add a little water to combine the pastry together
• Chill the pastry and then roll it out into a rectangle shape
• Spread the chutney over the pastry rectangle
• Spread the sausage meat over the chutney
• Gently roll the pastry towards you, to make a big sausage roll
• Cut the sausage roll into to equal slices and put these onto a lined baking sheet
• Brush the egg white over
• Pop in the oven and cook at gas 7 for 15 minutes then gas 6 for a further 15 minutes
• If you can leave to cool for a few minutes (I struggle with this)

Enjoy!

making friendship bracelets...

Thank you Mollie Makes for reintroducing me to friendship bracelets….

It reminded me of spending afternoons when I was younger;  knotting embroidery thread  and making bracelets.  I had to dig out my thread and see if I still could make them. I could!  The patterns that I was making, made me think about the braid  I make when I am on re-enactments...

It got me thinking, and I decided to use the fifteenth century technique that I use on re-enactments and give the finished bracelet a modern twist, with beads and buttons…

I am really pleased with how this meeting of old and new has turned out.  The range of bracelets that I could make using the finger-braid technique is endless, all the different patterns, all the different colours, all the different buttons.  So many thinks to try out.

 NB – In the last two posts I have blogged about crafts other than crocheting: please don’t think that I have hung-up my hook.  I am still crocheting away and will have tome treats to show you very soon.  But all crochet and no play makes…. 

fabric flowers...

Do you remember that I mentioned, when I visited Grace and Jacob a few weeks ago, that I booked on a course to make fabric flowers?  Well that course was last Sunday.  It was brilliant!  No other word to describe just brilliant. Our tutor the very talented Bryony had made these to inspire us…

Then it was our turn.  The day started with a very difficult choice, of choosing three (yes just three) different fabrics to make our flowers out of.  The choice…

...was tricky, so many colours, so many patterns.  In the end I decided on my three…

All of the flowers we made started in the same way: by cutting out circles of fabric.  The circles were the folded in different ways and stitched together to make the petals of the flowers.  Then finished off with a fabric covered button. 

So, these circles…

Became this…

These circles…

Became this…

And these circles ….

Became this…

I am so, so, sooooooooo proud of what I made! Everyone on the course was so talented, are you ready for a group ta-dah moment?  Here goes…

The day was made even better when Aleksandra arrived with her Cake Pops…

They were almost too pretty to eat.  I did say almost, and they tasted just as good as they looked!

It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday: surrounded by fabric, making flowers, meeting other talented crafters.  Now for the real challenge making more lovely fabric flowers, solo: without the safety- net of Bryony!  I’ll let you know how I get on.

 A massive thank you, thank YOU, THANK YOU to Bryony and Fiona: for starting my love affair with fabric flowers. 

 Sorry Si – that does mean fabric in the house, as well as yarn!

sweet treat…

York is full of wonderful tea-shop; you are literally spoilt for choice.  If you only have time to visit one: then you would have to go to Bettys.  I can spend ages stood in front of Bettys' shop window, with their mouth-watering display of cakes, biscuits, breads and teas.  Yesterday as I was walking passed the window I spotted these…

Aren’t they the most adorable cakes you have ever seen?  They reminded me of the bees I crocheted last year, when I opened my back-yard.  The bee cakes had to be (sorry) Friday night’s sweet treat.  And, oh boy, they were good.  Chocolate heaven.  Inside the gorgeous chocolate decoration was a chocolate ganache, sat on a layer of chocolate cake.  Chocolate heaven! 

They did remind me that I hadn’t baked for a long time.  So that is how I am spending today: crocheting and baking.  Enjoy your weekend, and if you can make it to Bettys…

bad, bad yarn…

Okay this post comes with a health warning, about bad yarn.  I probably only have myself to blame.  I don’t follow crochet patterns very well: choosing to see them more as guidelines or sources of inspiration rather than something which must be crocheted to the letter.  I don’t read about which yarns are best for this, and which yarns are best for that.  I choose my yarn by its colour, by its texture and by how I think it will looked crocheted.  Sometimes I am caught out.  This was one of those occasions!  I bought this…

 

Loved the colour.  Loved the texture.  Thought wow, that would make great flowers.  How wrong was I?  I sat in the garden, out in the sunshine, cup of tea in hand, Monty (next- doors cat) at my feet,  ready for a happy afternoon of crocheting.  Things didn’t turn out that way.  Oh no.  This is simply some of the worst yarn I have ever crocheted.  Anything more than a double crochet is impossible. Don’t even think about taking your crochet back – it simple won’t happen.  After an hour of frustrating crochet, I had produced a tangle…

 

Okay they are flower shaped tangles. But they are still more tangle than flower and I am just not happy with them.  The yarn had/has so much potential…

If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about how to use this yarn, please, let me know.  Otherwise this is one yarn that will make its way to the charity shop.  One person’s trash…

 NB – the guilt yarn is Persia by Sirdar – you have been warned!

crochet for Yorkshire Day...

In honour of yesterday been Yorkshire Day, I thought that I crochet a Yorkshire Rose to wear proudly on my dress…

…and celebrate all things Yorkshire, of course!

I crocheted the rose by adapting a pattern from my go-to flower book. My Yorkshire Rose is loosely based on Lesley's pattern for a wild rose: but I wanted to give it a more Yorkshirery feel.  I had to spend a happy few hours re-learning how to do a French knot without them disappearing.  I persevered and I was really please with how they worked for the yellowery centre of the rose.

 Here’s to all things Yorkshire!