By Helen

crochet and cream tea…

We’ve been away; we’ve been to Cornwall to stay with Si’s parents.  Last time we visited, we had just started remodelling our home.  This time it was lovely to visit without the phone going every half hour with the builders telling us of the new problems he had found.  We were soooooo lucky with the weather, it was cold but dry – which suited me just fine.  I thought you might like to see a few of picis?  Ready?

Woodlands full of Bluebells…

Woodlands full of Wild Garlic…

Wondering around one of the woodlands, I came across this yarn bombed tree…

Beaches full of pebbles…

Lots of time for cream teas…

My father-in-law tells me that I made my cream tea, wrong.  Sorry P!  Apparently putting the cream on first is the Devon way of doing things.  Who knew that the placement of jam and cream could be so controversial?  I hope I haven’t offended anyone?  It's just the way I like it!

Lots of time in the evening for crochet…

A lovely, lovely short break in Cornwall! 

crochet blossom…

I thought that I’d share with you my crochet blossom pattern.  It is perfect for May and was May’s crochet flower last year.  The pattern is one of my very favourite.  I use it, quite literally, all the time.  I use it to embellish hats (the green one), wreaths and phone socks.  One of my favourite uses was when I needed hair clips in an emergency…

To crochet the blossom, so that it looks like blossom, I used Debbie Bliss’ Angel, but any fluffy yarn would be prefect.  For easy of seeing the stitches in the pattern I have crocheted it using some DK which I had.  Hopefully you can see the difference…

Gather your yarn, you don’t need much, and a hook which suits the yarn you are going to use.

Working into a magic circle, **3ch…

1tr, into the magic circle…

3ch…

ss ** into the magic circle…

Repeat ** - ** four more times, so you have five petals…

Don’t worry if your magic circle gets bigger and bigger!  After your last ss, finish off and pull the ends of the magic circle…

Weave in the ends and decide what to embellish!  Or secure to branches, to make your blossom bloom…

NB - To turn your blossom into a hair clip, stitch a bead into the centre of your flower, attach a kirby-grip and wear with pride!

 

felt flower…

Really sorry that there hasn’t been a posting this week: I have had a very hectic week at work, parents moving home and on top of that a nasty cold.  Other than doing what I have had to do, I haven’t felt like much else: that has included crafting.  I know it’s not like me at all: normally when the going gets tough: I get crafting.  I know that this is a temporary blip and that in a few more days, of rest; I will be back to feeling like myself and back crafting.  I know this because my head is all-ready beginning to whirl with all the projects that I want/need to do; crochet, braiding, baking, fabric flowers and lots more beside.  One thing I have managed to craft this week is a variation on a fabric flowers.  Normally when I make fabric flowers I use ditsy print, oh how I love ditsy print.  But when your head feels a bit ditsy, you don’t really want to be looking at it!  I needed something a bit chunkier to work with.  I had some felt left over from other projects, so I thought that I’d give that a go.  I am quite pleased with the results, although they need to be made with a little more care (again that will come when I’m feeling better).  I think that they’ll make great brooches or hair clips...

What do you think?

cute crochet collar…

How that Spring is definitely here, I decide to bravely go outside without a coat:  relying on just my cardi to keep me warm.  I found a lovely bright red cardigan, in a really soft yarn, in a local charity shop for just £2.50.  It was love at first sight: it had to be bought.  The cardi looked great: but I thought that it could do with a little-something, just to make it something really special.  It needs a cute crochet collar.  A friend gave me a pattern written by the very talented Nicky Hale, for Arabella, the cutest little crochet collar I had ever seen.  The pattern is bri-lli-ant!  So well written and with a clear chart.  After a couple of hours crochet, I was ready to attach the collar to the cardi.  I was sooooo pleased with the result.  Are you ready for a ta-dah moment?  Here goes…

Not bad for £2.50, the end of a ball of King Cole Bamboo Cotton and a couple of hours!