By Helen

crochet for Christmas, part one…

I know it is only November, and it is early to be blogging about crochet for Christmas.  But, I am excited.  Very very excited.  Do you remember me telling you about Grace and Jacob?  Well I am going to be running a course there!  That’s right: I will be passing on my love of crochet and teaching people how to crochet Christmas decorations.  The course is on the 25^th November, and if any of you would like to come-along, you can book HERE.  For the last few weeks I have been busy crocheting samples and writing patterns for the hand-out.  I thought I’d share with you, some of the things that people will be crocheting on the day.  We will be crocheting, Christmas puddings, Starflakes (these can either be starts or snowflakes, hence they are Starflakes), mistletoe and Christmas robins….

I really, really, really, hope that people book on the course and that I can blog about crochet for Christmas, part two and share with you all the wonderful things we crochet on the day….

Happy (crochet) Halloween…

Happy Halloween to you all!  I thought I’d crochet you something appropriate, hope you like them…

They make the perfect Halloween decorations, and sit rather well with last year’s Witchy Kitty…

NB – these crochet pumpkins are October’s crochet flower of the month; following on the thought form last month – that without the flower you wouldn’t get the fruit or veg!  Hope you don’t mind?

crochet flowers…

You’ve probably realised that I love to crochet flowers.  I haven’t been able to crochet flowers for the last few weeks.  My yarn stash was packed away ahead of the building work.  I miss popping up stairs to grab a ball of yarn on a crochet wimp.  While we were packing the house away, I was able to slide my hand into the draw: and with the help of a torch pull something out.  I can’t imagine what state those draws will be in!  For the last few weeks, nothing, no access.  To get my crochet flower fix, I have spent some happy time browsing my crochet book collection: and I thought that I would share one of my favourite with you.  This book is as good as Lesley Stanfield's; but in a very different way.  The book that I want to tell you about is Crochet Flowers by the incredibly talented Nicky Epstein….

The book is just beautiful!  Full of gorgeous photographs of crochet flowers; in some of the most amazing yarn you have ever seen.  Each flower has the crochet pattern, so you can easily crochet the flowers for yourself.  And most (if not all) of the flowers have crochet charts; brilliant for those of us who prefer to look at pictures rather than read words!  One note of caution; if you do read and follow the crochet patterns, they are written in American; while translation is no big issue – it is worth remembering before you start!

The book is a true source of inspiration, even if you don’t follow the patterns and prefer to crochet things up as you go along (as I do) I would recommend that this book is placed on your bookshelf.  Go on treat yourself…

 Ps – building work should finish today or tomorrow.  Very excited to start decorating, can’t wait to share it all with you…

treble, treble, treble…

The building work is going well.  I can see the finished results although they are still a week away, and after that comes the decorating, the flooring and the tidying.  Oh goodness the tidying!  After that comes the cushions, lots and lots of cushions to crochet and sew together.  I am looking forward to it soooo very much.  I already have the colours in minds that I am going to use.  It will come of little surprise that purple features quite heavily, as does teal, burnt orange and rich deep berry and earth colours.  I can’t wait!  I have started some of the cushion covers, just some simple crocheted granny squares, similar to that I crocheted for my friend a while ago.  There is something really soothing about crocheting a granny-square; the repetitive nature of crocheting treble after treble after treble…

I am crocheting with Zauberball yarn, like with the last cushion I crocheted, but this one is going to be two large granny squares, rather than lots of smaller ones.  I love the colour change of the yarn.  I love the colours contrasting together.  I love the bursts of brightness against the deep purple tones…

looking forward…

Looking forward to crocheting this…

…yarn by Blue Heron Yarns, that I bought last year at Harrogate.

Looking forward to seeing the sparkle and colour changes…

…crocheted into a ripple scarf.

Looking forward to this…

…becoming my new shower-room.

Looking forward to this…

…becoming an en-suite for guests staying at my home.

Looking forward to this…

…becoming a dining / sitting / garden / crafting (yes crafting) room.

As you can imagine we are having lots and lots of work done on the house, so posting might be a tad sporadic over the coming weeks.  Stick with me; I can’t wait to show you all the crocheting for the new room (the one we can’t decide what to call).  There are lot of other exciting crochet project which I want to share with you…

merry berry…

After August’s failed attempted at crocheting a flower of the month, I put real effort into crocheting September’s.  I have to confess what I came up with, isn’t technically a flower – more of a berry.  But you wouldn’t get the berry without the flower first, so I guess that is ok?  I also decided to carry on the Autumnal theme, started at the beginning of the month.  Here’s what I crocheted…

Can you tell what it is?  I hope so.  Here’s a closer look…

Yep!  It’s a crocheted Bramble!  What could be more Autumnal that brambles and apples, the very best ingredients for a crumble, to put on your porridge or morning pancakes, to make into jam?  I won’t be making any jam this year, like I did last year, on the grounds that Si and I have failed miserably to eat all of last year’s supply.  Must try harder!

a really great yarn…

I love how the world so often provides us with things which perfectly complement each-other: strawberries and cream, coffee and cake, and stilton and port.  I also love how the world provides us with opposites; day and night, light and dark, hot and cold.  So, it stands to reason after my resent purchase of the world’s worst yarn, I would come across the world’s best yarn.  Okay, the yarn in question might not be the very best in the world; but in my world it is up-there, right and the top.  The yarn crochets the cutest little flower brooches…

What is the yarn?  I here you ask.  It is a baby alpaca, merino mix, which the very talented Debbie Bliss has combined together to bring us Paloma.  It is fantastic!  The yarn has already been worked together once, and looks almost plaited…

Do you see what I mean?  If you look closely at the green and purple, can you see how the colour isn’t solid?  It is a blend of different colours and shades; this just makes the yarn even better. The yarn isn’t new to me, I actually first came across it at Harrogate, last year.  I crocheted it into a Christmas tree.  Then in the true tradition of yarn, it was put away in my stash draw and forgotten about.  I stumbled across it a few weeks ago, and it screamed crochet me into a flower.  So that is what I did!  I crocheted with a small hook (the recommended is 10mm) and love the result which looks almost felted.  Perhaps the best thing about the yarn is the range of colour which is available….

Go on treat yourself, to some Debbie Bliss Paloma, you won’t be disappointed

happy, happy, happy, September...

I love September, I know that I said that last year.  Yes, I will say it again next year.  I can’t help it I love, loVE, LOVE September.  September is special.  You have the promise, still, of summer warmth and sunshine. There is a hint in the air that the world is changing and very soon we will be treated to a kaleidoscope of colours from the trees as they turn towards their Winter rest.   The evenings start to draw in, as night lengthens and day shortens.  I love that too.  I even love the thought of dark, cold nights, snuggled under jumpers and blankets in front of an open fire, eating stews and fruit crumbles. I can’t wait.  In celebration of the colours to come I finished crocheting my granny square cushion cover.  I am sooooo pleased with it, ready for the ta-dah moment…

It is made from Zauberball yarn and I love how the colours change, just like those of Autumn.  The colours remind me of one of my favourite childhood books, the Brambly Hedge, stories, stories about mice that lived in hedge rows.  Now my only problem is choosing where the cushion should take pride of place…

Hope that you enjoy your September just as much as I will..? 

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!

 

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!