By Helen

crochet cushion complete...

Do you remember the house warming gift I started to make, ages ago, for my friend who was moving into her new home?  Well it did get finished.  It has been finished for quite a while: I just haven't got round to sharing it with you yet.  So here is it...

 
I am really rather proud of it.  So proud that I had to be persuaded not to keep it for my-self: but in the interests of keeping the Good Karma Fairy happy, I did give it away.

I love the yarn,  King Cole Riot, which was left over from making a scarf.  I like the way the yarn works with the traditional granny square, giving it a more up-to-date look.

I think that I will make myself one..!

colours for inspiration...

Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year?  The cold crisp days, the sun which still gives warmth, the bright blue sky and the colours Mother Nature gives us.

Last weekend my friend and I decided to visit Thorp Perrow, so that we could look at the beautiful colours and so her little girl could see the birds and animals.

Here is a hint of what we saw...

So next time you are putting yarn together for a new crochet project, don't work too hard.  Look around you: Mother Nature has done all the hard work for us!

 

knitting (or crocheting) for a REALLY good cause...

Calling all knitters.  Calling all crocheters.   Your skills are needed for a really, really, really good cause...

Last year the call went out to knit the length of York's city walls this years aim, as the poster suggests, is to knit the length of York's race course all for raising money, and awareness, for Cancer Research UK.

Here's how it works. Pop into Ramshambles to buy a bag which contains two balls of King Cole wool and four (yes four) knitting patterns.  You knit until you run out of wool then take the finished scarf back to Ramshambles.  The scarfs  will then be sold on the 22nd October at York's Marriott Hotel . 

So it really is a win win situation.  Cancer Research UK gets two lots of money  and you get four lovely patterns.  Plus the yarn is really chunky and lovely to work with, so you get the scarf finished in no time...

Don't worry that the 22nd is less than a week away.  Katie at Ramshambles mentioned that they will keep selling the wool and taking in the scarfs for some time after that.

Alternatively you can donate at this link.

So, come on get down to Ramshambles, get your needles and hooks out and knit, or crochet...

ta-dah moment...

...my crochet blanket is finished..!

It is one of those projects that you could keep adding to and adding to, but I have decided to officially declare the blanket done, complete, fin-ito! 

It is quite small: the perfect size for pulling over your lap while reading a book and sipping hot chocolate on a cold Autumnal day - rather like today! 

It is also the perfect size for throwing over the back of the sofa...

 

The making-up , as predicted, did lead to lots and lots and lots of ends, which needed to be fasten off and woven in.  After getting a bit fed-up with all of the ends, I decided to change technique: once I had double crocheted two sides together I slip-stitched back along the double crochet to get to the point where I could make the next join.  This technique worked really really well.  No ends to weave in and a really strong steam. 

I will definately used this technique next time...

 

making up crochet...

I am sure some of you will remember the blanket which I started making AGES ago.  Well it is progressing very well...

 

Since this photograph was taken I have made another complete circle of the green and white flowers and enough pink, white and green flowers to go around that!  All I have to do is join them altogether!  Fortunately I can double crochet the hexagons together: so no sewing involved, plus this gives a really lovely finish. 

Either looking like this...

 
Or it looking like this...

 
I hope that you can see the difference? One side has a flat join, the other a slight (but I think attractive) ridge.

Now all I have to do is attach this lot...

 
and job done!  If I am really really clever I will see a logical path (think Blockbusters here) though the joins, so I wont have numerous ends to weave in!

Will let you know...:-)

hello October...

October!  How did that happen?  I don't feel like I am done with September, yet I find myself turning the calendar.  Still the beautiful sun-shine does help.  Who would have thought on the first weekend of October we would be sat out in the garden having afternoon tea...

 
I made some of my very favourite oaty, chewy biscuits and settled down with a cup of tea and hook in hand ready to complete , yes complete, some of those unfinished crochet projects that I need to get done.  Aim by the end of today is...

• finish the house gift for my friend before she moves into said home
• join together as many hexagons of my blanket as possible
• may be start, or think about starting, some of the other projects I had in mind...

Here's to crochet, to sun-shine and to October...

Happy crocheting

decided to crochet...

Following on from my last post I made a decision!  Strangely enough it was none of the things I thought I would do!

A friend of mine is soon to move into her very first home:  so I thought I would crochet a little something for her. 

Here is a sneaky peek...

 
Some of you might recognise the wool, it is the gorgeous yarn I made a scarf a while ago. 

I'll let you see the finished version after I have given it to her.

I hope she likes it...

what to crochet...

At the moment my head feels a little bit like this...

 
...all full of colour and ideas.  It is so full of things that I want to crochet: I really don't know where to begin. 

There are hats that I want to make for my friend's little girl.  There are hats I want to make for myself.  There is a really cute puppy, featured in last months Inside Crochet magazine.  An equally cute pattern for a  pillow I found browsing on Ravelry.  A witchy kitty for Halloween, then there are the Christmas (yes Christmas!!!) cards and presents that I really should start rather than leaving 'til the night before.  I'd like to make something for Si, though he can't decide what he would like: so I'll leave that one for a while.  I probably should finish the blanket I started during the really hot  (well one weekend that was moderately warm) summer - but it is one of those blankets that you are never sure when it is actually finished as it can keep on going and going. Then there is the half (word used very optimistically, probably should read quarter) finished jumper than I am not quite sure why I started, when I know I like making small things.  Oh yes - it was a beautify pattern from Rowan's one and only booklet devoted entirely to crochet.  And all those cushions I wanted to make...

So much I want to do, I think I'll just go and make a cup of tea!

Happy crocheting, to those who can decided...

no time for crochet...

...but I have got a really, really, really great excuse...

 
That's right, we have just returned from a glorious week in Florence.  We visited lots and lots and lots of museums, galleries and churches.  Ate lots and lots and lots of amazing food.  Drank lots and lots and lots of wine!  The weather was hot and the hotel wonderful (although Charlotte would not have approved: no view)!

I  managed to get Si to visit...

 
The museum of Salvetore Ferragamo which contains shoes, shoes and more shoes.  Some of you might remember the article about the museum in July's issue of Inside Crochet?

See, even on holiday crochet has not been totally forgotten about!

Here's some more picis for you to look at...

 The famous Porto-Vecchio over the Arno.

 Under the Tuscan sun, okay - moon!

Chianti of course!

I am still quite tired from the holiday, so today is a gentle day of pottering, apologising to the garden (looking very sad and neglected) and maybe some simple crocheting later on...

crochet's magic circle...

I love the idea of a crochet magic circle.  It conjures up all sorts of images of secret societies, badges and handshakes.  Alas the truth of the magic circle is not that exciting!

A magic circle (also known as a finger wrap and as a loop: although I don't think these sound quite as good as the magic circle) is merely a method of starting your crochet, when you are working in the round, so that you have a nice tight joint in the center: ideally with no gap to peek through. 

They are quite tricky to master, so I will be posting a how to in the coming weeks.  Basically you wrap your yarn around your finger  and work the crochet stitches into the loop, the loop is then slipped off your finger, the yarn tail is pulled and hay-presto, you have a really neat start to your work.

They are something that I haven't usually attempted, prefering to start with a few linked chains.  When I made my very first hat I didn't know about the magic circle and ended up with a hole in the middle: hence the flower and button.

Over the last few weeks I have become a bit of an expert, well sort of - not all of them are perfect, the gaps in the middle could be smaller - but they will do.  So far I have made these twenty-two...

 
 ...plus a further thirty.  They form the centre of each of the hexagons, that make up my blanket.

Happy crocheting!