Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long

 

Hello! And apologies for the lateness of this weeks CAL post...I have been working the past two days and am only just getting a chance to do a little blogging.

To be honest, I haven't had a lot of time for crochet or any crafting this week as I was working all weekend too and unfortunately, the couple of days off I had were mainly filled with household chores!

Anyway...I am still making my appliqué blanket which I talked about here. The applique part is now finished and I have been adding a pretty little crochet border using some nice soft green cotton DK my lovely mum gave me. It was so very nearly finished....but I ran out of yarn! I will have to purchase some more really soon because my Miss M is keen for me to finish this little project as she has her eye on it!

 

What crochet have you been working on this week? As always, just leave a little note in the comments if you would like me to add a link to your post here.

 

Lovely crochet here...

Chrissie Crafts

Sweetpea Family

All Occasions Cards

Forgetmenotsblue

Three Stories High

Cosmos and Cotton

The Stitch Pattern

Love Made My Home

Sara's Crafts

Colour Me Crochet

 

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This Week

This week has been a week for...

 

Browsing my crochet books for ideas and also getting back into reading novels again. This dark and grey January we are having is making staying cosy inside with a good book a very appealing option. At the beginning of the week I finished The Proof of Love by Catherine Hall which I really enjoyed, it has stayed with me and I have found myself thinking about it quite a lot. The sign of a good read, I think. I am now reading Wonder by R J Palacio and I can barely put it down...

 

 

Going to knit and natter with a lovely friend...

 

 

Enjoying a bunch of colourful and pretty flowers...

 

 

Finally getting around to writing my thank you letters for Christmas gifts received. Using very pretty stationary definitely makes this a much more enjoyable task...

 

 

Making corners of my home cosy and pretty with fragranced candles...

 

It was a pretty good week altogether really! It's nice to have some time off through the week and now I will be working all weekend but I hope everyone has a good one, whatever you are up to.

 

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CAL and another blog inspired scarf

I have finished the scarf I was crocheting! This was very much influenced by a similar scarf I saw on the beautiful blog Coco Rose Diaries, which is a gorgeous blog with lots of lovely photographs and amazing crochet. I think it's fantastic how bloggers so generously share their work and I really get so much inspiration from reading other blogs, so thank you very much Coco Rose for sharing your beautiful scarf...

 

So, here is my Coco Rose inspired scarf....

 

 

I made this for my friend and I'm happy to say that she was really pleased with it. I am very tempted to make one for myself now (as I always am whenever I make something for anyone else!) I enjoyed crocheting this one so much.

 

So, a few details...

 

I used Sirdar Ella DK in shade 004 pearlescent and a 4mm hook. The scarf only took approx one and a half balls of yarn so it was really quite economical too. This was such gorgeous yarn to crochet with, I loved the shimmer running through it.

 

I adapted the Swishy Scarf pattern from Nicki Trench's Cute & Easy Crochet - I didn't want it to be quite as swishy, but more of a skinny scarf. So I worked 5 rows of htr instead of the 3 rows specified in the pattern. For the edging I worked only rounds 1 and 2 and then fastened off. And that was it!

 

 

It was fantastic to see so many of you link up to the crochet-a-long last week and great to see what everyone was working on. As usual, if you would like me to add a link to your crochet post here, just leave a little note in the comments...

 

Lovely crochet here...

 

Mereknits

Chrissie Crafts

Sweetpea Family

Gilly Makes

Colour Me Crochet

Summerhouse by the Sea

Forgetmenotsblue

UK City Crafter

 

 

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Enjoying Appliqué

 

I have caught the appliqué bug again! I really enjoy hand sewing and appliqué projects in particular - I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it actually. I was in need of a break from knitting and crochet so last night I decided to start a little simple sewing. I am currently prettying up a plain white fleece blanket with some simple gingham hearts. I am so enjoying stitching this, I did some last night and I am planning to do a little more today as Miss M has friends over and they are happily playing in her room.

 

 

I actually have lots more appliqué projects planned, nothing in my house is safe from my needle and thread now! I blame the book above, Make! by Cath Kidston. I have had this book for quite a few years, I picked it up again recently and remembered how much I love it, lots of inspiration for pretty projects most of which are really simple but effective.

 

Today I am joining in with Chrissie's regular Stitching Sundays post where there is lots more stitchy inspiration to be found...

 

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Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long

 

To be honest, I haven't really been doing a lot of crochet this week! I have actually been doing more knitting than crochet, although I did finish the crochet scarf I was making for my friend and I will show that soon...

I am still working on my blanket and have made a couple more squares today. This is quite a good winter project really, it's easy to pick up in between other projects and I like to have something like that to work on, a sort of slow ongoing project. The colours I think are quite spring like so I am hoping to have it finished for the start of spring!

 

 

I received a lovely surprise parcel from Chrissie in the post yesterday! It is a ball of gorgeous Lily Sugar 'n' Cream yarn in the prettiest colour way from her recent trip to the USA. I am delighted with it, thank you so very much Chrissie and I am really looking forward to crocheting a pretty washcloth with it.

 

What have you been crocheting this week? If you would like me add a link to your post here, just leave a little note in the comments.

 

Some lovely crochet here...

Three Stories High

Love Made My Home

Chrissie Crafts

Hazel's Crochet

Forgetmenotsblue

Mereknits

The Summerhouse by the Sea

Helena Haakt

UK City Crafter

Flowerhouse

Sweetpea Family

Toadstool Tales

 

G is away this weekend as he is taking part in the Strathpuffer event, crazy boy that he is. So, myself and Miss M are planning to go out for lunch after swimming on Saturday and then spend some time crafting and playing with Lego. Maybe a nice walk and a bit of baking too, we shall see.

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend, whatever your plans are.

 

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Mid-January

January has been pretty busy for me so far and I can't believe we are almost mid-way through the month already!

Here are a few things which have been making me smile...

 

 

A bunch of cheery daffodils...

 

 

My latest crochet project. A Coco Rose Diaries inspired scarf which is intended for a good friend...

 

 

My sweet Miss M had her birthday today! Seven years old already, I can hardly believe it. We had a lovely family birthday tea this evening. The bunting I made for her first birthday, it was one of my very first (very simple) sewing projects and we have hung it up every birthday since. We made 'top hats' because you can't really have a birthday tea without them here...

 

 

I bought this little tray in my local Shelter shop last week and I am delighted with it, it is so pretty...

 

Thank you for the lovely comments on my crocheted cushion, they are very much appreciated. Hope everyone is having a great week!

 

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Edited to add: Top hats are marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate (I used white chocolate) and popped in a tiny fairy cake case. Then a smartie dipped in chocolate is added to the top. They are delicious! We always have them at birthday teas :)

 

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A crocheted cushion for my kitchen

 

We have a papasan chair in the corner of our kitchen which I really love. It's a well used chair particularly by Miss M, she likes to sit there with her book and read whilst I cook or tidy up in the kitchen. I felt that it needed a crochet cushion to brighten the area up a little and add a nice homemade element to the space.

 

The yarns used were all DK from my stash, a mixture of Sirdar Snuggly and Stylecraft mainly. The back of the cushion is red. I chose the nautical colours as our kitchen has a bit of a beach theme going on. The pattern was a really simple one from Nicki Trench's Crochet Living which I blogged about here. I really enjoyed making this and I am happy with how it has turned out. In fact, I have another cushion on my hook for the living room from the same pattern because I liked making this one so much! I so enjoy making things for my home.

 

 

I chose some pretty buttons from my collection to close the cushion - I need to be able to wash this cushion cover as I don't have the kind of family that are especially good at keeping things clean!

 

Some more Thursday crochet here...

 

Three Stories High

The Summerhouse by the Sea

A World of Imagination

Forgetmenotsblue

Joyjinks Creations

 

 

Have you been doing any crochet this week?

 

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Happy new year...and a little catch up

Hello...and a very happy new year to you all! I hope everyone had a lovely time during the festive season? We certainly did! I very much enjoyed spending time with my little family and generally relaxing and eating lots of nice food. I also found some time to play with some yarn! Here are a few things I have been enjoying over the past couple of weeks...

 

 

I loved making this little crochet daisy garland to hang in our bedroom...

 

 

I crocheted lots of flower brooches as little gifts for my work friends at Christmas. The one above I kept for myself...

 

 

A basket of gorgeous pink hyacinths, a gift from my parents. I am loving these, the scent is just lovely and they really brighten up my kitchen table. I have also been enjoying a pretty bunch of mixed flowers bought from the supermarket this morning...

 

 

I treated myself to the booklet above. It is just gorgeous and I adore all of the projects in it. The styling is just beautiful and there is so much inspiration, I have found myself looking through it frequently whilst enjoying a cuppa...

 

 

I loved making this doily! The pattern is from the booklet above and it was really simple to do but so enjoyable. I have it on my bedside table and I am honestly so pleased with it. I can see me crocheting more of these. I have offered to make G one for his bedside table (I didn't want him to feel left out!) but he didn't seem all that keen somehow...

 

 

It hasn't all been crochet, I have also been doing a little knitting. I am making a pair of socks (on two needles!) for myself which I am hoping will be really cosy and comfy...

 

I have finally joined Pinterest and also Ravelry! I think I am very late to these particular parties! I am finding both sites so inspiring...hopefully soon I will work out how to add Pinterest and Ravelry buttons to my blog. Any tips on this will be very gratefully received!

 

So that is my little crafty update! I have enjoyed my little blogging break but it is also good to be back! I have lots of crafty plans for 2014 which I will share really soon. I hope to do some blog reading this weekend and catch up with what everyone has been up to.

 

Happy weekend!

 

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