May

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Beginner's Guide To Crochet - A Blog Hop

A few weeks ago, whilst I was having my little blog break, I was asked by lovely Heather of the gorgeous blog Pink Milk, if I would like to take part in a blog hop.  The reason for the blog hop was to celebrate the publication of a new book by Sarah Shrimpton of the very inspiring Annaboo's House.

The book is called Beginner's Guide to Crochet - 20 Crochet Projects for Beginners.  It's a truly lovely book with wonderful projects and I really like the friendly, chat style which it's written in.  I have my eye on a few projects already....the little hearts, super scarf and Bertie & Betty Bear.

As part of the blog hop, all the bloggers taking part (and you can see the other lovely participating blogs here ) were asked to write a post about our beginner crochet experiences and to share either a crochet 'win' or a crochet 'fail'.

I learned to crochet around 2 and a half years ago.  I'd been desperate to learn for ages after seeing beautiful, colourful blankets on lovely blogs like Attic24 and Cherry Heart....I really, really wanted to make my own blanket!  I could knit already but I'm quite a slow knitter and I knew a knitted blanket would take me an age. I didn't know anyone who could crochet, so my good friend and I got together one afternoon whilst our children were at school and set about learning from various You Tube videos.  For the next week I sat every night when Miss M was in bed and practised, referring back to the videos again and again.  I think I drove G a little crazy!  There were lots of wonky granny squares and lopsided practise squares but finally it seemed to click.  One of the first big projects I made, was 

of course a blanket, and I still love it...

I loved making this blanket....I was so proud of it and I still am actually!  This blanket is really well 

used in our house....it's cosy and snuggly and I love the soft colours.  I think that if you've made something and over 2 years later, you still love it, then that's a definite crochet win!

Nowadays,  I always have a blanket on the go...

Actually, I always have more than one on the go...it's more like several usually, although I only have 2 in progress at the moment!  So that's my little crochet story!  Crochet is my absolute favourite hobby, it's so relaxing and it takes my mind off things if I've had a stressful week at work.  The only thing about it is...it's highly addictive!  But then another bonus is that you can make so many beautiful things with crochet...can you tell that I just love it?!  

I would love if you shared your own crochet 'win' with me...

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Crochet catch up

Although I didn't blog for a couple of months, I still did lots of crochet!

So I thought I would do a wee post of the things I made during that time.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen most of these photos, but here goes....

Owls, bunnies and chicks...just little gifts for my Miss M using scraps of yarn. I loved making these quick, sweet wee toys. The patterns are from the lovely Bunny Mummy blog and the Green Dragonfly blog. Links to both are in my side bar...

I enjoyed making pretty roses for brooches and for my little spring wreath...

A blanket for a work friends grandson. I loved making this blanket, the squares are so enjoyable to make. The pattern for the squares can be found in Granny Squares by Susan Pinner, one of my favourite crochet books...

I gave the little blanket above to friends of G who had recently had their first wee baby boy. They were really pleased with it and that made me so happy! The colours I used here are quite different to my usual but it made a nice change for me. The pattern is by Little Doolally, the link to her blog is again in my side bar...

Hope you're not bored of blankets yet?!

I finally finished the Camellia Blanket! I have to say that I think this is my favourite blanket yet of all the ones I've ever made. The pattern is from Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench...I just adore this book and everything in it. I gave this blanket to my lovely mum and she was delighted with it. I think I've said before that I just love making things for my mum, it's so nice being able to make something pretty for her as she does so many lovely things for me...

The striped blanket above I just finished on Friday night. This was a really quick make...just rows of half trebles. I used some of the new Stylecraft Special DK colours in this project and they are such pretty colours, I will be using them lots more, I just know it. I gave this to another work friend this weekend...I've been promising her a blanket for ages and she was really happy with it when I gave it to her before we started our shift on Saturday morning.  It cheered up a 7.30am start anyway! 

So...do you see a pattern there?! I gave away all of the blankets I made recently! But that means that the next one I make will definitely be for me!  Actually no, I have one in progress for my Miss M, she has named it her "Jelly Bean Blanket". Here are some of the squares below...

...so I had better finish this first before I start another one for myself. Or maybe not!

Thank you so much for the lovely comments left over the past few days, I really appreciate them so much and I'm enjoying being back here in this wee blog space again :-)

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Yarn ends...

Why do my projects have so many of them?

Why do I always leave them to the end?

When will I ever learn to weave them in as I go?!

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Well hello there...

...it's been a wee while hasn't it?! 

I felt in need of a break from blogging and to be honest I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with my blog at all. However, a couple of things have changed my mind...another lovely blogger (you know who you are!) and my very wise eight year old daughter!

I've still been crocheting, baking and sewing of course and over the next few days I will try to put a wee post together of some of my recent makes. 

Hope you are all well and have been busy  crafting and making too! I'm looking forward to catching up with you all....

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