Planning...

...to make some pretty summer skirts for my Miss M like I did last year. I have a wee bit of spare fabric to use up and I'm also going to Glasgow with a friend next Friday so I'm sure a little visit to Remnant Kings will take place...

...to make lots more of these closed granny squares to make a blanket. I love this combination of colours, they have a sort of soft, vintage look to them I think. The pattern is from the wonderful Attic24 and the link to Lucy's blog can be found in my side bar...

...I went yarn shopping with my lovely mum this week and chose this soft, pretty pink yarn and bright pink ribbon to make another little cardigan. This one will be for Miss M to wear with her little summer skirts. Again, I'll use the pattern for the Sugar & Spice cardigan from Simply Crochet magazine...

...I'm doing a craft swap with a friend. She requested a tea cosy so I made her this one...I must admit I really like it and now want one for myself! The pattern is by Bella Coco and the link to her blog is again in my side bar. There is a lovely clear tutorial and also a step by step video. Another friend has requested a tea cosy in the same pattern but she has a bright red teapot and so I'm trying to think of colours that would look nice. I'm not sure...any ideas?!

So those are my crafty plans...plenty to keep me busy over the next few weeks!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

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Jelly Bean Blanket

I finished Miss M's blanket over the weekend.  She has named it the Jelly Bean blanket which I think is as good a name as any!

The pattern for the squares is from the book Granny Squares by Susan Pinner. I really, really love this book and can't recommend it enough. The projects are simple to do but turn out so pretty. I think this is my fourth time using this particular pattern in a blanket...I just love the effect it gives.

I made 36 squares and joined them with a double crochet seam. The border is 2 rounds of trebles and then a row of shell clusters. I used a 3.5mm hook and all the yarn was from the Stylecraft Special DK range (love this yarn so much!). The colours I used were cream, lemon, spring green, clematis, candy floss and cloud blue.

So another blanket finished...I guess that means on to the next one then?!

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A week of pastels

I seem to have been surrounded by pastel colours this week! Which is fine by me as I adore these colours.

I frogged the striped blanket that I started last year. I worked on it for a while and loved the colours and stripes but the rows were just too long. I knew that once I decided it was too big I would never finish it. So this week, I finally unravelled it. I still love the colours and I can see a colourful granny square blanket happening soon so all those little balls of yarn won't go to waste! 

I bought the latest issue of Simply Crochet magazine last weekend. I don't think I've bought this magazine in at least a year, but I had a flick through it whilst I was in the supermarket and loved a few of the projects. So I had to buy it! I made the little cardigan above. I loved making this! It was such a quick and enjoyable little make and I'm delighted with how it's turned out. I had never crocheted a garment before and wondered if I would be able to do it. I made the smallest size but the pattern goes right up to age 8 so I think I'm going to make one for Miss M to wear with her little summer skirts. The pattern is called Sugar & Spice and is from issue 32 of Simply Crochet.

Miss M has been enjoying beading recently and made me a cute little bracelet in pale blue and pink.

I'm almost finished the Jelly Bean blanket. I'm working on the border now (my favourite part!) so should have it finished in a couple of days. Very surprisingly this is the only blanket I have on the go at the moment. I really need to do something about that!

Have a great weekend.

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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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