Crochet wedding blanket

Another of this year's secret projects has been a crochet blanket that me and a few friends made for another friend's wedding present. Now that the nuptials have happened and the new Mr & Mrs have received their gift, I wanted to show you a few pics of the blanket in progress so you can admire our handiwork!

Devising a layout

Lovely squares ready for sewing together

We picked a lovely selection of colours, loosely based on the wedding colour scheme and then used white to bring them all together. They worked quite well once we had got them done.

We each made a stack of mini granny squares and then divided the whole lot into sections to be crocheted together. Once they individual sections were done, we stitched them all together to make it whole and it was finished off with a row of double crochet in white. 

We used a double crochet seam to join the squares and made it a feature

My finished section

I don't have any pics of the finished article as it was wrapped and gifted before we cold do this, but we're sure the new Mr & Mrs will take it with them on many outings along with the picnic hamper we gave them.

Little boy blue

Earlier in the year I was working on a number of secret projects, and I am pleased to finally show you some of them! These items were all gifts for a new baby, my best friend's first little bundle of joy and I've been so eager to a) give her these gifts and b) to share them on the blog!

Cotton crochet bibs
Lovely soft DK cotton to catch dribbles and spills and keep clothes clean and tidy.

Cotton crochet booties
Proper little boy shoes, in super comfy DK cotton.

Crochet 'paper chain'
My 'boy' version of bunting. Measures about 1.5m and I added little ties so they can be easily hung/tied anywhere.

Nursing cover straps
These are a genius idea which I found on Pinterest - you use the clips to attach the strap to a blanket/muslin and then put the strap round your neck and use it as a cover while you are breastfeeding. This means total privacy for you and baby while the cover stays put without any effort. Bloody genius if you ask me!

Patchwork ball
Every boy needs a good ball to play with and this one is perfectly safe for playing with indoors. It's far too big for the little one at the moment but this is one toy he will grow into! It's also my very first attempt at patchwork after the pincushion I made at the patchwork workshop I went to. 

Coming soon to my Etsy shop

Last week was a busy week and I made a number of new memo boards ready for selling on my Etsy shop. These will be added at some point this week, but to give you a sneak peek here are some pics of my favourites.

I'll let you know when they're up for grabs in the Etsy shop later in the week!

Dinky crochet baby dress

I'm slowly finding projects for the 'posh' wool that I got at the Stitch and Craft Show and using one of the balls of Sublime Cashmerino DK, I've made this dinky dress for Poppet. It came out really small so I am wondering if it will ever fit her, but it's just too cute to modify!

The pattern said it was a 0-3 months size, and I even added two rows to the skirt as I thought it was very short. It still turned out super small, and it if doesn't fit her, I'm sure it will fit a teddy or dolly at some point!

I just love the colour of this yarn and it is so soft to work with, it feels very luxurious!

My aim was to share the link to the pattern, but it seems the website has been classed as an 'attack site' whatever that means!

Miniature dresses

I'm really getting into the swing of buying baby clothes for our little poppet. I'm now mostly needing newborn sized items as I have loads of 0-3 months size but as the current stock in shops is summery, I've held off buying for a while. As she's not expected til October, it will be a while before we need a summery wardrobefor her!

I have however, spotted some real bargains and bought two dresses recently:

This will be Poppet's first party frock, looks massive but it's 0-3 months size!

Love the flowery stitching detail and it has a fab tutu underskirt!

Bargain dress ready for Poppet's first Christmas!

So lovely and soft!

I'm always on the lookout for something nice for her and I'm finding some shops stock a nice range of baby clothes, like H&M which I haven't shopped in for years!

We are Handmade Event

A couple of weekends ago, I had a stall at We are Handmade, a great craft fair held in Great Dunmow. We had a really busy day and did most of our business in the first two hours! It also seems that the ladies of Great Dunmow are keen crocheters as my bamboo crochet hook packs were very popular sellers! Here are some pics from the day:

These giant crochet hooks are always a talking point!

Button rings - new product line!

Button earrings - new product line!

Vintage teacup candles

Knitting and crochet corner