Finished WIP: Bright stripe blanket

Way back in April I posted about my (then) latest WIP which was a blanket for my little baby who's on her way soon. Well, I can FINALLY say that it is finished!! I did a wee happy dance when I stitched the last stitch as this has been a mammoth project.

Here it is all finished!

Folded in half!

Look at those vibrant colours!

 It is so large I struggled to get it all in the picture at the same time!

It's too bright for Squeak...

Now for some blanket facts:

154 stitches per row (double crochet or single crochet in US terms)
180 rows
27,720 stitches in total
35 hours of crocheting

This has been an interesting project as I had no idea how big it would turn out to be, and a certainly had no idea how long it would take me to make! At times I thought I'd still be crocheting it while in labour! At times I hated it and felt like I wasn't getting anywhere with it. And at times I just ploughed my way through, ticking off the number of completed rows.

I'm glad it's finished, and I love the bright colours and how 'in your face' it is compared to all the other baby related items you can get in the shops. I'm sure this blanket (which is actually more like a rug in size) will feature in many baby pictures once Poppet it here, so watch this space!

WIP: Crochet with fabric - update

Absolutely ages ago I had the idea to dye and cut up some old bed sheets to use to crochet with. Well, I have finally gotten around to cutting the sheets into strips and I'm now in the process of stitching them together to make the 'yarn' that will become something.

It has been a long and faffy process not helped by my need to have everything 'right' so I can't say that this will become a regular occurrence. I decided to stitch the strips together rather than knot them as I want the finished article to be fairly smooth and comfy under foot. My initial idea is to make a bedroom rug so I don't want whopping big bobbles in it as that would probably hurt your tootsies!

If you look closely, you will see that I have stitched right up the middle of the strips as I found this to be the least fiddly way to stitch them all together, even though it's actually more time consuming. I think the row of stitching can be a feature of the rug! This did however mean that I had to buy more white thread as it just ate up all my supply!

I'll be back at some point to show you what it looks like when I crochet with it!

WIP: Bright stripe blanket

I'm currently working on a number of different projects, most of which are still a secret so I haven't been able to share my recent WIPs but this one is for me so I can show it off as much as I like!

'What the heck is that?!'

This blanket is for my little poppet (expected arrival early October!) and is inspired by a Milla Mia pattern I spotted at the Stitch and Craft Show. Their pattern is knitted and uses merino wool  but as I don't knit I decided to make it using good old double crochet! Oh, and I'm using Stylecraft DK as merino wool is lovely but out of my budget for such a large project!

Stripey, stripey, stripey!

I've no idea how big exactly it's going to turn out but so far it's shaping up nicely. I have another billion rows to go! As it's straight forward rows of dc it's great for the days when my brain can't cope with counting or tracking stitches (we all have those, right?). The downside is that it's a bit boring to be working on all the time so progress is sometimes slow but hey, I've got another 5 months to finish it!

I love that it's so bright and colourful which is a stark contrast to the majority of baby clothes and accessories I have seen so far. Don't get me wrong, pastels are nice and everything but rather boring sometimes, and I don't 'do' boring! I'm pretty sure my little poppet will be the only one to have something so loud on his/her pram!

Squeak wanted to help model the blanket!

Finished WIP: Ribbed cushion

A while ago I posted about a ribbed cushion I was working on, well it has been finised for a week or two now but I've been waiting for a bright sunny day to take some pics. So far that hasn't happened so I grabbed the 'big camera' and had a go at getting at least one good pic. It's amazing what a difference a DSLR can make over a bog standard point and shoot handbag-sized camera!

Clartered in cat hair - the cats love this one!

The ribbed side came out rather well but I didn't have enough to make the other side the same. So I pondered on what to do and decided to make it a basket weave pattern in a chunky cream. 

 

This stitch looks tricky but it's actually quite simple. I saw a great tutorial on Pinterest which got me off to a good start. I think  I will be making blankets and all sorts of other items with this stitch!

It's a nice chunky cushion which has become a firm favourite on the sofa. The only problem is that cat hair sticks to it and refuses to come off!

WIP: Ribbed cushion

After spending the run up to Christmas making things for gifts, I was ready to make a project for myself and after a bit of pondering I settled upon making a crocheted cushion. I've been inspired by one of the girls from Knit and Natter who has made a number of ribbed cushions and so I rooted about in my stash to see what I could find.

I had some lovely dark brown coloured DK (altho it looks purple in the pics for some reason) in my stash which is actually from my Granny's stash that I decided to double up to make it chunky. This meant I spent a couple of hours unwinding and untangling the wool and then reballing it ready for some hooking. It's amazing how therapeutic playing with tangled wool can be...

Ribbed double crochet

Bubble wanted to help model the cover

Squeak was too busy to help...

I don't have enough of this wool to make the second side, so I've decided to make the other side with a cream chunky wool which I grabbed at Hobbycraft over the weekend (£2 per ball!). To make things a bit more interesting, I'm making the cream side using the basket weave technique which another of the girls from Knit and Natter showed me. It might just be my new favourite!

What are you working on at the moment?

Shake yer pom poms!

My current work in progress involves my new favourite toy - the clover pom pom maker. This wee gadget is addictively (is that a word?) fun to use and so quick! When I was little my granny used to make pom poms using the cardboard circles technique but when I tried this a few months ago it was a total woolly disaster. Enter the pom pom makers which I found on t'interwebs for £6! Now I'm merrily wrapping the wool, snipping it and tying it off before shrieking with delight at the fluffy pom pom results!

Pom poms are easy peasy with this gadget!

Christmassy pom poms

My original idea was to make a ton of red, white and green pom poms in various sizes to put in this lovely glass bowl...

They still need a quick trim before they're perfect

But since seeing a pom pom wreath on Etsy, I'm now making them for my very own wreath! A bit of pipe insulation taped into a circle shape and some red fabric to cover it with a ton of pom poms on top will look fabulous. And so Christmassy! Pics to follow when it's finished!

I'm toying with whether to have pom poms in the bowl too or sticking with the baubles and LED lights I originally earmarked for it. I don't want to do overboard on the pom poms (so not like me to go overboard, I never ever do that, no not me!) so I think I will have to decide once the wreath is made and the other decorations are out.

And, just to show that pom poms do come in other colours, I have made these to turn into a garland for a little girl's room. What 8 year old would not want pink and purple pom poms hanging across their room...? Well if she doesn't like them I'll hang them in my bedroom!

I will have to give these away as they're a Christmas pressie...

But then again, I might just keep them!

Finished WIP: Christmas Stocking #1

I did it! Last night saw the completion of my first ever Christmas stocking and wow did it take ages..! It turned out better than I expected, considering I have no idea what I'm doing with these things and the sewing machine is still a scary piece of machinery at times.

First handmade Christmas stocking!

 I modelled the size on a shop bought stocking which we have used the last couple of years, and I actually did a happy dance when I compared them and saw that my stocking was just the same size and shape!

Using shop bought as a template saved a lot of aggro

This is Mr PC's stocking, mine will be a bit more contemporary than this one but it does mean starting the whole process from scratch again!

I think the pom poms look like mini snowballs

Pics of stocking number 2 to follow! What have you been making for Christmas?

Finished WIP: Hand warmers

Remember the granny stripe scarf? Well I've finished the matching hand warmers! They're not granny striped as I thought the would be too holey so I used a pattern that uses trebles and even learnt how to do ribbing which I'm quite impressed with.

 

Making the first one was fairly easy but as I modified the pattern, making the second one in the same size was kind of tricky even though I'd counted out all the rows and stitches. I just couldn't get it to be the same and it was driving me potty!  I must have unpicked the cuff about 5 times and was getting rather frustrated with it but I got there in the end. I do think I've made them a bit baggy as I hadn't factored in the stretchy-ness of the stitches, but I'll know that for next time. 

My current WIP is a granny stripe bag for a Christmas pressie, pics to follow soon!

Finished WIP: Granny stripe bolster cushion

I can finally share these pics of my latest project, now that I've given it to my sister for her birthday present!

A granny stripe bolster cushion. I made this up as I went along and I'm rather pleased with how it turned out! I even sewed buttons on so that the cover can be taken off for washing. Here are the pics!

Get your scarf...

...you've pulled!

Remember a while ago I posted about the ripple scarf I was making? Well, I got frustrated with trying to get the ripple to work and lost patience with it so unpicked it all (for the 6th time) and turned the scarf into a granny stripe scarf instead! After learning the granny stripe for another (still secret) project, I decided to make myself a scarf in the same style. And I think it turned out rather well. I'm really liking the granny stripe for the moment, so easy and looks great.

 

I made it fairly narrow so that it could be a scarf for those in between days when it's not really cold but it's not warm either. I'm also thinking it could be an all day accessory instead of just for outdoors.  It's a nice length too so hopefully it will look good worn different ways. 

I still had plenty of yarn left so I'm now making some hand warmers to match. I thought the granny stripe would make them too holey so I'm following a pattern that uses trebles (or US double crochet) which I found on Pinterest. I'm quite liking how they're shaping up, but I have to be careful to keep counting the stitches as I have a knack of adding stitches without realising! I've also learnt how to make a rib, so there's another stitch style mastered!

 

Again, I'm hoping these can be all day accessories a the yarn is not too heavy. And they will be so soft that I prob won't want to take them off!!

 

In other accessory related news, I've fashioned two scarves recently. One is based on the Mollie Makes scarf which you make out of a chopped up t-shirt and the other is from some gold jersey fabric I got at John Lewis. 

Mollie Makes scarf - before

Mollie Makes scarf - after

I'm not sure if I like this one, I feel it looks too much like a chopped up t-shirt for me. I'll have to try it with the appropriate outfit and see what it looks like. I also had to modify it slightly as my top was quite big around the body (I'm a big person, but it had also stretched) and so when I first put it on, it came down past my waist and looked daft. So I got the sewing machine out and shortened it a bit. This was one of my fave tops but it was getting old and kinda baggy in an unflattering way and I wasn't ready to part with it so it seemed liked a good candidate for this DIY attempt. The jury is still out though.

This is the gold stripe jersey scarf I sewed up at the weekend.

It looks a bit odd on the hanger but I think it's ok. It looks like those infinity scarves you can buy in the shops for some crazy amount of money but this was nice and cheap! I put a twist in it before sewing the ends together so it's got a bit of shape. This is also hopefully going to be an all day accessory.

And that's it for my latest completed projects! There are lots more to come soon as the sewing machine is now set up at the dining table ready for more action!

Emptying out my brain

My brain is getting full. Full of ideas, things that need done, things I want to do, things that need planned and things that need thinking about. It is times like this that I look out some paper and a pen and start writing it all down. My iPhone has an app for making lists but there's something about actually writing it down that makes me feel like I've achieved something. And the satisfaction of ticking things of the list, well...

Yesterday I dug out a notebook to start on the list writing. There is so much in my brain at the moment that for the first time ever I've actually written a list of lists that I need to make. So far I have 13 items on this list and these are just the ones off the top of my head, if I put some more thought into it I could probably bring that to 20!

time for a brain dump!

Today I'll be on a long car journey (this is a scheduled post) so the notebook is coming with me and I'll be writing the lists and dumping all the stuff out of my brain to make way for new thoughts and ideas and then everything will stop being a jumbled up mess in my head. Ooh, it feels good even just thinking about that! Please note I will be a passenger as Mr PC will be driving so that I can a) make my lists b) get some crochet work done on a secret project which I will share soon.

Are you a list writer?

Finished WIP: Hoopla Mat

This has been my quickest crochet project in a while and I must say I'm rather pleased with it! In my last post I mentioned that I ran out of yarn, well after a rethink I unpicked it all and started again but this time making the mat in a circle.

At first I was having problems getting it to be flat as it was turning out to be rather bowl-shaped but after finding this video on YouTube I figured out where I was going wrong. So here it is, the finished article!

I took it along to Knit and Natter on Wednesday and as there is a bit of counting involved, I had to unpick a few times cos counting and chatting at the same time is a bit tricky! I was also running out of yarn, so the last round is actually just a round of double crochet instead of the trebles that the other round are made of. And in true irritating style, I ran out of yarn with just 4 stitches to go! AARRGGHH! But I don't think it notices too much really, so hey, ho!

In hindsight, I think the mat would have been a lot bigger if I had used a smaller hook as I used an 18mm (the one Mr PC made me). I think I could have used a 10 or 12mm and got a few more rounds in. So lesson learned for next time!

PS. Have you entered my giveaway yet??

WIP: Hoopla mat

I recently discovered Hoopla yarn and have had a bobbin for a while. Mr PC finally got round to making me a super size crochet hook and so this weekend I got working on a new bath mat for the bathroom. I know that's a bit random but I didn't know what else to do with it. As it is actually t-shirt material, I think it will make a good bath mat as it'll be washable.

 

I've used a whole bobbin here and the mat is only about half the size I want, so I might have a rethink and make it a circle instead. Or I might buy another bobbin but at £8.99 they're not exactly cheap. When I find my thinking cap, I'll pop it on and see what I come up with.

Look how big and chunky it is though! 

Back to the super hook made by Mr PC, how about this for a crochet hook!

Now, it may not look that big in this pic but when you compare it to a 3.5mm hook, you can see its mammoth proportions!

Measuring 15mm, it's fairly large and ideal for chunky crochet. It's surprisingly easy to work with at it's quite light. Thank you Mr PC!

WIP: Becoming a bona fide business lady - update 1

In my last post re this WIP, I talked about the first steps I took to becoming a proper business. Well, the business course is over with now and for the most part I found it very interesting and helpful. Although, I haven't done anything with my profit and loss or cash flow sheets since then... numbers are just not my forte!

Today I want to update you on the most recent developments:

• Princess Crafts products are now stocked in two shops - The Traditional Vintage Flower Company and Make Do and Mend. This makes me feel like a proper business!! And there's a long list of shops still to be contacted for opportunities!
• I have two blog sponsorships here and here plus another one in the pipeline for the beginning of August.
• I'm organising my very own craft market in August. This scares me but it's so exciting!
• I have a number of events booked between now and Christmas plus a few more in the pipeline.
• And I'm working on some new ideas for product lines and there is plenty more to come in the next few months!

Phew, that's just the highlights from the last few weeks but it does seem like things are coming together now and hopefully the run up to Christmas (sorry to say the C word!) will be busy and exciting!

WIP: Granny Squares - update 2

In a previous post I wrote about my growing pile of Granny Squares and I just thought I'd let you know that these are now all crocheted together and I'm now working on the edging to finish off the blanket!

I have no pics of this current stage as I'm too eager to get it done and show you the finished article in all its glory (a bit like a painter who won't show his work til it's finished).

If anyone knows of a good edging I could use to finish it off, please let me know! Watch this space for the finished pics...

My next crochet project might be to have a go at one of these. I just HAVE to know how to make these ripples!!

WIP: Becoming a bona fide business lady

To date, my biggest (and possibly most scary) WIP is turning Princess Crafts into a proper fully functioning business that earns me some pennies and gives me the job satisfaction I deserve (and have yet to find in a 'proper' job).

For the last six months or so, I've been fannying thinking about with tons of ideas in my head about what I can do, could do, should do, want to do. I'm good with ideas but putting them into practice is sometimes a bit more tricky. It was time to give myself a kick up the bum. So, on 1st May I registered as self employed and now I have to do everything proper and not just diddle about here and there and actually make a huge concentrated effort to make it work. Eek!

I went to the local business development agency in Braintree and was mega surprised to see how helpful these peeps are to folk like me! There's so much support for new businesses out there, I never knew about. I had a chat with an advisor who helped me realise it was time to get my act together and do something about it. Double kick up the bum.

And now I'm doing a business start up course which is FREE! Five whole days of free expert advsie from loads of fab people who have been there, done that and made a business work!! Wowee!!

Yesterday was the first day and I learnt loads. Still got 4 days to go but it's exciting and by the end of it I should have a proper grown up business plan and some firmly set aims and objectives (and hopefully a clue how to go about trying to achieve them!).

Big fat book of things to learn about

Time to get thinking

Figuring out how many pennies I need to live on

Start putting a business plan together

My big fat notebook for important info to remember - a nice freebie from a Spa visit

So as far as a WIP this is my biggest undertaking so far and it will always be a WIP but that's ok because that's how a business should be. I want to be a proper business lady and I'm following my very own Yellow Brick Road to get there.