Feeding the addiction

Look what came in the post today!!

I ordered it immediately upon reading The Girl's post about  making a crochet cushion. Seeing that gorgeous cushion made me want one of my own!! The phrase ''see it, want it'' comes to mind...

So many scrummy patterns to choose from, I've no idea where to start but it will be fun deciding. It's a bit like getting a really good cookbook and spending aaaaages looking at the recipes before knowing which to try first. (or is it just me that does that?)

Another crochet inspiration comes from the lovely card that The Girl sent me a while ago. I definitely want to try this one for myself!!

 How cute are those flowers??!! Every time I look at this card, it makes my day, for many different reasons. And what a fab way to use up the little odd bits of wool you end up with. Waste not want not!

So this post is dedicated to The Girl, someone whose blog I eagerly read each day (in a non-stalkerish way) and also one of the reasons I'm developing this (possibly unhealthy?) obsession with crochet!

I'm hooked...

...on crochet!

If you've been following my blog, you'll know that I've been on a little mission to learn to crochet. Well, at the weekend I went to a crochet workshop to learn to make granny squares, and wow am I a bit obsessed now!!

I have always loved granny squares but they looked so complicated and I always marvelled at how gorgeous they are with all the pretty colours mixed in. Well the secret is unlocked now and I can knock up a granny square in no time at all now!!

This is my very first granny square:

It turned out a bit 'baggy' but not bad for first try. My second one came out better:

As you can see, a huge improvement!

I have since been working with two gorgeous colours, making pink and navy squares and generally practising getting an even tension. And I simply love how quick and easy they are!!

I've no idea what these squares will turn into but so far I'm having fun making them. I must buy more yarn as it is time to introduce more colour varieties!!

Tea cosies now in my Etsy shop!

Since making a tea cosy for my Nan-in-Law's Christmas pressie, I have been inspired to make more. And now I have two tea cosies in my Etsy shop which I am quite excited about! I have decided to make them to measure so each one will be the perfect size for their teapot.

Here's a wee peek at my first two designs:

Please pop over and have a look and maybe treat yourself/your teapot to a new cosy which will be a perfect fit!

Finished WIP: Cafetiere Cosy

Last week I posted about my first crochet project, a cafetiere cosy for Hubby's cafetiere. Well it took no time at all to finish the crochet part and then I had to think about how I was going to finish it off.

I used some spare insulating fabric from some tea cosies and covered that with some calico to make it nice and think. Then I used some small wooden toggle buttons and made some small loops to act as button holes, et voilá!! A crocheted cosy for a cafetiere!! Our cafetiere is now the best dressed in town!

Cath Kidston - SEW!

Last summer I bought SEW! by Cath Kidston and have drooled over the projects in it. Between one thing and another these last few months, I never got round to doing anything with it. But last Sunday, I found myself at a loose end so I decided to sit down and sew up the free bag that comes with the book!

The picture is a bit rubbish on account of it being such a dull grey day, but it is a lovely bright blue fabric with a country rose type pattern. Very Cath Kidston! 

It turned out smaller than I expected it to but it's nice all the same. It is called a shoulder bag so I was expecting a larger bag but it would be an ideal size for anyone who doesn't lug half their life around with them!

 

The bag looks a lot bigger on the front cover, doesn't it?

I found the instructions easy enough to follow but the book does presume you know what you are doing so I had to re-read some parts to make sure I understood it. I only had to unpick my work a few times!

I'm rather please with it and now I'm thinking about what to try making next.

WIP: Cafetiere cosy

Last weekend, I found a wool stall at the Chelmsford market and purchased some crochet cotton at a bargainous price of 50p for a 50g ball!

I'm fed up with the cheap and nasty wool that came free with that crochet mag so I decided to give this ago.

I love it!! It's so soft and quite fine in comparison to the yarn. So many colours to choose from but I opted for pink, navy and turquoise. These three colours look great together.

After a trial run to see what it was like to work with (much easier than the thick yarn I was using) I decided to crochet a cafetiere cosy.

 

As I can only do straight lines at the moment, it will be pink and turquoise stripey. So far it is looking good and I can't wait to see how it looks once it's finished! And it will have only cost a £1 to make :)

Crochet progress

A while ago I posted about teaching myself to crochet and so I thought I'd let you know how I'm doing with that. I originally bought a crochet magazine which came with hooks and yarn (read here for more) and while the idea was a good one, the magazine's instructions are far too complicated for a complete novice (ie Me) to understand. So, my Nan-in-Law gave me some instructions and after a few false starts, I was off!

Here's a selection of my crochet attempts so far:

The colour selection that came with the magazine was a bit random, and they kinda clash more than match! I decided to get the hang of the stitches before trying to follow a pattern. I can now do double crochet, half trebles, full trebles and double trebles!

I love the way this pink and green matches and clashes at the same time!

I have booked myself onto a crochet workshop next weekend and I'm uber excited about learning to do a granny square! I'm fed up of doing straight lines now, so a granny square will feel like a real achievement!