Stripes & Squares

Posted on October 26, 2016 by The Little Room of Rachell

I darned the rest of the numerous ends on my ‘I don’t have a plan’ blocks yesterday. After a lot of walking at the weekend, aqua zumba and swimming lengths on Monday my knee feels sore, unusually since that’s a normal level of activity, but it was a good to sit yesterday resting it to sew and listen to my current audio book The Memory Game by Nicci French. They’re husband and wife writing duo. How do they agree on the direction of the story? Organise who writes what? You’d never guess it’s written by two different writers.

I really wanted to read One Small Act of Kindness after I’d listened to the superb A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon, as you’ll know if you saw this. But didn’t see it in my local charity shops, the Kindle edition is currently £4.99 and so I decided £1 would be well spent to reserve it from the library. The story is about Libby and Jason who have just moved to the countryside from London, one day a young woman is knocked down by a car outside and has lost her memory, no one comes looking for her and so Libby takes her in. This act of kindness sets in motion a chain of events…. It’s a nicer read after the violence and gore of the Jack Reacher I read last week!

I’m joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along again. And now I’m off to pack my case as I’m meeting a friend for a few days by the sea. Woo hoo cider, chocolate and seaside wandering!

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Ends

Posted on October 18, 2016 by The Little Room of Rachell

At the moment it’s all about the ends, or so I could say but it would actually be a whopping lie. I haven’t touched a needle or hook for at least a week! We’ve been away, I’ve been busy and the evenings have been full of the sofa tv combo, or early nights curled up reading up in bed. I’ll get back to the blocks soon.

As for books, I’m gradually reading Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series. This is only my third although I now have a small stack of them. I’m collecting them when I see them in charity shops and at markets. This one – urgh! – it gave me bad dreams the other night about a wooden box and being trapped. I think I’m going to have to read it during daylight hours and have something nicer to read at bedtime!

If you do want a nice book recommendation I’d suggest A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon. I just listened to this audio version and loved it. I’ve ordered the next book from the library, so I can look out for mentions of Gina…I have to know….

I’m Yarning Along with Ginny again this week.

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Week 4: CAL Blocks #10 #12

Posted on October 1, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#10 Openwork Square
It’s vital to check there are 33 dc at the end of your foundation row and I also found counting at the end of each row 2 a good check to make sure you aren’t missing/adding a stitch. Wibbly wobbly patterns like this are easy in lots of senses – they grow fast and aren’t tricky to do – but they can funnel out or in if you’re not careful.
I wasn’t sure about this after I’d crocheted it, S thought it “looks particularly 70’s crochet” and I reckoned it was a bit string bag. After a weekend away and looking at it with fresh eyes I think it might work well as a scarf design, if you turn it on its side and squint a bit.

#11 Baby Blocks
I stopped halfway and spotted a few places where I hadn’t crocheted the yarn in properly and so decided to unravel this block. I’ve just been away for a fab long weekend with a group of friends in the oldest recorded city in Britain (guess before you click?) and so I’ll do another version this week.

#12 Fine Lines
I really like this! It’s also one of the few perfectly 6″ square blocks so far.

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We are now a month into the Crochet Along! It’s incredible how fast time has flown.

How are you getting on? Is 2-3 blocks a week feeling do-able?

Week 3: CAL Blocks #7 #8 #9

Posted on September 21, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#7 Corner Granny
I like this pattern so much I made two! It’s my favourite so far in fact. I might have to try blocking for the first time so these are at their future best.

#8 Popcorn Flower
Not my favourite so far. Fiddly stitch and not that impressive for the yarn that goes into making these popcorns. Is it just plain wrong to say that getting the popcorns ready for photographing felt like XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (completely inappropriate for a crochet blog so have censored myself, but it did.)
I dislike the mid row joins too. This is not going to be a pattern which is doubled, eh?

#9 Arcadia
(Introducing my new colour – yellow.) Easily made but I’m not so keen on very holey patterns though the colours are pretty. It needs block-blockety-blocking of course.

Really looking forward to #12 Fine Lines next week, it’s pretty and has an easy rating in the book.

Come and join me on the CAL (crochet along) it’s not too late, and it’s fun but not too demanding crocheting 2-3 blocks a week :-)

Fishy popcorn

Posted on September 19, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Rainbow trout

Aren’t they beauties? We’ll be eating part of one (they’re big beauties) tonight – new potatoes, trout and salad here we come!

S has had such a good year for fly fishing that I suspect family and friends are beginning to smile with decidedly fixed ‘oh-my-goodness-here-they-come-with-more-bloody-fish’ expressions when we visit. There are several in the freezer now, so if you fancy one let me know ;-)

Practice block in Stylecraft Special DK, 3.5 mm hook.

Ok so Popcorns are not tricky exactly, just a little fiddly, but I’m just not a fan at this point. They don’t look very special to me, but I do love a good bobble stitch I’ve decided!

What are you making at the moment?

More importantly: what are you having for dinner?