Tag Archives: Let’s get crafting magazine

I’ve been a bit knitty

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The plan was practise my new knitting technique and make myself a garment.Then I rethought that because that would mean a whole new order of yarn and I had other plans for my gift card – as you know – so decided to make some little garments for a friend’s baby, with some of my leftover yarn. I’m not totally convinced they’ll fit, to me they look too teeny tiny tiny for her, but it’s hard to tell. We’ll see.

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This is not a posed photo, although it looks like it might be, I was actually showing Mum what I’d been knitting lately and doing the beseeching look which tries to convey ‘I’d LOVE to sew these up but would equally LOVE it if you want to offer to do them for me. In fact that would be super all round.’ No go. Even when I bluntly asked her she laughed and said no. Pah!

Cabled bag – finished!

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IMG_2402IMG_2404Fully lined, machine and hand sewed. IMG_2419

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The pattern is in Let’s Get Crafting Magazine, issue 48 and is designed by Wendy Mould. The yarn was from a stash of fairly old King Cole Denim acrylic DK I was given a few years ago.

Now I have newly refreshed confidence to line something I’m imagining all sorts of little knitted and crochet bags, just because I can.

Cable knitting

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I’ve wanted to learn to cable to for a very long time, but have been concentrating on crochet so obsessively for the last 18 months (had you noticed?) that I put it off. I’ve also always felt that my yarn holding technique was inferior because I hold my right needle from above and take my hand off the needle to wrap the yarn. Do you know what I mean? Lately I’ve seen You Tube knitters, John Lewis demonstrators, a Mollie Makes ‘How to knit’ demonstrator on video and a knitting teacher do the same!

I learnt to knit when I was a child and found it the easiest method despite Mum telling me it was wrong (she still says I should learn to hold the right needle underneath and wrap the yarn ‘properly’.) Admittedly I do think that my Mum and Gran’s method of holding the needle underneath, sliding the hand along to wrap the yarn in a fluid movement is faster and more efficient but it seems nearly impossible to change an ingrained habit. However the knitting teacher said my method is fine, very common and is called ‘throwing’!

My tension looks fine to me, would you know which method was used?

(Upside down pic!)

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Last week I bought the latest Let’s Get Knitting and Crochet mag, which I haven’t bought for a while because I’m subscribed to Mollie Makes and Simply Crochet, but there is a really sweet cabled bag in issue 48. The problem is that you only get very sketchy instructions with LGK&C so I just couldn’t work it out.

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Last night I learnt to cable with a little help from the book that I heard thud onto the door mat as I typed yesterday: Knitty Gritty. This is my first attempt and you can see I didn’t have an issue with the technique. I’m so surprised! I always thought that cables would be very hard and beyond my skill level.

Next I want to master intarsia. Watch this space.

What new skill are you determined to master?

Knitted

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I’ve been knitting again. Just a basic pattern, but fun and very fast to make. However it’s not fun trying to sew them up when you’ve run out of (magazine) yarn and have ends everywhere. I might make some more instead but with chunky I have in my stash; then I can dc them together at the end. Any excuse to crochet!

The weather’s cooled and feels proper autumnal so I’m going to make a beef in beer casserole later.

What are you planning to make and cook this weekend?

Safron’s flowers

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My friend Safron’s favourite colour is green, and when I offered to crochet her something she asked for flowers in different shades of green that she could play with; to make into brooches etc.

I turned to my crochet magazine archive for pattern inspiration, and also made up another few simple flowers…

I’m looking forward to seeing what Safron makes with her flowers.

(Did you spot the one that looks like a cauliflower?!)

In other news: Guess what?

Prachi’s bag has arrived and she was delighted with it!

“Let me start with a big big HUG and THANK YOU for the lovely, lovely bag you made for me…it’s so beautiful, and already the envy of my colleagues! My apologies that you had to wait for so long and get worried about it not turning up…I guess it did take a while to reach, but due to some last-moment work plans I too have been out of the area for about 10 days now……Been very swamped with work lately, so this present has not only made my day but my week and month! It’ll hold my everyday items nicely and will be ideal for walks around town…love that I can knot up the strap and adjust it according to my need, very funky touch that is…and the colours are gorgeous…Rachel, you’re one talented lady, and prompt and super-thoughtful on top of that :) :) :).”

*Blush*

SOoOo glad it finally got to Prachi and most importantly that she liked it. :-D

Winner!

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I had a delivery at lunchtime and assumed it was a belated birthday present but no – I had won a raffle type competition with Let’s Get Crafting magazine!

When we were away I had an email telling me I had won a blog giveaway. I rarely win anything so the fact that now I have won twice in a fortnight is amazing!

I’m still waiting for my other prize to arrive so I’ll show you my goodies from that another time.

Here’s today’s lovely surprise…

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Practice

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I wanted to crochet something quick and bright using the recent Let’s Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet yarn the other evening, so I dug out an older edition and made this bag. This was the -almost- finished version with two identical sides double crocheted together. (I obviously also did another row compared to the pattern.)

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It was good to practise because all the the stitches are double trebles, which I haven’t really used since making the chunky seashell scarf, and a few for the garland (which I’m told is now hanging in baby Alice May’s bedroom along with one of the crocheted birds, see 14th January post – sorry but the linking thingy here is not working today.)

It was fun to use the bright colours and practise ‘that’ stitch again, which incidentally is dead easy, but I baulked at actually crocheting a handle and making it up. Recently I’ve been thinking about what to do with what I make much more. I started the 100 ch then frogged it. The ‘bag’ is now a bunch of small balls of brightly coloured yarn on the bed in here; The Little Room.

I told you it was practise. ;-p

EDT: I realise that my widgets have slipped – oh the horror! – but I’m waiting for WordPress Support to get back to me on the issue. I think I have gremlins!

A little crochet and Royal Cake

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I finshed this book earlier. It’s an extremely easy read and described as a ‘cosy mystery’ in the States apparently. I’ve never sampled a knitting murder before, as gruesome as that sounds….!

Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Co-Op, Martin’s Newsagents, a little Post office/general store – no magazine joy. Superstore Sainsbury’s further afield – BINGO! I was so happy I took this photo to mark the occasion. I need to subscribe; since I really would miss making fun of some of the patterns and miss out on the good ones. I’m not about to highlight the funnier ones now. Well, apart from to ask: would you like woolly gnomes in your garden or to create woolly ice-creams? If the answer contains a yes this is definitely the buy for you this week. Grin.

Thank you for all your lovely, lovely comments about the wonky-middled Blooming Flower cushion back. It’s not that I didn’t take any notice but I can be a bit of a perfectionist. Knowing I am capable of making something much better, and giving a wonky one as a present to a little sweetheart for her 4th birthday would have made me feel rather uncomfortable. It’s all good crochet practice too. The colours are better in my second version of the cushion back too. I just need to dc it together with the front.

We’ve just had a delivery of ROYAL CAKES. Yes! Properly ROYAL CAKES.

For the Diamond Jubilee the Queen and Prince Philip are holding celebratory tea-parties around the country. People were invited to take part in a free lottery to attend. S’s parents were successful and have been to Henley upon Thames this afternoon to have tea ‘in the presence of the Queen.’ They were very close to both, about 4 feet away apparently at one point, and dropped in on the way home to give us two Royal Brownies (seems fitting to use capitals somehow) that my MiL sneaked out in a paper cup. So sweet!

Apparently the steam powered barge the Royals travelled upon down the Thames, during the main Jubilee celebratory weekend, was moored on the river and there were a number of other boats. It sounds like the tea was quite a spread too. Jealous! But sneezing and wheezing all over the Royals is pretty uncool I imagine.

Sorry folks, I can’t hang about. I have a ROYAL Brownie to consume. :-D

PS: I bet it’s calorie-free being Royal and everything too.

Knitted

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It’s finished. I’ve used a wooden flower bead as a button. This was from a bracelet bought in Pakistan by a colleague a few years ago. The bracelet was lovely but sadly broke not long ago so I kept the beads to use sometime.

There’s a couple of rows of pink at the bottom of the cover, why not make it really bright, I decided. I almost want to buy an ereader now!

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An urge to knit

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I haven’t knit anything since the purple and green scarves I made last winter, but I’ve had such an urge to pick up the knitting sticks that I’ve started a little project.

The pattern is in issue 41 of Let’s Get Crafting magazine. It looks like a simple rib but it’s a bit more interesting to knit than that; it’s fisherman’s rib and you go into the space below the stitch for the knit part of the rib. It’s a knit one below (k1b) stitch and makes a very ‘springy’ fabric.

I’ve never used bamboo needles before and it makes me think that if I was stranded with wool and only a pair of japanese chopsticks (pointier ends than their Chinese counterparts) then I could knit up a scarf…

I don’t actually own an ereader, I’m an old fashioned paper and ink sort of girl. I’ll have to offer the finished item to someone who does.

I prefer the green in the magazine but I used it all on the summer flower garland, so I’ve used the other green in the pack. Not so nice but the Stylecraft DK I have isn’t as thick, even though both are technically DK.

I have to admit that this superb little fruity item might have inspired my urge to knit. Have a look if you haven’t ever seen Meredith’s One Sheepish Girl blog.

Summer Flower Garland

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I planned to make this garland as a quick easy project, a break from crocheting the mega Rhubarb Ripple and Spring Flowers blankets. I saw the pattern in my crochet magazine last weekend, started it last week and finished it on Saturday, basically that was in two sittings. It’s fast, easy and satisfying to create.

I’m not entirely sure what to do with it. The Little Room already has bunting, a bird, three jars with crocheted jackets and Gilbert the owl, oh and the Yorkshire blanket. Less now is probably more; otherwise I might start having nightmares about waking up wrapped in crocheted strips, a big mummified crochet addict. I might send it to Alice May, I bet her creative Mummy could make a mobile or attach it somewhere to hang prettily.

If you like this and fancy a go at your own then grab a copy of Let’s Get Crafting Magazine for the pattern. I think it’s a goodie.

Happy Weekend Things

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::Halfway through the Rhubarb Ripple blanket now::The first in the series of books. It’s predictable and easy, very comfy weekend reading in fact. The UK edition was originally called ‘Diva’s don’t Knit’…there are lots of not-so-happy comments on Amazon about this; disappointed buyers expecting this one to have been another in the series and finding they’d already read it…just to let you know.)

::A charity shop find for £1:50. It’s JAM-PACKED with patterns (charts as well as written patterns, so I ‘might’ crack charts soon – but I’m not concentrating on this until the blanket is finished.)

::And this page which makes my strange joining obsession happy!

::Some more Spring Flower circles completed (yes, yes I’m darning in the ends as I complete a batch. I’ve learnt my lesson now…:-D)

I’m watching episodes of the BBC’s Little Dorrit at the moment, my lovely friend N has lent me the box-set, today’s episode was when Mr X gets the news about X (no spoilers from The Little Room, oh no – not from me!) and I confess to having to put down my crochet and wipe my eyes…

::Loving my bucket still.

::OOoh a new edition. This magazine is improving all the time. Now with great shopping, craft courses, craft holidays(!) and blog and knitting/crochet fiction recommendations. I tend to ignore the knitting patterns and power on through to the crochet, but I might head back to knitting one day, so I have saved a stash of the magazines for then.::NO NEVER (remember my 1970s poodle wine bottle cover and Barbie toilet roll cover comment?) Susie Johns what were you thinking??!?…….This must have been a blip?

::Maybe! These are pretty.

HAPPY WEEKEND TO YOU ALL

HAVE A GOOD CRAFTY ONE

….maybe with a drop of something nice to drink…but please PleAsE don’t let it have come out of a knitted or crocheted bottle covered….ummm bottle. I implore you!!!!!

Sunny morning hooky

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Lovely bright morning for a bit of hooky.

I’m experimenting with this word hooky; it does have overtones of dodgyness to my sweet innocent mind. Hooky though seems to be what the happening crochet kids on the block are saying, so if I wanna be kool I’ll give it a whirl…

The plan was to make wristwarmers now I’ve got the yarnalicious stash, but then I began wondering if I really, really wanted to wear rainbow coloured wristwarmers when I’ve got around four pairs of gloves already.

Let’s get Crafting magazine did a twitter poll the other day asking their “Question of the Week: do you still buy #knitted & #crocheted garments from shops or do you prefer to make everything yourself? #craft”

…and my reply was:  “I’m not that talented and actually some machine made knitted items look far better than handmade. #honestopinion” and that really is how I feel about lots of home-made do-dahs.

Controversial?

So, I’ve decided to start a Granny stripe blanket for the little girls I love to be Aunty Rachel to. They apparently like to snuggle under a fleecy blanket sometimes to watch tv, but I think a GS snuggly soft (reliably machine washable I’m told) Stylecraft yarn blanket is the way forward for them. :-D

Deciding which colour comes next is the challenge at the moment. I’ve completed two colour stripes now and do I go purpley again or change to pink? Dark or light? I’m off to ponder one of life’s happier and easier choices.

PS: it’s been flowerarama this week so a pint glass had to suffice for my second bunch of daffs!

The latest mini project

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Yesterday I thought I’d try making the little granny squares baby blanket from the new Let’s Get Crafting magazine which I got yesterday.

I get a bit bored with granny squares but the finished thing looks so nice.

The yarn kit has the nicest colours yet…

I crocheted the squares quickly and enjoyed using the yarn, as opposed to the cotton I’ve been using for the Hilton crochet. Yarn, even acrylic stuff, is so much softer and ‘moves’ nicely!

Lovely colours aren’t they?

I crocheted 3 more squares and that was it – the 9/9 complete.

Then I tried to crochet them together using slip stitches into the outer loops, rather than the matresses stitch recommended in the pattern.

And that is another story….

Waiting…

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It’s Saturday morning and I’m sitting up in bed checking out some of my favourite blogs, sipping from my pint mug of jasmine tea and waiting for the latest copy of Let’s Get Knitting and Crafting magazine.

I looked in three shops yesterday and none of them had the mag, so today is the day!

It’s baby focused which doesn’t really excite me but the magazine usually has some small and fairly mixed patterns, for beginners and intermediate crocheters and knitters. I’m looking forward to a new supply of yarn. It’s not the greatest quality but is good for practising new stitches and designs.

By the way; do check out the latest from Lucy of her fab Attic 24 blog and look at what she’s made now, she makes me laugh with her kooky designs.

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I love this subversion of the original.

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In other news: Mr Scrappy will be made up this weekend. Also the Hilton crochet is complete, that also needs to be crocheted together and the ends darned in…that is NOT going to be a fast job.

I can hear the front door opening. I’m off to grab my mag!

Happy weekend to you!

I never expected to say this….

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…but in November I was crocheting robins!

They had come to a pause until I found toy stuffing in a local shop (Darn it and Stitch in Oxford.) Haberdashry shops are few and far between these days. The robin pattern was found in the Christmas makes editon of the excellent Let’s Get Crafting Knitting and Crochet magazine. For the first robin I used the kit wool, and copied the instructions. Then I bought a cheapo ball of brown acrylic for the second; after all robins are not yellow and red! I tweeted the designer, Lynne Rowe, at the time and she said she had run out of other colours to use in the yarn kit, which is sold with the magazine. Fair enough, as the pattern is the most important thing.

I needed to think about what to use for his eyes and then sew up his bottom properly!

The ‘evil’ crocheted robins!

I will have to invest in some toy eyes if I make these again…

See you soon,

Rachel

Crocheted jar cover

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I spent my Friday evening crocheting this jar cover while sipping Lady Grey tea. I’d decided to give alcohol for January so was feeling very cleansed and virtuous. That was until, fast forward to Saturday lunch, The King’s Arms in Oxford when I finished my lovely cool pint of lager shandy and looked at my friend in horror; I’d totally forgotten I wasn’t meant to be drinking! After the 3 mile walk into town it had felt like the perfect drink. Oops.

I would really love a perfect bottom (hey, don’t we all?!) but it takes practice I guess. I am perfectionist and there are a few flaws if you look carefully.I made my own wiggly up and down pattern for the top: 3 trebles then 3 doubles repeated. The start of the design was from a Let’s Get Crafting pattern for a crocheted ‘jar’ by Lynne Rowe, but you can see where I carried on crocheting and got carried away from the white sticky outy row onwards, it’s meant to be where the last two rows of crochet fold over at the top. I kept the textured sticky outy bit (technical talk?!) because I liked it. I think I’ll do that again. You basically stop going around and around, turn the crocheted so you are now looking at the inside or the outside and go into the back loop only for the stitch. There are possibilities for more texture in dimensional projects me thinks….

The yarn, by the way, was horrendous to use as it kept splitting. It seemed more man-made than anything I’ve ever used before. But I like the colour combination. It’s very seasidey.

Crochet 2011

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Here as promised are some of my very first crochet projects, all from last year.

I’m not pretending to be a crochet expert and this blog is really going to be a journal of my progress and keeness! I also might occasionally be having a temper tantrum when something goes wrong, or be asking for help of course…

A friend wanted an iphone case and LOVES bright green and orange. This was my first attempt…

And here’s the next…

She said it could be even  BRIGHTER than the prototype…

It has visible flaws but I was fairly pleased with it at the beginning of the year; as one of my first projects.

Crocheted bowls which I filled with shredded tissue paper and added chickens with chocolate eggs for an easter gift.

George the egg cosy. He’s larger than your average egg cosy, but I love him. I’ve also crocheted Henry, his brother. They are now living in London and Oxfordshire.

Those are VERY bright squares eh? Not exactly the colours I’d usually choose but it was leftover Let’s Get Crafting mag yarn. I obviously needed to block these before doing the edging. Oops. I didn’t want to undo it and start again because by then I was on to the next project. I gave it to some little girls I know to cover their mini baby dolls with!

I still haven’t blocked anything yet, but will have to sort out how soon…

Even brighter crocheted bunting I made a week ago!

I used Nicki Trench’s pattern from her fab ‘Cute and Easy Crochet’ book (one of my favourite Christmas pressies this year), and the yarn is again from a LGC mag. I’m pleased with it and think it would be great to use personalised colours to make more as a gift, for a nursery or playroom.

Apart from that little lot I’ve crocheted cotton dishcloths, a bracelet (no, I don’t wear it!) ‘the evil robins’ as I call them, the stocking from my first blog post and many more bits and pieces that I’ve forgotten for now.

I’ve practised making granny squares and tried out quite a few stitches using this book:  200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets Throws and Afghans

Next time you can see more of what I enjoy seeing and doing,

Rachel

Crochet dreams

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When I was quite small I really, really wanted to learn how to crochet. My German Aunty and cousins had come over to visit us, bringing me a Sindy doll. They then sat and made crocheted clothes with scraps of wool, with no pattern! Very quickly Sindy had a huge wardrobe!

I was given a Ladybird Book of Crochet (I’d love to see another copy of this, but haven’t found one so far) and tried to master crochet, but it wasn’t to be. The drawings were all for right-handers. I have a Mum who is expert at sewing and knitting but not so much a crocheter. I did get the hang of chains but that was it. I went back to patchwork, embroidery and knitting.

The dream to learn to crochet must have been dormant for years because in 2008 I suddenly had a strong desire to conquer it once and for all. My helpful Mum went to her monthly Saturday craft group and asked a friend to show her how to make a Granny square. She then patiently showed me how to hold the hook, yarn and make them do what I wanted and I was off! I couldn’t get the hang of the fiddly central ring;  so just carried on trebling and chaining from Mum’s original foundation circle. I took my growing crochet to Yorkshire for a farm cottage holiday Christmas where as I worked it grew and grew while keeping my legs warm.

I finished the rug happy; although the middle is a bit wiggly since it was just a scrap of maroon DK, and the rest was oddments of DK yarn with 2 strands put together since it seemed to suit the large (6mm?) hook I was using. But, it does keep me warm when I’m snuggled on the sofa and as it was my first attempt I was thrilled with it.

Would you like to see it?

I took this photo when I was trying to really get to grips with crochet again last January, 2011, using this fab little book (pictured in the middle of The Yorkshire Blanket) which I bought from Amazon. Buy this book if you are new to crochet, or want to practise after a long break. I can’t recommend it enough particularly if you are a leftie like me. The illustrations are for both left and right-handers with very concise instructions.

I’m really enjoying trying new stitches, honing my skills and can’t get enough of doing crochet, studying crochet books, websites, the super Let’s Get Crafting magazine (when it’s crochet) or crochet blogs like the inspirational Lucy of Attic 24.

I found that I didn’t want to crochet in the summertime; because of sweaty hands I reckon and it can be hard to crochet while drinking G&Ts too! Then when I was in Boston in September I came across a novel ‘The Knitting Circle’ by Ann Hood. It really, really inspired me to take up knitting and crochet again. It’s not the genre of book I normally read but I was hooked for a while on the Knitting novel genre.

What made you start to crochet? When did you begin?

Next time I’ll post some pictures of the first items I made after using the Crochet Unravelled book and Let’s Get Crafting magazines.

Very best wishes on the first day of 2012 to you!

Rachel

From The Little Room of Rachell

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Hellooo!

I hope you’ve had a good Christmas!

Today is the last day of the year and I wanted to start something new, so hello to you! Happy New Year’s Eve. It’s going to be a good year, I can feel it in my toes.

My blog will feature:

Places, food, crochet, knitting, nature and especially crochet…..it may also have a bit of Cath Kidson as I LOVE her pretty things.

I’m newish to crochet and am super keen on it. So, expect a few photos and words about my efforts this coming year, as well as some pics of the crochet I’ve done this year  in 2011.

The pattern is from Let’s Get Crafting Magazine and is one designed by the fab Lynne Rowe.

Next time I’ll tell you about when I started to crochet.

Until then,

Rachell