Tag Archives: present

Patchwork Blanket – finished

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Between Christmas and New Year, Twixmas, 2017 I idly started experimenting with moss stitch (aka linen or granite stitch) as I’d been inspired to crochet some solid blocks of colour. See blog post here I didn’t want to end up with lots of pieces to join. They don’t always end up being anything, other than piles of things, do they? So I just changed colour on the last stitch and continued the next section. It’s a great lazy way to make a blanket, scarf or whatever. It was also perfect for using up some oddments after making The Blackbery Ripple blanket for a friend and Winnie’s Wave Blanket for another friend’s baby, earlier that year. There was no plan or agenda for the strips, it was lazy Christmas crafting which I picked up over the years when I wanted something fairly mindless to crochet.

Then a friend told me she was expecting her first baby. It’s excellent to realise you’ve got all the makings of a blanket.

And here it is, all finished and ready for baby Theo. Big enough for toddler Theo too. I never make hanky sized blankets which aren’t any use in the longer term.

Patchwork Blanket Details

Stitch: The blanket’s made up of 5 strips of 7 continuous blocks of colour, crocheted in moss stitch (aka linen or granite stitch)

Weight: 557g

Length: 40” / 112cm ish

Width: 31 1/2” / 80cm wide

Border: 4 rounds of dcs and chs, with a cute little picot edging to finish it off

Hooks: 4.5mm for the blocks, this makes a nice fabric, plus you can see the chain spaces easier than using a 4mm. 4mm for joining and the border

Yarn: all oddments of Stylecraft Special DK. It’s lovely, soft and very drapey too. (Collins English dictionary confirms drapey is British English. To be honest I thought it might be Rachel English. I do use quite a few of my own words…)

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Now what to finish next?

Yarn Along – January

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I’ve got some ends to darn on my cowl. I can send it to my friend tomorrow and then it’s officially my first make of 2021. Done. I’ll write up the pattern tomorrow.

I snuck into the Post Office yesterday to buy stamps when it was quiet in there, because the fewer the people, the better. The fewer the shops I go into at all, the better. Preferably one Grocery Delivery a week and if we haven’t got it, we’re not having it.

The News here is grim: we hear the number of deaths every day (I read this morning that we reached the total number of deaths in Australia in just one 24 hour period) that there’s a staggeringly high rate of new infections with the mutated virus which is more easily transmitted, and the NHS is close to being overwhelmed. I have had people who live abroad contact me, concerned about the news from the UK and about our third Lockdown, which came into force on Tuesday. Some are surprised. They thought we had it more under control here….

I am glad for books and reading. It’s even better than tv or films, for absorbing myself in other worlds and times. I read until 01:15 this morning. I feel very bleary today, but I got so wrapped up in Sophie Hannah’s Haven’t They Grown. Here’s a brief outline; Beth hasn’t seen her friend Flora for a dozen years, she passes her former friend’s area while taking her son to a match. Parking by her house, Beth sees the children again. Not sounding very exciting? Well the thing is that they are still precisely the same. Still three and five years old, twelve years later. What’s going on?

I’ve now read 58% of the book and really hoping the mystery isn’t going to be a massive let-down at the end. My mind is powering through all sorts of ‘explanations’ I tell you. Absorbing stuff.

I’m listening to Jess Kidd’s Things in Jars, this couldn’t be more different. Set in Victorian London it’s the tale of Bridie Devine, an unconventional lady detective who is hired to solve a very tricksy kidnapping. As with The Hoarder (Titled Mr Flood’s Last Resort in the USA) Jess Kidd writes in a very compelling way. She has such a unique style of description. The audio isn’t going fast enough, always the sign of a good book for me, so I’m listening to a chapter or two and reading a few as I go too.

Please take a few minutes to leave a comment: tell me what you’re knitting or crocheting? Tell me if you’re reading anything good, or is it bad? Is it awful? Are you just about to give up and pick something else? Maybe you’re not reading at all; you’re binge watching Netflix instead?

I know you’re still reading these posts, I see my WordPress stats and familiar names of readers on Bloglovin’ who have read for years and years. It was my NINE YEAR blog anniversary on New Year’s Eve, so WP informed me. Wheee! Can’t believe it’s been so long. I really appreciate you checking in every time I write, but it’s feeling increasingly like I’m calling into the wind. Tell me something hey? Anything. I’m winking at you.

Six

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1: Many, actually all, ends darned in on my patchwork blanket strips. Bouncy linen / moss stitch is very satisfying to darn into because the stitches are so bouncy. It was just doing it with one knee bent, so I didn’t hold the fabric with my right hand, that was tricky. I had to stop and move around frequently to stop getting pins and needles ‘elsewhere’ in my body!

2: An act of masochism visiting my favourite wool shop when I can’t craft? It felt a little like that last Saturday, but I did enjoy looking at and feeling all the new yarns and admiring some of the new colours. Things move on so quickly, don’t they?

3: This was taken in the waiting room before I saw the Hand and Wrist consultant on Thursday. I liked the way everything coordinates!

But as I told it then: “Don’t think for a minute you’re getting knitted sock. I’ve only brought you to show the consultant how I held the yarn, using tiny fixed circular needles and the repetitive movements which wrecked my hand in April!

I’ve had a hand x-ray and also a scan. He freaked me out saying it may be arthritis. I almost screamed, and did actually wail that I’m too young! Raised eyebrows and “Plenty of twenty and thirty year olds experience it you know…” the x-ray didn’t show signs of any though. Phew.

The consultant reckoned beginning 10 minutes of crochet once a week and increasing the time by 10% will lead to an hour eventually “And by that time – doing it for an hour – you’ll be bored of doing it anyway!” My turn for raised eyebrows. How little some people know, eh?!

Oh, when I said I’d have to give up on the idea of knitting my own socks and buy them from M&S instead, he did say: “But they won’t be so pretty.”

There will be no crochet or knitting for a while yet. This splint has a metal bar up the palm and has to be worn 24/7, apart from showering. I’ll go back for a follow up appointment in six weeks time. I really hope it does the trick, because the invasive treatment options do not appeal! (Huge understatement, typical of the English.) There’s no permanent damage to the tendons, thankfully, but it seems getting the issue to settle down could be tricky.

I can’t say this enough; if you’re knitting on tiny fixed circulars, or doing any craft at all, take frequent breaks. Maybe set a timer, so you don’t do too much in one sitting? This is *no fun* and no real crafting for five months (and counting) is the least of the general day to day soreness and discomfort I’m experiencing. But I know that it’s the kind of sensible warning that’s easy to ignore when you’re caught up in making. I did!

4: I saw Cathy had posted about making bookmarks on her blog and admired them, saying I’d have to make my own at some point. A few days later I received one in the post! It was the day of my initial appointment and x-ray, nice timing. It’s holding my place in Dewey: the Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the World by Bret Witter and Vicki Myron, one of my current reads. It’s a cute dip-in and out of story. Spencer, the small town, is in Iowa. The best aspect of the story is learning about the farming history of the area.

5: One of the salon dogs at my hairdressers. A cockapoo with a cat-like temperament, apart from when the postman comes every morning with a treat for her, and her golden doodle sister, in his pocket. She’s very stressed as you can see, it’s a hard life. This is one of the chairs in front of the hair wash station. Often when you sit on a chair they’re warm….!

6: A friend is moving back to Australia after living overseas for nearly 2 decades. In the process of emptying out her pantry she found five cans of chickpeas! So to use one can up she put together a chickpea and butternut curry. As these things go, she posted a picture of it on Facebook and inspired lots of us to make the same for our dinner the next day. It was just the perfect grey, cool day for a curry. I made mine with onion, garlic, root ginger, spices (ground cumin, ground coriander, chilli flakes, a pinch of ground cardamon, pinch of salt and grind of black pepper), coconut milk (light), about 100ml of stock, a 400g can of chick peas 400g of butternut squash and served it on on a bed of spinach. It was delicious!

Tell us your news, what you’re making, cooking or reading at the mo? Or anything else you want to share.

Winnie’s Wave Blanket

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And it’s done! I finished the little border on Saturday and feel really pleased with this wave blanket for a friend’s baby, Winnie. I wanted to make a big enough blanket for her to use when she’s a bit older; to be able to snuggle with her Mum on the sofa and so on.

The edging is perfect I think. It’s just the right size to frame the rest, without taking over in a ‘Look at me! Look at me!’ style.

The ‘wrong side’ above just to show you the back of the edging. The ‘right side’ is below. I do love the lines that you get when you crochet into the back loop of a stitch. I don’t think it matters which way up it is, as both look fine. This is a good thing as when Sophie’s only had a few hours sleep, I don’t think correctly placing a baby blanket is going to be a priority!


When I began this blanket in June (see this post) it was just to use up some leftover yarn and I didn’t have a specific plan in mind. I’m very glad it’s turned into Winnie’s Wave Blanket and going to someone I know, who is really grateful and looking forward to receiving it. And how considerate of Sophie to name her baby so well, so we can all enjoy a bit of alliteration! I’m really looking forward my visit on Thursday.

The details:

Stylecraft Special DK: 1. plum 2. grape 3. parchment 4. lavender 5. silver 6. stone 7. denim 8. sage 9. storm blue

L: 89cm / 35″ (inc border) W: 75cm / 29.5″ B: 2cm / 3/4″ W: 427g

Sorry, I didn’t ever count my chains but your tension will vary to mine anyway, just chain multiples of 10 (+1 for the turning chain) and see how you feel.

Pattern: Attic 24 Neat Wave  and my border was also inspired by Lucy’s Moorland blanket edging I preferred my 4th round to be the same BL dcs, rather than the slip stitch that Lucy used.

My timer has just gone off, so I must away and put my oven on to bake a couple of loaves of bread. I will back with some wintery pictures tomorrow, as we’re between ankle and knee* deep in snow at the mo!

 

Very slight exaggeration

Cosy

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Finally all the ends are darned and I can crochet the border! I can’t wait to visit little baby Winnie and give her this Wave Blanket.

It’s December 1st and so I’ve dug out my new-to-me books. I love reading Christmas fiction and a good friend passed on Coming Home for Christmas months ago. I think she’s got more for me too. I know she’s been looking out for them for ages, which is very sweet. I picked up The Little Christmas Kitchen in a charity shop months ago. Cosy reads for a cosy month. I’ve got several M.R James ghost storie anthologies on my Kindle, so will read some to balance out the gooeyness of the other books.

Talking of cosy; I’ve stocked up on Cadbury Drinking Chocolate and mini pink and white marshmallows too. I also bought a pack of All Butter Mince Pies yesterday. Well, you have to do these things right, and I’m not sure about icing sugar or frangipani topped pies. Isn’t that too much of a good thing?

What are you making, reading and eating at the mo? Go on, I’d love to know….

New knitting & Street Wisdom

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The best kind of post! I do love Lang’s Tosca Light wool blend (55% new wool, 45% acrylic.) I have a few scarves I’ve made with it and they’re so warm and soft to wear. I’ve been wearing my Hitchhiker a lot lately. It’s just such a good sized scarf, nice and neck-warming but not bulky. I see beautifully made shawls on Instagram but although I’d enjoy the making, they’re not my kind of thing to wear.

I offered to make Mum a Hitchhiker to wear with her black jacket and the sapphire looked like a really nice blend of colours. It’s gradually changing to to purpley now. That’s the thing about variegated yarns, isn’t it? You never know quite what you’re going to see next. It will keep things interesting when the rows of garter stitch become long.

London is now twinkling with Christmas lights and window displays. It’s lovely. Old Bond/New Bond street is one of my favourites this time of year. As you’d expect for a street full of designer shops, there are very upmarket lights and decorations.

I really shudder to see Christmas items appear in shops in August, but enjoy the lights in November. It can be rather a grey and dreary month, so a bit of sparkle and twinkle cheers everything up.

On Friday I met a friend and her husband in Covent Garden to attend something she’d heard about: Street Wisdom.There are opportunities to join groups in various countries in the world. It’s an interesting and FREE thing to do if you have several hours to spare. Here’s a little info from the website…

Street Wisdom is a global social enterprise with a mission to bring inspiration to every street on earth. It’s a technology that allows anyone, anywhere to get unusual inspiration from their everyday surroundings. Led by volunteer facilitators on city streets across the world, free Street Wisdom workshops give participants the skills to access the ‘invisible university’ that’s all around them and find fresh answers to personal or work-related questions – with profound results.

As I wandered the streets around Covent Garden on my quest, I couldn’t help taking a few photos. What a lovely row of window boxes this building had.

Interesting I found the signs and signals were drawing me to a cofffee shop! Isn’t Street Wisdom great?! It was cold and I was glad to be wearing my Hitchhiker scarf and holding a warming cup of mocha as I walked. When I found myself drawn into a Hotel Chocolat for these I wondered if I was mis-rereading the signals perhaps?! (In my defence I ate 3 and took the others home to share.)At the end of our hour long solo walks our little group met back upstairs in Le Pain Quotidien for hot drinks and to share our experiences.  I can’t say I got particular insights regarding the question I asked, but I really enjoyed the afternoon. I always find meeting new people interesting and with events like this anyone can turn up. The experience reinforced the fact that I do tend to notice what’s around me and always end up talking to strangers. I do try to appreciate the little things and look out for little acts of kindness. Even in a big bustling city like London you’ll see everyday, ordinary acts of kindness, with good manners in action and people generally behaving decently to one another. I shall sign up for another Street Wisdom session one day, it was fun. Maybe I could lead a group at some point too.

My reading this week is rather eclectic, shall we say. I’ve just started Born to Run, written and read by Bruce. He can really write, not just lyrics but what is going to be a very satisfying autobiography. The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon is the antidote after finishing The Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Laurence Durrell. I found it an absorbing read in part, funny and richly descriptive, but for the last third it became very dry, focusing on the historical and political situation. So I felt I needed some fluff next. I’m picky about fluff however; I can’t read any old thing. It has to be well-written and entertaining. Lucy Dillon’s books are definitely that, if you’re looking for a good read then go for A Hundred Pieces of Me. It made me laugh and cry and reassess what I own. I feel a bit guilty now for the fluff comment, because this is no silly chick lit, but I’ll let it stand.

What are you making this week? Something for you, or for someone else? Reading or listening to a book, or both?

Paused 

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Another washcloth finished. Yep, it’s the lettuce coloured one. A good stretch of ends have been darned on my Wave Blanket and I’m working on a second rectangle for a pink pot holder. 

If you want to make one: ch 32, ch 1  then into 2nd ch on the hook *1 dc, 2 tr into 1 ch then miss 2 ch, repeat * to the last 3 stitches, miss 2, 1 dc into the last ch, ch 1 and turn. And so on. My first rectangle measures 6” x 6 3/4”.  Dc both pieces tog, ch 2/3 at the corners, work 20 ch for a hanging loop in one corner.

My friend and her partner have bought a small narrowboat for weekends away. Being creative and quirky she fancies making curtains out of scarves, so after lunch on Saturday we went searching in a charity shop and found some really pretty silky scarves. She’s going to chop up and hem them to hang above the windows. They’ll give some privacy but will still let the light in. The overall look she’s going for on the boat is crafty with splashes of colour.  I enjoyed hearing about the Mexican tiles in different shades of blue behind the little black wood burning stove and her plans for a pretty porcelain basin in the bathroom. Looking for scarves was the kind of treasure hunt I enjoy. I’m going to make a few things for them and thought a pot holder would be useful for picking the kettle up. I use my grey one every day, they’re so good when you have hot pan handles. 

I’ve got really stuck into the audio version of A Year of Marvellous Ways and returned the printed book to the library. The author’s narration is spot on; I believe she’s an actress, which makes sense of her skill at accents and well paced delivery. In my experience most authors are dreadful at narrating their own books, but this one is a joy to hear.  

I finished The Ballroom by Anna Hope, and felt it could have been great but it fell short. By the end it felt like something was lacking; either satisfactory character development or a proper end to Ella’s story, I’m not quite sure what.

And now I’ve got this motley selection of books to choose from…

What are you reading and making? Have you also got a pile of books by your bedside? And, tell me what you’re eating for lunch at the moment! I made this soup yesterday (with a red pepper as I’d run out of carrots.) It’s good.


If you’d like to share what you’re making and reading every Wednesday too, leave a link to your post in the comments. Don’t forget to link back to this post on your blog, and use #yarningalong on social media, so others can find us and join us in Yarning Along.

Cozy Cowl 

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Happy May Day to you!

I’ve enjoyed making this cowl designed by Vickie Howell, which is featured in the book above. There’s nothing else I want to make from it but that’s the beauty of borrowing a library book; they’re free so there’s no feeling of obligation to get your money’s worth.

I feel a little as if my custard brain should have been able to figure how to make it all in one, with no sewing up, but I found making the ribbed border fiddly when slip stitching into the end of the main piece as I went. Having it dangling from the main body piece was just plain annoying too. So I went back to the instruction to make three separate pieces and sew them together. Whip stitching (we call this oversewing don’t we?) was novel as I usually choose to crochet everything together. Running out of yarn both times, halfway through the process wasn’t much fun. Isn’t there some useful tip about needing three times as much crochet yarn as you measure to the end of a row? Well, I figured sewing would take roughly double the quantity. Wrong!
To begin you crochet a fairly narrow v stitch body piece. Mine is 6″, each ribbed border piece is 2″ which adds up correctly to a  10″ cowl, though my swift tension check did not seem to correlate to the pattern at all. I’d anticipated needing to up-size my crochet hook so I’d already chosen to use a 6m, rather than 5.5mm and its worked out well, luckily. I probably need to learn to correctly check my tension, but when its 4.5 rows and 14 stitches etc it just seems far harder work to check than a pattern which states 10 x 10 = something easy like 10.

V Stitching into the front loops gives a pleasing texture when the piece is turned on its side. I like this pattern a lot, even with the slow putting together end stage and the cowl looks good on, only its not for me. I’m giving it to my friend as another birthday present, she’s going to wear in when she’s on her bike. It should keep her warm as the cowl is good and thick. I used the Red Heart Super Saver Worsted / Aran (Tea Leaf shade) which was sent to me from the USA for my Left Handed Crochet photographs for Red Heart Yarns blog. I thought this was a good use of some of the yarn. Now I’m on the look out for a really nicely coloured, soft wool blend Aran so I can make myself a Cozy Cowl too.

I’ve just had a sip of BrewDog’s ShipWreck beer which is 13.8%, matured in Speyside and Islay whisky casks, made with smoked agave. My lips and throat feel puckered from the inside out! I’m sticking with their IPA: Ace of Simcoe.


Just got this notification – 500 posts! How did that happen? That’s a lot of crochet isn’t it?!!

Timely surprises

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What a week!

I’d had a very efficient start to the year, getting all those boring but necessary appointments and tasks ticked off a long list. I was feeling rather pleased with it all last week. The Mister brought the first surprise – my favourite Austrian chocolates from Stockholm airport on his way home after a week working there again. It was great to see him, after all the socializing over Christmas the house had suddenly become far too quiet. Then…he started feeling unwell and coughing. I definitely wasn’t getting it too, so went to bed early, took vitamin C and started off the next day with a scratchy throat…

2015/01/img_4819.jpgA few days later my cousin sent me a quick message to say she had posted one of my Christmas presents. I wasn’t entirely sure why because we often have a late Christmas catch up a few weeks or months after. One year it was in June, to the amusement of restaurant staff who watched as we all exclaimed over pretty wrapping and enthused about a pile of gifts!

I’ve found this about last year’s late Christmas. I never really look back at my blog posts but I might start; to see what I was doing this time last year(s).
2015/01/img_4817-0.jpgAh! What a great present. I can totally see why she sent it this week. I’ve looked at those make an origami-whatever or solve a daily crossword type of calendars, but have never seen a crochet version. It’s an American product which my cousin saw in a garden centre here. I bet you can buy one online.

Because I have GOT to keep on with the William Morris motif blanket I haven’t looked all through the January patterns as it’s too tempting to start some, but there are a some sweet makes.
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I am itching to make those mitts. I’ve never done granite stitch but saw a Kat Goldin pattern in a recent crochet mag which uses it. That’s going to be my next new stitch soon.

The third surprise was from my friend who has been sent free tickets to go to Excel to the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show in March, and wondered if I wanted to go with her. Yes please, thank you actually!
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I haven’t really been able to do anything other than cough, ache, wheeze, shiver and groan crochet and watch Netflixs: Life on Mars, Black Books and the excellent BBC version of The Lady Vanishes, or listen to my current audio book: Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell. I’ve darned all the ends on the little doll blanket and now it’s ready to edge. I think it needs something very simple like rows of DC to finish it off, anything else will be too over the top.
2015/01/img_4837.jpgYesterday we both turned a corner, despite coughing in tandem at 5am. In the end we gave up trying to sleep and got up and made mugs of tea at six to take back to bed. Later I felt well enough to cook a little batch of cheese scones, then I collapsed back onto the sofa for a bit of Glee S4. But still, I felt better than I had the rest of the week.

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Last night the football was on and so I immersed myself in the new issue of Country Living which came yesterday. It’s a Springtime goodie and full of lovely designs in greens and blues. I became completely engrossed in this article about British hedgerows. When I’m enthused about something I can’t help sharing what I’m reading and giving impromptu pop quizzes. “So, how many thousand miles of hedgerows do you think we have?” “How many of our lowland mammals’ habitats are in hedgerows?” “How can you estimate the age of a hedgerow?” Luckily I get away with this and had some intelligent answers and a bit of chat, alongside the football commentary. The article brought back long-ago memories of a hedge layer giving my primary school class a talk and demonstration of his craft. It’s so interesting.

How’s your week been?

 

On the bright side

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I really fancied doing some more embroidery but thought I’d only do a little Thursday evening so as not to aggravate my elbow. I really enjoyed semi watching, mostly listening, to an episode of Lewis (the psychology student/psychics/elephant tranquilliser one) using stem stitch to sew the letters of my personalised tea towel which is to be a gift.

The arm was indeed a bit iffy Friday but hey ho, it was still a great day. A great week in fact, and generally all is going swimmingly. That is until 11:14 pm when the most ginormous spider hurried across the lounge from under a sofa to behind the TV. There was some wine or beer fuelled discussion along the lines of: “But he’s happy, let him be.” “He’s not leaving cobwebs all over my house.” “Don’t kill him.” “Don’t be ridiculous, you know I never kill them…” All this while I’m tipping a nightlight out of a holder and grabbing a postcard (flower fairies – such a pretty card that I carry it downstairs to recycle then end up propping it on the mantelpiece.) This spider is big and aggressive, he’s sassy and won’t be caught in a tea light holder and trapped by a flower fairy postcard. But we both know who’s going to win…

…in the end after a skirmish behind the TV stand it’s actually neither of us. He gets half trapped under the holder after I execute a niffy half turn when he tries to fox me, and head back to sofa-land, and I feel a muscle at the back of my knee go POP!

OMG THE PAIN.

Actually the spider was ok, no broken legs and I’m sure he enjoyed his flight out of the window to the garden.

Today instead of a super day out nerding with one of my favourite friends I’ve been sat on the bed with an ice pack and haven’t gone downstairs once; as I had to semi crawl upstairs last night and can’t bear the awfulness of needing the littlest room and the slow hurry. It’s best to rest it as much as possible too.

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This app is great! Although after quietly downloading it and trying it out with a few good dings, then testing the ring-a-ding-ding function with a good shake Someone marched into the bedroom with a grin and said, “You can get rid of that app for a start.” “But it was my nerdy friend who suggested I get it, to help you know when I need something!”

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The bright side is I’ve listened to a little more of The Goldfinch audio book, watched the first ever few episodes of The IT Crowd, the inflating boobies episode of Mrs Brown’s Boys (thank you free catch up TV and ipad magic) and downloaded some interesting looking free Kindle novels. There have also been a few homegrown strawberries, YUM, some cheer up surprises: mini Reeces, ice cold 7Up and as requested; a yummy Greek salad with pitta for lunch. The service is pretty good, the bedside chat could be improved but it’s tricky to provide uplifting banter when an important rugby match is on in the other room.

So, it’s after 5pm and I’m feeling a bit restless. Can you tell me something interesting, a story, a fact about yourself, a snippet from your weekend, whatever? A good link? Please. Chances are I’ll still be up here tomorrow so anything will be gratefully received.

Because it made me smile the other day when I noticed how tidy the Rhubarb Ripple looks amongst the other unruly blankets in The Little Room…

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Crocheted Raspberry Scarf

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The pattern by Rebecca Jackson can be found on Ravelry: Claudia scarf. It’s been in the making for several months as it wasn’t a crochet project to spend long periods making. It’s crocheted in 4 ply using a 3mm hook, so takes a bit (a lot) of time as I found it to be a little fiddly. It might have something to do with the hook I used. Perhaps Father Christmas might bring me a Clover Armour 3mm hook?

Details
Yarn: Sirdar Country Style, 4 ply – a wool blend
Raspberry – shade number 0527.
Quantity yarn used: 100g – exactly 2 balls
Hook size 3mm
Length: 67″
Width: 8″

I didn’t follow the pattern exactly as I couldn’t really see the point of breaking off after 85 rows and joining to the initial chain, so I carried on crocheting until it was the length I wanted, or until I ran out of wool. Happily both of these happened at the same time!

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I always thought the scarf might be a gift, but wasn’t entirely sure. When I tried it on I found it just slightly too scratchy. I think I’m sensitive to some wool or blends. A relative came to dinner earlier this week and tried it on. You know it’s meant to go to a person when she says “This will go really well with my black jacket, and my new coat.”

After a very chilly walk I’m dreaming of knitting a new hat next, chunky yarn here I come….!

Vintage USA Crochet books

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Last September I wrote a short Blogalicious post recommending Cassie Stephens blog. It’s so fun and often very interesting as you’ll learn about artists and techniques her school students are focusing upon . I sent Cassie a 1970s Simplicity dress pattern which I came across in a craft Charity shop last Autumn, it was just a little gift. A couple of weeks ago Cassie left me a comment asking for my address. Ooooohhh! I didn’t expect anything in return but I was taught never to look a gift horse in the eye, so emailed my details. A parcel arrived at lunchtime. 031 It’s so kind that someone would spend so much sending a parcel to a stranger, what a lovely thing to do.032Professional looking packing! What is inside??!! (Such a blogger thing to do; we can’t open a parcel, spot a huge spider or see a bunch of flowers without grabbing our camera!)033Moon Pies! I’ve heard of these but never eaten one. Woo hoo! Slightly squashed and a bit soft so I’ve put them straight in the fridge. It doesn’t matter, I’m sure they’re going to taste yummy. After a Winter drinking far too much hot chocolate and as many marshmallows as I could pile on top I went cold turkey in the Spring, so these are very welcome. Cassie writes that they’re ‘a made in Tennessee delicacy, right after barbecue and whisky’! Apparently the best way to eat them is microwave for 10-12 seconds and enjoy with a sugary soda. Can do! No issue with those instructions. At all. 043044 It’s a comprehensive little book, published in 1971. 045 046 Top marks for including a chapter for Lefties! This beats many current How-to-Crochet books.040 This really is treasure! I’m so pleased to own this booklet and will take good care of it.041 10 cents. 042 So, this was published in 1941, I wonder how far ‘away back’ they mean?047 There’s something about the girl below that makes me think of The Sound of Music. It must be the blond hair and hair style.038 I watched a friend tatting once, I’d never seen it done before and would like to learn sometime so I’m adding it to my mental list of skills I’d like to acquire. It’s growing all the time.035 Using a finer hook than I usually crochet with and fine crochet cotton appeals, but I can never imagine myself wearing a crochet collar. Maybe one day I’ll send Cassie one? I can somehow imagine her rocking that look in a vintage style dress with her usual aplomb.034 Pom-poms ahoy! 037 So interesting to see these diagrams. 036 Well, if you have been following my CAL posts since the beginning you’ll know that I’ll never be using the popcorn stitch for a whole bedspread! Can you imagine?! A row or so of blocks for one end would be painful but ok, but urgh a whole bedspread full of blocks would be way too many! But looking at the picture I wonder if the USA popcorn stitch might be the UK bobble stitch? I need to check the stitch details. Things might be looking up for this bedspread.039It’s interesting to see which of these companies, threads and yarns are still around, this booklet was published in 1941 after all. 72 years ago! The new enthusiasm for crafting is exciting and there’s so many contemporary makes we can see and read about to inspire and teach us, but these are not new skills; it’s just that they’ve become popular again. This gift could not have come at a better time. When I was out shopping for my Graduation kit on Friday I started to feel a bit odd and by the time I got home I was ready to crawl into bed, which I did. Basically I haven’t spent much time out of it until today. I’m still feeling pretty ropey and am not able to eat much other than dry toast and sip water but can feel I’ve turned a corner. No graduation, no champagne or meals to celebrate, but I’ve had very, very sweet messages from my student friends saying how much they missed me on our special day. The most touching messages were from the two friends whom I was to sit between in the hall. The seating’s alphabetical so they knew that the empty chair was mine. Cassie’s presents could not have come at a better time. They’ve really, really cheered me up. I text Someone at work earlier to say we’ve got treats from Tennessee. His reply? “Woohoo. Or, more correctly, Yeehaaw.” Exactly how I feel.Thank you VERY much Cassie.

Shell Scarf

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I finished this warm woolly scarf for Mum yesterday.

Here are the details:

4mm hook

Lang Tosca Light DK 55% wool, 45% acrylic yarn

Weighs 149g

76″ long & 81/4″ wide

Pattern Vogue Stitchionary or here *NB: pattern is in US terms, if you use UK terms you’ll be crocheting trebles*

I chained 48.

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Lazy Sunday, happy Sunday

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What a lovely Sunday, eating Thai food then browsing for spices, exotic drinks and foods at the Asian Supermarket next door. Then home for a bit of cosy crochet and to read my new Mollie Makes mag. It’s -1 degrees here today, with some snow covering the hills after the snow-storm yesterday. It’s hard to believe we had brown grass in the garden from the dry, warm start to Spring this time last year! (Isn’t it funny how every blogger will, at some point, mention their local weather wherever in the world they are; I always thought this was a purely British obsessive topic of conversation.)

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There’s been much rain and snow that there’s even flooding in parts of the city now.

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I think most are staying warm at home as this is usually a buzzing restaurant.

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Mum has asked me to crochet her a scarf. I like the circularity of this as I grew up wearing and using home-made knitted, crocheted and sewed scarves, hats, mittens, gloves, cardies, jumpers, dresses, gym bags for my plimsolls and much more.

I chose shell pattern 2 from the Vogue Crochet Stitchionary I won in a giveaway last year. 

I trebled the stitch count and hey presto it’s just right for a scarf. The scalloped sides are really pretty, I like the pattern a lot.

I’m using Lang’s Tosca Light which is 55% new wool with 45% acrylic, a really warm and soft mixture. I can vouch for this yarn as I used it to knit myself a lacy purple scarf a couple of years ago, and wear all the time. I also knit a green one for my sister-in-law which she loves. I’m using  a 4mm hook, though think a 3.5mm would also work nicely.

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I hope you’ve had a lovely Sunday too.

The End

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A hot water bottle cover for Vikki, as requested.

Saturday morning: Bake 2 Devil’s Food cakes

Saturday afternoon: Darn the ends in (lots of them!) and crochet the two HWBC pieces together. Find buttons. Arghh! I have mainly white, black and navy from old shirts etc. Nothing funky or bright. Use little transparent flower shaped Mollie Makes giveaway buttons. Write ‘buttons’ on my Christmas wishlist.

Saturday evening: Drop off the cover (plus the hot water bottle I’d borrowed from Vikki last weekend, so it fit perfectly) at the stage door of a West End Theatre in London making my best ‘It’s a VERY cool thing in a jiffy bag actually’ face. Three minutes later get a call from V saying thank you, she loves it. Phew! Very bright stripes may not be for everyone so I’m relieved.

Run to the tube with S. to meet friends and go to the Hammersmith Apollo for a charity comedy gig for tigers with ZSL .

That was a very good day. :-D


Posted on Facebook this morning with the caption “So, Rachel crocheted me this yummy water bottle cover, and it was immediately stolen by the cat. Predictable.”


If you want to check out V’s blog I recommend it. It’s a mix of writing and craft. Not the usual ‘everyone’s making X and so I am too’ stuff, most are unique creations. It’s cool. Very cool. Well, what do you expect from someone who works on one of the hottest London shows doing pyrotechnics and stuff?

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

Prachi’s bag

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Backdated crochet post for good reason, it was a surprise for Prachi:

In the first week of July, or so, I made this little crocheted bag using Planet Penny cotton because I have a contact, Prachi, who is a trainee lawyer. She had recently moved to a remote, tribal district in Gujarat, India as part of a new job. The place she moved to lacks basic facilities (apparently running water is a luxury) and it’s very different from the city life to which she is used. Prachi had found a small, cosy place in which to live but was feeling very lonely. She was trying to make her new accommodation a home and really likes handmade items; and so I offered to crochet something of her choice.

After having a look at some of my crochet here she asked for a bag with a few specific requests:

::Could it be ‘holey look’ crochet

::A bag about the size of a kindle would be perfect

::Something she could sling across her on walks

::A bag to carry her wallet, mobile phone and keys (so not too holey then, I thought!)

::A bright stripey bag

I looked around at patterns but none were quite what she described. I decided to make my own design. My first ever off-the-cuff crocheted item. It’s pretty basic and was easy as anything to make in a granny stripe of clusters of trebles (I’ve really come on with this crochet lark I realise, I’ve definitely got the basics now!) but it’s still my work.

Here it is:

I toyed with the idea of lining it, but frankly I’m so unconfident about that kind of sewing that I decided it would be ok without. It’s sturdy and doesn’t have that much ‘give’ being cotton and is a fairly dense material as I used a 3.5 hook, so should be ok and not saggy.

To make the (very pink!) strap I made a lengthy chain, then double crocheted back along the row – very, very fiddly stuff. For strength I crocheted one end of the strap to the bag, then double crocheted all along the strap again until it could be crocheted to the other end.I have some nice buttons in my collection but decided that it might spoil the look of the front and the flap’s heavy enough to stay flapped over. A button can always be added. I’m happy to post a little chain for the loop.

But here’s the thing: I posted this on 9th July. I’ve waited and waited to hear from Prachi and just know she’d be super fast in getting in touch to say she’s received it. There’s maybe still time for it to arrive I guess. I’ll be sooo disappointed if it never turns up in India and am beginning to feel it might not, so have written this blog post so at least Prachi can see her bag, know she was thought of and the promise was promptly kept.

Fingers crossed it arrives please! :-D

A bit of crochet, a bit of baking

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We’ve been having lovely weather here in the south of England after what was weeks and weeks and weeks of rain. There’s a bit of a festive looking forward to the Olympic opening ceremony vibe in the air at the moment too.

I had a request to crochet another dishcloth since the one I made in January has now come to the end of its useful life. So, I sat in the garden and whipped up a new one with my stash of dishcloth string. This time it’s rows of alternating doubles and trebles for extra strength and scrubability (new word invented?)

I’ve been making banana bread too….

….Nearly ate the first slice before remembering to take a piccy! Ooops.

Banana bread

300g ripe bananas, 15ml lemon juice, 125g shelled chopped walnuts, 75g unsalted butter, 175g dark soft brown sugar, 50ml walnut oil (I don’t have any so used olive oil) 1tsp mixed spice, 3 medium eggs (I used 2 large since it’s what I had) 325g wholemeal bread flour, 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda, demerara sugar

Line a 2lb loaf tin with non-stick paper, heat oven to 180 oc (160 fan assisted) 350 of / Gas mark 4.

Peel the bananas and mash with the lemon juice until smooth. Stir in the walnuts and leave to one side.

Gently melt the butter in a pan, tip into a mixing bowl with the sugar, oil and spice. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until everything is evenly combined.

Sift the flour and bicarb into a bowl, adding the bran caught in the sieve to the flour in the bowl. Beat half the flour into the egg mixture, fold in the banana and walnut mixture, then fold in the remaining flour gently.

Spoon into the loaf tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle some demerara over the top and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Dan Lepard recipe: taken from The Guardian…oh ages ago.

This is substancial but surprisingly light in texture.

Birdies complete!

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Helloo,

Birdies complete! A nice way to spend an icy Saturday afternoon…

I used Nicki Trench’s pattern for the circles (who needs cushions anyway ;-p) Using DK and a size 4mm hook for one circle, then a 3.5mm for the other as I thought it could be tighter.

Beaks, legs and wings were inspired by Lucy  of the Attic 24 blog. See the link at side of my blog if you’d like to see some really amazing crochet and projects she’s done over  several years.

One of the birds is going to fly over to someone who shall remain nameless for now, in case she sees this little blogette.

As a beginner I really do enjoy little projects that are fast, and these were perfect. I really did enjoy putting the finishing touches on and sewing them up. In fact I have a feeling that I need to buy some felt and retrieve an old supply of embroidery threads I’ve had for years; to make something pretty and practise my very rusty sewing.

Anyway, enough waffle – here they are – here’s the reveal….!

A Happy Weekend to you!

Byeeee,

Rachel

A present

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I knitted my friend a dishcloth last year and since it died, after constant use, I haven’t heard the last of her wanting another. So, this time when I got my special delivery of cotton from Lincolnshire I crocheted her one…

It only took me an hour or so. I must be getting a lot faster at the hooky stuff.

A foundation row of chains, a row of doubles and then trebles all the way.

I’ve never seen anyone look so excited, and this was after all the joy of Christmas and present opening. Maybe I could start a business selling hand-made dish-cloths?!