This is my new sewing machine cover (my finger has now recovered from this project ).

And this is a pincushion I made in seconds lol, a basket I made from the tutorial in Crochet in color and my lamp (I love it is so cute!)

Well this is where I create my sewing things… The furniture was my boy that bought in Ikea

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Decoupage duck

I have got away with these three felt birds that seem to have gone unnoticed, on the black side board in the living room.

Felt birds

A rabbit doorstop passes muster due to its functional properties.

Rabbit doorstop

And an owl cushion views the room from the top of the sofa.

Owl Cushion

Upstairs, banished to the spare room, sits my lovely crochet cushion which I made in subtle colours with a view to go in the living room. Unbelievably this was rejected to the spare room!!

Crochet cushion

One place I can be assured of a crafty welcome is in my daughter’s room. Amongst my makes is this felt bird cushion.

Felt Bird Cushion

And this felt heart hangs which hangs on her blue wall.

Felt Heart

The key, I think, is to make items which are both functional, unique and contemporary. I think my twine crochet baskets fit the bill perfectly.

Twine and cotton bathroom tidy

Come Christmas, his guard is down, and my daughter and I fill the house with hand-made clay, fimo and felted animals, snowmen, and snowflakes.
Maybe he’ll soften. I’ll not hold my breath.

I am making it up as I go along, borrowing various ideas pinned on my Pinterest crochet board. I will incorporate some natural cotton stripes to give my fingers a rest from the twine.

This is the base

Base of my breakfast bag

I envisage myself on holiday walking down a cobbled street with my daughter swinging my crochet bag in the early morning sun to collect bread, croissants and fruit for breakfast. Flippy skirt, sun glasses, and flip flops de rigueur.

Don’t you so much look forward to a holiday?

My last one (Portugal in May) turned out cold with my partner and I spending 3 days out of the 7 days in bed with shell fish related food poisoning. My daughter was soon bored with the cold and the ill.

So odds on we will have a great one this time.

I have 10 days to finish my bag.

Harbour in Kalkan

Bay of Kalkan, Turkey

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Craft stall at Xscape Craft Fair May 2013

On this gorgeous Bank Holiday Monday, the warmest and by far the sunniest day so far, where was I?

I was daft enough to be selling at a craft fair within a leisure facility centred around an indoor snow slope. Well selling is probably exaggerating somewhat.

In recent times it seems a rare thing to have good weather coinciding within a bank holiday here in Blighty.

Which is why barely a soul turned up to the craft fair. And it also didn’t help that the ones that did come had difficulty in finding the conference suite we were squeezed into.

The place was dead. The hundreds of folks that had spent all winter visiting the venue had chosen the park and the sunshine over snow boarding, the cinema and tin pin bowling.

This was my fifth fair and on a craft stall value basis (it was a very expensive stall price) it was my poorest. A loss was made.

I get the feeling that the only ones making any money from these fairs are the ones organising them. I feel a bit of a mug.

At least the tables were sandwiched together so tight it was more trouble than it was worth to have a wander over to grab a coffee from the adjacent bar or peruse the other stalls. I didn’t fancy a Lego key ring or a flyer about holding a skincare/candle/clothing party at my house anyway.

However, on a positive note, I did sell 2 of my new crochet baskets!

Crochet basket No.2

Crochet Basket No.3

My partner’s thoughts on continuing this quest are far from positive, to say the least. I daren’t even consider putting any value to my time spent stood behind my stall, which is how he looks at it.

I came home and did a quick 12 miles on my bike to bash out my frustration.

Back to the day job tomorrow.

I especially like to make useful stuff. This way I get to appreciate my work and its usefulness.

This weekend heralded a trip back to the North Wales coast to visit my parents. I finished this basket while I was there.

A crocheted basket in which to keep my crochet.

It’s made with garden centre garden twine using a 4mm crochet hook and trimmed with some ends of cotton balls from a previous project. I ironed it with some spray starch to help it keep its shape. I’m really pleased with it. It only took 3 evenings and that was with a little undoing and redoing using different increases to get the base flat.
Next, a set of 3 in different sizes for the bathroom.

We walked around the top of the Great Orme in Llandudno in the sun on the Saturday. It had been a long time since I had been up there.

As children my brother and I would get the Great Orme Tram to the top and walk down, stopping for an ice cream on the way. A remember only sunny days in those summers.

     

 Once upon a time, I was on Pinterest when I saw a picture of a beautiful hanging basket.  I clicked on the link and it led me to a page with another link to a pattern for it, but the pattern was in Norwegian!  Using Google translate gave me most of the pattern, but what can you do for the bits that are abbreviated? Not much, unless you Google that too.  I came across a web forum where somebody had posted what the abbreviations mean.  And now, here I am, posting a pattern of the basket in English!  Woohoo!

1) Ch 2 (or make a magic square)
2) 5 sc in second loop from the hook (or in the ring)
3) 2 sc in each st = 10 sc
4) 2 sc in each st = 20 sc
5) 2 sc in every 2nd st = 30 sc
6) 2 sc in every 3rd st = 40 sc
7) 40 sc around x4
8) 2 sc in every 2nd st = 60 sc
9) 60 sc around x2
10) Turn, ch 1, 60 hdc, 1 slip st
11) Ch 2, 60 dc in the back loops, 1 slip st
12) Ch 1, 60 hdc (in the whole loop), 1 slip st
13) Ch 1, 15 hdc, 30 dc, 15 hdc, 1 slip st
14) Repeat row 13, but in the back loops
15) Ch 1, 60 sc, 1 slip st
16) Ch 1, in the back loops, 15 sc in 30 sts (crocheting two sts together like when you’re decreasing), 15 sc, 1 slip st (into the next loop – you’re not back at the beginning again, but that’s good)
17) Ch 10, slip st into the same spot, but on the “15th round.
18) Ch 1, sc around the opening, 10 sc in the chain, 1 slip st
19) In the back loops, slip st around from one side of the strap to the other side. Fasten with a slip st and weave in the end.

This pattern is a translation of the Norwegian pattern on this site:
http://www.bekkibjarnoll.com/2011/09/oppskrift-pa-hengekurven.html

I also received help from this site:
http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-36988-1.html
-especially the post by ma2ska

I just love the large fluffy tail!

     
I also have plans to use this pattern for a snowflake blanket by Crochet Today to make a cowl/scarf for a friends birthday. May just need to make 9 or 10 of the snowflakes, not sure yet. May also change the colours. If I get the chance I will post some pictures of the progress I make. Never attempted afghan crochet before – always good to learn something new though – found this video on youtube helpful.

Ever since my first crochet class, I haven’t been able to go a day without picking up a hook and practising stitches or creating a granny square. I get it now.

It’s official. I’ve well and truly caught the crochet bug.

There’s something so satisfying about how crochet grows. In my mind, it makes more sense than knitting and is way more flexible and forgiving. Of course I am still a beginner and have plenty more to learn. Even if you are not handy with a hook, I hope you will enjoy my recent creations and finds below.

I have been working on these blue coloured granny squares for a small lap blanket for my sewing room. I love being able to make a quick granny square each day and this has totally broken my ‘don’t have an ongoing project/WIP’ habit. I’m sure I will share it once complete. The yarn is Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino, lovely and silky and fabulous to work with.

This crochet basket certainly has its imperfections, but was a really fun project – my first with t-shirt yarn. I’m not sure what to keep in it yet.

I discovered Hooplayarn last year and fell in love with it, as it fully embraces the upcycling trend. Hooplayarn is a selvedge from the textile industry and is made from offcuts of clothing. Usually 100% cotton or a cotton/stretch mix, it is really versatile and can be worked into some fantastic projects. Check out this pinterest board of free patterns.

There are many free patterns on this great Dutch crochet blog (posts in English too!) and the writer is more than happy to be contacted with any pattern/general crochet queries. She hosts a great link up party once a week too – great for inspiration!

This week I also discovered another crochet blog, Fiddly Fingers. Alison explores ‘extreme crochet’ and made this amazing crochet cat named Chester! Do pop over and check out the blog post, it’s really fun. Just click on Chester below.

It was thanks to Rachael from Sew Ray Me that I discovered Chester above. Rachael is super lovely & a hugely talented crafter. When I spotted her crochet hook rolls on twitter this week, I knew I had to treat myself to one.

Rachael’s service is fantastic, with customers voting on her selected fabric choices via Instagram pictures. It was great fun and many people chimed in and helped out with my choice above. To be honest, it was a pretty difficult decision as she has such a good eye for fabric combos and her stash is amazing! It is beautifully stitched and organises my hooks perfectly. An utter bargain at £10 including P&P, thanks Rachael.

Do you enjoy crochet?

claireabelle x

(the basket is one I made earlier and can be found here.  My daughter planted wheat grass in it at school)

Moose head process,

Materials:  150 Feet of clothesline rope, Q size crochet hook, stitch marker (I used a paper clip)

Pattern:

1. Chain 6
2. Sl St into middle of original slip knot.
3. 6 SC into center of circle.
4. Ch 1, 2 SC into each SC (12 St)
5. Ch 1, 2 SC into each SC (24 St)
6. Ch 1, *1 SC, 2 SC into next St* repeat from*  (36 St)
7. Ch 1, SC into front loop around.   **See picture below**
8. Sl St into Ch 1, Ch 1, *DC, Ch 1, Skip next St, DC, Ch 1* repeat from*
9. Repeat.

Handle:

This is a little hard to explain, but you will be making a handle with two upside down Y’s.

With rope tail still attached, chain to desired length and attach to the opposite side of the basket (14 St from first attachment) with a Sl St.  Sl St in every other loop across and chain 3.  Attach to handle with a Sl St.  Chain to center of handle and attach with Sl St.  Chain to 3 chains from the end of the handle and attach with Sl St.  Chain 3, then attach to basket (14 Stitches from opposite side).  Sl St in every other stitch  across and bind off.

Finished Dimensions:  about 8 in diameter by 4 in tall

Photo Explanations:

Here is the paper clip that I used as a stitch marker I just spread it out into a triangle and placed it at the beginning of each round.

SC into front loop to build the walls.

Inside view.

Finished Basket

Please let me know if the instructions don’t make sense and I will try to help.  This was a fun project and whips up fairly quickly.  Although, it did take much longer for me to make because I kept taking it apart until I go the pattern I wanted.

That dark part in the middle? That’s an entire bed-skirt. The rest of it? That’s an entire double bed sheet. Makes me wonder how much fiber goes into one ball of yarn.

I might have gotten another row in with the 2 pillow cases. I only keep my socks in it though, so I don’t need anything deeper.

On a different note:
I started putting my blanket squares together. Finally. Here’s where I am so far.

And no, those ends are not weaved in yet. I hate weaving in ends, and I always leave it for last. Maybe I can convince my mom to do it for me when she comes to visit?

We were travelling and spending Easter in Germany, together with my other half’s family. As they like and appreciate handmade things I planned to crochet 2 baskets – one for mother and one for Oma and stuff them with chocolete and other Czech sweets.

Crocheting few hours a day, it took me around 3 days to make one basket. It is the first time when I do such a thing and it looks nice. I plan to crochet also for myself a bigger one and keep some craft that I use almost daily.

I used hemp rope and crochet no. 6.

Pictures are not fantastic, I forgot my camera at home and I improvised .

This crochet basket is my recent craft work. Here i use two yarns of different colour. Using two contrast colours also looks good.

But see, these were my teeny weeny Easter baskets. I know, Easter celebration has already passed. Then again, every Sunday is called “little Easter”, right? And I think what Easter means for us should always be remembered anyway.
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Now, back to these baskets. It’s all about egg hunting. To make a little twist in the hunt, I crocheted a few of these baskets and placed a special egg with the Easter message. Whoever gets to find them will receive something extra
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I crocheted the night before the hunt and when Sunday came, I forgot to take pictures of them! Just imagine, instead of hair clips, an egg is placed inside . It was fun!
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The kids kept the baskets but since I still have yarn left I thought maybe I can make one (or in this case, two) for me to keep.
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How to make them: The basket is just a series of single crochet(SC). I started with 8 SC on the first round). And then you just increase the number for every round until you can fit the egg inside. This one has a series of: (yellow) 8 – 16 – 24 -  (pink) 24 – 24 – (yellow) 24. Lastly, do a series of chains for the handle. You can make it as big as you like to hold some stuff!
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P.S. Challenge: I’m introducing you to Tricia of Altered Schoolmarm. I remember her and the “shoe tree” where members of their church donated shoes for children. Oh and there’s also the Pink Saturday Easter tradition which I thought was fun and a little funny
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Thank you Miss Beverly for hosting this event.

For other pink stuff, drop by How Sweet the Sound.

To learn more about the event, click on the “Pink Saturday” logo

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It’s been awhile since I made one of these. I first learned how to do this basic technique by attending a workshop at ArtFiberfest back in 2006. I then started making my scarfs, then other items- putting my own spin and touch on it. Now I have come back around full circle by making another basket.

If you look closely, there are a lot of embellishments on this piece. The untitled basket looks better in person, too. It is hard to capture a picture of what I see, if you know what I mean.

I will be teaching this project at a retreat later this year up at Tahoe. The retreat is sponsored by my local quilt store. More details to follow in case anyone is interested. I may also be teaching my crochet purse, too.

Hope your day is warm and toasty!! Hugs, Carla