crocheting the world... and other things too
I saw this gorgeous Scandinavian-inspired blanket in Simply Crochet magazine recently and wanted to make it straight away. I used 18 balls of DROPS Alaska in Off White (100% wool, 50g/70m) plus 2 or so balls of DROPS Big Delight in Wild Berries (08) (100% wool, 100g/190m). The instructions told me I need 5 balls [...]
Leon’s Grandma, my Mum, made these wonderful cushions as Christmas presents for my brother and my sister-in-law by cutting up an old knitted jumper and sewing on fabric for the back! It took her AGES as she had to interlock each edge of the fabric, amongst other things. Don’t they look professional?!
Some of my very lucky friends have received my homemade Christmas hampers that I love to make each year. Items include: chilli vodka, pineapple chutney, Xmas chutney, biscotti and chocolate pretzel bites! YUM. I made the chutneys back in November – about 20 in total!
This wonderful crochet owl cushion took me a while to make but was well worth it. I got the pattern from ATERGcrochet on etsy and used a variety of cotton DK yarn, sometimes doubling it up to make a thicker yarn and I used a 5.0mm or 5.5mm crochet hook I think. Mum sewed the fabric [...]
I finally completed this wonderful Winter scenic intarsia cushion, from a pattern in Simpy Crochet magazine by Simone Francis. I used Sirdar Supersoft Aran in Navy and Oatmeal to crochet the front of this cushion and then my Mum kindly got her sewing machine out and sewed on the back cream fabric that I bought [...]
I went to a wedding last weekend in the beautiful Sussex countryside and made another of my crochet heart garlands (see original post & pattern here). We stayed at such a lovely B&B in nearby Petworth, called Buckfold Cottage. The owners, Sylvia and Andrew (an antique’s dealer) were very welcoming and the B&B itself was [...]
All the shops are now selling their Christmas decorations so it got me in the mood to make some of my own! I used some Rowan Handknit Cotton DK in Rosso and a 3mm crochet hook to make the stars (pattern can be found here) and sewed on a button and some ribbon so [...]
Over the past few weeks I decided to make yet ANOTHER granny square baby blanket. These are so simple to make and look fantastic, but are extremely time consuming – each square takes about half an hour but this is great for a train journey so I don’t mind. This blanket is actually for sale [...]
A while back someone posted a message on my twitter feed suggesting I should look up The Little Yellow Duck Project. The Little Yellow Duck Project is a global initiative highlighting the life-saving random acts of kindness of blood, bone marrow, organ and tissue donation. It involves people around the world handcrafting little yellow duck gifts as [...]
I finally had some time this weekend to pop to my favourite bead shop (Bead Works in Covent Garden) to pick up some bits and pieces to finish my necklaces off. Really happy with the end result plus I learnt a new technique of using tiger tail beading wire plus crimps to fasten the ends. Looks [...]
It is my friend Kate’s birthday and she had previously asked me to make her a crochet pig bean bag so hey presto! Here it is! My buddy Filipa drew a sketch of what it should look like. I think I put the ears on a bit funny though! I used some pink cotton dk [...]
I had a request to make a crochet peacock and a bumble bee for a friend at work. I used the same base for the peacock that I used for the chicken bean bags and then added 3 crochet feathers to the base. The bumble bee was much simpler – just a matter of working [...]
Three of my work colleagues have recently had their birthdays so I decided to bake them a cake. I found this recipe for Mini Victoria Sponge cakes and thought it would be great to try it out. It was very well appreciated and they went with lightning speed. I cheated and used a jar of [...]
This was a very easy and quick project – which I always enjoy. It’s from “Easy Crochet: Vintage & Retro” by Nicki Trench and I used a variety of colours of cheap chunky acrylic yarn plus a 8mm hook. eBay supplied the polystyrene bean bag balls for about a fiver.
I couldn’t wait to make this fabulous pattern by Jackie Laing in Inside Crochet. An easy enough pattern – just working in rounds really. I used an inexpensive acrylic wool mix yarn in the three different colours. My son kindly agreed to share Mr Fox with Grandma (because she fell in love with Mr Fox [...]
My friend from work – Namrata – asked me to make her a crochet pilates mat bag. I always enjoy making new crochet things for my friends so I happily obliged! She bought the yarn in the colours she liked and off I went to make the bag. If you like the look of this [...]
I wanted to make something to put all my pens in at work… in fact, a few of us wanted a pen pot. So I found some empty jam jars and decided to crochet some colourful crochet jar cosies! I just used some cotton dk yarn and made up a really simple pattern. You can [...]
As soon as I saw this dinosaur in Simply Crochet, I knew someone who would love it… yup, my toddler Leon! He even chose the colours. I used some of my mass supply of Wolle Roedel cotton dk yarn and some polyester stuffing. Sewing each of the spines took a while so I don’t think [...]
I made these two beautiful little crochet purses after seeing the pattern in Inside Crochet by Sarah Coad. They were really quick to make up and turned out really well! I used a 3.5mm hook with a range of colours of different yarns: Debbie Bliss Rialto DK and Sublime Extra Fine Merino Wool DK. I [...]
After reading about Rosella Tinn’s gorgeous Ms Clarice chicken pattern in Inside Crochet (issue 54), I decided it was time for me to also make a chicken! So I am pleased to introduce Ethel and her (German) father Herr Cockadoodledoo. We came up with a whole back story about the pair of them at work. Don’t ask. Ethel [...]
It has been a while since I last blogged but that is because I have several different crochet projects on the go at once – so none are complete! I did however find a little time to make some tiny baby booties for my friends Soph and Ben’s baby, Oliver who was born a week [...]
When I lived in Oxford I joined a crochet and knitting group called The Oxford Drunken Knitwits – a fantastic group of people who meet up every week in a local pub and knit or crochet together (or sometimes just drink!). Even though I no longer attend, as I am now in London, I still [...]
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This is the first item of clothing I have made for myself and I am pretty chuffed with it! It’s the Orla Vest Top from Inside Crochet Issue 53. It was also my first attempt at trying out filet crochet – which is actually a really easy crochet style to learn and is extremely quick [...]
My friends James and Sarah got married yesterday and so I decided to make a little heart garland for them. I made it really quickly – just took me less than a morning! I found the pattern here and used some red cotton dk by Rowan.
I finished this wonderfully soft Diana Shawl this week. The pattern was in Inside Crochet’s Complete Guide to Crochet and originally from Inside Crochet Issue 33, September 2012. It is by Helda Panagary – more information can be found on this Ravelry page. I used 6 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Silver and then [...]
Crocheting granny squares is one of the easiest things to crochet and therefore probably quite a popular project. I have already written a few posts which show off some granny square blankets (Granny Square Blanket & Baby Blanket) and so I thought it may be useful to show a really simple way of joining the [...]
My niece Olivia is turning 2 this week! I made her this beautiful blue cardigan using Sirdar’s Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK which is 80% Bamboo Cotton and 20% Wool. I then added 5 wooden toggle buttons. Perfect to wear with a dress this Spring / Summer. I bought the pattern from Etsy here.
My very good friends, Soph and Ben, are expecting a baby boy on 4th July and so I wanted to make them a baby blanket! As he will be a Summer baby I opted for Sirdar’s Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK which is 80% Bamboo Cotton and 20% Wool. The design is very similar to the [...]
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My son Leon adores this. He is slightly obsessed with cars… trucks, lorries, trains etc so I had to make him this crochet car bunting. As soon as I saw the pattern in my crochet magazine (Inside Crochet issue 53 by Lynne Rowe @thewoolnest) I knew it was for him. A really great pattern that [...]
This recipe is actually for a turkey curry, using mainly storecupboard spices and Christmas leftovers. I have made it with the leftover Christmas turkey before but today I wanted to use chicken. Find the recipe from Antony Worrall Thompson here. I think this recipe is really easy – you just need to prepare everything before [...]
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