Getting my craft back on

I love to craft but I find that I prefer different crafts depending on the time of year.  My cro-jo has been missing since we moved into our new house.  I have managed one scarf for a Christmas present and that is all.

However since the change in temperature, my cro-jo has returned with a vengence, and for that I am really happy.  I must remember to take more regular breaks though as I have had a few twinges in my arm if I do too much in a night.

At the moment, I have 2 3 4 (whoops) makings on the go and 1 which needs to be started as a priority.  My friend in Australia has just had a baby so I wanted to make a blanket to post on - I assume that they will still need a blanket in Australia!!

Project 1 - (Blushes) this is the blanket I had intended on gifting my grown up nephew last Christmas (I had to give him emergency cash as I just couldn't make it quickly enough - with the move it's been pushed to one side).  See all those ends to sew in - eeekkkkkkkkkkkkk.  It's folded in half length ways below.  It is so very nearly finished now.

Project 2 - My leftover blanket.  I keep running out of leftovers so it keeps getting put to one side while I make other things to create more left overs.  I LOVE making this blanket.  The randomness definitely speaks to me.  This is also so very close to being finished - yet more ends to sew in too.

Project 3 - A scarf for my F-i-L's Birthday.  This was started this month and needs to be gifted on the 23rd of this month.  I love the colour and hope it'll be one of those that grow and grow, almost without noticing it.

Project 4 - Chunky blanket.  This was also meant to be made last Winter but the move got in the way.  This was started in October and will hopefully be finished this month.  I've decided I'm not a fan of chunky yarn - it's too heavy as the blanket grows, but boy is it warm.

Making Baby Blankets

I love crocheting blankets.  I may enjoy crocheting other things but since I love making blankets I haven't even tried much else.

H has 2 cousins who are/were expecting babies this year.  L had baby Charlie at the end of September.  He is such a cutie.  I don't usually pick bright colours but I was desperate to make him a rainbow blanket. 

I think I may have to buy more of the colours and make myself a version of it.  I absolutely love it.

Then M is expecting a little girl in November so I needed to make her a blanket too.  Now M isn't a girlie girl so the colours I picked originally, needed changing somewhat.  I decided to add a blue (I love blue) but all the way through I kept changing my mind whether I liked it or not.  Even now it has been gifted I am not convinced that I like it.  The original colours were the pale pink, purple and grey.  I then went back weeks later and got the blue and when I sat down knew it wasn't right so found the multi in my stash (I have a stash ;-) )

I have learnt a lesson.  Don't choose colours in 3 different sittings.  I wish I had chosen either a less bright blue (it's brighter in real life) or a silver grey.  These things are sent to try us.

Ironically M has decided that this baby is going to start life as a girlie girl and has embraced pink!!!!

What are you making at the moment?

Do you shop local?

When I first started to knit again I used to shop online with a big supplier.  I do love getting parcels though the post :-)  Nothing beats getting a parcel and unwrapping it and remembering what you ordered (or even better what someone else has ordered for you - BIG HINT THERE HUBBY)...........

However, one of the things I am trying to do this year is to support my local shops by shopping in them as much as possible.  In my village (it's really a suburb of a town but I've lived here since before I was married and it's always been called the village), we have a variety of facilities - Dr's (but not mine!), a post office, chemist, chippys, small supermarkets, hairdressers, pet shops to name a few.  My very favourite  shop of all is called Christine's.  It is a wool shop and I am addicted.  I only discovered her 12 months ago and pop in at least once a week.  My favourite wool is Stylecraft Special (DK) and Christine sells a lot of colours (I love the green and spicy orange below).

 Just look at them all - I think I have at least 1 ball of most of them - except the brights, not as keen on the brights.

I took the photos on the last day I helped in the shop (the day H got sick).  I also love the multi-striped wool (is that the correct term?), even though I have only ever knit with it, I must try crocheting with it soon.  I love how it changes colour as you knit.  When people come into the shop they either love or hate this kind of wool in equal measure.  Can you see a sneaky peek of "my" blanket below?  I must remember to take photos of it in daylight ASAP.

 My third fav wool if the stuff which has sparkles running through it.  Again, I have only knit with it.

 My other addiction is buttons (oh, and ribbons) - I have sewn many of the buttons on the front of those tubes, when I find an empty tube I have to add a button, but I can only do about 5 at a time before I get frustrated at how fiddly it is!.

It was a beautiful blue day too.  I sat in the shop for 4 hours, serving customers, crocheting and looking at that sky.

It was a day that was worth remembering - until I got home but I am working on erasing that from my memory banks!!!!

Being Thankful

I thought I'd change my regular Sunday post (there are only so many times that walking the dog, meeting a friend can make me happy).  I was thinking this over in my head last night and was eager to get writing, then we had a bad night and I've had a little cry and I wasn't going to bother.

BUT we all have bumps in the road and if I wasn't so tired with so much to get on with then I probably wouldn't even have had a cry, so I am trying to get back on track.

I am THANKFUL for my parents, supporting us as much as they do.  They drive me places when I need to go somewhere, they go with me if I don't want to do it by myself and they come and walk Anni with me so I get some company each week - though I suspect they'd do the latter anyway as they love Anni and love giving her back when she's all wet and muddy!!!!

I am THANKFUL that my Mum is still with us and we like spending time together.  A few years ago you would never have read that here, but times change and events change us and thankfully we came out as friends.

I am THANKFUL that I have Anni B.  She keeps me sane on a bad day and makes me laugh on a good day.  I swear she has a human brain in her head, at least she seems to when there is food about.

I am THANKFUL for my friends, they let me deal with H's MS (which can make me so unsociable), they drag me out when I'd otherwise stay home.  It doesn't matter if I see them every week, month or year.  They are still there.

I am THANKFUL that I have my crafts.  I think crochet has kept me sane.  When H is asleep at 8pm and I am sat alone with Anni curled up, I can crochet away and not feel too lonely.  Well, until she decides I've done enough and wants to put her head on my knee.............

I am THANKFUL that I love books.  I'd hate not to be able to read for any reason.  I can go to a charity shop and buy a book and I am happy.

and lastly, I am THANKFUL for my Hubby.  We may have an uncertain future with his MS (and I have to learn not to worry so much) but we have each other, a great sense of humour (and yes we need it), and love for each other.  I wouldn't swop you for the world- well I may hesitate if George Clooney arrives with a huge bag of chocolate oranges - but you'd understand that, wouldn't you?

Help Needed

hello, don't worry nothing bad has happened!  This year, we have finally booked a holiday to Menorca.  Now this may seem to be an easy thing to do - oh, no.......  H know needs a wheelie to do most distances and we have been to many unsuitable places.  You ask for a ground floor room to arrive and discover it's actually up 7 steps.  You book a flat resort, to find one steep hill between you and the beach (&restaurants, bars etc).  You ask for another ground floor room and it's down a steep hill or down a rickety staircase - argh.  I find it all so stressful.  The holiday companies don't usually care either which I find really odd.  I mean, if you are dealing with a couple with a wheelchair you'd think they would want to ensure the hotel is suitable, at least I would if I was booking holidays for other people.  I don't think I am odd.

Anyway, this year we have used Thomson and so far I am pretty happy with the service we have received.  Not only did they check that the hotel was suitable (though they couldn't guarantee an accessible room- which thankfully we don't quite need yet), but they have also already booked our seats on the airplane so we know H will be close to the loo.  It's the little things that help when you have so many issues that need to be thought about.

The help I need is that I am now addicted to crochet so need to take a project with me.  BUT although I think I will make oodles of granny squares, I can't think of what colours to use or how many I'll need.  My fav yarn is Stylecraft special - any suggestions?  have you made anything lovely you can show me?

PS I have months to sort it, but when the urge to get a project going hits you need to buy yarn!!!!

My Shawl so far

I am now really enjoying crocheting my shawl, there was a time at the beginning when I didn't like it as much, I did find it difficult at the start.  Now I can't understand why I struggled so much!!!!  It's so easy :-)

2 balls already, it really sucks up the wool.  At the moment, although I love the stitch used and the colours I am not sure if I will ever wear it - I am just not sure I am a shawl kind of person......... hmph.

Btw do you call you stash wool or yarn????  I was brought up thinking it was all wool (even if it had never seen a sheep!) but I can see the sense of calling it yarn.

Whoop a new stitch

A few months ago when I was at Christine's learning to crochet I watched her crochet a baby blanket and I fell in love.  Now I don't know anyone having a baby, so I didn't want to make a blanket.  However, as I saw Christine working on it, I thought it'd make a fab shawl/wrap.  I choose my wool and it was put in her cupboard until I felt ready to try it.

Today was the day.  Now I have found this harder than I ever imagined, but am pleased with my progress so far.   You start in a corner and work on a diagonal - that's the closest I can describe it!  I love the self striping yarn which gives you a lot of one colour before changing colours (Jo - I think that's why I didn't like the green, the colours changed too quickly).

I am also working on a blanket for the Hubby.  I love that as it is just stripes of colour, though I have run out of the denim blue I have been using - how do you work out how much you'll need?  I generally choose one ball of each colour and suspect that I have to start buying two of each colour and take it from there!!!!

Inspiration

I go through phases of 'having' to craft and then not touching it for a while.  My crafting ranges from card making to knitting and just lately I am learning to crochet.  Now I love plain and simple knitting as I can do it in front of the TV whilst watching a programme.  Crochet I need to concentrate on and can't focus on the TV at the same time - maybe in time I will, but at the moment I still sit with my tongue stuck out - truly it helps!!!!!!  (thankfully I keep the camera near me so H can't capture the moment).

I have gotten into a bit of a rut with crochet.  I did a little on holiday but I hadn't really managed to find the enjoyment in it that I should have been feeling, so I put it aside and every time I walked past the bag of my crochet I glanced at it sadly but kept walking.

At the same time, I love reading blogs about crochet (and knitting) and I read them with gusto.  I can't get enough of them, and look at what is being made with jealousy, thinking, Oh I couldn't possibly make that.  But maybe one day I will!!!!  My main goal is to make a ripple blanket ala Lucy at attic 24.

Then this week I found a new blog, one that hadn't appeared on any of my Google searches, and it made me pick up my crochet hook (like I only own one!!!!!!!).  I was inspired by the blankets that Birgitte has made for her family.  Indeed, I may have added another one to the list of what I NEED to make.  So if you haven't found her blog yet, pop across and say hi handmadeandoffcentered .

The blanket I started ages ago but only picked up again this week currently looks like this,

and I'm loving working on it - yeehay.

Crafting on Holiday

Now last year I took no crafting on holiday and I regretted it hugely.  I just felt lost with nothing to do.  Now I did read A LOT of books (and that's great) but my hands were itching to make something.  So this year, I bought a crochet and knitting magazine which came with wool and hooks/needles and was set to go.

I wasn't too bothered in the first week but by week 2 I needed to do something.  As you know I am a crochet beginner so I concentrated on making Granny Squares.  Want to see what I came up with?  I didn't manage too much as I couldn't remember how to do it without using the Internet, and I couldn't see the screen clearly in the sunshine and I was determined to enjoy the sunshine this year.

Basic Granny Square - I can do these once I remind myself about the number of stitches needed.  I do love how these change depending on what colour you do.  I also made one in blue and white which I love (and used as a coaster).

A Closed Granny Square.  I love the look of this one, but I have to REALLY concentrate to make it and it's not perfect.  I hope to make many of these and make a blanket.  I'll worry about joining them when I feel I have mastered them!!!

I am not happy with the one below.  It is meant to be a circle in a square.  I think it is ok until the blue, then it doesn't look like a square.  I think I misread the pattern and didn't do the corners well enough.  Another one which needs lots of practise.

All in all I doubt I'll buy the magazine again.  The hook wasn't brilliant and had sharp bits on it which the wool kept catching on.  I also wasn't keen on the wool - I LOVE the blue though.  So on future holidays I think I will take my regular hooks and choose a couple of balls of wool to pack.

Beanies

As you now I have not been crocheting for long.  I have made some Granny Squares and am making a blanket from trebles.  Last week, at my class I started a Beanie.  Unfortunately we were trying to work from memory so we ended up having to frog it once or twice before giving up and frogging it back to nothing :-)

So we stopped and tried again this week with a pattern.  C (my teacher) started me off and then I took over.  What do you think?  I used a chunky wool and bought 2 more balls to make a matching scarf!- Shush don't tell H.

Now there is a small issue with the beanie hat.  Just a small one........  Somehow when I was doing the latter rounds I added an extra stitch and it may have had a small unintended effect to my new hat.  I now have a hat with a tail - ah, give over, you'll want one by the end of Winter !!!!!!!

I AM NOT FROGGING IT AGAIN.

Conquering your Fears!!!!!!

If you follow my blog (hello to all 7 of you - hope you are still enjoying my ramblings),  you will know that I have a fear of trying new things.  Easier not to try, then to fail.  Anyway, I am now trying to change my entire attitude.

Nervous of pushing a wheelie round New York - not anymore.  It nearly killed me, but I did it!
Nervous of trying new recipes - nope.  If it goes wrong, and if even Anni turns up her nose (not happened yet), we'll order pizza.
Nervous of trying a new hobby - NOT ANYMORE.  Look what I managed to do yesterday,

 Trebles??  I need to work on my tension.  I started way too tightly and then went the other way.  Still I like to make things harder for myself!!!!

Gill - I finished my first ever Granny Square (happy smile on my face).

I hope that with practise I will be as confident with crochet as I am with knitting (even if I am still on basic stitches - it's enough to make me happy).

My bigger goal is to manage one of these at Attic 24  I love Lucy's work and one day hope I can manage to crochet such gorgeous work.  If you love to crochet, check out Lucy's work, though I suspect you may already be an avid follower.