Day to Day

Crochet Easter bunny

Bella and I had a crafty day today and made some very cute crochet Easter bunnies.  The Mama + daughter crafting days don't seem to happen often lately, mainly due to lots of full weekends but also because the littlest member of the household isn't overly keen to create lately.

This morning I noticed a little Easter bunny tutorial popping up all over the online world and when I showed the photos to Bella, there was a spark of enthusiasm to make one.  OKay, twist my arm!

We chose yarn and got started early, stopping only for tea breaks and food.

I decided to make one too and it was lovely to sit side by side with my girl, chat and crochet.  Even though Bella hasn't picked up a crochet hook in 6 months or so, she's a natural crocheter and can nearly hook as fast as I can.  

The ears were pretty fiddly and tiny, so I crocheted all four of those for us and Bella made the pom-pom tails.  A pretty good team effort, I think.

Oh and if you would like to make your own bunny for Easter (there's still time - quick, quick!) then there's a free tutorial online for you.  Just pop over HERE.

I think they turned out really well - Bella's is the colourful pink/grey one and I crocheted the green one for James.  Oh and YES, 17 year old boys still need handmade Mama gifts!!

What about you?  Any crafty plans happening for Easter?

Bendigo Woollen Mills - yarn + blanket

If you follow One Crafty Mumma on instagram or facebook, then you would know that I just ordered some new yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills.  It arrived on Friday and I bought it to start a long term project with - a crochet blanket just for me!

Yes, yes .... I know that I wasn't going to blog about crochet over the weekend, but new yarn for a new blanket = a blog post just waiting to go!  

Let's rewind to Friday evening when I spent about three hours of the night searching for a blanket pattern to use.  I finally settled on a crochet hexagon tutorial and whipped up a few hexies, only see that cream one above?  I had too many stitches on one side, so I had to unpull it and start over.

Around lunch time Bella and I watched a movie together and I had another go at the hexies.  Uh-oh. More mistakes!!  

Then, when I finally thought I had it all sorted I decided to add a navy blue edged hexagon and realised that by doing this the colour sequence was all wrong again.  More cursing and unpulling!!

Take 3 (!!) before dinner tonight and I finally nailed it.  Hooly dooly, I nearly decided to rip the whole lot undone and put it away for a few days, but I'm so glad that I carried on.  The pattern itself is easy peasy, but I must have had my cloudy hexagon brain on while I was starting out.  I've smartened up now and actually printed myself out a little hexagon graph off the internet AND I've nicely pencilled in a colour sequence onto the graph, so hopefully no more mistakes!!

I wasn't going to include that dark navy in this blanket because it's so much darker than all the other yarn colours, but I really have my heart set on popping a navy border around the entire blanket so it's kind of of ended up in there.  I'm hoping once the pattern is repeated a few times that the navy will look OK - fingers crossed.

A few people asked about the yarn colours on instagram and facebook.  Well, I'm using Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply classic.  The colours are: seaquest, poseidon, iris, ensign, celery, guava, magnolia and raffia.  I also ordered lichen, but have decided not to use it in the blanket.

The pattern is from HERE and if you're thinking of making your own hexagon crochet blanket then you'll find the tutorial very easy to follow!  Happy crocheting,

Granny square cushion

My Mum had this little gem nearly finished in her cupboard, hidden away for a rainy day project to complete.  Only she wasn't so sure that it would ever get finished, so I offered to do the last little bit for her.  Really, the hard (and pretty) work was done and all I had left to do was crochet about 3/4 of the back, hooky it together and add some button holes + buttons.

A few nights of solid crochet last week and it was finished.  I managed to find matching buttons from my button stash to add down one side and gave it back to Mum mid week.

{My tiny contribution - the back}

It was actually a nice break from my ripple blanket and it felt good to finish off a project for someone.

I seem to be doing a whole lot of crochet lately! I think I might mix it a bit this next week and squeeze in a bit of embroidery and my Project Life album, which I'm sooo far behind on.  Eek!

What about you?  What are you working on this week?

Granny stripe blanket :: complete!

I think I forgot to share photos of my completed granny stripe blanket!!

Here it is {above} on our lounge, sitting behind two of my favourite cushions - they just happen to match perfectly too.  Incase you're wondering, the reindeer one was a present from my mother-in-law and the second one was a gift from a lovely friend.

I was a little bit naughty and didn't bother to do a border on this blanket.  I ummed and ahhed, but really wanted to get started with the ripple blanket and actually, I quite it like on the sofa without an edge.  Maybe I'll add one later or maybe I won't - I'm not sure.

One thing about a large blanket is that these little suckers are hard to photograph in their entirety.  I tried hanging it on the clothesline, sitting it out on the lawn plus a different variety of shots, but no luck. They all looked ridiculous, so I bring you the blanket in stages instead.  

Oh, there was this one I took of it on the greenhouse - just so you could {kind of} see the size:

I used Moda Vera pure wool 8 ply for the blanket, except for the green stripe which is actually acrylic yarn.  I just couldn't find the shade of green that I wanted in a pure wool yarn, but I'm okay with mixing it up a bit.

One thing is for sure, this blanket sure has had it's fair share of loving since I finished it.  Most nights it's covering up a body, legs or feet - and that's what crocheted blanket goodness is all about.

The days are still warm here, but when you have a new polar fleece Stitch onesie, there's nothing quite like wearing it with a blanket to boot.

My new knitting bag

It's not often that I buy myself new things, but I had a little splurge last week and bought a knitting bag to store my crochet projects in while I'm on the go.  It's a Namaste bag (Laguna is the style) and I love, love, love it!

I first heard about the Namaste knitting bags over on Corrie's blog, when she bought the Zuma to keep her projects in.  A little while later The Wool Shack was having a free postage offer and I was going to order myself a Zuma, but sadly they were out of stock in the colour I'd decided on.

Then I happened to pop into The Stash Cupboard a few days later and they had a few of the Namaste bag styles on display.  The Laguna one came home with me and it's fabulous.  HUGE and perfect to store my ongoing blankets when I'm hitting the road.  I've been wanting a bag for so long to keep my current projects in - I always seem to be packing/unpacking/repacking my yarn into different bags when we go on mini road trips and it's super nice to be able to have it in the one place.  I just grab and go!

I love that it opens and closes with a magnetic closure and there are a couple of zippered compartments inside to hold my wallet, phone and tiny yarn scraps.  There is also an extra long strap that you can clip on the sides of the bag - not totally sure I'll use that.

All of the yarn above (plus the blanket) happily fits inside and there is lots of room for more yarn too, if I wanted to store more.

I'm now lusting after a 'better buddy' Namaste case to keep my crochet hook and mini scissors in :) 

Baby ripple blanket

The ends on my baby ripple blanket are all darned in and this little number is ready for it's new home. Huzzah! 

I've had a few emails and questions about the baby ripple, so here are all the details in one spot for you:

• Pattern: I used Attic 24's tutorial, which is full of step by step clear instructions & easy to follow photos. You can find it HERE.
• Yarn: Moda Vera pure wool 8 ply, available at Spotlight.
• Finished size: 86cm in width, 82cm in length.  From memory I chained 171 to start.
• Colour wave pattern: I just repeated my colour sequence six times.

 

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the blanket is well loved in it's new home.  

I'm also thinking a small ripple blanket might be a nice gift to make for my great niece & nephew, ready for Christmas this year.  But first, I'm actually going to finish off the granny stripe blanket that is 99% complete - I'm hoping to have this done and dusted within a week (two at the most) and then I'm definitely up for a little ripple-along!! I'll keep you posted :)

Nearly there

This baby ripple blanket and myself are about to part ways, just a few more of those pesky ends to darn in and I'm done.

I've really enjoyed this little project and definintely want to do another ripple blanket sometime, perhaps a pretty rainbow coloured one that repeats ten or so colours over and over.

Ah, yes...those ends will take me quite a while to darn in and yes, I should have done it row for row as I was going.  Oh well - next time Mel, next time.

I'm thinking tonight will be perfect for hiring a movie and finishing off the blanket.  I'll share finished photos soon and final measurements etc..

I was even toying with the idea of doing a 'ripple-along' but really should not start any new projects....right?!

Baby ripple blanket progress

I thought I should pop in with a baby ripple blanket progress photo.  It's slowly growing - definitely not as fast as I had hoped, but I'm getting there.  I think my pumpkins in the background are growing quicker than I can crochet!

I do a little bit here and a little bit there, a few stitches when I can and hopefully I'll be finished soon.

A few of you have asked about measurements, etc... Well, I didn't count my starting chain row, but the blanket measures 82cm in length and I'm planning on making it square.  Oh and I'm at the 42cm mark for height now, so just over half way there.  Woot!

Here's to lots of upcoming crochet within the next week.

Ripple baby blanket

Oh, did I say no new projects for 2013 until I finished my other ones?  Why yes, I did.

But you see, a very good friend of ours welcomed a new baby into the world last week and that calls for a baby blanket.  All babies need a little bit of handmade goodness I think!

After much deliberation and really wanting to go with a pink and lime green colour scheme, Spotlight were all out of lime green yarn - can you believe it?  So, pink and purple it was!  I'm hoping this will be nice too and the most fabulous thing about creating something for baby is that it doesn't need to be huge!  I'm hoping this blanket will end up at about 80cm X 80cm - perhaps a little longer in length depending on how many repeats of the colour band I do.  We'll see.

I've still got a fair way to go, but I thought it might be nice to share some photos of my progress (so far) with you all.  I really want to have this finished within a couple of weeks, so will be squeezing in extra pockets of crochet time when I can.

Here's to my first handmade gift of the year.  Woot!

Handmade gift - crochet cushion update

Remember the crochet cushion that I was desperately trying to finish off in time for the birthday party?  Well, I realised pretty much last minute that the back was not going to be completed in time and decided to switch my strategy. 

 So, the crochet back was replaced with a felted jumper and I added a crocheted edge and buttons to close.

I was madly sewing those buttons into place just before the party started - we were 10 minutes late because of it!

I'm so glad that I persevered as the birthday girl was happy with her gift and Bella was thrilled that I managed to finish it in time too.

Here's to many more handmade gifts this year,