Day to Day

Happy, happy, happy

Yesterday I treated myself to a $12 bunch of carnations, then came home and set them up on our kitchen table, threw on a pretty tablecloth, baked a lemon meringue pie (the second this week!) and admired my new apple cosy that I crocheted the night before.

You know what? It felt so good too!  Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the 'blah blah blah' of the world, but those carnations really set the scene for my day.

My fabulous vase was just a mason jar from the shed that I wrapped some string around to look all fancy schmancy, the doily was an op-shop find (50 cents), the tablecloth and placemats I sewed myself.  

You know what? I need to set the table up like this more often AND I'm so going to whip up some more placemats too.

If you would like to keep your own apples warm and cosy this winter, then the pattern can be found in issue one of Mollie Makes.  You know what else?  If you don't have issue one, then get your crochet skates on and hop over to the Mollie Makes website - because the issue is now available for electronic download, for FREEEEE! Yippee!

Did you do something this week that made you happy?

Night time crafting

Remember my granny stripe that I'm working on for the caravan?  Our Easter caravan trip didn't bring much granny stripe action, so I've been hooking away these last couple of nights and trying my best to make another dent in all those rows that are needing to be done.

Last night we had a family movie night and watched Hugo while I crocheted 6 or 8 rows of the blanket.  I love a good movie with some crochet thrown in for good measure!

There are 43 stripes of colour on this blanket now and I think I'm about half way there.  I'm kind of itching to get it finished because my fingers have been favouriting new crochet projects like crazy lately. SO many fun things out there to make - like this, this and this.

That's what I love about crochet, it's a fantastic night time craft to do in front of the television when my mind is tired, but my fingers still work.

Are you a night time crafter?

Starburst crochet cushion

Ta-da! I finished the starburst cushion and posted it off, just in time for my swap deadline.  It looks rather fancy on my couch though, don't you think?

I would have secretly quite loved to keep it, but it was also very easy to part with because it's going to such a lovely person.  Fingers crossed she likes it!

I popped clear buttons on the side and mailed it without the insert, because it was less bulky to post this way.

There were some other goodies in my swap package too - I'll share photos tomorrow.  I wouldn't mind whipping up one of these in the same colour scheme for myself....adding it to my mental crochet list that just keeps on growing!

Better Homes & Gardens - Crocheting & Knitting

The other day I was pottering around Ravelry and spied a few cool projects created from a 1981 Better Homes and Gardens book, Crocheting & Knitting.  A quick google search pointed me in the direction of Ebay, where I found the book for a mere $4!!  Add on $12 international shipping and that book was jumping in my cart.

It arrived a couple of days ago and I thought I'd pop in and share some photo goodness from inside.  There are a good mix of crochet and knitting patterns inside and lots of variations - pillows, tablecloths, blankets, etc..

As far as the actual patterns go, I've read (on Ravelry) that many of them do have errors, but I'm okay with that. I bought the book mainly for it's charm and actually I've discovered that a lot of crochet patterns can be worked out by looking at the photo....well, so long as the photo isn't too complicated! 

How good is that hexagon quilt above?! 

I have another couple of old crochet books on their way and I'll be sure to share photos of those too, when they arrive.

I'm finishing off my starburst crochet cushion tonight, which I'll share soon too! Are you crocheting anything this week?

Granny square pillow gift

A few weeks ago I taught my mother-in-law how to crochet.  She's an incredibly creative person and can already do a huge assortment of crafts already, but hadn't quite mastered crochet.

Her first project was this delightful crochet pillow in green, cream and chocolate, which she surprised me with during the weekend - a gift to me for teaching her the basics.  Isn't that lovely!!?

We've popped it in the caravan on top of a knitted blanket - my Grandma knitted all of those squares several years ago.

It's nice to now have two crocheted pillows in the caravan, mainly because last trip there was a whole heap of arguing over who was going to use the one that I made as an extra prop for late night reading.

We're heading away in the van again soon and I can't wait to do a bit more on the granny stripe blanket while we're camping.  The weather is suddenly chilly in Tasmania, so I think we're going to need all the extra warmth we can find.

Learn to crochet

Yes! You can learn to crochet!!  This is one of the most common questions that hits my inbox, with lots of lovely people asking me some tips on how I learnt to crochet.

I actually taught myself by trawling YouTube and watching mini crochet movies, over and over again.  But the lovely Dana from Crafty Minx has an entire blog dedicated to teaching you - so much easier than late night YouTube trawling!!  

Go HERE to see and then work your way through the steps. 

Ta-da! Easy peasy - you'll be hooking in no time.

Crochet projects on the go!

Welcome to my coffee table this week - jam packed to the brim with yarn, hooks, scissors, craft books and crochet projects on the go. 

There's a nice new stack of pretty 8 ply yarn because I really (super duper really!!) need to finish the starburst cushion that I'm working on for a swap.  I was running short on a some colours, so grabbed a few new balls to keep me going.

It's coming along quite nicely and I did manage to finish the back, which is a continuous round of trebles in cream/off white.  Nobody really sees the back of a cushion anyhow.....right?

The sampler blanket squares are growing too - hooray for night time crocheting.

Here are a few of my new favourites:

So, there you go - a little round up of my slightly messy, but creative coffee table.

What are you working on this week?  Do share!

Lego crochet blanket tutorial

Lego anyone?  Yes please!

One of my lovely readers (thank you Sue!) sent me the link to this beautiful Lego crochet blanket.  There's an entire tutorial on this over HERE with gorgeous step by step photos.

I really want to make one!  It's okay though - I won't start another crochet project just yet, but it's definitely on my radar for later on.

Any crochet/Lego fans out there that are tempted to start?

How to do a popcorn stitch :: crochet

*please note - photos are a little bit blurry because they're instagram pics taken with my phone*

I shared a mini tutorial over on instagram the other day and thought I'd pop the photos/steps on my blog too.  I know quite a few of you have either purchased or are keen on getting hold of the 200 crochet block book, so this might be handy for the super cute pop corn stitch that's used for some of the blocks.

The popcorn stitch is quite addictive once you start - it creates a little crocheted puff or 'pop corn' for your block.

Step 1 - Do three trebles into your centre of your work:

Step 2 - Remove the crochet hook:

Step 3 - Put the hook back in, like shown:

Step 4 -  Pull the hook through like you are slip stitching:

Step 5: Final step - pull it nice and tight, then do 3 chain & start the next popcorn! Super easy peasy:

Happy popping!

Blocking my crochet squares

I'm up to about 20 squares for my crochet sampler blanket - hooray!  Last night I took it upon myself to start sewing the squares together.  I was originally going to wait until the end to do this, but hey, I have no patience and I really didn't want to leave all of that joining until the very end.

I'm using the slip stitch seam technique, which is also in the book that I've been using for the project (200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix-and-Match)  and it creates a ridge on the right side of the blanket.  I was nervous about the ridge, but after joining a few squares I'm loving it.  I think it really adds extra interest, especially with the vibrant mix of yarn colours.

Now, I've also decided to make the big commitment of turning this into a queen size blanket.  Yep.  That will mean 182 squares I think - 13 blocks wide X 14 blocks high.  Did you read that?  One hundred and eighty two squares.  That's a scary commitment for me, but I'm going to try my best and stay on track. 

These sweeties below are my extra squares, just waiting to be blocked.

So, that's my progress.  I realise this is going to be a very long term project and I'm okay with that.  If I do lose momentum half way through, I know you'll be all there to cheer me on!

On a side note, thank you all so much for your beautiful 'get well' comments for James.  Most of the swelling has gone down now and he's feeling so much better.  Just one more day at home while we keep the weeping under control and then he should be right and ready for school again.

Have a lovely week!