The ripple blanket has begun…

It’s been a very good weekend, I’ve discovered a new (and fairly local) wool WAREHOUSE and I’ve started my next blanket. The wool shop was amazing, I’ll tell you more about that soon.
I’ve chosen nine colours, quite a different mix for me but I’m very happy with them. I’m also using a new wool to me, it’s RICO essentials merino Aran. The range of colours are gorgeous and it’s very soft and warm.

I’m following attic24’s ripple pattern again and it’s so simple and therapeutic, it is lovely to have this big project on the go now.

I’m on my fourth row so far, I’m loving the combination of pink and green.

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Blanket planning…

My brain is ticking over with ideas for my next blanket.
I’m thinking a ripple.
I’m thinking a mixture of creams, pinks, reds and oranges.
I’m thinking something like these…

(from Rosy little things)

(from Dottie angel)

I really like to have a big project on the go which I can just pick up and do bits on when I get a chance.
Tonight, I’ve been perusing wool (mmmmm!) I’m thinking of using Rico merino Aran, the colours are lovely and there is a good range.

Excited!

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Christmas crochet wreath Ta-da!!

It’s time for a Ta-da!
My crocheted Christmas wreath, which now hangs on our living room door.

I followed attic 24’s patterns for the covering of the polystyrene ring and
many of the flowers and holly leaves.

The large red flowers are made following the May Rose pattern and the centre flower uses two strands of Aran weight wool crocheted together.

The mini flowers were made following the teeny tiny flowers pattern and I made a variety of colours and sizes using different hooks and thicknesses of wool. I then used red embroidery thread to stitch detail onto the white flowers.

I used three different shades of green to make the holly leaves and used coloured pins to attach them to the wreath. I also pinned them from behind to stop them flopping forward when hung. The holly berries are red glass beads which I stitched together to form a cluster of three berries.
I used the same technique to join the silver bells and then stitched these to the crocheted covering.

Finally, the cute red robin is a tree decoration from ikea which is pinned to sit in the wreath.
The mistletoe pattern can be found in a previous post.
This was so super easy to make and such creative fun as you can make as many bits and pieces as you like to decorate it.
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Mistletoe

I’m still, slowly but surely, working on my Christmas crocheted wreath and I hope to show you the finished item this week.
It has holly, red glass berries, teeny tiny flowers, bells…but it still needed something extra…mistletoe!
It wouldn’t be a Christmas wreath without it 🙂
I used this pattern (it’s written in US crochet terms so keep that it mind) and they came out very nicely!

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Christmas crochet wreath

Last night, I made a start on my crocheted Christmas wreath.
I’m going to make the base in a dark red (style craft special DK in claret) and then make a selection of flowers, roses and holly leaves using my stash of wool. I’m also going to use the red glass beads as holly berries.
This sweet, little robin decoration is from Ikea’s Christmas shop.

I can’t wait to show you the finished wreath soon.

Chunky crocheted cowl

This week, despite an annoying virus, I have managed to finish something! It actually started life as something else however it was far too big for its original purpose so I turned it into an adult cowl half way through.
It’s a very simple, chunky cowl with a chunky flower attached, to prevent it looking like a neck brace 🙂
I crocheted it using a 10mm hook and very thick (and soft) cream wool (in Barley).
To begin with, I chained 44 and joined with a slip stitch.
The cowl is worked in a round, in half treble stitches (uk). Each new round starts by chaining 2, to make the first HTR. Then just continue around until you get the depth you want, mine is 10 rows of HTR stitches and one row of double crochet to tighten the top. Also, for the final two rows (10 & 11), I decreased two stitches which also made the top slightly tighter. Obviously, this is a matter of choice and you may prefer it looser.
I crocheted the flower using Lucy at attic24’s pattern and I used two strands together. One strand of the wool I used for the cowl itself and another of a very thin, blue alpaca wool which my sister gave me.
I hope you like it 🙂

 

(By the way, the wool is actually a lovely creamy, oatmeal colour- the light was VERY poor when I took these pictures!)

Crochet ‘Rosie Rabbit’ Ta Dah!

I’ve been waiting since summer to post this, I made it as a gift for my god-daughters 3rd birthday, which was this weekend.

Here she is, Rosie Rabbit.

I’m very pleased with how this turned out, the pattern was bought from Michelle at The Royal Sisters blog and it was very simple to make. The rabbit is made is separate parts, leaving long tails of wool to stitch them together once stuffed.

I made her using Stylecraft special DK wool in Pale Rose and then stitched the eyes and nose in black embroidery thread. I like how all these rabbits will look different because their eyes give such different characters.

It has a very cute little tail and rather large limbs 🙂

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Wreath reveal

So here it is, my autumn wreath…

I’m so pleased with how this has turned out, I’m already planning a Christmas version with tiny, red glass beads for holly berries 🙂

For the flowers I used a mixture of patterns from Attic24- the small flowers are these teeny tiny flowers, I changed the size of these flowers using different hooks and, for a couple of the flowers, using two threads together. The large rose in the middle is made using this May Rose pattern (as are the leaves). I think for my next rose I will make more of these larger roses in red, as the wreath will be larger and will need bigger flowers to balance it out.

The majority of the wreath, including the flowers and leaves, is made from left-over Stylecraft Special DK (from last years large ripple blanket). I did buy a couple of new colours, the light green leaves are Meadow and the bright yellow is called Sunshine, appropriately.

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Autumn project snippet

Here is a peek at my autumn wreath which I have now finished! This photo was taken last weekend and I finished all the flowers and leaves after this was taken. When I get time, I will take finished pictures…

Once again, I used the pattern from attic24 and used a mixture of Lucy’s flowers and leaves. 

xxx

 

My weekend…

This weekend consisted of…

– The perks of being a wallflower (a lovely, beautifully directed film with excellent acting and a great selection of 90s British music).

– Lots of delicious carrot soup, just in time for autumn.

– The first frost!

 

– Gorgeous blue skies and cold sunshine.

And…

a Christmas, crochet ta-da moment…

 

I’ve really enjoyed making this little scarf. I used four 50g balls of Sublime extra fine merino wool dk (shade 0229), using a size 4 hook. It’s a very simple pattern to follow and the length of the scarf builds up quickly. I think I will make another, in grey, as a Christmas present for my lovely friend who gives me lifts to work.

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