Christmassy flowers!

I've been busy making flowers for my Christmas workshop at the Tram and Social on the 1st Dec. See more info here: http://handmadeintooting.wordpress.com/xmas-pint/

Gorgeous flower decoration!

My lovely friend and neighbour incited us to attend her littlest one's humanist naming ceremony so I couldn't resist the opportunity to make her something super pretty to hang on her bedroom wall. Once again Lucy from Attic 24 provided the pattern which I think you'll agree turned out really well and any wee gal or big one for that matter would be happy to have it on their wall!

Flowers for summer

I just love making flowers and was pleased to be asked to make some for my daughters school funky flower festival! The children then either added buttons if they were confident enough to try sewing, or glued them onto cards to sell to parents to raise funds for their gardening project.

Sofa throw

We are the proud owners of a lovely purple leather sofa which was crying out for a throw. I started making some squares from my afghan squares book in reds and purples, trying to follow a specific pattern but as usual went off piste and did a random selection which I think look gorgeous together with red edging to finish. It's only a shame that our sitting room is now out of action cos of building work so we're enjoying the throw on our bed instead.

Christmas is coming

Last year I didn't start making decs early enough so I'm determined to get enough sparkly pretty twinkly Christmas things to share around this year- starting with these cutesy stars!

Hat commission

I was delighted to be asked to make a hat for one of my daughters school friends, it was done within 3 days but that did mean I had to crochet through my last WI meeting! She looks super cute in it so well worth it!

Purple poncho

I love making ponchos by following a granny square style -it's so straight forward, I've used the homecoming poncho pattern from lionbrand. The beginning is the trickiest as you have to crochet a fairly long chain- depending on sizing, join it with a slip stitch but without twisting it, and then crochet around with a row of double crochet (uk) to start. It's quite fiddly but worth it because after that it's pretty easy. I found a picture of a poncho which had flowers within the design which I thought would be perfect for my niece's Birthday- so I followed Lucy from Attic 24 blog to 'join as you go' and managed to make it work- yeah! My niece was so happy with it she phoned me twice in 2 days to thank me!!

Birthday hat for mum!

My mum has wonderful red hair and she hinted she needed a new winter hat so I found some gorgeous colour change yarn with some silk, wool and acrylic. The colours are just perfect for her with luscious russet, grey, green and purple. I didn't follow a pattern and winged it using a granny square style- the result was very pleasing especially as it fits her perfectly and she's delighted!

Pram snuggle

The babies I look after were in desperate need of a warm blanket to keep them cosy so I dug out my yarn box and got happily hooking. I decided to do a big granny square as it's very pleasingly quick and then no joining at the end! I chose colours a bit randomly but am very pleased by the overall effect of the darker colours mixed with a few bright splashes. I've had lots of compliments and babies are kept warm on chilly days out. The other thing I always do for any 'mobile' item of crochet is to crochet a pram tie cord so it can be attached and therefore avoid the tragedy of loosing it!

Doggy jumper!

My daughter was so worried about her favourite puppy getting cold so she asked me to make him a jumper. Of course I couldn't refuse an opportunity to crochet and used a granny square style. I actually ended up crocheting the jumper onto the puppy so I could get the size correct and I must say I'm quite pleased with the result. My daughter was delighted too so I suspect quite a few of her many animals may be cold and need jumpers!

Rippletastic

The wonderful thing about having a skill like being able to crochet means when a new baby arrives into the world I can raid my wool stash and create something super snuggly and gorgeous for them to be wrapped up in. I loves choosing the blues and greens for new baby Connor and he uses it all the time which is a great compliment! Making the ripples is such a pleasure -laying out all the colours and seeing it take shape is wonderfully satisfying. I have followed the pattern posted by Lucy from Attic24 who is fab.

Recycling at it's best!

I've been wanting to do this for a while and my sister-in law's Birthday was a great excuse. Yes this wonderful little creation of a peg bag is actually made from plastic bags! I think I'll cut the strips thinner the next time as it ended up being quite arduous work hooking the thicker pieces. But what a great result and so practical, I love it. I got the idea for the mini clothes from a material peg bag and so had a go at the plastic bag version! It's hard to find decent colours and they tend to be in thicker plastic but have now asked friends to save them for me. Husband wasn't to happy about how noisy it was though! Lots of russling from my end of the sofa!!!