Patchwork Progress

I began this quilt way back in the summer last year.  It has been a slow process but a pleasurable one.  

I love sorting through my fabric stash and selecting the prettiest colours.  I love cutting out the paper templates and then the fabric itself.  I love putting two designs together for each block, even though it can take a while to decide what looks right.

And then there is the stitching which I love the best, sitting somewhere quiet maybe under the apple tree when it is warm and listening to the birds or in the playhouse when it is raining listening to the raindrops on the roof. 

I love laying out all the beautiful coloured rows and deciding on what goes where.  Getting an idea of how it will look when it is finished. Sometimes it's tricky when similar designs are closer together than I would like, it can take a while to sort it all out into a pleasing effect that feels just right.

Then the most exciting bit of all, sewing the strips together to create something beautiful and unique.  That is where I am right now.........


Dev x

Flip Flops

A little summer holiday is now in the process of being booked and to that end a pair of flip flops are essential for those strolls along the sand.  I have racked my brain, (that took all of a few seconds!) in an effort to remember where I saw this tutorial originally.  A marvellous idea I thought at the time and filed it away for future use should it become necessary.  Well that time is now but I cannot give the credit where it is rightfully due I'm afraid.  If anyone can refresh my memory as to where I saw this then please contact me and I will do so.

So I bought myself a cheap pair of basic flippy flops and crochet myself a long, long, long chain leaving a long length of thread at the beginning.

Before I began to wrap and glue in place, I threaded the long end of the wool through the holes underneath and wrapped them round and round the posts and then secured with a blob of Bostik glue.

I then wrapped and glued the chain along the top in small amounts as it can get very sticky indeed.  I did this up each side separately and then I could hide the ends under the central flower making it all neat and tidy.

 

I then crochet myself a couple of sets of flowers, a rose in the middle and two other flowers either side.  You can use any flowers you like and there are many books and tutorials to help you with that part.

Just glue them into place and voila, a pretty cute pair of happy, smiley face making flippity flops!!

Dev x

Cheeky

Blue skies today but with a cheeky blustery wind that can cut you in two and has your skirt up around your ears!


Crafting has been sporadic of late, not sure why, just sometimes it is nice to chill out of an evening.  That said, I have managed one or two bits and have something in the pipeline to start.

I bought this lovely book a while ago now and fell in love with this scarf/wrap as soon as I saw it.  

That was until I sourced the Kidsilk wool and I realised that I would have to remortgage the Fairyglade to pay for it!  And so it sat looking at me each time I browsed the book.  Then one day recently when I spied a gap in the rain clouds, I popped into my local wool shop where I spotted this at the very bottom of the end of line basket.

Now I almost fainted with excitement, my heart was doing that skippity, hippity thing it does when something is so delicious.  Could it be...might it be....Oh My Goodness it was!!!!  Yikes, grab it quick before anyone else realises what it is.  Why were there no other peeps elbowing me out of the way leaving me weeping and wailing and gnashing my teeth!!??


With not a moment to lose I scooped all three balls up and practically ran to the tills.  £2.99 each as opposed to the normal price of £8.25.  A saving of nearly £16.  Bargain!!  It isn't enough to make the wrap, but there is now a scarf to be made with my name on it!


I loved making this teas cosy which comes together in no time at all.  The flowers are the the consuming bit but such a pleasure to crochet and it gives you a chance to use up all those little scraps of wool that can be found in the bottom of your bag.

 

This little coathanger is sooooo cute.  I found it in recycled bin at my local supermarket and popped it in my bag.  I haven't seen one this size before.  Another easy peasy design that turns the mundane into something really quite fabulous....at least I think so?

That's all for this post, am hopeful of showing you another cute project soon this time with a bit if a holiday theme.


Dev x

Bunny Giveaway

Congratulations to Tracey who has won the Bunny Garland, let me know your address when you have a minute or two. 


 I will also be sending another garland to one of you as a surprise gift.


Devx

Bunny Tutorial and Giveaway

So ladies with Easter just around the corner, I had a mind to make a pretty spring bunny garland to hang in the kitchen on the mantle shelf.  Way back I made some of these tiny little bunnies as card toppers and brooches but decided that I needed something bigger for a garland.  I had a play and this is what I came up with.  Nothing too taxing and they can be made in a matter of minutes..honest they work up really quickly.  So would you like to have a go yourself...if so, then here we go....

 I would just like to say before we get started that I have never written up a tutorial before and it is quite strange to write down something that you do almost without thinking.  I used a 4.5 crochet hook and DK wool, mostly Stylecraft.  They use very little wool so are ideal for all your little scrap balls.


I start by making a slip ring/ magic ring, there are examples of how to do this in most crochet books and I expect there is a Youtube video out there as well.  Into the circle chain 3, this counts as your first treble.   

Make another 11 trebles and then close with a slip stitch in the third chain of the first treble.  You now have 12 trebles altogether.

Then pull the circle tight to close the hole in the centre.

Make 3 chains, this counts as your first treble, and then make another treble into the stitch directly below.  

You now have 2 trebles in one stitch

Repeat all the way round the circle and then join with a slip stitch in third chain of first treble. as on previous round.

Make 3 chains, this counts as your first treble, then make another treble into the stitch directly below

Make 2 trebles in each of the next 2 stitches.  You now have 3 clumps of 2 trebles.

Now turn the work to the back and make a chain of 12 stitches.  

 

Insert the hook into the middle of the next treble...wind wool around the hook and pull through with a slip stitch.

Make a further chain of 12 stitches and repeat again between the next set of trebles, pull through with a slip stitch.

You now have 2 ears.  Cut wool leaving a bit of a tail.  Secure and then using a darning needle weave in the end pulling the head together ever so slightly to make it appear more rounded.  Also secure middle to keep hole tight closed.

Turn work back to the front.  You now have the body of one cute little bunny.

As for the bobtail, (isn't that a brilliant word)!!  Using a 3.5 crochet hook this time with an alternative colour wool, make another slip ring/ magic ring.

Do 12 single crochets into the circle.

Join together with a slip stitch into the first stitch.

Draw the circle together as before and secure.  You can then glue or sew into position.  I embellished my little bobs with a pearl bead and another pink one for it's eye.  You can also use buttons or whatever you have to hand.


I then used the 4.5 crochet hook to make a chain to the required length and then threaded the bunnies on through their ears.  Space evenly and stand back and admire.


I hope all of this makes sense, if not drop me a line and I will try and help.

I am offering a garland as a GIVEAWAY if any one would like one.  All you have to do is leave me a comment.  Simples..... I will choose a winner on Thurs 29 in time for posting on Friday morning.  Good luck.

DEV x

Calmer

We have had wonderful sunshine for the last couple of days and it has been warm enough at times to sit outside and feel the sun on my face, admire the blue skies and watch the daffodils dancing in the breeze.  I have hung out washing and brought it in dry instead of the house smelling like a laundry.  There is something so lovely about clothes dried outside in the sunshine.


I have been crocheting and knitting away....simple things that don't tax my brain...easy to complete and soothing to create.  Things that have given me a real boost and make me smile every time I look at them.  Little gems of happy colour and design.


This teapot will be a leaving present for a very dear friend who is moving away.  I couldn't seem to a get a decent picture because of the strong light but you get the idea.

 A couple of these will be a birthday present for another friend...I think so anyway...but not sure that I can bear to part with them.....I love them so much.....oh bother!

And these little pots make me smile over and over.....just double crochet stitches round and round and round...so soothing to make and so gorgeous when finished.

Things are a little calmer here now I have got used to the idea that my job has disappeared.  There are very limited possibilities within the company...another application is pending...fingers crossed...in fact, what the heck, cross everything!!


Dev x

Apprehensive EDIT

There are changes afoot and I am scared and feeling a bit sick.  Cutbacks...those bloody awful cutbacks that we keep hearing about.  Next week I must interview for my own job along with several other candidates.


No guarantees, no sleep, no piece of mind for a whole 7 days....It feels very bleak... colleague against colleague....distasteful....


A lot is riding on this, our future depends on it.  It is hard to deal with....unemployment is such a scary word right now.

1 Job, 4 Applicants!

EDIT: [    I didn't get the job.....They gave it to someone else....  So that's that as they say!

Dev x

There and Back Again!

Well it has been a while I must say but I just felt that I needed a break from blogging.  I was having and still am having problems leaving comments on some blogs and I still cannot see who my followers are unless I use someone elses computer.  Have no idea how to rectify it so will have to continue to be anon for some peeps.

I haven't been idle and I thought that I would share a few things that have occupied my time recently and a particular project that has been on going since the summer. 

I love this hat using the pattern from the Gentle Art of Knitting (as mentioned in my last post).  The wool is super warm and a lovely shade of plum with tiny flecks of red and green..... It's Debbie Bliss Donegal Aran Tweed DK.  It is supposed to be a slouchy hat, but it was just a tad too big for me, so I pulled it back a bit.  I only have a small head...don't laugh...it's true.  Hats for me are usually a nightmare as everything falls down over my eyes.  I would love to make another one and try and get the 3 sections of pattern just using less rows. This is reluctantly modelled by Miss Fairy ( no more Littlest Fairy...Her teens are approaching fast).  I was under strictest orders not to show her hair, (she hates it) and the fact that she was still in her pyjamas on a Sunday afternoon!

I also fell in love with the Swishy Scarf from Nicki Trench's new book which is whizzing around blogland at the moment.  This is Rowan DK, I can't remember which shade off hand....  The pattern is very simple to follow if a little time consuming, especially the last round which took me 2 nights to complete.  I would love to do this in a couple of other colours too sometime.  I wouldn't say that it is one of those big snuggly cuddly scarves being a little over 5 inches or so wide, but I love it.

A larger more long term project has been this quilt for Miss Fairy. I started it way back in the summer months, probably about the time that I lost my blogging mojo.  It is quite addictive and uses the English paper piecing method..ie the material is sewn round a paper template.  It is an ideal stash buster, although I have had to purchase a certain amount of new fabric since I started. 


This was my first block.  I love it and have so many other favourite blocks like this one too.  Need to crack on and get this finished.




So that's it for now, there is some wool sitting looking at me and a friends birthday beckons.  It is pouring with rain outside, but warm here by the fire with my chocolate options drink....mmmmm what better way to sepnd the afternoon.

Dev x