Handmade Wool Crafts

Still Crocheting

2012-02-08T03:15:00.000-08:00

So, the baby took up more of the past year than I'd anticipated but I'm pleased to say, now she's almost 11 months I finally have some time to not only crochet but also blog!

This is my most recent project, made with one ball of chunky wool and a 5mm crochet hook, it's hdc in a spiral and sc across the top. Then hdc triangles attached for ear flaps and the decoration added.
It looks like all my crocheting will be baby-themed now! I intend to post about all the things I've made but have had no time to blog about. Fingers-crossed I'll now have time!

Hope you're all well, sorry for the long break!

Introducing...

2011-06-30T03:24:00.000-07:00

Elsie Grace, born 11/03/2011.I would've posted sooner but I've been keeping up a busy schedule of breastfeeding, nappy changing and where possible, sleeping! Born 7lb 3oz she now weighs 12lb 4 oz.

Oh Yeah, I Have A Blog!

2011-01-31T05:24:00.000-08:00

I can only apologise for what is surely a blogpost drought of epic proportions. However, in my defence I have a really good excuse.

I've been too busy. Too busy to blog and too busy to craft.

Why? You may be asking. Well, a few reasons. Firstly and most life-changingly the Other Half and I are expecting our first child at the end of February.

For those of you not aware of where my previous blog-posts were written from we lived in a static caravan (or mobile home) on the middle of the Yorkshire moors. Perfect for a hardy couple who can cope with fluctuating temperatures and water from a spring but no good at all with a teeny tiny baby.

We were planning a family so it shouldn't have come as a surprise but foolishly I'd taken the "6 months of trying before you get pregnant" as gospel. What then followed was a mad rush to find a suitable house and then an insane decorating rush. It's still not finished, the nursery is still a work in progress and there's baby stuff literally all over the house.

I've now finished work so expect a deluge of posts featuring stuff I've made for the baby followed, at the end of the month, by another distinct lack of posts except the odd one entitled "WHY WON'T IT STOP CRYING?!?!?"

We haven't found out the sex of the baby so there's all the pink or blue things for me to make once it's here. In the meantime here's a picture of one of the almost finished rooms in the new house. My bedroom, soon to have a moses basket in it too.

An Update

2010-05-18T08:38:00.001-07:00

I’m busy with some works in progress at the minute they are:

Flower motif scarf
Big granny square blanket
Mohair shrug
Stripey hat

Unfortunately I’ve been too busy for taking pictures so here are some blogs of note with bright coloured pictures and interesting posts for you to have a read of instead, enjoy!

http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/
http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/
http://bevmatheson.blogspot.com/
http://greedyforcolour.blogspot.com/
http://gephart836.blogspot.com/

Knitted Baby Blanket

2010-05-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

It's baby blanket time again and here's a project I finished a few weeks back but still need to weave the ends in (of course!!) This time it's knitted, I felt like experimenting a little. To be honest the squares were for another larger project which was just taking too long. Some of the squares became cushion covers and the leftover ones were sat staring at me. So I made them into a little baby blanket.

Can you see what's hidden in the centre square? No? How about a closer look...

Yep! A bear!

Somehow the tension isn't the same as the other squares so it looks a bit smaller. I'm hoping once blocked the shape will improve. It's the first time I've used knitting to make actual patterns and am rather pleased with the result. I found the bear pattern online somewhere - I can't remember where, I print so many off I lose track (if you recognise it let me know and I'll stick a link in) and it's also the first time I've successfully followed a knitting chart (I'm more of a pattern person!).

I then needed to come up with an edging. I wanted something fancy but easy. Unfortunately most of the edgings I found online were too complicated so I designed my own!

No doubt someone else will have done the same at some stage but I've never seen it. It's a ch3 ss into first ch, ss repeat and looks wavy and lovely!

General Election 2010

2010-05-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

It's the General Election here in the UK where we choose our new Prime Minister. I will be voting later today and you should too. Go on, put down your crocheting and go vote!

Hatty Bank Holiday

2010-05-05T08:05:00.000-07:00

I love Bank Holidays. If I were in charge of the country there's be a Bank Holiday Monday at least every other week. It's amazing how they cheer everyone up! This weekend was Bank Holiday Monday which means an extra day of weekend! AWESOME!

My weekend was spent knitting hats and delivering hats I had crocheted especially for my sister's boyfriend and his brother in law (confused? yep. me too!). They both have rather big heads and struggle to find hats that fit. They're also both scaffolders so need something cuddly and warm to protect their chilly little [big] heads and that's where I come in! Armed with a 4.5mm crochet hook and a selection of fairly chunky yarn I set about creating these earflap hats.

Now I'm from Yorkshire, as is my sister (obviously) and like a traitor she fell in love with a Lancastrian. I say traitor, he's actually a very nice lad (other than the fact he talks a bit funny) the truth is there's just a half-joking, half drunkard moronic rage between Yorkshire and Lancashire folk which I believe has something to do with the War of the Roses. We liked white ones, they wanted red ones, no-one was prepared to compromise and get yellow ones as they didn't match the frocks, I'm not sure.

Either way I'm proud to report two Lancashire men have on their heads today Yorkshire hats crocheted by a Yorkshire lass made from Bradford wool . That's my bit for inter-county diplomacy. Maybe my next hat should have pink roses on it?...

Adventures With Pastry

2010-05-03T08:04:00.000-07:00

I've found out how to make pastry. As a result I've been experimenting with tarts. Tasty jam tarts!They're so easy I don't know why I haven't made them before. Luckily I always have cold hands which is apparently the key to making good pastry.

Here have a close up so you can see how tasty they are!

The Eternal Blanket of Colourful Doom

2010-05-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

What do you call a blanket which takes up all of your spare time but ultimately, when finished is the most colourful project you've ever had the patience to make?

Why 'The Eternal Blanket of Colourful Doom' of course...My plan was to make small squares, join them to make bigger squares then join those to make one big cosy blanket. Sounds easy right? Yep, it wasn't. First I had to buy lots of new wool as I decided I wanted all squares to be joined in similar hues, then I had to stop and do the maths to see if I had enough squares every so often, arranging them neatly on the floor trying to stop a playful greyhound from laying on them, eating them or just messing them up. Then, once I had made enough and I'd joined it all neatly together I realised it didn't quite look finished so had to go round the edge twice with a nice yarn.

So I sat back to admire my work and realised it wasn't as finished as I thought it was. From the front I had a lovely neat colourful blanket but from the back I had the end-weaving in challenge of a lifetime.

I'm still very happy with it. The colours are great and it's very cosy when the cool Spring nights draw in but those ends, they go on forever! If anyone needs me I'll be busy weaving them in!

Zig-zag Baby Blanket

2010-04-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

I must admit ever since I saw my first ripple blanket I wanted to make one and now I have I'm very pleased with the result. I loved making it, it somehow seemed very theraputic plus I liked the way it used up some of the odds and ends in my ever-growing stash! I love the way the pattern builds up and the ridges. In fact I could gush for hours about it. Instead I'll show you a close up:

I used a variety of stash yarns and am very pleased with it. Now all I have to do is weave in those pesky ends, which I've come to discover thanks to my soon to be blogged about Eternal Blanket of Colourful Doom is my new pet hate...

Gardening

2010-04-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time in the garden lately. In fact I've been very busy which is why, sadly, this blog has been neglected. But never fear, where there's colour, there's a blog post and and there's lots of colour popping out this time of year.

I've always thought purple and yellow look great together and this was the first plant in the garden to flower up. Well, actually it was a race between this and... ...the daffodils. I love spring and the weather has started to become glorious. Goodbye winter. Hello Spring!There's also lots of pansies popping up in an array of colours. Purple and deep red, blue and lilac...

Speaking of blues I've made the mistake of planting Forget-me-nots. I say mistake because although I love the tiny little blue flowers I'm not a fan of how this plant self-seeds EVERYWHERE. However I'll worry about that next year. This year they're exactly where I want them and look so very sweet.

In the grass little daisies are showing their faces. I love daisies in long grass, I'm not a fan of a neatly clipped lawn. Gardens should be overgrown and magical!

Then there's these. Very green and not at all flowery, but soon to be making up most of our meals. Baby salad leaves are brilliant and easy to grow. I love watching planting seeds and watching them appear. I have been crafting and will post some of my projects shortly but just wanted to share with you some of the colours of my garden.

Granny Square Blanket 2

2010-04-12T05:20:00.000-07:00

Or as I like to call it the endless blanket of eternal colourful doom...

I have no pictures yet as I'm still making the edging. I made 240 small squares, joined them in similar hues to make 60 squares and joined them to make one 6x10 blanket. It has taken a bleedin' age.

As soon as the damn thing is finished normal service will be resumed. Hopefully.

An Ode To A Wool Shop

2010-03-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

I give my thanks for your multi-coloured hanks
As I finger through them with glee
And I can't help but fall for those lovely balls
Wound up oh so tight just for me

And I really despair as I fall for mohair
So expensive but silky and fine
And my arms are so full of 100% wool
With a softness and warmth so divine

There's needles and hooks and then pattern books
There's 4-ply and 2-ply and chunky
I can't help but be elated when I find variegated
And eyelash yarn that's oh so funky

Acrylic is cheap but it works up a treat
There's fun fur and ribbon yarn too
And the colours so bright, pink, black and white
Purple, orange, red, yellow and blue

So I go to the till and my arms they are filled
With yarns of all shapes and sizes
I'm addicted to yarn, though it causes no harm
Addiction comes in all kinds of guises!

I Want To Make That Of The Week

2010-02-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

In some remarkably dull story about Christina Aguilera doing some acting with a little less make-up on than usual I spotted this lovely piece of knitwear that the Daily Mail seemed to have overlooked. It's lovely.

Knitted Character Creation

2010-02-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

Oh. My. God. One my favourite TV shows is hosting a competition so awesome I'm a little afraid to enter it, I'm so excited all my imagination has run out of my head screaming "aaarrrgghh this is awesome!!" It's Harry Hill's TV Burp that are running the K Factor, an X Factor style show for Knitted Characters! I need to knit a character and take a picture of me holding it.
Now I've already discussed how the original Knitted Character is not knitted but is, in fact, crochet so what I'm wondering is can I crochet a character instead as I prefer crocheting when making 3d models. Looks like I'm going to have to have a peek through the rules and see...

Just Popping In

2010-01-19T06:47:00.000-08:00

I am still here! Here are a list of my excuses for not blogging:

1. It has snowed, outrageously - I've not been able to work and so have spent the time making a hooded scarf. It then stopped snowing and melted so now there is no need for aforementioned hooded scarf

2. It has been cold, too cold to make things, too cold to sit with your hands out typing and too cold for running water to either enter or leave our home. Three weeks without water and you realise Blogger is not a priority. Nor is making anything out of wool.

3. The dog ate it

4. Winter makes me depressed. I'm fed up of my job, I have nothing creative to say, anything I have made I've been too lazy to photograph or blog about. I think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Or maybe I'm just genuinely bored?!

5. I have no more reasons I just felt the need to add another point.

Hope you're all feeling cheerier than I am. Happy Crafting! Keep warm!

My Dog in his Christmas Jumper

2009-12-24T06:01:00.001-08:00

This is the jumper I made for our dog for Christmas! Merry Christmas to you all. Hope you don't get or give any knitwear disasters this year!

I'm still here!

2009-12-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

If you've been wondering where I've been I've become fascinated with finding interested patterns on the interwebs and in case you were wondering, there are hundreds out there! My recent favourite is this site which has a large array of vintage patterns I found it looking for 2 needle mitten patterns as I've recently discovered that I loathe and detest knitting in the round! There's lots of 2 needle patterns for them olden days of yore when folk kitted with two sharpened twigs rather than fancy plastic circular knitting needles.

In other news the dog now has a fluffy sweater (he's a greyhound so I'm sure you can imagine how ridiculous he looks in a jumper made from fun fur!). Plus I've made a Christmas present (big hat for a big head) and am halfway through making a pair of mittens for my mum-in-law (I settled for crocheted though as it works up faster).

Finally I had the following conversation with my Other Half last Saturday

Him: I wish I had a Santa hat
Me: I could make you one
Him: Please

By Sunday afternoon he was wearing a crocheted Santa hat which he wore to walk the dog in, the dog who was still wearing his fluffy jumper!

Here's a very rough pattern (although really they're more 'loose instructions' so don't blame me if it all goes horribly wrong! Also, this is crocheted in the round which I love so use a stitch marker if you need one - I never do, I think I like making life difficult for myself!

Using red yarn I started with a chain joined with a ss that was the head circumference, crocheted sc until near the top of the head then reducing as follows:

first reducing row: 2sctog 7sc to end
next row: sc
next row: 2 sc tog 6sc to end
next row: sc
next row: sc
next row: 2 sc tog 5sc to end
next row: sc
next row: 2 sc tog 4sc to end
next row: sc
next row: sc
next row: 2 sc tog 3sc to end
next row: sc
next row: 2 sc tog 2sc to end
next row: sc
next row: sc
next row: 2 sc tog 1sc to end
next row: 2sctog (repeat this row until few enough stitches remain to join together) leave long tail.

Join white yarn at the wide end of the hat. Sc enough rows to make rim of hat (I did about 8 I think) weave in end

Make white pompom secure with long tail at pointy end of hat.

Tasteless Amigurumi

2009-11-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Meet Mr Period.

I made him to honour everything that's horrible about periods and also to cheer myself up while I was on my period. He's crocheted and is in a suitably bad mood.

Wool Craft Update

2009-11-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

I've been busy and probably left this blog longer than I should have. I have been crafting though but as usual I've forgotten to take pictures. I'm not really cut out for this craft-blogging lark! I just thought I'd keep you updated with my crafting.

I've made one pair of mittens using a pattern that's so old the price was in shillings and pence (well, just one shilling to be completely accurate). They're a combination of knit and crochet for minimum boredom and they're a purple colour (because that was the colour that was nearestwhen I decided to try the pattern!) They're a good fit and are very warm, it's nice to know that hand sizes haven't changed much since decimalisation!! The main hand bit is double crochet so they're lovely and thick. The thumb is stockinette stitch and the cuff is k1, p1 rib.

I'm making a knitted square blanket, making7" knitted squares. So far I've got 12 squares, I'm doing this blanket when I'm too tired to concentrate but not so tired I don't want to knit. the colours are beiges and browns with a bitof white thrown in for extra measure!

I'm in the middle of a zigzag baby blanket using a pattern found at Attic24. I'd find you a link to the exact pattern but to be honest I thoroughly recommend reading her blog and finding it yourself as she has lots of other lovely thigns you'll probably want to try! Speaking of which I've now made 3 little crochet birds just for my general amusement, find the pattern on her site it's fun and quick to do!

I'm still on with the Entrelac scarf which I'm enjoying but can't always be bothered doing after a busy day. Plus there's always so many other patterns to try... why is there never enough hours in a day?

Finally I'm making a woolly hat for the Other Half who has a bit of a hat fetish. I've cast on 92 stitches and am knitting until it measures about 9" I'll then do a few rows of k2 together until there's few enough stitches to thread the end through, gather and sew down the side. It's an olive green colour and is so far about 3" from cast on.

Knitted? I Think You'll Find That's Crochet

2009-11-11T08:34:00.000-08:00

I love Harry Hill’s TV burp, it’s the only thing on TV that I get mad about missing but something has been bothering me for quite a while.

It’s this:
From the very first clip when the Knitted Character first appeared in Eastenders I said “that’s not knitted, it’s crocheted” but I let it slide because I didn’t think much of it. But now the character has taken off, you can even win one with the weekly competition.

It’s driving me insane, partly because whenever I’m crocheting anyone who sees me goes “what are you knitting?”

I then have 3 choices

1. Go into a lengthy diatribe about how knitting is completely different and uses two needles, whereas crochet just uses one hook and the look of the stitches and the feel of the finished garment is completely different

2. Answer “Scarf”

3. Beat them with my crochet hook until they’re no longer bothering me.

There are two reasons it drives me mad, the first is that you’d never go to someone with coloured pencils and ask them what they were painting. Oh, and trust me don’t EVER ask someone who’s a Ham Radio operator if they’re doing CB radio.

The second is it proves just how little knowledge and interest people actually have, crochet and knitting are different. They could ask “Are you knitting?” and I’d be fine, I’d probably even answer “Sort of, I’m crocheting, similar idea, different tools.” But they don’t, they assume I’m knitting and that really riles me.

To top it all the company that makes them have even said it’s not knitted, it’s crochet, you can buy them here unless of course you’re under 16.

Anyway, it’s fair to say I really need to calm down, no-one should get this worked up over wool crafts.

New Template

2009-11-04T07:48:00.000-08:00

I accidentally cocked up my old template in a freak blog accident. As a result I've got this one, it's a work in progress but on the plus side it's a lovely blue colour.

It'll probably change a lot in the coming days. Please let me know if it's not displaying correctly or if there's any bits you think I should change!

Thanks :-)

Can't Talk. Busy

2009-11-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, now I've gone and done it. I've only bloomin' well found the joy of Entrelac thanks to Alison of Freckles & Purls quite addictive Entrelac Scarf pattern (PDF).

All I think about is Entrelac. Is there a support group? Entrelac anonymous?

The funny thing is I'd always discounted it as something that looked too complicated. I was wrong. if you can knit, purl, increase and decrease you can Entrelac.

Curse you Entrelac, knitting will never be the same again...

Hats and Soup

2009-09-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

I've had a bit of a crochet/knit drought at the moment. The only thing I have made is two of these convertible hats. I made one for me - the prototype, a black and red one. I then was told it was my sister's boyfriend's birthday, last year I made him an earflap hat and it literally never leaves his head. He has trouble buying hats as by his own admission his head is "well big" so I thought I'd make him one too.

This meant my Other Half started moaning at me as he also wants one, so i am now halfway through my third, it should be very useful for him as he can wear it round his neck when he rides his motorbike and tie it in a hat when he gets off it.

I recommend the pattern, it's easy to follow and works up quickly unless you have distractions, which I do as this week we decided to buy...

...A SCALEXTRIC SET!!!! I've never had one and always wanted one, so we set it up in the living room and have been racing each other like big kids all week. We've also bought two track extension kits and 2 more cars. We decided to get some cheaper cars until the dog gets more used to it; there truly is nothing funnier than a greyhound trying to catch a F1 racing car. It is not funny when he manages and the spoiler drops off!

In between races last night I had to make some food. We've been a bit slack this week and couldn't be bothered to go to the supermarket. I looked through the cupboards and managed to find the following:

potatoes (about 4)
onions (2)
courgettes (2)
a vegetable stock cube (made about 400ml of stock)
butter
milk (225ml)
parsley
salt and pepper

From it I made my first ever 'cream of' soup. I loosely followed this recipe and it was delicious! Better still, there's enough for tonight with a crusty loaf I've bought today!

Granny Squares on the Red Carpet

2009-09-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture on the BBC's Entertainment Site's photo of the day section and thought I should share it with you (and by share I mean copy the picture and post it here - sorry BBC!) It's very cool, although I'm not too keen on the colours myself. No doubt it's been followed by a barrage of "Cate Blanket" headlines and might feature on those dreadful 'what were you wearing????!?!?!?!?' sections in fashion magazines but personally I think it's quirky and I love it!

A Tribute To Pointless Wool Crafts

2009-09-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

I love browsing online for quirky little projects I have no reason to make, here I'm giving you my run down of the Top 5 Pointless Yarn Projects

In fifth place it may be quirky but it's also slightly pointless unless you are bald, in either way I'm not sure you'd want this knitted wig from Knitty

In fourth place there's this lot of crazy fools who think they're being the Knitting world's answer to Banksy with their random knitted graffiti nonsense. "Oh but it's cute they argue" "How can you be offended by knitting?" Well, quite easily when you've knitted up my bloomin' post box thanks a bunch now I have to walk half a mile to post my letter or frog this huge piece of craziness. Now take your yarn and your needles and go make something practical like a jumper.

In third place it's this little annoyance. There's no pattern but it's probably for the best.All I can say is Christ no! Take the hat off the dog. I'll repeat, just in case you misunderstood: take the hat off the dog.

In second place I choose crocheted food. Any kind of crocheted food is pointless, you can't eat it, you're too big to play let's pretend. A project that really is pointless are these crochet cupcakes from Bitter Sweet. I can't enjoy their sugary goodness because they are made of blinking WOOL.

At number one it's this knitted toilet roll from Mochimochi Blog the only possible purpose for this would be to put it on your loo roll holder in order to torture a friend or relative. You can't use it but you'll need to use something, I can see this practical joke ending one of two ways: stinky knitting project or stinky friend, either way you're not going to be pleased you made it.

The Special Award for making me want to kill myself for ever even owning knitting needles goes to this:

Apparently by an artist called Guido Daniele he is now on my hit list. This is wrong for the following reasons:

Bikes should not be pink
Bikes should not be knitted
Pink bikes are not art

Yarn Drought

2009-09-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well, not really a yarn drought, but a project drought. I'm at a bit of a loose end knowing what to make, recently I've been making teddy bears, knitted ones adn I would post pictures but as usual the PC for posting pictures is occupied by the Other Half and prising him from the chair is far too much effort.

Recently I've been struggling to find an inspiring project, this in turn puts me in a bad mood as I'm not the kind of person that can just sit and watch TV. So I'm on the hunt for projects that are enjoyable to knit or crochet. Does anyone out there have any old favourites? Any suggestions? I need help to get my knitting mojo back!!

When My 2 Hobbies Collide

2009-08-13T01:25:00.001-07:00

I like writing. I like knitting. So I'm sure I should want to get involved with this but I can't help thinking that knitting a giant poem one letter at a time is a bit of a daft idea.

If you are up for the tiniest contribution in the biggest knitted poem ever check it out.

Making Knitting Charts

2009-08-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

I've decided I'm going to make my own knitting charts so I've been looking online for printable sqwuared paper. I've found this great free resource with a wide range of printable graph papers (the isometric paper looks pretty gool too - I could spend hours drawing Escher-style pictures with this).

I've been using this chart for a teddy-bear baby blanket but thought it would be fun to try and make my own. I'm hoping to make some designs soon and if they work out I might share them!

Crochet Baby Cardigan

2009-08-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

I'm now on with this. It's a crochet baby cardigan, so far it's very cute and I like how it works up top-down so you get a sense of how big (or in this case small) it is as you're making it. I'm trying it in a very soft purple acrylic yarn. I'll post pictures when it's done.

Scarf Request / Crochet Book Review

2009-08-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

The great thing about Facebook, Twitter and the like is the banter with friends you seldom see. I updates my Facebook status yesterday to something alog the lines of "Louise is planning her next wool project." A little later I checked my status to see "can you make me a scarf please." Yes, I thought, yes I can, and remembered I had this book which has scarf patterns in that I have never used. I'm really not sure why I bought this book, I'd seen it on amazon and was just starting with crochet, I guess I liked the cover which is NEVER a good way to buy a book.

Don't get me wrong, it's got some interesting patterns and ideas in it and the how to do stitches and what yarn is what section is very good but I don't like the way all the pictures are in the middle of the book. You have to keep flicking around to see if the creation you've made looks anything like the one the designer had in mind.

I finished the Market Bag project a few days ago, unfortunately in my wisdom I used acrylic yarn instead of cotton, the result is a market bag which stretches to look like a badminton case whenever you put anything even slightly weighty in it. But, as I found the project easy enough to follow I thought I'd have a go at the preppy/hippy scarf.

The preppy/hippy scarf is a very easy pattern, so easy in fact it beggars belief anyone bothered to write it down. To summarise: make long chain leave long tail at each end hdc every row with different colour leaving long tail at each end for fringing. Then when it's wide enough add some more fringing for good measure.

I'm small (UK size 10/12 to be precise) but make everything medium just in case, the shrug was very narrow and pretty uncomfortable to wear. I frogged it. I think the author must be a size Zero as when making the scarf I immediately found it was nowehere near long enough in the pattern so made my foundation chain at least 20 chains longer, even now I wish it was longer. I've got two more leave a tail hdc along leave a tail rows to do tonight and then it's done and I can send it to my Facebook friend.

Maybe all my projects should be based on "please can you make me a" as I've actually had fun with this. All in all I prefer to get my patterns online, some of the free stuff out there is amazing. I'm not sure I'll bother getting any more crochet books. The only other crafts books I have are a 1980s Elle knitting pattern book, a 70s crafts book with knitting, crochet, macrame and a whole load of other crafts in and finally 'Two Balls or Less' a book which i admit i bought for the amusing name more than anything!

I Will Be Back

2009-07-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

I am fine, just busy. I will devote more time to my lovely blog and your lovely readers after the summer. I desperately need a holiday (I think I'm close to burning out).

I will blog soon

Loo x

Shared Moments

2009-06-26T02:13:00.001-07:00

I shared a moment with a stranger today; the man looked at me with a sad smile. I gave him a sad smile back. He then walked away whistling ‘Man In The Mirror’ the same song that was playing through my head.

I found this today it made me smile so I thought I’d share it.

Of course if you’re having your home repossessed I can only apologise; I’ve probably depressed you even more.

No time for wool so far today, although last night I was knitting a summer top. It’s circular knitting which actually bores me senseless, luckily I have a stripe pattern to follow to keep me awake!

Say No To Pollen!

2009-06-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately hayfever is making it increasingly difficult for me to be bothered doing any yarn-related stuff lately. By the time I get back from work I'm sniffly, tired, cranky and more often than not have a headache from my stupid allergy-ridden sinuses.

In other news I got my first haircut in over a year the other day. Only a few inches off but at least I can happily run a brush through it now:

Haircut: 1 Phobia of Hairdressers: 0

It's true, I hate having my hair cut. I think it stems from my anxiety, up until recently when I had the wonderful triple-therapy for stomach ulcers I'd get the most nervous stomach whenever I was doing anything remotely different or exciting. This nervous stomach would make me feel sick, I very seldom was sick but it was still enough to put me off doing things. I still get a bit of a nervous tummy but it's much better. Now there are two things I still don't enjoy doing, the first is going out for a meal, because feeling sick with excitement/nerves is not conducive to enjoying a hearty meal and the second is getting my haircut.

It's crazy, I know but I think it's something to do with being stuck in the chair, with that silly shawl thing round my neck and someone looking at me (well, my hair). I know I can't really leave as I need my whole hair cutting, not just part of it, this thought then festers in my brain as I feel increasingly queasy and aware that I can't actually run away. I've never been sick, and I probably never will but me repeating that fact in my head doesn't detract from the fact that it's an altogether uncomfortable experience for me.

I was lucky that my haircut was the result of a hairdressing student desperately needing a model, I had no time to think or panic, before I knew it I was sat in the chair being pruned. Albeit gulping like a madwoman, looking petrified! But the whole ordeal was soon over, the student did a good job and my hair looks all the better for it.

I'm going to have to let them practice on me more often. I'm the perfect candidate really, I'm not bothered about what I look like so I'm not scared of students making a hash of it. In fact, when asked by any hairdresser throughout my life how I want my hair cutting my standard response is "I don't know, whatever. Just no split ends."

Finished Item of the Week

2009-06-21T07:53:00.001-07:00

I've had half of this top in my 'to finish' pile for about a year now and I'm pleased to announce that this Saturday morning I completed it! It was pretty easy so I'm not sure what took me so long, I think it's just that I get bored when I have to do another piece exactly the same as the first.

Anyway, it fits and it's sunny so I'm wearing it!

It is longer when I'm stood up, I think it gathered and rode up a bit when I laid down. I used about 150g of yarn (if memory serves me correctly) and I just used some cheap acrylic, possibly mix that I got from the wool shop of addiction. Speaking of which I went in last week and got 5 balls, 4 black acrylic mix to make the Other Half a poncho once mine's done and one variegated yarn that took my fancy. I hope I've not renewed my insane addiction!

Ponchos are best

2009-06-15T01:56:00.000-07:00

I’m working on this. It’s possibly the most fulfilling Poncho pattern I’ve ever found. It’s an easy enough pattern to memorise but it’s got some increases to remember so you still feel a bit clever while you’re making it.

I love vintage patterns and I was really pleased to find this one, it’s working up well and as usual I’m messing about with the colour scheme slightly giving it more random sized stripes (I just can’t resist the temptation to Loo-ify patterns!).

Busy Blogger

2009-06-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy lately. I've been doing a lot of home (caravan) improvements. We now have a new Ikea sofa, called something pretty much unpronounceable and a balcony!

The new furniture has sent me on a mad tidying spree. As a result I've had no time to do projects I've been wanting to and less time to blog. I have made muself a water bottle holder for when I'm out waling as there's nothing more annoying than losing the use of a hand to a bottle of water!

I'm afraid I haven't had time for pictures, but I thought I'd share the pattern. Hopefully it'll work for you. Let me know if you have any feedback!

Crochet Water Bottle Carrier

You will need:
Approx 75g of standard weight yarn
4mm hook

Round 1: ch3, hdc 7 in third chain from hook. Join with sl st into first stitch

Round 2: ch 2 hdc 2 in each hdc join with sl st into first stitch

Round 3: ch 2 hdc 2 in each hdc join with sl st into first stitch

Round 4: using front loop hdc in each hdc

Then ch 2 and hdc in each hdc in back loop for each following round until piece measures approx 6" join with sl st and weave in ends. Make strap by chaining desired length of chain. Sc in each ch, ch 1 to turn at end of each row. Stop when you think it's wide enough.

Sew on strap on inside of bottle holder. Stick in a bottle of water and go for a walk!

Yarn Addiction Update #1

2009-06-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since I first posted about my wool buying addiction. I am pleased to announce I have managed a whole May without buying any yarn!

I was especially proud of myself today, I walked past The Wool Shop (my supplier!) and I could hear it calling to me. I looked in the bargain tubs outside the shop, felt a few balls of the most interesting yarn, including some really lovely ribbon yarn for £1.50 a ball, glanced longingly through the door at the rows of lovely yarns inside and walked away! Now, I know I'll never be completely cured, and to be fair I am now feeling an empty sense of loss in my heart but I'm still very proud of myself.

My name is Loo and I am a wool addict.

Too Hot To Crochet

2009-06-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've been on holiday for a week, mostly day tripping and a couple of nights camping in Anglesey. It's been great but the weather has turned from grey skies and rain to bright blue skies and loads of sunshine. It's about 25 degrees todaywhich is far too hot to crochet

I did make some little baby bootees for one of the zillion people I know who seem to have got themselves or their partner pregnant over the last couple of months (I think there's something in the water). I don't have pictures but the pattern is here and it's very easy. I made a pair within an hour. I was going to crochet some more but the heat had made me far to ratty to concentrate. Instead I went inside and fell asleep on the sofa!

Knitted Baby Blanket

2009-05-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

I've had some impulse buy yarn hanging about for ages, it's very soft and I'd been wondering what the heck to make with it. In the end I decided to try my hand at diagonally knitting squares.

I made them using 6mm needles by casting on one stitch, knitting that one front and back and then increasing both of the outer stitches by one on every row. Once I'd got to 70 I decreased each end of each row by one until all the stitches were gone.

By the time I'd knit two green ones I knew what they were destined to be. I knit two purple ones and joined them together to make a baby blanket.I then edged it in 2 rows of purple single crochet. I'm very happy with the result.

Easy Folded Bag

2009-05-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

I found a pattern for a crochet bag the body of which was made from a singular rectangular piece of crochet here. I wanted to give it a go but had got bored of crochet so decided to try a knitted version. To work out the sizes I tried folding a piece of paper as per the instructions and then scaled it up to a size I was happy with. Feeling a bit brave I decided to try to make it stripey and see if the stripes would match up when it was folded. I think it was beginners luck! I knit a handle and attached it. I'm very pleased with the result. The only problem with it is the edges keep curling over, hopefully a quick pressing will rectify that!

A Short Digression

2009-05-20T02:14:00.000-07:00

This makes me laugh, I've no idea why.

Finished and Photographed

2009-05-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

Finally the PC has decided to play (without me having to spend anything on a new camera) so here it is, Dudley's new dog bed!

Made using French knitting it took me ages but got rid of ALL my scraps! I finished it off with a few rows of double crochet just for some different edging.As you can see Dudley's quite pleased with the finished product!

Ravelry Adventures

2009-05-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

I logged into Ravelry for the first time in a while today. I tend to go on it occasionally when I need ideas of things to make, I'd firstly like to apologise that I haven't been on it for a while. I had messages from some of my readers here. I've now replied and will be checking it more frequently in future!

If anybody else wants to find me I am here feel free to add me. I'd add you but I'm honestly still struggling to get to grips with it. The buttons really aren't where I'd put them! I can navigate round the site but I can't help but feel like I'm taking the scenic route!

I'm hoping to get a new camera at the weekend, we're also going to get a new hard-drive and format the PC which should mean I can start putting pictures of things I've been making up again (unless the new camera hates me too!).

Give Me Wool Over Technology Any Day

2009-05-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Don't you just hate it when you have a really nice weekend and make things you're really proud of out of yarn but the pictures you wanted to post on your blog are stuck on the camera? My stupid computer has decided photos should now only ever be saved as Read Only. Any attempt to resize or rotate them results in them mysteriously vanishing from the entire PC.

I'm really annoyed as I have some lovely pictures of the Leeds-Liverpool canal and a Mandarin duck all of which need rotating 90 degrees to prevent blog-reader neck-strain. I've also finished the dog bed (which was remarkably well timed as I finished it just after he decided to throw up on his old one, aren't dogs lovely?!) and I've made some bags. I'm now on with a baby blanket. None of which I can post so instead here is a picture of a donkey courtesy of Google images.

Still Hooking!

2009-05-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Eye of Jupiter Blanket has been taking slightly longer than anticipated, also due to protests from the other hlf that we are now approaching the status of 'Too May Blankets' I've had to rethink the design. It's now an Eye of Jupiter dog bed and is driving me insane, there really is nothing worse than having to single crochet things together...

I want to start making some other things but I'm determined to finish the dog bed first. This is why I have a distinct lack of finished items to blog about.

I'm off now to take some deep cleansing breaths before I start single crocheting again. The dog better bloomin' like it!!

Must... Stop... Buying... Yarn...

2009-05-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

I decided to do a spring clean of my yarn stash as my wool chest had started to look like a big bowl of multi-coloured, multi-textured spaghetti. I emptied my chest: Look all wooden!I turned round to see...

My sofa had disappeared!
I set to it, putting all the yarn back in in neat little balls, organised roughly by shade and thickness cursing my quite apparent addiction. When I saw my neat yarn stash all balled up and pretty I decided enough was enough. I am now on a temporary yarn purchasing ban.
Of course the 5 balls I bought before I tidied my stash don't count. I mean they were only 50p a ball so how could they?It's been 2 days since I tidied my yarn stash and I've only been to the wool shop once. And I only bought a bag of stuffing which I really did need as I had absolutely none left. So all in all I'm doing quite well.

My name is Loo and I am a yarnoholic. Realising it is the first step.

(please note pictures do not include massive box full of embroidery thread and bag full of various coloured plastic bag yarns I set about creating mid last year)

Mobile Hangers

2009-04-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

A few posts back I said I was going to experiment with baby mobiles. These are the first objects I've crocheted, I'm pretty pleased with them. I think a space themed mobile would be really nice over a little boy's crib (not that I'm stereotyping!).

Now I just need to fathom a method of hanging them. Any ideas?

I now need some more stuffing before I can start on my other ideas.

Also, I'm not sure it you've heard of One Pretty Thing it has daily ideas of things to make using all sorts of crafts. It's the kind of site that makes me want to stay at home and craft forever!

Crocheted Rabbit

2009-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

I actually made this rabbit over Easter but never got round to posting the picture, he's entirely single crochet, I made the ears first and then work him downwards shaping it as I went along. When I first embroidered his face I thought he looked a little sinister, hence I've nicknamed him 'Evil Bunny' but to be fair he's actually quite cute.

Speaking of fluffy animals my dog now has a blog (yes, of course he can type) you can follow his adventures here.

Normal Transmissions Will Now Be Resumed

2009-04-21T03:08:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a happy Easter! I've been away (hence the lack of wool related postings). I've been to Ayr in Scotland, as you can see the beaches were great! We got lots of walking done and managed to tire out the dog!

I've not done much with wool other than make another of the bags in my last post. I'm now on a mad crochet mission. I need to make my millions through yarn craft so I can spend my life walking on lovely beaches and visiting more remote castles in Scotland!

Granny Square Bag

2009-04-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

This in one of my recent completed projects. It's a granny square bag which I crocheted using some rainbowy yarn I had going spare. It looks like it will be a nice beach bag.

Here's a close up which shows the squares a little better.
You can find the pattern here. It's easy to follow and I made it up over a couple of evenings, in fact sewing the bloody thing together took as long as it did to make the 24 squares you need to make it!

Crochet Project

2009-04-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

I'm setting myself a crochet challenge, I've seen a lot of knitted mobiles a bit like this one. I want to try and crochet one but instead of birds I'm going to try and make a space-y one. I've bought some amazing primary coloured wool and am hoping to get some quality crafting done over the next few weeks as I'm on holiday!!

You've got to love Easter!

Summer Gypsy Wrap

2009-04-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

As soon as I finished my knitted summer wrap the sun came out. It was so great to see blue sky for a change! Roll on summer!
I've always like the hippy-gypsy style and wanted to make a wrap which would be great for walking along the beach in the Mediterranean sunshine (not that I have a holiday booked yet this year). I'd also seen a lot of examples of knitting using different textures and thanks to my yarn addiction I have an awful lot of eyelash yarn to use.
I used big chunky needles (about 10mm) cast on about 80 stitches and simply started knitting in a colour. When I got bored of a colour and had reached the starting edge I used another complementing colour - I kept the lengths of yarn as a colourful fringing.
I stopped knitting and loosely bound off when I felt it was long enough. I'm really pleased with the result and am now trying to figure out how to best make a jumper in a similar way.

Big Needles Little Interest

2009-04-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

“You can take that shit down now, it’s 12.30” say I, pointing to the savings rate board in my local bank.
“Pardon” asks the cashier
“0.35% on my Individual Savings Account down from 4.5%? I assume it’s some kind of April Fools joke.”

I didn’t say that, obviously but I have been seething all day. The government’s response to banking industry’s piss poor lending strategy over the last few years is to make it so that these complete numpties (who have borrowed 10 times their annual salaries to buy houses they can’t afford) get to pay back their debts at 2 pence a month. While I get absolutely nothing for being prudent and saving up while living in a bloody caravan instead of buying a house I can’t afford. It’s enough to make you want to withdraw all your money and stuff it in your mattress. We should all do that, that’ll screw them.

Away from fiscal matters I’ve finished my wrap. I tried to get the OH to take a picture of me yesterday in the sunshine but he seemed to want to place more emphasis on his motorbike in the back of the photo rather than the lovely wrap I’d spent 4 days making. Honestly, if you want anything doing right, do it yourself.

I’m now on the hunt for very thick knitting needles. I have a 1cm crochet hook but I find crocheting on that scale very confusing. I want some at least 15mm in diameter. I’ve found these wooden ones but can’t help wanting something a bit more colourful, exciting and possibly even bigger. I found these but can’t help thinking they look a bit rubbishy. I’ve also heard of Speed Stix but can’t find a UK stockist and there’s no way I’m paying import duty on knitting needles. The other option is to buy some dowel and try and make my own…

Knitting Frustration Defined

2009-03-31T02:35:00.000-07:00

I've spent the last 3 days knitting on and off, I'm making a summer wrap with a variety of yarn and it's very nearly finished. Imagine my frustration last night when I have 1 row plus the bind off to go and I glance at the clock to realise it is midnight! I now have to spend the day distracted by the project I know I'll complete tonight. Why can't I be at home crafting? Why?

French Knitting: Not As Sexy As It Sounds

2009-03-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

It really should be sexy but it isn't. It's actually the kind of craft where you can completely switch off. You've probaly done it as a child, you use the plastic thing below and wool. You don't have to think, it's a great way to wind down.

Here are my instructions on How To Do French Knitting:

Start with a slip-knot around one of the prongs with the tail end of your wool through the centre, wind the long end of the wool once round the other prongs, turning the reel as you work. Once you've gone round them all wrap your wool around the pins above the loops already on your prongs. Use a blunt needle (French knitting kits usually come with a plastic pin) to pick up the bottom loop on the first prong and pull it over the top loop. Repeat this and keep pulling very gently downwards on the tail end of your original loop to work your knitting through the plastic jobby (I'm sure it's got a name).
So far I've made this:I've decided to make a rug/blanket/artwork kind of thing. I'm going to join it in a circle as below.I've lots more to do to get it big enough to qualify as a blanket. It's about 80cm in diameter so far. I can't help thinking it looks a little like the Eye Of Jupiter from Battlestar Gallactica.

ROFL of the Week

2009-03-26T08:41:00.001-07:00

This post has absolutely nothing to do with yarn, knitting or crocheting but I though it was too funny not to share:

What's the best way to irritate your parents while you are backpacking round the world?

Read the actual story here at the BBC website no less (that's quality news, that is).

More Hats

2009-03-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

I've finally got round to snapping some of my recent creations. Firstly I've got my little baby hat. This is crocheted and using aran wool (allegedly) and I used my free baby hat pattern. I decided I wanted to make it a bit more quirky so set about crocheting ears and then sewing on some facial features to make...

PUPPY HAT!

Next I've got my chunky knitted hat. I meant to take note this time and record the pattern accurately, instead I got mesmerised by the variegated yarn and lost track. From memory here's what I did:

Leaving a 12" tail C/O 90 stitches . Work 3" in k1 p1 rib.
Work 7 1/2" in k1 row p1 row (I can never remember what stitch that is).
Then for the next couple of rows work 2 stitches together until you have 6 stitches remaining.
Cut the yarn with a good couple of feet of yarn spare, thread this through the 6 stitches remaining on your needles.
Pull tight and use this to sew up w/s of hat. Use the 12" tail at the start of the knitting to sew up the r/s of the brim.
Weave in ends
Job done - put hat on
Go for a walk

Move along, nothing to see here...

2009-03-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

I've had a very busy weekend, gardening in the spring sunshine (you remember sunshine right?) then going to the beach to watch the dog run round like a crazed lunatic. I meant to take some pictures of the baby hats I've made but by the time I remembered it was too late to be pratting about with the camera (at least that's the excuse I'm using).

The rest of the time I've been frogging. I now have just the vermilion vest creation disaster thing to frog and that will be it. Yarn recycling can commence.

I've also unpicked my French knitting experiment, I was making a vertical striped blanket but I've decided it will be better as a circular rug come blanket come circular yarn artwork piece.

Now it's time for my MAJOR FRUSTRATION OF THE WEEK ALERT: Remember this blanket? The culmination of a decade and a half's laziness? Well the Other Half only went and found a square I'd missed! One solitary bloody square. What the heck do I do with that? And don't you dare say another blanket!

The Latest Hat

2009-03-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is the hat I made using the pattern from the last post. Again I've used variagated yarn, it's also a fluffy soft towelly type yarn. I'm in the process of making another hat, I'm using standard wool (none fancy) and have noticed the pattern works up a bit smaller. If you want a slightly bigger hat, or are using thinner yarn try using a 4mm hook instead of the 3.5mm hook used to make the one above (that's what I've done and so far it seems to be working!)

Crocheted Baby Hat Free Pattern

2009-03-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

I’ve finally got round to writing down a pattern - I’m so lazy sometimes it’s a miracle I function at all! It’s a pattern based on my chunky weight hat, except I didn’t want to use chunky weight wool for the pattern as I’m pretty sure the wool I used for that was a handspun never to be found again bargain. So I’ve sat with my hook and some “normal” wool and here (I think) is the finished pattern!

3.5mm crochet hook. Standard weight yarn (I’ve made one with 35g of wool if the felt-tipped label on the yarn was done by someone who can actually use scales!).

Ch3

Round 1: In 3rd chain from hook do 7 sc. Join to 1st sc with sl st

Round 2: Ch1, 2 sc in each sc

Round 3: Ch1, *2 sc in first stitch 1 sc in next stitch* (*repeat until end of round), join to 1st sc with sl st

Round 4: Ch1, *2 sc in first stitch then 1 sc in next 2 stitches* (*repeat until end of round), join to 1st sc with sl st

Round 5: Ch1, *2 sc in first stitch then 1 sc in next 3 stitches* (*repeat until end of round), join to 1st sc with sl st

Round 6: Ch1, *2 sc in first stitch then 1 sc in next 4 stitches* (*repeat until end of round), join to 1st sc with sl st

Round 7: Ch1, *2 sc in first stitch then 1 sc in next 5 stitches* (*repeat until end of round), join to 1st sc with sl st

Round 8: Ch1, *2 sc in first stitch then 1 sc in next 6 stitches* (*repeat until end of round), join to 1st sc with sl st

Round 9: Ch1, *2 sc in first stitch then 1 sc in next 7 stitches* (*repeat until end of round), join to 1st sc with sl st

Next rounds: ch 1 sc in each stitch, join to 1st sc with sl st - repeat until piece measures about 7” long.

Sew up side seams, fold over brimmy bit. Give to baby.

Please note I have only tested this once so if it doesn’t work out right please let me know (but don’t be too harsh I’m quite sensitive!!)

Crocheted baby hat

2009-03-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

A lot of people I know are breeding at the moment, which means I've been looking at little clothing.

'I could make that' I thought to myself, so I had a go at a crocheted baby hat. This was one of my no-pattern specials. I love making things up as I go along, especially when they turn out all cute like this one. It measures about 7inches long (and a similar width at the widest part) when laid flat. I'm making another and trying to take more nitce of how I did it so I can share the pattern with you.

In case you're wondering my house is not lined with marble. I actually took this picture by putting the hat on top of the gas fire, it is a fake marble surround!

Pink Elephants

2009-03-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

You might not remember but recently I bought this yarn and as usual had no idea what I was going to make with it when I picked it up in the wool shop in town (which I'm sure will be my downfall).

I'd like to introduce you to my new little friend.

I crocheted him using Riohnna's Pocketphant pattern - thanks for sharing it he's very cute! If you want to make one look on her site at the free patterns section in the right hand column and there's a link to the PDF file there.

Another Cookie Weekend!

2009-03-08T06:13:00.000-07:00

I've been cooking biscuits again I looked for a recipe from my “Fabulous Cookies” book only I didn't have all the ingredients for any of the recipes. So, I used the basis of one recipe and used a different type of sugar and instead of chocolate chips and vanilla essence used sultanas and cinnamon.

To say it was successful would be an understatement; my second batch is cooing as I type. Here is the recipe in case you're in a biscuitty mood!

115g butter
115g light brown sugar
1 egg
1tsp ground cinnamon
150g self-raising flour
50g porridge oats
120g sultanas

Makes up to 20 (or fewer really big ones!)

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and beat well.
Sift flour into the bowl and fold it in with a metal spoon.
Add oats and sultanas and mix well.
Dollop the mixture onto greased baking trays leaving gaps for spreading.
Cook on 15-20 mins gas mark 5 (bottom of my oven) until golden brown.
Leave on baking tray for a few mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Or eat while still warm as the other half seems to enjoy doing!!

I've also been doing some hooking this weekend, but I'll post pictures of that later. Right now I'm off to eat more biscuits!

No Wool Week

2009-03-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

I've had a pretty horrible week, largely due to me spending Saturday with a stomach bug. I was better by Monday (of course) meaning I couldn't in good conscience take a day off sick. As a result I've spent the whole week completely shattered.

Being so tired I can't be bothered crafting or blogging makes me sad. To cheer me up I found this:
That's right, a cat in daft headgear! And not just any headgear but a statue of liberty hat (with torch). Ooooh kitty doesn't look impressed!

If you have a cat you want to dress up and laugh repeatedly at you can find the pattern here. Oh how I wish I had a cat, maybe I could alter it for the dog...

Le Knitting Francais

2009-02-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

As long as I remember I’ve owned a pink plastic French knitting spool. I’ve always been able to do it, I learned so long ago it’s almost as if I’ve known how to from birth!

How I wish I had one of these instead of my pink plastic one:

When I found my 14 year old square blanket I also found the French knitting spool along with a couple of metres of rope I’d obviously intended to edge it with. I chose a crocheted edging in the end but didn’t want to destroy the hard work I’d put in on the pink spool so decided I was going to carry on.

But, what do you do with French knitting? Other than make several meters of brightly coloured rope?! I’ve started joining it together into another blanket (you know where you are with blankets) with a crocheted slip-stitch but other than that I’m at a loss.

I’ve had a look on the internet and came across this site which has lots of lovely spools but not much to do with the. Does anyone out there do French knitting?

I'll Have To Get Used To It

2009-02-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

Today is a day of mourning. What I’m mourning has something to do with this:Don’t worry Johnny Depp fans, he’s not dead. Let me explain: I’ve always fancied men with long hair, I’ve always liked the rugged biker look and I found my other half I was completely contented. The other half’s been moaning about his hair for a while. Granted, it was knotty but still a trim would quite happily sort it.

We’ve had the following conversation in the past:

“My hair’s getting on my nerves, it’s all knotty!”
“Well get it trimmed then”
“What if I get it cut short?”
“I’d be upset - I like it long”
“Well what if I get it like Johnny Depp in that film where he loses his eyes?”
“Once upon a time in Mexico? Yes, that’s not too short”
“Ok, that’d be better…”

Short back and sides later we are now having this conversation:

“Why are you upset?”
“I don’t like it, I preferred it long.”
“But why are you upset?”
“Why are you surprised? I told you I would be… you had the Captain Jack Sparrow thing going on, it was sexy. Now you have the random bloke in the street haircut that everyone has”
“So-and-so likes it”
“So-and-so isn’t going out with you…”

I’m looking for hat patterns…

Weekend Yarn Fun

2009-02-22T02:35:00.000-08:00

I'm addicted to buying yarn and every lunchtime I have the choice of 2 routes, past the cshop with the banjo in the window or past the wool shop. Both are as dangerous for me, I'd really really like a banjo but I haven't actually mastered the guitar yet so lately I've been choosing the wool shop route.

Here is my most recent purchase - hooray for pink! I have no idea what I'm going to make with it I just liked the colour, I'm like a yarn magpie!

I've also sorted out a frog pile:

There's a green vest jumper which I made stripey, it was meant to be a whole sweater but I got bored as it was using the tiniest knitting needles ever invented. It was from a seriously 1980s knitting pattern book my grandma gave me.

There's a pink crochet halter top which I made out of wool as I didn't have any cotton. The ideas right but it doesn't fit at all. I would be willing to post it to any brave people/strippers out there...

There's a purple vest top I knitted from a pattern I got off the internet. Sometimes you can see why these patterns are free...

Then there's the knitted vest top I made, the colour of which can only be described as vermillion.Frog time methinks.

As well as frogging I've also been making, these crochet baby slippers.
I used the Crochet Flower Slippers pattern from Leisure Arts but in tpical Louise style totally changed it! Being a recent convert to crochet from knitting I still have issues with the fact crochet items can have huge holes between stitches. This pattern called for using a 6mm crochet hook with quite thick yarn - I didn't think that was right as they'd be a bit drafty and no-one likes drafty feet.

I started with a larger foundation chain and much smaller needle (4mm) and adapted the pattern as I went along to make more snuggly crochet slippers. I think they turned out great.

I'm now going Frankenstein some of more of Leisure arts free patterns which you can find here!

Chunky Knitted Hat

2009-02-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

As soon as I saw someone with a massive pompom on their head I knew I had to join the club (if that club doesn't exist already I want to make it!) so I got my 4mm knitting needles and some yarn I'd bought on the spur of the moment and set to work.

I am thrilled with the result, it's by far the warmest hat I own. It's also really thick as I've used small needles compared to the chunky wool I used. Every time I wear it people complement me on it - plus, as you can see from the picture it also serves as a useful tool for finding out which way the wind is blowing! I've had a request for another one and this time I'm taking extra special note of how to do it - I've even made a note of the yarn I'm using. Once I've made it and written up the pattern I'll post it here. It's actually quite easy, the hardest part really is attaching the strings for the pompom. I have encountered a small problem though; my needles just aren't quite long enough. Once I get to the end of a row it's becoming a real a battle to keep the stitches on the needles (which is why I sometimes prefer crochet). As a result if I want to put it down I have to stop knitting in the middle of the row which just drives me insane (I think I'm ever so slightly OCD)!

Why are knitting needles all a standard length anyway?

It's Cooking Time!

2009-02-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is always a little sedate in our house. Neither of us do the huge fake romantic gestures so we usually end up just going somewhere nice. This year we went for a drive round and ended up looking at the Salmon Ladder at Boroughbridge and two very romantic looking swans.

When we got back I decided I was going to make some rum truffles using a recipe my sister had found. She said it was easy and delicious. It didn't disappoint. These are the remaining truffles - I didn't coat them in chocolate which is why they look so messy but they really are scrummy.

The recipe is so easy I jotted it down over the phone. The list read:

chocolate: bowl, small
double cream: heat
pour bowl
whisk
add rum
fridge
ball

For those of you that don't speak Louise, you need double cream and an equal quantity of chocolate (ml to grams) your chocolate needs to be 70% - 80% cocoa solids. Grate your chocolate into a bowl. Heat your cream until almost boiling. Pour the cream over the chocolate, whisk together. Add a dash of rum (or other liqueur). Stick it in the fridge until it sets and then ball it.

Easy peasy.

I've also used this book
To make these

Mmmmmm biscuits! Well actually chocolate chip biscuits and orange shortbread.

Longest Knitted Project Ever

2009-02-17T01:27:00.000-08:00

It has taken me 14 years to finish but I got there eventually. Last night at 11.30pm I looped my last half double crochet edging and it was complete. The patchwork blanket which I started when I was 14.

Don't worry, I'm not the world's slowest knitter, it hasn't taken me 14 years to knit 180 squares. I am, in fact, the world's laziest sewer. The squares have sat in a bag for 14 years, screaming at the back of my mind "join me up you lazy cow!" but only this winter has it been cold enough to motivate me to do it.

I must say I'm quite pleased with the result (it also contrasts quite well with my Stashbusting Crochet Cushion which is making a guest appearance in the bottom right of this photo:

This is essentially another stashbusting project. I used 3.5mm needles, casted on 20 stitches and knitted 20 rows (I impressed myself when I remembered how many stitches I used after all these years when I needed to make a couple more to finish a row). I knitted hundreds of the bloody things, packed them away for 14 years then got them out and sewed them together (I really hate sewing).

I love all the colours, the image is slightly blurry as the flash has gone bonkers. Plus I was very tired at 11.30pm

For the edging I went round once with a single crochet in a nice purple I had left over but it wasn't quite thick enough. I then went round with a half double crochet to make it thicker. I'm pretty pleased with it.After temperatures over the last couple of weeks that never reached zero degrees celcius I was looking forward to snuggling up under the blanket, but today is one of the mildest days we've had in ages. 13 degrees. Typical. I should have packed it away for another 14 years!!

Knitted Skull Phone / iPod Cosy

2009-02-16T06:42:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in a previous post I've been going crazy making phone cosies. Which is crazy as I only have one phone and I already have a cosy for that one!.

Here is one design I particularly like. It was also one of my first attempts at knitting a piece with 2 different colours in.

I thought I'd try sharing the pattern with you, hopefully it's clear enough (bear with me it's my first pattern and to make matters worse I think I'm coming down with a cold).

If you want to make a phone cosy it's pretty easy. You work a rectangle, fold it in half and sew up the sides and bottom. You are going to start at the bottom of the piece and work upwards.

Firstly cast on 26 stitches with 4mm needles (this is the pattern I used for my Samsung phone - you may need to alter it slightly to get it right for other phones).

Work 9 rows; knit one row, purl the next row, then using the chart below work in the following colours (continuing to knit one row then purl the next).

You will need to repeat this chart once to get the full 26 stitches, or, if like me you prefer to be a bit awkward do the chart once and then the next 13 rows in plain black stitches.

If you need to add any more rows adding them in black after the skull will probably give it a more balanced look.

Knit 4 rows in lack then change to white, knit 4 rows in white yarn. Then change the yarn back to black and change to smaller needles and do 6 rows in k1 p1 rib. You can then finish it off with a crocheted chain of about 30 chains using a 4mm crochet hook.

Hooray!

2009-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

I have water! Actual running water! The pipes are unfrozen and the toilet flushes. Today is surely the greatest ever day!
It only takes a week without running water for you to appreciate the smaller things in life.

Just in case you were doubting how great today is I've also been to the dentist and my toothache is just sensitivity caused by my stupid wisdom teeth (no fillings, yippee!!) and on the way back to work I spotted a lovely warm jumper in a charity shop for just £4 - it's orange and warm and feels just how I do now I have running water...

Hand Knitted Phone Covers

2009-02-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

I only ever wanted one phone cover but once I'd devised this pattern I found I couldnt stop myself. I used 3 1/2 mm needles and whatever yarn I could get my hands on to make them. You only need a tiny bit of wool (about a golf ball sized ball) and you can use whatever stitches/patterns you like to create them.

I've taken them as an opportunity to practice knitting with different colours and shapes. Below you can see a selection of my designs - I'll be posting pictures shortly of them individually.I cast on about 20 stitches, knitted a rectangle in k1 row p1 row until it was the desired length then finished it with 5 or 6 rows of k1 p1 rib for the sock edging. I then crocheted a chain of about 30 stitches as a handy loop to pull it out of the bottom of my handbag!

I'll pay more attention next time I make one and post the pattern properly soon.

I've been away from the PC lately due to the weather. It's been really cold and snowy and out water supply has frozen up. As a result it's been too cold to sit typing. I've been under a blanket knitting another blanket - I'll post pictures once it's finished (I'm currently joining knitted squares and I've still got to do the edging).

6th Picture Challenge

2009-02-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

I've been challenged by Ciaran here are the rules:

1. Go to your pictures
2. Take the 6th folder
3. Choose the 6th picture
4. Show the picture on you blog and write somethingabout it.
5. Invite 6 new people to this challenge.
6. Link to them and let them know they are challenged.

This is the view from my caravan, I live in a caravan as I can't yet afford a house. It has it's drawbacks - such as the fact I have had no water for a week, but as you can see in the summer it's very pretty.

I will tag Riohnna, MyissaG and Krystal - I'll do 3 rather than 6.

Sci Fi Knitting Find Of The Week

2009-01-29T07:29:00.000-08:00

I've only had time to dream about things I like to knit or crochet lately. One of my favourite finds is this Centurion Hat. I love Battlestar Gallactica as does my other half. I'd quite like to knit it for him if I get chance.

Busy busy

2009-01-15T05:13:00.000-08:00

I've been very busy since Christmas with a number of things:

1. Trying to get back into working. Two weeks off work has a wonderful way of making you never want to work again.

2. Having frozen water pipes due to sub zero temperatures

3. Deciding whether I should buy a house or wait until they get even cheaper. I've seen a few that will do but nothing that I think "ooooh that's my house!"

4. Feeling like I've been getting a cold for 2 weeks but then never actually having a cold.

5. Experimenting with my new slow cooker (or crock pot if you're from the US)

6. Knitting mobile phone covers, experimenting with different colours and patterns but then getting annoyed when someone asks for some to be made in a slightly different size/colour rather than the 20 or so ones I've made already all of which are perfectly nice even if I do say so myself.

7. Trying to duplicate a knitted hat which I saw someone wearing but being too tired to be bothered finishing it!

I do hate it when life gets in the way of crafting!

Yarn Fun At Christmas

2008-12-28T04:49:00.000-08:00

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone. I've been busy doing the usual festive things, visiting family and eating too much.

I did make some gifts this year. One of may favourites was this knitted DS lite case for my little sister.

Inside it has 4 pockets for games and fastens with two little buttons. You can find the pattern here for free at crayondistaster.

I also got my own creative juices flowing with a gift for my friend Ben. He's a big kid and loves the CBBC puppet Oucho. I've never seen it but I've heard it's entertaining. Anyway, what better present than an Oucho. Using this picture of the cactus puppet I made my own version.

Here is my crocheted creation hiding among some presents. Not bad for my first shot at Amigurumi...

Hope Santa brought you everything you wanted and in case I don't post for a bit; HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Break From The Yarn

2008-12-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged, not by the RSPB, but by Riohnna I have to write 7 random things about me, which I’m pretty sure might be the title of a film.

Seven Random Things About Me (now in widescreen)

1. I can juggle. I was taught by a colleague who also taught me to play Texas Hold’em. Not simultaneously mind, it is impossible to juggle whilst bluffing (prove me wrong I dare ya!)

2. When I worked for a debt management company I got so sick of the job I started signing false names. Someone out there has an IVA signed by “Mickey Mouse” and also “Bob Carolgees”

3. I am not a good flyer. Well, mainly it’s the taking off and landing I hate but also the crashing. Especially the crashing.

4. I was involved in a Podcasting craptacular called Ben Baker’s Sexual Corridor. I also write with Ben Baker very occasionally here. The series tried to be funny and edgy. But I was a uni student at the time so it was more likely cheesy and pompous with just a hint of self-importance.

5. I used to write a blog called Louise Is Not A Porn Star. It was fairly popular, but mainly due to very misguided google searches. As a result it was probably very disappointing for internet perverts what with it being a comedy site named after a mishearing of a conversation about how I used to work in a Pawn Shop.

6. I am obsessed with fungus. I love walking in the woods and finding mushrooms and toadstools. It broke my heart this year when the Fly Agaric did not come back in the garden. And no, I did not eat it.

7. I recently was developing a stomach ulcer. I am now indebted to a crazy Australian scientist who found out it could be cured by antibiotics after he drank a load of the bacteria H.Pylori. My stomach has never ever felt so good. And you thought Neighbours was the only good thing to come out of Australia.

Now there are rules...
1. Be nice and link to the person(s) who tagged you.
2. Share 7 random, weird, unknown things about yourself on your blog.
3. Tag 7 other people to join the meme.
4. Comment on their blogs so they know

...but I’m going to have to break them. I don’t know 7 fellow bloggers well enough to tag, but if anyone wants to do it feel free. Also if you’re reading this on my Facebook feed then go on indulge me in the comments section.

In other news I've completed the blue dog coat but Dudley won't stand still long enough to let me get a snap of him. I've also made some more fluffy bunny slippers which look a little like these (Caroline - I'll be posting them out to you just as soon as I can get to the Post Office!)

Winter Woollens!

2008-12-04T08:21:00.001-08:00

It's been an eventful day here in the Elusive Loo household. Weather reports had suggested we should be expecting cool weather and mother nature didn't disappoint. We woke up to a substantial covering of 6 inches of beautiful white snow. The Other Half and I have been battling against ice and snow all week and fortunately our 4x4 had managed to get us to work but this morning was a little different.We ventured out across the moor on foot to assess the state of the roads. We found the track we live up completely covered and the snow very deep in places. It was a cold but pleasant morning walk, but when we got down to the tarmacked road to find it totally covered with no grit lorry in sight. Somewhere in the picture below is a road. I'm not sure where. I'm hoping it will be more visible tomorrow!As you can see the snow was well above our wellies so we admitted defeat and returned to the comfort and warmth of our house. At about 11 o'clock we tried to get to work in the car. We managed an inch forward then an inch backwards, then an inch forward and an inch back again. We rocked backwards and forwards for a while and after managing to move the car a foot in the wrong direction we decided to give it up as a bad job.

Later we took another walk across the moor to see if the roads had improved (they hadn't). Here is the view: Apart from getting to work, the other problem we have is how to keep our skinny greyhound from shivering like crazy. I finished a polo-necked jumper for him a couple of days ago and am pleased to say Mr Dudley Doo has been happily wearing it as he skips over the moor.

Instead of working I've been spending the day knitting a blue version of the Dudley coat. It's almost finished and has been a very productive way to spend a cold day!

(As I have typed this a grit wagon has been trying to get up the road below our house. It eventually gave up and reversed very slowly back where it came from!)

Christmas Gift #1: Slippers

2008-11-28T06:02:00.000-08:00

These are the slippers I have made for my Grandma. They were easy to crochet in a pretty blue wool and I finished them off with some novelty yarn to make them look a bit more colourful. My Grandma's feet are smaller than mine which is why the stitches seem a bit more open in the picture. If my guestimation is right they should fit her ok (fingers crossed!).

They didn't take long, probably just a couple of hours per foot and that's while watching TV and drinking copious amounts of tea. Which reminds me, isn't series 3 of Heroes the most disappointing thing in the world? "Oooh" said the writers "Here's an idea let's take all the characters they've grown to know and love and change them completely. That'll keep the viewers on their toes." IDIOTS. I can only hope it gets better.

Anyway, rant over and back in slipper world; they used very little yarn at all and could easily be made with leftovers. The pattern is here if you want to make some yourself!

Sneezy Lack of Wool Week

2008-11-26T07:59:00.000-08:00

I have had a very bad cold since Friday, when I've not been coughing I've been asleep or blowing my nose. As a result all my yarn projects have gone on the back-burner. Can't go spreading germs with my woollen craft can I?

I felt a bit better yesterday so began looking for ideas for Christmas presents. Thanks to Ravelry I stumbled across this Nintendo DS holder which I think I might have a go at for my little sister.

I also found these cute Amigurumi toys, I'm not sure if any of my family would want them but they are fantastically cute. I've never tried Amigurumi before but may well start, my main problem is I have nowhere to keep stuffing!

The checkerboard scarf is coming on ok but I've been too grouchy to knit much of it. I've managed a few rows but then the yarn gets tangled up and I end up putting it down in a snuffly strop!

That's why last night I started crocheting rather than knitting - I find it less taxing on the brain and I've started making these slippers as a present for my grandma, only in blue and with less alarming legs.

Checkerboard Scarf

2008-11-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

I'm in the process of knitting a chessboard scarf. I've always wanted to knit chessboard patterns but everytime I've tried it the squares were not joined together. I stumbled upon this video tutorial last week and I'm now please to announce I'm 14 inches into a successful cheesboard scarf! I'm still not sure what I was doing wrong in the past but at least now I seem to have mastered it.

I'll post pictures later.

Fingerless Gloves Experiment

2008-11-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

I've always got cold hands and when crafting I get what I like to term "Knitters Fingers" meaning my hands are absolutely freezing. To stop my fella shouting at me when I try to warm my cold hands on his back I've been experimenting with fingerless gloves.

Here are my results so far: I started with these - fancy multi-coloured wool. I made the pattern up myself which I will post once I find a way of clarifying the thumb instructions. I basically crocheted a square, and sewed up the sides leaving a gap about 2/3 of the way up for the thumb. Then I crocheted the thumb basically using trial and error, putting them back on my hand every row to make sure the curve of the thumb was right!

I then got an order from my mum for some for her friend at work who gets "typists fingers!" I managed to get 2 pairs out of one ball of yarn.

Then I started to get a bit experimental using 2 colours for effect. My sister then demanded a pair of blue ones for her upcoming trip to Switzerland, which then meant Ithen needed to make a hat and scarf to go with them!

So, sorry for not blogging, I've actually been far too busy making!

Stashbusting Crochet Cushion

2008-11-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest stash-busting project. I've far too many teeny-tiny balls of wool and this is how I've been trying to get rid of them:It's a one piece rainbow crochet cushion! The directions are really quite simple.

Make a chain the desired length - mine was 46 inches. Single crochet for about 12 inches. You will end up with a huge rectangle, then fold following the diagrams below (and yes, for ease of photographing the diagrams I have used a piece of paper instead of crochet!).

Start with your crocheting as below:

Fold in half:

Fold one half down diagonally:

Do the same with the other side then flip over (as below):

Fold the bottom corner into the centre:

Do the same with the other corner.

Then sew across the front and up the back. Leave the vertical gap at the front open for stuffing. Stuff, then sew up, you should now have a comfy crochet cushion!

Close up view of the reverse of the cushion.

Ravelry

2008-10-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

I've joined Ravelry.

I'm here. I don't really understand it. If you're on and want to point me in the right direction feel free to add me as a friend!

Granny Square blanket

2008-10-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

I am more than pleased to have finished my Granny Square blanket. It's really very heavy. Admittedly it doesn't really match the duvet cover but the important thing is that it's warm. It does mess with your head the more you look at it, I think I've inadvertently made one of those magic eye patterns! I used quite a lot of my spare yarn for it but the bigger it got the less of a scrap-busting mission it became. I am pleased with it and as you can see from the picture below Bubba the Bear quite likes it too...

Be Right Back

2008-10-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a week so I thought I'd best post something, unfortunately I've got no pretty pictures as I've been too busy with a crochet project to blog. I'm in the process of trying to beat the world record for the world's biggest granny square, well, to be honest I'll stop once it's double bed sized.

It started as a stashbusting project but is fast becoming an obsession. I've been buying newer bigger balls of yarn in order to complete my rounds. It now contains so much yarn it's actually as heavy as a sheep. I estimate I'll need about 4 more round and the blanket/bedspread will be complete and I will never need to look at a granny square again.

I will post pictures once it's done, so long as I still have strength enough in my fingers to operate the camera. Seriously, if I don't get arthritis when I'm older it will be a miracle.

Whisper Grey Crochet Scarf

2008-10-11T11:24:00.000-07:00

Digging around through my yarn projects I found this scarf I made a while back. I wanted a nice easy project I could complete on my travels around the UK.

The beauty of crochet is that you can easily do a more open pattern, it build up quickly and you don't really have to keep count like you do with knitting. Plus you don't get on anyone's nerves clicking away with your needles!

I'd love to be able to find you the pattern but as usual I've found it, made it and lost it. It goes something along the lines of:

Make a long chain (as long as you'd like the scarf to be) , then double crochet into the 4th chain along. Keep Ch4 and double crochet in the corresponding loop in the chain below. You should end up with something that looks like the picture below.For alternate rows you do the same only replace the double crochets with single crochets. Keep going until the scarf is as thick as you want. I chose to stop with a skinny scarf so I could use it as a belt with my jeans.

Slippers

2008-10-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

I've finally followed a pattern (almost) I used the right sized needles but just grabbed the nearest wool. Again I didn't knit a gauge square, what can I say? I like to take risks with my yarn!

I'm please to announce that I followed a free pattern without changing it a bit and have knit these, they were easy and keep my feet toasty warm. They are very comfy and knit up relatively quickly. As you can see, they're lovely and red. I used quite thick red yarn. They really are simple to knit, all I can say is trust the pattern, they will fit at the end, even though while you're knitting them they look tiny.

Wool Addict

2008-09-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

I have a problem, I can admit it so I'm half way to solving it. The only problem is I'm not completely sure I want to solve my addiction.

I am addicted to buying wool, I love getting new colours and textures. The addiction is compounded by the fact that every lunch time I have to pass a wool shop, outside the owner puts baskets of yarn to tempt me, in a variety of colours all 50p a ball.

Fifty pence! For a ball of yarn, mostly acrylic but always pretty pretty colours. As a result I have many many single balls of wool and very little to do with them. I did but a book on Amazon amusingly titled 'Two Balls or Less' which I always want to draw a question mark at the end of when I see it. The problem with the book is it's very specific on the type of yarn required and my addiction is more of a magpie style impulse rather than having any long term plan as to what the wool could be used for.

As a result I keep experimenting like crazy. One of my experiments which has turned out rather popular are these crocheted hats (with or without ear flaps).

I make them up as I go along but you could easily create your own by finding a double crochet hat pattern and just changing the yarn every couple of lines. That is literally all I do. For ear flaps put the hat on your head and shove crochet needles through where you think the ear flap should start and end. Attach your yarn and crochet backwards and forwards decreasing at each end of every row so you have a big triangle shaped ear flap. I usually end with 8 dc thickness of flap. I then use about 4 lengths of 4 colours I've used in the hats, thread them through the 8dc at the bottom of the ear flap.

Then all you do is plait these threads together in a big chunky plait until they're as long as you fancy.

These hats are great stash-busters and will also keep your head nice and warm in the cold winter months!

Plastic Bag Bag

2008-09-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

Seeing as though we're all going to die horribly thanks to the impending rise of the sea levels courtesy of global warming I thought I'd do my bit. I'd heard about recycling plastic bags into yarn and thought it might be an interesting way to make something.

I found these handy instructions quite a while ago and merrily collected bags. Chopping and joining I eventually had enough bags to make this:

I personally love the irony of taking 40 perfectly functioning carrier bags and turning them into one perfectly functioning bag. Somehow I think it's the opposite of what a capitalist society says you are meant to achieve. This bag is made from Morrisons carrier bags, it's probably about 12 inches square when laid flat. I crocheted it using treble crochet and in the typical fashion I followed no pattern making it up as I went along. Sadly I didn't write the pattern down.

You may be thinking of doing something like this so let me give you some advice.

1. Choose the crappiest quality bags you can get your hands on, ones that will stretch if you pull on the plastic with small force. I tried to use thick carrier bags on another bag I made and paid the price, for three days I could barely move my fingers.

2.You need an awful lot of bags to make one bag (there's a sentence that doesn't make sense in isolation!) if you ask people for plastic bags they will give you them. Lots of them. And they will keep giving you them until you scream "PLEASE NO MORE!!" My car boot is currently full of plastic bags that I have no room for in my house, they need to be chopped up joined and rolled up before I can even begin to use them.

3. I would like to refer back to the last sentence of number 2 "they need to be chopped up joined and rolled up before I can even begin to use them" recycling bags is an arduous task. It takes an age before you can begin to start using your plastic bag yarn. If you really want to do it then have a go, but it will help to have a small army of people willing to chop up, join and roll.

Plastic bag yarn is fun, it makes an interest talking point and it's very 'in fashion' what with all the talk of recycling. Another design I used is fun as well as practical, you can use this to play a Guess The Shop game which can provide up to 12 minutes of clean wholesome family fun.

Booties

2008-09-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

All my friends seem to be having babies at the minute which has got me in the mood for knitting booties. These are a recent creation, I adapted a free pattern (Im not sure which one) but it was probably one of these but I can't remember which. I changed the size and used totally different sized needles to the ones recommended then added the ears and face to turn them from run of the mill booties to cute little bunny ones - aaaaaawww!

My knitting technique is largely experinmental. No tutting but I honestly have never knit a gauge square in my life! I go by guess work and I often grab the nearest needles I can find rather than searching through my hundreds of needles to find the right pair.

To make these I actually used double pointed needles which I hate! I'm not sure how people knit socks - I find double pointed needles unnecessarily fiddley! I'm also not a fan of circular needles!

These booties used no more than a ping-pong ball-size of wool. They are very cute. The only problem is they're so cute I don't actually want to give them to any of my friends, I just want to look at them and go "aaaaawww!"

Adventures in Crochet

2008-09-11T03:42:00.000-07:00

I've knitted for a long time but only recently got my head around the art of crochet. Here is one of my first designs, a phone cosy to keep my phone warn on those cold winter days!

I like the sunburst type stitch which is easier than it looks. I've attached a bead at the top and crocheted a loop to make a button style fastener.