Owl

Steve and I went to arrange for one of the upstairs carpets to be fitted in January and while we were there the salesman was well into my phone cover and kept saying how much his wife would love one!!
So I got talked into making him one!!

The hardest part was not having a phone to try it on! Plus, I'd never written any instructions when I made my own,
Anyhow, I had to just go by measurements and hope for the best.  Fortunately, in the end, a friend of one of my friends had the same phone, so I was able to try it on his and it fits!!
So I'm taking it along on Thursday for him. He's seen a picture on his mobile and he likes it, so I hope he feels the same when he see's it in real life.

I've started another thread doily, but I don't have the right colours, so I shall have to improvise and just choose my colours.
I'm about half way on it, so I'll hopefully have an update on that for you soon!!

Hope all is well with you all.
:)

TA-DA!!!!!

I managed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My 3rd doily and with 6 colour changes altogether. I can't believe I've done it!!!
:)
I think the worst part was sewing in all the ends!!! :(
I just made myself sit down and do it, or I would have probably never got round to it.

I can't block it properly as I don't have anything to pin it to and also, I just have normal pins and I read you have to have anti rust ones. So I have just ironed it into shape ... the same with the pink one I made previously. Remember it?

I'm not sure this method is a good one, I ironed it upside down, so only on the back and I had a towel under and on top, so as to protect the stitches from going too flat.

I'm happy with them. I would never have thought I could do thread crochet. It's so enjoyable though.

Hope you are all keeping well.
Take care!!

:)

New challenge!!!

So last night I found my new challenge.

It's thread crochet again, but it's a doily with coloured flowers. 
I've never attempted colour changes on thread before and this has the main colour and 4 others.
There are 3 colours of flowers that alternate, and the green that gives the feeling of leaves for them.
So we shall see how it turns out.

This is how far I had got last night. Another 2 rounds to do then I start on the colour changes!!
I hope it goes ok.

I'm using a 1.75mm crochet hook and I think size 10 thread.  My colours are in size 8 as that's all I had, so I'm not sure how that's going to affect things either ... we'll see!!!
I do have a green in size 10 and a lighter green in size 8 ... not decided yet which to use.

I can see it looks uneven in the picture, but once I pull all the loops where they're meant to be, it does look ok.

Updates to follow soon!!

Take care everyone.

:)

More gloves and a creative block!!

My eldest son spends quite a bit of time outside, so as the weather is getting pretty cold here now, I decided to make a more 'blokey' pair of fingerless gloves for him.

I used a chunky (bulky) weight yarn. They're very warm and cosy, so I'm pleased with them.

Since then I've had a bit of a creative block.  I can't settle on what I want to do next .... I feel like I'm wasting my evenings when I could be working on something. It's just deciding which project to work on.

I could do another thread project, or a yarn one or try and work out how to use some of the more challenging yarns I have ... or I could knit something.
Or I could take up my needle again and do a stitching project.
I'm going to have a browse through my books and I'll hopefully be back soon with something else to show you. 
Hope all is going well for you.

Take care!!

:)

Two more finishes ... almost!!!

My thread doily is now finished, although not yet blocked, I still have to work out the best way for me with that. Here it is hot off the hook!!!

This is really the second thread doily I've attempted.  I did one when I first taught myself to crochet, then I tried a second one, but only got a few rounds finished as I found it hard to work out the pattern, so I added an edging myself and used it as a tiny doily for under a small vase!!

This time I looked at the photo of their finished doily and found that helped me when I wasn't sure what the instructions wanted me to do. I really enjoy thread crochet a lot but I am still very much an amature of course.


Remember the fluffy scarf I had problems with?  That's now finished as well. :)   I just need to cast off.  I meant to save a label so I could say exactly what I used for this, but I must have thrown them out.  It's like an eyelash yarn but softer and more wooly almost. Very, very soft.  I used three balls so on a really cold day, lots to snuggle up into and with all the colours, it goes with a

lot of different things.  It looks a little thin on the needle there, but it's just pushed up to the end.  I have done it 24 stitches wide, so it's just the right width for how I like it.

So now I just want to finish these completely and get stuck in on my next project!!!

Hope all is well with all of you. Take care everyone!!!

:)

Fade experiment!!

Dishcloths!!
Love the colours, hate the fade!!
Well I had a good look round and found someone who said to try and set the colour by soaking the dishcloth in vinegar and water for about 30 mins and then rinse.

So does it work???

Here's a picture of a newly crocheted dishcloth and a first time washed dishcloth after having the colour 'set' as per the method above.

It isn't perfect but there is definitely less fade this time then on previous dishcloths.
Whether I need a stronger solution or whether this is as good as I'm going to get it, I don't know. I'll try the stronger one on the above dishcloth and see whether it improves!!

So since my last post I've crocheted a round scarf to go with my fingerless gloves.
This is in the same yarn, purple chunky but I did it in a lacy pattern as it's going to be wound round my neck a few times, so I don't want it too hot and heavy.

 

I also knitted a scarf from like an eyelash type yarn. Having got three quarters of the way through the 3rd ball, I dropped a stitch and can't get it back to pick up, due to the type of yarn it is.
I must have undone about 10 rows and have only succeeded in dropping more stitches, so it looks like the whole thing will have to be unravelled and reknit. I am so fed up!!!  All that work for nothing!!!
SIGH!! 

So I decided to do something completely different and picked up my thread doily I was working on many moons ago.  (I put it on my blog back then).
It only needed the last two rounds on it, but I had started this way back last year when I was a new crocheter and my tension is much different now.  Of course this meant I unravelled the lot and have started afresh.
So I have laid the doily, as far as I am at the moment, on the book with the doily is is going to be in the picture at the top. Hopefully once finished and blocked it will look much more like the way it should!!!
I'll update as it grows.

I was given some blue yarn by a friend, so I plan to do some fingerless gloves for my eldest son. I'll hopefully start them by the beginning of next week.

So I hope all is well with all of you.  Take care!!

:)

She loved it!!!!

 So last night I took the neck warmer up to my friend and she loved it!!
I was so pleased I'd made it for her.
She is into knitting and crochet, sewing and card making, so in short, she loves to craft BUT she said because of that no one ever makes her anything, so she was thrilled to get this.
She loved the basket weave chunkiness of it and said it was lovely and neat.
So all is good!!

Here's something I wanted to ask others who knit and crochet ... do you check your gauge?
Now I have to admit that's something I NEVER do!!!
Not for anything. So I'm curious as to whether anyone else does. And if you do, do you think it's worth it? Does it make any difference??

I now have a lovely pair of chunky warm fingerless gloves. I'm so pleased with these and I love the little strap and button detail to make them look pretty still, even though they're so chunky!!
I used a glass button with rainbow colour's in it and I think it sets the dark purple off beautifully.


Button detail

So I'm currently working on a scarf or cowl.  It's not definite what it's going to be actually as I've unravelled it three times already!! 
I just start something and then decide it's not quite what I want ... hope I get it finished soon as I have other things I'm itching to get on with.

Take care
:)

Neck Warmer

One of my friends has throat problems and she often has to wear a scarf indoors in the winter months even. So I decided to make her a neck warmer in the hopes it would be a nice change for her.
I made it in a 50/50 cotton/acrylic mix, so that it won't make her neck sweat but also did it in a chunky basket weave stitch, to make it cosy.
I hope she likes it.

I'm now working on a pair of chunky warm fingerless gloves. Lovely and warm, so hope to have those finished soon.
:)

Never been so pleased....

... to see the back of something!!!
haha.
Yes the dreaded grey jumper is at last finished!!!!!

Here it is on my eldest, fresh off the needles. Steve tried it on when he got home from work and he was well pleased with it, so that was nice.
I've been undecided whether to continue the neck warmer or not. So now I can think about if I want to continue with it or unravel and start something different, BUT at least I'll no longer have that grey jumper staring accusingly at me from my work basket.  I'm free!!!!!!

Can you tell how happy I am about it?

:)

Catch up time.

 So I've been pretty busy since I last blogged.

Steve has been getting moved about and didn't know what was going on at work half the time.  He finally decided to go for another job, which meant he would lose everything, benefits, years of service, the lot, but would at least be in a job he liked.  So he had an interview and is waiting to hear, should hear late December I think.  Meantime, he get's moved again to a position they want him to stay at and finally he feels happy in it!!!
So we'll have to see what happens now.

It was our 25th Wedding anniversary in September and Steve and I had a long weekend away, just the two of us.  It's the first time we've been away on our own for 20 years, so it was a real treat.  We went to North Yorkshire in a cottage and it was lovely!!! :)

We then had a family week away as well in October, as we had some Tesco vouchers that we had to use or lose, so we booked a caravan for the family.
It was our first break away for 4 years and we really enjoyed just being together with no other pressures.

Craft wise, I've been working on the dreaded grey jumper and am now at the point of doing the neck and then sewing it up... pictures to follow!!

I was given a heap of very pink wool. Very pink!!   What to do with it?  I decided to have a go at crocheting a sort of small throw thing for the chairs and sofa.  I have completed the sofa one but Steve says it's too pink for him and too busy with the cushions as well .... what's your opinions??? Be as brutal as you like, lol.

I'm holding off on the chair backs now as we are seeing whether we can live with this one or not.
The photo doesn't do the pinkness of it justice, it's REALLY pink!!!  LOL

I've been disappointed with the dishcloths I made.  They hold up beautifully, but the colour faded on the first wash.  I used peaches & creme, beautiful shades and very difficult to get hold of over here, so I was pretty fed up how the colour just went, as that was the point of buying it, the beautiful shades it comes in.

Anyhow, I read and read until I came across someone else who had found this a problem and they suggested setting the colour with a mix of vinegar and water.  So I have crocheted some new dishcloths and this time set the colour (hopefully!!!) by means of this method.   I'll let you know if it works or not!!

I made the first one in a shell and post pattern, the plain yellow is a basket weave and the bottom one is in a half double crochet pattern.

Well blogger insisted on putting all the pictures in a heap at the top of this post, so I've been busy copying and pasting as it wouldn't allow me to move them!!  I'm obviously doing something wrong, but for now, hopefully they'll stay where I've put them.

I'm now working on a neck warmer, but I can't decide if I like it or not, so that might be getting unravelled today, we'll see.
I hope to be back soon with the finished jumper to show you, but meantime, I'm going to have a look and see what you've all been up to. Take care!!

:)

Feels like forever!!!!

Is there anyone still out there?

It feels like forever since I last got on here and such a lot has gone on and is still going on with my life.  I feel like it's never going to be normal and settled again, so I decided to just come on and at least blog now and then when I can.

Brief version ....

The house saga continued for some time ... but at last we are in the process of getting the front room put back to normal. We got held up though as we are mid way in the process of moving our friend up from Devon.  We went down and stayed at his and packed all his home up, then brought him back up with us.  This weekend we hopefully complete on his new place up here and can move him in.
It will take time to get him in, unpacked and sorted.
We took him out to buy some things ready for his move, but he's naturally impatient for it to happen.

At home, we are halfway to having a front room again as I said. We still have most things packed up round the house, but once we have Dave in and settled I look forward to getting back to this house!!We have been doing some work outside and have 3/4 of a patio laid and also been getting on with the decorating.  I now have carpet in the front room, hall, stairs and landing. Such luxury!!! It's been 16 years since I last had a carpet, so you can imagine how I'm loving it!! haha.
Steve and I had to sell our cars and now are sharing one between us, I can see it's going to be his car though, as he really enjoys his car ... it's his hobby really.

Steve's job has been really stressful and to the point that he is now having problems when really under stress with his sight!  He has to see a specialist as he seems to have floaters, but strangely they get worse when the stress gets bad.
I don't know what will happen workwise with him, but he is getting in a bad way with it.

My eldest son has been suffering health problems and is under the DR. That's on going and is a worry at the moment.

All my craft things are still packed up but I hope to get out something and make a doily or something for Dave's new home. So hopefully I will have at least a little something to show soon!!

Enough of me now though ... I'm going to try and catch up on some of your doings ....

Take care everyone

:)

Anybody out there?

Hello! Anyone remember me?

It's over a month now since I've been on here. I'm wondering if there's anyone out there still or am I talking to myself! haha.

Nothing happening on the craft front at the moment as we're still plodding on getting the house sorted.
The insulation is OUT! but what a mess it caused. It took two days but at least it's done.
The house looks like it's got measles ... on two sides. Here's a view of one side.

So not only have we got the inside to sort out, but all the outside has to be patched/ replastered and the repainted on both sides.

So then we had the bright idea that while we're in a mess anyway, let's just get a few rooms done at once.   So now we are working in three rooms! The front room, the kitchen and the hall, stairs and landing.

It's just like we have no home at the moment and that's why I'm not able to sit and do anything nice to show you.

So far we have decorated the hall, stairs and landing and are arranging to get the builders back to finish the work in the front room so that we can then get that decorated and the kitchen will hopefully be started soon as well.

There's been other things taking our time up as well recently, some good, some not so good ... but I'm HOPING that we can get things sorted asap, and get a home back and get back to normal!

If anyone's still with me, thanks for your patience and hope to get back to 'properly' blogging very soon.  Hope things are good with all of you and hope to catch up with all the lovely things you've no doubt been making as well, as soon as I can.

Take care!

:)