Out of my window

I thought I’d share a photo of the sunrise that greeted me yesterday when I opened my bedroom curtains.

No computer trickery involved, a genuine sight to lift the soul.

Sally

xxx

Brrrr, a bit of chilly crochet–Snowman

I’ve spent the last couple of evenings crocheting snowmen

Sadly I can’t lay claim to creating this pattern, I found it here.  It took me a couple of tries to get the pattern right, and I still think I have a bit of work to do to make the nose the right size and shape, but I’m really pleased with how they’ve come out.

The pattern also includes varying scarves and hats, plus mittens, but I didn’t want my snowmen to have arms, so I left out the mittens.

I think the hat and scarf look a bit Harry Potter-ish here – ooh there’s an idea for after Christmas!

The snowman with the hat and scarf has found a new home with my young nephews and the unadorned snowman is sitting on my windowsill just hoping that I’ll finish his hat and scarf before the cold weather truly sets in!

Sally

xxx

A quick Christmas decoration

This afternoon I was feeling a festive & crafty at the same time, but what to make?  As the tinsel and baubles are still in the loft, I was at a bit of a loss what make when inspiration struck.

Hama beads and wire! 

I sorted out the green and red beads, threaded them onto some craft wire & bent it into shape.  Small hoops on the ends of the words allowed me to hang it on another piece of wire.

A simple, cheap and quick decoration.

Sally

xxx

Crochet Scarf Patterns

I know, my break from crochet didn’t last very long, but this time my post has something for you – patterns for the two scarves I shared photos of at the beginning of the week.



They are actually crocheted from a fairly simple pattern, but be warned, we are going to crochet this sideways, with really long rows, so if you’re not up for that, stop reading now!

Right, the ribbed scarf first – the one with lots of different colours in it.

You will need:
2 100g Balls of chunky wool – I used a variegated one
6mm Crochet hook

Method:
Row 1: Cast on 250 stitches (I did warn you the rows were long - but the good news is that at least you only have to crochet 8 of them!)
Row 2: Treble Crochet into each stitch, chain 3 at the end of the row
Row 3: Treble Crochet  into the back half of each stitch, this is what gives it the lovely ribbed effect. Chain 3 at the end of each row.
Row 4 – 8: Repeat row 3, and at the end of row 8 cast off instead of Chaining 3.

See told you it was easy!

The second scarf, the lacy looking one is very similar.  So here goes for the pattern:

You will need:
2 100g balls of chunky wool (you may only need one ball, but I unpicked an old scarf so I’m not exactly sure how much I used)
6mm Crochet hook

Method:
Row 1: Cast on 200 stitches
Row 2: Treble Crochet (Tr) into each stitch, chain (Ch) 3 at the end of the row
NOTE: For the rest of the pattern you will be crocheting into the back half of the stitch only
Row 3:  Tr2, *Ch1, Tr3* repeat from * to * until you reach the end of the row, Ch3
Row 4: Tr into each stitch, Ch3 at the end of the row.
Row 5 – 8: Repeat rows 2 and 3, at the end of row 8 don't crochet the chains, just cast off.

Enjoy!

Sally
xxx

Xmas Button Badges

As promised – no crochet today!  Instead I thought I’d show you the badges that I’ve made for my daughters school fundraising event.

We were asked to provide small items that could fit into Christmas crackers, which will then be used to make some money on a stall at this weekends big village Christmas celebration.



I used some lovely red spotty fabric and added felt shapes & a little free motion embroidery.  I then covered some self covered buttons and used a hot glue gun to stick some badge backs onto the reverse.



I used 29mm buttons as they were the ones I had in my craft stash, but I’m not sure I’d like to use any smaller ones as these were fiddly enough to cut out the shapes for.  You could also swap the badge backs for magnets.  They’re pretty quick and easy to make, and as an added bonus got rid of lots of the tiny bits of felt I kept “just in case!”

Sally
xxx

Crochet Scarves

 

More crochet to share with you today – I hope you’re not too bored with the crochet yet – I promise next time to show you something other than yarn based crafts!

Firstly a scarf I crocheted for my husband (who managed to leave his scarf on the train!).

I had a ball of blue variegated wool that I’d bought a while back, and so I started to crochet this scarf.  I actually had to send my husband back into town to get another ball as I didn’t quite have enough to finish it (you know it’s love if he’ll go and buy wool for you!) The scarf is really long – 250 stitches, and although it’s not completely clear from this photo, it has a ribbed pattern.

When I saw how well it’d come out I decided that I’d like a similar one for myself – here is mine:

I had an old scarf I’d knitted a year or so ago, which I didn’t wear as it kept curling up (I’m not good at knitting!), so I unpicked it and set about making this scarf.  It’s slightly shorter, only 200 stitches long, and again I’ve crocheted it in a rib pattern, but this time I left gaps every other row.  I really didn’t know how it would come out when I started it, but I love it.  It’s quite lacy and light, and just the perfect length for looping through.

Next time no more crocheting (well maybe a tiny bit, but I promise there will be something different too!)

Sally

xxx

Crocheted Gloves

It’s official, I’m completely addicted to crochet!  I’ve been non-stop crocheting for the last few weeks.  Today I thought I’d share some mittens I made for myself.

You may wonder why they are fingerless, I could bluff you and say it was part of the design and I’d always meant them to be fingerless, but actually the truth is a bit less arty than that – I ran out of wool!

I got the free pattern from here (I searched for crochet mittens), and adjusted it slightly.  The cuffs are slightly longer as I thought the cuffs in the pattern were a little short.  I also cast off after row 12 rather than continuing to the end.

This was actually my second attempt at this pattern.  I made my daughter a pair of mittens with some left over pink wool.  With hers I used a size 6 hook and chunky wool and they came out pretty big, slightly more like boxing gloves than mittens, but she loves them anyway.  Sorry about the bad photo here, but sadly it had started to get dark by the time she got home from school and I could steal her glove to photograph!  The finger tips and the thumb are actually cream!

For my gloves I still used chunky wool, but this time used a size 4 hook, and they’re just the right size, and lovely and thick, almost like a wool blanket. I tested them out on the school run today & I’m pleased to report that my hands were lovely and toasty (even if my fingertips got a bit chilly!)

More crochet next time!

Sally