Yarn, Wool and Twine Week

Posted on 9 February, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Another week of enforced ‘resting’ waiting to have stitches out has been quite pleasant really! No housework and no driving has meant a lot of yarn, wool and twine crochet and watching TV! Of course I can’t just do one project, oh no, I have to have a couple on the go to switch between every so often!

I’ve kept on with the ripple blanket and the woolly Beanie but not as fast as if I hadn’t started 2 other projects at the same time I suppose! I love choosing the colours as I work but it was taking too long because I really didn’t have enough choice. One late night perusal of Wool Warehouse website led to a fat chunky parcel on the doormat 2 days later!! They are brilliant, not only are they cheaper than other online shops but they send the goods very quickly too!

Stylecraft premium Acrylic in pinky purple colours

new colours of Stylecraft Special DK

I just didn’t have enough pinky, purply colours!!

Multi-coloured riple blanket from a pattern by Attic 24

Ripple Blanket Week 6

I couldn’t just do my blanket as each row is very long and I need more of a quick results experience so I started on little hearts and flowers to make a spring garland! Most of these are Attic 24 patterns and some are my own random crochet! Here are some of the first ones I completed in the Stylecraft acrylic yarn again.

hearts and flowers!

I’m planning on completing this for Oestara, the Spring Equinox.

Anyway, despite being quite content with my crochet I was reading my Facebook newsfeed and fell instantly in love with a picture of a tote bag crocheted using twine. It was posted by The Chunky Hooker as they sell the twine. Oh, wow! I couldn’t help myself when I saw the green twine! Such a lovely colour! I bought a ball of the natural twine and the green and decided to make a bag in each using the suggested pattern

As soon as I started to work with the natural twine I realised I wouldn’t be making it very quickly and probably wouldn’t make 2 bags as it’s quite hard work and is also ‘raspy’ on my skin. I did wear a thin gardening glove on one had most of the time and this does help (it was suggested by someone commenting on the bag post, not my bright idea!). It was hard to see all the stitches clearly and I think I interpreted some of the pattern wrongly as I didn’t end up with the correct number of stitches for the bag base and it was wonky! It’s far too much effort doing it to face unpicking so I decided to carry on anyway and just accept it will probably be a little lop sided in the end!

base of tote bag in natural twine

The pattern is much easier to follow for making the sides – I love the star stitch which forms the pattern. In the next picture I have just completed on row of stars, there are 5 to do and I will alternate with the green twine I think.

Tote bag crocheted in natural twine and green twine

Tote bag sides with star Stitch

I really do enjoy making this but I have to do it in stages, letting my hands rest for a day as it is really quite hard to manipulate. The green twine feels much softer and I think it will hook much more smoothly. The Chunky Hooker is another great online shop – the parcel arrived in a couple of days with a note asking to see a picture when I’ve finished the bag!

So that was my yarny, woolly twiny week! I really am neglecting my sewing though and need to get back in the craft room before I become addicted to slumping on the settee with my crochet watching This Morning and old DVD box sets. My knee stitches ‘unpicked’ easily and I have my post-op clinic visit next Tuesday so no excuses after that. I am ‘hooking’ up with Handmade Monday as usual and looking forward to reading about everyone’s crafty lives. 🙂

My comment box is still not working for everyone – Free spirit unchecked a box to enable it to work or if you type your name etc in the boxes even though it doesn’t show when you type it does actually record it. I am missing all the lovely comments!!

London Journey = Crochet Time!

Posted on 26 January, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Four hours in the car to London and then back again – great opportunity for some cosy crochet time! Shame I had to offer to share the driving but good that OH likes driving so does the main bulk of our journeys!! I started a new beanie which hopefully will be completed tomorrow! I took my wool and hooks away in a lovely little project bag I made to sell but decided I couldn’t part with as it’s so useful! It has 3 compartments so I can keep 2 different coloured wool balls separated and keep the hooks/scissors in the other pocket.

The fabric has old fashioned sewing machines on it so is perfect for sewing related projects. I saw it for sale at Minerva Crafts this week and so have now uploaded a picture of the bag to their Look what I’ve Made project sharing site. It’s a really interesting site and easy to use – you join and upload your projects and can have fun looking at other people’s too!

3 pocket sewing project bag

and here is latest ripply-progress!

Week 4!

Well I am very tired after trip to London so signing off now to go for a stroll round the blogs at Handmade Monday!

Ripple Blanket and Duvet Cover

Posted on 19 January, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Not much to show this week except for my ripple blanket progress and the start of a duvet cover for our bed! Must start DD’s cushion covers soon though as it’s her birthday next weekend!

I have found that as long as I don’t switch back and forth from acrylic to wool I can manage the acrylic ok as I get used to the feel and rhythm of working. This also has the added advantage of keeping down my WIP pile! It’s quite a wide blanket so each row takes quite a while and every now and then I get carried away and forget to make the increases on the ‘hill tops’ and decreases in the ‘valleys’ and so have to undo a few trebles! Once you’ve got going past row 3 it’s a really easy and relaxing project as there is no need to refer to the pattern (from Attic 24) – each row is the same. It is a good seasonal make too as it keeps me warm whilst I’m working on it – in summer this might be too uncomfortable.

ripple blanket in Stylecraft Premium Acrylic yarn

Ripple Blanket Week 3

My daytime project this week is a duvet cover for our bed. I decided I wanted to finally use up my 200 x 2 inch squares of Liberty Tana Lawn which I bought online last year and was dismayed at the thought of sewing together such small fine fabric pieces. Luckily I came across a good method of working with such small squares in the Very Berry blog but it is actually Elizabeth Hartman’s method found on her Oh Fransson blog I have bought quite a bit of liberty fabric from Ali at Very Berry and all her tutorials are very helpful. Basically I ironed each square onto Vilene first, making a large patchwork square and then sewed the rows together in the normal way, ie right sides together. This way it gives the fine Tana lawn some body and stops it getting chewed up in the machine plate at the start of sewing!

I now have the middle of the duvet completed and am now sewing a surrounding border of triangle -within- a -square using my tri-recs templates. This is a bit fiddly and I am making up my own pattern so will take a while!

patchwork quilt top using Liberty Tana Lawn

Quilt top of 2″ Tana Lawn pieces sewn into 7 inch blocks

So that’s my work this week! Looking forward to seeing what everyone else been up! Linking up with Handmade Monday!

Beanies, Blankets , Cross Stitch and Cushions!

Posted on 12 January, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Well this was going to be the dreaded ‘week of the tax return’ ! But, when I registered online to start it, I discovered they have to send a code through the post before you can fill it in – and it took all week to arrive! Good job I didn’t leave it till the last week in January to begin the process or it would have been an expensive mistake!! However I wasn’t bored at all because as well as progressing with my Attic 24 style ripple blanket I started another beanie using the lovely Adriafil Knitcol wool.

Second week of Ripple Blanket!

Also, I went to the Abakhan sales and bought fabric to make cushions for my daughter’s new house! I have 2 weeks till her birthday so should manage to get those done in time! I am using some very nice bird patterned fabric for the front, with a plain linen look for the back.

Bird patterned fabric for daughter’s cushions

One interesting thing I found whilst doing my crochet is that real wool is much easier on the hands than acrylic, even though it is premium Stylecraft. The Adriafil Knitcol just slips through my fingers and hook with ease, but the acrylic seems to have a little resistance, and so takes more effort to work with. It’s a shame my ripple blanket is in the acrylic as it’s going to take quite a while to finish. I think I will be looking for any 100% wool bargains I can find in the future though, even if it means waiting a while as the difference it makes as to how much crochet I can do and how tiring it becomes is quite remarkable. I wonder if this is a common difference between wool and acrylic or more down to my arthritis and fibro problems?

Here is my completed Beanie which is going in my Folksy shop. My other one sold in London quite quickly.

beanie in varigated pink, yellow and orange wool

Beanie with wavy edging

I also couldn’t resist buying some more Aida and embroidery hoops from Abakhan. I find cross stitch and crochet such relaxing evening crafts whilst watching TV after doing my sewing in the day time. So tonight it’s Dancing on Ice and a bit of cross stitch and crochet and a mooch round the Handmade Harbour! What are you doing?

New WIPs for 2014!

Posted on 5 January, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Happy New Year Everyone!

Well the holidays are almost over! Son No 2 has returned to London. Son No1 left last week and tomorrow my DH goes back to work. WOOHOO! House to myself again!! (they don’t read this!) . I have been having a good rest this week, mainly because I got a seasonal virus just after Christmas day and am still not completely well. Having Fibromyalgia, amongst other things, seems to mean getting things badly and taking a long time to recover. I think the strain of going to London for the ill fated craft fair didn’t help either 🙁

For anyone who was wondering how Handmade Christmas at the 02 went – well it wasn’t a very good experience and I would not recommend anyone to book with this event in the future before being very sure that things will be different from the December one. We were not the only stall holders unhappy with various things – there is a facebook group of us all trying to get some compensation from the organisers. I have written to the OFT, as have others, and am awaiting a response. You can read more about it my last weeks POST which also has a link to the Folksy blogpost about it.

But to move on to happier things – I have started my first WIPs of 2014! A Ripple Blanket using the Attic 24 pattern and am really enjoying making it whilst resting on the sofa.

Ripple blanket

Remember the crosstitch heart in last month’s craftseller? Well I decided to have a go last night and it’s coming along nicely, just the top half to do now!

Half a crosstitch heart!

So that’s two WIPs already- one good thing from having an xmas fair is that all but one of my other WIPs are finished – and some even got sold!! It’s soooooo good having the opportunity to build up a new stack of WIPs!! 🙂

When not making new things I am spending my time planning them from ideas in these two fantastic books I got for Christmas! GBSB from DH and Vintage book from DS2!

Crafts books for new ideas!

And that’s me sorted for a couple of weeks! Looking forward to reading about other people’s holiday adventures and new year plans over at Handmade Monday Have you got a stack of WIPs Yet? Do tell!!

Making Beanies (and too many other things!)

Posted on 10 November, 2013 by patchworkfairy

Like so many of you, I suffer from TMPOTG! (Too Many Projects On The Go!!) Trouble is, the more blogs I find and tutorials I read, the more I want to do! Now I’m investigating cross stitch as well as too many other things!

I am making lots of things for the O2 Handmade Market I really am, and this should be enough – what with sorting out labelling, pricing, and the display as well. But no, I’ve only got to go and get some Aida and embroidery threads and plan out a nice little xmas crosstitch as well! Oh and then that led to thinking about machine embroidery which I used on the advent calendar I showed last week – where else could I use this new found stitch?? And so on it goes – mind a whirl with possibilities, dreaming of new things to learn about and make.

At least I have managed to finish two Beanies this week – one with Sirdar Crofter which is Acrylic/Cotton/Wool mix and one with Knitcol 100% pure wool. The Sirdar is quite lightweight to use and ideal for a lightweight hat. I love the Knitcol wool – it feels nice to work with and the variegated colours go very well together once it’s knitted up.

beanie using Crofter doubleknit varigated wool

Beanie with Crofter Wool

Crochet Beanie with fluted edge

I bought this knitcol wool whilst on a visit to Wells but somehow lost the label after taking the wool out to feel/stroke/admire long before I planned to use it. Once it was knitted up I really wanted some more but had no idea what it was and how to get it. However I hit upon the idea of a virtual travel and shopping trip round Wells using google maps. It actually worked! I went up and down roads I remembered us walking along till I found the little well stocked vintage style shop in a courtyard. Amazingly I was able to enter the shop – something you can’t do in lots of other places – and I ‘walked’ up to the counter and spotted the same wool! It’s a fantastic and weird experience going into the shop again but sitting in my chair 100s miles away!

So the end result is I found the name of the wool and researched it online to get the best price 🙂 and am now stocked up again! Tonight I will be comfortably curled up on the couch with a glass of wine, the next Beanie on the hook and a little virtual stroll round the blogs of the friendly peeps at the Handmade Harbour! Cheers! 🙂

Crochet Granny Squares and an Owl!

Posted on 20 October, 2013 by patchworkfairy

Boo it’s raining again!

This is what arrived last week! My lovely new wool – beautiful colours – as I started to use them I thought how will I ever remember which shade is which if want to reorder any of them? How will I know my Wisteria from my lavender? So for now this is my solution –

New balls of Stylecraft Special Double Knit

My new Stylecraft Wool

A little bit of each yarn is tied to the label as I use each colour. Ok for now but not great so I’d love to know what you all do? I haven’t done much so far as I have spent a long time reading blogs for patterns and ideas – I think I’m going to make lots of granny squares and then decide what to do with them as these are something I know how to make very well!

I did however have a go at an owl pattern – it still needs the eyes yet – the pattern is from Bunny Mummy – another blog find after my visit to Yarndale!

Owl shape crochet and a small pink blue and purple granny square

First attempt at an owl shape!

It wasn’t hard to follow the tutorial and I think they look very cute in her picture! I really want to design my own items but for now I am enjoying other people’s as a change from my patchwork! One other thing I would really like help with is — how do you keep your wool from tangling when using lots of colours? I’ve tried in the past to keep it all in a basket but it ends up one big mess. Currently I’ve got each colour in a plastic bag but this is bulky and spoils my enjoyment of the crochet somehow. So over to talented peeps at Handmade Harbour to see if what everyone has been up to and maybe pick up some hints!!

Colourful Crochet!

Posted on 16 October, 2013 by patchworkfairy

Well I’ve really got the crochet bug again now! Although years ago I used to make pram blankets in colourful crochet, in recent times I have mainly concentrated on using chunky, random yarn to make big throws, as I enjoy the change of colour but the lazy way! However, since my visit to Yarndale and discovering Lucy’s blog of tutorials, I have again become fascinated by the idea of mixing up different bright colours. So this is what arrived this morning!

I just love the sound of the postie dropping parcels of fabrics or wool in the porch!

And this is what it contained!

My new Stylecraft Wool

These are Stylecraft Special double knit premium acrylic. I have prefered to use 100% wool in the past but as these seemed to be endorsed by quite a few people in the crochet and knitting world I thought I would try them. They are from Wool Warehouse and I must say they shipped them very quickly as I only ordered them on Monday! My young self would have been incredulous at the idea that I would one day sit in my living room choosing and paying for lovely wool instead of getting the bus into town and carrying it home!

I am now actually looking forward to cold and even rainy days when it’s just sensible to snuggle up with some colourful crochet!

Crocheting Again!

Posted on 6 October, 2013 by patchworkfairy

I have rekindled my love of crochet! My Aunty Pol taught me as a child and many hooky projects have graced our home through the years. As a new stay at home young mum I cut up and hemmed old sheets to make cot and pram sheets, crocheting all the blankets in bright woolly colours and knitting little cardis! Even before the children arrived I made my own maternity clothes and breastfeeding nighties.

All that crochet, sewing and knitting in those days as well as looking after the family – makes me think I had far more energy then than it actually felt like at the time! Of course, in the early 80’s we just didn’t have the range of low price shops which there are today and there was no online shopping so many of us had to make our own things. I made clothes and toys for the children and curtains for our house, I enjoyed it all so it never seemed a chore. I remember one Christmas the boys longing for the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Hero Turtle’ figures were very scarce and so I made both the boys a furry version which they loved and carried around for a long time!

my son with his home made teenage hero ninja turtle!

Anyway after visiting Yarndale, buying the Hooplayarn and reading various blog accounts of the day I have begun crocheting again. Amazingly I had never heard of Lucy and Attic 24 before – her blog is a wonderful find as it has lots of tutorials in very easy to follow style. I now have a set of red bowls from the Hooplayarn and some granny squares destined to become a big throw! Only trouble is – these days I need a rest even after just sitting down crocheting!

Talking of rests – what better than a stroll round the Handmade Monday blogs over at Handmade Harbour!

Anyway I love reading your comments – if my site won’t let you please do let me know on facebook as it was a bit iffy last week. Thank you!

Yarndale!

Posted on 29 September, 2013 by patchworkfairy

We went to Yarndale! Actually we nearly didn’t! Having arrived at the entrance around 1pm we were waved away by police blocking the road! I was horrified and stuttered – ‘but we’ve come to yarndale…’ – this only evoked a shrug and the words ‘it’s full’ !!!! We had driven for 2 hours, been stuck in traffic jams and really wanted a coffee by now, and as I continued to stare at the policewoman in a daze of disbelief, she added we should ‘try again’ in half an hour or park in the town.

Well not being from around there we weren’t quite sure which way to go! OH drove off down a road with me nearly in tears – how could it be full? It was advertised as parking for 1000 cars so I hadn’t thought there would be any problem. But alas no woolly welcome waited for us and so off we went, parked in a layby, looked at the map and decided to head back towards Skipton. The sat nav lady took us past the entrance again and now there was no block! It was only 20 mins later but we were allowed in! There was no queue inside and we found somewhere to park fairly easily so I am still mystified as to why we were kept out beforehand!

So all ended well – we had a half hour wait for the café but the food was good and plenty of room to sit down and eat. Feeling much better I set off to explore the woolly wonders ahead while OH retreated to the car to ‘read’ (sleep), leaving me in peace to wander, sniffing the woolly aroma and stroking the woolly goodies everywhere!

Red Crochet Bowl from Hooplayarn

The place was heaving with serious Yarn addicts and in some cases their bored OHs but I managed to see all I wanted to see and chat to some stallholders as well! I bought quite a bit of woolly rovings for my felting, some ‘not quite fat quarters’ for my quilting, which at £1.95 were very good value, and a big cone of Hooplayarn from The Chunky Hooker! I am now hooked on hooking with Hooplayarn! It’s really easy and very gratifying as it grows very fast. Here is my half finished first attempt at a crochet bowl! I chose the red so that I could make some xmas items for my stall at the 02! Surprisingly (to me) they said the most popular colour was cerise pink!

It would have been lovely to have met up with craft bloggers at the event but I didn’t know anyone else who was going and didn’t have time to linger in the knit and natter area. Maybe next time..? Now though I am going to meet up with some lovely bloggers in the online world of Handmade Harbour! See you there?