Ripple Blanket Progress

Posted on 10 August, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I’ve not made as much ripple blanket progress as I originally imagined and have decided that after 60 ripply rows that I have had enough! It is now going to be a lap blanket/shawl!

Although I am fed up of rippling I have decided to make a few double crochet edging rounds to finish it off nicely and then leave it at this smaller size. So far I am on my second dc round in lavender, the first being in raspberry.

edging the ripple blanket

I haven’t much crafty stuff to share this week as I have been away camping in Aberdaron and the packing up process has done me a mischief. I am in agony, unable to walk properly with acute lower back pain. I am managing a bit of crochet wherever I can get comfy (not easy) but anything else is out of the question.

After a week of pain and still no improvement it’s so frustrating not to be able to get in my craft room as I have two projects waiting to be finished which are for presents and are now not going to be made on time 🙁

Hopefully I will be able to link up with Handmade Monday and catch up on everyone’s lives as I’ve really missed my blog fix the last couple of weeks, being away without internet access.

Warm Walks – it’s nearly Spring!

Posted on 16 February, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Burton Mere 1st pic

I love this time of year when a hint of Spring is in the air! After the torrential rain of the last few days it was so uplifting to see sunshine this morning. We are lucky though, that we don’t live in a flooded area and I feel very sorry for all the families who do, it must be very miserable.

As it was so bright we went for a walk today to enjoy the air. The two photos here were taken about 40 minutes apart and show how quickly the light deteriorates in February, and with it the warmth as it went from comfy to chilly as well! It was beautiful at Burton Mere though, it has a very quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

Burton Mere 2nd pic

I haven’t done as much of my ripple blanket (Attic 24) as I hoped as I have also started another blanket which is a pattern of mitred squares based on the pattern (here) – which I will then make up into my own pattern for the blanket.

Mitred Squares

I can’t seem to stop the beginning corners curling up so I will have to steam block them before I join them all up I think. I must make the foundation chains too tight, but I can’t seem to not do it!

Lastly here is the Ripple! I bought some more wool as I felt I needed more pinky, raspberry shades!

ripple blanket in multi coloured acrylic yarn

ripple-blanket-week-7

I do like colourful blanket-making when it’s cold and rainy but don’t think it will be as much fun when it’s warm when you are a menopausal hot flush machine!! – so I need to get cracking while it’s still only Spring!!

As usual I am linking up with Handmade Monday!

My comment box is still not fixed – it does work even though where you type your name and site appears not to let you – the text will be there when you publish your comment! So please don’t let it put you off as I love reading the comments!

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!!