Rosie elmer blanket update

I haven't posted any updates about my Rosie Elmer blanket in a while and part of that has been the constant indecision about which colours to stick with.  I honestly didn't want to keep boring people with my ummming and ahhhhing.

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my previous posts though, it's given me a lot of food for thought, not least this website called Design Seeds. I warn you, you'll end up buying a shed load of yarn so you can whip up beautiful projects based on tropical birds, berries and doorways I tell you!

♥

Unfortunately I couldn't find a colour palette that matched mine but I do have some ideas for the future. When I've cut down my wool stash to a sensible amount I'm going to save up & treat myself to a purposeful order, but I can't get too carried away yet because I am nowhere near that stage yet!

A few weeks ago I had two ways of going with the blanket... #1 was a warmer mix of squares.  I do love the green  ♥ but I think it was the green making things difficult.

#2 worked better but felt quite dull, a bit like how things look on a cloudy day.  Does that make sense?  I don't know, but that's how it made me feel!

Then I had a look in one of my yarn boxes and it hit me that I really do have too much because I found some stylecraft that I'd forgotten I had... Honestly!

I found the lovely plum and  magenta and that's it :)  Problem solved

 

Woooooopeeeee!!!

I can't really explain how great this feels because this is exactly how I was imagining my blanket (ok, with some green) and it's just been really hard to pull this out of my head and make it. 

I even feel like I might start joining them all together soon....  Oh what fun :)

x x x x

Little squares throw - ta dah!

I've struggled with a name for this thing I've made because it's not really a throw and crochet-chair-headrest-cover sounded a bit long and boring! Well, whatever it is I've finished... :)


I love love love the small squares I'm itching to make more in a rainbow of colours! I love that they start out like little circles and I think they're a lot easier to make than ones that start as squares. I've already made more middles although I've no idea what I'm planning to make!

We went to visit my family for the weekend and I got it finished while we were there, one of the reasons I'm behind on my blog reading! Sadly all my photos are pretty rubbish - don't you just hate it when you spend ages on a project but you don't shoot it properly at the end?


Normally I don't bother blocking things because blankets get scrunched up I've never really had any need, but these little squares were getting a bit bunched up so I gave it a go and I'm very glad I did. My mum might not be now that her cork bath mat is full of little holes...


The border is something I'm particularly happy with because I've never gone to any real effort before so this was different. And partly because I made it up although I did take my inspiration from one of Attic 24's recent blankies :) It was very easy, just a round of double crochet in cream followed by a round of red double crochets and trebles in the middle.


I've made a list of all the tutorials I've used, just cos I'm nice like that :p

Tutorials:
Granny Squares
Joining
Round 1 of the border

I'm so glad the sun is shining again, it's lifted my spirits immensely & I hope you're also getting some nice weather and sunny cheer :)

x x x x

Hello Twenty Thirteen

Happy New Year my lovelies :D It's good to be back but I can't tell you how much I wish it were still the holidays, even though I know it wouldn't be as special if it lasted forever. We spent a very long week down at my folks in London, although a week didn't seem long enough in the end!

Christmas Day was very chilled out and merry. I was up early to see my brother before he had to work (!!) which meant opening presents, followed by more presents when J got up (fair-isle slippers!), followed by party food for lunch, mulled wine, dinner making, a nap, plying my parents with alcohol while they were being busy, my brother coming home still in good spirits, more presents, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Crackers, Trivial Pursuit (my Dad lost) Christmas Pudding and then bed.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, or if that's not your thing a peaceful end to the year :)

I can't quite believe where the year has gone but looking back at my projects for the year sort of puts things into an order I can make sense of! I really enjoyed making little mosaics at the beginning of last year so I've done the same now, only this time I've discovered Pic Monkey which is a brilliant website for making collages, mosaics and editing photos - a huge time saver.

There are four projects from last year that I've finished which was one of my 2012 resolutions, but I've also started this year with more unfinished WIPs. Oh well!

1. Hexagon blanket - completed :)
2. A stockinette stitch cushion cover. I've cast on too many stitches for the cushion inner I have so I may start this again...
3. Spring Garden Granny Squares. These haven't worked out so well when joined, I'm wondering whether to make more squares in different colours and make a small lap blanket...!

4. Nanny throw. I don't think this is a project I've blogged about yet so more about this later!
5. Bubble Gum Ripple Blanket
6. Pomegrante snood.

7. Little Woolie Inspired Cushion. I should finish this soon, I've only got a few more rows to do!
8. Ribbed Phone Cover
9. Stripy Snood


1. Crochet hook handle, made from Fimo
2. Moss Stitch Scarf
3. Crochet owl

4. Crochet Father Christmas
5. Knitted bunting
6. Knitted cable hat

7. Bunting
8. Knitted cat mouse hat
9. Polka dot skirt


1. First pomegranate snood
2. Turquoise cable hat
3. Lingonberry biscuits :)

4. Winter striped scarf
5. Snowflake Christmas card
6. Chunky mustard snood

7. Pink fluffy scarf
8. Grass cable snood
9. Giveaway cactus

I've got loadssss of other things to show you that I started over the holidays too, lets cross our fingers for some good weather this weekend and I'll try to get some half decent photos to share :)

x x x x

Green garden grannies

Hello :) It's been a few weeks since I spontaniously blogged - since going back to Caroles One-a-day project I've only been blogging my Tuesdays Tallies - this weeks will be *very* exciting though :D

I got to a point in hexagon making where I ran out of cream wool, which was kind of essential to joining the whole thing together! While I was waiting for more to arrive in the post I whipped up these.


I've got a lovely collection of green yarns now (I wish Stylecrafts range was better!) and I've had an urge to go back to squares for a while so it seemed like a good opportunity. I've been making more today actually, I think it might end up as a cushion.


I got the pattern from Attic 24, it's her Summer Garden Granny Square and I love the way it starts as a circle (like the hexagons!) and ends up as a square :)


I've edged these in white using trebles and sewed them together with the long tail left over. For the other side I'm going to keep the whole thing green and use Lucy's join-as-you-go method, really to use a variety of techniques and have a bit of fun.


This is one finished side. The other is still a work in progress.


Thanks to everyone who's pushed me into completing my hexagon blanket, I can promise that on Tuesday I'll have a ta-dah for you!!

x x x x

Granny Squares Tah-Dah!

Anyone who knows me reading this will be wondering "what on Earth is all this about?" The truth is I realised it my last post that I never wrote anything about finishing my Granny Squares blanket. You know, the mammouth year and a half project, 324 squares, two person effort that consumed me during '09 and '10!

Well yes it's finished! Poor thing, it's not that I wasn't pleased to finish it, relieved might be a good word to use! I think it was really too big to embark on as a first project and I lost heart in the middle of making all the squares, then putting them together felt like walking Route 66 (no end in sight?)

Here is a little reminder...






And here (finally) Tah-Dah!!!






A big thankyou has to be said to my friend J.J who helped with a lot of these little buggers and who without, I doubt I would ever have finished!

Good evening Salford

We had a beautiful sunset this evening and I needed to share it.

I've digressed from monster blanket and have been making a cushion cover for a friends birthday. I'm a bit worried that it started off looking like a logo for the RAF but hopefully when finished it will be ok!