Another Stash Basket

I made another stash basket today - to fill another bathroom shelf.  I ran out of brown yarn, so had to be..."cough"... creative!  It's kind of cute, nevertheless!

Stash Basket

Yesterday I made a stash basket - it was my first one - and I suspect one of many more to come! I first got the idea for this when I saw the ones my friend Helen had made - thanks Helen! They are so useful and really easy to make. I used a  Bernat pattern, which I found a little confusing at first (as I do with most written patterns), but once the penny dropped, I realised it was a really simple item to make.

I added a flower embellishment that I made from one of my crochet books, et voila!

I admit, the base turned out too big, even though I followed the pattern to the letter - but I don't mind - the wonkiness adds to its charm.

Fancy Frilly Flip Flops!

Earlier this month I bought a pair of crochet flip flops from the fabulous Claire's Hooked On Crochet on Facebook.  Although they were lovely, my feet are quite skinny (the only thing about me that is!), so they feel quite loose on my feet.  They're worth a look though, because they're fabulously comfy.

Quite by coincidence, my favourite crocheter, Mikey, also posted a You Tube tutorial on jazzing up your own flip flops.  It really is very easy (a bit fiddly at first, though) and can produce lovely results.

Please excuse the close up of my feet, which whilst being the skinniest part of my body, also happen to be the ugliest.....but the flip flops are so comfy now - and they don't slide around or get stuck to the top of my foot in warm weather (most annoying).

Other, more adventurous people than me can add crochet flowers, with little buttons sewn in...any embellishment would do, really.

I'll post a link to Mikey's tutorial below, and want to add that to achieve the ruffle effect, I chained 3 before crocheting round the strap.  You'll see what I mean when you watch the video.

Colour Block Blanket

It's been a while since I blogged - I've still been crocheting every day, but I've been too busy with my party bags business to blog about my hobby!  Still, everyone needs a break now and then, so I thought I'd post my latest finished project.

This is a small blanket made of small solid coloured granny squares - it seemed to take an absolute age to finish, probably because the squares are smaller than I'm used to.

I wanted a different edging to blankets I've done before, so tried the criss cross stitch.  It's an easy stitch to do, once you get into the rhythm, and I think it's really effective.

If you want to try your hand at criss cross stitch, check out  Mikeyssmail's tutorial:

I love this book....I hate this book!

This week I treated myself to some crochet pattern books.  I thought it was time I made a real effort to learn how to follow a written pattern - I figured that now I'm quite proficient in crochet, it wouldn't be too difficult.....WRONG!

The first book to arrive on my doorstep was this one by Melody Griffiths.  It is full of really beautiful motif ideas, flowers, squares..the images are lovely, and each project has a written pattern as well as a chart.

What really excited me about this book was the section on crochet letters.  I have a particular project in mind that requires letters, so I'm determined to master them.  My first efforts have failed miserably, and I have very much a love/hate relationship with this book, but I know I'll crack it in the end.

The second book to arrive was "Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs"by Edie Eckman. It's a cute, colourful book, with the added advantage of being spiral bound, so it lays flat.  The first few sections cover techniques, hints and tips, and it is written in a conversational style, so it's as if you have a crochet tutor sitting with you.  Again, there are text patterns and charts for each project.

For ages I've been trying to master the magic ring/sliding loop technique to get started, and this book is the first one that demonstrated it in a way I could understand.

The flower motif below was started off with the magic ring technique, so now I think it's safe to say I've mastered it, so even for that reason alone, I love this book!

Make-it-up-as-you-go-along blanket

I've just come to the end of another project - which is a small blanket that I've made up as I went along.  I had a huge stash of wool and didn't really want another big afghan, and didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to make, so decided to do some squares and see what I ended up with.

These are the initial squares...........................

Which I joined together into blocks of 4.........................

I ended up with four blocks of 4, which I joined together in pairs, and gave granny edges to.  Here's one of them.........................

Then I joined the sets of blocks up and gave the whole thing a quick edging, and voila - a nice, bright chunky square blanket.....

Here it is on my chair,and joining my little boy for a quick snuggle...............................