Colourful Christmas stockings

I started making three of these colourful Christmas stockings to hold small additional gifts for the grandchildren. When the first white one was nearly finished and the other two were about half done, I realised that they were coming out a lot larger than I expected. Fortunately it wasn’t difficult to modify the pattern to make smaller versions which came out just the right size for some chocolate “gold” coins, a Kinder Santa and a small toy or other small packet of sweets. The red and blue stockings have been posted off to the grandchildren and I will keep the big one to put some chocolates in as a present to myself and G. :) In the New Year I will frog (ie unravel) the other two part done white stockings and reuse the yarn, probably as tea cosies, of which I could do with a couple more.

Three steps forwards and two back

I have been very busy in the Day Job recently, so I've not had much time for crochet and none at all for updating this blog. However, the end of term is in sight, the huge pile of assignments to mark has been dealt with and so I can get on with my own projects at last.

Or not...

Things I have been UN-making

• The snowdrop scarf I started using some gorgeous Jawoll Magic sock yarn
• The filet net curtain

The snowdrop scarf had been hibernating while I finished all the blankets that were Christmas presents and the bunnies and baskets that were Easter presents. When I finally came to pick it up again, I realised that however beautifully the yarn was working up, the finished article wasn't going be something I would actually wear. So I have unravelled it and will find a different scarf pattern instead.

Similarly, having got almost half way with the curtain, I held it against the window and realised that it was going to block too much of the view. I initially intended it for the bathroom (frosted glass) but my husband said he liked the existing blind and didn't want it changed, so I had thought of putting the curtain on the landing window instead. But the current net allows you to see through to the grass and trees in the front garden; the filet net didn't. So I've frogged the filet part and I'll have to think about what to do with the Japanese flower motifs.

But it has not all been negative progress. Things I have been making:

• a new phone case for my new phone
• more of the simple filet crochet starburst squares for the picnic blanket.

I started the picnic blanket almost exactly a year ago, but it only gets worked on between other projects, so progress is slow. It is being made with all the random bits of acrylic double knitting yarn left over from all the blankets I made last year. It will be a cheerful blanket that can live in the car and be used for sitting on for picnics or for snuggling in if I have to wait in the car on a cold day.

The new phone case is for my new phone, my first proper smartphone! :) It's a Samsung Galaxy 4S in stylish red. The phone case I crocheted is in brightly coloured random stripes. I wanted to use up some of the ends of yarn left from making the rainbow ripple blanket I made as a Christmas present for one of my grandchildren.

The case has turned out cheap and cheerful, but I'm quite pleased with it. I even lined it with some red fabric that I've had lying around for years. A bright red button just finished it off. So from this...

We get this! :)

So now, having successfully transferred over my contacts and calendar, my phone is fully functional and has snug case to protect it.

Ta da! Easter bunnies and pretty baskets

I can't resist showing off the Easter Bunnies and crochet baskets I've made for my grandchildren. The baskets I just improvised so there's no pattern. However, I talked about them here. If you want to make your own bunnies, the pattern is free and available from this website.

I could just have bought Easter eggs, but I wanted to do something a bit different. I also wanted to give the grandchildren something to play with once the chocolate had gone. The project has also been a very useful stash buster and I've managed to use up some colourful odds and ends of yarn left over from all the blankets I made last year.

I've bought chocolate and sweeties to add to the baskets and now they're all ready to be wrapped up and posted to the grandchildren.

Now I just have to find boxes and bubble wrap and they'll be on their way in good time for Easter.

Ta da! Fingerless gloves are finished

Even with my limited crochet time, these simple fingerless gloves only took a few days. They made a nice little project that was both easy to do and quick to finish. It gave me a sense of achievement in the midst of several big projects. It used up some yarn left over from making a couple of blankets and they should keep my hands nice and warm too. A big win all round. :) And now I must toddle into town to the Spar to buy milk, a jar of curry sauce and some sort of cake or pie for desert. I didn't feel like doing a proper shop today and I had some beef in the freezer which will work nicely in a curry. Another working week starts tomorrow. I've still not quite got used to being constrained to a fixed schedule after 5 years of being able to work more or less as and when suited me, but it's beginning to feel more natural. After all, I've worked outside the home for long enough in the past.

Crocheting alfresco

As my husband had to go to Llandudno on college business yesterday, I volunteered to drive him there and while he attended the students' graduation ceremony, I took the opportunity to sit on the sea front in glorious sunshine and did quite a bit of crocheting.

I've never crocheted in public before, but most people took no notice. One woman passerby did comment. She admired the blanket I was making and said that she used to crochet when she was young, but had tried again recently and found she'd forgotten how. We chatted for a minute or two and then she went on her way. I was left pondering what she had said. For me that kind of skill doesn't disappear, at least not totally. It might get rusty and I might find that it takes a while me to get the fluency and ease back, but the basics never go. Perhaps it depends on how much you did when you first learned?

Anyway, I made good progress on the rainbow ripple blanket, which now looks like this...

Rainbow ripple blanket

I was supposed to be starting the baby blanket with the Cotton On yarn I bought recently, but I was looking at people's projects on the Creative Crochet Facebook group and my eye fell on the lovely pointy rainbow ripple blankets. I investigated my stash of yarn and realised that I had some suitable double knitting that had been bought to make... well, I must have bought it with something in mind, but I haven't a clue as to what it was. Anyway, I think there will be enough to make a couple of these ripple blankets and they will do nicely as part of the Christmas presents I plan to give to the offspring.

The original pattern says they're baby blankets, but the beauty of them is that you can just keep on crocheting until it's the size you want, so I'll do them a bit larger so they can be used as picnic blankets.

Here is the start of the first one. It goes so quickly that I'm already well past this stage now and onto the second colour, but I'll post further progress next week.

My current WIP

Well, it's one of my current WIPs. :) I do have several things on the go, but this is the one that currently has top priority. As you can see, the striped ripple lap blanket for my Dad is coming along nicely. It grows quickly, which is very satisfying and it's tempting to do "just one more stripe", even when I really ought to be doing something else.

Yarn for my next crochet project

I've just finished crocheting another skull scarf (in green this time) which should shortly be going off to the person who asked me to make it. I'm now moving on to my next project, which is a ripple-striped lap blanket for my Dad. (I'm using the Attic24 smooth ripple pattern and I'm loving it!) It will be a combined birthday and father's day present. I'm using these colours. I'd prefer something brighter, but I think these will suit an elderly man better. He is 92 after all!