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.

A whimsical witch hat for Halloween

I'd spotted this Whimsical Witch-Hat pattern on Ravelry

Here's my version...

To be honest, I ended up using the pattern more as a guideline than something to follow exactly. This was because the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, which I don’t use and which isn’t that common in the UK. Also, I wanted to use up my stash of double knitting left over from various blankets and other projects. As I didn’t want to buy new yarn for what is, after all, just a silly dressing up hat, I used the pattern as a starting point and then just winged it.

I am, however, delighted with the result as it’s very similar to the hat my avatar wears in Habitica.

It even sort of suits me. :)

I’m now planning to make another one in black.

I have been sadly negelecting this blog

It's been a long time since I updated this blog, but it has not been forgotten or abandoned. Unfortunately, I haven't been doing much crochet over the past 6 months due to getting more teaching hours at the local college and I haven't had a moment to blog what I have been working on. However, I did crochet a poncho out of some nice soft acrylic aran yarn that had been sitting around for absolutely ages waiting for the right project. It keeps me warm whilst sitting working at the computer. My latest project though is -- shock! horror! -- knitting! The yarn is Sirdar Montana and I love the way the colours change. I have knitted a few scarves and hats in recent years but only ever once in my life finished a sweater and that was an awful long time ago. I actually bought this yarn to crochet a hooded sleeveless cardigan in Tunisian crochet, but then decided that that would be too ambitious and I needed more practice at making smaller things in Tunisian crochet first. As I do need more sweaters, I decided to see if I could actually knit one. The back is now almost complete and, so far, it's looking good!

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.

African flower pot-holders

I'm not entirely sure how to spell "pot-holder". I've seen it as "pot holder", "pot-holder" and "potholder". Anyway, I've made some of those circular things you handle hot pots and pans with. :)

This project was partly to help with stash busting and partly because I genuinely need new potholders and crochet ones will be pretty and quick to make.

I started to follow a pattern for an African flower granny mandala potholder but I thought it might come out too holey. I didn’t want to risk burns, so instead I did solid treble crochet (UK) circles to surround the African flower rather than treble clusters. I had to do a bit of frogging before I got it to lie flat, but I got there after a couple of tries.

I finished off the second pot-holder yesterday. I only did African flowers on the front, so the backs are just concentric circles of pink, white and blue. For some reason, one potholder fitted together perfectly, the other needed a bit of fudging because though I was sure I’d done the increasing the same, it seemed to have far more stitches. Anyway, they’re fine for my own use and worked great when removing the pizzas from the oven yesterday. :) I joined the two circles with double crochet (UK) and then did a final round of Crab Stitch to give a nice firm edge.

I may make this pattern again, but there are some other pretty ones I want to try first.

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.

A table runner becomes a net curtain

My 92-year-old Dad moved into residential care last autumn and my brother and I had the job of selling his bungalow. I started to make a filet crochet runner for the lovely dark wood dining room table, thinking it would help to brighten up the place while the bungalow is being viewed by potential buyers. Once the bungalow was sold, I intended to find a home for the runner in our house. However, the bungalow sold more quickly than I expected so I didn't have time to get very far with the project. In fact all I had was a number of Japanese flower style motifs joined into a strip.

The table runner languished for some months. I was busy with Christmas projects and also wanted to finish a blanket for me to use while the weather was still cold. It didn't help matters that we don't really have a suitable place to display it as a table runner, so motivation wasn't high. And then, realising the Easter bunnies and baskets (see next post) were almost complete and wondering what to make next, I had a rummage through the bags of yarn and unfinished projects and found the pretty flower motifs I had made. My first though was to finish it as a table runner, but then I had a better idea. A net curtain!

I removed a couple of motifs and managed to improvise a way of joining the filet crochet onto the floral strip. Once I'd put some different sized stitches in to level up the row, the filet part became very straightforward.

I contemplated placing the another band of motifs part way up the curtain, but then rejected that idea and instead I'll place them randomly on the net. This is a venture into the unknown for someone who, until now, has always religiously followed patterns! :)

As spring is here and sometimes -- like today! the sun streams through the window on the landing outside my study-cum-workroom, I think a new curtain should look good and it will kick start the next round of cleaning and decorating. I went round the whole house a few years ago, but the décor is looking a bit tired and grimy because it was quite a few years ago now.

Anyway, I'm delighted to have found a good use for the motifs. Progress has therefore resumed and crocheting the filet net is a nice mindless project to do for relaxation.