Crochet in Colour

Autumn is well and truly here. Actually it might even be winter. Suddenly it feels cold all day, the greyness doesn't lift and the drizzley mizzley rain just keeps coming. Yes, yes, I know I shouldn't complain, and I don't really mind the rain or the cold, it's the grey dreariness that I Do Not Like. At. All.

I spend a lot of my time being a Mum-Taxi so when the Little People are at school, and it's grey and rainy out, I choose to stay in and surround myself with colour to counteract the blah-ness outside.

I've been working on a few scarves this week, Christmas presents for various teachers, helpers and friends. I'm using a pattern called Blue Velvet, it's from issue 18 of Simply Crochet from this summer I think. The pattern is brilliantly simple and yet gives a really lovely effect that looks far more impressive than it actually is. If you see what I mean.

The blue one - I'm calling it Midnight Velvet - is for our Brownies leader, Brown Owl. "Why isn't it brown then ?" I hear you cry. Well, I've been noticing, Brown Owl's leader-y outfit is largely Girl Guides blue, so I decided on blue. Plus I like blue better than brown. Coincidentally, Little Tomboy accompanied her big sister to Brownies for the first time this evening. And she enjoyed it. Even though it was only girls. Bless her cotton (boys') socks. 

Anyway back to the crochet. Do you like the bluey-greeny yarn below ? Do you think it's gorgeous ? Well, looks can be deceptive, it's good old James C Brett Marble Chunky. Easy as it is on the eye, I don't find it as easy on the hook. I bought it ages ago to make a cushion cover with because easy to hook with or not, the colours are divine. But I need to psych myself up for it first. And I'm not ready yet.

The red version of the Blue Velvet scarf - I'm calling it Cranberry Velvet - is for my friend's birthday. I'm using King Cole Bonus DK, 100% acrylic, and a bargainous £2.99 for 100g, which is just the right amount for a scarf. It's divine to crochet with, glides off the hook, is soooo soft, and a gorgeous colour to boot.

I Adore that colour :) Just like a red carpet on my kitchen table. Heavenly :)

And the colour doesn't stop there, the red squares for the Poppy Pixel Art are all done, ends darned, and I delivered them to the assembly team today. Can't wait to see them all joined up, it's going to be amazing!

Meanwhile, in other news, Little Miss has been doing some French knitting on her knitting dolly. Initially she was making some sort of hair braid thingies for her Halloween costume (some kind of pink girl vampire I believe), but judging by what's lying on the table, I'd say she got bored and turned it into a bracelet :) Going with the creative flow, adapting as she goes, that's my girl :)

I love love love my crochet, but I do flirt a bit with other crafts too. I seem to have a gazillions things I'd like to do, but somehow crochet always comes to the fore. However I was reading through my bloglist last night and I visited the lovely Kate at Just Pootling who has made some really sweet table arrangements. You can read about them, and see some great photos, here.

I had some rather scraggy looking wine-coloured chrysanths which I thought I could eke out for another couple of days, but only if they were in a jar that took one's attention away from the slightly wilty petals. And so I totally shamelessly pinched Kate's idea. Thank you Kate!

I fancied trimming my jar with red gingham ribbon. Had a rummage in my stash and found 5m of ribbon I'd bought last year, wrapped on a piece of card. Really Really Annoyingly the ribbon had been folded end to end and then wound onto the card, so that both ends ended up under the rest of the ribbon! Argh! So I had to unravel the whole lot! (Does that make sense ?) But never mind, it makes a pretty picture :)

It's a really simple idea. Gather a few nice dry autumn leaves. Either go out on a dry day a-gathering your leaves, or go to your porch which you haven't swept for ages so there's a big pile of dry leaves which is lucky because it's pouring with rain outside beyond said porch. Make some holes in the top of the leaves, thread onto thread or string, and tie around jar, then tie ribbon around jar overlapping thread and top of leaves.  Stuff in Arrange, some half-dead flowers that you're too stingey to chuck out just yet. Add some foliage from your garden unless it's raining in which case I'll let you off. And Ta-dah! You have a pretty and rustic table arrangement:) And thank you Kate for the inspiration :)

(ps it was only when I revisited Kate's page to link to it tonight that I realised we have used very similar flowers - except Kate's are in a slightly more healthy state :)

And somehow this has brought me back to Brownies again - Little Miss came home with a letter saying next week she is going for her Hostess Badge (blast from the past! I had that one) .... and she has to make a table decoration .... so Kate you are inspiring her as well :)

xxxxxxxxx

Eden Cowl

Hubby came in the door this evening with this massive bouquet of flowers for me. "Er, what have you done ....?" I immediately said, followed quickly by "they're gorgeous, I love them, thank you :)" and a big soppy kiss. Little Man was horrified !! Apparently they were bought for no particular reason, other than that I do a good job with the Little People. Altogether now, aaaaahhhhh :) Love my hubs so much, he is my rock :)

Meanwhile in crochet-land, I seem to have loads of blankety projects on the go, in various stages of progress. There's Connie's Pink Rose Blanket (well on its way - and gosh doesn't it remind you of my bouquet?!), my 365 Blank (woefully behind), and of course my Autumn Blanket (not yet started). And I've got a nagging feeling that I've forgotten one.

Great excuse to get in another scrummy autumny yarn picture. It makes me s.m.i.l.e  :)

The multi-blanket scenario is great for mindless hooking of an evening,  all cosied up with a cappuccino, a blanket slowly growing on my lap without me paying attention, very little thought required, all very relaxing. But not really condusive to a sense of achievement. Sometimes I long to switch my attention to a short sharp snappy project. But for now, I decided to be a good hooker and start on another Christmas present instead. In search of inspiration, out came the magazines ....

And then I got distracted by a really sweet little pattern for a very simple cowl for Little Miss. Honestly, I should not be allowed anywhere near a collection of crochet patterns whether in printed form or electronic. I need to be working on Christmas things, not random winter-wear for small girls. But it was too late, so Little Miss and I had a rummage for some suitable yarn. We discussed colours and she chose Stylecraft Special DK in Grape. A gorgrously soft yarn in a gorgeously soft purple, good choice Little Miss :) The pattern is from the Autumn 2014 issue of Crochet!  magazine, which hubby brought back from his latest US trip. 

I know I said in a different post that I wasn't overly impressed with US crochet magazines. Um, HELLO JILL, what planet were you on ? The US crochet magazines are great! Must've got out of the wrong side of the bed that day ... 

Back to the Eden Cowl as it's called in the magazine. The pattern is basically rows of trebles (UK) alternating with rows of little clustery bobbles, with a row of dc (UK) in between. The pattern specified 2 rows of bobbles but it was a bit skinny, so I increased it to 3 rows of bobbles.

Last winter I'd made fingerless mitts for myself and both my girls. Little Miss' mitts have little owls on them ....

.... and we think they look fab with the new cowl ....

And here is the new owner modeling her new cowl for me this evening ....

Gosh that was certainly a quick little project ! Very satisfying!

All folded and ready to wear tomorrow to school :)

Winter, we are ready! Bring it on!

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Autumn Shades

Now that school is in full swing and Little Man has settled in better, I've started running again in the mornings. I LOVE running. I'm not fast, and it isn't pretty, but it's wonderfully liberating, and I find it clears my head and sets me up for the rest of the day.

At the end of my run on Friday morning I took some pictures, with my phone, so they're not that great, but running with a digital SLR round your neck is not advisable. 

We are so lucky, we live in suburbia but have loads of green space around too. My run took me down leafy paths alongside the river. 

Autumn was in evidence all around: berries, seed-heads, crispy crunchy leaves. Gorgeous gorgeous colours.

Oh dear the sky is looking a bit gloomy now .....

Best head for the path where the sun is still shining ....

Back at home, feeling inspired by all the autumn-colour-gorgeous-ness, I finally made a decision on the yarns to use for my autumn blanket. Back in August in Florida (bear with me, I know it sounds random) I bought a load of lovely scrummy yummy new yarn in loads of lovely scrummy yummy colours. Most of which were bizarrely autumny. I mean, why would I be choosing autumn colours when it was flipping BOILing ?!  Since we got back I've been trying really hard to finish off some other bits and pieces before embarking on a new project. But sod that :) I can't wait any longer :)

Look look look look look !!!!! Gorgeous or what! 

I tell you, I might not even bother to do the blanket, I might just leave the basket sitting about looking all colorful and amazing. 

And I did manage to finish one other project, a scarf that's a Christmas present. It's currently half-blocked so I can't do a proper ta-da yet, but here's a little preview ....

Repeat after me .....

I must not start new blanket until pink scarf is done and poppy squares are finished.
I must not start new blanket until pink scarf is done and poppy squares are finished.
I must not start new blanket until pink scarf is done and poppy squares are finished.

I must not start new blanket until pink scarf is done and poppy squares are finished.

......

xxxx

Poppy Pixel-Art

Every few weeks I go along to a local crochet group, The Barkham Hookers, run by the brilliant Gaynor White - you can find Gaynor's musings on her blog Confessions of a Barkham Hooker. One of the members of the group had a fabulous idea - for us to crochet small granny squares which, when put together, will form a giant image of a poppy.

The finished piece will be displayed at a local art festival next year, and auctioned off for a very worthwhile cause - The Poppy Appeal. 

I've been allocated "30 - red".

All the squares are a 3 round traditional granny square, or a 3 round solid granny square. I decided to make mine in the traditional style. We are using 4ply mercerized cotton for a lovely sheen, and a 3.5mm hook. This gives a square of around 4.5cm wide. 

Crocheting in red is an absolute pleasure: red is my favourite colour, I find it very uplifting and happy :)

Do you like my little storage box ? I bought it a few years ago in 2011 - hubby and I went on a chocolate shop tour (I know! Fabulous, right?!) and I bought this box as a momento...

I am an average Royal Family fan, I think they're great, but not in a stalker-ish way! But I couldn't resist this box as a reminder not only of the trip but also of the Royal Wedding. It was a great year, lots of commemorative things went on at school and we had a wonderful street party. Maybe I will do a post about that sometime .....

Anyway, back to the squares. I think I've done about 25, I've been taking my little project bag with me when I go to pick up Little Man from school, I like to get there 20 minutes early, mainly to get parked in the same place so he can find me and not panic, but also because it's so relaxing sitting in the car with the radio on, doing a bit of crochet and a lot of people-watching :)

Once I have made my last 5 squares, and tidied up the ends, then I can hand mine in. Then of course they will all need joining together by someone .... I think there's about 1600 squares being crocheted. That's a LOT of joining!!!!