WIP Wednesday

So I’ve just whipped this up out of some old shirts – I made that sound easy… The crochet was…. Being attacked by two kittens whilst crocheting, not so much. It looks like a sleeve but isn’t. Hopefully the it will prove to be useful around the home (more later).
I’ve also started a shawl that I found a little tricky to get going. A few rows in and it’s getting a bit easier. I’ll post the link to the free pattern when I post about it again.

Life gets in the way

Happy New Year!

I’d like to say I’ll be posting more this year. Maybe I will! I certainly want to; we’ll see. As the title says… Life gets in the way… sometimes.

In December, I finished another amigurumi doll that I designed myself again adapting the lalylala Dirk the Dragon pattern (it’s so inspiring- well worth buying).

I designed a cow/calf. It’s half the size of the original Dirk doll and has horns, different ears and a simple tail. The scarf is a nice loose stripey you crochet that was quick to make (apart from the weaving in of ends!).

I’ve realised I’ve not shared the half sized sheep I made last year. I will as I was really pleased with how it turned out. The calculations when halving the original pattern all happened then and I just applied to this project.

🙂

A long finished project

I finished this way back in June and didn’t share the end product which I was really pleased with. So here it is. I love the way the grey and yellow work together.

It doesn’t look particularly square in the photo but it looked good after blocking- though I do feel the tension was a little screwy due to the variety of yarns I used.

I added a scalloped edge which again looked better after the blanket was blocked.

Grey and yellow

Yesterday, a friend asked me if I’d make a baby blanket for her.  Not knowing if the baby is a boy or girl she asked if I could make it in grey and yellow (onot that the gender of the baby should matter- but some people like blue for boys and pink for girls).

I have quite a lot of yellow and grey in my stash so I made a start straight away.  I really like how these colours work together. I’m using half double crochet stitched with a 4mm hook.

A crochet covered pebble

This last weekend, we went away for a couple of days. We were based near Cleethorpes, on England’s East coast,  and enjoyed spending some time with family.

We walked across the Humber bridge on Sunday and spent a sunny afternoon in Hull.  There was a nice shingle beach that we enjoyed pottering around on with our niece and nephews. The kids really enjoyed throwing larger pebbles into the mud, that was a little closer to the water, and listening for the very satisfying plop as they landed.

I too played around with the pebbles and collected some small smooth stones for a crochet project.

There are lots of examples of pebbles (large and small) being crocheted around on pinterest- take a look they are great. I thought I’d have a go perhaps producing something pendant sized that could go on a chain or cord.

I used the pictures I found as inspiration   and experimented with embroidery thread and a 1mm crochet hook. I’m quite pleased with how well it turned out.

Pattern rewriting

I’m in the middle of rewriting the pattern for my sheep. Hopefully it will be about half the size of my larger sheep I made a couple of weeks ago. I’m happy with the way it’s turning out though it did take three attempts to get the head the right size. Resizing a pattern certainly isn’t a straightforward process.

I’m making it bit by bit as I write.  My hope is that I’ll spot mistakes and problems as I go. It seems to be working so far.

Crocheting the fleece as I go has been much easier than leaving it until the end.  Adding it to the legs before I joined them together proved much less fiddly; fleecing the body not having arms attached made the whole process much more manageable.

Now I need to make ears, a tail and the all important arms. 🙂

The Bear Necessities

Two and half years in the making and finally my Lollo Bear is finished!

This project was started when I was quite new to crochet; I was slower and the organisation of all the motifs was a real struggle. I could feel the increased confidence and speed I now possess as I crocheted the arms and legs together this last week. It’s good to recognise and appreciate how far I’ve come.

The pattern for this project is available at ravelry by Heidi Bears (here). I love the care and attention the author has put into this pattern; it is incredibly detailed with lots of photos. It’s a big pattern though (huge actually) it’s split into several parts and, I thought, much too large to print. This wasn’t too much of a problem though as: the motif diagrams are on a checklist sheet, and the joining of motifs is similar throughout.

The arms and legs are attached via buttons and are able to move. I’m looking forward to finding this bear a good home; I have a good idea where he’s going. 🙂

Bear a thought

Whilst trying to declutter, I read a tip that suggested getting rid of old incomplete craft projects that were simply taking up space. My mind instantly flitted to a couple of  projects that had stopped and just not progressed in a long time: an experimental scarf which was more about me testing out an idea, and Lollo the African flower bear (pattern can be found on ravelry).

Without any regret and wondering  why I hadn’t done it sooner, I frogged (unravelled) the scarf and wound up the yarn into a ball.  But as for my bear… No! There was no way I could throw away the body and head I’d made so long ago. It sat in a bag by the side of my bed waiting for me to be inspired- so sad.

I started crocheting this pattern at least two and half years ago. I made the head and body but got no further than making the motifs for the arms. I blogged about having stopped crocheting the bear (here) and had intentions to continue but alas untouched it sat.

The pattern is very detailed and broken into many parts. Being relatively new to crochet at the time I found its scope a little daunting. There were many motifs requiring various sized crochet hooks and a level of organisation I was struggling with.

If I wasn’t going to dispose of this unfinished project then there was only one thing to do; I needed to complete my bear.

That is exactly what I’ve been doing. Sadly, I’d long ran out of one of the colours of yarn that I had been using for the motifs so I had to be a little creative. I crocheted motifs using a different (but similar) colours and mixed these in with the arm motifs that I’d crocheted previously. It seems to be working and feels good to have made progress.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my finished bear. 🙂

Finished!

I have finished the sheep I’ve been crocheting; it looks marvellous.

I’ve previously been referring to sheepy as a he but I’ve recently seen a female sheep name that I really like. I’m open to suggestions , any ideas?

The fleece really finishes him/her off. It was a great deal of work and I did have to take a break from it for a while but it works so well.

My sheep was very much based upon Lydia Tresselt’s Dirk the Dragon pattern from ravelry. Its a lovely pattern that provides a great body shape. The idea for the fleece was one I’ve used before on a previous sheep crocheted using a pattern from Toft’s Edward’s Menagierie.

I crocheted the scarf using the simple Tunisian crochet stitch. I like the addition of the scarf it just adds that little extra something. The yarn used is Sirdar Snuggly Snowdrop Chunky. Its a really attractive yarn but can be tricky to work with as the stitches can be a difficult to see if you are using a smaller crochet hook.

Ironically, the sheep contains no wool all yarns being synthetic or cotton blends. This was an intentional choice as I move away from using yarns and fibres from animal sources.

Getting there!

Just an update on my crocheted sheep. The fleece is definitely getting there. Surely I’m will over half way.

I’m a little concerned that yesterday I started to talk to him as I was crocheting- stir crazy perhaps?