A Christmas Star

Well it's finally Christmas Eve, the presents are wrapped, the crafting is finished, the Christmas crafting that is and it's time to show you my final Christmas make of the year, Christmas stars.

I made a clutch of these stars a little while ago and finally got around to blocking them.
 

I'm not sure where I got the pattern from, it may have been from a magazine but as I have it jotted down in a notebook with no reference I can't trace it.

I wanted to make a garland but I don't really have anywhere to hang garlands or bunting. No fireplaces mean no mantels.So I crocheted a long braid, attached the stars and hung it at the small window looking out onto our back garden. Red stars against the background of white curtains, they look better in real life as the photo doesn't do them justice.

Wishing you all a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Hx

Christmas Stockings

Hello there, do you like to hang a stocking up for Christmas? We usually don't as there are no children in the house, however a couple of weeks ago N dropped a bit of a bombshell on me when he suggested we make each other something this year. I often make gifts for people but I don't usually make them for N as he has quite definite tastes so I had to put my thinking cap on and fast. He didn't want any of the usual crocheted garments so I felt stumped until I came up with one of these.

I've made crocheted stockings before for our niece and nephews which they loved, each one had their names either embroidered or appliqued with tatted lace letters and decorated with Christmas buttons. Why not make N a stocking and fill it with little (bought) gifts as a compromise? Yes, that might work but one lonely stocking hanging up? Wouldn't two look better? Perhaps more? Before I could change my mind (or have N find out) I was crocheting two stockings along with another decoration this week.

I chose this free Waiting For Santa Stocking pattern from Red Heart. I've used this pattern before and as it is a beginners level pattern it is very easy and quick if you have a couple of hours to spare. It uses a 5.5mm hook and I chose dark green DK acrylic yarn from my stash for N's stocking and purple DK for the second one.  The stocking doesn't need a lot of yarn, I had just under 100g each of the purple and green yarns and still have some left after finishing the stockings. I've only used the purple for photos as it shows up better than the very dark green.

The pattern is worked from the top down and is written in American terms but is easy to follow as it only uses double crochet throughout (written as sc on the pattern). It is a great pattern for a first attempt at a crocheted stocking or if you need to make something in a hurry. The pattern uses two colours of yarn for the stripes however I worked the stocking all in one colour instead of stripes, only using a contrast for the heel, toe and a band at the top. I chose cream as the contrast colour for both stockings and took photos as I worked the heel and toe in case it helps anyone new to crochet wanting to make a stocking.

The heel is worked by joining the contrast colour yarn in the stitch indicated on the pattern for the chosen size and double crocheted to the end.

The dc is then continued along the opposite edge to join the two sides.

The heel is shaped by decreasing,

and then increasing before moving on to the foot.

The main colour is joined to the heel in the relevant stitch and a row of dc is worked to the end of the heel where it then joins to the bottom of the leg.

The pattern continues in dc to the end of the row. The foot is worked by continuing in dc until the desired length is reached before joining the contrast colour to work the toe.

The toe is worked in one section at a time and shaped by decreasing, then the foot is folded and all the seams are sewn together to finish the stocking.

I tweaked the pattern by making the leg slightly shorter and finished it by joining the contrast yarn to the top of the leg, working in the round to create the cream band at the top. Before fastening off I made the loop by crocheting a 3 chain strap and attaching at the bottom of the contrast band. If you leave long yarn ends they can be used to sew the seams and reduce the amount of weaving in when you finish the stocking. All the stockings need now is to be decorated. Buttons, motifs, felt, whatever you fancy could be used for decoration.

I enjoy the whole of December leading up to Christmas but this weekend before Christmas is especially nice as I always decorate the house this week and finish with putting the tree up. I make mulled apple juice and mince pies and with some carols playing will enjoy decorating the tree with N. I've also been making a Christmas garland this week which has just been blocked, starched and is now drying, more on that soon.


Til next time,

Hx

Let it Snow....

Hello folks,

for once, I am not talking about the weather but Christmas traditions. I love this time of year, keeping and making new traditions as we move through the short December days towards Christmas. I don't like to start too early so wait until December, starting with the lighting of the advent candle on the 1st. I love my Christmas traditions and am always interested in other peoples' traditions too so I thought I'd start my first Christmas themed post with a tradition I started a few years ago and that is popping a little crocheted or tatted surprise in some of my Christmas cards.

Snowflake cards anyone? Big or small, glittery or pure white, beaded or plain, I don't know anyone who doesn't like these little surprises in their cards. In the past I've made tatted icicles and stars, this year I decided to make snowflakes, the one above is a pattern by Caitlin Sainio from the book 75 Lace Crochet Motifs which I reviewed earlier this year.

While the wind howled round the house and the rain hammered down over the last few days I sat with my hook and cotton making a variety of snowflakes, from small to large, for various recipients. The one on the right I embellished using a Pinflair Pearl Wand after I added the red crocheted loop to turn it into a tree decoration. The small snowflakes could be used to decorate plain gift tags or napkin rings for the Christmas dinner table however I tend to use them all for tree decorations. It helps to know which friends like large trees and which have smaller ones so I can tailor each decoration to it's intended recipient.

Once all the snowflakes were made and blocked, I stiffened them with a can of spray starch. They could also have been stiffened by painting with a weak glue solution but as I wasn't using glitter I used the starch instead. Once dry they were almost ready to go.

The snowflakes can have a crocheted loop like the one in the picture, narrow ribbon threaded through the top picots or even a loop made from a length of pearl bead ribbon, anything you wish to use really.

Although I don't make my own cards the motifs could be used for card making, turning them into a card and small gift in one by attaching the ribbon loop to the inside of the front of a card so it can be removed after Christmas and kept to use as a decoration the following year.

Whilst the pattern for the large snowflake is not mine, I made up the simple smaller snowflakes myself and you are welcome to use the pattern if you like this idea or there are lots of snowflake patterns about on the internet. I used size 10 crochet cotton in white and red and a 2mm hook.

Small Snowflake 

Working in the round and using UK terms:

1. Make 4 ch, join in a ring with a sl st.

2. 1 ch, 5dc in ring, sl st to 1st ch.

3. 5 ch, sl st in next dc of ring, repeat 5 times ending with a sl st at base of 1st ch.
 

4. Sl st to 3rd ch of 5 ch loop on previous round, *3 ch,  1 picot (3ch, sl st in 3rd ch from hook),

3ch, sl st to 3rd ch of next loop* repeat from * to*

ending with last sl st at the start of the 1st loop.

For small snowflake fasten off here, block and starch, for medium continue as below.

Medium Snowflake

Follow pattern for small snowflake then work 5th row.

5. Sl st in each ch to and including picot, *4 ch, 1 picot, 4ch, sl st to picot at point of loop on previous round* repeat from * to * ending with sl st at the start of the 1st loop as in row 4.


Weave in ends and block. Stiffen with starch or paint with a solution of 2 teaspoons PVA glue and 1 teaspoon water and leave to dry on waxed paper. If you want to add glitter use the glue method and add the glitter before the motif drys.


I'm sorry the photos aren't very good, unfortunately the light has been very poor over the last few days making it difficult to get good pictures. I hope you like this and it may give you inspiration for a new tradition of your own. The end of the first week of advent also means baking the first batch of mince pies and making spiced hot chocolate for me and gingerbread latte for N. This year I also made a plum and marzipan tart. What traditions do you keep? I'd love to know if you would like to share them with me.

Til next time.

Hx

Winter WIPs

Hello, it's time for a quick catch up post before starting on Christmas makes. Winter is well and truly here now in this part of the world so it's time to enjoy making the house cosy and welcoming as the temperature drops and we move through the shorter days. Living in a modern house we don't have an open fire so for us this means turning up the heating and using the cosy glow of soft lamps and candles to create that warm, welcoming ambiance. Winter also heralds a return to casseroles and crumbles, home made soups and steamed puddings. Curling up on the sofa, sometimes with a book and a hot chocolate or mulled drink, more often with seasonal crochet projects which I can't bring myself to work on at other times of the year and so it is that I have returned to a project I didn't finish last winter.

This will be a cosy tunic to layer up with when it is finished. The pattern is one which was passed to me from a magazine a few years ago, friends and family often pull out and pass patterns to me from magazines if they think I will like them. The pattern used Sirdar Luxury Cotton 4-ply yarn however I had this sock yarn already in my stash so used it instead.

The bottom half of the tunic is worked in a mix of trebles and puff stitch with the top half worked in trebles only. I do need to concentrate when I am working on this top as whilst the body of the top fits if I work to the pattern the shoulders are too big so I have to adapt it which makes for difficult interesting progress.

Do you find yourself changing the types of projects you work on as the days draw in? I haven't started making anything for Christmas yet as I'm not making any gifts this year, I do plan to start making little bits and pieces this week though and will post them as I make them. Have you been making gifts for Christmas yet?

Til next time,
Hx

Autumn Projects

Hello, I haven't been around much lately and even crochet has had to take a back seat a little. Last month, inspired by Anne at Crochet Between Worlds , I started a teddy for a refugee child before my break from blogland occurred so I thought you would like to see him finished.

 I called him Bertie. With a lot of dull days and rain lately I had to take the photo quickly during a brighter spell so he didn't have his red heart stitched on at this point. I hope he brings some comfort and a little happiness to a little person somewhere. If you want to join in check out Anne's pattern on the blog and the teddies she and Michelle have created for vulnerable children.


My second autumn project was a chunky cowl in a variegated yarn I bought earlier this year just because it made me think of autumn.

This is Patons Colour Works Aran in shade 106 India Colour. I already had a scarf pattern in mind from an old magazine which I wanted to use.

This yarn is so soft and squishy, with such happy colours I enjoyed doing a few rows each evening until it was finished and of course it worked up really quickly making it an ideal project for a busy time.

I'm really going to enjoy wearing this through the winter season.

Til next time,
Hx

It's Autumn

Hello,

autumn is well and truly here now with misty mornings, cold evenings and of course those gorgeous colours of gold, russet and copper as the trees change colour and the leaves fall. In this part of the world we have been having gloriously sunny days which made for a fabulous autumn break for last week's school holiday. Whilst N and I weren't able to go away the gorgeous weather meant we had lovely days out enjoying the countryside, National Trust visits, picking brambles and crab apples in the hedgerows and of course tea and scones in the afternoon including finally trying a clootie scone at the Robert Burns Museum in Alloway. If you are ever in this neck of the woods I really recommend the museum cafe.

I digress. Long days coming home happily tired to cosy up in the warmth indoors in the evening meant my thoughts naturally turned to more seasonal crochet ideas. This time of year means creating warm and cosy items and of course stocking fillers and presents for the end of the year including sometimes the stockings themselves. So it was that I found myself, curled up with a cup of tea, going through my stash of yarns looking to see what autumnal colours I had to play with and I pulled out these.

I know there isn't any green in this selection but with the purple beeches and heather around as well as the golden and flaming leaves on the trees and the rose hips in the hedgerow somehow to me these colours say autumn.

This is the grey/lilac/purple merino lace I had wanted to use for a while, I took this photo on a sunny afternoon in the garden before I sat in the sunshine and wound it into a ball. It's the same yarn as I used for my summer shawl. I wanted to try something completely different so for the first time I had a go at tunisian crochet. Tunisian uses a long hook which looks like a knitting needle only with a hook at the end.

This pattern is a tunisian lace stitch. I really like the stitch pattern but I'm not sure it's right for this yarn, perhaps a lacier pattern would show the colour variations of the yarn more? What do you think?

I can't wait to start using this gorgeous yarn too, I think it's going to be an infinity scarf.

Last but not least I'm making a teddy to join in with Anne at Crochet Between Worlds who is making teddies for refugee children, I'm using a Nicki Trench pattern and this is one of the legs.

Anne has very kindly posted a teddy pattern on her blog for people to use, please do go and have a look at her gorgeous teddies.

Til next time,

Hx

Paisley and Diamond Crochet

Hello, I've had an unplanned break from both blogging and crochet recently so it's been a while since my last post, I'd like to say thank you for all the lovely comments you left for me while I wasn't around. I have only managed a few minutes here and there with my hook over the past weeks so I didn't get my second summer cushion finished before sliding gently into autumn, however I thought you might like to see what I have managed to do so far and I'll finish it to use next year. I had started with the pink Paisley motifs I showed you before.

These motifs are smaller than the ones I made for the previous cushion, measuring only 6.5 x 3.5 cm. We have had some lovely September days here so when I could I went outside to enjoy the warm sunshine before the temperature dropped in the evening. Though I haven't had a lot of time to crochet I have enjoyed seeing these bright colours in the sunshine as I hooked up motifs in spare moments.

I knew I wanted to use both the pink and green this time and I also wanted a completely different design. I played about with the pink and green picturing different designs before choosing diamonds to go with the Paisley motifs and edging them in yellow.

 I decided to have a deep border running along the bottom of the cushion this time with a narrow border along the top. I've been making it up as I go along which makes it all the more fun.

This design was inspired by a photograph of a sari which had a beautiful pattern along the bottom, though the actual motifs, colours and design I chose for the cushion are completely different.

Although my progress has been slow I've enjoyed putting these bright colours together, a last piece of summer before turning my thoughts to autumn. Have you noticed the different feel in the air recently? I'm lucky enough to live in a quiet location and often think this time of year sounds different too. The slide into autumn feels gentle this year, it will soon be time to cosy up indoors and I've already started thinking of making gifts for the end of the year, but not quite yet.

Til next time.

Hx

From Yorkshire To Roses

Hello there, it's nice to be back. Life has been returning to normal after the long summer holidays but before returning to work N and I took a delightful short break south of the border to the beautiful Yorkshire town of Harrogate to enjoy the beautiful gardens, boutique shops, delicious cafes and restaurants, including the wonderful Bettys. We even squeezed in a visit to the ruins of Fountains Abbey and RHS Harlow Carr garden this time.

Fountains Abbey was busy, this was first thing in the morning and a brief pause in visitors passing through this arch was the only chance I got to take a photo of this beautiful view without lots of people.

There were some heavy showers when we visited RHS Harlow Carr so we spent a while in the gift shop out of the rain. It is a lovely shop which made me want to buy far too many pretty things, one item I couldn't resist was this book for N as he loves roses. I bought him one a few years ago as a joke, little knowing it would start a passion and lead to him taking up gardening.

This is the rose which started it all off, it's called Hot Chocolate and though the fragrance isn't strong it does have a beautiful, delicate scent so I just had to buy it for chocoholic N. It has gorgeous, unusually coloured blooms which start looking like red buds but open to an orangey-brown coppery colour.

One rose led to another and N bought this one which he grows in a  pot, unfortunately it had the wrong label on so we don't know what it is. When fully open it has yellow anthers and a strong heady old rose scent which makes our patio a delightful place to sit for a few moments. If anyone has any idea what rose this may be we'd love to know. Recently we added a climbing rose, the pink Zephirine Drouhin, to our little collection and have plans for a gorgeous David Austin rose we spotted at Harlow Carr, Lady Emma Hamilton, once a suitable spot can be found.


I always find the first week back a little strange after having N home for six weeks and this year has been no different. I've found it difficult to settle in to any crochet or crafting so I haven't been doing much at all however I thought I'd show you the few bits and pieces I have done.

This is a cross-stitch I started a few years ago and have finally picked up again. There are so many similar shades of thread I only pick it up when the light is bright enough and as crochet is my first love, this hasn't been coming out too often this year. I know I will finish it eventually, I just can't say when.

I moved on from the cross stitch back to crochet when the sun came out and inspired me to start these small Paisley motifs. I had wanted to do a second Paisley cushion but when I didn't really get to use the first one with all the rain we've had this summer I went off the idea. Well the sun is back now so out came my hook and I made up these little Paisley motifs. They are smaller and squatter than the previous ones and the hook part is joined to the main body of the motif this time too. I think this time I will pair the pink with yellow and green.

That's all I've made for the moment, I hope to catch up with all my blog reading this week and see what you have all been doing.

Til next time,

Hx

Jam Jar Cover Pattern

Hello there,

I took an unplanned break from crocheting and blogging last week, life got busy and we were tempted outside by the dry spells so I've only just got around to writing up the pattern for the little jam jar cover. This is very easy and uses double crochet, half-treble and treble stitches, I hope you enjoy making it.

You will need some crochet cotton, I used size 10 in white, a 2mm hook and a small amount of narrow ribbon.
 

Starting with a magic ring, make 6 dc and join with sl st.

Row 1 - 2dc in each stitch to end, join with sl st. 12 sts


Row 2 -  make 2 ch, 1 htr in sl st, 2 htr each dc of 1st row to end, join with sl st to top of ch. 24 sts

Row 3 - 2 ch, 2 htr in next st, *1 htr in next st, 2 htr in next st* repeat to end, sl st to top of 2 ch. 36sts

Row 4 - 3 ch, 2 tr in 1st, *1 tr in next 2 st, 2 tr in following st* repeat to last st, 1 tr, join with sl st.

Row 5 - 3 ch, 2 tr in 1st *1 tr in next 3 sts, 2 tr in next st* repeat to last st, 1 tr, join with sl st.

Row 6 - 3 ch, 2tr in 1st st *1 tr in next 4 sts, 2 tr in next st* repeat to last 4 sts, 2 tr in next st, 1 tr in  last 3 sts, join with sl st. 72 sts

Rows 7 and 8 - 3 ch, 1 tr in each st to end, join with sl st.

Row 9 - 6ch, *1 tr in 3rd tr of previous row, 3 ch*, repeat to end joining with sl st to 3rd of beg ch.

Row 10 - 1 ch, *3 dc in ch sp, 1 dc in tr* repeat to end, join with sl st.

Row 11 - sl st in 1st dc, 3 ch, 3 tr in same st as 3 ch, * miss 3 dc, 4 tr in next dc* repeat to end, sl st to 3rd of 3 ch.

Row 12 - 3 ch, *4 tr in next ch sp* repeat to last ch sp, 3 tr in ch sp, join to top of ch with sl st.

 

 

 

 Fasten off, sew in the ends, thread some ribbon through and tie in a bow.

 

Isn't that easy? It makes it so simple to dress up a little gift for a friend or make a hamper even prettier.

I hope to catch up with all my blog reading soon, it's almost the end of the summer holidays here so N and I plan to make the most of the last few days before life returns to normal, especially now the sun is shining at last.

Til next time.

Hx