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