Unfinished Objects and Work in Progress

Hello there, how are you all? Doing well I hope and finding lots of inspiration to get you hooking.

Today I want to talk about unfinished projects, some people call them UFOs (unfinished objects) or WIPs (Work in Progress). I have had a few of these unfinished items on the go for a while now and though I'm itching to start a few new projects, I felt I really couldn't justify it until I had cleared the decks and finished some existing ones.  There is nothing like a pile of colourful new yarn to spur me on (bought last weekend, a holiday and time in a yarn shop, bliss).

First up is my blue stripey bolster cushion in Robin DK acrylic in shades Madonna, Royal Blue, Pale Blue and Cream.

I posted about this bolster cushion a little while ago as it really needed some colourful crochet to liven it up. As you can see it really does need something to brighten it up as it came with this plain cotton cover.

It lives in a blue and white room so I chose complementary colours from Robin and played about with some stitch patterns before deciding to do plain stripes. It was a nice, easy rhythm to crochet, especially doing a little each Sunday night to relax while watching the Mr Selfridge and Indian Summer TV programmes. I actually finished and blocked the individual pieces for this cushion weeks ago, around the same time the programmes finished, however I do tend to procrastinate when it comes to making up. There they have sat ever since, patiently waiting for me to pick them up again and finish the project, so finally I did.

I'm really pleased with this, it adds colour and texture to the room while not making it too busy or fussy with the other patterns in there (blue toile de jouy and a little gingham). It is worked in trebles, two rows in each colour for the stripes and needs a good, even tension to keep the edges straight on the main piece. The stripes give lots of practice joining different yarns and the end pieces are worked in the round so it would be a good project for someone fairly new to crochet to practise their skills. It could easily be used for a square or rectangular cushion too by omitting the round end pieces. On my cushion I have used only one row of trebles in each colour for the end pieces as I like the effect of the narrower stripes on each end. I worked the main piece to finish with two cream sections overlapping, avoiding the need for buttons or studs as closures and simply made a small seam at either end allowing enough space to slip the cushion inside.
 

I'm so happy with this, I often use the spare room myself for reading and sometimes day-dreaming too, I can see myself relaxing with this cushion often and am very pleased I won't have uncomfortable buttons digging into me while I read.


My second unfinished project hasn't been around quite as long as the cushion cover. It's a small cowl, made using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Dusky Mauve. My Mum chose this yarn from the  Karelia House stand, where I bought my merino lace, when we visited the Hobbycraft event back in March. She chose it specifically for me to make a small cowl. I'd made one for my sister last year which Mum liked so much she wanted one for herself. My sister's was made using Sirdar Hush, which although lovely, I didn't think would be soft enough for Mum so having suggested something softer, she opted for the Baby Cashmerino.

 I had used trestle stitch for the cowl in Sirdar Hush but being a completely different type and weight of yarn it wasn't suitable for the Cashmerino. This yarn was a dream to work with and felt wonderful being a mix of extra fine merino, acrylic and a whole 12% cashmere. I tried out lots (and lots!) of different stitch patterns using a 4mm hook which was really enjoyable with this yarn and eventually narrowed it down to these.

 Lacy Scallops

Crossed Stitches

 Puff Stitch

In the end I decided to go with lacy clusters using puff stitch, the colour is not as pink as it looks in the photo, unfortunately the light kept changing while I was working so the true colour is closer to the second photo of crossed stitches.

I really like this yarn in puff stitch, more importantly, so does my Mum. It does use an awful lot of yarn though, I got through a whole two balls of Cashmerino just making this one small cowl, it is a lot heavier than my sister's which is very lacy. I worked this cowl in the round and edged it with tiny shells, meaning the only making up I had to do was weaving in six yarn ends. This was so soft and warm I was reluctant to hand it over so I took a quick photo and gave it to Mum before I became too tempted to keep it.

 I like this type of project, you can guess why it was finished before the cushion cover. I plan to write up the patterns for both the cowl and cushion cover soon.


My third WIP is a tunic style top but as it is a winter top I've decided to leave it for now. Having created some space in my work basket I can turn my thoughts to my lovely bright new yarn and the merino lace I bought back in March. I already have several ideas of what I'd like to do with it, would you like a sneak preview of the colours I'll be using? You would? Ok then, here they are.

Do you like them? Can you guess where I'm going with these?

Have you got any UFO or WIP projects? What inspires you to pick them up and finish them? I'd love to know.

Have a lovely weekend folks.

H x

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

Can a girl ever have too many shoes? Even if she is only a few weeks old?

In my last post I mentioned shoes, specifically a pair of baby Mary Janes. When I heard my friend had a new grand-daughter I wanted to make a little something for her but didn't want to do yet another car seat blanket. I couldn't think of anything more different than shoes. If I'm honest I love the baby Mary Jane patterns I've seen, they are pretty, they are cute and oh so girly but I haven't had a little girl to make any for until now. The only other baby girl doesn't live in the UK and would have outgrown them before they reached her so I was really quite excited at finally getting a chance to make a pair.

Off upstairs to the bookcase I went and pulled out all my crochet books. I had three different patterns to try -  ballet shoes, lacy slippers and Mary Janes from the books Cute and Easy Crochet, Crocheted Gifts in a Weekend and Easy Crochet.

 I tried them all however in the end I decided to use the pattern I found in the January issue of Love Crochet magazine, it's the one with  Liz Ward's incredibly cute and colourful monkey on the front.

The Mary Jane pattern is by Nicki Trench, aren't these tiny shoes adorable?

 They are worked all in one piece too, hardly any sewing, need I say more?

I had originally planned to use Sirdar Snuggly 4 ply yarn in a very soft, pale lilac however the pattern in the magazine used 3 ply mercerised cotton in white which I just happened to have in three colours - white, lemon and red. Instead of pink and green embroidery floss for the leaves and flowers I planned to substitute lilac and purple for the pink. Not quite white and lilac are they?

Somewhere between the sole and upper of the first shoe I changed my mind, perhaps influenced by the summery weather we had been having and started again using lemon for the main colour of the shoe. Once both shoes had been completed in lemon it was time to crochet the contrasting trim around the edges. The white yarn I had planned to use didn't look quite right, I felt it was a little wishy-washy so I tried the red. Now I'll be honest, red and yellow on a baby shoe? I wasn't too sure about that at all. I edged the first shoe with trepidation, fully expecting to find it too harsh and rip it out again...but... it looked good. It was cheerful. It was summery. It worked!

Next up were the flowers to decorate the front of the Mary Jane, with the new colours I favoured daisies. I like daisies but...they didn't go, just didn't look right so it was back to the drawing board. I tried a few different colours of embroidery floss, they weren't right either. Having run out of options I had the red cotton left but I thought would that be too much red? Overpowering? As the local wool shop is in the next town popping over there wasn't a quick option so I tried the red, making a small flower for each shoe. It worked, it actually looked okay, so I carried on and made the leaves using green embroidery floss and stitched them on to the shoes.

The pattern in the magazine used velcro to fasten the straps on the shoes and two little buttons to decorate so I added some velcro then spent a happy hour going through the button box at my Mum's house, coming home with two tiny red buttons to try and two little white buttons. When I tried the buttons on the shoes though, it didn't look good, it was too much, too fussy, so I left them off.

Finally, they were ready to block and go to their little owner, but first I just had to admire them for a little longer.

The shoes I've made are a little smaller than the ones in the pattern as those are to fit a baby 6-9 months old and the baby I've made these shoes for will only be a couple of months old by summer. I lined a pretty gift bag with white tissue, nestled the bright, summery little shoes inside and delivered them to Grandma's house.


Have you made Mary Janes or other styles of baby shoes? What pattern and colours did you use? I'd love to know.

Hx

A Highland Fling

Hello, I'm back after a taking a break for the Easter hols and as you may have guessed, we went North this year and spent a few days in the Scottish Highlands. This is something of a departure for us, we usually head south of the border if we stay in the UK with the Lakes, Yorkshire and Cornwall some of our favourite destinations however there were a couple of places I wanted to visit so north we went. We stayed in the popular town of Fort William situated at the foot of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain, it marks the end of the West Highland Way long distance walking route.

We had a beautiful drive north passing Loch Lomond in glorious sunshine on the way up the Great Western Road (or A82) with a break at Glencoe for a bit of a potter about and to admire the majestic mountains.

These photos were taken on the walk from the car park just before the National Trust Visitor centre to An Torr and Signal Rock, where the signal to start the Glencoe Massacre was given.


It was much hotter than we expected at this time of year which made for a lovely ramble. We returned to the car to move just a little along the road to the  NTS Visitor Centre  which made an ideal stop for a late lunch before visiting the exhibition and having another wander, this time round the waymarked path outside the visitor centre. I enjoyed the exhibition here, brushing up on the history and geology of the area and seeing how hardy the climbers of old were, I certainly wouldn't fancy walking in hob nailed boots and even shorts as they did.

We left Glencoe in a happy mood, refreshed by the fresh air, food and sunshine and carried on to our destination in Fort William where we were staying the night in the friendly Myrtle Bank  B&B overlooking Loch Linnhe. This guesthouse has a great location with fantastic views across the loch to the hills opposite and with a friendly welcome and very high standards of accommodation I felt very lucky to wake up to the stunning view of an early sunny morning with the mist coming down over the loch.

It is so beautiful I remarked to N that I'd like to wake up to this view every morning. By the time we went downstairs for breakfast the view was completely obscured by the mist and it was very grey however it soon cleared up and as we left to make the short drive to Glenfinnan it was sunny again.

I had wanted to climb the monument at Glenfinnan  for a while, we had planned to go last autumn but circumstances prevented it so I was pleased to be there at last.

There are only six people allowed to go up the monument at a time as there is very little space up there. I happily went in to ascend the spiral stairway and oh my, that was a little hair raising. It is so very narrow, steep, dark and has trip steps. N and I were last to go up in the group, with so little light (the others were blocking what light there was) I was in pitch black holding on to the grab rope with N behind me thinking I needed some help and trying to give me a push upwards! Not being the bravest (or should that be foolhardy?) of souls I opted for patience and waited for the others to ascend so I could see before continuing myself.












Once at the top there was a scramble up through a small hatch to be met with this view, isn't it stunning?

Loch Shiel from the head of the loch on one side





 and the 21 arch viaduct in the other.

Those who are Harry Potter fans may recognise it as both it and the Jacobite steam train were used in the films, sadly it was too early in the year for a trip on the "Hogwarts Express".



After lunch we headed out to follow the Road to the Small Isles. We got a good clear view of the island of Eigg

and a hazier view of Rum, I hope you can see it.

We passed the silver sands of Morar, which looked very white in the bright sunshine before arriving in the fishing village of Mallaig mid-afternoon where we enjoyed a wander around the village before watching the ferry leave for the island of Skye. We then returned to Fort William and our B&B for our last night. The next morning we had a last wander around the town before having a loch-side picnic to make the most of the beautiful weather and returned home.

It's safe to say that my crochet has been sadly neglected over the last couple of weeks, the baby Mary Janes which I decided to make in a summery yellow and red for my friend's grand-daughter are still awaiting completion. As the holidays are now at an end with school going back tomorrow normal life has returned and I will be aiming to get several WIPs finished very soon. I'd love to hear what you have all been doing.

Hx

Accessorising With Flowers

A few weeks ago I posted a pic of some spring flowers but hadn't decided what to do with them back then.  Various ideas flitted through my head over the following weeks, including a suggestion by Josie (Sew for Soul) for a Spring wreath. Ooh, choices, choices, how to make my mind up!  In the end I went with my first idea of a tissue box cover as I thought it would be nice to have them on view all the time to brighten up our living room so off I went with some cream DK, a 3mm hook and a box of tissues. A few attempts later, as I didn't have a pattern for the cover and was sizing and shaping as I went, I had this.

I already had the flowers but no leaves so once again it was my yarn stash to the rescue yielding some dark green DK yarn. A spring green would have been better but it as it was alternating between snow showers and hail at the time I didn't feel like going out and made do with the darker green. I didn't have a pattern for the leaves, I just made it up as I went along using double crochet, half treble and treble stitches to shape them. As those who know me are aware, I'm not a fan of making up and like to keep sewing to a minimum  so this cover, flowers and leaves have all been worked in the round. 

Then I had to decide where these little flowers would live so it was time to move it around. The windowsill was nice and bright but I didn't want it there,

 so I moved it to here.

 It now resides in full view on my lamp table to add a touch of bright Spring colour to my home.


Whilst working on the tissue box cover last week I got a surprise call from an old friend to tell me she has a new granddaughter, a big surprise as it was a little earlier than I expected and....we thought she was going to be a boy! Now, little girls are definitely thin on the ground around here, it's mostly boys, so I was delighted to be able to think in terms of pink and lilac instead of blue. Out went the baby converse boot pattern and in came pretty pastel bootees and Mary Janes. Oh the joy, the boys are lovely but I feel so happy to be making something pretty for a little girl. I'll show you the finished article once it has been safely delivered to the recipient.

On another note, I love Easter, love that it is less commercial than Christmas, more time for family with the holidays, the signs of new growth all around, the traditions we have started such as making Easter Bread for Sunday breakfast and Hot Cross Buns for tea, it's the only time we have them. What are your traditions? Wishing you all a lovely, Happy Easter.

H x

The Daffodil Pattern and Tutorial

It's finally here!

I'm sorry it's taken so long to write up my pattern but it's been very busy here over the last week. I was invited to the local Volunteer Framework Launch, then had a girly day out to attend, before I knew it the weekend was here, the sun was shining and the garden calling. So after all that I finally got a chance to sit down with my camera, a 4mm hook and some yellow acrylic dk yarn (Sirdar Hayfield Baby Bonus if you're asking).

The stitches I used were
UK -  chain (ch), slip stitch (sl st), double crochet (dc), half treble crochet (htr) and treble (tr)
US -  dc = single crochet,  htr = half double and tr = double

Leaving a long yarn end, start with 6 ch and join with a sl st to form a ring.

Catching the yarn end in at the back of the ring, work 12 dc in ring and join with sl st to 1st dc.

wrong side showing yarn carried through dc stitches

For the petals:

Ch 7, 1dc in 2nd chain from hook,

 
1dc in next 5 chains, 1 sl st into each of next 2 dc on ring. Repeat 5 times.

 

  The petals are a bit curly but will straighten out later on.

 

Work 1 dc in first 2 stitches of petal, 2 htr in next st, 2 tr in next st, 1htr in next st,

 3 dc in top of petal,

 

1 htr in next st, 2 tr in next st, 2htr in next st, 1 dc in each of last two st of petal ending with sl st at the base. Repeat 5 times.

 

Work 1 dc in each st to top of petal, ch3,

sl st in 3rd ch from hook (forms picot),

 1 dc in each st to base of petal. Repeat 5 times.

For the cup:

Sl st on right side  to centre ring or fasten off and re-join yarn.

Work 11 dc evenly around ring surface and join with a sl st. Mark the end of the 1st row, I've used a pretty stitch marker but a small safety pin or even contrasting yarn would do.

 

Then work:

 1 ch, 1 dc in each st to end, sl st to 1st dc.

1 ch, 1 dc in next 3 st, 2dc in next st, 1 dc in next 3 st, 2dc in next st, 1 dc in next 2st, 2dc in last st, sl st to 1st dc.

1 ch, 1 dc in each st to end, sl st to 1st dc.

*2dc in 1st st, sl st in next st* repeat to end.

Fasten off leaving a long end and using a yarn needle weave in down the inside of the daffodil cup.
 

Knot the yarn at the base ring (to stop the cup being distorted)  then make a loop by passing the needle up through the stitches on the base ring inside the cup, then back through the ring on the next stitch along, catching the yarn with your fingers to keep the loop long. Fasten off and weave in the end. Repeat with the other yarn end on the opposite side of the base ring (you won't need to make a knot this time).


Almost finished. Block and starch your daffodil, making sure the loops are standing up. Once blocked, cut the loops to give four stamens, then add a drop to each stamen from a Pinflair Pearl Wand if you have one or leave as they are. Your daffodil is ready to use.

This daffodil is a little larger than the one I made for the brooch, to make it smaller change the hook size and/or yarn. My original daff was made using a 3.5mm hook and the same acrylic yarn as I've used in the photos. Using a 4 ply cotton or even crochet thread would make lovely small daffs. I've used a single shade but different colours could be used for the petals and stamens to give a different look.

I hope you enjoy making it whether for yourself or for someone else. The pattern is completely free to use, however if you would like to you can make a donation to the Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal by clicking here. If you wish to copy or share this pattern or my photos please link back to me.

Enjoy!

H x