Yes, yet another project...

...but this one was planned before. I just could not resist when I found this yarn at £1.99 a ball, half price. £1.99, for cashmere/merino/silk!! (and I rarely use two exclamation points).

I have decided to make the DD a bedspread for those oh so chilly nights that will no doubt be upon us by the time I've finished it (though having said that, it is coming together rather quickly). I just couldn't resist these colours:


and Iz was pleased too, when she saw them. She said she liked the colours, and then, without prompting, she said "and I like the pattern too". (Warning: Proud parent alert) And she's not even 3 yet.


It is a wonderful ripple/zigzag/wave that I found here. It only took me two nights to crochet 6 inches of about 5 foot width. I figured if I crocheted a cover for a single bed, then it'd last her a long while. Even though the yarn was cheap, it still cost £56 to purchase. She's worth it :)

I've nearly finished the new pastel cotton baby blanket of granny squares, I've been commissioned to make a scarf for a blog reader (you know who you are, I've got the yarn and will start it soon!), and THAT bedspread is still lurking. I've discovered a new way to sew the squares together, and I'll blog about that in the next few days or so. Promise!

But what's made me smile much more than yarny loveliness is that Iz wanted to crochet with me. I can see I'm going to have to let her have her own hook to pretend with, until she gets to the stage where she'll let me show her how to do it the proper way. And then I really will be smiling!

What makes you smile? Do tell :)

Crochet stripes

At the moment, my most favourite thing to crochet apart from granny squares, is a scarf. Not just an ordinary scarf though, a soft bamboo loveliness that is a joy to make, and from the reactions I've got so far, a joy to touch and receive. This is the third one I've made, and it's so simple.


I know it's odd making scarves in this weather, but needs must (birthday presents for boss-type men).

Just in case you're wondering how to make it, I used a yarn that's mostly bamboo, as this is light and silky (for example, Rowan Bamboo Soft or Sirdar Flirt), 2 x 50g balls of the main colour, then one of each of the other complimentary colours. I then chained as many stitches as I needed for the length, then double crochet for one row, then switched to treble. Switch as many colours, and treble crochet as many rows as you want, then finish with a row of doubles.

I have my eye on a wave pattern (See here for a gorgeous example). I just need to get one more lacy scarf for a present out the way... and maybe do some more of those 384 granny squares for that bedspread. Oh and the cotton baby blanket I started, and the amigurumi book i've borrowed from my friend...

DId I hear someone say "UFO"?

I know, I know. I'm sorry.

Bad blogger. January! That's got to be the longest I've gone without a post since I started this blog. In my defence, it's been a kerazy few months with new job, passing my degree, DD starting pre-school and generally struggling to keep on top of all the everyday mundane stuff that goes on.

However, I have been taking photos. January brought snow. And I practiced my skills with the macro setting:


Then came February. More snow. Or rather, the snow that never went away. We finally bought a sledge of sorts and had some fun in the sun:


Then March, and rain. But the best thing to do when it rains is....


dress up. Oops, no sorry. I meant:


run through all the puddles. But seeing as I don't have any wellies, I just took photos. Lots of them!

But then I've also been crocheting a bit, and I've finally finished sewing together the first block of 24 squares for THAT bedspread that I've started on. And bought another 16 (Eek) balls of silver, as I decided to add another row of the silver around the edge to stop my eyeballs vibrating with the bright colours.


(The above photo is with the bumpy seams. The one below is with smooth seams)

And I love it. It might take me the next two years to finish it, but I know that when I do, I'm going to want to pat it smooth each morning over my bed, which might even encourage me to make it each day.


So what have you been up to? I know I've been bad at visiting people these last few months too, but I aim to catch up soon! Oh, and please have a guess at who my darling man was dressed up as...

How much?

So last night, I thought I'd better get realistic with this entire-crocheted-bedspread idea, and work out how many balls I'd need. I'm not working from a pattern, just making lots and lots of granny squares then sewing them together.

Here is where you discover my second love: numbers. I think I must have been an accountant in another life. Close your eyes if calculations scare you.

I measured my bed (80 inches) and then measured a granny (just under 4 inches), so that makes 80 divided by 4 is 20 squares wide. I added a couple extra for the "just under" , so my bedspread will be 22 squares by 22 squares. 22 squared is 484. (What? How many?? 484 squares at a rate of 3 a night, so that's 162 days give or take. Blimey. Then another week or so sewing them together. Sheesh.)

Anyway. Back to the amount of yarn needed. I weighed 6 grannies, then divided the weight of my ball of yarn by the weight of the 6 grannies. It worked out that 1 x 50g ball makes about 12 grannies. So divide the number of squares you need by the number of grannies per ball (484 divided by 12) makes 40.3 balls. I had 20. Then I'd need about 8 more of the silver to stitch them all together (this is a total guess). Eek. This yarn is £3.85 a ball. You can see that my original £200 estimate for using the yarn when it wasn't split was waaaay out. It'll cost me £200 with splitting the yarn!

But I've committed to the idea in my head, because it looks just stunning. Just look at those six squares up there with all the combinations with teal in the centre. There's another 6 for chocolate, 6 more with purple, and 6 more with green. Yum. I cannot wait. Luckily, half an hour of searching on the net located somewhere selling them at 20% discount. Even with £5 postage, I still saved £15.

What is the most expensive thing you've ever made/started on? Do tell :)

Granny Delightful

Finally managed to take some photos of the finished baby blanket. I went with sewing up the seams, and it came together over a couple of evenings. I'm so pleased with it, I don't think I've ever been so chuffed with anything I've made for a long time.


The sewing method produced two different sides of the blanket, one with a little raised border round each square, the other is more or less smooth:


I like both. That's obviously a good thing! And after all the build-up about the wonderful yarn that I've bought for my highly-ambitious-second-crochet-project of an entire bedspread, I have made three squares:


Aren't they just gorgeous? The only pain is having to sew all the bloody ends in. When I was doing the one-colour squares, I could churn out one every 20 mins or so. These little beauties took me around half an hour each, and I spent a good hour beforehand splitting the yarn in two so I can make it go further. If I used it as is (10 ply cotton), I reckon the bedspread would cost around £200 and would weigh a good few kilograms. Warm though!

Just one more gratuitous close-up for those droolers. I know you're there :)


So I showed you mine, will you show me yours?

Another "thing"

I'm hoping that I'm not alone in this, but I love learning. And I'm always up for learning new crafts. My latest thing is crochet; I had an old needlecraft book and some really useful videos from mikeyssmail on Youtube. With these tools in hand I picked it up quite quickly, though I'm already a knitter. After a few practice granny squares in dishcloth cotton, I got cracking with some remnant wool from my baby clothes projects.


And here is the work in progress. I am in the process of sewing the 48 squares together; I tried to crochet them, but it was too fiddly for my liking, so I "cheated". I'm hoping to finish it this weekend, so will post finished pics then.

I am enjoying this new craft so much that I've inadvertently spent my Christmas money on some really funky yarn for an entire bedspread. I think I've lost my mind. Though really, with these colours, could you resist?


Glorious aren't they? Once I start on the squares, I'll post some pictures. There are something like 24 different square combinations with the main colours being leaf, teal, purple and chocolate. I'm going to make all the outer rows silver, to pull them all together, and hopefully make your eyes go kerazy :) If it looks half as fab in real life as it does in my imagination, I'll be very pleased.

What other crafts do you do? And which is your current favourite? Do tell ;)