Crafted Christmas Pressies - Part 2

Hi again,

I made a garland for my husband. I put 13 items on it for 13 years together. I did a mix of items including 3  crochet stockings, 3 felt gingerbread men, 2 crochet snowflakes, 1 felt candy cane, 1 felt bell, 1 felt star and 2 felt snowmen. The felt items were cut from squares of felt and not felted using a felting needle. Time would not have allowed for that detail.

In the end I had ran out of time. I had planned to stitch the snowflakes onto some red felt cut in a circle but it was Christmas Eve and my husband phoned to say he was just leaving work so I just attached them. Even though they're starched they're still floppy so i'll take them down and fix that part.

Garland

The crochet stockings were made using Angie's Le Monde de Sucrettes Little Christmas Socks pattern. This is a brilliant pattern and very easy to follow. Angies blog is truly inspirational and is a must follow blog.

All the felt items were edged in a blanket stitch using embroidery thread. I used a variety of buttons and beads to decorate the items.

The crochet snowflakes were made using the snowflake how to pattern from www.marthastewart.com. The patterns I used were pattern 1 and 2.

I used the second snowflake previously in a cushion and the picture of that snowflake is clearer so i'm showing you that one instead.

I used a gold braided rope that I purchased in a curtain shop as the garland rope. I tied each item to the rope with a basic knot. I enjoyed making this garland and it does look nice. If I was to make it again I'd use a thinner thread for the blanket stitch, it looks slightly amateurish. Other than that though I'm happy with the results.

More projects to follow.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Crafted Christmas Pressies

Hi Everyone,

Hope you've all had a lovely Christmas. We had a perfect Christmas. My mom, granny and granddad were here with us. It made Ben's first Christmas very special indeed.

This year I was very over ambitious with the amount of projects I decided to do for Christmas and some did not get completed in time.

I made a stocking for Ben. I used red felt for the stocking and lined it with a Christmassy fabric with some gold ric rac around the top. I used some gold piping for around the seams. I also sewed in a little pocket on the inside with little note in it saying it was made for him on his 1st Christmas for Ben to read someday. I didn't have a pattern so I made it up as a went along with the result that I made some extra work for myself in spots. Still I was happy with the results.

Stocking

Pocket inside

Stocking top and lining fabric

I'll post the other projects as I upload some pictures. 

Until next time,

Happy Crafting, x

Crocheting Christmas

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all ready for Christmas and that all your projects are nearing completion. Things here are hectic. I've been trying to get as much finished as possible. Some projects I can't speak about in case curious eyes are watching my blog and the surprise is spoiled. Other gifts however are safe to show you.

The cover for this photo album was an impromptu present. My husband got his mother a photo album and filled it with photos of our son. The cover was very plain so he asked could I crochet a cover for it. I was surprised but of course I could and would oblige. I did estimate an hour to complete but given that i was making up a pattern as I went it took closer to 3 hours. Still I was happy with the results. Here is the completed item.

Cover flat

Front Cover

Side of Album

Back Cover

I was rushing to get the cover finished because my husband was visiting his family and won't see them again until after New Year. Because of that I didn't take as many photos as I should have. Basically though I crocheted in rows of shells, trebles and doubles until the swatch was long enough to cover the album. The ends were folded over the cover and stitched so it stayed on the cover. I did a row of dc around all four sides of the swatch to neaten the edges. I added a picot on the short sides that are inside the front and back cover.

I'll write up what I did and post it as a pattern in case anyone wants to do something similar. It may take a few days though because I still have some pressies to finish. I'll post more projects as I complete them.

Till next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Thank You - Liebster Blog Award

Hi Everyone,

I just received some super exciting news, I was nominated for the Liebster Blogger Award by Shelley at All4MeggyMoo. I am over the moon and it really means so so much to me. Thank you Shelley, this was a lovely nod of approval and I am honored that you enjoy visiting my blog.

When I began this blog I worried that I wouldn't have enough things to blog about. That was not the case. I've a list a mile long and not enough hours in the day to write about everything. What I didn't anticipate though was that through blogging I would become part of an online group of friends. It's really great to get to know people with similar interests that can share ideas and offer words of praise and encouragement. 

I have found so many fabulous blogs which I really enjoy visiting. When I saw that I could nominate 5 blogs I love to visit, I was in a real dilemma. How can I pick just 5, it's a very difficult decision. On my blog there is a full list of my favourite blogs and besides the following 5 brilliant bloggers there are some more on this list that I also love.

So, without further ado, here are my 5 favourite blogs to visit :)

1. Sew On and Sew On

2. Bella Bee and Me

3. Lori Makes

4. Vintage Homespun

5. Faith

I hope you get the chance to check out these blogs, they are very talented people sharing their world with us.

Thank you for stopping by :)

Happy Crocheting & Crafting, x

Christmas decorating :)

Hi Everyone,

After much dusting and trips to the attic the decorations are finally up. Our Christmas lights are getting old so this year we have spent hours replacing bulbs. I think though that we must finally say goodbye to our snowball lights in the mantelpiece garland. They did serve us well though so i'm definitely not complaining.

This is our tree. Its usually in the corner but we put up a new bookcase so its been moved over to the window.

Our Christmas Tree

This year we've had some additions to the decorations. A lovely My First Christmas 2011 bauble from Ben's uncle and auntie. I also won a give away on a fantastic blog by Noelle, Its called Sew On and Sew On. She makes the most beautiful pieces. I entered her Christmas House giveaway and was so excited to win. She also sent me a beautiful Felt Robin decoration.

First Christmas Bauble

Christmas House

Felt Robin

Last year I needle felted a Santa Clause and made a cushion with some leftover fabric. I also crocheted some snowflakes.

Needle felted Santa

Christmas Cushion

Snowflakes

Well that's our decorating. We're very lucky to have a lovely cosy home with lots of nice decorations for the holidays. I hope everyone's decorating and Christmas preparations are going well. I'm busy making some more Christmas presents but I can't say anything about them incase the intended recipients see this post.

I must go now and pack up my little man for his hospital check up. Its very stormy here today and its started to snow. Hopefully it'll be a quick visit and we'll be back home and tucked up before we know it.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

The Christening gown - Finally :)

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all well. I am on a break from Tuesday Tallies while I wait for yarn so I am finally getting around to posting about the christening gown I made for my son. I only have one photo so far, I scanned it in to the computer but the quality isn't the best, I'm sorry I don't have better ones to show.

The pattern I started with was Simplicity No 4766 pattern C. I adapted it slightly by removing the trims and lace and added the crochet trims instead. I used an off white bridal satin from Hickeys and a matching off white chiffon for over the skirt also purchased in Hickeys.

So here is the dress, ooops I mean gown/robe ;)

Christening gown back

Christening gown front

As you can see on the front it is slightly puckered on one side. At this point it was nearing 3am the night before the christening, I had mangled thread hanging everywhere, I had smashed 4 machine needles and I couldn't see straight. I let the pucker defeat me. It may have won the battle but not the war, I will fix it.

Here is a close up of the back and the trims. I made up the trims myself because I thought that searching internet and pattern books would side track me way too much and result in another pile of to do projects. They're crocheted using a 1mm hook and Aida 20 crochet cotton in Cream. The stitches are just chains, doubles, trebles and picots. If anyone is likes them and thinks they would like to use them just email me and i'll send you what I did and the measurements of the finished trims.

Back close up

Trims

Bodice Trim

Neck Trim

Sleeve Trim

I'm very proud of it even with the little flaws. I'm going to embroider his name and date of christening on the lining and if anyone else uses it or if someday Ben's children want to use it then they can embroider their names too. Ben also wore a beautiful crochet shawl that was crocheted by his great granny and was worn by his dad, his uncle and his auntie on their baptisms.

Hope everyone is getting on well with their Christmas projects and their One a Day.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies - Catastrophe strikes

Hi everyone,

OK, I know catastrophe is a massive exaggeration but last night I really felt as though the world had ended. I ran out of yarn for the join with one row and three squares to join. I guess that's what happens when you don't plan a project properly.

I ordered another ball this morning but I know there's as much chance of getting the same dye lot as there is of me winning the lotto(which I didn't buy a ticket for).

I was super bummed last night over this mistake but this morning things are in perspective. I'm forced to take a break now from the blanket while I wait for the yarn so I can do some Christmas crochet instead. This led me to another thought, I follow of a lot of blogs and websites of people who crochet/knit/sew/felt etc, everyone there is excited about Christmas. Whereas in the offline world where people shop for their presents the majority of people complain about how much they hate Christmas. I wonder is that why people who create their own presents love Christmas because they are eliminating a lot of the commercial hectic Christmas world.

To check out everyone else's progress head on over to Gingerbread Girls Blog. I must go now and investigate a strange odour coming from my son, perhaps its due to the inclusion of peas and broccoli in his food. Oh this weaning is so much fun :)

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

P.S. I promise to put up my post about Ben's christening gown, I was waiting for a photo of him on his big day but since I didn't take any photos on the day I must wait for guests to email me some photos. This is taking too long so I will post with just photos of the gown.

Tuesdays Tallies - Still joining

Hi everyone,

Thank you to you all for the lovely comments you left on my post last week and welcome new followers. I hope you enjoy my blog. I've said it before but its really great to be part of a community that have the same interests as me and can give valuable feedback and inspiration.

Sorry I'm a day late on progress. Progress wasn't exactly speedy this week. On the bright side I got the christening gown finished, well almost finished. It needs the seams and hems tidied up. I'm waiting for some pics to be sent on to me from a friend and then I will post a blog on the christening gown and the big day. It was a brilliant day, even though the priest forgot us. Still it ended up being way nicer and personal to Ben as a result. Ben was the star of the show, he smiled and cooed all day. He's just such a good baby.

Now for my progress. I finished joining the blocks and began the long rows running the length of the blanket. Pictures should explain this better than words.

The blanket is 5 blocks across by 9 blocks in length so I have another 3 lengths to join. I'm very happy with the overall look of the join. However I wasn't very careful lining up the blocks so 3 of the blocks are not lined up properly. Therefore I will do the row again. There's no point in doing something unless you do it right and it would drive me crazy if I didn't fix it.

Overall though I'm please with the blanket and I think it will look good when its finished. I hope everyone's progress is going well. I'm going to Gingerbread Girls blog now to check out everyone's progress.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies - Joining the blocks

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I missed last weeks tallies. I have gotten completely sidetracked with making a christening gown for my son. The christening is next Sunday and the gown is no where near completion. I have been having numberous incidents of blind panic over will I or won't I get the gown finished. The jury is still out with that verdict. I will post next week on all christening gown related news.

Back to Tuesdays Tallies. Progress on One a Day has been slow again this week due to the aforementioned project. I have been re doing the join and work the rows from the top down. I know my explaination of this left everyone(including myself) confused in my last post so here are some pictures. I hope it helps explain.

I have 5 blocks across and 9 blocks lengthways. I have them numbered 1A - 1E on the top row and the bottom row is row 9 and numbered 9A - 9E. So I have joined 1A to 2A, 2A to 3A... down to 9A. Then I have done the same for 1B - 9B and so on. Once I have all the rows joined lengthways then I will crochet one long row down between row 1 and 2 and so on. I know my photos aren't the best so I hope this makes sense. I have used a variation of lemondesucrettes zig zag join. The edges are a little uneven at the minute but once all rows are complete it should in theory be ok, fingers crossed.

I hope everyone elses progress is going well. Thank you for all your lovely comments and words of encouragement. For everyones elses progress check out Gingerbread Girls blog, thats where i'm heading now.

Till next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies Update

Hi Everyone,

I just want to say thank you all so much for all the lovely comments you left on my post last week and for the advice of where to go to find nice joins. I was absolutely shocked and so thrilled when I logged on and saw all the comments. It absolutely made my week, thank you all.

I spent hours searching other blogs and websites based on the recommendations. I thought myself that I saw the join on Meme Rose Blog but it doesn't seem to be there. I went with a variation of the one I saw on Lemondedesucrette Blog. Oh and I loved the Pinterest website, I had never seen that site before and I spent hours browsing through it.

Now I'd love to report huge progress but I've just spent hours ripping back all the joins I'd done. I began by laying out the squares. I numbered them row 1-9 and squares A-E. I began by joining 1A-1E with a double crochet across the top of all the squares and bottom of all the squares and did the same again for all the rows. Then when the rows were joined I began the join. I worked across and this is what the join looked like and a close up of the join.

There were two problems that resulted in ripping the whole lot out and starting again. As you can see I didn't leave a gap between the squares for the join to run lengthways on the blanket and also the squares on the rows don't line up. It doesn't look too bad on these photos but by the time I got to the 4th row the squares were completely out of line and looked ridiculous.

So its back to the drawing board. I think what I'm going to do now is join 1A to 1B etc and work top to bottom, then repeat for 1B-9B etc. Once i've all them done then I will work the full 9 row length from top to bottom between squares A-E. I know that doesn't make sense without photos so I hope it works and I hope i'll have more to show you all next week.

Thanks again for all the lovely comments. Check out everyones progress at Gingerbread Girl's Blog. Hope everyone is getting on well, can't wait to see everyones progress.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Happy Halloween

Hi Everyone,

Hope your all having a super spooky halloween. We've been inundated with trick or treaters all evening and I am officially out of all sweet things. I even had to raid my stash of kit kats after I ran out of sweets to give out. Its probably for the best though because while sweets lurk in my press I feel compeled to eat them all and thats not good for an expanding waistline.

I decided to do some halloween amigurimi as a break from the One a Day. Unfortunately I became so absorbed with searching for the lace join(thank you for all the tips on places to search, I have found a join but more about that tomorrow in Tuesday Tallies) that halloween amigurimi got placed on the back burner. On Saturday I realised Halloween was fast approaching so I downloaded some patterns and began making them yesterday. I completed just one, a ghost, Halloween Ghost.

I decided then that I'd like to do a witch and began designing my own pattern. Got the body, head, arms and a dress done then couldn't figure out what to do for a nose so decided to take a break and dress up my little man in his pumpkin outfit instead. I never got back to finish the witch off so she will now be buried in a mound of yarn until next halloween because I am itching to get back to my one a day tomorrow.

For any of you that do want some good halloween amigurimi patterns I found the Lion Brand Yarn website was very good. I also have a book Creepy Cute Crochet which has some good patterns too.

Hope you all had a great Halloween.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies - A little Early

Tuesdays Tallies – 2 hours early, I’ve even shocked myself :)

Hi Everyone,

Progress on my One a Day has gone well this week. I’ve managed to complete a total of 54 blocks and almost ran out of yarn. With this in mind I laid out all the blocks to decide on a design. In the end I left out the plain blocks, the nine patch granny square and the granny stripes and ended up with 45 blocks in the final design.

I still have a ball and a half of cream yarn so I will use that to join the blocks. That’s where my quest for a joining pattern begins. I usually sew the seams together using a slip stitch. However while reading through fellow bloggers pages I came across a pattern for a beautiful join that seemed lacy. I decided that would be nice to try but for the life of me I can’t remember whose blog I saw it on. I’m going to search back through the internet history later and hopefully I’ll find the blog I spotted it on.

I’m getting really excited at this point to get finished so hopefully I’ll have some rows joined to show you next week. I do have to get some Halloween amigurimi done by the weekend too so I just hope the next week is as productive.

I hope everyone is getting on well. Looking forward to seeing how everyone is doing. Check out everyone else's progress on Gingerbread Girl Blog.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies - Progress on the One a Day

Hi Everyone,

Progress on the One a Day has been steady this week. Due to budgetary constraints I am unable/banned from purchasing anymore yarn so I need to use up all yarn already bought for this blanket. Due to this I’m not able to do ten of each block as planned. I’m going to have some blocks dotted through the blanket that there may be only one or two of that type. When I’ve all the yarn used up then I’ll look at the number of blocks I have and see if I need any more.

This is my progress to date. I think I’m roughly on target for having a block a day completed.

In other news I started going to a sewing class this evening. Of course I really enjoyed it. It’s great to be in a room full of people with similar interests. Some of the other students are also crochet and knitaholics so I told them about this group. I’ve decided to make a christening gown for my son in this class. It’s an ambitious plan but I love a challenge so I’ll give it a go. I have a christening gown that I crocheted (and won 1^st prize at the local agricultural show, I was chuffed, I never win anything) so if all else fails I can line it and use that.

I hope everyone’s progress in the One a Day is going well. I’m looking forward to checking in and see how everyone’s getting along.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x