Crochet Cowl... or The Tale of the Rescue from the "Never Going to Happen" pile...

These lovely granny squares were made in a fit of enthusiastic crocheting, and sadly ended up moving from the "work in progress" pile to the "I'll come back to it" pile and eventually landed in the "never going to happen" pile... me being me, I never made a note of hook size, and the yarn I used ended up sucked into another project, so all I had left was a sad looking bundle of unused squares, waiting patiently for re-discovery.

 Ten little squares were never really going to be very useful, and so they were picked up and put back in the "never going to happen" pile repeatedly, until a couple of weeks ago when I looked at them with fresh eyes and inspiration struck - cowl...

And so, I began stitching them together, a nice little invisible join, and when they were all joined to each other in a nice long strip, I put the ends together and they became A THING. I worked around it with a nice simple double crochet edge, and now it is ready to begin it's life as a cosy winter-woollen, just at the right time of year. And so I have hope again for the "never going to happen" pile, because it would seem that it has treasure lurking below the surface, waiting for a good idea to come along...

My Pretty Studio

I've been busy working away on my pretty studio, and it is starting to feel like home. I've added some vintage embroidery in hoops, and a happy string of pompoms, I've filled my vintage cabinet with crochet cotton, and added some chintzy floral curtains. It is so cosy, I think I could happily be there every single day, making pretty things and enjoying the cosiness. 

My Month in Makes - July

Unusually I have had a fairly quite making-month, and I haven't knitted a stitch of either pair of socks. I've made a whole bunch of little hats for the Big Knit, and about one-hundred and forty pompoms to finish off hats. The rest of my time has been taken up by crochet, I've added two rows to my 2015 blanket, and joined up my nine big squares to make a cosy blanket, I'm just working on the edges now. 

I've started my forth big granny square for my newest blanket, and I love the squares so far. I'm using a 4mm hook and using white for every other row. It's been a handy stash buster, and I'm so pleased with it so far. 

My Week...

The beginning of this week was perfect for hibernation at home, cosy with cups of tea and a Harry Potter movie-marathon and a big bundle of crochet while it rained outside. We snacked on homemade raspberry crumble and ice cream, and it was perfectly delightful. We had Christmas in July with friends - it was because of lateness rather than design, but next year we plan to do it deliberately as we all have birthdays in the months either side of Christmas. I made one-hundred and forty pompoms for Big Knit hats, and we counted the ones that have already arrived - there are 873 so far. 

I have had a couple of little adventures this week - I've been to Wolverhampton and Liverpool, and had a mooch around the shops and Galleries, searching for inspiration. I had a look around the Tate, FACT and the Liverpool World Museum, and bought lots of plastic from the comic book shops. I also went to my first ever Clothes Swap with my little sister, we had a splendid time and I found a very sweet little skirt to bring home. It's been a lovely week.

A Cosy Nook to Call My Own...

Today I am sitting in my little stall, with my shoes off and a crochet project at my side. I am having a bit of a tough time at the moment. Things are worrisome and sad and I am having to try extra hard to stay positive and keep my chin up. Ideally I just want to hibernate and hide myself away but sadly that isn't really an option, so I have been looking for inspiration for the den that I would like to build, the cosy nook that I would create to help me shut out the world. I thought I might share my findings...

from this article - "5 Steps to Building Your Own Epic Blanket Fort"

from this article - "14 Bohemian Style Gardens"

From Flickr

From the Article - "16 Grownup Blanket Forts that will make you feel like a kid again"

From Pinterest

from Vinstage on Tumblr

From Ffffound

My Month in Makes - May

I've had a jolly good month of making, finishing two pairs of socks (chunky and 4ply), a small blanket, some little crochet pots and a feather-and-fan lace scarf that has been on the needles forever.

Row eight and nine of my 2015 blanket are all done and attached to the other seven rows. Still in-progress are two pairs of socks - I'm at the heel turn point for the lovely grey and pink ones, made with yarn that I picked up at WonderWool so they are very special, and my first ever toe-up pair are very nearly done (thanks to my friend Becca who passed on the pattern to me) and I might well start another pair! I will share the pattern for the pots at some point soon, they are rather fun to make!

My Week...

I have had a lovely week - there has been crafty planning and working away in two of my favourite cafes with two of my favourite ladies, and lots of cake and tea to help things along. I have had cosy moments at home with the cats, and made progress with my toe-up-socks. I had my lovely day out in Liverpool and although I didn't take many photographs I brought home a head full of ideas. 

And despite being chilly outside, the spring is plodding along at it's own little pace, and it's lovely to see.

My Month In Makes...

This month saw a sock knitting innovation - I picked up some Drops Big Fabel chunky sock yarn, and using a combination of two patterns I made some cosy socks! I used the Quick and Chunky Sock Pattern as a starting point, and took some bits from my favourite Beginner Sock Pattern, and now I have two pairs of very gorgeous socks, that take very little time to make! I've started another pair for my sister too.

I finished two pairs of 4ply socks - some stripy ones and some Frankensocks, and I'm working on a third pair, with Drops Fabel yarn that looks like fancy Fairisle. 

I'm making progress with my 2015 blanket, I've finished seven rows now, and I love it so much! I finished my granny square blanket, and it's currently on my sofa being adored by my kitties. At the beginning of the month I started a new stash-buster blanket, I'm not using a pattern, just making it up as I go along, and it's coming along rather nicely. 

It's been a lovely month of makings!

My Week...

Well, another week has flown by, and suddenly we're mid-way through March! The highlight of the week was a trip to Liverpool - we visited a rather lovely Moroccan restaurant and then spent the evening with Placebo, one of the bands I have loved since I was a teenager and of the utmost importance in the story of "us". 

The rest of the week was spent quietly crocheting and reading, spending rainy days at home with our feline friends, who found cosy places to curl up. As of this morning I have a new plant to take care of, a blue Hyacinth, from my lovely husband - it will live in my shop, and bring me good cheer as I go about my crafty makings. It's the little moments of happiness after all. 

Makings...

The change of season and the autumny-wintery chill in the air is inspiring my makes this week. My granny squares are ever-more leafy coloured, and my fireplace in newly adorned with a string of crochet flowers and acorns. I found some lovely yarn in my stash and made myself a mossy-green crochet scarf for extra cosiness on my outside adventures. 

When the fire is lit and it's dark earlier and earlier I am happy to be cosy in our little home. 

My Week...

As the autumnal air seems to be here to stay I am choosing to embrace it wholeheartedly and make the very best of it. This week has been chilly but mostly sunshiny, and full of opportunities for tea and craftiness. 

I had a nice little surprise on Sunday, in the chiller cabinet of a supermarket where I found my very own little face looking back at me from the side of an Innocent Smoothie carton. I have been organising knit-alongs and Big Knit hat collections for the last couple of years, and in May a very nice lady came to visit to take my picture, and now I am gracing the packaging - these ones were Blackcurrent, Strawberry and Blackberry, but I am told that I also smile out from other flavours too. It's exciting and a little bit strange it has to be said. 

Monday was a "work in a cafe" day, a pleasant little day of sewing and drinking lots of tea and enjoying a rather lovely lunch. Being self employed has several pretty splendid perks, and this is most definitely one of them. 

I discovered on Tuesday that not only is my Gypsophelia growing nicely, but my Delphiniums are flowering! They are a beautiful and rather regal purple, and I am, as always, amazed to find that I made something grow. Their lovely colours inspired a new project, I am a wee bit late to the party for this one, but I am embarking on a crochet "mood blanket", as seen in the deligtful photographs of many and varied instagramers. I am four squares/days into the project and rather enjoying it. As well as my delphiniums, my squares have been inspired by a grey and rainy day, the colours that I loved most this summer and the new autumn colours outside. I am stitching them together as I go along and hope that I will eventually have a cosy and autobiographical blanket. My other crafty time has been taken up making pompoms for little hats, and my assistant was of my all-time favourite little chaps - my parent's little dog Jock, who kept me company and tried to help by attempting to dispose of the scraps of yarn.

Makings and Ponderings...

When I'm off on my adventures, I always carry a book and some knitting, for those 'just-in-case' moments that tend to pop up unexpectedly. Several of my adventures have started with train journeys in the last week, so I have had an abundance of knitting opportunities. 

 I rather like knitting in public, there is a pleasantness about it, a higher likelihood that nice people will start up a conversation with me. I've been pondering on the sociability of knitting, after having a nice old chitchat with a sweet little lady on the train last week. It was one of those "what are you making? It's nice to see a young person knitting" kind of chitchats, and I must confess that it warmed my heart a wee bit to be in the company of a kindred-spirit. 

I had a happy-cast-off moment on Sunday, finishing a warm and cosy scarf and enjoying the ever-so-slightly-smug-feeling of being ahead with my Christmas gift making. It's a lovely little feeling. 

I was really quite the busy-bee on Sunday and added another strand of crocheted-joy in our hall, this time it's sweet little line of Sunburst-circles all in pretty pastels. I do so enjoy being busy and making delightful little bits and bobs.

My Week...

It has been a funny old week, one full of thinking, and quietly making things and spending time with family and friends. I've been thinking about how I spend my time, and who I spend it with, and about loyalty and making better choices - as I say, it's been a funny week. So I've been cocooned in our cosy little home, with my serious "thinking-about-things" hat on, and trying to come to useful conclusions. I'm not sure if I'm quite there yet... But aside from all the thoughts and the thinking, there have been some useful bits to my week... I spent Sunday with my lovely husband, and we baked a blackberry pie and spent time in the garden, picking apples and tidying up ready for the long winter ahead. We had a little bit of excitement on Monday, in the shape of a new arrival - a bunny called Clarence, who needed a forever home and has settled into our funny little family quite nicely indeed. He rather likes apples. 

I spent Thursday with a dear sweet friend, catching up, after months apart, over tea and cake, buying nail polish, swapping crafty ideas and swooning in vintage shops. It was a very splendid day, and a reminder to make the time to enjoy good company and be happy. 

Cosy Crochet

Lately my making seems to depend on the weather - every time it starts to rain I just want to spend the day cosy and crocheting. 

I started this blanket on Sunday, during a day of rain and howling winds and as the days are starting to get shorter it's the perfect project to work on in the evenings. It's big enough to wrap around me as I go along now!

A Crocheted Life

I like to fill my days with crochet, whether it is for my stall or my home, and I am usually working on several projects at once. I always seem to be drawn to making blankets, there is something so homely about them, and I love to cosy up with my cats in the winter months. At the moment, during unusually warm weather in the UK, I am sticking to smaller projects that I can finish quickly - I can't seem to concentrate for long in the heat. I do love to look back on finished projects though, the ones that make it out of the "Work In Progress" pile and into use in my home...

Top 

- My granny stripe blanket in retro colours, all made from rescued yarn

- My "Granny A Day" finished blanket from Spring 2012, all of the square patterns are from the gorgeous "200 Crochet Blocks" book

- A Teacosy made for a friend from this fabulous pattern

Middle 

- My Sunburst blanket

- A crochet bowl 

- A large Granny Square blanket

Bottom 

- Granny Stripe tealight jars

- A recent Granny Square Blanket

- And the project that started my love of crochet, my original granny square blanket, made from 160 squares, all done during my second and third year of university (and almost solely responsible for keeping me sane) 

I still think, after years of making, that there is nothing better than the feeling that comes with saying "I made it myself".