It's been crochet central around here as I was working to a deadline to finish this cushion cover. My cousin's 40th birthday definitely deserved the effort to make something.
I used the same pattern as this one I made for Lena but chose different colours. I also added a border and a green edging when I crocheted the pieces together. I'm pretty pleased with it. I just hope that it looks good in situ.
Apologies for the absence but we've been on holiday in the French Pyrenees. Holidaying with a baby is certainly a different experience. The days of languid poolside relaxation and evenings spent sampling the local cuisine are certainly on hold! Quiet evenings at the villa, however, did allow me to indulge in early pyjama wearing and crochet. A good combination, particularly accompanied by a glass of vino.
My colour selection for a new project which I have to keep under wraps for the moment. All of these, aside from the large ball on the left, are Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. I seem to be stuck on this yarn. It's super soft, easy to work with and has lovely subtle colours. I'd like to branch out though so if anyone has suggestions please let me know. Is Cascade 220 as soft?
Spring flowers. The sun is shining today - and to prove it I'm not wearing socks! There aren't many flowers around our little town yet so I've created some of my own.
They are all from this book. Some of the book is a bit old fashioned in its aesthetic but it comprehensively covers lots of stitches and gives lots of inspiration for creating crochet motifs.
I'm not yet sure what to do with the flowers. A garland? A sampler in a deep photo frame? A mobile? Decoration for a cushion cover?
They are certainly cheery.
Wow, I've finished a longstanding wip! It's not that exciting - a crochet mat from one of my Japanese books. However it's been taking up room in my yarn stash for too long so I'm really pleased that I've completed it. It still needs to be blocked as it's looking a bit wonky.
I may make some coasters to match!
The baby is getting bigger - she's grown out of her crochet pixie hat so I've created number two.
Crochet hat mark II
This version sports stripes and pom pom ended ties which help the hat to stay put. The previous one swivelled when she was lying down, often resulting in the earflaps snazzily covering her forehead. She looks as pretty as a picture in it and it's yet another good way of using leftover yarn.
I'm now looking for inspiration for the next crochet project - maybe a cardigan as I've been admiring this gorgeous and zingy creation by Poppalina.
I've finally pinned up some of the crochet bunting in the baby's room. I still have about two metres left to do but I thought I'd get started with the decorating. The pattern from the hearts came from Baby Crochet. The hearts are just threaded onto some ribbon.
I plan on taking more pictures when the weather is brighter. I'm fighting dreary weather and small cottage windows at the moment.
We bought some vintage ercol chairs from ebay a while ago and have finally got them recovered. One now lives in Lena's room and looks lovely and fresh dressed in the new fabric.
I finally managed to squeeze in a little crafting project and made the little one a hat. She already has lots of lovely knitted numbers (made by my mum) which have received many compliments but I thought it would be a conveniently small project to fit into my narrow windows of time. I just made the pattern up and used one of her hats to work out the size. I added on little flaps to keep her ears warm, picot edging and a jaunty crochet 'flower'. I'll take a picture of her modelling it when she's awake.
Well she arrived after a marathon labour. Here she is.
Instead of boring you with the gory details and waxing lyrical about how much of a shock to the system it is I'll move on to some nice pictures of her bedroom. My parents unearthed some things of mine from when I was a child and I've installed them in Lena's room. Hopefully she'll appreciate them when she's older. The rabbit and pram was a gift for the baby from one of my friends, as was the gorgeous dress below (I wish they sold it in adult sizes!). It's so pretty I had to hang it on the wall.
This is an ercol chair which we are going to have recovered. It's currently sporting a quilt from TK Max and an Ikea cushion.
I added some extrea fabric to this wreath so it would echo the colours in the room.
The crochet ripple blanket in situ in the cot.
The finished crochet cushion.
And the other side done in bobble stitch. I finished the buttonhole end with a picot stitch. I'm really pleased with it.
The cats are being very stoical about the new addition to the family. Here is Bee consoling herself by curling up on some fabric I'm trying out on the second ercol chair.
Finally if anyone has some magic tips for a windy baby please let me know!
I decided it would be a good idea to use up some odds and ends of wool as I've accumulated quite a lot of cashmerino making the ripple, hexagon and baby blankets.
I found this adorable crochet pattern on Etsy so swiftly purchased it and, just to confess to the fact that first attempts certainly DON'T always work, here is a picture of giraffe one. I think the problem was a combination of too fine a wool with too big a hook. It looks a bit like safari roadkill.
Giraffe two was a lot more successful, although still not as pretty as the birds & bees picture.
I never seem to have a huge amount of success with getting things to felt evenly. The result is always a bit patchy. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. The instructions called for a few short wash cycles using dishwashing liquid and no rinse or spin but I wasn't getting anywhere so resorted to just putting it through a 90 degree wash. His name is George and he's quite a proud giraffe.
Odds and ends project number two is another cushion cover, this time for our own nursery. Here is a customary 'cat enjoying crochet' picture. She was determined to scupper my attempts to plan the colour placement of the blocks.
