Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all you UK mummies out there! I hope you are being spoilt rotten & having a lovely day. I made my mother this bunch of veg corsage. I mostly improvised the pattern. I don't really expect her to wear it, but it will look cute on a bag :)

My 1st canes

Amazing!

Recently, I started playing around with polymer clay. It is so versatile. I had a go at making some "canes". This is also known as millefiori and is an amazing art form. I love this one here:

Keyrings

You can even transfer images onto the clay, but i need a bit more practise. My results were very hit & miss!

These broaches were made by my children. One of the main tools you need is a pasta machine. (Thanks to my mum for lending me hers!) 

Iola & Loki loved putting the clay through the machine & experimenting with colours. 

Watch this space for many new polymer creations to come!

Wool & Wittering

Having a skill like crochet, naturally, I want to share it. A few friends said they would like to learn, so I came up with "Wool & Wittering" evenings.

      On our first evening, we learnt the basic single crochet. After much concentration & some huffing & puffing, every one seemed to get it & ended up with a rough square.

At our second meet up we learnt to crochet "in the round". We came up with some oddly shaped circles, but ever the optimist, they were only "Happy Mistakes" which could be turned into an Attic 24 Bird or flowers.

I sent them on their way, enthused & ready to try on their own. I have a list of people wanting to learn. So will be kept busy for a while!

Special thanks to Sarah from Sew now we are four  for her help teaching.

Winter Warmers

I love hand made gifts. All the more if they have been made by the giver. I appreciate the time & thought put into the gift. 

This Christmas I wanted to give hand made gifts, that were easy, if not quick, to make.

So I came upon the idea of crocheting hot water bottle covers. 

My first attempt was very "Rustic."  

(My word for a little shabby 

& obviously home made!)

After working out the glitches I came up with a pattern that I could duplicate. Each cover took about 4 hours to crochet, adding extra time for decorating.

I used ribbon & buttons accessorise the covers & added the recipients initial.

Yes: most of them went people whose name began with J!

Merry Christmas

& a Happy

New Year!

Apologies on the late posting of this post. This was due to a virus on my memory card.

Rememberance Poppy

Sunday was Remembrance Day. Everyday last week my son, Loki asked for money to buy a poppy, as he lost his daily. Come thursday, I decided to try & crochet him one. I youtubed it (as always) & found this video from Mikeysmail:

Youtube Video: Crochet a rememberance poppy.

It wasn't the shape I was after, but gave me the know how needed to come up with my own version....

Remembrance Poppies

Hook size 2.5 – 4

Start with black 4 ply.

*Make a slip knot. Chain 2.

*Single Crochet 12 into the furthest stitch from your hook to make a circle.

*Change colour to red 4 ply.

*Chain 4

*Double crochet 1 into the same stitch

*Treble crochet 2 into each of the next 2 stitches

*Double crochet 1 in next stitch, chain 4. Slip stitch into same stitch.
*Slip Stitch to next stitch..

*Repeat the red instructions 2 more times to make the 2nd & 3rd petals.

*Fasten off.

Margaret Hitchman of Cake Heaven fame traded me 6 of her delicious cup cakes for a poppy broach.... now that's what I call a good trade!

www.cakeheaven.co.uk

www.facebook.com/cakeheaven

Yoda, am I

As a crocheter of 10 whole days, I decided it was time to give my self a challenge. I wanted to crochet a little Yoda for my husband. He had recently started a new job, and I thought this little guy could be his desk mascot.

There are lots of patterns out there, but I found this free one was great:
Free Yoda crochet pattern.

I didn't have any small eyes so he looks a bit froggish - but my husband likes him. Maybe I will make some friends to join him on the desk one day soon.