Natural Crochet Cushion

I had a shabby old crochet cushion on my chair and it was in desperate need of replacement.  

I very rarely buy cushions they are the simplest thing ever to make. 
Using some lovely bluefaced Leicester wool I set to.  

The wool I had was 4 ply which was way too flimsy for my needs so I caked two balls together to make double thickness wool to work with and I used a 4.5mm hook.
  
The pattern I used was this Round Cushion Cover from the Cute and Easy Crochet book by Nikki Trench but I was not entirely happy with my interpretation of it.

You can make out the ridge on this one at each round change and I don’t like it.  As neat as I am with my joins it’s rarely invisible and with this being all one colour I think it stands out even more.  

I frogged it several times but eventually I just had a word with myself and went with it.  This is never going to be on show anyway as it is the back.

For the front I went for a continuous spiral, using a stitch marker to mark my row start I just continued on and on making one large spiral.  

I based the pattern on the other one for the quantity of increases on the rows and it worked a treat.  This little thing used up three full balls of 50g 4 ply (doubled up).  For the scallop border I used part of a little ball of Jamiesons spindrift and I like the contrast.

This chair is in daily use so I couldn't fuss it up with a flower in the middle as it would just get squished, besides I really like the simplicity of the spiral shape and don’t want to hide that.

I took the zip out of the old broken cushion cover and added it to this one, as I need to be able to remove my cushion covers.

 (see that nasty ridge, grrr)
 To add the zip to crochet; a simple mattress stitch along each edge of the zip in the same wool gives a nice edge to join knit or crochet work to.  I added a row of treble crochet around the rest of the cushion to keep the shape right with the zip in there and I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

It’s nice to see these two together, one knit, one crochet, one square, one round both in the same wool but such a different effect.

How much can one woman rant about a cushion?

I'm done!

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NOW CLOSED - Blog Birthday Giveaway

It's been five years since I started this little blog of mine.

I have sometimes been awol for months on end but I've never given up on my little piece of cyberspace.

As a little thanks for hanging in there with me I thought I would offer a little giveaway.

Up for grabs are these three brand new 50g skeins of Debbie Bliss Paloma in Light Blue (42010)60% baby alpaca and 40% merino wool.  I will of course add in a few little extras.

Simple Rules:

To enter the giveaway you don't have to follow me but I do need to be able to contact you. If you don't have a blog please leave a valid email address.

Just leave a comment on this post and I will add you to the list.

If you have your own blog and if you wish, please add me to your sidebar and link to this giveaway and I will add you again. Please let me know if you do and I will add you twice.  

If you prefer you can enter on Instagram.

I will draw the winner in one weeks time on Thursday the 16th April. 

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Lidiya Scarf - Kaffe Fassett

I can’t ever just concentrate on one project fully, there is always the next one and the next one after that in my mind.

Following completion of my Happy Street Shawl, my next project will be this beauty

Image from Ravelry

Kaffe Fassett Lidiya Scarf.  

I saw this pattern a long time ago and added it to my list of things to make, I only recently came across it again in a recent magazine (Womans Weekly Knitting and Crochet Magazine March 2015) and I decided yes, this year I will make it.  

The wool has arrived and once I finish my current Happy Street Shawl I will make a start.

Fairisle is scary territory for me but I’m determined to have a good go at it.  I’m worried about all the different wools and getting in a tangle and throwing it across the room in a tantrum, any fairisle tips will be greatly received. 

This will be a long term project, I intend to pick it up in between other makes.  I don’t think my old lady eyes will cope with working on this for weeks at a time, which is why I don’t expect to be able to wear it until this coming winter, or possibly the winter after that!

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Lisa xx

The Springtime Throw

The Springtime Throw - by Nikki Trench this has been in the making for many a year now.  

I started this way back in August 2011!! as a bit of a stash buster using up scraps of wool left over from other projects. 

 I had a splurge on it way back when and only picked it up now and again since then.  

I found it again back in January and realised I had spent many an hour making these little squares and if I didn't do something about it, it would have all been for nothing.

(powered by tea and biscuits)

 I dug deep and made this my main project instead of something to drop onto when I felt like it and I finally finished it this month.  There were mistakes along the way!

 I was supervised these last few weeks closely by my cat Oskar.

 He took a massive shine to this blanket.

In all it's glory. 

 The pattern called for a 4mm hook and I used a 3mm as I wanted dinky little squares.  The finished item was a good sized lap blanket but I added a lacy border to bring it all together.  I couldn't find a border I liked so I designed this one, its very simple but effective I think.  

It has been said that it looks a bit like a skeleton in a bobble hat and I must agree. 

Oskar has well and truly claimed it, wherever it is he gravitates to it.

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Lisa xx

I've got a thing for shawls

CaladoniaShawl - This is a pattern that grabbed me right away.  Just browsing pinterest I came across the pattern and had to make it.  

The body of the shawl took no time at all but the lacy border was another story.  There were so many stitch markers required I ran out and had to improvise and make my own from my bead stash!

  There was swearing and frogging aplenty.  The picot bind off seemed to take an age it was like two steps forward and one step back. 

 I got there in the end though and I am really pleased with this.  I picked the yarn up at Yarndale last Autumn  from The Skein Queen. 

I had some leftover yarn so make some matching gloves, based on the pattern by Suzie of the Wool Sanctuary but tweaked a bit with another picot bind off.

 Sunlight Shawl for Sad People – I have made one of these recently and I was delighted with how it turned out. A lovely lady I work with pointed me to this pattern and I was so pleased she did.

It drapes so well and I find it is the scarf I wear most often.  I will be making another one of these this year.

  The pattern is such a quick knit, it is so simple with no counting and you chose where to make the stitch changes.  I think it would lend itself to a nice colourful variegated yarn so I must keep my eyes peeled for the right stuff.

Having some of this yarn left too I make a couple of pairs of leaf collectors mittens from Sarah's beautiful pattern here.

 I kept one pair and gifted one. Love em!

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Lisa xx

Catch Up and Baby Bunting

Since the discovery of Instagram I have felt less need to document my makes on here which was the purpose of creating this little blog all those years ago.  

I want to remedy that and intend to do a few little catch up posts to have a record of recent makes that didn’t make it onto the blogosphere.  

Please bear with me while I indulge my online record keeping.

My most recent completed project was a commission for two sets of baby bunting for two new arrivals.  This is the result.  

I have made a few sets of these now and they always come out a treat.  

The pennant pattern can be found here from Lucy's blog and the crochet letters are from a pattern here.  Using Sublime Baby Cashmerino and a 3mm hook they are a nice size. 

They do take such a long time to make with the crochet time and all the washing, blocking and pinning of all the little letters but I think it’s worth it.
I usually add a little embellishment to the front and end of the name, either a flower or a butterfly (pattern here), but for a boy I must admit I came up blank, any suggestions for simple clear boy motifs I could add if I make any more in the future? 

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Lisa xx

Pins and Needles 2013

This year Pins and Needles (an Initial J Event) was held the weekend before last at Newcastle Race Course.

This is an event that I always attend and tend to stock up on good local produce. This year there were lots and lots of papercraft exhibitors and the sewing and knitting folks were in the minority.  With the event being called Pins and Needles and having a quilting exhibition, and needlework exhibition on show I was a little disappointed not to have more relevant stalls.  I did however come across a new exhibitor who was selling some delicious local wool Natural Knits, The Knitting Gift Shop. 

They have an online shop and you can find them here.

I did snaffle up a few bits from Woolaballoo, a lovely wool supplier from Hexham and I have made myself a very quick neck warmer (crap photos but it's more mustard than green in real life).   I am not the fastest knitter and I managed to knit this up one evening after work (part of the cost went to children in need too).

How cool is the huge button, I swapped the button from the kit with this one which I bought from The Knitting Gift Shop, the lady tells me her husband made these from the leg of an old chair.

This year one of the workshops was Tunisian Crochet, this is something I was really interested in.  I can knit and crochet but this is a technique I have never tried before, so I signed up.

Its a bit odd if you are used to crochet.  In traditional crochet, you work a row of stitches, and the row is then complete. At that point, you turn the work and move on to the next row.  Tunisian crochet is different, each row is a two-step process, and you never have a need to turn the work.  I got myself a bit confused at the end of each row but with a bit of practice and a lovely helpful teacher, I nailed it (I did frog it and start again when I got home and got it right).

If you are interested there are loads of good YouTube tutorials showing how it is done the tool is a cross between a knitting needle and a crochet hook. The finished article is very thick it is like double thickness crochet, if you need this dense finish Tunisian may be the way forward.  As a result of this thickness, the Tunisian uses up lots of wool, I can’t imagine making a full size blanket in this way if for no other reason than the excessive cost of the wool but I hope to make a cushion cover sized piece from patchwork Tunisian squares in the future.  I will add that to my ever growing list of things I want to make.

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