Make Do and Mend Monday - Scratch Mittens

As projects go this isn't going to set the sewing world alight, but I'm pleased with these scratch mittens that I made for baby boy who has been savaging his poor little face recently.  Partly because I actually finished them (I have a tendency to start projects and not finish) and partly because I've recycled an old T-shirt.

I made them from the sleeves, very simply. Cut out the mitten shapes to the right size, using the hemmed edge for the cuffs, sew the two sides with wrong sides together (I sewed them by hand, so a machine would make even faster work of them), whip stitch (or zigzag) over the raw edges to prevent fraying, turn inside out, et voila! One pair of scratch mittens.

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Granny A Day - Week 4

Last week I put the black and white square extension on hold as I had a sudden urge to make red, white and blue squares. I am alternating those three colours in squares with 3 rounds each. I was only going to make handful for a scarf for baby boy, but now that I see them together I think they'd make a fabulous blanket so I'm going to have to make a whole lot more!

Sewing Aspirations

This year I decided not to make any New Year's resolutions, or at least not the giving stuff up kind. Instead I've got some aspirations - things that I would like to achieve this year - including some creative aspirations.

Most of the time I can control my urge to buy fabric, haberdashery and recently yarn, but every now and again I'll cave in and buy something with the promise that "this time I'll definitely make something!".  I rarely do. My husband put up a bookcase to be my craft corner.  It stayed relatively empty for about a week, but now it's heaving with material, yarn and my newest vice - craft magazines and books!

I've been flirting with sewing and embroidery for years, and seeing quite a lot of crochet these past few months, so in a nutshell my main creative aspiration is to get serious with all three!  I hope to make use of all the fabric - new and recycled - that I've been hoarding, to give my embroidery floss some purpose, to make my yarn into something other than just a story, and to justify my recent splurge on the many magazine subscriptions that I now own! By the end of the year I hope to be skilful and confident in my ability to create. I hope!

I'm going to take part in Very Berry Handmade's fabulous giveaway. I really shouldn't because I could potentially end up with a load more fabric, but if I do win this time I'll definitely make something!

Granny A Day - Week 3

Last week I decided to add rounds to my black and white granny squares instead of making new ones. I only managed to enlarge 1, but now that it's larger I really like it. I'm not really sure what to make with them though! I was going to make them large enough to make new covers for the living room cushions, but I'm also toying with the idea of making a new blanket for my baby boy who seems fascinated by them. I also like the idea of throwing in the odd small cluster of colour here and there or playing with the arrangement to get some sort of zebra print... You see my problem?

But the great thing about Granny A Day is that I'll probably get to try them all out :)  I'll be needing more yarn though!

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Granny A Day - Week 2

Last week, I continued with the mini squares, actually throwing in a couple of mini triangles (my first ones, which I'm rather pleased with).  I had seen a pattern for a granny square headband and was thinking that perhaps I would join the small squares together to make a bracelet or headband - the triangles would go at either end. 

Then it occurred to me that I'd never actually made a conventional granny square so I decided to take a break from the mini squares to try it out.  I liked the idea of doing them in alternating rows of black and white, though I didn't really have a use for them in mind.  I'm not really sure what I think of them. I might make them slightly bigger, or play around with the arrangement of the colours.  I saw some 60s inspired cushions that I liked in black, white and red, so I might throw in a bit of red and see how that works.  Watch this space!

A Winter's Day By The Sea

It's cold today. Crispy cold with just a hint of sunshine. A perfect day for walking. We decided to take a walk along the beach in Penarth. It was bracing but invigorating. We finished with hot chocolate and a tray of chips at the end of Penarth pier :) The pier is so quaint but the Pavilion needs restoring. It would be wonderful to see it restored to its full glory.

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Granny A Day - week 1

Well I'm pleased to say that so far I've kept up with making a Granny square a day :) The first one was made using the same pattern I used to make my baby blanket. But I decided to make the rest using some size 8 pearl cotton that I hoarded and don't have any particular use for. I'm really pleased because since the first attempt at a tiny square (the yellow one) there's been a definite improvement in the results (top 2 are the latest), and I've been making them to my own design, which I think I've now got right.

Granny a Day 2012

I agreed to take part in the challenge set by Ali from Hooked!! A Crochet Addict's Blog to crochet a Granny square a day for the whole of 2012! I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking as I've got a hundred other projects that I'd like to start or finish. But I do tend to faff around a lot when I find that I finally have some time available to do some making, and end up frittering the time away trying to decide what to make. So maybe this will help to focus my mind.  Maybe if I get into the habit of doing something every day it might inspire me to actually start crossing some projects off my ideas list.

And so to the squares.  Four completed so far and another in progress.  One normal-sized square (measuring about 7.5cm/3in across) and three teeny squares made using a 1.5mm hook. Why am I crocheting teeny granny squares?  Well, that's another story. I'm not sure how/if I'll make use of them, but it's good practice and a good way to experiment with colours.  The motif isn't quite right yet, but with a few tweaks I think it will be OK.

Hello There!

It's good to be on my brand new blog!  In the last couple of years I've rekindled some old passions - sewing & embroidery - and discovered a new one - crochet.  I have a trove of fabric, yarn, patterns and haberdashery, but instead of producing a gorgeous array of hand-crafted items, all that's happened is that I've cluttered the house with my supplies. I hope that writing this blog will encourage a certain amount of productivity that has been lacking until now, because underneath this shy and reserved exterior beats the heart of a show-off.  

I love to see what other people are up to so please say hello when you stop by :)