A little bit of crochet..

Welcome all... It has been rather quiet here of late - the eldest Master Chander had his open day at nursery school, which was wonderful; Mr Chander has just done some professional exams (not so wonderful); and in the interim, I seem to have acquired a chest infection (wonderfully bad). Anyhow, the worst is over, and at least I have had the incredibly inspiring Paralympic games for company (although I wish Channel Four wouldn't insist on tv adverts at every turn). Every day I see another example of human endeavour at it's finest; I didn't think it was possible, but I think I prefer the Paralympics to the Olympics - despite the fact I knew more about the Olympic competitors at the beginning.
 

 

I have managed a little crochet and have started my squares with the Debbie Bliss Amalfi - it's not a bad cotton to work with, although I have noticed some colours seem more prone to knots than others; and now that I've done a few of the "Big Round" squares, I have got the hang of the pattern without having to check it every five minutes. I've had to stop as I didn't order enough Ecru shade (that's the cream one for the borders) and am willing my postman to stop every day with more supplies. Anyway, better go and watch some more Paralympics (there's only five more days to go.....)

Two types of square.

Hello, and welcome all; what a glorious weekend we are having here in Norn Iron (local speak for Northern Ireland); the sun is splitting the stones which is lovely as for the last few days, it's been cloudy, humid and there's been lots of heavy rain showers. During the bad weather, I've been doing a few things: making vegetable soup, roast chicken and chorizo roasted vegetables; and some Mars Bars Rice Krispie squares. I love Rice Krispie buns; and have tried various traybake Krispie combinations - but this is my favourite by a country mile. The recipe goes like this:

Makes 8

100g rice krispies (or thereabouts)

3 x Mars Bars

100g butter

125g milk crocolate

Place the sliced butter and mars bars in a bowl and place over a saucepan of boiling water until all melted; stir in the rice krispies gradually and mix well until all covered. Empty into a lined metal tray and press down; once firm cover with melted milk chocolate and allow to set ( I find the fridge best during this weather). Once set, cut into delicious chunks and enjoy with a cup of tea! Krispie bliss....

Anyway, my other little project is a crochet one - hurrah! I am, of course, still working on my WIPs and presents for holiday-which-cannot-be-named; but I wouldn't be me unless I had about 5 or 50 projects on the go. Anyway, I spotted some reduced Debbie Bliss Amalfi in 55eileen on Ebay (a great little yarn shop with lots of great bargains at times); and snapped some balls up. Amalfi is a cotton/linen/viscose/silk mix wool; which I have never used before; but I wanted to make a light throw for me for warm evenings.

I love how the cluster stitches look on the hook
(just like little Pontipines - from In the Night Garden)

 I was going to make hexagons as I've seen some lovely blankets on the web; but I like the regular shape of squares for joining etc; so I am using "Big Round" from this book, 200 crochet blocks for blankets, throws and afghans, by Jan Eaton. I'm aiming for a big splodge of colour, surrounded by white.  I think I need a ball of teal, and maybe a stronger green, but we'll see.

This is my first block - so far, I'm happy enough with the pattern - although I don't think the pattern instructions are as clear as I have read elsewhere. As for the yarn, it's quite novel to be using cotton, and I am happy enough ; I had read reviews that this yarn can be quite splitty, but thankfully, I haven't had this problem thus far. It's nice and soft to work with too.
Anyway, enjoy your weekend and take care. Em

(edit:  realised I forgot to put some krispie square pics on and phone battery dead - promise I will soon...).

The finished article: Cath Kidston-inspired granny square blanket.

I'm so pleased to be showing you this blanket today - it's always lovely to finish something. This blanket was inspired by the lovely colours Mrs K uses in her products; and is destined to be used in the boy's playroom/reading room. The room, as you can see, is brightly coloured, with red being the primary colour.

For this blanket, I used Hayfield Bonus DK wool; simply because it's a cheap acrylic available at a local wool shop: ten 100g balls for 12 pounds is hard to beat; particularly when you're on maternity leave. It's not as nice to feel as the lovely Debbie Bliss that I would normally use; and quite splitty; but it's sturdy, and not as difficult to crochet with as I would have imagined. I was going to block the squares, but I decided it probably wasn't worth the effort - I think in retrospect, I would the next time.

It's a very simple pattern - twelve granny squares of twelve rounds (two rounds of each colour); then each square ended with a white round. I joined them using Lucy at Attic 24's joining method; and then finished off with a few large rounds of the colours; and a scalloped granny edging with red (again Lucy - many thanks).

I'm very chuffed with it - as is my three year old, who has used it for picnics for him and the toys and a tent already. I hope it's up to the task ahead. In the meantime, I'm carefully considering a next project as my other two are slightly boring me.  I'm still in love with granny squares, and am considering making even more big granny square blankets as gifts for a couple of girls I know.  We'll see.

Everyday nothings



Things have been fairly quiet at Casa Chanders of late: our visitors went home, but unfortunately we have all had a flu; and this, coupled with rubbish weather, has meant a quiet interlude in our little lives.  Not that I'm complaining, as it's been lovely spending some time with the two little chanders men; and  I've had a little crochet time aswell.

As you can see, the Cath-Kidston inspired blanket is coming on well:  I had already made some squares, but starting to join them has inspired me and I've got a little crochet mojo back again at the mo.  I'm using Lucy at Attic 24's method of joining them, as I think it gives the best appearance, and her instructions are so easy to follow.

Other than that, it's been fairly quiet, lots of watching Mary Poppins and reading Shirley Hughes; making comfort food like pancakes for breakfast; cottage pie; and hoping the weather will turn again.  It's hard on the eldest chander not to get out to the garden, but it's been so wet here I couldn't even let him go out in his waterproofs and wellies.  Here's to a little light relief soon.  Take care.



For the love of crochet....

As stated previously, i love making things, and of all the disciplines, crochet is my favourite. I'm obviously relatively new to the whole crochet lark - my eldest boy is three; when I was expecting him, I had to finish work earlier than I would have liked in order to rest. I needed to keep busy in a sitting position, so I took up crochet.

Most of the stuff I learned from surfing the net, particularly blogs like Lucy's wonderful Attic 24. I can't thank her enough, such wonderful tutorials, such inspiring makes. I'll not lie, I initially thought it (or I) was a lost cause; it's so much easier when someone sits beside you and shows you how to do something (like my great Aunt Cassie showed me how to knit) but I'm a stubborn little thing and before you know it I was rippling with the best of them.

I am similar to so many fellow crocheters in that I've about five or six projects on the go at the one time - much to my husband's chagrin, when he discovers another bag of wool tucked into a secret cupboard. But by and large, I do get round to finishing things - eventually.

At the moment I am:

- working on a Cath Kidston - inspired blanket for our playroom : I'm just using some cheap acrylic from a local woolshop . I'm doing large granny squares and I'm at the stage of thinking of joining them.




  Ireally need to finish a lovely uberlarge granny square throw for the living room inspired by
the colours of the railway poster I showed you a few posts ago. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran for it - it's so soft and heavy and perfect for winter. I just have to do a round or two more and a border.

- I have recently fallen in love with shawls through the wonder that is Ravelry; I discovered the South Bay Shawlette pattern through this wonderful website and have been working on a shawl as a gift; using the most delicious Debbie Bliss Angel wool. I love this wool so much - but woe betide you if you need to frog a section.


Anyway, that's a little sample of a few of my projects; I'm hoping that by blogging about them, I might put a wee bit of pressure on myself to get on with it and finish a few things......

Emma's Handmade Home

As I stated in my previous post, I love blogs.  I learnt how to crochet from reading Lucy's amazing Attic 24 blog - I was pregnant with Chander No.1; I had to go on maternity leave early due to sickness - and I needed something to keep me from insanity.  I loved knitting when I was younger - my great Aunt Cassie showed me how; but when you hit teens and early twenties, university and socialising arrived and I wasn't interested. Discovering crochet was even more enjoyable; especially giving handmade blankets for friends' newborns etc.  It's also prevented many arguments in the family car when Mr Chanders is driving, particularly long journeys.....

Crochet, sewing, embroidery, cross stitch; you name it, I'll give it a go.  As with so many, my main problem is that I'm easily distracted - I have a number of projects on the go, with various bags packed full of wool/threads/fabric stuffed in various cubbyholes around my house.  I also have a very understanding husband.  I hope that by writing this blog, it will remind me of all the things I've made :  it might also encourage me to finish the unfinished......