If Only I Could Crochet...

Just a sneak preview of the ripple blanket I am working on right now. In fact the few rows you can see are what I achieved over the last weekend - now there is even more. It uses the basic ripple pattern from Attic24 and the yarn is the Stylecraft Special DK I bought last week . I have limited myself to just using the green, orange and brown as wider stripes, and each of these is separated by a cream stripe. This colour combo gives it a lovely sixties vibe. I used 227 stitches on my chain which included the +3 for the turning chain. My hook is a 3.5mm and is giving me a slightly firmer stitch which in this case is a good thing. My tension can be a bit loose sometimes. My hope is that this will fit nicely on our double bed or be the perfect cuddle on the sofa blanket. In any case, this is a long term project, because I suspect it will take me months!! Also poking out from my somewhat over-burdened yarn basket is my completed granny square cushion co...

Happy Valentines to all of you. I thought this was the perfect time to share this little interlocking love heart which I made a few weeks back. It has been happily hanging on the shoe cupboard - kind of in transit to its final home (but it might just stay). Mine doesn't look nearly as neat as the original which can be found here  and its construction is tricky. But if you love seeing it all come together at the end - this is the pattern for you. If you are quick, you could rustle this up before your other half gets home. Imagine his delight... In our house Valentines Day isn't really celebrated - that said, I received a lovely text message with a little poem which was cute and funny and just like my husband. I can do without the flowers and chocolate, when he makes me smile with just a few words....

Yippee, delivery of some Stylecraft Special DK this morning!! Even though I usually don't like acrylic - this feels lovely. I chose a number of different shades so that I could come up with a combo for a ripple blanket. Once the decision is made, I will buy what I need - but at £1.79 per 100g ball from The Wool Warehouse , this is a bargain! Don't forget to add your money off voucher from the latest Simply Crochet mag too!  I am looking at the more muted shades for a sixties inspired blanket - but who knows where the colour play will take me. Off to do my crochet class tonight and will report tomorrow.

So - we all know it is Valentines day coming up and coincidently, I am teaching a crochet class this week. In that lovely harmonious way, I can marry up my class with my love of all things cute and help my beginners to make some pretty little crocheted love hearts. I have created a tutorial for them, with some photos included which I will post up here for all to see. The main focus of this is to teach the magic circle (the way I do it, anyway) - but it is also a great way to practise some basic stitches and create something really cute. The class is actually a freebee for a group of friends and is a great way for me to get back into teaching crochet as I haven't done any for a good six months (events conspired and all that...). There will be six ladies attending and I expect that more cups of tea will be drunk than love hearts made! Take a look at the tutorial and pattern here: Tiny Valentines Hearts (using a magic circle) Make a magic circle: Wrap the wool arou...

If you are used to crocheting with DK or even thicker wool and your crochet hook collection consists of hooks which are larger than 4mm - you will be terrified (as I was) of trying a light and lacey crochet pattern. But I never let a little terror put me off - after all, what is the worst that could happen? So a few days ago, I started what might be one of my more ambitious projects - a lace shawl using a 2mm hook and lace-weight yarn. While the pattern which came from the January Inside Crochet magazine (issue 49) is fairly easy to follow, it is all the tiny little chains which worried me. In fact lace-weight crochet is easier than I thought and my shawl (which I suspect will be used as something else) is coming along nicely. The key to it, I have found, is to concentrate on each individual stitch or cluster and avoid looking at the whole thing too much. So, each and every chain stitch looks the same, every DC is the same and in the right place etc. Then you move on to the ...