Happy Bodging :)

Do you like my crochet stripe pillowcase?

I'm rather taken with it.

It's much better than a crochet stripe blanket, which was started in Septemeber 2010 and would probably never get finished.

So, I crocheted the sides together, wrapped it around a pillow and tied the back with ribbon.

And if anyone asks, it was always going to be a pillow, right?

Making it up as you go along.

Today I started crocheting a round thing, which became a corsage.

Handmade Thursday - crochet bowl

 The urge to crochet came upon me this morning.

So I dug out half a ball of wool and a hook and started making a hat.

But alas, half a ball only made a very small hat.

It does make a rather fetching bowl though.

(I'm envisaging it holding foil wrapped Christmas sweeties.)

More handmade Thursdays here.

Mama made Monday - Tank top

I bought a load of Sirdar snuggly bubbly yarn in the early days of my knitting journey, before I realised I hated knitting with bumpy wool.

To be fair this one isn't too bad to knit with and is nice and soft.

I didn't know it was going to be a tank top; I just cast on 100 stitches on a 4mm circular needle and starting knitting. When it got long enough I changed to straight needles, splitting it into 2 lots of 50 stitches.

I decreased by k2tog at each end of every knit row until I had 40 stitches left. I did a few more rows, then cast off. The straps are 10 stitches wide.

I decided to make a crochet edging because I hate picking up and I hate doing rib.

It's just a row of single crochet and a row of double crochet.

The yarn is Sirdar Calico, a cotton yarn leftover from another project. Not quite the same shade of lilac but looks nice nonetheless.

And it fits just right on my little model.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

 A greeny blue crochet star...

 ...and a pink one!

 A fluffy lavender and white bauble...
















                                                             ...pink with pearls...

...one with pink fluff (oh, how I hate knitting with that yarn!)...

...and one with star beads.

Mama made Monday - going slightly (crochet) mad

My poor knitting needles have been neglected.

I can officially crochet.

Okay, so I seem to mostly crochet round things, but it's still crochet.

Here is my bear hat, which came out rather large - toddler size rather than baby, then I made the chicken. I know it's not Easter but I like chickens.

Finally I made the little earflap hat for a friend's baby. It is his baptism on Sunday, so I'm going to give it as a gift. Hope he and his mum like it; it's always rather nerve wracking when presenting a handmade gift.

Nintendo crocheted star

I think I might get the hang of this crochet lark eventually!

James, my eldest son loves Mario so he is very pleased with this keyring I made for him today while he was poorly.

It was pretty simple, just lots of single crochets.

I used the pattern at  Ssh, I'm counting! and I attached the finished star to an old keyring thingy.

The star without the eyes would of course make a lovely Christmassy decoration...hmm...there's an idea!

Granny square to Granny stripes...

A while ago now I decided to learn to crochet, and embarked on some granny stitch.

Well, I've decided it's finished. (ie. I don't want to do anymore.)

It's not very big, but I shall give it to Poppy for her dolly.

A few online friends have mentioned granny stripes, so I googled it and found Attic24.

I made a practise piece as suggested,

which came out pretty well.

And so, in a fit of optimism and confidence I made a foundation chain of 120 stitches (about single bed size) and began my very own granny stripe blanket!

It's only two stripes long at the moment, but I can't put it down; it's fab!!

Slightly rubbish crochet flower

A while ago I decided to learn to crochet, and I have a blanket using the granny square stitch as a work in progress.

But today I had the urge to attempt to crochet something else.

I did have a pattern, but as soon as I got to the part of the instructions I didn't understand I decided to just wing it. (I'm not good at failing, and you can't fail if you move the goalposts!)

Practice makes perfect though, and boy, do I need more practice!

Crochet progress

I was going to make lots of granny squares, but the thought of eventually stiching them all together was not very appealing, so I am making a giant granny blanket.

Well, it's not giant yet. It's just about big enough for a dolly!

I stitched two pink granny squares together (because a rectangular blanket is more useful than a square one) and now I'm going round and around and around.

My tension seems to be improving, and this looks to be a good way of using up lots of part balls of wool.

Adventures into crochet - granny squares!

I've been saying I'm going to do it for ages. Now I've finally started to learn to crochet!

These are my first two granny squares - the one on the right is my second attempt, and I seem to have kept better tension for that one.

Now the big plan is to make lots out of all those bits of leftover wool and make them into something... Watch this space!!