Sunday 24 February 2013

Crochet Baby Sandals

First of all let me start with a big 'thank you' to everyone for the wonderful comments on last week's blog post Taffy, a birdie decoration and a pot.  I'm so glad Taffy brought a smile to your week :)  I am entering my Birdie Decoration in The Crafty Network's February Craft Challenge - Winter Blues.  Voting is now open, so if you wouldn't mind popping over to place a vote my way I would be very grateful :)

I had a bit of a play this week making some baby sandals.  I know of at least 3 people having babies this summer so thought these may come in handy for one of them in particular!


Here is the link to the pattern if you would like to make some for yourself.
I adapted it slightly by making a half treble foundation with a puff stitch edge for the straps.
The soles are just over 3" long.  I am guessing suitable for 0-6months.


 I'm going to settle down with a nice cup of tea now and pop over to Handmade Harbour to browse all the skilled craftspeople taking part in Handmade Monday this week.


Wait a minute there's something missing??
I think I need a biscuit too!  A Jammy Dodger would be nice :)


Oh! Look at this!  Here's one I made earlier.


Believe it or not this Jammy Dodger took me just over 2 hours to make!
Just as well I didn't have to make a whole packet!
If you would like to make one to go with your cup of tea this afternoon, here is the link, Crochet and Crafts - According to Matt

Enjoy your cuppa and your biscuit :)
See you next week!

Sunday 17 February 2013

Taffy, a birdie decoration and a pot!

Don't you think this is a stunning title for my post this week? :p  I couldn't think of anything witty to combine all three so just said it as it was!!!  No prizes for this one me thinks :D

Before I start I must thank all of you for your lovely comments on my Spin A Yarn blog last week, I have an Introduction to Crochet workshop this weekend, if it goes half as well as the Jumbo Crochet Basket one I shall be very pleased.  I shall be popping over to Handmade Monday later to have a nose at all your lovely makes.

Taffy hasn't been out for a while so we thought we would take him on a walk.  As usual he is into mischief, so took a bit of a tumble this time! (If you are new to my blog and are wondering who Taffy is, just click on the link to find out how he came about - if you enter his name in the search box on the left hand side of my blog you will be able to see what other adventures he has had.)
He didn't seem any 'worse for wear' though and all that messing about made him thirsty :)

In the pictures below you can see Taffy waiting for the steam train to come along.
If you are very astute you will see in the last picture we also saw the train heading back home!
Taffy was a lucky teddy!

I thought these snowdrops were beautiful, but Taffy decided to play a game of hide and seek!

Can you spot him in amongst the snowdrops?
You'll be glad to know, we did find him and he is now safely tucked up at home :)

We decorated our bedroom recently and whilst we were doing this we moved into the guest room.  This room is blue and white (mainly white) so it got me thinking that it needed a few bits of decoration to catch the eye.  So I popped over to Attic 24's website and found this birdie decoration.  


I hope you like my version of it. I adapted the wing and the flowers slightly.
It now hangs on one of the walls in the room.

I also made a pot for the window sill.  I placed a jam jar inside so I can pop a posy of pretty, fresh flowers in it for when any guests arrive


I used front and back post stitch and finished it off with a sort of rope edging.

I'm crocheting a little pair of baby sandals at the moment so hopefully I shall have those to show you next week, meanwhile, take care everyone and have a good week :)
x


Sunday 10 February 2013

Spin A Yarn

Have you ever used a hook the size of a broom pole?  


 I didn't think so! That was the same for the ladies who came on the Jumbo Crochet Basket Workshop at Spin A Yarn in Bovey Tracey on Friday 8th February.

We began the workshop like 'children in a sweetshop', choosing from all the gorgeous yarns you can find in Spin A Yarn, to make our baskets!  This helped us get to know each other a little and soon the room (and therefore the whole shop!) was filled with cheerful banter and plenty of giggles.


I had made a few samples so the ladies could decide what size baskets they would like to make.
They got off to a flying start.
After lots of counting stitches, a bit of cursing (well perhaps a little more than 'a bit'!),  more counting stitches, a bit of unpicking and more counting ...


.......... the bases of the baskets were complete.  
Time for a bit of relaxation!

We all sat down to a wonderful lunch of Joyce's home cooked quiches and salad followed by homemade cake for desert.  Scrummy :)

After lunch, everyone was eager to get started again!
Feeling rather relaxed now, we all seemed to slip into a jovial, playful mood!  We decided it may be fun to use our partially made baskets as berets!!!
Don't you just love the results?
My apologies to Chrissy as I don't seem to have a photo of your 'beret'! Sorry :(

Following our jovial interlude, the crochet hooks were operating swiftly again and with a little blood (2 blisters acutally!), sweat (we had to turn the heater off, we were working so hard!) and tears (well not strictly true, we didn't have any of these, but it wouldn't sound right without this on the end!) we finally finished our baskets!  

Take a look! What do you think!


I know for sure, from the positive feedback I received from the ladies, how pleased they all were with the baskets they produced.  The colours and textures chosen were stunning, and, I also know for a fact, that at least two of them have started on basket number 2!
I think you will all agree, the ladies produced a wonderful selection of unique colourful baskets.  Well done to all of them! 
And a big thank you to all of them too, for making my day so special :)

I'm off over to Handmade Monday now!  
Why don't you join me and see what other crafters have been up to?

Thanks for reading :)