Calming down in January....

I get to the other side of New Year's and want to get rid of the glitz and glitter. This doesn't make me a scrooge -I've LOVED Christmas. I just want some calm. And vegetables. And less cake.

I get drawn to calm, grey, soothing things, which is odd for me being a colour-fiend and usually loving deep brights. It's alright. It doesn't usually last long. Here's an etsy treasury to tide us all over until I return to normal. xx

A Woolly Christmas and a Hooky New Year xx

Pic: Natasha Gash @ Sophie's Smile Christmas Fair 2014

My hook has warped with work this year, and it's really begun to take off! I am utterly grateful to the crochet monsters in my neck of the words who have embraced the bright (often tacky) madness of what comes out of my workbag, and really helped promote my shop this year.

What next? I think 2015 might be interesting....

1. Classes are coming to Cambs! Yep. Going to spread the word and the skills;

2. An animal obsession. It ain't no John Lewis penguin, but there will be a creature!;

3. New skills and my crappy attempts to learn them -time to get technical;

4. Crochet-bombing might happen, keep your eyes peeled;

5. Something for summer -making woolly work all year around!


Have a great Christmas, hope Santa brings you some wool, and see you next year! (or maybe the bit in between) xx

Holy Cow(l) Batman! (Making a Cowl: The Basics)

So these are appearing a lot now that Autumn is on us (and Spring if you're the other side of the world and it's chilly too)... With kids they make that 'wear a scarf' thing so much easier -to loose ends, harder to get lost, no knotting thing that's uncomfortable.

I know there are a few starter crocheters out there, and this is really a quick and easy project to start with.

YARN:
It's pretty inexpensive too -100g ball of yarn, double knit weight or heavier will just about do a single loop adult cowl (where it just pops around your head). Two balls of 100g chunky could do a super long one (see my profile pic) that can loop twice.

HOOKS:
Anything from 4mm upwards depending on the weight of your yarn. Nothing fiddly here, promise.

HOW TO:
Grab your yarn and hook. Make a foundation chain (the one you start off with) that is long enough to go around the widest part of your head. Then add a couple of loops more. If your yarn is very stretchy, then don't add a few more. If it's very chunky add about five. You want it to get over your swede at the end of the day!

Without twisting the foundation chain, join the chain by slip stitching through the first loop you made. Now you have a circle. (If at this point this has been exhausting, fasten off, add a charm, congratulate yourself on making a necklace and have a lie down).

If you are working in treble stitches (which is quickest and easiest), chain up 3 then work around the whole circle in trebles. Once you get back to the start, slip stitch into the top of you chain of 3, and repeat. (Say to yourself "up, around, join, repeat" and you will not only look like a mad woman or chap, but you will indeed get it right).

Keep going until you are happy with the depth -try ten rows if chunky and fifteen if dk, because you want some snuggly squooshiness about the whole thing.

When you're good and ready, fasten off, work in those loose ends and pop on. Nice work.





APPROX SIZES FOR SMARTY-PANTSES:
Ok, you're not a bodger. That's fine.

For a toddler: Make a foundation chain of 73, (where 3 = your 'up' chain) and work 15 rows in double knit. For chunky, make a foundation chain of 63, and work 10.

For an adult: Make a foundation chain of 88, (includes 3 for 'up'), and work 15 rows in double knit. For chunky, make a foundation chain of 78 and work 12.

Chunky Crochet MacBook Cover...

Like Apple but not the generic plastic covers? Or don't have the budget for a super-swanky leather effort (even though we'd all love one really?) At the end of the day I needed something to protect my new laptop from scratches, dust and damage, so I headed to Craftdays in Saffron Walden to pick up some supplies.

You will need:
(To cover one 11" MacBook Air)
100g Chunky Wool (grey)
100g chunky Wool (pink)
Large sheet THICK craft felt (I used lime green as a contrast)
Size 5mm & Size 7mm crochet hooks
Sewing machine (you can hand sew)
Darning needle
Button
10cm contrast ribbon.

To Make:

Note: the number of stitches required depends on the weight of your wool and your tension. I had some wool left over from both balls from this make so 200g should do it! 

Step 1: Using a rotary cutter and mat, trim down the felt to fit your laptop. You should be able to wrap it around both sides, with a generous front flap. Leave a 1/2 cm seam allowance at either side -Your laptop should fit snuggly, but will loosen over time so don't leave too much.

Step 2: In your first colour yarn, chain enough stitches to cover the width of your laptop and then reduce by 3 or 4. This is to ensure you get a snug fit over the felt inner as the crochet with stretch. It also allows for some give with use.

Step 3: Work in double crochet throughout in stripes. I'm not a fan of super even colour stripes, so some were two rows, some 4 and some six, just to create a chunky effect. If you need to work out how to change colour neatly, you can click here for a tutorial. (Note: It's an American lady and US 'single crochet' is the same as UK 'double crochet'). Keep going until your work is just under the length of your felt and will wrap around your laptop. Fasten off and tidy in the loose ends.

Step 4: Tack the crochet to the felt, stretching it to fit. Then 'block' with a steam iron and leave to cool. This will set it in place.

Step 5: Using your machine, sew a row at the top and bottom edge of the crochet, and through the two fold points. This keeps the crochet work in place and will stop sagging. Make sure at the top and bottom edge you sew at least one row in as you will need to be able to work these rows when neatening up.

Step 6: Fold up the main flap that your laptop will sit in, and (FIDDLY BIT!!) pulling back the crochet, machine stitch the felt up the two sides.

Step 7: In some of the remaining yarn (pick either colour), starting at one of the bottom corners, double crochet the two sides together.

Step 8: When you reach the flap, you will need to hand sew a running stitch around the two sides and across the top, to provide a base for the crochet to work into (see photo). Then keep double crocheting all the way up, across and down the flap section, and down the remaining side. Fasten off and work in loose ends.

Step 9: Add your button and sew in ribbon loop.

Want to adapt this? This principle would make an iPad cover, or in a lighter yarn, lighter felt and smaller hooks a smartphone case. If it were smaller but still with the width, it could also make a clutch bag...Let me know what you make with it xx

Making a week...

This week has been about the making -I still can't get the balance right between actually producing stuff and blogging/etsy-ing and doing the research you need to get going! That, and I had to remake the little kitty cats made earlier in January as good old Royal Mail has them 'somewhere' over the Atlantic...grrr.

So this is what I got up to...More on certain projects later but happily I have completed some and have some happy ideas underway x

One: a lovely bakery visit (Hitchin) starts things off well -French bread that actually tastes French! If you're in the area, pop in and give it a try;

Two: my lovely friend Sarah passed on nearly 90 Craft magazines that her Grandmother had given her -it was a fabulous surprise and will keep me going craftwise, probably indefinitely!

Three: I learnt to 'ripple' (hurrah!) in crochet, and made my first practise piece into a cushion;

Four: Daffies galore -I have a sneaky idea for spring flowers in tins;

Five: I checked out 'Staffy b' in Baldock which is a covetable interiors shop where they sale substantial offcut bundles for £5...

Six: and then I made some lavender bags out of the bits!

Seven: I'm trying to use up the random tiny balls of wool I have left from other projects and so I've decided the make up lots of diddy circles. Seems to be a quick way of trying out different colour combinations quickly...I feel a reference cushion coming on!

Eight: Sam and I (and Hattie but she was asleep so it doesn't really count) joined the library...Scandalous I know that it's taken this long, but Sam thought it was amazing, and I made him a book bag for the job;

Nine: Today was a pirate party...and 5 mins before we were due to leave, I realised we had no wrapping paper...Jim's idea was ace -brown paper and a quick treasure map doodle!

What were you up to last week? More importantly, in a week of pancakes and love hearts, what will you be getting up to?

A Wintery Weekend...

We spent last weekend back home, enjoying the snow. Why not? Nostalgic and possibly a tad rose tinted (my feet were bloomin' freezing) but not a panic buy or crazy driving experience in sight. x

January Days...

They're not so bad...It's getting colder (finally) with the chance of snow that makes this whole winter thing a bit more worthwhile.

Some of this week sucked -grumpy baby, manic cleaning (trying to sell the house with two small children in it is a challenge) and trying to get some work done too. But then Thursday hit and suddenly there I realised the good stuff. A walk in the woods when the sun actually shined, a coffee and fab piece of cherry and almond cake with the little lady, and making Sam eat green beans by arranging his lunch into a pair of snails sat on 'grass'.

So yep, it's a grey January, we're all a tad broke, stuck for the best part indoors and my floor will always be covered in crumbs. But that's not all that matters. x

Blowing Away the Cobwebs...

So happy 2013 -we started the year with a walk on Studland Beach, which after several days of being locked in with rain, was long overdue and did the trick! Hope you like the photos, one of my many New Year's Revolutions is to work on the camera-snappery...x

Mrs Beeton's Christmas...No pressure then!

This was a from my sister-in-law in a charity bookshop, to add to the collection of Mrs Beeton books...The week before christmas this a) makes me feel quite festive, which hasn't happened previously, despite -or perhpas because of- battling the crowds on Friday to try and get all the presents, and b) makes me panic a tad about the stuff I have to get done...eeek!

Also makes me think of the annual mince pie tastings we tend to engage in -every year we end of trying pretty much every brand going in an attempt to find the best...2012's winner seems to be either M&S or Morrisons bakery version...what do you think?

A pinch of spice and all things nice...

So after a couple of weeks of trying to track down Pumpkin Spice mix in the UK, and subsequently realising it would cost me at least £20 to import some, I figured there had to be an easier way! Having cross-referenced several pie recipes and with a little trial and error (and plenty of sneezing) this is what I came up with:

Bodged-pie spice mix:
Equal quantities of ground allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg.


Mix on a saucer or in a shallow bowl first as this helps to gauge quantity. I found a cafe (as in 'Caff', nothing posher) shaker for 94p in a local hardware shop that I thought was cute, made a small cone out of greaseproof paper and scooped in the mix. A cute sticker on the front (thanks Kate!) and we were done.

Five uses for your spice shaker:
1. Make your own spiced coffee -either sprinkle on the top of some cream if you're being really cheeky, or stir in;

2. Stir into hot milk before bedtime -even better when lazing in a hot bath, might actually help you wind down and sleep!;

3. Sprinkle over some piped butter cream icing on the top of cupcakes (even better if the sponge is carrot cake);

4. Add to some melted butter with a tblsp of brown sugar, drizzle over just popped corn, spread on a baking tray and pop into an oven for 5 mins until crunchy again;

5. Add to pie!!