Doubly foolish!!

I've been crocheting since August 2012, I'm entirely self taught via the Internet and magazines, so when I make a mistake it's frustrating as I have no one to ask. I can ask Pip if she's here with me or I'm over at hers, but that's never been the case so far. So here's what's happened....

I was happily working away on my 400 squares( I'd managed 6 by this time) I was glancing through simply crochet magazine to see if there was a better or neater way of fastening of, when I started to look at the teaching guides at the back, you know the 'how to crochet' with pictures. Like being smacked in the face with a wet fish I realised for the past few months I'd been double crocheting all wrong!!! Completely wrong. I'd been adding an extra 'yarn over hook' on the middle. Bizarre my sister called it!

I've had to redo the outside edge for all of my new squares for the 400, but most importantly I've unravelled the squares from the 56 and started to redo them and it appears that my dodgy doubles were the fault!!

I think the thing I'm trying to get across today is no matter how long you've been doing something it doesn't hurt to check your doing the basics right every now and again. Yeah that's not very eloquently put is it?

Katies Cardi

A little while ago, my nearly 15 year old teacup sized Yorkie had a haircut at the groomers. The weathers been really cold in the UK this winter and the poor little thing was shivering like crazy. So one Saturday morning I took action and in two hours had made her a little doggy cardi. I can't remember the pattern as I just made it up as I was going along and was measuring it up against her as I went. I remember a starting chain of 25 and just decreased and increased as I went along. But it's a nice little coat for her and she has worn it practically non stop since I made it.

Tx

Jar Covers

I've been to Aldi this week where they were selling bunches of Daffodils for 95p!! Great, so I bought 4 bunches and brought them home. Problem was when I got home I realised I only had one small vase to fit one bunch. So I emptied out the IKEA pasta jar and put the rest in that. When those flowers opened the looked fab.

Then I went to Lidl on the weekend and they were selling Daffs for the same price, so greedy me bought another 2 bunches. This time I had to empty the coffee jar!!

They're just plain glass jars though, albeit rather large ones. They were in need of a bit of prettying up a bit, so I thought I'd make up a couple of jar covers so, out came my hook and a packet of yarn form a magazine.

so heres some abbreviations first
ch = chain stitch
st =stich
ss = slip stich
dc = double crochet (UK)
tr  = triple crochet (UK)
yoh = yarn over hook

ok then lets have a bash at pattern writing (gulp)

make a starting chain that goes all the way round the jar but not to loose and also not to tight! I worked in a triple crochet so don't forget that you need an extra 3 chain stitches on the end to count as your first stitch....so for example chain 25 then and extra 3 chain, tr in the 4chain from the end, then tr all the way to the other end.

when you come to the end of a row 3ch and turn or turn and the 3ch whichever is your preference.

I worked a 2 row stripe until I ran out of wool. I would have liked it a little taller but 'thems the breaks!'

Then I just joined the two edges together, simples. But it looked a little unfinished and flat (and I forgot to take a photo do'h) so I had a think for a day or to on how to prettify...scollops!!!

So here I used a scollop pattern form Attic24 that Lucy used on a bag. Its dead easy and really effective. I used some other wool I had so its not an exact colour match, but as close as i could get it from my stash.

cast on with a ss in your chosen colour. miss 2st then 7tr in the same stitch.
miss 2 st then ss in the next, miss next 2 st then 7tr again and so on until you come to the end. ss to finish and fasten off.

Lovely scollopy prettiness!

 Ooo thats a bit prettier but not enough yet, need some embellishments. I didn't want flowers as they're in the jar....

Hearts! like on a Valentines card. So I very quickly made up a little tr square.
But I have never made a heart, honest! My sister does them all the time, she could probably knock one out with her eyes shut, but I tired and it went wrong and I threw my hands up in frustration! Time to give it another go. Googled heart pattern on the internet and decided to go for this one
http://crocknit.blogspot.ca/2011/02/perfect-hearts-filling-you-with-love.html

Got it right after a few tries.

Attached the heart to the square, attached that to the cover, added a few wooden buttons and I was finished!

Ta dah!

So that was Jar no1, now I need to do Jar no 2...... Tx

Slow Progress

Flipping Heck! I've bitten of more than I can chew here,  and I think I'm going to have to admit defeat straight away. There is no way I can produce one square a day!! I'm not even sure I'm doing them right. The count is right all the way round and they look right but....they damn things won't lie flat!! And I don't know why. I've made two so far. I've even gone to the extreme of making another with a larger hook size to see if thats the problem but it made no difference....I'm flummoxed, completely.

So I sent Simply Crochet a little message to see if there was anything that was left off or omitted from the pattern and I'm waiting for them to reply before I do anymore. I'd rather not waste anymore time and effort doing something that I may well have to unravel.

So I need to do something else whilst I wait for a reply. Its  bold choice as its going to be a long slog, but I'm going to go for ...... the blanket that is made up of 400 squares!!!! lol. Yes quiet an undertaking I'm sure and the making up is going to be a complete bitch! but here goes nothing.... Tx

Organising and Procrastinating (hurumph!)

Day off today, woohoo! What to do what to do....well the weather is bitterly cold to say the least, it is actually snowing in Somerset (albeit very lightly) and the wind!! Arctic or Siberian blast I have no idea, but it's cold cold cold out there and apart from having to walk the dogs later I will be staying indoors nice and warm with a hot coffee,with a biscuit or three, under a blanket.

Guilty as charged!

I have decided at long long last to start my next 'big' project. I'm going to have a go at another blanket (gulp). This time I have a pattern though. Ooo I'm going to do this one properly. It's going to be by the numbers and to the letter. My simply crochet magazine came last week and there was a lovely squares blanket in there that looked doable. So I had a little play last night to make sure I could do the stitches and I think I could pull it off (just). So at the moment I'm just sorting out my yarns and colour schemes. It's a very colourful blanket called Carmen by a designer called Nicki Trench. I love love love colourful blankets, may absolute favourite are Welsh Blankets and I have a small collection of my own that I'll photograph one day and show you. They are so colourful and intricate. The patterns have different names and styles. And the history behind them! We (the Welsh) have lost a great art/skill there but there is a steady cottage industry revival going on and hopefully the skills can be retained. Ooo I'm wittering off subject, sorry.

needs a bit of a sort out

Right so I have to make 56, yes that's right, 56 squares for this blanket. I'm aiming to try and do 1 square a day. (hmmm think that's going to be a hard quota to keep to but let's just see how it goes for now eh?) I will set the deadline to have this finished in a couple of weeks, I want to see if I can keep to one a day yet (laughs). And to think I very nearly chose a blanket that had 400 squares in it!!!

Right so let me get organised.....I'll just put the kettle on first. Tx

Some slow progress. 

Cwtches explained!

 

What is a Cwtch?

As some of you lovely crafty cwtch blog readers might not be welsh you might not know what the word cwtch means or where it comes from, or you might just be welsh and have always wanted to know a little more about this fabulous little word and the welsh language (wenglish)either way if your interested read on for some more rather interesting information. 

Cwtch is the Welsh word for cuddle, not just any type of cuddle however, a rather special one, blessed with the warmth and generosity of the Welsh, a truly free flowing expression of love and acceptance.

Remember that lovely warm feeling you used to get when a special person put their arms around you, sheltering you from the world and its pressures, at least momentarily. Ahhh... that's a Cwtch. In that single instant you had nothing to fear not a care nor a concern in the world. All pressures, and problems were removed allowing your spirit to soar upwards free from the day to day troubles of life. Pass it On!
That’s what I give you right now! This wonderful love that all encompassing feeling of warmth that reaffirms your place in the universe, not to mention your immeasurable worth as a human being, a special person unlike anyone else.
A recipient of this special kind of love only found in Wales. If you’re Welsh then you already know about this special love, if you’re not then become an honorary Welsh man or woman and pass the Cwtch onto someone else.
  In 2005 the Oxford English Dictionary included "cwtch" for the first time, describing it as, "Noun (Welsh) 1. a cupboard or cubbyhole. 2. a cuddle or hug.

What is Wenglish?
Although a lot of people in Wales don't speak Welsh, the influence the Welsh language has had on the way we speak is huge. We regularly use Welsh words mixed in with our English vocabulary and our sentence structure is often governed by the way you would say things in Welsh. This mixture of a language is called Wenglish.

Cwtch is the nations favourite word!
Cwtch, the Welsh word for cuddle, has emerged as the favourite word in Wales, according to a recent survey, and the word is now heard popping up on popular TV shows such as Gavin and Stacey.

Cwtch, or Cwtsh, has been adopted by many in the cross-over language of Wenglish and is particularly popular in the South Wales valleys. Linguist Professor David Crystal admitted it was quite unusual to have such a strongly Welsh word feature so highly in a survey.

 

BT Openreach asked 50,000 people to contribute a word worth £1 for the charity 'I Can' to develop children's language skills.
The top word voted for across the UK in the internet Wall of Words was "love" with "hope" and "happy" also featuring in the top 10. Professor Crystal, who is based in Holyhead on Anglesey, said it was not surprising then that the Welsh for cuddle should feature so prominently. "It's heart-warming to see that, despite all our daily pressures and worries, so many positive emotional words are turning up in this list," he said. 'To love and to cwtch' Cardiff journalist Steve Johnson and his wife Tracy Goode, who are both originally from the valleys, took the word "cwtch" into their hearts, using it as part of their wedding vows when they married in December 2005. "We said 'to love and to cwtch' instead of 'to love and to hold'," explained Steve. "We start each day with a cwtch and end with a cwtch. We're the cwtching couple of Canton!" he said. 

Here are some directions for those of you still not sure lol! 

 Maybe we should all try this welsh or not and start and end each day with a cwtch whether crafty or not.
Pip.x

3 Layer Flower Pattern

 I sort of made up a pattern for a lovely 3 layer flower which is quick and easy to make and can be used to finish any project such on a bag hairband or shoe or as I have in a picture frame. It can be made using any colours so if you have a small amount of wool left over you can use it up on this small project. I love making small items such as these as I get bored quickly and like to finish things asap. The layers can be made in any colour combination you like by just changing your wool between each row. If you have any problems just ask and il try my best to help. The next time I make one I will take some more photos so it is easier to understand.

Start by chaining 5 and slip stitch together to form a circle.

Rnd 1. Dc 10 into the circle, the circle should fill up pull around a bit while doing it to make sure there is enough room. Slip stitch into top of first dc.

Rnd 2. Chain 3 in first dc and slip stitch to the next do the same all around so you end up with 5 chain loops (petals) .

Rnd 3. 5 dc into each petal.

Now work from behind! For 2^nd row of petals  Don’t get scared lol.!

 step1.Stick your hook in and through the 2 loops behind the petal you have just finished, chain five and slip stitch through the next 2 loops on the next petal, do this all the way around so you have 5 petal chain loops again.

step2. Now work 3 dc 3 tr 3 dc in each petal around.

For 3^rd row of petals do the same as for second but chain 8 to make slightly larger and when crocheting into the petals add in a few more stitches for eg 4 dc 4 trc 4 dc .

Just experiment with the petals you can chain more or less to make petals larger or smaller, crochet more or less into the petals tr makes the petal more pointy in the centre as it’s a taller longer stitch  and change colours for each row of petals or do all the same colour what ever you fancy.

Add a button  in the middle or bead crystal etc whatever you want.

Have fun.

Pip.x