WIP Weds: Blankets...yes, more blankets!

On Monday I managed to finish the Mario coaster, so I'll show you all that on Friday.

The two blankets for the kids have gone on hold for a short while as I received my generously donated yarn on Friday (well, it went to the sorting office and I collected it on Friday in the rain!). I crochet for the MNWoollyHugs project and recently offered to crochet for their Little Hugs project, which is basically little blankets that get sent to a hospital for seriously ill children to use.

So here are two WIP blankets for them

In the background is a large granny square blanket. I turned the work after each round to avoid getting a wonky centre. It's pretty much finished - just those pesky ends to sew in. The second is just a basic blanket using US dc. I didn't really count the starting chain but I think there's just under 80 stitches. I'm just hoping I don't run out of yarn on this one. The good thing with this blanket though is that I can cover my ends as I go!

For more WIP posts check out Tami's blog.

FO Friday: Surprise!

Well this was possibly the quickest ever Christmas present I've made. I also feel a little bad because it's for my husband so I can't put a photo directly on the blog as he'll see it and it won't be a surprise.

Don't worry though...you can see it on my Ravelry project page HERE where you'll also find a link to the pattern. It's to go on his desk at work and I think it goes rather well with the coaster he asked for, don't you?

For more finished projects check out Tami's blog. I know some of you have found my blog that way. Thanks for the comments - sorry if I haven't responded to many, I do read them all but don't always get chance to reply.

WIP Weds: More Granny Squares and More Mario

This might be the post that proves I'm mad! Having just finished making 252 granny squares for the mario blanket, I've started more granny squares for another blanket. Luckily I only need 84 this time and I've done the main section of them all (4 rounds in one colour). I'm planning to add a final round of white to each one and then join them using single crochet. It's been a bit of a stash-busting project, using up lots of leftovers and basically tidying up my yarn stash.

What's that on top of those granny squares? Well that's a granny stripe blanket in progress! The plan for these two blankets is that there will be one for each of the kids for Christmas.

On top of those two blankets I'm waiting on some yarn and fabric for some charity blankets I've offered to make. They'll be fairly quick I hope because they don't need to be very big. More on that next week perhaps.

Onto the next Christmas present...

My husband really liked the mario blanket and mentioned he'd quite like a Mario coaster for work. So I used the pattern to do a cross-stitch mario (basically I did a block of 4 stitches for each 'granny square' on the pattern). It's still in progress because I had no flesh colour thread so will be buying some tomorrow to finish it off and then needs to turn it into a coaster but here it is so far:

For more WIP projects check out Tami's blog

Pretty Much Finished: Mario!!!

It's finished, apart from the last two ends to weave in. I am pondering doing a second round of the black but I quite liked it with just the one round so I'll probably think on it a bit.

It's from this pattern by Russ McAllister.

FO Friday: Ballet Bag

A little bit of a cheating post today since this item was finished a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't able to show you this earlier as I didn't want to spoil the surprise for my niece's parents if they saw the blog.

Inspired by this version by Monkey Beans and made following this pattern by Pink Penguin, here's the ballet bag I made for my niece.

Modelled by Erin!

The blue outer handle fabric was from my stash and the rest of the fabrics were from The Skep. I lined the bag with the same fabric used for the rim, it was a bargain remnant piece. I made it in roughly an afternoon and would definitely recommend the pattern. I love that it has the drawstring cover so that things can't fall out.

For more finished objects see Tami's Amis

WIP Weds: Mario continues....

I'd love to say I am now relaxing because I finished all 252 granny squares needed for the mario blanket yesterday morning but unfortunatley there were lots of ends to sew in. OTOH I took a load of the squares to sewing group on Monday evening and worked on them there, which gave me the kick start I needed. I managed to get all the ends sewn in yesterday before having to pick Erin up from school.

The kids then sat and watched a film as we were having tea late (friend was visiting) so I started putting the squares together.

There are so many ways of joining granny squares but the one I use most often is to hold the squares right sides together and then slip stitch in the closest and furthest loops (i.e. the back loops only). I like this one as I can do it with my hook and it gives a neat finish to the front.

I considered the join as you go method but decided it wouldn't look quite right for a pixelated picture. I tend to stick to using join as you go for joining squares that have the same colour for the outer round as then the 'join' isn't very noticable.

I tend not to sew together at all. I find this a little strange because I sew & quilt as well as crochet. I think it's perhaps because it is so different to sewing fabric.

Anyway, the first 4 rows are done (that's 56 squares joined)

Please excuse the mess!

There's another 14 rows to go, then I need to go down all the vertical lines so still quite a lot of work. I'm then going to put a couple of rounds of black as a border.

For more WIP Weds posts check out:
Tami's Amis
Ambassador Crochet

Mario is getting closer!

Just a very quick update. Today my package of yarn arrived so I now have enough to finish the Mario blanket. I've now finished all the yellow, tan, brown and red. All that is left to do is 32 more blue.

That means I've done 220 of the 252 squares needed!

FO Friday: Crochet Cable Scarf

If you popped onto my blog yesterday you might have seen I started a scarf (Crochet Cable Scarf by Joyce Nordstrom). It was a very quick make indeed. It's a cable pattern and the scarf has 18 repeats of it. We watched a film last night and by the time it was finished I had 15 repeats, so I quickly finished it off this morning.

I might even make this pattern again! That's unusual for me as I prefer to try out new patterns but I like the finished scarf. It's a good size and only took 100g of DK. Actually, it took exactly that...I was starting to panic I'd have to start a new ball for a handful of stitches!

I started making this because I wanted a little break from granny squares and I wanted to get something finished. I have a slightly odd feeling at the moment because for the first time in ages I have no deadlines for coursework. It's all going to change in a few weeks as my next course starts and I still have the exam for my current one so I don't really feel relaxed despite the lack of deadlines. At least by doing something that's quick to make I feel like I've completed something.

Luckily I didn't have to struggle to get a picture of myself wearing the scarf as I had a very willing model ;-)

In case you're wondering why she has no trousers on, she didn't want them back on after I changed her nappy this morning after the school run.

Check out Tami's Amis for more FO's.

Something From The Weekend

My Dad has an allotment and just look at some of the stuff we came home with:

We had a roast dinner with all this today. It always amazes me how lovely home grown carrots are. I'm not a big fan of carrots normally but these have so much more flavour than the supermarket ones. Actually I think they have more flavour than the ones we used to get in organic veg boxes from various suppliers.

In case you were hoping for more of a crafty fix...check out what I started today

It's the Crochet Cable Scarf by Joyce Nordstrombut I've added a couple of stitches to either side as I'm using DK yarn. I kinda wish I'd done two lines of cables at each side so I'll bear that in mind in case I use the pattern for any Christmas presents. I've just reached the halfway point on it so it really is a quick make!

WIP Weds: Yes, it's another blanket!

Hello, my name is Hazel and I'm a blanket-holic. I feel like I'm making loads of blankets and quilts. This one is a little bit of a love/hate project. It's incredibly dull making so many granny squares (252) in so few colours (5 colours in total and the yellow is only used for two squares!). I started it just over 8 days ago and I'm up to 130 squares. Pretty impressive for me, especially as I had an assignment due today!

130 granny squares

I have to admit I'm not loving crocheting the brown. I thoguht I would get very bored with the blue but I actually didn't. There seemed to be a 'milestone' to aim for and everytime I hit one, another wasn't far away so it was easy to keep going. The brown though is another story, so I might break it up and do a bunch of reds after I finish my current ball.

Wondering what it is? Well, it's going to be this Mario Blanket by RussMcAllister.

And I couldn't finish this post without mentioning that Orla had a settling in session at nursery today for 1 hour. She insisted on wearing her uniform, which is a little long on her!

For more WIP Weds news see Tami's Amis.

Weekend Away & Back To School

At the weekend we went to visit family in Keswick. It's a bit unusual because we always go at bank holiday weekend but this year Erin's friend was having a birthday party that weekend so we decided to go a week later. It meant I missed the Great Northern Quilt Show but I'd spent most of my money at the Festival oif Quilts anyway.

Most of our time was spent visiting family and wandering around town but I did manage to find a bargain in WHSmiths. The Crochet Collection (volume 1) was reduced from £9.99 to 50p.

I don't often buy crochet magazines as I tend to use Ravelry for pattern finding. Also I prefer to use the American crochet terms and most UK magazines use the British ones. I can switch between the two so I'll buy a mag if it has something I really love in. This time though I thought for 50p you can't really go wrong. There are a few patterns I'd like to make - a dinosaur for Orla, a top for me and my favourite is the Henna Rug by Claire Montgomerie.

I'm hoping to get a bit more time to sew & crochet soon as Erin has gone back to school today and Orla starts properly in the nursery next week. She's going for 2 1/2 full days as it means I can take her on days out on the two days she's not in and have a decent block of time to myself on the full days she's in. Wednesday will mostly be going back and forth to school though! It also means I can plan full study days.

Erin's first day in Year One

Oh and a little granny square update. I've now finished 120 squares out of 252. I'm planning on doing 6  today so that I'm halfway.