GAD 340, A Crochet Lesson & A Rainbow EarFlap Hat

I am going to start with this fantastic piece that my pupil "J" crocheted as her practice homework. 

This was only after 1 lesson so it's fantastic progress

And in Lesson 2 we started to make Granny Squares after practicing trebles in a row

So I used my Granny Square for GAD 340

And "J" made this wonderful Granny Square, with a colour change too!!

Do you remember my order of 9 beanie hats for a customer last week (see recent posts)?  Well she ordered an earflap hat which would suit either a girl or a boy, so I suggested a multicolour creation which has turned out like this!

I used Half Trebles instead of Double Crochets, as I used for the other beanies

Simply for a change of stitch more than anything else

And I love the way it's turned out

If you want to order one then let me know

Another FAB day in my Crochet Bubble + free edging pattern

Firstly I thought I would share the fact that I am now the proud, however, temporary owner of a stall at Merton Abbey Mills for Sunday 11th December 2011 - from 10am to 5pm

I am really looking forward to my day, however I am not relishing the weather, so I will have to hunt out my thermals.

Now to some more news.

A customer ordered a Lime Green Beanie Hat with Ear Flaps via my For Sale page, so after purchasing the wool and agreeing via emails that the colour was right, I got to work.

However once I had got the main hat made, I thought that it might look better with a contrast colour finish, as it was for a young lady, so another email later and that was agreed.

I decided on a White Blanket Stitch all the way around the edge

which I thought looked FAB

And this meant that the plaits could have a touch of White in them too, which really sets off the whole hat.

I am REALLY pleased to say that the customer loved it too.

"...it’s really lovely! Thank you SO much for doing this, I’m sure she’ll love it."

I also had a Crochet Class today.  VM had bought some 100% Cotton tape from a local wool sale recently and she wanted to make a scarf from it.  

She had started on her own using a "mesh" pattern from a book she has, but there was a mistake in the pattern so it wasn't working out.  She was also using a 4mm hook and this made the work really tight.

  We went through the pattern together and with my help we adjusted the pattern (a stupid little mistake that added one chain too many) and got to work together.

Fortunately I had some Cotton Tape in my stash, so we worked alongside each other and worked 3 rows, until VM felt comfortable with carrying on, on her own once at home.

I decided to use a 9mm hook and VM an 8mm hook (the wool label said 9mm knitting needles)

I am sure that you can see the difference that 1mm CAN make - the lighter scarf is coming up much larger using the 9mm hook than the red scarf using an 8mm hook.

VM also wanted to add a nice "edge" to each end, so again, together we worked on a pattern together, however the pattern she liked in the book didn't quite fit in with the scarf's end, so we made our own up.

This is what we did for the edge

Join the wool & 1 ch, 1dc, 3tr into the one chain space. (UK)

Join the wool & 1ch, 1sc, 3dc into the one chain space. (US)

Repeat all the way along

In the end chain space - 1dc, 2tr, 1dc & fasten off (UK)

1sc, 2dc, 1sc & fasten off (US)

My week ahead

I have a very busy week this week, starting with 2 lots of 2 hour classes today, a group class tomorrow morning,  another 2 hour class on Wednesday, then another group class on Friday, followed by my first Saturday class which I had to do (I was trying to avoid working weekends) but this lady works full time all week so I couldn't say no!

I didn't crochet at all yesterday, although I did sort out my new FOLKSY shop - I still have some items to add in, however it's a start.

I also finished off the Beanie Hat ordered by my Postman - he wanted his unions initials put on the front so I did that for him last night.  However I wasn't happy with the finish, so I re did it this morning in a thicker stitch and I think it's now FAB.......

Oh, did I mention that I have a customer commission order to complete too?  It's for an Ear Flaps hat in Lime Green and the wool I have bought for this is wonderful to touch and a really great shade of colour - I can't wait to start it!

My 1st Craft Fair

Yes, today was the day and after a pretty sleepless night and with the help of the lovely Pam, we managed to unload the car, find the craft fair organiser & find out which "table" was ours.

So we set it up....

As best we could.....

Probably cramming a little too much in?

But it was better than having a half empty table

This is me

And me with Pam

And a close up of the stock

All labelled and priced up

with a smeary mirror (which of course we cleaned)

And this is what we sold:

Medium Stripy Jar

Black & White Ear Flaps Hat

1 set of Knitting Needles

Blue / Grey Beanie

Cream Beanie

Flower Brooch

Stitch Markers

Plastic Hook &

A Pink Jar with the fluffy top

So not a FANTASTIC day but I did make a small profit and more importantly we promoted the Crochet Classes a lot, and got a few people interested, plus I may get a booking to host a Crochet Party for a group of 10, 10 year old girls!!