Crochet in January so far....

As you know, I like to make "something Crochet a Day" in the hope that it will resemble a blanket by the end of the year. 

 In 2012 I had so much going on in my life, with a house move & a new business to start up that I made a commemorate blanket.  It had things like the Flag of Dorset, the day I gave blood (a blood drop) A dart board, because I dreamt of a dart board! My wedding anniversary.  A tennis ball for the start of Wimbledon (not the year that Murray won) & of course it was the year of the Jublilee Celebrations, so I made 4 squares in Red White & Blue.

(this is at the October Stage)

2013 saw my little flowers.  All the centres were sunshine Yellow (Stylecraft Special DK) Row 2's were all different colours, some were red, some purple, some grey - you get the idea.  The great thing was that my Facebook & Twitter friends sent me in some of their Yarn Scraps by post, so I was able to make it more colourful that originally thought.

(still about 80 squares to go!)

2014 saw a slight change.  It wasn't that I was bored with squares, I will never be bored of squares, especially Granny Squares, but I wanted to do something a little different, so I went for Triangles!

As you already know, I decided on Baby Hexagons for 2015 - boy are they addictive!!

So much so that I have one in DK & one in Chunky on the go as I can't make just the one!!

If you want the pattern it's here - go on,  join in my CAL ! 

 The famous Crochet & Knitwear designer Lynne Rowe has http://thewoolnest.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/cals-and-kals.html

In other news....

This amazing blanket was made by one of my pupils who couldn't conquer "Chevrons"

And this baby blanket is for my Great Nephew to be

In class (the 2nd of 4) we made mobile phone covers

And here's some of my little crochet cables samplers

that I made to show class before their lesson.

One of my Sherborne ladies brought in this project which I love

& we also learnt to JAYGO

In another class this week we progressed to working in the flat round

I have a total of 32 workshops to teach this month, plus I have been asked to make several commissions for the UK's top Crochet magazines too,  so do bear with me if I don't blog again for a while.

Finally, I would like to thank another Famous Knitwear & Crochet Designer, Tracey Todhunter, for her kindness in giving me some good advice this week.

Weeks 29 & 30 My Students TALENT + more

This is the lovely BP (who's quite a celebrity name dropper) who is totally hooked.  I did blog about the start of her cushion a few weeks back.  She wasn't happy with her stitching, as I had pointed out a little something to her, so she unpicked it ALL and started again.  

However, can you see the Granny Square cushion on the table?  She's made 2 cushions!! WOW

 This pot cover is made from cotton and is by one of my Shaftesbury pupils

Via email from a student of mine GW, are these fabulous "Picnic" stones

And L has been making this summer cardigan in 4 ply.  Its amazing, considering she couldn't crochet 8 weeks ago.  I was so WOWED by it that I whipped off my Serena Kaftan (from the dummy that is) and placed this piece of wonder on it instead

Back to Shaftesbury, where I teach at Sparrow UK

L made me this bookmark in DMC Petra.  It takes pride of place in my favourite Crochet Book by DK publishing & the pattern is by the one and only Claire Montgomerie!

Here's BP again, showing off her new hat.  She combined 2 patterns from my book Crochet for Beginners who want to Improve   She made the beanie hat using one pattern and then the flower from another and voila!

I have had this book for a while now and I have been meaning to make something from it from the moment I bought it.  It's terribly well written & you can see that a lot of hard work has gone into the pattern writing (there are some symbols charts - hooray) and the photography.  

Click here for the link

I really do need some "me" Crochet time to do all the projects that I want to do.  When I do get it, the question is - which keyring or charm do I make first??

Back to school & more from Shaftesbury

Another pupil made me this lovely pin cushion.  A pattern from a recent Inside Crochet magazine

And another made this lovely Elephant.  The original pattern came as part of a kit with some lovely Alpaca wool.  I suggested that she practiced first with anything chunky as she hadn't crocheted "amigurumi" style before & this is the result

I found this picture in my stash - my flowers for my bike basket! Cute? YAY!

Another pose by Elephant

This is the lampshade I made at a course at Sparrow in Shaftesbury.  It was strange being the pupil and not the teacher!

Now here's talent by The Dorset Finca

And a Mandala by another lady in the same class

The summer cardigan again but from a different angle

My Ripples Blanket - Mmmmm why is this photo here?  I'll have to come back to you on that! 

Ah! Cushion 2 is on display by BP

My left foot in a flip flop with my Triangle a day blanket laid out in the front courtyard - it's now at 200!

Have YOU got the latest copy of Let's Get Crafting Knitting and CROCHET?

Amongst many other great patterns by some FAB designers like Lynne Rowe (Comforter Blanket bottom left) and Tracey Todhunter (Hippo Pillow top left) are my Baby Booties

Aren't they just adorable?  What a fantastic gift they would make!

Buy your copy now!!

And finally

I took a 3 hour "Improvers" class on Thursday

It was a really great 3 hours of Crochet with so many different projects going on

This Tea Cosy from Inside Crochet Magazine is looking FAB!  Leaves needed to be added for that "finishing touch"

Also from Inside Crochet....

Is Ms. Clarice

Who needed help with her ruffly tail feathers

They turned out well and she looks fab

Next is Boodles Yarn and a 12mm hook!

Ah! Ms. Clarice again with crochet action

More T Shirt yarn and a 10mm hook which squeaked when the yarn was worked - D is going to get an aluminium one.

This is S with her amazing blanket WIP

And CF with her multi stripey blanket.  She's decided to crab stitch the edges & work the tail ends in at the same time

In the meantime, I have been busy working on more commissions which are currently taking up ALL of my spare time.

Back to my hook then!