Day #7 Granny Square + Hook Sort out!

I know that I said in my Granny A Day  project

post, that I have ordered lots of lovely wool for my Granny a Day project &

I also blogged about all the lovely wools arriving on Day #5

Well I have changed my mind!  I am saving the above lovely lovely wools / yarns for a project to be yet decided on.  Maybe a Ripple Blanket or a multi colour Granny Square Blanket - I have yet to decide!

So, after my Yarn & Wool Stash sort out, it's most sensible to use my bit's and  bobs

to make my Granny A Day Granny Squares as I am only making them 4 rows wide, so it makes sense.

Today, day 7, I dipped my hand into the basket and out came 4 colours

Which I crocheted together to make Granny Square 7

And here's all 7 joined together - I love the Join as you Go method

http://macscrochet.blogspot.com/p/free-tutorials.html

Click on the link above for a FREE tutorial

Now for my Hook Sort Out.

As you may have already read, I organised my yarn/wool stash yesterday, so today I sorted out my hooks

 These are my 2 Favourites - I got them for subscribing to Inside Crochet Magazine

Thanks to the Ravelry Website

I now have a full inventory of all my hooks

Total 22 that are accounted for below and 2 that have no markings on so 

24 in total

(click to enlarge)

 All my hooks?

Actually - no

I also have 

9 plastic 4mm hooks

&

20 Aluminium 4mm hooks

These I take to group classes with me in case someone hasn't committed to Crochet as yet (but I know they will) so they can borrow a  hook - I don't always get them back mind you.

 How many hooks do you have?

Scroll up to the POLL at the top right of this page to add your answer!

Until tomorrow folks

Easter Saturday's New Project......

I decided to go for a new project this weekend, as I can easily pick up on the Granny Square Blanket

And the Vintage stripy blanket, as and when I feel like I need a change!

So I have started on the Free Pattern that I received from Lion Brand Yarn via email, the SEA BREEZE TOP

As you can see, I have chosen to do this in Pampas, which is a soft olive green colour and I have used the same wool as I use for the Granny Square Blanket as the pattern required 50% cotton and 50% acrylic.  It's a lovely wool to work with and I managed to get 6 balls of this colour very cheaply (£3.20) on ebay recently.  It's normally £1.99 per ball!

I am really pleased with my neat edging.  I think I may have got it after all.  I have been making the turning chain, in this case 2 chains, as the rest of the row is working in half treble crochets ( the pattern says half double crochet, which is US stitching, so I converted it to UK), looser than I have been doing recently, and this has helped me to keep the constant 26 chains across at all times.

I read that for my size I had to continue to work until the piece (this is the band across the bust that I am working on here by the way) measured 37 inches, so I had one of those lightbulb moments, ran upstairs - well ok I hobbled quickly - and got my tape measure out from my sewing box - I measured around my bust and soon realised that an extra few inches wouldn't go amiss!Wow this is going to be a made to measure top!!

When you got to your required length you have to:

Overlap the short ends of Band by 1 in. (2.5 cm) and pin to form center back. Sew along one long edge of the overlapped section to secure the 2 layers together along that edge only. Bodice sts will be worked along this joined edge. Overlapped section is center back.

I think I did it right!!

Then you have to:

Ch 2, work 122 (138, 154, 170, 186) hdc evenly spaced around lower edge of Band; join with sl st in first hdc.

This did take a little while to work out, but then it clicked - I had to start the bodice off from the Band and not as a separate item!!  So I joined the yarn at one edge (neat edge hehehehe) chained two, and added about 136 half treble crochets.  I did loose count a little after 120 but I had a good idea that I was on the right amount or thereabouts.

So this is the first row being added....

And this is the result at the end of row 4.  I now have to change to the bigger needle size and work until the bodice measures about 14 to 15 inches - so a job for a rainy wet Easter Sunday then!!

Link to the Free Pattern - Lion Brand Sea Breeze Top

The Art of Crochet

This is the subscription magazine that got me started.  The 1st issue was 99p - you got a binder, a DVD the magazine, a crochet hook and a small 25g ball of wool.

I continued to go to WHSmiths every week to pick up the latest copy at £2.99 - for this you got the magazine and a new ball of wool. 

You do get a load of other patterns e.g. cushion covers, kiddies cardigans, scarves etc. to crochet, but the attraction for me was this beautiful throw.

After Issue 6, I was told by the lady in WHSmiths that it's normal for them to change to "Customer Orders Only" after a few issues, so in this case it was Issue 6 as I couldn't get Issue 7 off the shelf.  Nice of her to tell me when I was purchasing Issue 5 or indeed 6!

So I came home and placed an online subscription for Issue 7 which I have to wait for 28days for it to arrive, along with another 3 issues, so I may have to wait longer.

I have since calculated that the throw is approx 10 squares x 14 squares, so mulitply that by £2.99 and deduct the £2 not paid for the 99p magazine - that's £416 - one expensive throw!!

I don't have more money than brains, so I will immediately go online and cancel my subscription!

The Big Blanket......

It started with a granny square made from leftover hat and scarf wool by Stylecraft.  It's called Kon-Tiki and comes in a range of lovely Autumnal colours....

The square grew and grew....

And when that square was finished, I started another....

And another....

I visited the Wool Shop which is nice and local, for some more supplies, and I saw this new colour "Paprika" so I picked up a few balls of this.....

I then fancied a change, so I started some Treble Crochet Squares....

And another variety, a Plain Ridge...

And a plain ridge with multi colours.....

I then read on the WWW - the font of alot of knowledge, that it's best to join a few squares together as this could get boring if you had to do 200 at once, so I made a start....

And did some more.....

This is the joining as it would show from the front - giving the blanket that nice "rustic" look

And this is the join from the reverse....

It's February 24th today and apart from 10 or 12 squares yet to add, this is the blanket so far.....

 More to come soon....