Day 312 - Christmas Santa & Stockings

The lovely Tracey Todhunter - Crochet Teacher, Designer & inspiration has mentioned me on her latest blog post

http://bakingandmaking.com/2013/11/08/a-few-ideas-for-christmas/

so I thought I'd mention her back

Do pop over to her blog / website & have a read - you will be mesmerized!

Today I had the lovely PD for a private Crochet Class

She's finished off her Chunky Warming Socks

and they look FANTASTIC

If you'd like the pattern, it's one that's available in my book

Crochet for Beginners who want to Improve

She also made more hearts, a pattern that we worked on in her last lesson (middle heart) so she's done well - learning increasing & decreasing plus edging & finishing off!

I love teaching PD as she's so much fun to have in class & so enthusiastic too

My copy of Make & Craft Magazine arrived today

& in it is my All in One Santa Pattern!

If you love making toys but hate sewing in the arms, legs & head afterwards (like me which is why I designed this pattern) then you'll love crocheting Santa

He's got dangling legs & his body is filled with rice at the base so you can sit him on the mantelpiece & his legs can dangle over the edge

www.makeandcraft.com

A perfect addition to your Christmas Decorations

I have made loads of Mini Christmas Stockings for the 2 Craft Fairs coming up

The pattern is available in my ETSY shop 

HERE

Once you have made the basic pattern  you can glitz up your stocking as you like

Here I have used Tinsel, Eyelash & Metallic yarns

Tomorrow I am teaching at Cotton Moon in Blandford

My final workshop of the week

That's 7 Crochet workshops / classes this week!

PHEW

And finally

312 in true Christmas Stocking colours

Poodle at Crochet Class - Day 283

Found this picture on Twitter this morning - 

how's this for yarn bombing? Just yarn bombed scaffolding outside my yarn shop!!!

And that yarn hop is http://yarntastic.co.uk/ which is in Worthing, West Sussex.

If you look to the left of this page, you'll see that I design for Make & Craft Magazine - well right there on the front cover - top right - are my Christmas Socks!!

How fab is that!

Today's Class / Workshop had an added pupil

Meet Lilly

One of my pupils, her "mummy" had a situation at home (smoke alarms going off willy nilly) and couldn't leave her home with the noise, so she phoned me to check if she could bring her along.

Today we covered "JayGo"

or Join As You Go

And they all did

wonderfully well

They really have grasped this Crochet Lark very well!

Day 283

Cotton Moon - Days 278 & 279 & vintage blanket repair

I taught a Crochet Workshop at Cotton Moon in Blandford Forum this morning.

A small group of 6 ladies arrived & we got started

Their concentration was intense at first

But the soon began to relax & make stitch swatches

They all deserve a round of applause for doing so well today

& achieving so much is a very short 3 hour space

When I got home there was a large parcel of wool waiting for me - another commission for Make & Craft  Magazine which I can't wait to get started on, on Monday.

I have a day off this Sunday so I am going to make the most of it - make the two squares for my Twitter blanket & hopefully work on my socks some more before the workshops start all over again next week as I am teaching every day Monday to Friday!

It's now Sunday

I noticed that Scrumpy Puppy has tried his hand at Crochet recently - namely the  Granny Blanket I made many years ago for my bed

As you can see he's undone one of the seams!

But don't panic - my 4mm crochet hook is at hand

But as I got towards the end

I started to run out of working wool!

So I took it right back along the seam & changed to a 3mm hook which left me with lots of working wool at the end which I sewed in after fastening off.

Job done

Days 278

& 279

Oh and I have managed to finish off one sock

So now for Sock 2

Day 231 -Wow what a day!! US Book is not far away!

Yes we are going back across the pond again today to the USA!

My Book

Crochet cor Beginners who want to Improve has been translated (by me) checked (by me), PLUS it's been  read & approved by non other that Sara Dugan AKA  MomWithaHook

who said

"Ali, I just finished reading it and You did a fantastic job in converting. I can't tell you enough what a great resource this is."

So it's on the way to the publishers on Amazon right now & should be available within the next 24hours!!

I will also be publishing a Kindle Edition

If you would like the UK version on Kindle then please take a look here - it was released today!!

See I told you it was a WOW day.

Last night I spent a rare few hours working a few rows on my jumper....

And today I managed to complete a VERY lovely commission for Make & Craft Magazine.

It's so lovely and adorable that I want to share it with you all but I can't!

So for Day 231

I made this Pinky for today

Days 215 & 216 - Last chance to enter the Crochet GIVEAWAY

Yes that's right!

Tomorrow this Giveaway will end!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You will win:

A copy of my book - Crochet for Beginners who want to Improve

A 100g Ball of Stylecraft Special DK (colour may vary)

A 4mm Aluminium Crochet Hook & a Pack of 10 Stitch Markers

PLUS

The winner will also receive a 10% discount  promo code off all 3 of my Crochet eLearning Courses!

Course 1 - The Basics

Course 2 - The Next Step &

Course 3 - The Finishing Touches

Wow what a prize!!

You can live anywhere in the world to enter 

There is only 

ONE

prize!

Here's what you have to do:

You have to tweet about the giveaway &

You have to like my FaceBook Page

+

You have to follow this blog

Easy Peasy!

Just use the Rafflecopter system to enter.....

Talking of Giveaways, do you remember I mentioned this yesterday?

Well it was a giveaway that I entered in 

I forgot all about it!!

Day 215

In more news

Have you seen this great link?

http://crochetbusiness.com/hooking-for-cash/

Hooking for Cash: 10 Ways to Earn Money with Your Crochet Blog

I've bought the eBook - why not give it a try ?

Day 216

I am still cracking on with my commission for the Granny Square Bag, which is taking a lot longer than I originally thought it would.  Just goes to show you how much FUN TIME you have whilst you are crocheting if you don't realise timings!

The socks, or that should be sock as I have only started one of them so far is also coming along fine.  It's hard working without an actual "foot" to work with!! Previously I have only crocheted socks for myself & every now and then I try them on and adjust if necessary, but this one is "blind"  All I know is that he's a size 9 UK with a wide foot.

Day 207 - Wow what a day of fantastic Crochet News!!

Before  I launch into the fantastic day of Crochet News I am going to share Day 206 from yesterday & today's square for Day 207

Aren't they lovely colours?  The are from Deramores  "Baby Double Knitting" and they are lovely to Crochet with

Fantastic Crochet News #1

I placed this ad in the Blackmore Vale Magazine today & I have already had 4 phone calls to reserve a place!!

Actually make that 5 as I have just had another call!

I then got my post today & along with my returned pieces of work that were sent off for their photo shoot the other week I also got these lovely goodies to wish me a speedy recovery.

How thoughtful is that!

Thanks  to Make & Craft & Craft Makes

Then I get mentioned by Tracey Todhunter - a crochet designer (and knit designer too as well as a great baker & volunteer for community projects)  & a fellow crochet teacher that I greatly admire, on her wonderful blog 

I MADE IT !

I am also very proud to announce that the Granny Square Bag pattern that I blogged about yesterday

has generated 800 pins on PINTEREST!! Wow.

One of the "pinners" was Lucy from Attic24 - yes that wonderful Crochet Blog that EVERYONE loves

& this is what she said when I thanked her for her pin!

Attic24 Ali, you are more than welcome, I truly LOVE your bag, it's just the sort of thing that makes my heart melt. Simple idea, but totally made gorgeous by the colours. Fab!xxxxx

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151499220215950&set=o.383372385083765&type=1&comment_id=9215547&offset=0&total_comments=1

And finally......

Did you know that the latest Inside Crochet Magazine is out?

And my Garden Coasters are just one of the FANTASTIC patterns that you'll find in there

(these 2 images are copyright of TMP & Inside Crochet magazine)

Not only have they got a new issue out - but a new website too!

http://www.insidecrochet.co.uk/

Days 197 & 198 Hooked on Technology

I am sorry that I didn't blog yesterday - I was having trouble accessing the internet yesterday evening - I don't know why.  I did a few "cleans" of my computer and all seems OK now.  Give me a Crochet Hook & some wool rather than technology any day.

However saying this, I have come to realise that being a Crochet Teacher, Designer & Book Writer, one needs the internet & all the technology that it comes with now more than ever.

For example, I got an email from Amazon this morning which promotes my book!!

Yes that's it there, right on the top of the list.

I wonder how many people get this email?

I also contact & communicate with Inside Crochet and  Make & Craft  & other magazines via emails when I am submitting commissions & suchlike.

I order my wool on the internet from Yarn and Craft Shop

And my eLearning Courses are all internet based

I also use emails to communicate with my Crochet Students & of course I have my Facebook pages:

https://www.facebook.com/GetHookedCrochetClassesforBeginners

&

https://www.facebook.com/LearntoCrochetElearning

PLUS

There's also my You Tube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/macalifrog

& of course all the photo's that I take with my iPhone & have to "sync" across to my computer

PHEW!!

So there you have it

Crochet & Technology have to be "hooked"

There's no other way around it!

Day 197 

Day 198 

Day 171 Crochet Classes Galore & some FAB results too!

 

 This morning I took a workshop of 4

It was a little bit of an impromptu one made up of ex workshop pupils that wanted to come back for another lesson, so they were all working on slightly different things, which meant that I was hobbling around the table quite a lot!

However they all made great progress, learnt new techniques

 

Next was KPK - we started hat making last week as she wanted to make a Beanie Hat for herself & she came in with a beige beanie that was nearly finished.

She described the edging that she wanted to add, so I showed her how to alternate back post & front post half trebles to achieve the look she was after.

She had a flower ready mad that she wanted to add to her hat, so I suggested that she completed her new hat with a pink trim to match the flower!

And look at the end result!!

It really suits her too!

Next week we are going to make a matching scarf /snood & maybe some mittens too!

And this is me in my hat!

 I started my Back & Front Post stitches slight further up than at the normal "brow" & I love it!  Like KPK I can't wait for winter now so that I can wear it LOL

So by starting with a basic Beanie Hat Pattern we have created 2 new Beanie Hat designs!!

This is Day 172

 I am still working on a final commission, which I will have completed tomorrow & all ready for the post next week & ahead of the deadline, so I am pleased.

I mentioned that I now have a regular monthly spot in a magazine on Monday, so firstly thanks for all the congratulations!  I have already sent off my "June" creation & I have LOADS of fab ideas for the coming months which I am writing down in my trusty filofax, so I don't forget!

That magazine is Make & Craft Magazine which has some FAB crafty creations, ideas & inspiration in it.

So if you don't want to miss one of my patterns, you'd better subscribe

HERE

Finally, I was offered a job in LONDON today for a Fashion House that is desperate for a Crocheter to work with them on getting some items ready for a Photo Shoot, but they need me next week and my husband is away next week so I had to say no as there will be no one to look after Scrumpy!

My Puppy comes first.