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Don't you just LOVE this cute owl bag?

I designed it for Make It Today magazine which is in the shops now!

And here's a link to their Facebook Page 

https://www.facebook.com/makeittodaymag?fref=nf

and website

http://www.makeittoday.co.uk/

In my Improvers class, SC made this lovely fox wrap which is a design from a recent Inside Crochet magazine

www.insidecrochet.co.uk www.insidecrochet.co.uk

We also started to learn  how to make a 4 colour Granny Square

Once again (as I have used her site for this pattern before) I have started another blanket & also taught this technique in class & this was thanks to Smooth Fox Lover

http://smoothfoxlover.blogspot.com/2011/03/smoothfoxs-spiral-granny-square-or.html

One of my former pupils asked me to ccrochet a few forget me nots for Demetia Awareness week.  I decided to get all of my class ladies making them, so I supplied the blue & yellow yarn & look what happened!

These flowers will be sold to raise funds for this great cause.

One of my pupils is following a pattern by Rowan Yarn & making this amazing felted place mat with a crochet edge.  The amazing thing is that she is using wool that she has spun into skeins that comes from her own Alpaca herd!!

And now for another new technique that I am currently teaching - Reversable Crochet

If you turn it over it's perfectly the same on both sides!!

On May 2nd I went to the Slipped Stitch in Sherborne to help out with Yarn Shop Day

I took mini Crochet Workshops

And I even had a 9 year old boy come in with his stash of Crochet projects to show me which were all fantastic.

And now for some Tunisian Crochet which my left handed pupil is making in  class at Sparrow UK Shaftesbury.

Another lady in the class is making a Chevron Scarf

And another made a blue & yellow spiral effect mat which matched the Forget Me Nots perfectly!

That's all for now followers. I thank  you for following my blog & I hope you have enjoyed the read and have taken some inspiration from it.

Happy Hooking

Day 24 - various Crochet Tales to Tell!

This lovely blanket was made by one of my old pupils from Surrey.

She finally finished it and sent me this lovely photo.

I am very proud of her!

This is one of my current pupils who decided to make herself this lovely colourful hat!

In beginners class today we revisited dc & tr's

Can you see how thier work looks "more relaxed" towards the top??

We always have fun in class

We lots of chat and tea / coffee & biscuits

One of my pupils bought this lovely Merino Spiral Granny Blanket from me today

So a very lovely Crochet Day today

And finally

Here is Square 24

As you can see I have managed to get another NEW colour into the blanket & this time it's Navy Blue!

When I went to the Blandford Knit & Crochet Club yesterday, I bought a small bag of yarn ends - perfect!

And finally (again)

What do you do with your yarn ends??

I fill up a large glass vase for a pretty & colour display

And when I need to stuff a toy or a small cushion I use these ends for the stuffing instead of buying the expensive stuff they sell in the shops!

Baby Blanket, Mittens & GAD 226 - PHEW Crochet overload....

Yes, I am pleased to report that the Spiral Baby Blanket is finally finished - ahead of the pending "pop" I would like to add!

Here it is in its full glory

As you can see there is Baby Blue, Baby Pink, Baby Yellow & White swirling around in spirals of Granny Shells

Finished off with a Baby Green Border in scallops of Grannys

These colours work well really as the Mother to be is from the Philippines, so their flag is Red, Blue, White & Yellow and the Father to be is Irish so their that's the Green bit!

Do you see my thinking behind this?

Next is the mittens

During the Olympic Closing Ceremony I got a little bored, so I picked up a new ball of Aran Wool and a 5mm hook and I started to crochet a block / square / rectangular shape. 

I made sure that the chain that  I started with went around my wrist - 25 chains - and then I crocheted in Half Trebles until the block / square / rectangle got to just above my knuckles.

After that I didn't break off the wool - I simple joined the seams with a single crochet down the longest part, leaving a gap for the thumbs 

and 

Tah Dah

I now have a pair of mittens which are wonderfully warm and cosy and will allow me to get on with various activities when it's cold enough to wear them e.g. stacking the chilled produce at work!

I had some left over Aran at the end of the ball so I made GAD 226 with it

GAD 219

Granny A Day 219 is dedicated to all the daisies that I saw on my dog walk today

Well to be honest I am not too sure if they are all daisies as such, but all daisy looking flowers or even "weeds" I think, as some were growing in abundance in the corn field, but I feel that weeds can be as beautiful as a flower and don't deserve such a "stigmata" of a name

I am now going to concentrate on a few hours of work on the spiral granny baby blanket as "baby" is due in August!!

Spiral Granny Blanket

I took my curtain tie backs to the local craft shop, so that I could get the colour match right, not just guess whilst there and get it wrong!

I found the pattern I was after - I fancied a Granny Square blanket, but I wanted a twist and I was lucky enough to find a Spiral Granny Pattern on You Tube

So I got my 4 colours and my 6.5mm hook ready in front of the computer screen and followed the online instructions

Pausing every now and then to make sure that I recorded my efforts with my camera

The Spiral effect started to show

And with the chunky wool I had chosen the blanket started to grow

I had to be careful to make sure all the sides were even as the blanket got bigger, as I was working around and around, changing colours every so often

As the blanket grew, the spiral effect got more and more stunning

And finally it's finished - I am thrilled with the end result.

It took approx 40 hours to make and wool costs were £50

If I were to make one like this for sale, it would cost around £250 to buy - and that's only charging £5 per hour to cover my time - less than the minimum wage!!!

Credit where credit is due - thanks to Smooth Fox for the You Tube video tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/user/SmoothFox1955?feature=mhum#p/u/0/smQTTv74fqM