Baby Shower 1.

I can now reveal one of my secret projects. The first baby shower has been and gone and this is now in the hands of the mum to be. I decided on a baby blanket. Hardly original for me. If it's not hats and socks then it's baby blankets. This time though I decided to try for something different. First of all I put my crochet skills to the test. I wanted to try a new pattern. Remember the hearts crochet I mentioned on my bucket list post? Well I hunted down the pattern and it turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. It's made up mainly of trebles, chains and a few single crochet in there.

To be honest I don't actually think it looks much like hearts. It's still pretty though and I am happy with the way it turned out. Even if my sister did call it my fried egg blanket (was not amused by that one which just made it all the more hilarious for my sister). If you are interested you can find the patter here. It is in dutch but I just used the chart at the bottom of the page.

I used the same cotton I had used for my mood blanket. Rico essentials cotton. It was a bit splitty but I had the same problem with it before so I was aware that it was going to happen. I had a little leftover so I tidied the edges with some double crochet. I thought the fan edging I usually give to anything I crochet would be too much. I am pleased to say that mum to be liked it. Just two more secret projects to go!

Oh, and can I count this off my bucket list as something different with crochet? It was the image I used when listing it. However, it might be cheating as I already did the crochet frames under that listing.

Another One Bites the Dust!

It's the end of January and I have another item off my bucket list. That makes two and two was my goal. This Mandala rug was the main one I wanted to do. I knew I would be buying the yarn to do this at some point this year. In a post about new stash I had shown you a picture of the Boodles t-shirt yarn. Here it is all crocheted up into the rug. I am again proud of myself for being able to follow the pattern. Especially since it was in American terminology. In truth it was made up entirely of trebles and chains so it wasn't that hard.

It was actually hardest on my poor arms. The hook I needed was so big that none of the stores had it and I had to order it on line. You can see the difference between the 15mm and the 4mm I used for the baby blankets. You can't quite hold it the same way. It meant I had to take breaks from it. Although I would crochet to the point where my arm was in agony. It was just too fun watching it grow.

 It's big enough for me to sit in the middle of. I think it's just a nice size. To be honest it should have been two or three rounds bigger but this was already taking up more yarn than planned and I wasn't for buying more.

The reason being is that I do not recommend Boodles t-shirt yarn. The original pattern recommended zpaggetti yarn. That was the yarn that I was originally going to get because it offered more colours. However, as you seen already, I spotted the exact colours I wanted in the Boodles and I couldn't help myself. It meant I could have the yarn there and then rather than order it. This is why it doesn't pay to be impatient. This rug took up 4 1/2 balls of yarn where the pattern said 3. Keeping in mind I stopped two or three rows earlier in the pattern. The red ball was significantly smaller than the blue but I though I would have enough to do a few rounds in the middle and then the edging. The red only lasted for half the edging and then I had to take it out.

Just as annoying is the quality. There are constant joins through it. In some places they were tied together and in others they were badly stitched with white thread. The yarn also went incredibly thin  in places which has distorted some of my stitches. Probably to the thickness of a DK type yarn. Then there is the colours. You can see from this that the last round and the border is done in a different shade of blue. It would seem that boodles doesn't differentiate between shades. It just lists everything as blue. I ordered more online. The photo was the same shade that I had used and I received a very pale blue. I thought this was just a mistake of the store but when I went into the store I saw that there were three distinct shades of blue and they were all listed as the same colourway. The border was the closest I could get to mine.

In short, I loved the pattern. I am very pleased with the end result. I would like to do this again but I will be more patient next time and stick with the recommended yarn. A friend of mine has used the both this and the zpaggetti and has said there is a huge difference in quality.

One Box Ticked!

The other day I picked up this months edition of Simply Crochet. I have maybe bought this magazine once before. I don't do a lot of crochet and I find it difficult to follow crochet patterns. This tends to put me off (I think it comes from starting off as a knitter first). I picked up this one though because my friends business was being advertised and I wanted to see it. Lets face it, I really only need the slightest excuse to pick up a crafting magazine.

There was a section on decorating your craft space. There were quite a few things in there that I liked. One of them was a lacy border for embroidery hoops. Normally this sort of thing wouldn't appeal but tastes change. Plus I am working on a camper van cross stitch which is going to be framed in a hoop and thought that this would be perfect. I did the medium size in white with pink to match the cross stitch. I am so proud of myself that I managed it. And it's not a granny square! That means I can actually tick something off my bucket list.

I'm not going to lie, it wasn't easy. Doing the initial double crochet around the hoop was both awkward and sore on the hand. The third row I had to do about three times before I got it right. That was down to my lack of experience in reading patterns. The photo above was my first attempt at that row. I did eventually get it and although it took me all afternoon I am pleased with the result.

 

Since I got the hang of it I then decided to do the bigger lacy hoop border for the frog prince cross stitch I did last year. I had picked out white with a black border. I forgot that the fabric of the cross stitch was an off white so it looks a little odd. Plus the hoop is really a little too small for that design. However, I got it right first time so it stays for now.

Purchases, Pinnings and Sneak Peaks!

I hope everyone had a lovely New Year. Mine was spent as planned. In my jammies with my sister, DVDs, food and a few drinks. I also did a bit of knitting. Reluctantly my nose is back in the books but I am taking some time out to relax too.

Like yesterday, I met my friend Clare for coffee in the morning and we did a wee bit of shopping. I'm not going to lie, there was also cake. We ended up in hobbycraft which I had intended. I wanted to pick up some acrylic yarn for a crochet along (yes another one). As it had to be acrylic I wasn't going to be spending much. I had no intentions of buying anything else so intentionally left a voucher I had behind. When will I ever learn that I have no will power? As soon as I stepped in the store I saw they have created a display with their t-shirt yarn. Plus they had the colours I want for the mandala rug. How could I walk away with Christmas money in my pocket? Fingers cross this will be enough as this was the last red in the shade that I like on the shelf. It's also smaller than the other hanks (a friend of mine warned me that despite the labels the yardage on each of the hanks of boodles differ - most annoying).

I got the acrylic I wanted too and some glue sticks. I was then going to pick up a few other things to help me tick off things on my bucket list. See, now that I have created one I have an obsession about making sure I do it all. Even though my common sense tells me otherwise. I forgot the other things which is maybe just as well. Just because I have the means to do the projects doesn't mean it's going to get done. I only have so many pairs of hands.

I can also only have so many projects on the go at once. Just now I have three pairs of socks half finished. Two pairs are for the sock lesson I am preparing and one is because I wanted to knit something comfy. I really should cast on that second comfy sock. I can't start the other two before the class.

Thanks to instagram I also took a fancy to doing some crochet. This is the problem with instagram. So many lovely pics of what people are working on. I am weak people! If you remember back to the mood blanket it was part of a crochet along. The same group are doing another but this time it's for charity. Making hats and blankets for premature babies. A good cause! Plus, I get to use up some of my leftover yarn. All the justification I needed to ignore that little voice in my head telling me I should really be finishing other things. It's this project I needed the acrylic for because it has to be washed in high temperatures. It's fairly quick to do and it's for a good cause. Almost finished the first one.

Another great method of procrastination is Pinterest. It's no secret that I am a fan. I could spend hours on it and have done. It's a great fount of inspiration and I may even have made one or two things from pins (although don't ask me what because I can't remember). Anyway, I am thinking of doing weekly posts of some of my favourite pins. The problem is choosing them. I might try and strictly only list pins that are linked to tutorials or patterns. We shall see.

2014 Bucket List!

So this is my crafting bucket list for next year. That's not to say that any of these will get done. It's my last year in uni and it's going to be a tough one. Really this is just what I would like to do in an ideal world. If I manage one or two I will be very happy. I should point out at this point that none of these images are mind. If you click on them though it will take you to the source of the image.

Sock Drawer

Look how beautiful this is! All hand knitted socks. I want my sock drawer to be like this. For that I would have to knit socks almost exclusively for myself for at least a year. I have tried that before and it didn't happen. Plus look at all those colour work socks. I think those are my favourites. Last year I think I made myself one pair of socks.  Not to worry though, I currently have two pairs on the go that are for myself. Not to mention the beautiful sock yarn I mentioned the other day. So this year I will get three pairs. I hope to make myself at least one pair done in colour work. Fingers crossed!

Colour Work Socks

No offence to the person who knitted these but this isn't the best image in the world. However, you get the idea. I want to try my hand at more colour work. The truth is that my friend Isabel has been more adventurous in her sock knitting since I taught her a few months ago. You should see the beautiful patterns she is knitting up. Taking a leaf out her book I am going to do some colour work. These Nordic socks come from the same book that contains the easy lace sock pattern. I don't know if they will be my first attempt at colour work but I think these will be my families Christmas socks. I can't wait to try them in different colour combinations.

Adventurous Crochet

How beautiful is this blanket? Sadly I very rarely move away from the granny square. I have admired many a blanket on instagram and this has been one of them. The link on the photo will take you to the ravelry page and the pattern if you are interested. Like with the socks, I don't know if I will be trying this very pattern but I do want to try something other than the granny type pattern (as much as I love it).

Mandala Rug - t-shirt yarn

Next year I am also hoping to have my own place. Since I won't get my registration until I finish in September I know this might be a pipe dream and the reality is that it might be 2015. That doesn't stop me preparing. I already have colour schemes worked out and various projects I want to do in preparation. One of which is this Mandala Rug. It would also be a step away from the granny since this is also done in crochet. It also involves using Zpaggetti which is a brand of yarn made from t-shirts. The colours will be pale blue with round or two of red. Mainly pale blue though. This is at the top of my list and will definitely get done.

Granny Blanket

Mug Rugs

I love quilts and admire my talented friends who can make them. I have always wanted to do this myself. Sadly quilting eats up both money and time. Two things I don't have a lot of. So it will have to stay on my 'one day' list. Mug Rugs have come to my attention thanks to pinterest. Mug rugs are mini quilts which are just big enough for a coffee mug and a wee tea plate. These actually inspired me to create this bucket list in the first place. I don't think I could do anything as complex as this fox one on my first attempt. However, a friend has volunteered to show me how to make one. I even have an idea of a design of my own should my first attempt prove successful.

Christmas

I also have some Christmas items on my bucket list. Not going to add photo's as I think I am probably being adventurous here. I do want to make a gingerbread house. I have always wanted to make one of those and I found a recipe by Mary Berry that will come in handy next year. The fun bit will be decorating it as I am not the best when it comes to cake decorating.

More Christmas baking, I actually want to make my own Christmas chocolates and maybe give them out as gifts. I have a few recipes for those too. I was supposed to play about with flavours to make Christmas Macarons. That didn't happen due to course work. However, I would like to do that next year. I would also like to have a go at making my own mulled wine and festive cider. I may be optimistic on how much time I expect to have in my first year as an RN.

My Christmas tags went down a treat this year. Even my dad asked my mum to make sure his was saved. If you knew my dad you would know how unlike him that is. Other than the socks I make for him he sees crafts as a waste of time. So next year I want to make more. As I tidied for Christmas I found one of last years Cross Stitcher with some tag designs. I still love the little blue houses though so I see them making a return. Perhaps I will make them in different colours. Christmas cards for family is also on there. I learned this year that the trick is to go small and simple. We will see if it happens next year.

Finish

I also have a huge pile of unfinished crafts to finish that I would like done. For example, I have two charity projects. I started a scarf and a baby blanket for my friends charity which has remained untouched since the initial cast on. I have a large snuggly blanket to finish that has been sitting in my wardrobe for about 3 or 4 years now. It's a quick knit too so really there is no excuse for it. Not to mention a birthday present that is already months late.

I have my sister's Easter project already started (for those of you who might not know we make each other presents every Easter). This year I am making something from a project my sister and I are doing together. I can't say too much about it as my sister occasionally reads my blog (not that I object to that, just don't want to spoil the surprise). Of course she will also get socks too. She would be disappointed/irate if she didn't get those.

I think I could add to this list all day. I have a few craft books that I have picked up over the last year or so. I don't buy as many as I used to so I take care when I do buy them. I would quite like to do something from each of them. This list is huge enough though. And, like I said earlier, I will be lucky if I do half of these things.

Do any of you have a bucket list? Would be interested to hear what projects you are looking forward to next year.