Double crochet attempt

Thought it was time I had a go at double crochet !!  This time I am actually following a pattern from a book.  It is from the book "Crochet" which is a DK book.  I plan to review some of my many crochet books when time allows.

It is a very simple pattern, but hey ! we've all got to start somewhere :-)

Seems to be progressing okay.  Had a minor panic when my stitch count at the end was one out.  However, realised where I had gone wrong so frogged back a couple of rows. No, I had no idea what frogging was either until I joined the Bella Coco group, but apparently "to frog" means to "rip" stitches. It pays tribute to our amphibious friends, the frogs, and their choruses of "ribbit, ribbit, ribbit". When you discover a mistake in your crochet work, you rip it, rip it, rip it – hence, you frog it. So now you know !!

Anyway back to the pattern.  I worked 30 chain.  Row 1 was 1 double crochet into the second chain from the hook, and then 1 DC (double crochet) into each chain to the end.  There should then be 29 DC.  Row 2: 1 DC into each DC to end and then turn.  You then repeat Row 2 until the work measures 12.5 cms (5 inches).

So I'm off to do a few more rows.  Hopefully once it is done, I am reliably informed it will be a mobile phone case !!  We shall see !!

First go at a coaster !

Decided to try something a little more challenging !!  This is again from a Bella Coco tutorial.  My first attempt did go slightly wrong, but the video was so easy to follow, I knew I would get it on my next attempt !  

I'm quite pleased with the finished result, and it reminds me of the little doilies my Grandma used to make, and have on her dressing table.  They were much more intricate of course, and the yarn was much finer, but I do think these look rather cute.  I have copied the link to the tutorial below, which hopefully will work :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ium6UBEEpm0

Charity shop find

This is a photo of the little porcelain bowl I was talking about earlier.  I found it in a charity shop at the weekend, and it cost me the grand total of 99p !!!  Don't you just love a bargain !!?

I have shown it next to my crochet hook just to give an idea of the size.

I am hoping  I can use it as a yarn bowl.  The ones I had been looking at on Etsy were beautiful, but the prices started at around £15 and went up to about £50.  Knowing my luck I would spend the money and then break it !!

Anyway, not tried the wool winder yet, so don't know if my yarn cakes will fit inside, but if not I've still got a lovely little bowl for a bargain price.

The Postie has been !!

So excited !!!! Look what has arrived in the post and was waiting for me when I got home from work. Lots of the lovely ladies from the Bella Coco crochet group have been ordering these, and afraid I couldn't resist the temptation any longer. Mine came from EBay.

Now let's have a closer look ...........

Can't wait to make my first yarn cakes !! At the weekend I also managed to pick up a cute little porcelain dish which I hope I can use as a yarn bowl.

Hopefully once I've been through my stash, I will have lots more space and beautifully organised yarn (then I can buy even more !!!!)

My Latest creation - Crochet Roses

Well after practicing my granny squares, I thought I would move onto something a little bit different.  The first picture is of my first attempt at a rose.  It was made using the Bella Coco tutorial.

Here is the link:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_OSJyrJ1Zc

I then did a youtube search, and found another tutorial.  This one was from Girlybunches on her youtube channel. It has given a similar effect, but slightly flatter.

The link for this tutorial is here :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O5cJRDN2ds

Here's another rose this time made using the Aldi sparkle wool which I got reduced to £1.99 for four balls shortly after Christmas.  It wasn't the easiest wool to use, as the strands became unravelled, plus the sparkle thread tended to separate out. There was also a knot where they had joined two ends together.  Despite this I persevered and after much muttering under my breath, I managed to complete the rose.  I am actually quite pleased with the finished result :-)  Can't complain really especially with the bargain price !!

Well I hope you enjoy looking at these roses, and it has inspired you to give it a try.  They weren't as difficult as I anticipated, all thanks to the very clear tutorials on youtube.  Just follow the links !!

I think they would look really good with a nice button in the middle, and could be sewn onto a hat/bag etc.

Until next time .......................

Craft show haul

Well on Friday 5th February I went to the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts show at Event City in Manchester. It's my annual craft event, and better still it's local !!! To be honest it didn't seem as busy as previous years, though on the plus side, I did get a parking space relatively easily. All my favourite stalls were there including Black Sheep Wools, Inkylicious, Tattered Lace, Card-i-O, Neil the Knit, MDF man plus lots more. Also got talking to a very nice volunteer from Lancashire Wildlife Trust, so ended up coming home and joining online ! I'm already in Cumbria Wildlife Trust, so I suppose I should also support my local patch !!

Here are some pics of my goodies :-

This is the wool I chose to create my first c2c crochet blanket.  However, decided it is just too good to use, so will wait until I have had more practice !  It was only £2.50, and feels so beautifully soft. It's made by James C Brett and I bought it from Neil the Knit

I just love Inkylicious stamps, so here are the latest additions to my (rather large) collection !  As you can see from the stickers, most of them are new designs.  I just couldn't choose between the two Winter cabins, so just had to buy both !!.  I thought the branches were useful for a variety of cards, as are the birds.  I have tried adding these with a fine line pen in the past, but they never look right, and can spoil the card, so think these will be a good investment.  As you know I am normally a dog person, but couldn't resist the cute kitty stamps.  Last but not least, the "twin peaks" mountain template, which I am sure will get lots of use.

My next purchase was from Card-io.  Again I love their stamps, and was spoilt for choice.  There was a great demo on the stall, and loved the way they used Glossy accents to highlight the little butterflies/birds etc.  It really made a difference to the finished card. In the end I chose the pansy set, because everyone loves pansies with their smiling little faces !  I also chose the fairies as I thought these would fit in well with my other stamps from Clarity and Lavinia.

I then spotted these stamps from Katy Sue Designs.  I already have the "Fabulous Shoes" and "Fabulous Fashion" CD ROM's, and had been after the stamps for quite some time.  These were on offer at two for £10, so I was pleased to get these !

As if crocheting and card making isn't enough, I also like to do some jewellery making, so bought this selection from the Totally Beads stall.  I got 10 strings of beads for £10 which I thought was very good value.  The star beads in the bottom left hand corner are Miliflori and they cost £2.50.

I've bought lots of goodies from the MDF man in the past, so here is my latest acquisition.  It's an MDF clock making kit.  I have got one of these in my craft room which I bought from Indigoblu.  Needless to say it's still waiting to be assembled !!  This one is slightly smaller, so think I will practise with this.  I bought the Roman Numerals rubber stamp set from Indigoblu in the Black Friday sale, so hoping they will look okay on this size clock face.  I also have the clock face stencil.

My final purchase was some brushes.  In the past I have taken part in the Milnthorpe Art Exhibition in Cumbria, and have been lucky enough to sell some of my watercolours.  I have not taken part for the last couple of years, but all being well and time allowing, I am hoping to exhibit again this year.  I decided some nice new brushes might give me the incentive I need.

Well I hope you have enjoyed reading about my crafty purchases.  All that remains now is to find some space for it all in my already over-crowded craft room, and actually create something rather than just collect it !!  Hopefully you will see some of my creations appearing here in the not too distant future.

Happy crafting !!

Feeling excited !

Only three days to go before I have a day off work in order to go on my annual visit to the Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts show at Event City near The Trafford Centre !! Can't wait.  Not that I need anymore stash, but that's never stopped me before - lol.

My Second Granny Square

So here's a photo of my first and second granny squares.  Hopefully you can see some improvement !!

I uploaded both of these to the Bella Coco Facebook Group, and received wonderful words of encouragement from all around the world.  I cannot stress enough how much this helped.  Over the years I have spent a small fortune on "how to" crochet books.  I also subscribed to The Art of Crochet partwork.  Though this was very good, I did have great difficulty with the company concerned when I tried to cancel my subscription (long story!).  I have also attended a crochet workshop at Black Sheep Wools in Culcheth.  From a purely personal point of view, I have to say none of the above helped as much as the fabulous Bella Coco tutorials coupled with the help and support from the FB Group.

The First Post !!

I've had two crafty ambitions in life - well, two main ones anyway !  The first has been a desire to learn how to crochet, and the second has been to create my own crafty blog !!

These two things have been my New Year Resolutions for the past five years (I kid you not !). So on 1 January 2016, I decided not to make any New Year Resolutions, because I would be left disappointed once again.  However, at the beginning of January, I received notification of a new Group on Facebook called "Bella Coco - The Crochet Club"  I had watched lots of Bella Coco tutorials on YouTube, but the help and support on the Group proved invaluable.  The work posted on there was inspirational, and it gave me the encouragement I needed to have another go.

This is my first ever granny square.  It was completed at 2 am on 3 January 2016 after a couple of glasses of wine !!

If this has inspired you to have a go, the link for the granny square can be found here.  I heartily recommend you try it :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npIsh-o9AM0

My crochet journey has begun !!