Hit and miss....

This is how I am describing my blogging style.

Been a wee while, but back at it now. Thought about it before the hols but i was making lots of my Xmas pressies and didn't want anyone to see.....

This past year has seen an up take in the needle space, and I have knitted 3 scarf/shawls and a new love for lace weight yarn.

Here are a couple of crocheted ones about to pop in the Felt shop.

Both with lace weight,  one of them is doubled and the other is a Touch yarn.

Taking Pictures

I think I finally did it.
I do believe that my felt shop looks quite professional.  And it was all in the pictures!.

As with most amateur online sellers I have read a lot about how important the picture is to views and then to sales.  I have tried playing with the macro button, taking pictures when it's not sunny, replicating how magazines take pictures (in situ), and have plastered flip chart paper over things to make a light box, and yet I have never been happy with the result.  No to say that these things didn't work, because my pictures have definitely improved over time, they were just never as good as everyone elses.  

And then I grabbed the chance to get a free mannequin top.  She is my new best friend. I love her.   Now she has taken over my felt shop, and I like it.

 So much cleaner and easy to look at, I wish I'd done a before and after :-)

The wrong yarn for the job

I've got some lovely yarns in my stash that I keep starting a project with and then tossing aside because they just don't quite work.

It's a bit like that strange thing other people do called swatching,  I tend to ignore suggestions of the types of yarns to use for certain things.  This has quite often turned out well, and just as often turned out wrong!   Its also why I shy away from motifs a bit, just in case it doesn't work, then I can't reuse the yarn as easily.

This is the 4th time I've tried to use this bamboo yarn to make something,  and it's not 4th time lucky.

With a renewed interest in Tunisian Crochet I think that this one might be good for that....  so a frogging we will go (again!)  :-)

Shrug Hug

Love the library:-)

Cool crochet books and other fab ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

I picked up this lovely yarn at the Creatve Fibre Festival the other weekend and have been looking out for a brill project that's not too hard and is easy to do on the ever crowded train.

So I have chosen this Shrug Hug from a book called Custom Crocheted Sweaters by Dora Ohrenstein.

I've tried shrugs before and I've always had to frog them because they just didn't look like the picture.   For this one there has been research.  Lots of great reviews.... so I guess if it doesn't work...... must be me.... :-D

A Cosy Granny

I've been using up my stash unpicking WIPs that I've fallen out with and having a general crochet tidy up.

The crochet rug was the first result of this new weird more organized approach to my crocheting life.  And this is the second.
Feeling the love once more for the granny square, I have just popped this one into my Felt store and am busy working on another with a very retro black border.
Will 2015 be another year of the Granny?

A crochet rug

This week I finished a crochet rug that I had been mucking about with for a while.
Its made from Zpaghetti yarn, which is kind of like tee shirt yarn.  I got the yarn early last year because it was on sale and after having had a bit of a play I put it away feeling very uninspired. 

Since I've had time to have a good look on pintrest well....

I quite  like how it's turned out :-)

My first non granny square blanket

I found this pattern in an Inside Crochet mag, and it looked so pretty I decided to give it a go.
Normally I am put off by lots and lots and lots of motifs joined together, it all seems too hard and fiddly. I am glad I kept at it, so happy with the result, and I am unashamedly totally proud of myself for finishing it.
My mum bought me a great basket which sits next to my chair in the lounge, and leaving all the yarn and the blanket bits in it made a big difference to my motivation, it was harder to put away than a wee canvas bag :-) I had three other other projects on the go to which also helped me not to get bored:-D

Back in the Saddle again......

Hurrah!

What's the best way to get creative? 
Join the Freeform Crochet Along for International Crochet Month on Ravelry 

I did this 2 years ago and I had a blast and made this:

Which, whenever I wear it my family cringes and I get loads of compliments (though I have also learnt not to wear it when I want people to actually listen to what I'm talking about - apparently it's distracting :-) )


I was a few days late so had to crochet like mad the last couple of evenings to catch up

Here are my scrumbles* so far:

*Scrumbles is a technical term for freeform which I've chosen to translate to 'blobs of creations put together'

So far I've done 3 stitches I've never done before, including Tunisian Crochet which I'd avoided.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing what it turns out to be.....

Cosy Creatures

It seems like a bit of a tradition now.  Whenever I get to come to Wellington and see the gang I bring a wee crocheted gift for them.

Its been ages since I caught up with them (since the cup cosies) so of course I had to whip something up.

Introducing the Cosy Creatures.  A wee cosy for a phone, camera, smokes, whatever wee thing lives in a bag or a pocket.

Jooshing a frock

I got a lovely grey dress at a fab sale yesterday. The comments I got when I showed the family went along the lines of: "that's very pedestrian for you" "it looks like a school pinafore" " it's a bit grey".  So I jooshed it with some bright pink cotton crochet :-) 

When it's on it looks quite retro :-) 

I'm sold on the crochet collar look now... Next step is to see how many items if clothing I can adorn :-) 

A Cosy Cup

I try to make my friends in Wellington a wee prezzie mid year if I get a chance to catch up with them.  This year I've made them cup cosies which will work for either for hot or cold drinks.

Made out of a lovely soft cotton, they have roses for the girls and our bloke has a dickie bow and a moustache.  

I made all of the embellishments removable so they can also be used as a badge or brooch too.  Talk about multi functional :-)

(I'm also playing with the scheduling tool on Blogger so I can publish this at the same time as I'm giving them their cosy - now that's pretty cool in quite a geeky way :-))

Wrap it Up

A couple of wraps I've been playing with in between blanket making:

This one is lots of flowers, so pretty and delicate :-)

This has been my "on a plane" one for the past few weeks - the yarn is a bit sparkly, I've been thinking I might keep it for myself :-)

Granny Cardi

I've become inspired and addicted to the Inside Crochet magazine since I came across a copy at the Pukekohe PaperPlus & PostShop.  I gifted myself a subscription and ever since I've been almost running to check the mailbox when I get home.  Not that I'm actually expecting another issue just yet, you just never know though....


I saw a cardi in the December issue that I felt like I needed to give a try.  As usual I got mad with trying to understand the (very) basic pattern, and pulled the whole thing out, and then this Easter weekend I thought I'd give it another go:

Granny square stitches around the yoke

Obviously quite impressed with myself now I've done 2 cardi's I'm thinking a jersey next, or maybe a frock, or a coat, or..... well actually it's another blanket since I've had a request :-)

And the Oscar for Outstanding Hooking goes too.....

I'd like to thank my 3.5mm crochet hook (the smallest I've used so far in my hooking career) 
The gorgeous silk & mohair mix yarn
The various patterns from the 1970's that I looked too for inspiration and guidance 
My family for the constant and very consistent affirmations of "it's the first time you've tried to make something normal, is it for someones child?"

It really is a career highlight for me to have created, not only a cardigan, but one that can be worn out in the wild almost with my head up high (lets not kid ourselves here it's definitely not perfect...) 

And so with no more preamble, let me introduce the very first, the inaugural, the original JacBer Cardi 
Drum roll please........
(please excuse the photos - I was way to excited to pose properly and then have retakes).

The buttons need a bit of work (i.e. some of them are a bit small and keep popping out of the button hole!)

Hooks are flying!

Literally...
I've been popping about the country quite a bit recently, and that means time spent at airports and on the plane is extra crocheting time :-)


I've finished 3 more shawls for the Felt Shop plus two shawls and a blanket that were asked for, as well as the usual couple of dozen hearts to be hung from random trees for Valentines Day (oorrrrrrr).

3 shawls in the Felt Shop

Now for something new.  
I'm attempting a cardigan.  
So far I've pulled it apart four times, tried 3 different patterns and now I'm winging it.  It's based loosely on a pattern from my 70's Family Crochet Book, I'm saying loosely because after I'd finished the back I realised the stitch pattern was all wrong and the pattern I'm 'kind of not really' following is for a jumper not a cardi....

The yarn is lovely it's a very fine mohair and silk mix, I'm also aware that it may expand quite a bit when it's blocked so I'm really trying not to add extra stitches or it'll end up being a very holey coat for someone like Hagrid!

More flying this week, so I might get it finished by next weekend.  I have high hopes :-)

Cute Cotton Crocheting

I sorted out my stash and found I had been hoarding cotton, so I decided to have a play with amigurumi over the Christmas break and this is the result:

These 2 teddy bears are based from pictures I found on the internet on crocheted bears.  

They are so cuddly!

I also wanted to try my hand a dolls.  

It's something I've played with on and off over the years, I think these ones have turned out the best so far :-)

Amigurumi Christmas Trees

Last year I made the team I work with little amigurumi snowmen.

This year I've made them each a little Christmas Tree with crocheted tinsel and some beads for baubles.

A few months ago I had quite a giggle from this Readers Digest book from the 70's that said to use a tongue depressor to make a lacy crochet stitch well, you'll never guess what I found at my local craft store.......

Guess what I'm going to be trying out this week :-)

Crocheting for All Hallows Eve

It's a long weekend, my special shawl order is finished, blocked and ready to go, the granny blanket request is 80% done and I'm looking for a little fill in project to do.

It's coming up Halloween, and I do love to make little things to leave here, there and everywhere, as well as give to unsuspecting workmates, so I'm about to start making these cool looking skulls. 

And also some of these cute little spiders :-)

 

The pattens for both can be found on the Lion Brand website & Ravelry

A week in crochet

Isis Shawl - made from a yarn called Fern

Exterminate that spare loo roll with the Dalek loo roll cover doll :-)

A gorgeous Russian pattern that was great fun to try and understand

The Olympics for Crocheting?

Yes! And for knitting, weaving & dyeing yarn too.

Ravelry is a fab place which I know that I've talked about before, and they are hosting their own 'all for fun' version of the Olympics.  I have entered 4 of the games and am gearing up for tomorrow morning when it's international cast on/hooking time as the Opening Ceremony begins.

I'm crocheting a lacy shawl, a pair of hexagon motif slippers,  a dalek egg cosy and I'm frogging (i.e. undoing - a fab 'technical term'. Named fogging because aapparently if you undo knitting it makes a kind of ribbit sound) a poncho I've fallen out with.

(It never ceases to amaze me about how geeky I can be with my crocheting - it's such a fantastic feeling!)

Enjoy the opening ceremony!  And in the spirit of geekiness, UFOs and my love of The Doctor.  Here is a photo of a lift that is in a building in Wellington that I fell in love with the other weekend :-)