crocheted blankets – A box of allsorts

Catching up

Wow, it’s been a long time! I’m not really sure why I ended up having such a long break from my blog but I suppose life just got in the way for a while and the longer the break went on, the harder it seemed to write that first post again. It’s been about 7 months since I last posted and i feel I should catch you up a little on what’s been happening in that time. Nothing major that should have stopped me from posting really but as i look back at the photos I’ve packed quite a lot in to this year, so it’s no wonder if not found the time to post!

If I was to tell you about everything that I’d done in the last 7 months I’d be here all night, so here is the condensed version with pictures.

There has been a lot of gardening. Our garden produced so much for us this Summer, I really am thankful! We had a huge amount of courgettes and green beans. We tried to use them as we went along but there were so many, our freezer is now full of zucchini soup and green beans. We also had plentiful tomatoes, raspberries and so many beautiful sunflowers.

There has been lots of running, including 3 half marathons and of course the all important bling!

There have been plentiful family times including a wonderful caravan holiday in the Summer where we were able to catch up with family and dear friends who we hadn’t seen for a while. Special memories were made and shall be cherished for a long time to come!

Alongside all the other goings on there has, of course been a lot of crafting. Never quite as much as I’d like but when I look back on the last 7 months I do wonder where on earth I’ve fit it all in. Over the Summer months I did a lot of embroidery for gifts as a number of friends sadly moved away. I forgot to take photos of all the finished embroidery but here’s a snapshot of what was made:

I have also done a fair bit of crochet but I haven’t got a lot to show for it as yet as it’s been for a couple of long term projects that still aren’t quite finished. I did however finish 3 children’s poncho’s recently (1 for little miss and 2 ready for Christmas gifts) and earlier in the year I made a baby blanket

I have a few ongoing wipes and lots of projects just waiting to be started.

current wips:

1. A bright squares rainbow 🌈 blanket for Little Miss:

I’m onto joining the rows and hopefully will have it finished in time for her birthday in a couple of weeks.

2. I have a stash of purple grey and white squares just waiting to be joined and made into a blanket. I plan to start joining them as soon as I’ve finished the blanket for Little Miss.

3. As if I needed another big project I felt the need a couple of weeks ago to start making large granny squares out of left over yarn and so a ‘happy scrappy’ blanket is now underway too.

Waiting in the wings to be started I have a bag full of chunky yarn which I just couldn’t resist a few weeks ago. Im pretty sure that’s going to become a blanket in the near future too but hopefully this one won’t take to long to do as it’s super chunky yarn with a 20mm hook!

At the same time I found the chunky wool, I also found a beautiful bright variegated yarn which I also failed to resist (just when streamlining had been going so well!). I quite fancy making some sort of funky shrug with that but we’ll see.

Just in case all those projects weren’t enough I’ve also got 3 more zenbroidery pictures ready to start and the Autumn Box from craftpod which hasn’t yet been touched, plus a hundred more ideas floating around in my brain, waiting to come to the forefront. If only there were more hours in the day…

Hopefully I’ll have some more finished projects to show you soon…watch this space!

Karen x x

All the jobs and a bit of crafting

The first week of the Easter holiday was all about getting jobs done, in and around the house. Usually, if you asked me if I enjoyed housework, you’d be met with a very emphatic no! We have a cleaner come once a week as we both work long hours and if it was down to me we’d have a window cleaner too but since Mr O bought a window cleaning gadget (that doesn’t smear…honest!!) we have to do it ourselves! As Mr O has been very busy with the garden and putting up another shed for the garden tools, its down to me this time. I’ve been looking at those dirt smeared, streaky windows for a long time and finally set about tackling the worse windows downstairs. It wasn’t that bad to be honest but it does make me very cross when I cant get them perfectly streak free! I needn’t have worried though because, less than a week later, the hall window has marks on it again at cat level, the kitchen window has splatters from the washing up and the back door is once again full of smeary little handprints. Grrr!

As much as I have moaned about doing the jobs, I might actually have enjoyed them a teensy bit. I think its because I’m usually so busy that giving up any precious free time to do housework is quite frankly hateful. Last week though, because little Miss was still in kindergarten and I had a bit of extra time (admittedly, I could have spent it crafting!) doing the jobs weirdly made me feel a bit more connected to the house, like cleaning, tidying it, showing it a bit of love and tending to the garden somehow brought me closer to it. Does that sound bonkers? The whole house was tidied, hoovered and floors steamed. I tidied and sorted the craft room a bit more and finally got around to moving Little Miss into the bigger bedroom that used to be my craft room / spare room. There are more jobs to follow this week, including recleaning those blasted windows and cleaning the ones I hadn’t yet got to, cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom, including all of the kitchen cupboards (I’m not looking forward to this one, I will admit), weeding and cleaning the balcony (another yucky job I keep putting off) and several admin jobs that have been lingering for a few weeks, hovering over me like evil little spiky clawed gremlins!

In amongst all the jobs, there has been a little time for crafting, although not nearly as much as I would have liked.

I finished off this little fella:

I managed to do a little more on the rainbow squares blanket for Little Miss and I love how its taking shape. Joining the squares together is proving to be a labour of love but it will be worth it when its finished. 3 columns down, 10 to go!

I decided to get all the remaining squares off the floor so that I could clean the floor and Mr O suggested putting them onto knitting needles. I love love love the look of them like this, they look like colourful crocheted kebabs. I almost don’t want to use them as they’re adding so much colour to my craft studio lined up like this.

I also managed to snatch a bit of time for some embroidery in the sunshine whilst little Miss played in the garden …

Last week I was a little bit naughty and for the first time this year, I broke my self imposed ban on purchasing any more crafting goodies.

I ummmed and aaahed but they reminded me so much of the tablecloths my grandma used to embroider and nostalgia got the better of me, I had to have them. I know its yet more embroidery bits to add to my stash but they sparked joy and will continue to do so and bring back happy memories as I sew. I don’t think these will linger in my stash for long though as I am just itching to get started on them.

A fair bit more crafting went on over the Easter weekend but I’ll post about that separately in a day or two.

Happy crafting

Karen xx

Craft studio update

Way back in my first post of the year, I mentioned that I was moving from my craft room/ spare room into my new craft studio in the attic. My wonderful hubby painted the room for me at the very start of the year and since then I’ve been on a mission to sort and organise. Its by no means finished as I still need a few more pieces of furniture and to get some pictures and art work up on the walls but its a fabulous space and I LOVE it! Come with me on a little tour…

My shabby chic ‘working’ table in front of the window. This table rarely looks this tidy as its the central part of the room where most crafty exploits take place. On the floor is the blanket I’m currently in the process of joining for little Miss to go in her new bedroom.

My sewing and fabric table, where my sewing machine will reside once I get around to setting it back up again (it’s currently sitting on the floor in the old craft room, looking a little sorry for itself!).

I like to call this my cosy corner. I just need one more unit to go on the end to put a tv on so I can watch as I crochet when the mood takes me. Its needs a crocheted blanket and some pictures on the wall to finish off the cozy feel too although its obviously fairly cozy as it as, as one of my cats seems to have claimed it as her own!

With the room being in the attic, it’s full of nooks and crannies, so Little Miss even has a crafty corner too. She doesn’t tend to craft in there at the moment as she prefers to sit at the table with me near the window. It is a little bit dark in the corner too, I’m yet to find the perfect light for her little corner but once I do and get a bit of her artwork on the wall it will be fabulous!

Yarn and fabric storage.

Card making and general crafty stuff. This area still needs another unit and a bit more sorting.

My workspace for when I need to do paperwork at home. My work bag fits inside along with the laptop and can easily be closed away when it’s time to get crafty!

My bunting is the only decoration in here at the moment and it does look a little lost up there. Im hoping to add to it very soon and adorn the walls with my crafty makes. It will take time to get the room exactly as I want, especially in terms of the decorations, as it is such a big space but I count myself so so lucky that I have it. I am one very lucky lady!!

Karen x x

Spot the difference!

Did you spot the difference? (apart from the difference in lighting and camera angles)

This is the difference..

520 ends sewn in and cut off. I know lots of people prefer to do it as they go along but I find that bowl full of cut off ends very satisfying indeed once complete.

Most of the squares for this blanket have been hanging around in a box for the best part of a year ( see post from last May where I first showed the stack of squares ready to be made into a blanket) but as I’m currently on a self imposed craft purchasing ban as part of my crafty challenge, I’m trying to finish up outstanding projects. I did decide to make this blanket bigger than was originally intended so I have added more squares and had a play about with some of the colours to get the effect I desired. This blanket is now ready for joining and bordering which I’m hoping to get finished over Easter as its to go in Little Miss’ new room once we have swapped rooms and put her in what was the spare room/ craft room. She loves unicorns and rainbows at the moment, hence the very bright blanket. I’m really hoping its something she’ll use and treasure forever.

Karen x x

4 blankets in 1

All the way back in May last year I began making a chunky ripple blanket for a good friend of mine. It was going great guns for a while…

Then, a hot summer, other projects and life got in the way but I did manage to finish it in time to give it to her as a combined belated birthday and Christmas present.

I decided to opt for a simple border as the stripes are so striking I didn’t want to take away from that.

Thankfully the recipient absolutely loved her blanket and tells me that she cosies up with it every night when the weather is cold enough. What better praise than to know that somethings you have spent many hours on is being put to good use! It makes me so happy to bring someone else a little bit of happiness through my crafting.

Invariably when you set out on a blanket making journey (especially when you’re adapting a pattern and using a different weight of yarn), you’re never sure exactly how much you will need and end up ordering a bit more yarn (several times in this case). So, after finishing the ripple blanket I found myself with a lot of left over yarn, some full balls, some half balls and some odds and ends. Little Miss helped me to wind all the left overs up into balls and I set about making a baby blanket for a friends granddaughter.

Again I felt a delicate border was needed.

Still I had more yarn left and so I made a smaller baby blanket, suitable for a car seat or pram, with a slightly chunkier border…

AND I managed to squeeze out a dolly blanket for Little Miss with all the little odds and ends…

I think they look nice and cosy under there. I just hope baby Eadie likes her 2 new blankets too.

As my main crafty aim this year is to use up crafty resources that I already have, I’m pretty pleased that there has been almost no wastage and absolutely no adding to my stash from making these blankets. Now to work my way through all the yarn I already had in my stash…this could take me some time!

Karen xx

A few quick(ish) makes

As always I’ve got a couple of long term crafty projects on the go (my zenbroidery mandala and ripple blanket both of which are taking shape but still need a lot of work to reach completion), so I really fancied doing a few quick (ish) makes to get that feeling of actually having completed something.

Whilst out shopping I found some beautiful glittery wool and decided instantly that it had to be made into a mermaid blanket for little Miss. After a bit of internet searching I found this super, easy video tutorial. I found written patterns really hard to follow unless accompanied by lots of pictures of the process, so this was just perfect as I could pause and replay whenever I needed to. It took me just over a week of picking up, putting down and a little tweaking of the pattern as I went along and here it is…

I am so, so happy with how it turned out and so is little Miss, who put it straight into use now the weather has got a bit cooler…

After deciding that my crochet cotton needed a new home where I could easily see all the colours (it was still being stored in one of the bags it came in and I had to tip it all out each time I wanted to find a specific colour), I remembered the t-shirt yarn I was gifted for Christmas a couple of years ago and the Supersize crochet book which was one of last years Christmas presents. So I set about making a basket. Now, the reason this post is called quick (ish) makes is because of this basket! I set about making the basket, following the pattern perfectly, the rows were whizzing off the hook but then I realised id made it a tad too big, it was very floppy and it was going to be a very shallow basket given the amount of tshirt yarn I had. so, I undid it all thinking, not a problem, it was easy to do, it will be done in no time. HA! Could I get it right the second (3rd, 4th, 5th,or 6th) time around?! No I bloody could not! In the end after much swearing, throwing it on the floor in temper (I’m not proud to admit this) and lamenting that I was crap at following patterns, I decided that it didn’t matter if it didn’t look exactly like the picture, I plugged on and this is the result…

It actually turned out ok even though it didn’t look exactly like the picture. The stitches are somehow much denser and it doesn’t have that basket weave look but it does the job and I’m proud of my first attempt at a basket and my first attempt with t-shirt yarn. Always a glutton for punishment and with some tshirt yarn left, I decided to make another. This time though I opted for a simpler pattern which I found online. I cant link to it though as I totally forgot to save it. This basket did fly off the hook and was done in a matter of hours…

Its a little less sturdy than the first basket but I’m happy with it. Together, they double up well as a display feature in my living room as well as making my crochet cotton easily accessible.

Last weekend, whilst Little Miss was busy creating shapes with her iron beads I just couldn’t resist getting in on the act and making yet another mandala.

It is yet to be ironed but once finished it will join the other 4 mandalas see here in the craft room. At the moment they are stacked in a pile but I’m considering how to display them. I’m thinking of maybe stringing tem together with ribbon and hanging them up as bunting. I’ll probably make a few more first though and then decide but I will be sure to post pictures when I do.

Karen x x

June project goals

Every month I consider whether to write a ‘project goals post’ as its really just a list of what I’d like to achieve and invariably I don’t complete everything on the list and other things not on the list tend to creep in too when they catch my eye. However, I have decided to keep doing it as it does help me to organise my overloaded brain and gives me a chance to organise the zillions of ideas that are tumbling around my head into some sort of order.

so, project goals for this month are…

Finish spring embroidery sampler
Make spring embroidered linen project bag
Finish crocheting ‘mystery project’
Start zenbroidery mandala
continue ‘ripple blanket’ which I just couldn’t resist starting last week…oops! this is for s present so there’ll be no pictures until its finished.
BRING THE SEWING MACHINE OUT OF RETIREMENT. Now I know I have been saying this for such a long time but since my course with Sophie of Huxter kids a couple of weeks ago with I have renewed enthusiasm and confidence. I fully intended to start today on my day off but I had reports to finish off for school 🙁 (I have cleared the desk though and there is now space for her, so it wont be long til she’s back in action …)

She’s an old bird bless her but she still does a good job. I just need to see if I can remember how to thread her up and then we’re off!

7. Sew in ends on the itty bitty squares. I think it’ll be a while before I start joining them but at least if the ends are sewn in they’re ready to go.

Right, I’m off to finish the spring sampler, happy crafting!

Karen x

Bright stripes blanket

Finally here it is, drum roll please…

I won’t say a lot about it but let the pictures speak for themselves (and be warned there are a quite a lot of pictures, the excitement of finishing it plus the beautiful sunshine sent me a bit giddy!)

Now you’ve seen the pictures there are a few bits of information you do need to know…

The pattern is the cosy stripe pattern by Lucy of Attic 24.

The yarn is stylecraft special dk and the colours are the ‘original’ colour pack also put together by Lucy, available at Wool Warehouse, with a couple of other colours thrown in. Rather stupidly, I didn’t keep a note of the colours I used as I went along and the order was completely random. However, if anyone really does have a burning desire to know the exact order of the colours I used, I could work it out fairly easily.

I’ve had a bit of a love/ hate relationship with this blanket. I’m not really sure why but making it just seemed like such a long process and rather than get into a rhythm with the stripes I just got rather frustrated that each stripe seemed to take so long. I really did have to be in the right mood to pick it up but judging by the fact that it took me well over 6 months to complete, it would appear that the right mood just didn’t come along very often!!

Now its finished though, I do really love it, I love the bright colours, I love the eclectic feel of it and I really really love the border. When I had finished the yellow and green on the border, I will admit, I was tempted to pull it back and start again as it just seemed too gaudy and in your face. In the end I trusted my instinct and chose a further 4 colours to tone it down a little. I love how my friend Michelle described the border, she said the dark purple on the very outside provides the blanket with a full stop and I couldn’t agree more. What a lovely way of putting it.

As well as revelling at having finished another blanket I do like to reflect on all my makes. Whilst I do love how the bright stripes blanket has turned out, I think I would make the border even thicker if I was to do it again. 6 rounds of trebles seemed quite a lot as I was doing it but having looked at the photographs I took today I think it could have handled a chunkier border. Having said that though, I am thrilled with the overall effect and I just hope that the recipient, my sister in law Dianne loves it too.

I’d love to hear any comments or questions that you have about the bright stripes blanket and would be happy to provide more information on request.

Thanks for popping by,

Karen x

April project goals

Just a quick post to record my project goals for April:

This WILL be the month I FINALLY finish the bright stripes blanket! Here it was before I sewed in the ends:

To reach a total of at least 200 itty bitty squares in the bright colour way,

(I currently have 137 and have calculated that I need 288 to make a single sized bed blanket but with my track record recently I’d be pushing it to try to reach that in a month!)

Finish the winter craftpod berry embroidery
Finish iron bead mandalas: these should be finished tomorrow, I’m very excited about them!

This month I am determined to complete everything on my list!! Hmmm, where have you heard that before!

Karen x

January projects review

So, January went by rather quickly thankfully, as it is probably my least favourite month. Weather wise this January has been pretty miserable and grey but I’m very happy to say that despite freezing cold temperatures, February is so far looking much better. Its only the 4th and already we’ve had a few mornings of blue skies. The bright blue morning skies really give me a happiness boost and as long as the sun is shining I can deal with the minus temperatures!

Anyway, enough talk about the weather and get down to Januarys project review. In a bid to contain my wandering mind a little I decided to set myself a list of (hopefully) achievable project goals at the start of each month. Januarys goals:

Finish crocheted granny squares baby blanket
Continue and hopefully finish crocheted bright stripes full size blanket.
Start a crochet poncho for Little Miss
Make my first machine sewn fabric bunting.
3x stencil/ applique bags ready for craft stall.

For the first part of January, all was going well, I was fitting in lots of crafty time and I felt as though I was on track see post here.

Alas, I have little further to report since that post. The baby blanket was finished and has been gifted. The bright stripes blanket is not as nearly finished as I’d hoped and the sewing machine has still not been touched (the desk however has been decluttered and the sewing machine is at least on top of the desk, albeit still in its case!)

I did complete a few bags and 2 sets of bunting are cut out and ready to be sewn.

The heart bunting I made a couple of months ago is now up in the craft room above where the sofa bed will go…

and for some unknown reason I have started to make some itty bitty 3 round solid granny squares…

I have really no idea why I have started making them other than I just love them. I blame Sandra of Cherry Heart as it was her Battenberg blanket post that inspired me to start making them. They just seem to fly off the hook and I find it extremely satisfying that they stack up so quickly. I’m not sure yet what I am going to make them into, it may be the poncho for little Miss that I had planned to make or it may be a bag/ bags but they are providing a welcome relief from the long stripes of the bright stripes blanket and a quick crochet fix when I haven’t got a lot of time to spare.

Karen