Bloomin' Crochet Along.....a new project on my hook.

Good morning, I didn't post last week for Bloomin' Crochet Along but I have something to show you this week.

I've started another Fairly Isleish Fair Isle Style Cardigan., don't you love the name of this pattern!!!! I'm making this one for my friend's Granddaughter, who's birthday is at the beginning of January. 

I thought I would give myself plenty of time  but I forgot how quick it was to make. I started this at 6pm on Tuesday evening and worked on it until midnight, I'm half way through finishing it. It does help that it's worked in Aran on a 6mm hook.

I'm using Drops Nepal, which is lovely to crochet with but it will definitely need blocking as it looks quite small, it has loads of stretch though.I had some pinks leftover from my first one and went with grey for the main colour, this time. 

I'm linking up to Chrissie and Marrianne's Crochet Along, pop on over to see what everybody else has been up to, this week.

Lastly, I want to show you these gorgeous decorations, that were sent to me from Jules from the Little Woollie blog. Aren't they gorgeous, this was part of the Christmas Decoration Swap which was organised by Ladybird Diaries. Thank you for organising it, Marriane and thank you, Jules, for my fun, colourful decorations.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

FO Friday.......I'm on a roll!!!!!

Good morning, I hope everyone has had a good week, I've been on a bit of a roll as far as Finished Objects are concerned. My goal for December is to finish my WIP's, I haven't got as many as I first thought as I've gone through them I decided to put a couple into hibernation while I decide whether I want to carry on with them or frog them. I frogged the Livingston sweater as mentioned in my last post. I have two crochet blankets which won't be finished in December and then I have this little Debbie Bliss Matinee Jacket which I plan to finish, I've only got one sleeve left. I will also try and finish the Henslowe Shawl as well as some Christmas socks. I'm not sure whether this is a bit of a tall order but I will give it my best.

I have finished my Pennycress socks, which for some reason have taken me months to finish, the pattern was a bit more complicated and I also changed it to toe up rather than doing top down. I love Rachel Coopey patterns and once I've got all my WIP's out of the way, I will try knitting another one of hers but next time giving top down a try.

I'm linking these to Tami's FO Friday, check out what everyone else has been finishing up this week.

I've also finished my first adult sized garment, it's the Anzen crochet cardigan from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 7. I love the pattern but when I was working on it I wasn't loving the yarn which is Jenny Watson Pure Merino. It's not one of the most expensive merino yarns but it's not budget either, the balls of yarn felt quite nice but I found the cardigan very stiff not soft and squishy like other yarns I've used. After soaking and blocking though, it is a lot softer, perhaps not as soft as I would like but much better than before.

I love the actual look of the cardigan though, I'm sure I'll be wearing it a lot through the winter and spring, it will go with most things.

This is what I've been working on this week for Marrianne and Chrissie's, Bloomin Crochet Along, pop over, there is always gorgeous projects on the hook.

Have a great weekend, everyone, will you doing anything festive over the weekend?

Thanks for stopping by.
xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin' Crochet Along........Quick Christmas Gifts.

Good morning, I hope you've all had a good week. It's been a busy week here, with lots of Christmas shopping and making Christmas gifts. I haven't been giving my hexagons much love lately and probably won't until after Christmas now.

I have been crocheting these Bow Tie Mug Hugs, filling an Ikea mug with a sachet of hot chocolate, marshmallows and candy canes. The pattern is from Simply Crochet Issue 11 and I used Drops Nepal, which is an Aran weight wool/alpaca blend. I added a few more rows to the pattern so it would fit the mug better. I think they are great fun stocking filler and quick to finish if you need to make a last minute gift.

I'm linking these to FO Friday over on Tami's blog, check out all the great projects this week.

I've also been working on my Anzen cardigan, it's coming along nicely, I've finished the body and have started the first sleeve. It's a DK weight yarn but crochet grows so much quicker than knitting.

This is my regular post for Chrisse and Marrianne's Bloomin' Crochet Along. I hope you all have a great weekend, I'm off to a local village tonight for the turn on of the Christmas lights, there will be stalls and all the pretty little shops will be open with hot Pimms and mulled wine. I love this time of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin CAL..........and the Anzen Crochet Cardigan.

Ok so I've only finished six measly hexagons this week and I'd already done the centres so really I've only added the borders.

I have been busy doing some crochet, though. I received the latest edition of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine last week, again it did not disappoint, I would happily knit/crochet every pattern in there. I was immediately drawn to the Anzen which is a crochet cardigan and I had the yarn in my stash to get  started straight away.
I'm using Jenny Watson Pure Merino DK in grey, black and off white, the pattern uses a sport weight yarn. I'm using a DK and have just done a size smaller, that seems to have worked fine for me. I've never knitted or crochet an adult garment before and have made a promise to myself to start knitting more for myself.

I've also got my eye on the Aureus cardigan, I think I will ask the husband to buy me the yarn for Christmas. The photo is taken from the magazine and I love the colour that they've used, so will probably find a similar colour.

I'm linking this to Chrissie and Marianne's blog for the Bloomin' Crochet Along.

A little update on the vegan birthday cake that I had to make, yesterday. It didn't turn out bad at all, the cake was very moist in the centre, the outside was a bit crispier and a little bit crumbly but it cut up fine.

I mixed the ingredients for the cake, which you can find here, so far so good, the mix tasted very good and the recipe was simple.

My decorating skills aren't really up to scratch but in my defence I had 15 minutes to make the icing and decorate, you can find the recipe for the buttercream icing, here. My niece was thrilled with it and told me I'd got the job of making it from now on, even my brother who pulled his nose up at a vegan cake said it tasted good!!!!!

I'm linking this to Cosmos and Cotton's Weekly Bake, check out Hannapat's gorgeous bake this week.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend. I'm off to a scrapbooking retreat for the weekend with my friend, Kerry. I'll tell you all about it next week.

xxxxDebxxxx

FO Friday........and a Bloomin' CAL.

Hi, how are you all doing, I'm writing this a bit later than I planned, I've had no internet for the last few hours. Anyway, I'm back to show you some finished projects for FO Friday.

I've finished my Striped Cardigan and Hat by Sarah Hatton, though I still haven't managed to take it over to my friend yet, hopefully I will see them next weekend. I used Jenny Watson Babysoft in light blue and grey, so it will wash well, nice and practical for a newborn. 

I've also finished the Forest Floor hat by Alana Dakos, if I'm honest I'm not that happy with how it turned out. It's nothing to do with the pattern but I think I used the wrong yarn, it's turned out quite small, I would have liked it a lot more slouchy. It's a Christmas gift for a friend but I think she will really like it and it will keep her warm through the winter months when she takes the dogs out for their walks.

Check out Tami's blog for more FO's.

I didn't get home until late, yesterday, so I didn't have time to write my post for the Bloomin' CAL so I'll show you all my finished Hexagons on this post.

I now have a total of 42 and by next week I should have crocheted the border around all the other centres that I haven't had time to finish.

I'm using the pattern by Lucy from Attic 24, Lucy has used four different colour yarns for her beautiful hexagons but I have just chosen to use one colour for the centre and the cream border, you can find the pattern here.

Check out Chrissie's Crafts and Ladybird Diaries, to see more projects.

Have a great weekend, I'm off to a Midlands Bloggy Meet Up, tomorrow over at Gilly's, I'm looking forward to meeting some fellow Bloggers, it look like everybody had such a great time at the last one.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin CAL...........and a FO.

Good morning, I'm back today with this week's progress on my Pretty Pastel Hexagon Blanket for the Bloomin' CAL hosted by Chrissie and Marianne.

 

Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of crochet going on this week as I was concentrating on the Striped Baby Jacket and Hat which I wanted to finish before I went to see my friend and her new baby boy.

I've started adding the border around the centres, that I finished last week but have only managed six complete hexagons this week....................

but I have completed the Fair Isle Style Crochet Cardigan by Sarah Lora.

The buttons are sewn on, I used some wooden buttons that I had in my stash.

I've left it hanging in my craft room as I just get so much pleasure looking at it, is that sad??????? I can't wait to see Olivia in it, when I give it to her for Christmas. I hope to start another one soon in another colourway.

Talking about Christmas, my friend, Kerry came around my house, yesterday, for some Christmas crafting. I'm so glad she came round as I haven't done any papercrafting for three months and had lost all inspiration but Kerry has inspired me to create again!!!

Check out Chrissie Crafts and Ladybird Diaries for more projects on the Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long.

Thanks for popping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin' CAL.............and a Fair Isle Style Cardigan

I can't believe it's Thursday again, where did the rest of the week go????? It's time to show you my progress this week for my Bloomin' CAL , hosted by Chrissie Crafts and Ladybird Diaries.

I'm crocheting a Pretty Pastel Hexagon Blanket, I'm not sure how many hexagons I will need so I will just carry on until I run out of yarn, the pattern is from the Attic 24 blog.

I had a couple of people on Instagram asking what colours I'm using, it's Drops Merino Extra Fine in these six colours......

Bottom Row-Left to Right......14 Steel Blue, 22 Medium Purple, 16 Light Pink.

Middle Row- Left to Right..........25 Pink, 01 Off White

Top Row................15 Light Greenish Grey

I've got a little system going, where I do all the centres first then add the Off White border, I find it quicker than keep changing colour.

I don't know about you but I love cosy, Autumn evenings, with just the lamps on and the candles lit with the fragrance of vanilla, filling the room. This was me last night working on my hexagon centres and watching Poirot, a perfect evening. 

 Do you remember me showing you a photo of this on my last post, well this is the other project on my hook.

It's a Fair Isle Style Kids Cardigan and I love it, you don't get many kids crochet patterns which is why I started doing more knitting. It's a pattern by Sarah Lora from Ball, Hank 'n' Skein, I first saw this pattern on Lulu Loves blog and instantly fell in love with it, you can find Emma's cardigan, here, the colours she choose are gorgeous.

It's a fairly quick project, I started it on Saturday and had this much finished by Sunday evening. I would have probably finished it, but I ran out of wool on the second sleeve. The pattern doesn't give you a brand, just the type of yarn and how many yards so I 'guesstimated'. I counted the pinks into the yardage but you don't actually use that much of the colours so as a guide, whatever yards is given, order that as your main colour, then one ball of each of the other  two colours. It's always better to have too much than too little.

I originally ordered 4 balls of Drops Nepal Beige Mix, 1 ball of Cerise and 1 ball of Medium Pink, it is an Aran weight wool/alpaca mix. I needed 5 of the beige which has arrived now arrived, so I can carry on, this is part of my niece's Christmas present. I also ordered some grey which I will use to make my friend's Grand-daughter one, too, I should have enough of the pink leftover to make the second cardigan.

Check out Chrissie and Marianne's blog and check out, everybody else's progress, this week.

Thanks for stopping by.

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long.........Week 3

I'm back today with an update on my Hexagon blanket, it's week 3 of Chrissie Crafts and Ladybird Diaries, Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long.

I've made seven hexagons, this week, I will get there slowly but surely, It's a pattern from Attic24 which you can find here. I want to finish at least one a day and thanks to this great Crochet-A-Long, I'm back into my crochet as I have a few WIP's I need to finish. 

I'm also on a mission to finish my Springtime Throw by Nicki Trench, the pattern is from the Cute and Crochet book, I started this, back in August 2011, it took me just over a year to make 780 tiny squares and join them together lengthways. I need to join them across the other way now and crochet a border. I will hopefully have it finished before the start of the Winter.

Check out Chrissie's and Marrianne's blog for my beautiful crochet projects. 

Thanks for stopping by, I really do appreciate it and thank you to all the lovely ladies who have been leaving me some kind and wonderful comments, lately. I do try and reply via your blogs but some of the comments left take me to Google+ so I can't find you, so sorry if I don't reply to some of you.

xxxxDebxxxx