miss marie's miscellany

Romantic

A story about how crochet can come to the rescue of a damsel in distress. Well, sort of!  One of my colleagues was telling me that she was playing at a wedding on Sunday and had been told to look more 'romantic' for the occasion. She is a busy mum of 4 and said she didn't think her wardrobe held much in the way of romantic attire. "Fear not" said I. "I'll make you something to do the trick". She is playing as a one third of a trio, so I made 3 rose corsages, in romantic pink and red.

Not bad, considering I didn't get home from work till after 10pm last night. My hook is on fire; I hope they feel the love!

Wishing everyone a lovely (and possibly romantic) weekend :-)

Blue popcorn

In case the titile of this post is making you feel queasy, I talk not of the edible variety, but of the crochet kind. I finished my pink and blue blanket, it now looks like this

I thought I'd use a more ornate edging; this is a popcorn wave pattern

Here it is a bit closer

I thought it was a good choice as it echoes and compliments the bobble stitches on the main part of the blanket. I almost ran out of the blue wool towards the end, getting nearer and nearer to the last stitches it was touch and go, but there was just enough, phew. About 4 inches of wool left over! 

I'm getting quite quick at making these blankets now, and I enjoy dreaming them up, looking over different patterns, imagining how they will look in my chosen colours and making it all come together. 

Next, one for the boys!

Pink and blue

I liked the baby blanket I made recently so much, I decided to make another. Pink and blue look lovely together, just right for a little girl,  and I just happened to have some perfect wool for the job. So, it's based on the same idea but with slightly different patterns and textures for the squares. It's still a WIP, but I thought I'd show how it's looking so far.

All the patterns are in the Jan Eaton book, 200 Crochet Blocks for Afghans and Blankets. I find this book really helpful when making these blankets, there's such a mix of styles and textures in all the blocks featured, truly something for everyone.

A few close-ups of some of the patterns; this is a tulip design.

This one is a band of bobbles topped with a double crochet section

This design is called Lemon Peel; after I'd finished I could see why

Since I started this post, I've managed to sew the squares together; this is how the blanket is looking today (Sunday)

So it will get a pretty edging as soon as poss, and I'll let you see the FO in a few days.

 

Autumn colours

The leaves have turned such amazing colours now, it's a feast for the eyes, all those rich hues of  red and gold.

Where I live is very leafy and tree-lined, and I've really noticed over the last week that the colours of autumn are looking lovely.

When it's a sunny day like today, everywhere looks splendid; seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness indeed :-)

September collage

September has been quite a month ; hot weather, cold weather, stormy weather have turned into autumn with the leaves already turning, a fair bit of hooking and some wool purchases, the garden is still blooming with lots of beautiful autumn shades and some delicious fruit and veg........oh, and there was a certain visitor from Rome across the road in the park!

Hope you have a happy weekend, whatever it brings :-)

Blackcurrant and orange cream

Hello! Long time no see, as I've been a busy bee, but things are a little quieter and I'm happy to be here again. Despite all that's been going on, I've tried and succeeded to find some much needed hooking time over the last week. I do find it very therapeutic and calming, in fact, I have been getting up early so I can do some before I go to work.......hmm, some might say that is going a bit too far, but I find it the perfect start to the day, a few rows of crochet with a nice cup of tea. A friend asked me to make a baby blanket for a gift ( yes, a commission, how exciting!) I made some squares using different stitches.

 

Purple and orange were requested colours, and I thought the cream set them off nicely. I decided to use all the squares in a random arrangement. You can see all the various stitches in the above photo; bobble stitch on the bottom right and top left, the top middle square is a new stitch to me which I found in one of my crochet books, angled clusters. moss stitch on the top right, star stitch on the bottom left and shell stitch bottom middle.  

The squares were really quick to make, it was the joining up which took ages. But it came together well,and here is the finished article.

 

The colours really buzz, and although they might not be everyone's choice for a baby blanket, I think I like the fruity combination:-)

 
The purple and orange wools are a merino /cashmere mix and the crean is lamb's wool so  it will be very cosy. 

I edged it with a row of treble crochet in each of the 3 colours and finished off with a row of crab stitch which I have become a big fan of. It is worked by crocheting from left to right which feels weird when you first try it out, but it's worth persevering with, the rolled edging it creates looks very fine.If you want to try it out, I found this video on YouTube very helpful:-)

 

I'm happy that this turned out so well, now I just need to find a new WIP to make in the mornings!
 

Monday song

It's been ages since I had a music link here, and I think this song is perfect for that Monday morning feeling. Makes me want to dance!

Seeing stars

Allow me to introduce my bright orange stars cushion cover; I woke up early today and did all the finishing off, buttons, buttonholes and last few rows. It looks lovely in the early morning light.

 

I edged this side of the cushion in pink crab stitch, another new stitch to me, made by making double crochet stitches working from left to right, which gives a rolled corded effect

 

I bought the wool on Ebay from one of my favourite sellers who I've mentioned before, Kingcraig Fabrics. This particular wool is a lambs wool and silk mix in an aran weight. It's lovely to crochet with (and knit too, I should think)and has a nice textured feel, especially in these 2 stitches which both have 'feel appeal'! 
 

 

The other side is made using crochet moss stitch in the same wool in a cream colour, it reminds me  of custard creams! I used some purple buttons to fasten and made an envelope flap for the button holes.

 

 

I am making another of these with pink stars, as a companion to this, finishing quite soon, I hope. 

While I was writing this post, the postman delivered a parcel with more of this wool in some lovely bright colours. Want to see?

 

I'll have to put my thinking cap on, what shall I make with these?!
 

 
 

 
 

Granny ta-dah!

I've been working away on the big granny square blanket I showed off a couple of weeks ago, it has been quite a task! The rows were taking nearly an hour each by the end, quite an epic amount of crochet was taking place; but the weather has been so fantastic over the last week, I have sat in the garden with all my bits and pieces here

 

those small garden trugs are great for outdoor crafting! It's been lovely to enjoy the sunlit garden

 

and whizz round the blanket a few times.So, at last, I have finished! I'm breathing a big sigh of relief but I'm delighted with it. 

 

 
 I finished it off with some rows of double crochet using a mixture of the colours in the blanket, then a row of arch chain edging.

 

 

It used up a lot of wool, I have used 17 different colours! All the balls of wool were 100gs and I haven't run out of any colour, but haven't got much left of some and had to start a second ball of wool for a couple of shades.

 

But it is a biggie, here it is on the spare bed (double)

 

And here it is on my king size bed

 

It will be keeping someone cosy this winter!

My next project will definitely be something slightly smaller!!:-)
 

 
 
 
 

Shed demolition and garden improvements- part 1

It was high time there were some improvements in the garden; a new fence and garden shed and making the top end of the garden more user friendly; it has been home to the horrible old shed and a large plantation of weeds up to now. and I have to admit, that has been very daunting.  It's all been happening over the last few weeks though. Note the lovely new fence in the picture below; job no 1, done.

Goodbye to this old shed, which I inherited with the house. I hated going in there, it was dark and dingy and also completely rotten and not watertight, so it had to go to shed heaven. My lovely handyman Michael pushed it over in about 2 seconds

 

The aftermath!

A new base put in place, Antony Gormley would be proud of this beautiful plinth.

 

Friday morning at 7.30am, I'm still fast asleep when the shedmen turn up to install the new shed

 

Here it is, 8.15 am, all done and dusted

 

A bit of painting and now it looks like this.

 

I thought the inside needed brightening up

 

And it's home to all the garden paraphernalia again

 

Now there is a big space waiting to be used for who knows what? (I know it's a complete tip just now, but it will look beautiful in a few weeks, I promise.......this is the 'before' photo!)

 
 I'd definitely like some raised beds, but there's room also for something I read about recently here; I fell head over heels in love with it and have been wondering if I could/should acquire one myself? I am sooooo tempted, it would be crochet nirvana for me :-) What do you think?