miss marie's miscellany

Sunday crochet links

I love hunting the internet for all kinds of interesting stuff, particularly of the crochet kind. I found a few great sites, some new and some old and much loved favourites, which I thought you may want to have a look at.

10 for 10 - Sarah London is having a pattern sale, 10 patterns for $10; there are some fab things, including a wonderful Granny Square Sweater, which I'm loving. I think it may go in my queue of things to make!

Sarah is also still hosting the Crochet a Rainbow appeal, originally set up to help the victims of the terrible flooding in Australia and which is now also making blankets for Japan;  if you have time to make even a few sqaures and send them, it will make a big difference to people whose lives have been shattered.

A new find which I'm very happy to have discovered is Tangled,  a fantastic online magazine for knitters and crocheters, with loads of very lovely patterns, with many of them in both a knit and crochet version. Another garment to go in my must-make list is this cardigan, which I'm very taken with, it's beautiful!

The 2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week starts tomorrow! Everyone who signs up for it must post daily about a specific topic for each day, it makes for diverse and entertaining reading. I took part last year, but sadly,  I'm just too busy at the moment for this year. But I'm looking forward to catching up with some of this year's posts :-)

Crochet Spot is a great site with lots of stitches and techniques explained with lots of photos and clear written instructions. I've learned a lot of new stitches from here  and I like its friendly vibe.  This week it features how to make chainless foundation rows which sounds like a dream come true to me.

Today has been lovely here in Glasgow, sunny and warm. Perfect for garden crochet!

I hope your weekend has been fab!

 

 

 

Cherry blossom inspired

Some time back when i was starting to learn to crochet, all the crochet blogs I liked to read were buzzing with talk of African flowers. I wrote the pattern down and then got waylaid with something or other and forgot about it. Then the other day, I came across it again and after oohing and aahing about how pretty it looks, decided to try making a few.  The colours I chose were 2 different shades of pink, green, white and coffee brown.

I've seen many pictures of cherry blossom recently, particularly after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and maybe unconsciously I chose these colours as a reflection of those tributes; who knows, but they have the same harmony as the petals, leaves and tree bark of the cherry tree and they look lovely together :-)

The pattern is an easy crochet and yet they have a great rhythm to them as you make them. I think these will probably turn into a cushion cover, or possibly a bag, I'm not sure yet, but hopefully you will see soon.

If you fancy drooling over some more gorgeous colours, there is a Flickr group for these lovely flowers.......head on over and feast your eyes!

 

 

 

Grannies galore

Here are the granny squares I've made so far for the Crochet a Rainbow appeal.

I'm going to make some more over the weekend and send them off on Monday.

I've enjoyed making these so much that I decided to experiment with some colour combinations for possible blankets.Trying to think of a name for each of them.........

Green goddess - I have every ball of green wool out of my stash for this! 

 

Spring flowers, as this puts me in mind of the colourful primroses that will appear soon. (Sorry this photo is not great,it's been pouring down and blowing a gale today with grey skies so I had to use a flash, which makes it look a little more garish than it really is - better pic to follow soon)

I think my colour choices are definitely a look forward to the spring and hopes of warmer climes and the start of the growing season in the garden. Bring it on!

 

Crochet a rainbow

Sarah London has a wonderful blog which I have mentioned loads of times here. She has put together a great idea to help Australian families who have lost everything in the recent devastating floods - a worldwide making of granny squares which will be joined up into blankets to be given to those who have lost their homes and belongings. I have signed up to make my own small contribution, and so far,  just over 200 others have done so, but I'm sure as many as possible would be welcome. Here's a link to Sarah's blog with all the details, do pop over and take a look.

Today I......

stood by the sea at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

and remembered.............

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 :-)

Pope fever

The last week has been a hive of activity in Bellahouston Park, just across the road from where I live, preparing for the papal visit. All sorts of crashing and banging has been going on, while a huge stage and all the ephemera that a big event with lots of bodies requires were installed. The park was closed from Wednesday afternoon and all the residents were subjected treated to a sound check from 9am to 9pm. All the main roads were closed apart from 2 for local access and the local buses and trains operated to a different timetable and route or didn't run at all. I ventured out in my car yesterday morning, despite the dire warnings of my neighbours that the traffic would be awful; it wasn't, in fact it appeared that most people not going to the park were at home! Later on, I went to have a look.

 

Lots of people  everywhere

 

I went back up the hill where I could see the stage framed by the trees

 

The music was spectacular, a brass band, full church organ, choirs of all ages, various singers and bands and Susan Boyle and Michelle McManus too. I sat in the garden with my crochet and enjoyed a free concert for most of the afternoon. When the Pope finally arrived, the sun came out and the stage/altar was bathed in sunlight;  just as well as it was very windy and rather chilly, hope he had his thermals on!

 

And the person who really deserved a medal was this cameraman perched high above the park. he must have been frozen:-(

 

Vertigo, anyone?

 
 
 
 
 

What every crochet loving lady should drive

I came across this fantastic smart car with its own multi-coloured crocheted cover........I love it!

 

It is the work of Magda Sayeg, an American lady who is a guerilla knitter. I've heard of guerrila gardening, but not knitting; but it sounds like an excellent idea to me, brightening up your surroundings with some lovely knitting or crochet, putting it in locations where you'd least expect to see such a thing; lampposts, road signs, a bus .........yes,really, if you don't believe me, look at this.

 

Magda Sayeg has a blog called KnittaPlease where she posts all her latest projects. Absolutely fascinating and inventive, it takes yarn and what one can do with it to a whole new level.

I wish my car looked like this!

  

Sunny afternoon

Today is the Vernal Equinox, when the day and night are the same length. Officially, the first day of spring. And right on cue it's been a lovely day here, perfect for a spot of gardening. And a bit of relaxing too. 

After quite a bit of digging,weeding and clearing, things are starting to unfurl, raise their heads in to the sunlight and grow.....at last!

It's been a long time coming, with such a long, cold winter, but finally the colour everyone needs is starting to burst through. Good for the soul.

And after all that toil, a chance to enjoy some warmth outside. Lovely to sit with the sun on your face, coffee and mini chocolate brownies and a bit of hooking!

 

Have a great weekend :-)

Help for Haiti

I found a great way for all knitters and crocheters to make a donation to the aid effort for Haiti. Head over to Ravelry -  it's free to sign up and is a brilliant resource for all things wooly. There are hundreds of beautiful patterns to choose from, marked with a 'Help for Haiti' widget, which you can download for a few pounds and at least half, and in some cases all of  your money will be donated to a variety of charities who are working over there to help bring aid to the people whose lives have been devastated.  Sounds like a good idea to me........