The Birthday Crown

If you remember, a few weeks ago, I showed a pic of some small granny squares. Well, they have now become this:

It was after I made the party hats, I was thinking about what to make for my Mum's birthday, and as an extension of the party hat thoughts, the idea of a crown popped into my head. The original idea was to crochet an inside and an outside for the crown and sandwich some crown shaped card in the middle. But, as I worked on it, I went off that idea as I thought it would be much nicer if the holes in the granny square were still open and see-through.

So, my next thought was to sugar starch it, which is what I’ve done. It was rather an experiment as the granny squares and triangles are made in random acrylic yarns and I’ve only sugar starched cotton before. I just wasn’t sure if the sugar starching would work so well in acrylic.

I do think the end result looked better in cotton, but it still looked good in acrylic too. The acrylic did take longer to dry, and even now that it’s completely dry, some of the squares still look as if they might be a bit damp. It did also take longer to dry – 4 days on the bucket followed by 2 days freestanding.

I had the bin from Alexander’s bedroom all lined up as a mould to dry the crown on but I completely forgot about the effects of gravity on sticky, wet, acrylic! I ended up tying the opposite points of the crown together across the top of the bucket to get them to stand up nicely – thank goodness that worked!

I do think the end result works very well and was very surprised and impressed when I originally took it off the bin. I deliberately tried to stick to jewel-toned yarns and the colours work well too.

This week I also finished the coasters I was making for my Mum’s birthday – finished weaving in the ends about half an hour before I gave them to her!

The coasters were made using this gorgeous pattern from the Yvestown blog which I’d been wanting to try for a while. While I do like the ones I've made, I really love the colours of Yvonne's - why do I never find any yarn in colours that gorgeous?

The accidental granny

Ummm, I have to confess that over the last week I accidentally started a new giant granny! Square this time rather than hexagonal.

I wanted to make a shawl/blanket for a toy I made recently and still have to share and I decided, as a bit of a stash buster, to use all the odd balls of lilacy-purpley yarn I have in my stash. The problem then, once I did that, was that it turned out too nice just to give to a toy and for playing with.

So it's my new, accidental, giant granny. The problem now is that I'm running pout of some shades of yarn. It's all been in my stash for years. Some of it are odd balls of stuff that came free with magazines, some of it I know what it is, some of it I don't. And given how old it is, it's highly unlikely I'll find anything that matches exactly. So I'm going to see what I can get hold of - some solid colours should be fairly straightforward, the varigated yarns won't be so easy. And then we'll see what happens.

I had a little play around to see what a blanket of my purple granny squares might look like.

July

I don't have any finishes to share today, so I thought I'd try and put together one of those mosaics you can see on any number of other blogs, showing what's been going on in July.



As you can see, most of my photos involve crochet. In future, I'll try and include more of a range of different things. I should be able to put together something different at the end of August as next month should include holidays!

To Natalie Howells - thanks for the comments you've been leaving on my blog! However the link you've been leaving to your Google profile doesn't work! Have you a blog I can visit? Thanks!

Wednesday wobbles

Thanks everyone for all the comments on last week's hats - I really had great fun with them! I think I'll have to make another for a friend of Alexander's who has a birthday in August.

This week I’ve joined the Giant Granny CAL on Sucrette’s blog - I’m calling this my Third Time Lucky blanket!

In October 2010, it looked like this –



Then it grew bigger, but I didn’t like the way it was lying (and who wants to block a giant granny hexagon), so I frogged it and started again. I started again with a slightly different hexagon design, but I didn’t like it either and ripped it out too.

So now, I’m on to the Third Time Lucky! Wonder how big it’ll get this time?

Here’s something else I’ve been doing - Iona really likes these, particularly the pink ones!

Last week’s granny squares have now entered the experimental stage – I’m waiting to see how they work out, and the hairy things are multiplying but still kicking about the car until I decide there are enough of them!

Finally, something momentous has been going on in our house over the last couple of weeks.

She looks extremely wobbly, but she’s actually very good at keeping her balance!

At 13 months, she’s 3 months ahead of her big brother and 5 months ahead of her big sister! She’s just desperate to keep up with everyone else! And now that she’s on the go, she just won’t sit still - it can be really difficult to prepare her meals when she keeps getting up and tottering across the kitchen!

Well done Niamh!

FO Friday

And that’s not remotely meant to be rude - I have nothing against today or any other Friday!

However, my WIPs and my finishes are getting rather out of sync! I’m very aware that I’ve shared a few WIPs that may then seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth!

Remember these?

They gradually morphed into these.

And from there,

End of year gifts for my son’s teachers – I was thinking party hats for end of year celebrations. They were all distributed during the last week of school, and much appreciated by the recipients!

(Don't know that my models look too keen on the modelling. Certainly one little pest girl just wouldn't stand still to have her photo taken!)

And for those of you looking for news of the hairy things, I'm very sorry, but you're going to have to wait a little while before I'll be ready to reveal their purpose!

Wow - 5 blog posts in July and 2 in a week - thanks to WIP Wednesdays (and FO Fridays) my blogging's back on track! Yay!

Brief and to the point = my Wednesday WIPs

Hairy things, their purpose yet to be revealed!

A little something I'm trying out for my Mum's birthday.

And, shock horror! I've actually done some stitching!

Laura J Perin's Color Study - Starry Night

When you look at the before pic, it looks like I've been making good progress over the last couple of weeks!

And a final hello from that other WIP, the photographer's assistant!

The Wednesday WIP

Today, we have a relative of Billy Buttons on the go.

I had to send Billy and Belinda off to a photographer in Bristol and I don’t have them back yet. But since seeing their pic in Inside Crochet, Iona keeps asking for Belinda. So I started this little project which I’d had in mind using super chunky yarn and a big hook. It’s funny to see it grow so big so quickly!

I have a little something else that I started last night too but didn’t have time for a photo – just a little hairy grey triangle in eyelash yarn that I’m planning to have fun with!

Unfortunately, I’m struggling with a severe lack of motivation just now. What I really want to do is stitch, but when I often struggle to find time for anything, crochet seems easier to pick up and put down.

Maybe I’ll take a day’s leave from work sometime and spend it all needle in hand…… Or maybe I should go back to those odd pieces of stitching that I meant to finish with crochet ……. Or maybe a bit of everything ……..

Ugh!

Anyone else like me having a complete nightmare trying to comment on Blogger blogs? It's getting to the stage where, unless I can comment anonymously or by name/url, then I can't comment at all.

Commenting via my Google account just never works!

And it only seems to get worse!

And the thing for uploading images is suddenly useless unless I'm on the Edit HTML tab, which I confess, I usually am (but, strangely, not today).

So I really would like to talk to you all, but between them, Google and Blogger are making it almost impossible!

Really glad I found one of these with steam coming out of its ears! Off now to see if I can find out what  Google and Blogger are up to.

Introducing Billy and Belinda Buttons

Finally, I can introduce you to Billy and Belinda!

I made them in April/May, wrote up the pattern, photographed them and emailed everything off for the Inside Crochet amigurumi competition!





Here are pages 10 and 11 of issue 20 of Inside Crochet. See those two adorable bears in the middle? Well, Billy's on the left and Belinda's on the right! If you look closely, you can just about make out my name underneath as a runner up in the competition!





Wow - I am so delighted! Somehow I knew as soon as I'd finished Billy and Belinda that they would do well in the competition - I couldn't even consider the possibility that they wouldn't do well.





I love Billy's face - it's somehow very cute and full of character!





Billy and Belinda's arms and legs are attached by buttons on their bodies and buttonholes in their limbs. I could see children having fun with that, while other amigurumi limbs are fixed.





So their limbs are completely movable, removable and interchangable!

I'm very proud of Billy and Belinda. The pattern's coming in Inside Crochet in a couple of months.

A different sort of WIP!

Sorry – no crochet photos today as I’ve left the lead for my camera at home and can’t upload anything - and I thought I was all organised! So, in best Blue Peter style, here’s one I prepared earlier.

A couple of weeks ago, someone had a birthday! Can you believe it’s been a year already?

I don’t think she would mind too much being referred to as a WIP - she’s such a happy, fun-loving little girl! She’s absolutely desperate to join in with everything her big brother and sister do, and within a few weeks, I can see her toddling off on her own after them. She’s already doing her best to climb the stairs, whenever she can escape from us! It’s be a race between Niamh and her cousin Connor, who’s 4 months older, to see who’s off and walking on their own first!

Poor wee Niamh is currently fighting the effects of heat and dry skin, so she’s covered in scratches and spots! The Health Visitor has now given us some cream for her, so hopefully it’ll help soothe the itching.

I’ve been thinking back to when Alexander was her age – a good 10 years ago! When he was small, I gave up stitching for at least 5 years, I couldn’t find any time for it. So I’ve been reminding myself of that so as not to get too frustrated by the current absence of any stitching in my life. At least I still have crochet and things are very positive on the crochet front!

It seems a bit odd to me, but wandering round the ‘net, it’s the needlepoint pieces I crave the most – Coni, Jan and Liz are all working on Tony Minieri’s Stars of the New Millennium which is looking wonderful! Then I saw Jocelyn’s cool version of Hot Stuff from DebBee’s Designs – gorgeous, or what? And that one’s in my stash too! And then there’s Laura’s Red White and Blue panel which I love, although I’m not a red white and blue person – maybe I could stitch a version in Scottish colours – navy, white, maybe a bit of purple or green? And of course a new panel from Laura reminds me of Laura’s first One Long Panel which is also in my stash, as is her Daisy Chain, and then there’s her Color Study: Starry Nights which I have started on stretcher bars ……

Of course, I mustn’t forget Nova either – surely I could fit in the odd square here and there? Hmm ……

If you'd rather see some yarny stuff, then head off to Tami's blog and join the fun!

WIP Wednesday

I have absolutely no idea where the time goes these days! And I get really frustrated that I never manage to find the time to put together a proper blog post. I do want to blog, but somehow I just never get there …..

Anyway, no more apologies, but a change of plan! WIP Wednesdays – on Wednesdays, I’ll share pics of anything I happen to be working on. At the moment, that mainly involves woolly stuff, but I see some cardboard in my future and some felt!

Without further ado, here are today’s WIPs.

Exhibit no. 1 – end of year gifts for my son’s teachers.

They may not look much in this pic, but I’m having great fun with them! I hope to be able to show you why next week.

Exhibit no. 2 – random motif collection.

I’ve decided that this year, I’m going to collect motifs in the hope that by the end of the year, I’ll have enough to make them into a random motif waistcoat/sleeveless jacket/vest type thingy - I’m looking forward to seeing what I end up with!




It really love this motif! I originally made a creamy coloured one, but all the time I was working on it, I kept visualising it in these colours. The pattern comes from a Japanese book.

Pinteresting?

Have you joined Pinterest? I have and I love it! Yes, I know it’s another one of those things that just eats all your online time, but I love the fact that I can use it to keep track of images and tutorials and patterns and stuff that I see online and fall in love with or feel completely inspired by. Even better – I can get at it all from my iPod too! Yay! (I’m rather attached to my iPod these days.)

So you can see what I’ve been pinning here and you can

Monkey Business

Well, last time I blogged, I did say that I had Important Monkey News to report.

Monkeys have never been entirely absent from my life since ZeroX-1 came along just over 3 years ago. He leads a fairly laid back life, living in Alexander’s bed and guarding Alexander’s (vitally important) shawl (ie. comfort blanket) when Alexander’s not there.

Occasionally, he comes for outings with us, like the time I mentioned previously when Alexander and Iona both ended up in tears fighting over him in the school playground.

At that time, thinking back to the halcyon days of 007’s adventures with monkeemaker, I looked up monkeemaker on Flickr and sent a brief message reporting our monkey troubles.


(Pic borrowed from monkeemaker's Flickr photostream.)


I was astonished to receive a reply suggesting that 007 might like to come and live with us to support ZeroX-1 in his predicament! Of course I answered in the positive and shortly after a parcel arrived at our house emblazoned with monkee insignia.

This arrival was very timely, with just time to open the parcel before braving the school run. In fact, I was given little chance to have anything to do with the opening, one small bossy person and another, nearly the same height as me but considerably less bossy, taking over entirely.

Joy was unbounded as not one, but two monkees emerged, ready for action.
007 and Lily the Pink.


I'm very pleased to say that 007 and Lily the Pink immediately settled into our chaotic household and made themselves at home. Although 007 does occasionally seek refuge in the relative calm of my bedroom.

007 and ZeroX-1 instantly became fast friends and have spent many a happy hour playing table tennis together.


Think this must be one of those 'Spot the ball games' ....

Lily the Pink proved a much more excitable type and instantly became fast friends with Iona. The two of them have since spent many a happy hour throwing themselves around the trampoline in the back garden.


Meantime, Niamh has inherited Titch . . . . at least, until next time I dig out the knitting needles!