Yummy, yummy, in my tummy!

My beautiful baby received a teapot and mini cake plate for Christmas which, of course, my older girl is infatuated with! To wean her away from using up all the batteries in the house, I decided to finally get round to making her a girlie tea party set.

I must admit that I've been holding off posting pictures as I have got a bit obsessive about these gorgeous little things and kept wanting to wait until I had just finished one more, no- one more, no- darn it!

So, here is the selection I've been working on since last week, all yummy and pretty healthy too. Now, this weeks selection will be indulgent and as greedy as I can make it! I plan to have finished the feast for next week and am looking forward to setting it all out "Teddy Bear's Picnic" style for next week





All these patterns-except the teabag- came from "Tasty Crochet" by Rose Langlitz. They really were simple to follow with virtually no errors so far. Rose also has a wonderful blog at tastycrochet.blogspot.com which is worth looking at.


My little teabag was very easy to knock up. Here is the pattern


Hook size 3 using white cotton


Make 2
1- Ch 11
2- Skip first loop and SC to the end, turn
3- Ch 1, skip first loop and crochet to the end, turn
4- Repeat row 3 for five rows (or until square shaped)
5- Fasten off and weave ends toward the centre of one of the sides to make to string.
6- Cut piece of beige felt slightly smaller than squares and pop in between the 2 squares.
7- SC around the edges, 2 SC in each corner and join with slip stitch.

8- Cut small rectangle of felt and stitch "T" and edge around half the rectangle.
9- Fold rectangle in half, running string through the centre and stitch closed.
10- Tie a knot under tea tab to finish.

Week 3 decoration- Felt Snowflake

I've had fun with my little needle recently and am finally getting better at blanket stitch. This snowflake was stuffed with a bit of cotton wool from my baby's change basket as Hubbie has been "tidying" again and has put my stuffing in the loft... I am not really allowed in the loft after the last time I dropped things through the hatch! Last time, it was a lantern which broke the wooden lid of our nice laundry basket. I will sneak up next week or I could be waiting a while.

Week 2 decoration- Embroidered Tree

Sorry about the poor picture quality. It was another very gloomy day and I wanted to take a picture before I unpicked this bad, bad attempt and went at it again with more of a plan in mind!

I love how it turned out in the end. Random swirly backstitch with tiny silver beads threaded on for sparkle.
I edged in black to keep the focus on the design.

That's so much better and in my Christmas drawer all tucked up tight!

That's a lot of hats!

I loved making these Chunky hats by Alexa Riether. The pattern was a bit tricky at first to understand but once I had a few plays with it, it went beautifully. The first hat was made with Mega Chunky wool and came up slightly bigger around my head- which means it will fit my pal perfectly! It feels very comfy but the bulky wool does hide the pattern detail.

I had another go the next day using 2 strands of DK wool from my stash hoping to show off the pattern more clearly. The hat fits beautifully and only needed a few rows taken off to fit my little head. (I think I'll keep this one for myself...)

First time Crochet.

My newly crocheting sister is eager to learn how to make Granny squares but worries that they will be beyond her skills. Well, look what I've dug up. It's my first attempt at a Granny Square! I came across this the other day in my wool stash and had to post it! I remember reading through the crochet codes as if I was in the Matrix. It was such a headache to stumble through sc, dc, ch 1 and so on. I always find it helps to read through a whole row of instructions first and try to visualise what is happening to the piece.

Also, check out Snipsnaphappy's Blog where she has made "The Happy Hooker's Backwards Project" which is a blanket made from lots of little squares of only 3 rounds each- very quick and simple to make in spare minutes.

I think we will be doing some phone-crochet lessons soon!

Just like Mother makes...

I felt I had to include this little tradition started by my Mum. Making gift tags out of Christmas cards always seemed a bit too thrifty for me but, as I get older, there is something very satisfying about reusing these beautiful cards and saving a few bob too. I especially love reusing the handmade cards made by my sister for those extra special gifts.

Like Mum, I use gold thread but I decided not to use my pinking shears as I can't bear to blunt those expensive blades. I picked up a set of eight different edged scissors from Hobbycraft and they did an ok job. Not great at cutting a clean edge, but fun and labelled with patterns for easy use.

By the way, is "OK" a shortening of two words (acronym)? I have no idea!

Week 1 decoration- Sewing Machine Heart

So here is the first little decoration! This was just a bit of fun and knocked up in an evening.

1. Cut two hearts out with pinking shears.

2. Backstitch around the edge by hand or on a sewing machine (like me), leaving a space for binding tape.

3. Fill with Lavender and close gap with binding tape in place.

Finishing off was never my strong point in the past but I enjoyed stitching on tiny grey beads in the centre of each dark star which made it a bit more special. By leaving long tales, I was able to stitch ends in neatly. Lovely!

Christmas Crafty Tree Project

Hooray! My 3 month old is starting to settle into a bit of a nap routine (touch wood). Hopefully this means having more than 15 minutes during the daytime to squeeze in lunch, coffee breaks and the current craft project

So I think its time to set myself a little challenge...

Every week I plan to make one Christmas tree ornament using felt, sewing machine, crochet and maybe a few new techniques along the way. The idea is, that by the time Christmas rolls around again, I will have a gorgeous selection of premade gifts (and hopefully some to add to my own collection). This also means that I can get on with larger projects inbetween without becoming too obsessed with making things for others.

These ideas will be coming from books, blogs, crafty websites and some of my own designs I hope. Just before Christmas I will take some pics of the whole stash together on my tree and try to remember that I cant keep them all.

If I start to get a few more followers I might even include a few freebies along the way!

One finished hat...

Ta Da! This hat whipped up nice and quick I must say. I used sock yarn that came as a gift with my "Inside Crochet" magazine and, even though the mixed colour does hide the pattern a bit, I think it came out pretty nice.

The hat is basically a set of granny squares stitched together to make the brim and then single crochet to spiral up for the crown. I always use one hook size smaller than the pattern as I have quite a loose stitch but it did come up a bit looser than expected- Thankfully my friend's head is a bit larger than mine!

This pattern and the Berry hats both came from "Crocheted Gifts" by Kim Werker. Even with my loose stitching, you have to watch the sizes as my 4 year old ended up with the hat labelled for a 6-9 month old. This hat worked single crochet with alternating decrease rows and plain sc rows. I ended up cutting out 9 rows of the sc rows as it would have been massive.

PS- The funny face is because of the 9 pictures it took to get this one with my iphone. I should have waited for my Hubbie to get home!

Another one bites the dust!

I started crocheting 4 years ago after watching and admiring my very talented sister set up her own blog to display her fabulous (and numerous) projects. This Christmas, the two of us set upon my other sister in a kind of "Crochet warfare", bombarding her with craft books, blogs, projects, her own book and hooks and starter off lessons. My poor brother and father sat with a bemused but slightly bored look on their faces as we gushed and enthused our socks off!

WELL! I think she's hooked! She has tackled single and double crochet and is working through "The Happy Hooker" to learn new stitches and, like the rest of us, has a list of projects that will probably take till next year to do! Well done Sis. Keep it up and I cant wait to see your first projects!xxx

Keep it under your hat...

Its Crochet time again and I am making hats all round it seems! Little cute berry hats for my two girls and now a lovely one using delicate granny squares stitched together.
My lovely friend is about to go through chemotherapy and wants lots of hats to keep her little head warm and gorgeous. I’ve started this one and want to get a bunch made in different styles and colours.
If anyone out there has a gap in their project schedule and would like to help me her head measurement is 55cm!

Let's start as we mean to go on!

Well hello there! I'm a bit of a slow-coach when it comes to technology and have taken my sweet time starting my little blog. But now that my Ravelry page is looking a bit healthier, I decided to have a go at blogging.

Happy New Year to my lovely sister who is my first follower! I hope in time I will get more people peeking at my page so I will try to put lovely pictures on as I go.

For now, here are some pictures of my first sewing machine attempts made a few months ago.

1- For my bunting I used pinking shears to cut the triangles which were then pinned together and stiched together quickly around 2 corners on the sewing machine. Binding tape was folded over and pinned to flags, then run through quickly on machine.

2-I followed the guide for Kirstie Allsops Patchwork Stockings on the BBC website and used my leftover bunting fabric to make these. Not very Christmassy but so cute and I have spare fabric in case I get a surprise addition to the family!