Crochet Doily FO

I love the look of doily's. They are beautifully intricate, and with their round shape, that also remind me of mandalas. 

They were always traditionally made in plain white thread, so I've made one with a modern twist.

I've used bright green cotton thread for mine, and I think the results are amazing.

So, here it is!

At the start ... (I was having a nice cuppa while I worked on it)

And the finished piece ...

Whilst some of the doily patterns look a little overwhelmingly complex, they are actually relatively simple to do, with really striking results.

I might actually frame this one for the wall.

Storch Ulli Crochet Afghan Blanket FO

I loved babywearing my son when he was tiny.

Being a lover of fabric, colours and texture, it was natural that I fell in love with the myriad of babywearing wraps that you can buy. It took me a long time to decide on which colour scheme to get. I could easily have bought one of each, but as the initial investment (even with second hand wraps) is significant, I decided to choose just one.

My eventual choice was the Storch (short for Storchenwiege) Ulli wrap, that I found on a preloved babywearing Facebook group.

I just loved the purples, pinks, red and greens all mixed together in beautiful symphony.

It really was a joy to have my son tied around me in the beautiful swathes of woven fabric.

Alas, he grew big too soon, and the babywearing days were over before I could blink, but I wanted a keepsake to have around the house to remember those days by.

I'd seen other crafting babywearing mums crochet up blankets in the colours of their wraps before and thought it was an amazing idea, so I decided to embark on my own.

This was going to be a big project, so I chose an acrylic yarn called Special DK by Stylecraft in colours Claret, Shrimp, Wisteria, Apricot, Purple and Kelly Green.

So, I made a slip stitch chain of 250 stitches and began to single crochet rows in the same colour block ratios as my faithful Storch Ulli wrap.

What started as a noodle, grew to a long scarf, and then it was big enough to cover my knees as I worked. Perfect for crafting during the long winter months.

Literally years later it finally became the afghan I had visualised all those years ago.

I finished the edges with a pretty scallop crochet edging in the dark red, sewed in the ends, washed and blocked the piece.

The resulting blanket took a very long time, but I'm really happy with it. It's really big -- around the size of a king bed.

And now, I can wrap my son up cosy and warm in a different kind of wrap ... a lovely handmade (with oodles of love) crochet afghan blanket instead.

A labour of love, but one that my family can treasure for many years to come.

Leave a comment if you're inspired to crochet your own babywearing afghan blanket, or if you've already done one. I'd love to hear about it.

Crochet Squares 4 Charity

I was recently alerted to the presence of a wonderful charity and of an amazing way for yarn crafters to do their bit and help a good cause.

Zoe Horsefield of THETEDDYBEARSHOP on Instagram put a call out on her IG feed for any knitters and crocheters to see who could help a charity close to her heart.

The charity is GRWE or Greyhound Rescue West of England and they do a fabulous and much needed job rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing abused and abandoned Greyhounds and Lurchers.

As the owner of a lurcher myself, this is a charity that immediately pulls at my heart strings. I love all dogs but absolutely adore all of the Sight Hound breeds whose gentle, sensitive and kind nature make living without one of these special animals unthinkable. The fact that these beautiful creatures are being rescued from abusive, debilitating (and worse) situations breaks my heart.

I immediately felt like I wanted to be involved in any way that I could.

Zoe is looking for people to either knit or crochet 4x4" squares in DK (or similar) yarn and send them to her so she can join them together to make blankets for the dogs. Anyone with a knowledge of these somewhat skinny creatures will know that they feel the cold very easily and like nothing more than a snuggle with their owner or being wrapped up in a cosy blanket. The blankets will go toward helping these dogs feel warm, cosy and at home whilst they are being treated for any ailment caused by cruelty or abandonment, and to help them feel warm and loved. These blankets will then stay with each respective dog so that when they are rehomed they will have something that is special and smells familiar to them.

Fortunately the response to Zoe's call out has been good so far, so much so that she has started a blog. You can follow all the efforts of those involved HERE.

If this blog post speaks to you, and you would like to help, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Zoe at the following email address:

squares4charity@gmail.com

Here are my additions to the squares collaboration (several of the one pictured below), crocheted in handspun yarn:

Nice and bright and cheerful (the photo doesn't do it justice ... I do find it difficult to capture pinks and reds with my camera).

I will hunting around for more yarn scraps so I can add to the collection.

Maybe you have some odds and ends that could be put to good use for the GRWE charity?

My Handmade Christmas 2012

I had such good intentions to cover the house with an array of wonderful handmade Christmas decorations this year ... it's not happened quite like I had in mind but I think I've done quite well considering I've been a very busy lady over the last few months. From decopatch and paper crafts to knitting and crochet I've made quite a few. And anyway, it's a start. I aim to make a few things each year until I build up a nice  stash of handmade decorations that we will all, as a family, cherish and look forward to getting out of the loft each year.

With that in mind, I'm so looking forward to getting my son involved when he's a bit older. Salt dough decorations are beautiful and fun so maybe by next year he'll be old enough to get more involved.

Here are a few pics of some of my handmade haul for 2012.

First off are these sweet little Christmas Crochet Wreaths.

 

Then a decopatch Christmas Tree and baubles ...

And some German Paper Stars ...

AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST ...

An incredibly gorgeous painting done (with help) by my little baby boy ...