…that I got this show back on the road!  Anyone missed me?  Anyone noticed I’ve been gone?

Time really does fly doesn’t it!  All that time ago when I was last here I had just got a temporary job working on the UK Census 2011 and as soon as that started I was in a complete whirlwind (or more like a twister, earthquake and avalanche rolled into one) that didn’t let up.  However, I absolutely loved the work and it finished a couple of weeks ago.  I am rather sad that it finished but it did me a lot of good and it was a great experience doing something so different from what I’d done before and it has definitely put me back on the right track!

Back now to job hunting, crochet, time to myself, crochet, catching up with neglected friends and maybe even a bit of housework!  Well, maybe not the last one there!

This is just a quick hello to ease myself back into things.  More will follow with crochet, colour, usual tales of craftiness and of course buttons and tea!  There will always be buttons and tea!!

The next stages of the Crochet Club patterns involve adding beads to crochet stitches.  I’ve never done this before and I’m quite enjoying it and I love the finished look.

However, I really hate counting out the beads, in the same was I hate counting foundation chains! Grrrrrrrrrr!

I had to find a way to reduce the risk of errors so I came up with the solution in the picture above.  I counted the beads in 10s into an ice cube tray before threading them onto the yarn and BINGO, it all worked out just fine!  Highly recommended if you’re doing similar, and a pink flower shaped ice cube tray makes it a much more pleasant experience too!

I hate getting things wrong.  I hate having to redo things.  But sometimes, there’s just no alternative.

After recently posting an update of the crochet club, the wonky shape of the piece above kept popping into my head and I knew I would have to rework the rows which looked too tight and pulled in on the top.

Easy I thought, I’ll undo the top few rows and crochet them again, maybe using a slightly larger hook.

However, I got myself into a real ‘fankle‘ (sometimes only a Scottish word will do!) and had no idea why I couldn’t undo the rows easily.

I’ve since worked it out because during the original make up the piece was crocheted on both the top and bottom edges, so the edge I was trying to rip back was really the bottom, not the top with would have undone easily! 

After a bit of frustration and a bit of ‘that’ll teach me’ I started all over again!  I am so glad I did.  This piece is now the right shape and size and looks brilliant!

Sometimes it takes a little pain to get to the gain!!!

So there I was getting in a routine of writing here a couple of time a week, then I lost the habit and it’s been a week and half!  Where does the time go? 

Anyway, I’ve had a bit of good news this week and I have a job!  It’s only for a couple of months starting mid April but it’s given me a real boost when my confidence work-wise has been quite low because of everything that’s happened in the past few months.  I’m really quite excited about starting work again, doing something a bit different and knowing that if it’s not quite right for me it’s only for a limited time.

And then there’s been my favourite ever bit of crochet!  That’s a big claim I know!!!  In the last 24hours I have completed another element of the crochet club and not only has it been my favourite of the project so far, it is probably the one I’ve enjoyed most ever!  I just love the stitches, colours and overall look of it.  I am easily pleased aren’t I!!

Want a look (the eagle eyed amongst you may have spotted it at the top of the page!!!):

I am now really far behind in the crochet club.  The patterns for March have just been received and I’m just finishing the first month, from January.  I don’t know why i haven’t been getting on with it because when I have been working on it I have really enjoyed it.  No excuses really! Maybe it’s just laziness as I’ve been carrying on with the granny stripe blanket which really doesn’t require much thought.

The best thing about this element of the crochet club – it requries two!!!

Since I have recently started embroidery, I wanted to find a project that would give me lots of practice on the main stitches.  I chose a tablecloth that has a floral pattern repeated around it, that uses mainly satin stitch, french knots and lots and lots of stem stitch.  So far I am particularly bad at the stem stitch so practicing that will be useful.  In some places I am also going to replace the stem stitch with split chain stitch or backstitch.  I think the overall look won’t be affected and it will make it ‘my own’ a bit too.

I have also seen a few really nice sampler patterns around.  Not the very traditional ‘home sweet home’ type, much more modern than that.  There’s a great and quite simple one by Sublime Stitching that I think I will get started on very soon.

I also received a fabulous parcel of purchases from Sublime Stitching!  More next time!!!

I posted a while ago now that I was taking part in the Jane Crowfoot’s Crochet Club for 2011 and I have been working on the pieces for this project.  I am a bit behind as I am still working on the January patterns and the February ones came out a couple of weeks ago, but I am sure I can get caught up pretty quickly.

Want to see what I’ve done so far?

These squares (there are 4 all together) are the corners and in the next stage of the patterns they are expanded to add more rows and beads!

I really like this next piece – the shape is really nice and it was really easy to make.  I am really curious to see how a shape like this can fit into the final overall project.

I’ve struggled a bit with the piece below.  As you can see it’s not lying flat and it becomes narrower as it gets to the top.  I may rip back half of it and use a hook 0.5mm up for the upper half.  There was a lot of discussion about this in the Crochet Club forums and I didn’t think it would pull in the way it has, but hey presto, pulling in!!

I’ve not blocked anything yet and the pieces definitely do need it. 

As the overall project won’t be seen until the very end when all elements are completed and joined together they all seem a bit of a random mix, although the colours all blend in a lovely way.  At first I wasn’t too keen on the deep purpley shade, it seems a but dull and dusky to me, but it is growing on me now that I see it combined with the others.  It is the main shade in the whole project and there is much more of it that any other shade, so I do need to get used to it.

The yarn is mostly Rowan Cotton Glace which I haven’t used before and I am really liking it.  The only problem I have is that for this project it’s worked on quite a small hook, considering its a dk yarn, and I am finding it a little tricksy with the smaller size.

The patterns for the next stage are much more decorative with bobbles and beads!!!  I really need to catch up before the next patterns are out in mid March!