In January Ali at Snipsnaphappy set up a little new year swap which was very good of her!  I’ve only taken part in one swap before and thought it was about time I did another one.

I received details of my swap partner and set to work on putting together some lovely things for her.  However, I  can’t tell you about those yet as I haven’t heard that she’s received them and its all about the surprise in this swap!!

I also knew that at some point I’d receive a treat in the post from the person who was given me to make for!  And what a treat I received.  Let me introduce Claire from The Hookery!! Look what Claire sent to me:

How lucky am I???  Very!  The felt needle case is beautifully handmade in the softest felt.  Very much needed too as I have my needles currently rattling around in a tin which never struck me as very wise.  (Although like Claire I love tins).  And as for that owl, what can I say.  He has lots of personality with his big eyes and he smells wonderful as he is stuffed full of yummy lavender!  Of course buttons of any sort are fabulous – and chocolate ones are always a treat!!

Somehow I had never come across The Hookery before, but it’s a lovely crochet blog and it’s now on my reading list.  Do have a look and say ‘hi’ to Claire while you’re there!

I’m not often a very intensive crocheteer, but the past few days I’ve found my mojo – long may it last!

What have I made? Well, you saw a glimpse of colourful pastel yarn in my last post as a teaser. I’ve been meaning to try McKinley’s Sprintgime Hat for ages and finally got round to it!  When I was visiting my family at Christmas time one of my nieces arrived wearing a gorgeous crochet hat her mum had bought her.  I recognised the pattern straight away and remembered it was in my faves on Ravelry.

I had recently made my other niece (I have 2) a beret that just didn’t fit so she was top of my project list for McKinleys hat.  I’ve now made 2 of them and plan one more – she has two cousins who she will share them with!

The red one is Stylecraft Special DK (Share 1010 Matador) and there’s not much to say about it that hasn’t been said before all over crochet blogland.  Hard working yarn that does what it says on the tin etc.

As for the pastel yarn, well…. it’s gorgeous: Sirdar Snuggly Crofter Baby Fair Isle effect DK (quite a mouthful isn’t it).  This yarn is really really lovely to use and feels wonderfully soft yet stable and practical and the colours are super.  I used shade 0159 and on the ball it looks pretty but made up I love it so much more.  The composition is 55% Nylon / 45% Acrylic but it doesn’t have a synthetic feel – if anything it has a lightweight cotton blend handle, without the weight or firmness.  I think it’s perfect for this hat pattern.

I wanted to make the hats slightly larger than in the McKinley pattern so I added one round to the centre pattern, 3 rows to the shells and one row to the banda although I have to admit I spiralled the band so didn’t keep count the same, I’m guilty of not using markers very often.  I used a 4.5mm hook, which for some reason is my preference when using double knit yarn, over a 4mm, unless it ‘feels’ slightly finer than a standard dk.  The flower I used is one I made up myself.

So with these hats some little girls will have cosy ears – much needed after the storms this week!

And what of my other make?  Well, the man who puts up with all my crochet and yarn (which is now in his house so there’s no hiding it) never gets the benefit of it, poor soul.  Time to remedy that.  He isn’t a cosy cable jumper or homemade socks kind of guy, so I whipped up a mega chunky cosy scarf for him.

The yarn is King Cole Magnum Chunky and used 3 balls in shade 349 – a nice manly grey (he was given alternatives at scoffed and each of them!).  I’m going to write out the pattern properly in another post, although it was very simple and I made it up as I went along.

So there you have it!  A big start to my crochet year and lots more to come, if my plans go according to plan!

I’d love to hear what you’ve worked on so far?

I’ve started off my new year with some crochet watching old films on TV. Rather a cosy and relaxing day. Perfect!

Here’s a little glimpse of today’s project:

Today’s other job today is directing some technical wizardry so that next time you visit things will be a bit different around here. I’m rather excited by it all!! It might even all happen by tomorrow but if not I’ll look forward to hearing what you think when I finally hit the big red button!!

In the meantime I’ll get back to cracking the whip with my live-in IT expert!!

I hope 2012 brings you lots of wonderful things and good health to enjoy them xx

So I’m changing things a little around here. I’m refocussing and redefining what I will do here. And that focus will be my first love… crochet! New name, new design, lots of crochet!! Well, when I say lots, there will more than there has been of late, which hasn’t been a lot!!

I have been rather busy in the past few months moving house and moving in with my chap which is rather lovely. It’s highlighted to me just how much ‘craft’ stuff I have and I am now in the process or organising (but not reducing) it!

I still don’t have myself a proper 9-5 job, but I am taking a new direction and more on that here in the near future.

So right now there is a lot going on behind the scenes, web designing, planning and scheming! Hopefully by the next time I am back here it will be with lots to share and a new name and new look.

Until then, enjoy frou-frou while you can. She’s soon going to retire!!

I have been busy though and that’s one reason I have come back today. Last week I finished a baby blanket I have been working on and have presented it to its intended recipient and so I can now share the details. Well, when I say ‘intended recipient’ that’s not quite accurate. The baby it’s for isn’t due for another 10 days yet but I won’t see the baby’s mummy for a while as I don’t know when I will be back in Scotland in the next month or two. So when I was there last week I went to see Kerry, my sister in law’s sister in law! Work that one out… my brother’s wife’s brother’s wife!! (is that punctuaton correct – I’m not sure!)

There are loads of rippley blankets around but I wanted something with a bit more of a well defined pattern, so I chose a zig-zag pattern and found one on on Caron which was just what I wanted. I used Sirdar Calico which has a lovely weight and finish and it is really easy to work with – not at all splitty. And the colours it’s available in were perfect! Oh, probably most important for the end user – machine washable. In the end I used approximately 1 and half balls of each shade repeating each colour just twice. One of the things I really love about this pattern is the ribbed texture from crocheting into the back loop at all times. Also there is a little hole at the top of every zig (or zag?) which gives it an interesting finish too.

Want to see more? All of these pictures were taken when the blanket was pinned out for blocking.

Source: Fibre & Clay 

It was made by Fibre and Clay which is a fabulous yarn store in Knutsford that I have mentioned many times on here.  They were celebrating the RHS Tatton Flower Show which is on their doorstep, as it had it’s first Ladies Day this year!  The store also had Pimms and cupcakes at their knitting group that day.  Oh how I wish I’d been there!!

(Oh and I didn’t examine too closely but I think there is some nude underwear under there!!)