Crochet! Gifts to go ::

My first (but by no means last) crochet sock pattern can now be found in this lovely collection of portable crochet projects, which make great gift ideas in this Crochet! Magazine, special collection available now.

These lovely lacy socks are made in Knit Picks Stroll Sport and use a shell, picot, lace repeat, making them a great summer accessory.  Worked cuff down, with a stretchy ribbing on the cuff and double(single) crochet heel and toe, they are crocheted in the round and as they are in a sport weight yarn are super quick to make up, with no finishing (well aside from weaving in those pesky ends!).

As an extra bonus I have a spare copy of this lovely magazine to give away!  All you need to do for a chance to win, is sign up to join my mailing list, that way you'll also receive my newsletter, so you'll hear all about my new patterns first.

Just pop your details in below and I'll pick winner on the 14th March.

Good luck x

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Beatrice Cardigan ::

My Beatrice Cardigan (originally published in issue 36 of Inside Crochet) is now available for individual purchase over in the usual places :

Ravelry
Etsy
Craftsy

I used Rowan, wool cotton, for the sample which I absolutely adore, but any double knit weight yarn could be used in it's place.  The Pattern is available in both US and UK terms and comes in sizes 30(34, 38, 42, 46)" bust

Photography by Britt Spring

Not So Granny : Crochet A Long ::

After having so much fun on the Woolly Wormhead mystery knit-a-long at the end of last year, when I saw Joanne Scrace of Not So Granny was doing a crochet-a-long for her new space inspired pattern collection for Malabrigo yarns, decided to jump on in.

Granted I barely have time to sleep amongst the mountains of work and masses of work based crochet I am already doing, but well...I wanted to do it...so there!

I've chosen to take on Galactica, I would have loved to have time to make Neptune, but it's just not feasible. I don't mind too much though, I'm a big shawl/shawlette/scarf fan (as you can tell by my wardrobe) and I love the look of this stitch.

I was going to use this as an excuse to make a new yarn purchase, but my conscience got the better of me and I decided to have a look in my stash. Just after Christmas I purchased a few bargain skeins of one of my favourite Rowan 'cashsoft' in mustard yellow (sunny) and blue (lake), so with fingers crossed I have enough to see me through I'm using these.

Cannot wait to get started.

If you fancy joining in you can find Joanne's Ravelry group here and details of the CAL itself here (including a little discount incentive) there are also lots of fabulous prizes up for grabs, including the gorgeous shawl pin by NovaSteel (if you have a love of scarfs/shawls as big as mine, you should definitely check out her shop).

Craft Hobby and Stitch ::

One very sunny day last week I went over to Birmingham for Craft Hobby and Stitch trade show, I usually go with my Mum and sister, we've been going for a good 6 years I think.  It's always loads of fun and great to get a look at lots of exciting new craft products for my Mum's shop.  This year however it clashed with half term in Norfolk so I was dispatched to seek out the new products by myself (though I'm not going to lie I spent most of the time admiring gorgeous yarns).

I also got to listen to Perri Lewis talk about blogging, which was pretty ace.

Some of the highlights for me, were the gorgeous Erika Knight stand ::

The crochet samples on the the DMC stand ::

Super delicious Fyberspates ::

(I recently crocheted a sample in Scrumptious and can categorically say that it is indeed Scrumptious)

New Rowan sock yarn ::

 All in all a great (though utterly exhausting day).

Lego Head ::

I recently purchased Fresh Stitches' amigurumi course from Craftsy.  I'm not a massive fan of making amigurumi, I can totally see it's attraction and that so many people love it, but I don't know why it just hasn't ever really appealed to me, so when I saw that Stacey Trock's 'Design your own monster' course was super discounted on valentines week, I thought I'd see if I could be inspired to give it a go.

And needless to say I was, if you haven't heard of craftsy of looked at the courses they have on offer, I suggest you go on over there and have a peek.  I loved Stacey's class, her manner and explanations were perfect and though I doubt you'll see me churning out masses of amigurumi monsters or animals any time soon, it certainly gave me a lot to think about and who knows I may even write up a pattern or two.  But for now I'm happy creating cuties for the toddler.

He's away this week, so I made him this soft and cuddly lego head, using the techniques I learned in the class, he's not perfect, but he's a close enough resemblance and hopefully the boy will give him the thumbs up when he returns.

Yarn Storage ::

Yesterday I posted about the furniture Argos gave me in order to spruce up my basement/work space.  By far the best piece I received was the Maine Extra Deep Bookcase with Drawers which has become my yarn storage.

Prior to this my yarn was stashed away in chests (yes plural!) which meant every time inspiration struck I would have to rummage around in said chests trying to find something right for the project.  Now however I have all my yarn out on full view right next to my desk, which means I can simply reach over and grab a ball whenever I need it.

The drawers underneath work great for storing swatches in too.  I changed the handles to spruce them a bit, using some insect handles I've had stashed away for ages without a purpose and I made a couple of others using polymer clay.

I really am so pleased with this, having all my yarn on show makes me very happy indeed!

Here is the link for the item I received from Argos ::

An Office for Milo ::

Recently Argos got in touch to offer me some furniture to add to my home, as my basement/office was in need of an overhaul I jumped at the opportunity.  I'll be doing a series of blogposts this week showing you what I did with my wonderful furniture.
First up is a little space I have created for the toddler.

One of the great things about having an office so apart from the rest of the house is that I can be away from everyone else and get on with what I need to do without being disturbed, however if just Milo and I home alone, this doesn't work out quite so well.  So I really needed a little spot in the basement just for him, where he can 'work' and I can get on with what I need to do whilst he is occupied close by.

I've also struggled recently to get him doing any kind of crafty activity (well any activity that doesn't involve lego to be honest) so this space away from all his usual toys is brilliant at encouraging, quiet drawing or making.

He has a large wall space to display all his artworks, chalkboard for extra drawing, a desk, the perfect height for him and a desk lamp (this is part of the Habitat range sold at Argos).  The desk opens up and I added a few pieces of scrap wood I had to create sections within it, so he can keep everything neat and tidy and next to that he has a couple of stackable crates, one with play dough and accessories and one full of scraps of paper, glue and other collage bits and pieces.

So far this little corner is working out perfectly for both of us.

Here are the links for the items I received from Argos (unfortunately they seem to have stopped selling the turquoise Habitat desk lamp sold at Argos, but they do now have this gorgeous yellow version) ::