Beanies and Owls!

I've been going a bit mad over crochet hats at the minute and I have made another little one for the baby using a pattern I found on Ravelry.  It's a pattern by Alli from Alli Crafts called Button Flap Beanie.  She has loads of lovely hats and crochet patterns on her website.

I used a variegated yarn for this wee hat.  I was worried it might be a bit girly because of the light teals however Ian thought the opposite!!  It just goes to show how different people view different colours.  As I used a 4mm hook instead of the 5mm advised in the pattern I added an extra 'growing' row and an extra row to add more depth.

This pattern in so easy and quite adaptable for different sizes.  I've already made two of these and can see a few more being made over the next weeks for various babies!

A friend of mine quite likes owls and I spotted a crochet pattern on Pinterest which I thought she might like.  However, she's not that confident at crocheting so I thought I would give it a go.

                                                                      Source: lovethebluebird.blogspot.com via Shirlie on Pinterest

The pattern is from Love the Blue Bird and is relatively easy to follow.  I had some difficulty creating the ears and it took a few goes until I got it rightish!  My eyes are definitely wonky, to put it politely, but it was my first go at a french knot!  The small one turned out better and it's eyes are matching!!  I made it using embroidery thread and turned it into a small brooch for my friend.  

I think that these wee owls would look great on a mobile, though I should practice those french knots of the baby will think owl's eyes are two different sizes!!

Crochet Crazy

Well, I'm going a bit crochet crazy at the minute.  I've finally finished a larger blanket for the cot and I've started a smaller on for the car seat and moses basket.  I've also completed a tiny baby turban and a star hot pad.

I'm learning a few new stitches along the way.  Thank goodness for YouTube!  I also stumbled across a lovely Russian Pattern on Pinterest, which took me a while to decipher, as I'm not great at reading Russian or charts, but I think I cracked it.  I've no photo of it yet but I'll upload on shortly.

1. The Ripple Blanket

It took me a few goes to get this blanket started.  I had lots of bumpy bits, so after seeking advice on Ravelry I used a bigger hook to make the starting chain and this worked really well.

This is a free pattern from Ravelry.

I finished off the blanket with a border using a free tutorial from Yo Girl Yo, which I think looks great!






2. Mini Car Seat Granny Blanket

This one is still in progess but is getting there.  Again a free pattern from Ravelry.  I'm so plreased with the colours in this one.  The picture doesn't really do the colours justice, I must take one in the daylight.

3. Baby Turban

Found this cute little pattern on Pinterest and really enjoyed crocheting it.  There are a few mistakes but you can't see them unless you know where they are!! ;)

4. Star Hot Pad

I found this pattern on Ravelry and quite liked the look of it.  It was quite straightforward once I checked out a how to video on You Tube.  The star stitch was relatively tricky but I think I mastered it well enough to finish the coaster. 

Bits & Bobs Update!

Well, I have finally got round to blogging!! We are settling in well out in the countryside and the building is going sorta well. We had a few hiccups last week and a few this but everything has gotten sorted.

The builders have the foundations in already and the concrete floors done too. Not bad for a week and a half's work!!

I'm going to take a few pics 2moro and hopefully I'll get them posted soon. We got a dongle to stay online with while we are away from home and it's pretty slow! I tried to load photos up last night but it took so long I gave up, so I'm at my mum's catching up on some internet geeking tonight!

I thought that I would post a few pics of some of the things I've been at recently.

This is Charlie's new cot bumper I made. The fabric is a brushed cotton and it's lovely. Charlie enjoys talking to the dumper trucks and diggers. I put two layers of padding inbetween to make it nice and cosy and I just use a white brushed cotton for the back. I quite pleased with it. I must admit that I did sew one side panel to the other side panel instead of to the shorter top panel but just left it as it had taken me ages to get that far. However it looks spot on and only the pickiest critic (i.e. me) would notice!





My crocheted scarf is coming along nicely. I have now completed 2 full rows in the dark blue and I'm actually looking forward to wearing it! I think that I have crocheted it a bit too tight but it should be ok however it's getting looser as I go along so I'm not sure how wide it will end up!!!


This is my first (well maybe fifth) attempt to complet a flower. I tried to follow a video on you-tube but think that I may have gotten mixed up at the start. I really want to make a few flower brooches so I will have to do a bit more practising.

Hope this makes sense as Charlie is sititng on my knee at the minute trying to eat the keyboard and the mouse!!

Our First Night

Had our first night out in the country where we will be living while the renovations are going on. Will post a few pics when I take some.

It's great just a lovely wee place for the 3 of us. Charlie slept in his own room last night and had a great night's sleep and so did we!

Woke up this morning to a beautiful morning and a fab view of the countryside. Back home at the minute clearing up a few more bits and bobs - which is what I am meant to be doing rather that blogging!! But Ian never reads this so he'll never know!! Sssshh!!

Also must remember to get the next part of my crochet mag which I'm really enjoying! I checked out some of the crochet pics on flickr and there is some great inspiration!

My Latest Obsession!

I have just discovered Crocheting! Well that's partly true! Ages ago I had seen some crochet flowers used in scrapbooking and thought that I would love to be able to do that. As usual I had about 1 million (ok slight exaggeration!!) things to do so never got round to it. So I was glad, and slightly excited, to see that a new magazine was being released about learning to crochet. I set off to the town to buy one only to find out that there was not a copy in the place. Thankfully I found a lovely sales assistant who said she would contact me, and keep me a copy, if new ones arrived. Ian couldn't believe that there were no copies left in town and said that he hadn't realised that there were that many freaks about!! He won't be saying that when I crochet him a really warm, cosy jumper!!!!!

Any how long story short, got a copy and am really enjoying it. I have crocheted a few practice bits and have now started a scarf, which hopefully wont take too long. The magazine teaches you a new stitch each week so that you can make a crocheted blanket. It's complete in ONLY 120 copies - not sure if I'll buy all the magazines but I definitely want to make a blanket for Charlie.

Here's a few of my attempts and the beginnings of my scarf!