A tea cosy, a hat, and a glove (almost).

Just an update on a few of the projects I've been working on recently. 

I've also been working on a sock-mending tutorial, which I'll hopefully finish and upload soon!

Yumm, camomile tea.. (free pattern to be found here)

I absolutely love this hat, it's so warm and cosy (free pattern here)

I get very cold hands, especially in my fingers, and fingerless gloves which stop at the base of my fingers often just don't cut it. So I'm following this pattern for full gloves, and just stopping before the ends of the fingers, so I can still type and use touchscreen devices. I really love the pattern on it.

So, that's all from me for now, I'll post again soon! Happy Crafting x

Sunshine and socks.

Just a quick post, to say that I've finished my April Socks!
I took the opportunity of the sunshine to take some photos of them in the garden. I was going to sit in a new hammock (our old one was left out in the rain too orange, so didn't match anything), but it turns out the hammock stand needs adjusting, and it's rusted so we need to somehow get something inside to remove that and.. Yes, back to socks. 

They're so warm and cosy!

And I just love the pattern. (free link here)

I spent some good time outside, crocheting in the sunlight. Although it was definitely hot, this is still England, and it was nice to snuggle under my ripple blanket, while making it.

Since finishing the socks, I started a black and white, pleated tea cosy, which I'm sure I'll show you pictures of soon!

I've also been working on something that I can't show you quite yet.. But I shall soon write up a post all about it, and schedule it to post when the time is right!

Happy Crafting!

The blanket and the cushion,

went to sea, in a beautiful pea green boat.

Actually, I am storing the wool in a green box, but I wouldn't really call it "pea green".

Also, "blanket-to-be", as it's not finished yet.

I've been obsessed with ripple blankets for quite some time; drooling over pictures of them on the web, and working out colour schemes, but I never quite got round to making one of my very own.
Until now.

This cushion was originally the beginnings of a single-bed blanket. I then realised that, as I'm soon upgrading to a double bed, making a single blanket was a little silly. I folded what I've done in half, sewed the top and bottom (with the waves fitting into eachother, so it lays flat), stuffed it, and voila. A cushion to match the soon-to-be blanket! 

Fortunately, due brain fog, I'd already originally ordered enough wool for a double blanket. 

Whoop.

The next problem was that I'm quite an impatient crafter, and I think that crocheting an entire double blanket with a 5mm hook might be the death of me. So I decided to hold the wool double, and use a 9mm crochet hook.

Mmm, very cozy and warm. and it's going so quickly! It's also reached a length that can be snuggled under, while making it, so it's my go-to project if I'm feeling a little chilly!

You might recognise this picture from the top of my blog! 

I hope to finish it in the next few weeks, if I don't get distracted by other projects, but I'm enjoying every minute of making it.

Oh, and I used this pattern.

Happy crafting!

All socks bright and beautiful.

I'm a terribly naughty blogger, I know. In fact, it's been almost a year since my last post (now deleted, to give a fresh start), as I decided to give the whole blogging thing a bit of a rest.

However, I'm now back, inspired, and eager to get back into blogging. My blog's been re-vamped, and I decided to kick-start my blog with a post about my favourite things ever. Yep, you guessed it; Socks!

I've never quite been able to put into words what I love so much about them, but you've gotta admit, they're pretty spectacular. So, here are (almost!) all the ones I've ever made. Hopefully, in chronological order!

There were the first socks I ever made. As I didn't know anything about sock knitting, I didn't find a very good pattern, and later went back and redid the toes. Weaving in all those yarn ends was a nightmare!

There were the second socks I made. I made them two-at-a-time, and toe-up. Stripes are awesome.

These were my mums first "birthday socks". Admittedly this tradition has only been going for two years, but I've given her socks 100% of birthdays within that time!

These were the first socks I made with real sock yarn (instead of the acrylic dk that most of these are made from). It took a while, but I made up the pattern, and I really love them.

These are my "January socks", made this year. I've started making one pair a month, so by the end of the year I should have plenty to keep my feet toasty and warm! (top down, acrylic dk, I improvised the pattern).

These were my mother's "birthday socks" from this year. The pattern is called "Jeeves" and is based on the P.G.Wodehouse books she's so fond of! (find the free pattern here)

This is, ermm, one of my February socks. The other is lost in the wash camera shy. 

(find the free pattern here)

These are my march socks for this year. Oh, how I love colour-changing, dk weight, acrylic. Quick, cheap, and easy to wash!

And finally, these are the socks I'm currently working on. Yep, I think they're just beautiful. 

Fancy a close-up?

They're made with trekking xxl sock yarn, and follow this free pattern.

Well, that seems to be just about it for socks. I'll leave you with these pictures of my cats, enjoying the recent (unexpected) heat-wave-ish-thing-that-wasn't-really-that-hot.