2014 in Crochet Projects

Now that the new year has come, I find myself reflecting on the crochet projects of 2014 and the realisation that it was only the second year with crochet.  I am amazed how much you can do with really very little knowledge.  Right now I don't think there's a pattern I wouldn't attempt and it is becoming easier and easier to think of a need and to crochet up something without the aid of a pattern.  Practice does make it easier and I'm a crochet addict so I do get a lot of practice.

When I first started with crochet and tried to learn from a book I thought I would never get the hang of it and found it really painful to have my fingers positioned exactly as in the diagrams but then a friend suggested trying Youtube videos and I was away.

As I go through the pictures of my past projects what is nice is that so many were inspired by presents for birthdays and special occasions such as new born babies.

A necklace for a friend's birthday to go with the birthday card I made her.

And a brooch for another friend's birthday.

Pin cushions for my sewing friends.












Lots of flowers for a flower garland for my 3 year old niece 

  Teddy bear garland for my new born niece's cot










Baby brogues for my colleague who had twin girls.










 A rug for our hall way.  My hubby wanted something to improve the heat insulation in our drafty hallway so I got to work on this rug (made to measure very snuggly into the space).  It took ages as its made with tshirt yarn.  I'm sure I grew some muscles when I made this one!








I made some coasters as a wedding present for a work colleague.










Monsieur Lapin for my 3 year old niece.  (He was surprisingly easy to make - 2015 will surely see more friends for this little chap)








 And the Christmas beanies for my friends and family









There are of course some crochet projects which I haven't photographed yet, my crochet mood blanket 2014 (an instagram and facebook initiative - crochet mood blanket 2015 is just starting), my waistcoat, some coasters and I'm sure there were a few others that slipped the iphone's lense.

For 2015, my projects todo list already has quite a few items:  beanie hats for 2 of hubbies friends (an order from hubby of course!), slipper boots for me, a crochet head band to keep my hair out of my eyes in yoga, a few different types of beanie hats for hubby, crochet mood blanket 2015, a furniture cover to stop the bunnies from chewing an item of furniture... I'm sure I could add to it, but it's a good starter for the new year.  I'm also hoping to make more items of clothing and I mustn't forget my little niece's birthday in March.

What projects are you planning to do?

Summer Time Crafting

Often in the summer months, crochet, sewing and other craft projects take a back seat until the cooler darker evenings draw in but this summer the projects have been rolling on.  It's what I do when we're watching TV in the evening (I try and stop myself from doing them in the day or I wouldn't get anything done!)

I must admit with all the lovely weather we've had this summer that the allotment plot did get plenty of attention and I've got some cracking crops to show for it, especially the 1.2kg Ram's Kodu Squash.  But I'm sure lots about them will feature in a gardening post.  

The biggest project I have on the go right now is a crochet rug being made out of T-shirt yarn and a 10mm hook.  I'm spending a fortune on eBay for the yarn - I think it'll be about £100 in materials by the time I finish but it will be the cosiest rug we've ever had when I finish and I'm not far from the finish line.  Hubby will be happy as he wanted me to make it for a more draft proof hall this winter.  It's been a long project and I've found the best place to crochet it is on the bed as it's so big, bulky and heavy now.  It is 64 stitches wide and will be about 2 metres long when I finally finish.  As long as it's finished by October we'll all be very happy.  It's the first time I've tackled Tshirt yarn as a material - you need muscles for it and there's a fair bit of yanking involved!   My other big project is the crochet mood blanket.  If you're into your crochet and have an Instagram account, chances are you will be taking part in or will have heard about the crochet mood blanket.  The idea is to make one granny square a day for your blanket and by the end of the year you will have a crochet mood blanket.  Some people crochet a colour depending on their mood - I started to do that but quickly gravitated to crochet the colour I was most drawn to and which went with the other colours nearby the best.  

I visited a lot of friends London way over the summer so train journeys were fantastic to catch up on my mood blanket squares.  I'm mostly behind (I'm currently a week behind on schedule) but it's a lovely project and my bedroom will be so full of bright colours when I finish.  
It started making me thinking what other things I can make with lots of granny squares. Our household may start filling with brightly coloured cushions in the same style as the crochet mood blanket.
In between all the crafting and gardening, we managed to squeeze in an 8 day trip to France to visit my 91 year old grandmother.  She was very chuffed and found it curious that I wanted to see pictures of my great grandfathers.  My curiosity was sparked with all the talk of the first world war and I wanted to know what my great grandfathers that fought in the war looked like as we never get to meet that generation.                                  As we were passing through villages in France there were a few that were decorated for village festivals.  I will definitely take some inspirations from these.  They look like they were made with paper tissues.

There was a wedding over the summer and one of my colleagues got married.  I just didn't know what to make as a wedding gift. Pinterest came to my rescue, I googled lots of coaster images until I stumbled onto some pictures which inspired me to make these.  I think the picture that inspired me was from Craftsy.com.  If you like making flowers these are easy to make. It's all based on trebles and experiment until you find the right amount for the row and the space.  So for example, the first row is trebles (I think about 20).  The second row is two trebles a chain or two chains space (depending on what yarn you are using).  The next row is 3 trebles and a chain or two space and the fourth row - I experimented a bit to get the flower effect with half treble, treble, double treble, treble, half treble.  There is a slip stitch in between petals.  
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