Saturday - A day crocheting in front of the TV

Happy Saturday everyone, its finally the weekend, time I get to spend on my hobbies and crafting.  Some exciting things have been happening this week which I want to share with you guys.

As you know sadly The Craft Channel is no longer with us, but the most fantastic news this week is that the amazing Dawn Bibby the person responsible for getting me started on card making is joining Hochanda with her very on brand Dawn Bibby Creations Dawn Bibby Creations.  Please go and like the new page to keep up to date on what she is up to.  So pleased for her and I look forward to following her on another journey.

Also brilliant news is the amazingly talented Rebecca Seddon is also joining Hochanda with her brand Rebecca Seddon Designs.  Her facebook page is Rebecca Seddon Designs please also go and visit her page for further details of what will be up and coming this week.

I have also signed up for the Little Box of Crochet, as I read that Lucy at Attic24 had designed something.  These are due out for delivery this week,  I shall be reviewing this next week when it arrives.  Cannot wait to receive it.

I have been working on my ripple blanket love the pattern, was having a few issues with wavy edges on the sides and had to rip a lot undone at the beginning of the week but its now coming up much straighter.  Loving the colours of the Stylecraft Merry Go Round.

My Attic24 Ripple blanket is growing nicely.

I've also found Lucy's blog is great and her adventures with knitting socks has made me want to have a go.  The Sockalong looks great fun, I have purchased some double pointed needles (DPN) and some circulars and have some yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners, it looks like really luxurious yarn, I've not used such amazing yarn before, so will write about it when my sockalong starts.  You can find the link to the sockalong here Winwick Mum Sockalong and the West Yorkshire Spinners here West Yorkshire Spinners.

Whatever you are doing this weekend, have a great one, I shall be sitting curled up next to these two.

Isla on the left and Millie on the right, my two Cairn Terriers, my best friends.

Crocheting, the best way to spend a Sunday

I've recently become a hooker, now that's got your attention, by hooker I mean a crocheter.  I always wanted to be able to crochet beautiful things, I have managed to teach my Mum how to crochet at age 75, she's back knitting again but is going back to crocheting soon.  I literally haven't picked my hook down since the beginning of December.  I've always been a knitter and love and stash away yarn (as with all my other crafts, my little cottage I share with Mum, two Cairn Terriers, two cats, two guinea pigs and a tortoise) is fit to bursting, but Mum and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love to indulge in crafting, its the only thing that keeps me sane.

As you know I make cards, cross stitch, knit, make jewellery and grow my own vegetables and flowers for the garden.  Never one to be lazy.

Mum and I live in a small Essex village called Stapleford Abbotts in an over 100 year old terraced cottage with a huge garden.  I learnt to knit when I was 11, tapestry soon came along after that.  I always wanted to make those pretty granny square blankets.

Anyway, I learnt to crochet a few years ago and made a granny square blanket and a baby shawl and then decided I couldn't get my head around crocheting and put my hook down.

The past two years have been rather trying, and stressful Mum was diagnosed with a malignant kidney tumour that thankfully is remaining stable then in the summer she fell in the garden and badly broke her femur and is now on crutches and has poor mobility as a result.  She decided that she wanted to learn to crochet so had an afternoon's lesson from my Aunt and the rest is history.  She made this beautiful blanket all using oddments of Sirdar Snuggly that we had laying around at home.

I then discovered Lucy from Attic 24 and now have all the squares for a beautiful Harmony Blanket made, just have to join them, and a Granny Stripe Blanket kit sitting in my stash waiting to be started.

In the meantime I've been practicing straight edges and different stitches and made a couple of baby blankets.

I've been a Sirdar fan for many years, but have recently discovered the quality of Stylecraft Special DK which I love, it crochets beautifully.  I have also used King Cole Candystripe and James C Brett Baby Marble all in double knitting and they all work beautifully.

My favourite places to order wool from are Woolwarehouse, Black Sheep and Knitwell.  They are all fantastic companies,  Nothing better than getting a delivery of yarn is there?

I would by no means class myself as an expert, I'm more of a beginner really, just mastering my skills.

Enjoy your Sunday.  Below are some of the crochet projects that Mum and I have been working on.  Happy Hooking xxx

Some of the beautiful Harmony Blanket squares waiting for me to finish off joining them.  Thank you to Lucy Attic 24 and Stylecraft for producing such fantastic yarn.

I'm new to blogging, so please give me a follow and follow my yarny journey.

This is Mum's first completed blanket using Sirdar Snuggly.

This is a baby blanket using King Cole Candy Stripe.

And this my first C2C using James C Brett Baby Marble - perfect for using this type of yarn.