How Time Flies!

I can't believe how quickly the past few months have gone, what with the rush of Christmas (with accompanying illness!) and January zooming up!  My smallest child turned 2 at the beginning of January too - it doesn't feel like it's been 2 years since we brought her home from hospital I can tell you!

Anyway during this time I've been busy crafting away and trying to come to grips with my new camera.  Seriously, I need to work out how to take better pictures although the light here has been awful as it's normally overcast and raining...

First up are some granny squares I've made for a charity blanket.  I've done a few more but not taken any pictures yet.  Two lovely women on the Crafts Beautiful forum are organising this and will both turn our squares into blankets.

The next is a picture of my (very small) Nativity.  One of my forum friends (Linda) sent me a pattern book she wasn't using but I only had time to make Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.  Hopefully by this Christmas I will have a few more characters to add.

I was also commissioned by my 6 year old daughter to make her a Santa hat for her school Nativity.  She came out of school one afternoon and asked if I could make it for the following morning!  I was very pleased not only to have the supplies to hand but to actually hook it up in one evening!

Now this is where bad lighting comes in and my lack of ability with a camera.  The above hat is actually purple!!!  I also made one in black for my sister but forgot to take a photo.

The granny triangle is also a gift for my sister (she really like my crochet).  I was attempting to send messages to her whilst doing a square and ended up with a triangle which she quickly suggested I make into a mug rug for her for work.  Once again the colours are not true as the mustard colour is actually green...

And finally here is Tyria the Twilight fairy, knit from patterns in a wonderful book my two boys and their girlfriends bought as part of my Christmas Gift.  It's called Knitted Fairies to Cherish and Charm by Fiona McDonald.  They are so lovely!

Fibre Friends Christmas Party

Fibre Friends (the knitting/crochet/stitching/crafting group I attend) had their Christmas Party last night.  One of our members suggested we go to a candle making party hosted by Fleur at Bluebell Eco Candles and what an absolutely fabulous night we had!

We began by dressing up in lovely hats and feather boas then got down to the first task of painting designs on our candle glasses.

Here are some of the lovely wax shapes, glitters and paints covering our table!  The wax is soy wax which is non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

We also had a sumptuous feast of sandwiches, scones and a variety of cakes all washed down with tea and coffee.  The three glasses sitting upon the 2nd striped box up are what we're attempting to make.

The glass on the right is my candle filled with the lovely shapes then topped up with hot wax infused with gorgeous Christmassy smelling essential oils.  The one on the left is a candle we all had a hand in making as a present for a friend who was too ill to attend.

Once the wax set we topped our candles with a soft, fluffy wax to look like whipped cream then decorated with glitter and tiny baubles.

This is mine complete within its cellophane wrapper.  I totally forgot to take a picture of it before I wrapped it up!

And finally here is our lovely group of Fibre Friends with our finished whipped "cream" topped fruit trifles, all ready to take home.

Oh and mustn't forget our lovely creations ready for their photo shoot!  :-)

Hats & a Scarf - Yes it's that time of year again!

Well the weather has been getting a little chilly around here and we've had some very blustery weather too so naturally my mind turned to making a few snuggly things to wear outdoors.

First up is this very bright Granny Hat I made for my 22 month old toddler (above) - which she promptly dumped over the side of her buggy while we were shopping and lost...

So then came Mark 2, this one with earflaps and ties in an attempt to keep it on her head!  I made up the pattern myself and ended up having to look at the photos of the first to try and figure out exactly what I did...

The pattern for this hat was in the latest edition of Inside Crochet (I bought a digital edition) and I loved the geometric design created by the post stitches.  I did do the brim of it a little different to the pattern though.

For myself I made a scarf from some lovely King Cole Riot wool my sister bought me for my birthday.  This was another pattern I made up as I went along.  I just chained until I felt the scarf was long enough then did each row in the back loop only to make the ribbed effect.

Finally I got out my loom and made this hat for my 6 year old daughter on one of my looms.  She absolutely loves the big floppy pompom on top.  My loom skills aren't fantastic though, a lot more practice is needed!

So there we are, we've all got something a little cozy for the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter :-)

Christmas Stockings

I've been busy at the sewing machine instead of busy with a hook for a change.  I saw this lovely tutorial on Pinterest and had to have a go although I extended the toe area of the stocking slightly from the original pattern.

I don't have a massive fabric stash but still managed to make 5 stockings.  Please excuse the sellotape I used to hang them at the fireplace too - really need to find some magnets to hold them up!

From left to right I made:
Black & white stocking for my fella
Blue gingham and birdy stocking for my youngest daughter
Red polka dots & flowers stocking for my sister
Blue gingham and stripes stocking for me
And finally Red polka dots and birdy stocking for my eldest daughter

These were super easy to make too - I managed to do the bulk of the cutting out and sewing while my youngest daughter had her morning nap and finished them off whilst she ate her lunch :-)

Christmas Baubles

 I've just finished three different collections of Christmas baubles, which I hope to sell.

The first shown above is the Christmas Brights Collection.

 Next is the Funky Christmas Collection.

 And lastly the Traditional Christmas Collection.

I had lots of fun experimenting with colours before I decided on the final 3 collections and all my experiments will grace the branches of our tree this year.

I think as I get older I'm getting more colourful :-)

Halloween and Other Stuff

Well I've been rather busy just lately.  Firstly I've made my eldest daughter a Sonic the Hedgehog for her birthday but I ended up giving it to her early.  I used the pattern written by Wolfdreamer Off the Hook.  You can find it here.

I've also been experimenting with my own design of Christmas ornaments.  Above are my test pieces but I'm now working on different themes.  If I manage to make enough in time I may be able to sell some before Christmas!  I'm working on Traditional, Funky and Brights.  Not sure if I'm going to do a 2nd Brights version and a pastels as well....

It was also mine and Mr TMC's 9th Anniversary of getting together this month and I got a lovely bunch of flowers amongst other things.  He's also got me everything I need to build my own website.  Just need to learn how to use Dreamweaver now!

And finally Halloween.  My eldest daughter wants to be a cat this year so I whipped up some kitty ears for her, covering an old headband with the same wool.  I've got to make her the tail yet and fortunately there is so much stuff out there at the moment in animal prints for girls I've been able to buy her leggings and a top to complete her kitty look.  My youngest daughter will be wearing her witches outfit from last year as she's such a small tot it still fits her :-)

Hair Scrunchie

 I made this hair scrunchie by crocheting around a hair band with some King Cole Galaxy DK.

I'd love to open my own Etsy or Folksy shop and think these would be lovely items to sell in all different colours.

 It looks rather sweet in my eldest daughter's hair - all ready for school.

I just wanted to put a picture up of the Happy Flower I made from this pattern over on Lucy's blog Attic24 too.  I made it as a Secret Summer Surprise swap.  Think I will have to make one for myself at some stage - it was so difficult to give away!