Found a Giveaway

Found another fantastic giveaway:

http://crochetforfree.blogspot.com/2012/01/first-designer-interview-and-giveaway.html?showComment=1326972909330#c5057962012624058615

Please go take a look and join in.

GOOD LUCK!

And more:
http://www.artsyfartsymama.blogspot.com/

http://winkieflash.nl/2012/01/19/be-my-valentine-giveaway/#comment-1086

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Other Blogs

I subscribe to hundreds of blogs and enjoy reading all of them.

At least once a month (if not more) I want to post about another blog.

The one I want to let you know about is a blog I found today.

The reason I wanted to post about this blog has some fantastic picture tutorials.

 It is a new blog and only has a few followers but the blog is fantastic to read.

I hope you will take a look and see what you think:

http://simply-crochet.blogspot.com/

Happy Reading

Sue

x

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Giveaway

I have found another wonderful site with another fantastic giveaway:

http://lisascraftblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/grand-re-launch-giveaway.html

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WIP Wednesday 18/01/12

Sorry for posting my WIPs on Tuesday I have been ill and got all my days mixed up


Life is about making a positive out of a negative.

If you only look at the negative things will always seem worse but if you find a positive out of something it will always make things look a little better!

Negative:  I have another throat infection and I have had to use the last of my leave as I'm not fit to work.

Positive:  I need to rest and relax so I'm spending time crocheting and everytime I finish something I feel like I've achieved and I feel much better in my mind.

Yesterday when I got home I decided to use the extra time to learn to Tunisian Crochet.

I bought a book when I was first learning to crochet because I loved the picture on the front.

The Book was:

Tunisian Crochet: The Look of Knitting with the Ease of Crocheting

By: Sharon Hernes Silverman

I haven't tried any of the patterns yet but the instructions for learning the basic stitches are very clear and they have good pictures to follow.

I can't show you what I made as my first try because I have finished it and my son has worn it to school.

My first impressions of Tunisian Crochet are really good.  It gives you a look of knitting but it grows as quick as crochet.  I want to learn as many stitches as possible because I really want to design something with it.

I am still going to carry on crocheting as I could never give that up and it makes it so easy to make hats.

Now it's time for my WIPs

These are going to be a pair of fingerless mittens for my son.

They match the item I made with tunisian crochet, you'll have to wait till Friday to see these and my tunisian crocheted item :-)

I bought the wool from either Lidl or Aldi last year.  I bought a 500g ball but I wish I had bought 2.  The colours look really good and I love making things with it.  My first ever item that I made for my son (a teddy) was made in the wool and I think it looks cute.

My other WIP is my balnket.  I am glad to say that I have made some more progress:

It's at least 3 times the size it was and there are 3 piles of ones partially made.

I'm really pleased with how it is going and how it's looking.

Please come back on Friday to look at my finished projects because I've got some Valentines items that I've been making. 

 I'm going to also try and get some mittens and hats made for my South African Project.

For anyone interested I haven't posted anything about this yet as I am waiting for the approval of the charity board before I can release the details for everyone.  As soon as I hear anything I will let you know.

Please take some time and go and look at the other WIPs linked to Tami's site.  Tami has some fantastic WIPs

Just a little extra, if you live in the UK Lidl are having a special on the 23rd Jan:

The 1st pack of 4 is £4.99 and the rest are £3.99 a pack of 4.

The question is how good can I be?

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Book review

I know I don't normally blog on a Saturday but I found a book that I really really like.

I ordered the book from the library and liked it so much I went straight on amazon and bought it.

The book is:

24-hour Crochet Projects by Rita Weiss

There are all sorts of different products using all sorts of yarn. Some of the patterns aren't to everyones taste but I'm looking forward to making loads of them :-)

When I make anything out of the book I'll post it so you can have a look.

What is your favorite crochet book?

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FO Friday 13/01/12

Good Morning Everyone!

I hope you are having a good FO Friday!

I've been at work a lot this week so haven't made as much as I would like.  I ended up going straight to bed after finishing work as I had a migraine.  I couldn't move my head without being in immence pain and feeling like I was going to be sick.  I took my medication, went to bed at 5pm and luckily by 9:30pm I was able to get and have some dry bread to eat before going back to bed.

Feeling better this morning so I'll hopefully be able to take some timeout today to relax and make something.

I set myself a goal on New Years eve to manage the housework and my illness better.  I read on a website that Dr's now think that rather than planning your day with long rests you should do your excertions in smaller quantities and have shorter rests.  I'm going to try and do something for 1-2hours and then rest for 30mins-1hour.  I'm going to give it a try and see if it helps.  I'm also making my resting time more relaxing.  keeping the lighting soft and either no noise or relaxing music on in the background.

Anyway enough waffle about me!  lets get to FO Friday.

The other week I made a set of mittens for my husbands friend.  Unfortunatley I had never met the customer so made a mans pair of mittens.  I then found out that he is very small and they were just too big.  I got them back and frogged them.  It broke my heart to frog them and it was made worse by the fact I had fastened off well and couldn't find my ends.  After frogging them it was back to making them again:

I got the pattern from:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ribbed-single-crochet-fingerless-gloves

This is a very easy pattern to follow and they look great once finished.  The only alteration I made was I made the chain longer at 41ch and used a 5mm hook.  I also made 2 rounds where the thumb is so that the thumb was partially covered.  I then made enough rows for it to measure to 19cm.  Thankfully they now fit!  I might make a smaller pair for my son and maybe even a pair for me. 

I finished an order as well.  I might make another one in the future as well.

It was a tiger scoodie.  The customer wanted it in cream and brown.

I might make one in the future in orange and cream.

I hope her daughter likes it.  It took a lot longer than I thought it would.

I did all the markings free style so it would look more natural.

I'm planning on making some squares and some valentines items today and this weekend so come back and take a look at next weeks FO Friday.

Don't forget to check out some other wonderful FO's on Tami's site and all the other sites.

Click on the link:



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WIP Wednesday 11/01/12

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone!

Well I only have one WIP but I'm afraid it hasn't changed:

I've been trying to finish an order for a scoodie so my blanket has been put on hold.

Below are a few snippets of the scoodie (I'll be showing the full scoodie on FO Friday):

The customer wanted a hood, scarf and mittens all in one, they wanted it to have ears, look like a tiger but be in cream and brown.  I hope she likes it because it has taken a lot of hours and a lot of work.  At first I tried to keep changing the colour all attached but the wool at the back looked too messy.  i then tried tying in all the change ends but it took me about 1/2 hour to make a couple of rows.  Then I made the cream scoodie and decided to sew on the markings.  I must admit that most people who see it are only seeing colours and patterns so when they see the cream and brown they ask if it's a giraffe.  As long as they like it that is all that matters!

My husband asked me last night how long it had taken and how much had the yarn etc cost.  he worked out that if I gave myself the minimum wage, the price of the yarn I should charge £40 for the scoodie.  I explained to him that although that's what should be charged I also have to charge what people will actually pay otherwise I won't sell anything.  How do you calculate how much you charge for the things you make?

hope you are all having a good WIP Wednesday.  Please click on the link to check out Tami's and others fantastic WIPs:

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