Well this isn’t like me but I’m a bit behind this week, it’s been a bit to warm to work on this beauty this week but managed to get it finished last night. Finished just in time for the penultimate week being released tomorrow. Wow week 11, and what a crazy 11 weeks it has been.
How have you spent your lockdown? Made something you are really proud of? Then please do share.
Week 10 was a fabulous combination of stitches and once these rows were completed all the colours just popped.
I still have quite a bit of yarn left so do we think the final 2 weeks will be rounds? I guess I only have a few hours to find out.
Love them or hate them there is no denying that you cannot beat them for a quick, easy and effective blanket. So with this lockdown nightmare continuing, combined with having a clear out, I came across some yarn I brought from a pound-shop on a lodge holiday last year. I loved the colours but was unsure what to make so as with the rest of my stash to the back of the shelf they went.
Out it came a couple of weeks ago and a square was formed and grew. I only had 6 balls of it so had no idea how big it would get, so using a larger than recommended hook, I just kept going until I knew I wouldn’t have enough yarn to go around anymore. I also found a ball of the same yarn in a nice bright orange colour which would be excellent for a border.
It has made a decent enough size at 35inch square so would be great for a pram / pushchair / cot or Childs lap blanket. The colours are amazing you get that warm summer to autumn feel from it, and it washed beautifully soft. Planning a stash buster one to get rid of all the odd pieces of yarn, who knows how that will turn out or how big ;-).
Whilst I was making this blanket a close friend was stating to learn to crochet. Great to see lockdown and furlough going to some good use. She didn’t just attempt to learn she went all in and decided to try her own granny square blanket, Look at what she achieved in a week for her first crochet project.
Just amazing, having passed my Crochet Diploma recently I felt like a proud tutor, mentor, mum, big sis and best friend all rolled into one. Not only did she make this blanket she also made her very own stitch markers and sent me a couple as well. Love them Millie well done and keep going I cannot wait to see what you produce next.
Hope you’re all being productive in these uncertain times.
Thanks for reading, stay safe, stay home and take care
Hi Everyone, all still sane? Getting into this lockdown situation now?
Well, that is week 3 completed and what a challenge that was. Had a few mental blocks on this one, and a few harsh words muttered but got there in the end, Phew!
Had to do two squares again this week, but this time I did each round together so both worked up at the same time.
This weeks inspiration came from the buoys and fishing nets washed up on our shores and you can really see that come through in the squares. I absolutely loved it this week Coastal Crochet, but I am a little concerned these squares seem larger than the last ones made in week 1 and week 2. I’m sure it will all come together in the end.
So here it is week 3’s instalment, roll on Friday for week 4, can’t wait.
Afternoon everyone, hope you are well and safe? It’s starting to get to everyone now I know it is but hang in there we can do this together.
On the 10th April 2020, amidst this very strange and surreal time, this years CAL started by my favourite designer over at Coastal Crochet. I love her design work and this one looked quite a challenge. Unfortunately I didn’t order my pack in time and had to wait for it so come back in stock but thankfully it arrived on Tuesday.
There are 2 different kits that are available from The Knitting Network, one in cotton and one in acrylic, I decided on the cotton on this time which it the more expensive of the two packs but I have to say I am loving this Scheepjes Catona cotton yarn.
I thought it looked challenging and it certainly was, I didn’t get far till I had to flog a round and start again (the importance of counting hitting me like a slap in the face) I got to the end of round three and thought hang on a minute that’s not right? I had to many stitches, in my defence it was my first ever time doing popcorn stitch and clearly got carried away with it.
More popcorn stitches in round four and I suddenly realised that I was finishing them wrongly, DOH! the eagle eyed ones among you will see the difference between round two and four, I was not flogging it all again, no thanks.
I gained more stitches as the rounds went on and I kept flogging, swearing, re doing, flogging, swearing a little more then sod it I will lose them in the next round which I did.
CRAB STITCH – my new hate stitch, wow, took me an hour to do this round of crab stitch and I seriously do hate it. This stitch goes against everything you have been taught as you have to DC backwards and my fingers and brain just could not get around it at all. As feared there was more crab stitch at the end of week one. I used a larger hook this time and it was a lot easier to control the cotton yarn from splitting so the final round wasn’t so bad.
The dreaded crab stitch (white circle)
And that’s it, Week 1 complete and I’m ready for Week 2 being released tomorrow morning, no more crab stitches please Eleonora (false hope on my part there)
What do you think? great start to a new emerging blanket, challenging but going to be worth it I’m sure.
On the final module of my Diploma there was a section dedicated to Charity Crochet, places to donate your knitted or crocheted items which will help raise money for different charities. Now I knew of one of them as the promotion comes around every year from a well know drinks company but the others I wasn’t aware of.
Provides children suffering with HIV/AIDS comfort from a hand knitted / crocheted bears. Each bear has a tag / message signed by the maker to the child sending them love.
I think this is just beautiful, I will definitely be following them on Facebook and sending some bears in the not too distant future. Click on the header above to go to their website.
Contact Oxfam and see what they want from you, I never realised they welcome so many handmade items as a donation. Especially blankets, they take these to festivals and raise quite a bit of money from them. What a great idea, so if you have a stash laying around that you were thinking of clearing out, contact Oxfam I’m sure they will be delighted to take them off your hands.
This is one that I didn’t know about, click in the header and take a look at all the ways that you can donate or help different causes, from abused women to jumpers for Africa. I’ve just signed up to their mailing list so I can get involved when this current crisis has passed.
Now I think we’ve all come across this one, due to it being in association with innocent smoothie drinks, so their advertising brings this to the forefront of all knitters / crocheters. Raising money for Age UK by making tiny hats which sit onto of their smoothie bottles which normally appear in shops aroundNovember time. The amount of tiny hats they receive is just fabulous and I can only imagine seeing them all in their millions waiting to be placed on top of a bottle.
If you click the link (header) it will take you to their page which has free patterns for you to download and make, there is a deadline for each year though so keep your eye on it.
What a lovely site, well worth clicking and reading what they do and the charities they help support. A lovely feel to their website and a place where you can chat and share and help communities raise monies for people in need. I have bookmarked all of these websites and I’m sure I have plenty of things stashed away that I can donate. Time for a clear out I think.
Have a lovely Wednesday, Stay home and safe, make the most of this beautiful spring day in your gardens.
Thanks you for reading, I hope you will take a look at some of the sites and help if you are able.
Well that’s it I’ve completed it, these last 3 modules covered starting your own business. Venues (craft fairs, farmers markets, car boots) and Advertising, Online marketing, Social Media, Opening your own shop and monitoring each of these so that you know what’s working best for you.
It covered financing and budgeting from incomings v outgoings to pricing of items (always an issue for crafters) to gaining financial backing to start your own business.
Taxes / VAT and HMRC registering, and how to keep a record to make submitting taxes easier. Anyone registered with the HMRC for their craft? I tried to years ago but because I never actually make a profit to not bother registering till I make a profit of £1000, that is never going to happen so have never revisited it, anyone know if this has changed? I am always in the negative profit as I cannot resist that yarn or new book or new pattern and never charge what I should Ha Ha.
The module also covered how to write up a business plan, which is crucial if you intend to start your own business and require financial backing. This section was very informative and gave you simplistic breakdowns of each section and how to approach it.
So overall, even though I don’t plan to open a shop, or run a stall etc, I found these last three modules very interesting. So if you are planning to start your own business then it’s really useful.
Hi again, we are now into the business side of things, after this one I may group the final 3 together, I’m not planning to run Cosy Crochet as I business as I don’t want it to take the fun away from what I enjoy.
The module takes you through all the types of Crochet businesses and I definitely fall into the bespoke category and will make something if requested, otherwise I make what my heart wants to make and if someone wants it then brilliant.
Bespoke
Retail
Pattern Sales
Crochet Lessons
These are your four categories and I would like to do lessons one day, I think, I know how hard I found it when I first started so would like to pass onto others how easily it can click in place. Something for the future maybe?
The module did go into the value of finding your target audience and how you can narrow this down by giving you an extensive series of questions to ask to aide this. So if you are planing to make a business from your craft these are really useful.
It also covered Copy-write Do’s and Dont’s which was really good and you can find all the information you need on the Gov.uk website if you are unsure. It can be a really tricky nightmare for a crafter to know if they are allowed to sell items made from a pattern or not so it would be good to refer to this if you are unsure. The link above will take you direct to the page you need, if not search for Knitting & Sewing patterns in their search bar and it should come up ay the top.
I’m happy as I am at the moment, I enjoy what I do and don’t want any added business pressure to ruin that. I would NOT encourage others not to go for it though, if you can make a business from something you love then you should go for it, Why not?
This module was all about jumpers, not something I can confess to ever doing, and always avoided if I’m honest. The thought of working out all the schematics to get it to fit right terrifies me. I think I will always be a follower where jumpers are concerned and probably never design my own. Never say Never though right?
The module covered all different types of Jumpers
Freeform
Granny squares
Openwork
Drop Shoulder
Dolman
Raglan
Set in Sleeve
Yoke
Yeh you thought a jumper was just a jumper like me didn’t you?
It covered Yarns, Yarn Amounts and Tension required for each type, and gave you a handy little chart on the amount of yarn per standard size S-M-L for adult and Child.
The module took you through Designing and where to start and get your inspiration from, how to do your swatch, preparation and actually starting. Hints to write your pattern up, and a pattern for a drop shoulder jumper which apparently is the simplest to do, I’ll take their word for it on that one I think.
I am slightly worried that I hit submit answers and my final one didn’t register though, we had a wifi crash and when it came back it stated submitted so I may have failed this one, will have to wait and see. Onto the next one I go….
Well I’m not doing as well as I’d hoped from my last diploma blog, in fact I have been very lazy this Christmas, like very lazy, Anyone else?
I did module 10 and its all about Afghans (blankets to you and I), who has a favourite blanket? Why is it your favourite? My favourite is my Changing Tides Cal Blanket I completed this year, Love it so much.
It covered all the different types of afghans, a size guide for each and the best yarns to use for each, which was really useful as we all tend to opt for our favourite yarn to work with and that’s not always the best, depending on the type of blanket.
Types of Blanket
Afghan / Throw
Beadspread
Baby Blanket
Lapghan
Graphgan
Scrapgan (who knew lol)
And there you thought a blanket was just a blanket right, how wrong a statement that is lol.
The module covered the types of construction, back and forth in rows, motifs, join as you go, Pictures and guided you through your own design process from how to start out to get the right dimensions (UGH Maths) through to construction and writing up your own design.
I really should adopt the calculation method more when starting my blankets, I tend to just pick up a hook and my favourite yarn and away I go and tend to gauge it by sight rather than actuals, anyone else do this? I’m not alone on this surely?
The final part of this module was a pattern for a lapghan for you to make up yourself, this has been added to my ever growing “I MUST MAKE LIST”
Will I ever get through them all? who knows maybe one day.
Have a lovely day, remember to share your favourite blankey with me would love to see them.
