Are these still in fashion? Who Cares!

Hi from Di on moving day. Yes today is the day my packers move in to pack up my home. Woo Hoo.

So what would you rather be cold or cosy??? Me, I prefer cosy, and believe some things that seem to go in and out of fashion can be worn fashionably and are ALWAYS cosy.

I made this poncho for Caz a few years back and decided this year to make another for me for my trip to England.

All you need is a big pile of double knitting wool. Yes bigger than this. And get yourself a 4.0 mm crochet hook.

For an adult we start with 96 chain then slip stich into the first chain to form a circle.

Then into the same slip stich make 3 DC (double crochet) 2 CH (chain) and 3 DC to form the first corner.

Then skip 2 chain and 3 DC into the next chain and repeat 6 times. Now make the SECOND corner skip 2 chain and 3DC 2 CH and 3 DC into the next chain. Then skip 2 chain and 3 DC into the next chain and repeat 6 times. Now make the THIRD corner skip 2 chain and 3DC 2 CH and 3 DC into the next chain. Then skip 2 chain and 3 DC into the next chain and repeat 6 times. Now make the FOURTH corner skip 2 chain and 3DC 2 CH and 3 DC into the next chain.Then skip 2 chain and 3 DC into the next chain and repeat 6 times. You should now be back t the FIRST corner!!! Slip stitch into the top of the 1st DC and across the next 2 DCs.

WOW you have completed the first round!!! Then just carry on going round and round keeping your corners in the right place and changing colours whenever you feel like it!!!

I do hope you can learn to crochet!!!! If you need any help I will be in England from the 11th of December 2007 and would so like to meet you and help you get started!!! And just a reminder:

We will be off line on Friday the 30th November for our move over to typepad!! Please be sure to pop back on Saturday the 1st December for the link to our new home.

Take care and love from Di XXX

From start to finish

Mid month Monday and the final crochet blanket update!!

For our new readers, the full story is here.

But why don't I recap anyway :)

In the summer I decided to crochet blankets for my nieces for Christmas.

They started out as beautiful coloured balls of wool, all sitting in a big basket.

My first lesson....a 3x3 square 'blanket', that's mine on the right!

It was fun working out all the different colour combinations and how many of each I would need.

224 squares per blanket!!

Putting them together for me was the tough bit but it was also exciting to see how the finished product would look!

224 squares being laid out on a piece of calico.

224 squares pinned to a piece of calico.

448 squares make two very pretty blankets!!

Washed and wrapped ready to go under the tree :)

Oh and of course I am a sucker for punishment so blanket number 3 is underway!!!!

lol, it's addictive!!

This one is slightly different, each square is made up of 6 rows not 4. And i'm also substituting the pink for red :)

For me, this was a HUGE achievement because I am a great starter of projects but not a great finisher.

My DH didn't think I would pull it off, but has since told me how proud he is of me. That kinda makes it even more special!!

If you've not tried crochet yet, it's a must.

Oh and before I forget, I must show off this beautiful blanket made by such a lovely lady whose blog I love to read!!

It's so easy and really, if I can do this anyone can :)

haPPy monDAy!!

haPPy creATing!!

Caz

xx

PS To sign up for the A-Z Project pop us an email acreativeworld@hotmail.co.uk

Crochet update!!

It's mid month Monday and that means I get to tell you how far I am with blanket number 2!!

For new readers to IACW, you can catch up with the CROCHET STORY HERE :)

With only 10 weeks left till Christmas I am just over half way through the 224 squares, which means I need to average 16 squares a week, to leave me enough time to put the blanket together, get all the ends trimmed and washed, dried and beautifully wrapped!!

EASY PEASY!! {lol}

Di {my DMM (dear mad mum)} has taken up the crochet challenge and this is seriously an awesome blanket she's made. It's very different to the girls blankets, as I am using one colour to surround each square, put it together and crochet around the whole blanket.

BUT it just goes to show how totally flexible and imaginative you can be with crochet.

Di says..............10 colours, 224 DIFFERENT {ie 224 unique} squares. It took me 2 weeks to make the squares then another week to crochet them together and crochet round the edges.

If you are an avid crochet'er we would love to see your work, so please pop a link in the comments :)

The lovely CHRIS is supporting out breast cancer fund raising efforts with another CHALLENGE!!! Chris says:

"I am asking you to take part in my little challenge to be included in the draw to win lovely blog candy and I will be making a £10 donation to the Just Giving page for the winner also... who will then be eligible to win some of the goodies IACW are offering too :D"

Please visit CHRIS to see the GREAT challenge she has put together!!!

haPPy creATing!! Caz xx

Crochet blanket update

Hi from Caz!! :)

4 weeks ago I posted a project that I was embarking on..............to make CROCHET blankets for my nieces for Christmas, and I am very pleased to report to you today that I am 1 down, only 1 to go!!!!!!!!

I am only this far because I had my dear mad mother 'Di' here for two weeks to help me, lol. We worked very hard to get the 224 squares for the first blanket finished and I have spent a few weeks working hard to put it all together.

So today I am going to show you how to finish off the blanket and a give you a few tips from my mistakes.

Once all the squares are finished you need to lay them out on a piece of fabric, an old sheet will do, for mine we bought a piece of calico. (please excuse my not so great photos but I had no intention of trying to move this down to the garden to take pictures!!)

Lay all the squares out, at this point we weren't too fussy about how we lay them out because there isn't a set pattern. But once we had them down we did look to see if there were any 'patches' of the same{ish} colour ways that stood out.

The next task is to get all the sqaures pinned to your fabric, this is a BIG job!

Once they are all pinned down, roll the fabric from the bottom into a big sausage. When you are ready to crochet the squares together, unroll the 'sausage' just enough to be able to see the rows you are working on, and at the end of each joined row, remove the pins from the top row.

When you have finished crocheting all the rows one way, you will find doing the perpendicular ones a little easier as the blanket will be off the fabric.

You can now crochet all around the edge of the blanket!

And there you have it! One completed 'hand made with love' Christmas gift :)

Things I learnt making this blanket!

You need to concentrate just a little, lol, or else you will land up with very funny looking squares {heehee}

Don't start to crochet a row together unless you plan to get to the end in one sitting {crochet stitches unravel themselves if left unattended!}

Give yourself enough time to finish the blanket if making one as a gift {a project this size will become a chore if rushed and a chore is not enjoyable!}

Make sure the wool you use is easily available, we needed far more of the base colour (purple in this blanket) than we originally thought {we bought ours in Wilkinsons and thankfully there was always a good supply on the shelves!}

I still have another blanket to make and so far I have completed 5 squares! Only 219 more to go :)

Don't forget to check back in month for an update!!

haPPy creATing!

Caz

xx

Get Hooked

on crochet!!

So a few months ago I got it into my head to crochet blankets for my nieces for Christmas. Now while I thought this was a fantastic plan, my one small problem was that I couldn't remember how to crochet! And I had no idea how to plan such a huge project. Thank goodness my Darling mother, Di, planned a trip to the UK this summer, so she could teach me while she was here :)

Here is one she made earlier, lol. It's my winter 'lying on the couch watching TV all wrapped up' blanket and I wouldn't be without it! I love it and I plan to have it forever and hopefully one day it will be passed down a generation.

Last Thursday was 1st lesson day and mum and I started slowly, and we crocheted together, side by side and went at the same pace so I could ask questions if I got stuck. We each made 9 squares and put them together so I could see the whole process from start to finish. Mine is the purple 'blanket' :) (It's a bit bigger and looser cause I used a 5mm hook)

Recommended wools:

Acrylic

100% colour fast

Machine washable

Stitches we will use: We will start with 3 simple stitches:

sl st (slip stitch)

dc ( double crochet)

ch (chain)

Crochet Hook Size 4 mm

Learn the basic stitches:

http://learntocrochet.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?store=/stores/eyarn&faqKey=109

chain stitch http://learntocrochet.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?store=/stores/eyarn&faqKey=115 double crochet http://learntocrochet.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/faq-search.cgi?store=/stores/eyarn&faqKey=117 slip stitch

and we have our first square

For a blanket that is 14 x 16 rows, which we think will be good for a single bed, we plan to use 14 balls of wool, 2 each of 5 colours and 4 of the colour that will surround each square and will be used to 'stitch' the blanket together. We will need 224 granny squares.

I bought my wool at Wilkinsons for 79p a ball, which is a bargain.

Some tips from Di:

You will make approximately 27 squares from one 100gm ball of wool.

Start crocheting from the inside end of the wool

Crochet your ends in and cut off ends after you finish each square.

When you get up to speed, you should make 1 square in about 15 minutes.

Common Terms and Abbreviations: This is a list of common terms and abbreviations that you will come across when reading crochet patterns. Learning these terms and abbreviations is a huge step towards reading a pattern.

beg: begin(ning)

ch: chain

dc: double crochet

dec: decreas

eest: established hdc half double crochet inc: increase lp(s): loop(s) rep: repeat rev sc: reverse single crochet rnd: round RS: right side sc: single crochet sl st: slip stitch sp(s): space(s) st(s): stitch(es) tog: together tr: treble crochet WS: wrong side courtesy of http://craftydaisies.com/2007/05/22/learn-to-crochet-lesson-1/ Links to other sites with explanations http://craftydaisies.com/category/learn-to-crochet/ all lessons http://learntocrochet.lionbrand.com/ http://blogher.org/node/20586 http://www.learntoknit.com/instructions_cr.php3 crochet instructions http://www.roxycraft.com/learntocrochet.htm http://www.anniesattic.com/free_pattern_day/Baby_Granny_Afghan.html free pattern baby granny afghan blanket http://www.crochet.com/ crochet guild of america Since starting this project last Friday we have been so busy making our squares that we are almost half way through the first blanket! And the plan is to have all the squares done by the time mum leaves the UK next week. It has been amazing to see it grow so fast and I can't wait to lay the squares out to get an idea of what it will eventually look like. Obviously the second blanket will not grow quite so quickly but I have at least 3 months to make it so I am not panicing yet :) I'll be doing monthly progress report posts (mid month Monday) to show you how I am getting on, and explain how we put the finished squares together, so if you fancy joining me, pop down to your local store to pick up your wool today!

Love Caz (and Di :) )

xx