I blame the Fox Collection - if it wasn't for the most gorgeous cross-stitch in their last catalogue I would probably have done much more crochet this week!
Instead, I have devised a system for myself. I need to get one road trip scarf made during the days at home, then in the evening I'm allowed to do something else - be that cross-stitch, working on Sophie, or another project.
It seems to be working for me! I have 12 scarves all ready to be tagged and bagged for my market stall in June! And one more half-way done :) I am really enjoying the Yarn Bee Aurora Borealis Yarn all the way from the USA - not only is it chunkier than my usual 8 ply and so works up faster, it's so soft and squishy. Why can't it be winter already so I can wear one!
So now that I've done the "work" part of things, here is my new cross stitch :) It's called Winter Sparkle, and is based on a painting by Megan Duncanson.
Terrifyingly, it has 92 different colours, and 24 A4 pages of pattern. It should keep me entertained for a good long time!
Today I've also been playing with puffy paint to make the soles of my Crocodile Stitch Booties non-slip. As you can see, I probably should stick to crochet or cross-stitch - my drawing skills leave a lot to be desired! The way this paint works is that you draw on the fabric/material, leave it to dry for 5 hours and then use the hairdryer to make it puff up. I've already puffed the paint on the little yellow ones - the others will get the hairdryer after dinner tonight :)
No progress to report on my Sophie's Universe this week - I promised my sister that we could do Week 5 together at our Crafternoons@Meadowbank gathering on Sunday! However, she has been catching up to the end of week 4...
And has even started teaching one of her workmates! I am wildly jealous of their Lunchtime Crochet Club!
I am very much looking forward to seeing how our three (very) different Sophie colour schemes work up as the CAL goes on :)
Hello everyone! Sorry I'm a bit late this week - I was hoping to blog last night but me and Sophie were NOT getting along, and I wanted to show you all how this week's part of the CAL looks :)
First up though, I have been having loads of fun recently making Crocodile Stitch Booties! Using this fabulous set of patterns from Bonita Designs, I've made baby ones in Stylecraft Special DK Citron:
Child ones with a Stylecraft Special DK Lavender sole and Moda Vera Fayette Jewel Mix tops:
And adult ones with a Moda Vera Marvel Green sole and Moda Vera Fayette Frenzy tops!
It is a fantastic pattern - very easy to follow and well explained for uneducated people like me who have never done crocodile stitch or rib stitch before - I highly recommend it. And, so cute!
I particularly had fun at Mum's house on Sunday, shopping in her button collection :) Do you think these were good choices?
The baby ones don't have buttons yet. I need to either figure out how to crochet buttons that are the right size and work well, or maybe get some velcro? What do you think?
And here is my Sophie's Universe progress! It took me much longer than it should have to do the last 10 rows, but I kept reading the pattern wrong and miscounting and discovering mistakes in previous rows... Sophie didn't quite go over the balcony, but it was a near thing a few times. I love the colours though!!
Here's hoping I have better luck with next week's part 5 :)
EDITED TO ADD: Here is my sister's start on the Sophie's Universe CAL - I love how the different colour scheme gives a totally different effect!! She was inspired by the Attic24 Cottage pack in choosing her colours.
My Opa Slippers (pattern from Mamachee) have been a raging success recently - warm, comfy and snuggly, just like a second pair of socks :)
However, we have been having some difficulty getting them sized correctly! The pattern sizes are based on the length of the foot, and measuring your foot length correctly is everything.
Here's a little infographic about how to get an accurate foot measurement:
Measuring your foot length this way means that the slippers can be accurately sized, and therefore fit you much better :)
I am not usually one for crochet clothing - to me there's something very naff and '70s about crocheted stuff to wear :P
A few weeks ago, the amazing Tara Murray (Mamachee) had a special offer to celebrate a milestone - a free pattern from her Ravelry store! I know Anne raves about her patterns, so I just had to look through the list and pick something. That was when I found out she mostly designs hats and slippers! Gorgeous hats and slippers, but still... not my usual fare.
But, reading through the list of patterns, I just fell in love with the look of her Opa House Shoes. I had to have it.
It took me a few goes to get the right combination of yarn and hook, and understand the pattern, but I got there. Phew!
That's my bizarre electric orange and grey mismatched pair for me - they are a bit wonky and strange where I was figuring out the pattern, but they are super warm and comfortable (that photo was taken last weekend, but I am also wearing them as I write this).
Tonight, I did my first proper make of this pattern, in blue and black! I ended up figuring out that for standard 8ply acrylic yarn, I needed to use 2 strands and a 5mm hook, and they came out pretty good (at least I think so!). I also added a tightening stitch around the heel to help them stay on better, and I left the "tongue" part off as I couldn't get it to sit straight rather than curly. I think it still looks ok!
What do you think? If you've tried to make these slippers, I'd love to see them!!
