Free Poppy Pattern

For a really beautiful (and FREE!) poppy pattern with photos click here. In fact this whole blog is really cute, so definitely take a look around!

Poppy Spectacular

On the 4th of October I'm joining a group of the ladies from my church and community, to make tons of poppies in light of our commemorative events over the remembrance weekend. 

We're filling the Church lawn with poppies - crocheted, knitted and felt. I can't wait for this craft-ilicious burst of colour to catch the eye of our neighbourhood. WATCH THIS SPACE

In my day to day life, I look after my (nearly) 1yr old daughter, I see my husband after work and at weekends, I hang out with my friends, I go swimming, I crochet, I buy food and clean and put on the laundry, I enjoy gardening and love to meet new and interesting people on our local high street and at our local jaunts... I can't imagine what it would have been like trying to do these normal activities under the constant threat of bombs and bloodshed. I take my peaceful surroundings for granted. I create stress and drama in my comfortable, safe, first world lifestyle and I forget to thank God for all I have. 

So on the 4th as I crochet and listen to our elderly friends and fellow crafters sharing their wartime experiences, I am going to make a special effort to appreciate all that others have been through, and many in the world still go through. 

It is with warmth (and wool) that we remember those who fought for our peace and freedom in this beautiful, safe home, England.  Lest we forget. 

A sunshiney crochet picnic

My friend Lucy is a whiz with a camera and one sunshiney day she invited me along to a crochet picnic in Parade Gardens. Situated in our beautiful home town, Bath, we sneaked in through a side gate with an oversized key (that are entrusted to a few privileged local residents) and had the most beautiful day watching the world go by, by the weir. Here are the pics that prove it...

Joined by these feathery fellas

Curioser and curioser

Craft on the grass

Crocheting some hair slides for sale via The Flower Mill

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

Sunbathers by the bandstand

Me... in my element

Crocheting the day away

Some of my brooches for sale via The Flower Mill

Me and my hooks!

The perfect refreshing snack (after all I am pregnant and it is hot!)

My first ever crocheted project, a kindle cover that I made last summer

All of these pics are courtesy of Bath-based photographer Lucy, of Dot &Lucy Photography.

Crocheted Roses

Learning something new

Today I taught myself how to crochet a rose. I wanted to make some to add as a detail on my baby headbands.

The Pattern

I looked at a lot of different free rose patterns on Crochet Pattern Central  and then I adapted the patterns to suit my needs. I like thinks to look neat and delicate, but I need them to be fairly quick to crochet so that I can sell my crocheted accessories for a reasonable price that is affordable to the customer without having taken me houra of unpaid labour. The pattern I settled with is a variation on this one.

Which ribbon?

Over the last couple of days I have been playing with turquoises, lilacs and this lovely distressed blue for a very special commisioned brooch for a soon-to-be married man to give to his soon-to-be wife on their honeymoon.

Here is the finished flower...

I wonder what kind of ribbon she would like?

I've narrowed it down to three ribbons in particular. There's the turqoise one. You can't see it very well on this photo but this is a lovely, rich turquoise, silky ribbon. Then there's the lovely neutral one. This one is a light creamy colour, with grey stitches down the sides. And then lastly (my personal favourite) the floral grey one, which I would adjust to be a bit thinner. But might this one be a bit too... well... floral for some people?

Will ask the  hubby-to-be in question which one he thinks would best suit his special lady.

Spring is in the (h) air

I have been really busy today creating lots of pretty little hair-slides to sell at Oldfield Park Infant School's first ever Easter Craft Fair. The fair is taking place on the 13th April from 10am until 12 noon. To go to the school's website for directions to the school click here.

A floral photo shoot

A local and lovely lady called Lucy has recently set up a fantastic photography company called Just Watch The Birdie with her (also rather talented) friend Dot. I was crocheting at her house the other day and she offered to photograph me in the early stages of my production line, in front of her cosy living room fire. This is the most blissful way to spend an afternoon; getting my stock up for craft fairs.

If you would like to find out more about Just Watch the Birdie click here for their website or on these links to see their Twitter or Facebook accounts.

A little something for grandma

I've just written a good old fashioned thank you letter to my grandma who gave me a lovely birthday present a couple of weeks ago.

I attached a little brooch to her card.

She actually saw one that I'd given to my mum and requested one for herself so that she could drum up some business for me up North with all of her friends, so I have slipped in a couple of business cards too so I might get a few more customers at my online shop on my website.

She may look like a sweet little grandma but Ilkley watch out! Ever the business woman, she's on my case. Spreading flower power across the generations.

I love her lots and feel proud that she might get pleasure out of this small yet rather fiddly-to-make trinket that I put together by hand.

I think it looks rather cute. I really hope she likes it too...

Selling my crochet flowers

Since learning to crochet in May 2012 I have made so many little flowers that I have been experimenting with putting them on brooch pins and hair slides. I tried selling a couple on my friend's card stall at a craft fair at the start of November. I didn't sell many at all but I did get a good feel of how to do better next time.

This weekend was the 'next time'.

I am in love with this bird cage!

This time I had them displayed on a big piece of bark and a bird cage that I sourced from a local garden/junk shop where the lovely, friendly owner spent ages scrambling over garden furniture, baskets and crates to help me to find shabby chic props for me to display my crochet pretties on. 

Hair slides and bobbles displayed on the bark

I had a lovely time selling my crochet flowers at a local school's Christmas fair last Saturday. I saw many friendly faces of people that I recognized from the bakery where my husband worked, people from my Church, people from the local craft club that I go to fortnightly on Fridays and neighbours. So it was simply delightful!

Despite getting a numb bum on the tiny infants chairs that I sat on for two hours, I had a lot of fun and I sold a handful of hair bobbles, a handful of hair slides and a handful of brooches - in fact three times more than I sold on my first attempt - so I'm a happy bunny.

Some hair-slides, made-to-order for a customer whilst at the fair

Flower bobble

This afternoon I was invited round to my friend Lucy's house for a cozy cuppa and cupcake. It was a lovely fire-lit crochet sesh where I have been experimenting in crocheting a flower onto a hair bobble.

A quick pic of attempt #1

I would usually crochet a chain of eight to begin a flower, slip stitch it into a ring and then work the petals around that ring. For this I tried crocheting a chain of two then slipstitching around the bobble, chaining four more,  slipstitch around the bobble again, chain one more and slip stitch together with first chain to create a ring that joins the bobble at two points.

To see a clearer picture of my final products click here

Crochet Leaf

This crochet leaf is the perfect addition to any crochet flower and is very simple. I made up the pattern myself but I am sure there are many leaf patterns out there on the great big interweb if you would like something a little more complex. 

To make a longer leaf you simply begin with a longer chain. I have experimented with a few different lengths and I think seven gives a really cute size without it being too fiddly.

You will need

• 3mm hook
• Green wool
• A yarn needle
• some scissors

The Pattern

1. Chain seven.

2. double crochet into the second chain from the hook.

3. treble crochet down the chain stopping on the penultimate stitch, so you have one single stitch left in the chain.

4. double crochet five times into the final stitch, this will force your stitches into a curve to create the rounded bottom of your leaf. (Cheeky!)

Here, you may want to tuck the yarn tail 

between your fingers and the leaf, 

as it can get in the way.

5. now treble crochet all the way up the other side of the chain, again stopping at the penultimate stitch.

6. double crochet into the final chain. Your leaf should be looking very leaf-shaped by now.

7. Take some scissors and snip your leaf free from your ball of yarn.

8. do a final slip stitch to finish off your leaf with a tight point.

Your leaf is now complete...

If you are not sure how to darn in the tails, click here.

A birthday brooch

Today I attached one of my hand made brooches (see The Flower Mill) to an art deco card and sent it to my mum for her birthday  I thought the flower and card looked cute together. What do you think...

Triple layered flower pattern

Here are the finished triple layered flowers ready to use on Jenny's headband...

My pattern

I used a 2mm hook, a 4mm hook and a 6mm hook to create the three different sized flowers.

Chain 8.

Slip stitch into first chain to form a ring.

**Chain 2, 3 treble crochet into ring, chain 2, slip stitch into ring**

Do that bit in stars 5 times for 5 petals.

Fasten off and darn in the tails.

Sew layers together.

Finish with a button.

Teeny tiny flower

This is the smallest flower I've ever crocheted...

It was so fiddly, but it's just adorably tiny and just what I wanted to put as the final layer of my triple layered flowers (check them out and their patterns here) to decorate the headband I've been making.