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.

Out of this world

I've wanted to crochet some naughty little monsters to put on my stall for quite a while.

My husband helped me to design these little fellas. He loves the mathamatical side of my crocheting hobby.

It is kind of an amigurumi egg and a crocheted flower crocheted together as one shape. I crocheted a straight forward circle and dot for an eye on each monster.

Here are the end results...

Photographed by Lucy & Dot 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.

Popcorn Stitch Around A Blanket

I'm having a lot of fun putting that bobbly popcorn stitch around my ongoing blanket. I wanted to give the blanket a bit of texture. With baby number one on the way (due in December) I thought it would be sweet to add these bobbly bits around the outside to add cosy tactility for tiny fingers. I'm hoping to do at least two rows of this in a zigzagging alternating pattern. It takes  a while but is lovely and therapeutic once you get into the rhythm of it. Here are some pictures of one side of one row done, to give you the general idea of how it looks...

To learn how to do the popcorn stitch for yourself, or to find out a bit more about it, click here.

How to Crochet a Bobly Popcorn Stitch

One of the main reasons I LOVE to crochet is because there are always new techniques and stitches to learn, so I never get bored of it. Yesterday I taught myself to do a lovely bobbly popcorn stitch. 

I wanted to learn a stitch that would add cosy texture to my work. I learnt this technique by following the instructions in my The Art of Crochet magazine and it didn't disappoint.

I haven't yet got much to show from my popcorn lessons but I did find these gorgeous pictures on-line to give you a good idea of the depth of this lovely stitch.

Pictures from a little vintage doll who
has crocheted/photographed this beautiful
example of popcorn stitches 

Pictures from a little vintage doll who
has crocheted/photographed this beautiful
example of popcorn stitches 

It didn't take me long to get the hang of it. I want to try to incorporate it into my ongoing blanket project, but it takes quite a lot of time - well worth it, I feel, but we'll see what I can manage with all of my other projects on the go.

If you would like to learn how to do the popcorn stitch you can follow these simple on-line instructions...

How to Crochet a Popcorn Stitch

Enjoy!

Super-cute Crocheted Pin Cushions

Look at these crazily cute crocheted takes on the traditional pin cushion. Aren't they just the most adorable things!?! 

Follow the links at the bottom of the pictures to see them in their original context. (The first one has a free pattern so you can have a go!)

Free pattern available on amigurumipatterns

By Doni at Whiskers & Wool

By Becky Oh at Eightlegs

I stumbled across these lovelies on pinterest. To see more of my pins click here.

Crocheting a business card case

I am part way through a really simple little project, where I am effectively crocheting a little sock to fit around my business cards so that they can stay nice and shiny even despite being in the bottom of my handbag all day every day.

Here's what I did;

*Crochet a chain twice as long as the business card is wide.
*Add a few chains if you want to fit a good number of cards in there.
*Slip stitch into a ring.
*Double crochet in every chain.
*Work round and round and round in double crochet stitches until it is long enough.
*Sew or crochet one end together to creat the bottom of the case.
*decorate to your liking

Voila