Starting the year with some squares

While down at Mum and Dad's for Christmas I decided I'd pick up my white blanket again (by the time I finish I'll have to call it The Decade Blanket) and do a few more squares.

Circle Flower - a pattern I designed after starting another pattern that just didn't work for me.

 Pretty Petals

 Double Framed Lace

 Popcorn flower - another one I made up

 Kata Also one of mine, finally got around to making a version for this blanket

 Poinsettia - another original pattern

 On the road again - another pattern I made up

 Not sure what this one is

 Snowfall Square

 Manny Ann's square

 Cygnus

 hmmm, another mystery one

 Majesty Square

I have documented the patterns I made up in a little more detail than I usually do so they are on my very large 'to do' list to get them written out and tested.

Crafting is taking a back seat to University work for a while, so maybe towards the end of the year.

Doll sized skirt

 I offered to test the Mini Floreala pattern seeing as DD loves her big Floreala.

Of course the fly in this ointment is that DD and DS don't really have any dolls to test the finished product on.  Lots of teddies and soft toys, just not really anything dolly like.

Still, I figured I could find something so I gave it a go.

 I did find someone to try it on!  She is/was mine and back when she worked she had a record inside of her (that you could change) and said various things.  Records long gone and I'm not even sure if she would work now.  [And just an aside, the only clothes I have for her are a pair of pjs my Granny made!].

 

 She is very tall 23-24 inches, so it's quite a long skirt.

(Not my colours but DD has unique taste and along the bottom is a gold metallic thread that she loves.) 

We tried it on Ruby the Build a Bear Bunny, but it's more mu-mu like on her.

The pattern was quick and simple and would be a good way to practise before you make the big skirt.

Another Skirt

 I made another skirt for Little Miss.  It was a test pattern but has since been released.  You can find it here - Floreala, on Ravelry.

It's a very well written pattern.

I made a larger size than needed to give some room for growth.

Miss likes the fact it's longer.

 It's made from Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton.

 She's happy.

 I might even make one for me.

 

Getting crafty for school

School put out a call for squares to make blankets for "Wrap with Love".
I'm not a square knitter - in fact I still have three quarters of one sitting here, unfinished, so I decided I'd crochet some.
Then I decided that I needed to make enough for an entire blanket so that the crochet squares went together.

Thankfully Mum gave me a hand making some of the plain blue and green ones you can see.
It looks very green one end/blue the other but in real life it blended a little more in the middle.
Still, we got it done and only a few days late, which is ok because the deadline was extended anyway.

Next year I'm just going to volunteer to put them together - with Bendigo in the middle it was too much trying to make the 28 ten inch squares needed for one blanket.

Little Miss was very happy that we got to send a completed blanket in.

Hyperbolic crochet coral reef

Part of the hyperbolic crochet coral reef was on display in the shed my stall was in at Bendigo.
It was awesome from a distance and I'm sure my husband would like something this decorating the middle of our dining table (only because he's really into fish keeping at the moment), but I'm not sure I have the time or patience to make it, even though they assure me it's easy.

Some parts look easy, some look like they'd be quite fussy!
I love Nemo in the middle of it.
Maybe one day I'll make a mini one for him. Or if LittleMiss or LittleMister need a project maybe they can help.

Testing

One of the ladies in my crochet group asked me to test a pattern for her.
She's teaching it at a camp later in the year.
It's meant for beginners and she wants them to simply read the pattern to create the garment.
She gave me the yarn to use (Patons Totem, which was like creating a suit of armour).
And here is the result.

I'm not sure it's a pattern I'd get a beginner to do - it took me quite a long time and I'm a quick crocheter. It's also rather boring as the rows seem to drag on forever.
But I finished it! Yay! Which means I can move onto bigger things now.
(OK, so it needs buttons but she just wanted to see if I could get the right shape from the pattern.)
It softened up a little with some washing and conditioning, still, my kids definitely wouldn't wear it.
With a lot of beautiful simple modern patterns out there it's a bit 'old crochet' looking don't you think?

Square for a friend

The crochet group I like to be part of were making a blanket for the lady who set the group up.
We were all asked to make a 12 inch square for the blanket in the colours of our logo.
Mine is based on the Nordic Star Afghan Square pattern. (Rav link, pattern link)

Raspberry Beret

My local knitting group encouraged us to put entries in one of the local shows.
I decided I'd use the yarn I'd received in the Valentine's Day swap to make something and I'd just bought Kristen Omdahl's book Crochet So Fine. The beret in there quite appealed.
My yarn was radically different from that used in the pattern so I did 'wing it' a fair bit.
Ravelled here.

Anyway, I didn't end up getting out to the Castle Hill Show (I actually ended up having a blood transfusion and then an iron transfusion in hospital, but that's a different story, there was also Little Miss's 7th birthday in there too) so I was quite surprised when this was given back to me at knitting.


Not quite sure it suits me, but Little Miss has sort of claimed it as hers too!

Little Black Shrug

This little shrug is sooo comfy.

The pattern is from "100 Crochet Projects" and the yarn is Panda Purla.
I modified the pattern a little, but it's a lot of front loop crochet, to give the ribbed look.
The Panda Purla is really nice to wear.

Ravelled here

My version of a Chevron Lace cardigan

In my quest to make 11 wearable garments (with at least 60% of them for me) in 2011 I decided to embark on the chevron cardigan.

I wasn't too keen on the neck opening with the big gap across the stomach (the bit of me I normally like to hide) so I decided I'd make some modifications.

My first attempt involved making a smaller neckline but increasing down the front part.


I ended up undoing this attempt as I didn't like the shape on me and the armholes were too low.

Even though I added to the middle of the cardigan it still didn't sit right or join across the middle so I undid it (yep, even though I had pretty much finished it).
I didn't mind the back shaping though.


On my next attempt I used the correct neck instructions but kept extending in the pattern to end up with a v-neck shape.
I used a smaller hook to shape it in the middle and I also made the armpits higher and finished it higher on me.
I am happy with the results.





(Thanks to my three year old for the above photos)





I have some buttons - just have to put them on. It hasn't stopped me from wearing it though!



Details of project on my Ravelry page.