For the Geek (tongue-in-cheek)

I've just come across a fabulous blog called Geek Crafts.   I think the name is self-explanatory.

I (and my 6 yr old son) particularly love this R2 D2 Beanie  How could you not? I'm sorely tempted to buy one (for him, not me!).  Said child is now pestering me for a game of snakes and ladders, so I will have to wait until later to have a proper browse of the blog.  Why not have a look yourself?  If you're into crafts and creativity, and are a bit of a geek (closet or not), then I'm sure you'll like it!

Work in progress - red on black

Here's a sneak preview of the blanket I'm making for my thrash-metal loving 11 year old son. I've done two rows of granny squares so far, and it's looking...in his words "awesome".

It's quite tricky working with such dark colours because there's not much natural light in our house, but it's coming together nicely - I can't wait to see the finished article!

Colour Burst Afghan - finished at last!

The colour burst afghan which I started AGES ago is finally finished!  I've been using it for weeks but the last row of granny squares weren't joined in properly because one of them was wrong, so it had a nice "frill", or row of flapping squares down one end, which was most distracting...

Anyway, I've finally managed to get rid of the flappy row, and finished it all off with a nice edging.  Perfect!  And so very, very warm!

Ripple Blanket attempt!

Having been commissioned by my eldest son (he's 11) to make him a red and black blanket for his very cold bedroom...I immediately thought of one of those wavy type patterned blankets - I imagined big wavy blocks of red and black, with a white edging.

After a little searching I found out the pattern I had in mind was a ripple blanket, and found a link to my favourite crochet lady, who has a very user friendly step-by-step tutorial here:  http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

Well, I had a go, and maybe due to the fact  I was trying to watch Come Dine With Me and Coach Trip at the same time, I couldn't get it to "ripple" at the top...eventually I got it right...probably half way through the local evening news....here it is, looking a bit like Mario's moustache:

Although the effect looks great, I've decided that as it's very difficult to work with black yarn, because basically you can't see what you're doing, I'm going  with the usual granny square method.  Fortunately, my son has said that if squares are easier for me, then he's happy with that...how accommodating!

The ripple's not out though - I have in mind a small baby blanket with lots of lovely bright colours.

Another blanket finished

I'm really pleased with this lap afghan blanket that I've just finished.  It's for a friend, and took me only about 2 weeks from start to finish.  It's traditional granny squares made with Stylecraft chunky wool in 4 colours.  If you look, you'll see the pattern runs from top right to bottom left.

It's so lovely and warm I'm sure it'll keep my friend's little legs warm when she's sitting in her home office working away!

Bargainous Balls!

I had a trip to the wool shop this week to stock up on wool for an afghan that I'm making for a good friend....and the shop owner introduced me to his bargain bin.  Now, I love wool, and buying wool, but most of all I love a bargain!  So I couldn't resist this pack of 3 end-of-line balls.  Being a mum to 3 boys, I don't often get a chance for a girly moment, but I fear this definitely was one.

Now, what to make with it?  I may make a girl's baby blanket, or some scarves....decisions!

Baby Blues

I recently finished my second baby blanket. This is a little different to my red baby blanket, because not only is it a different colour, but it is smaller, and has random colours with no particular pattern.  This meant I could finish it within a week!  It measures approximately 23" x 28" and would make a lovely pram or pushchair blanket or would be lovely just to snuggle with!

Odds and Sods

I'm in between projects at the moment, and have a few balls of yarn left over, so the other night I made a little scarf.  It was intended for one of the kids, but as it's so light and bright, I've been wearing it myself...

This scarf is so easy -you make a chain to however long you want your scarf to be, then 2 rows of treble crochet per colour.  I'll make a confession - it was meant to be a stripey throw, but I didn't have the patience to see it to the end, so a scarf it became!

Crochet-a-Rainbow

CROCHET-A-RAINBOW

I have plenty of granny squares left over from the baby blanket, so I am going to donate them to the Crochet-a-Rainbow cause.   All donated squares will be made up into blankets to distribute amongst the people affected by the recent floods in Australia. 

If you feel you can help also, please click on the rainbow link above.

Baby Blanket - the big reveal!

Most of this January has been taken up with my first commission  piece - a baby blanket for my neighbour's grandson.  He wanted it to have lots of bright colours, so I was given free rein to do whatever I wanted, and what I wanted was this:

A close up

The whole thing

Another close up

Folded blanket

I'm absolutely thrilled with the way it turned out, especially as it's the first blanket I've actually finished properly, and more importantly, by all accounts it was very well received by the baby's mother, so all is well.