Bags of fun!

I popped down to the yarn shop earlier this week and came home with a whole new stash of Stylecraft chunky acrylic wool and little idea of what I was going to do with it!  The colours I'd chosen were denim blue and a light beige.  I did consider making another colour burst afghan with the denim as the main colour, but didn't feel too inspired by that.

So....I had a little scoot round the Lion Brand pattern finder and decided to try my hand at making a bag!  I'm about 2/3 of the way through it, and will so been starting on the handles.  I have no idea in reality how big this bag will end up, and whether it will even be practical, but it's been quite quick to make so far, and easy enough for a first attempt.  I can't wait to finish it and see the finished product, but here's a picture of it in its present state...

April Blanket

The granny squares below have finally been joined and bordered and have resulted in my most favourite blanket to date.  I wasn't sure at first if the colours would go together as I envisioned, but I think they look bee-ootiful!

I finished it off in the garden this afternoon in the lovely April sunshine.  It's turned very cloudy and cold now though, so we've all retreated indoors, and April Blanket has found it's rightful place on my comfiest chair.

Now.....what to make next?

Many people have asked me for the pattern for this afghan, so here's a link to Michael Sellick's online tutorial - it's in 4 or 5 parts in total.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd6H3k91QYE

Happiness is....

....a fresh stack of granny squares!

Black floral granny square blanket

Today I started joining the black floral granny squares that will eventually be a house warming present for a close friend.  It will be gorgeous when it's finished (it will, believe me) but as the shop has ran out of black wool (how could they?!) and won't have more in  for at least another week, it will have to be put to one side for a while.

What, then, can I make in the meantime...hmmmm?

Catherine Wheel Square part 2

I unpicked and re-did the original catherine wheel square and it resulted in this:

I think I'll carry on with it, but add in some other colours too - because I think it looks like something you'd find in someone's creepy attic!  Very vintage, but not really my type of thing.  It may start looking better the further along I get, we'll have to wait and see.

Catherine Wheel Square

Yesterday I finally managed to get to grips with the Catherine Wheel Square.  It took a while to get the hang of, but like most crochet projects once you've got the first few rounds out of the way, it's quite straightforward...(she says - I had to keep referring back to the tutorials every time I put it down for a few minutes...).

I really like the way this stitch looks - to me it's shabby chic at its finest.  The only issue I have with this effort, though, are the colours.  I've decided I really don't like the ones I've chosen (from my stash).  So I think I'm going to have to unpick to the first 2 rounds and take another trip to the yarn shop.....I need nice Spring-like pastels to spruce it up!  

Mobile Phone Case

Taking yet another break from the blankets, I rattled off a cute mobile phone case this afternoon.  I'll probably never use it - I used my usual chunky wool and size 4 hook, so it's a bit too big, but it was fun and very quick to make.

The pattern I downloaded free after joining another great online crochet community -  Crochet Me.