Frustration!

Yesterday we played Frustration. I didn't win.

Scarf/shawl

I made a shawl for a wedding I went to recently. It matched the dress I wore. It's simple treble crochet made using DMC Petra Number 5 in navy using a 5mm hook to give it a lacy look. This is what it looks like:




I'm very pleased with the triple layer flower I added to the bottom. It's a pattern from Lucy at Attic 24 and gives the best result I've seen. I've tried two others and her tutorial is nice and clear and includes a pattern for a leaf.

I've made three now to add to the shawl so that I can wear it as a scarf and it looks more colourful and interesting than it would if it was just navy. I'm going to keep making them and adding them until I feel like I've got enough. They are all made in DMC Petra Number 5 with a 2mm hook. These are the three I've made so far:










I like to crochet while I watch television. The other day I watched tv without a hook in my hand and ended up doing far too much snacking!

Have a very Happy Christmas.

Sally
X

A beadweave necklace

I made this necklace a while ago and realised I'd not photographed it finished.


I normally wear it as a long lariat but quite like it worn shorter like the photo shows.

It took a lot of hours to make but I'm very fond of the result.

This is a photo taken during the making process.




Sally
X

Necklace

My Troll Bead bracelet broke so I bought a length of silver chain and often wear them like this now or wrapped around my wrist.

Sally
X

Two things I made yesterday

My husband and I don't get to go out very much for various reasons.

Last night in an effort to not spend the evening staring at the tv we had a try at custard tarts from the Bake Off:







We had to improvise on the pastry fitting in the tray because we didn't have the right size cutter and they could have done with more filling but we were pleased with our first attempt.

I also made something with these beads



I am very pleased with what I made.







I love the red of these Swarovski crystals. They go very well with my lampwork beads.

Sally
X

Beads

I made some beads recently and got around to photographing them today.

The first photos were great but then the battery ran out on my camera and by the time it was charged and I had time to photograph again there was no good natural light left and the difference in the quality of the photos was very noticeable.

This is an attempt at and oak leaf just to see if I could make one. Beads by Laura makes really lovely ones and I just wanted to give it a try.




I like making these sort of beads. Simple but I think very effective.


Having a go at something in Christmassy colours.





Mix of two colours.


I really like this look and will try more. Some lovely colours in there and it photographed very well.





The following photos show how rubbish my speedily taken, no natural light, photos were by comparison.





This bead is a nice green colour in real life. You wouldn't know it from this picture.


Hopefully I'll get to take more photos tomorrow and show the comparison.

Sally

Crochet Hat

I spent the last three days working on this hat when I could.




I really like it. It's made from two different Debbie Bliss yarns chosen by the person the hat was for. The pattern is from KT and The Squid. It feels wonderfully soft. The person it was for wasn't as excited as I'd hoped to have it finished and hasn't worn it out yet. I'm hoping at some stage it will be worn. For the foreseeable future though, I am going to be making stuff for me only.

I also spent a couple of hours in my shed today making beads for the school Christmas Fair. I'm hoping they look better than my last lot.

Sally
X

Beads

I had a great day yesterday. I was allowed to spend most of the day in my shed making beads.

I felt like I'd made some really good ones but this morning they didn't look as good as I had imagined they would. Some were ok but I was attempting to be fancy with some flower murrini and the results weren't very good.

Here are some photos:
















The beads are intended as my contribution to the school Christmas fair. I'll be making more for that in some brighter colours.

Sally
X

Bracelet

I made this for a friend's birthday.




The photo does not do it justice but I was in a rush.

Sally
X

Crochet

Hi

I've not written for a while. It's been the summer holidays and then this guy joined our family:




I've still been doing stuff (crochet) and made a lovely shawl recently for a black and white party I was invited to. I was working on it right up until an hour before the party. The edging also was suppose to be more fancy but, with time short, I just did double crochet all the way round.
This photo isn't good but I wanted one where you could see it. You can get a vague idea of it.




I'm currently working away on my scarf made of lots of small granny squares all sewn together. I think it will look brilliant when it's done. This is the progress so far:



The yarn is Noro Sekku number 5 and I'm using a 1.75mm crochet hook.

Hopefully I'll get out to my shed sometime soon although I have a horrible feeling my bead release will be one solid blob.

Sally
X

Crochet

I made this and am quite pleased with it.










The flowers were made with the help of a You Tube tutorial.

I really like them. The tutorial wasn't quite of the standard of Yolanda's which I used for the hat but it was good enough to follow.

The buttons came free with a knitting or crochet magazine and, I think, look really good in the centre of the flowers.

Sally

What I'm currently working on

Hi

It's been a bit hot for lampworking so I've been crocheting after discovering that knitting had made my hand really hurt. I enjoy crochet and find it easier to do well than knitting.

I bought some Noro Sekku recently and it's lovely. I'm making granny squares with the intention of sewing them all together when I feel I have enough and making a lovely long, wide scarf. These are the squares I have so far.







I really like how one ball of yarn has given such different colour squares. I bought two balls of the yarn and it will be good to see how many squares I end up with.

Sally

Minion Hat

Hi

I crocheted this Minion Hat with the help of a You Tube tutorial by Yolanda. Her instructions are very clear to follow and she's cheerful in a non-irritating way. She made making the hat easy.




I'm not that pleased with how it turned out. I think the wool is too thin meaning that the hat is very gappy. It's for a boy and looks a bit girlie I think. He's only going to wear it at home and, when I can find the thicker, hard to work with yellow I originally bought I will try again.

Sally
X

Bees

Some bees were recently very busy in my garden.
Two mornings I watched them buzzing about in and out of the poppies.




Both mornings there were lots of poppies with very busy bees but by mid-morning, all the petals had fallen off the flowers. I hadn't realised before what a short time the petals were there for.




I hope that your week is going well.

It's been a bit hot for lampworking.

I'm currently working on a Minion crochet hat using a You Tube video. The video is much easier than a book would be. I'm interested to see what the hat looks like in the end.




Sally
X

Knitting

I've been knitting a jumper for a while now.

This is it blocking.







It's my first attempt at knitting anything other than a simple scarf. Once it was blocked, I unpinned it and realised blocking was a waste of time because it didn't make the bits lie flat like I'd imagined.

Once I looked at this photo I realised that the sleeve on the right must have been knitted smaller because it looks like the piece has been stretched more judging by the pattern of the yarn.

I'm now at the sewing together stage and am a bit clueless as to how I should be doing that bit. The book I have, that I thought would be very step-by-step, is disappointingly vague about the joining up of the four pieces. I think I going to use a You Tube video next time and see if that's easier. There seem to be some great step-by-step ones.

Hopefully I'll finish it Monday. Be interesting to see how it looks on the person I've knitted it for.

Sally
X

Bracelet

I made this bracelet yesterday on a bead weaving day with Lynn Firth from Stitch N Craft. She was a very helpful tutor. It's her Majestic Jewel.










It's not my favourite thing I've ever made - no reflection on Lynn, just personal taste.

It's was suppose to be a necklace but the round beads are Swarovski pearls and I couldn't justify how much it would cost to make a necklace.

I need to wear it a bit and see if it makes me like it more.

The above photos were taken inside with my iPhone. These three were outside in the bright sunshine. It was so bright I couldn't see on the screen what the camera was looking at.










And in this one it's caught the light differently. It's on my wrist which looks very weird at this angle.




Sally
X