crochet bath mat & loopy neck wrap....

 I made this little bath mat this week

using my Calico Crochet Rug Pattern

This time I made it with some pre made

t'shirt yarn (also known as tarn)

This one measures 61cm in diam

and weighs approx 1420gms.

I used All Purpose Household Tie (see picture below)

almost 8 balls and a size 12mm hook.

You can find my pattern HERE on my blog

and the Ravelry Project page HERE

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After I made the bath mat I had a little of the yarn left

so I looped it to the size I wanted and wrapped the end around and stitched it in place to create this loopy neck wrap....an easy and fun piece to make and wear!

 just make sure that you hand stitch

through all of the layers when you sew the wrapped section.

and you can make them any length and number of wraps you like!

Below is a picture of the yarn I used

of course you could make your own tarn, there are many youtube video's on making t'shirt yarn or tarn...but I was quite chuffed when I found this at my local Spotlight store...they did have a very limited colour range and hopefully they will get some more colours in.

I'm quite confident it would take on a dye if you wanted to experiment!

 There is no mention of what the fibre content is, but I ironed the rug when finished (best way to block a crocheted floor rug/mat) I found that it handled a med temp iron quite well, so I think there is a large proportion of cotton in the fibre.

The yarn was very good to work with and soft on the hands.
It should be a strong durable bath mat and I will be washing it regularly in my washing machine.

I hope you are having a creative day

~ Gillian ♥

square motif crochet buttoned scarf...

 I finished off this buttoned scarf last week,

I was just waiting for a moment to photograph it.

I'm quite happy with how it came out :)

 I love how versatile it is,

simply by adding some lovely vintage buttons

and hooking a row of button holes.

 It is lovely and long

measuring approx 15cm x 180cm

As you can see below the original pattern was slightly different with a sweet bobble fringe, but being a practical person I was sure I would get frustrated wearing a scarf with a fringe like that so decided to make a few slight changes.

 Below is a picture of the Panda book

Crochet modern vintage

that the pattern was found in.

It is full of GORGEOUS crochet designs,

and well grabbing a copy if you can!

I used Panda Cotton Blend 8ply (as per pattern) & 4mm hook.

 

If you cant find this lovely Panda book

the square motif is almost identical

 to the block

Circle in a Square #13

in Jan Eaton's book

200 crochet blocks

 

I hope you are having a delightful day

~ Gillian ♥



would you like a jelly baby?......

 yay, it is finished!!!

Jacob's Dr Who Season 16 Scarf

The original scarf was knitted in garter stitch,

but when I started this scarf back in May I was nervous about making such a long scarf on two needles...silly really, but that was before all of my recent knitting practice.

So I decided to make it in Tunisian Crochet in Purl stitch.

The Tunisian purl is a good stitch and easy to work, but it does curl and needs to be blocked and pressed to get it to sit flat and even then I think it will still curl when my son wears it. I am pleased I have learnt Tunisian Purl Stitch but I wouldn’t use it for another scarf.

 

 It is long....really long

I haven't measured it yet, I will add the measurement soon.

I can tell you it weighs approx 665gms, and is 100% acrylic

 Here is a picture of the scarf folding down our internal staircase and our inquisitive cat which gives you an idea of the length.

Here are some useful links if you feel brave enough to create your own Dr Who scarf

Witty Little Knitter    Dr Who Scarf   Scarf-o-matic

oh and I just have to share this clever youtube

it makes me smile :)

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

Wribbed Wristers.....

 Love this pattern!

It is a simple 'worked-flat' pattern,

easy to adapt to make your wristers the right size for you...

Seamed along the thumb side with mattress stitch they come together beautifully and are totally wearable and quick to make.

You can find the pattern by Joan Janes

on Ravelry Here

I used 1 x 50gm ball of Cleckheaton Perfect Day 8 ply

- 70% Wool, 30% Alpaca

(matching wool to my Calm Cowl)

4mm needles (US 6)

and worked 50 rows for each wrister.

Hope you are having a creative weekend,

Gillian ♥



calm cowl....

 A girl can never have too many accessories!

and this one really keeps the cold August winds away...

 I made just a few little changes to the pattern to suit my individual needs

and added a little row of pearl buttons,

which catch the light and add a little extra texture.

Both the changes to the pattern and addition of buttons were inspired by fellow Ravelry members.

One of the things I love about Ravelry,

is that you can look at what others have done with patterns

and be inspired by them  ♥

It measures approx 1.5mtrs long

and I will be wearing it doubled as above

but here is a picy of it showing the full length.

I used 3.5 balls of Cleckheaton Perfect Day 8 ply

(70% Wool, 30% Alpaca) a 4.5mm hook

& Beutron buttons - SR0834

You can find this lovely pattern by Suzana Davidovic

on Ravelry Here

my slight changes to the pattern can be found

on my Ravelry project page for this pattern Here

I hope you are having a delightful day

~ Gillian ♥

Twisted Granny Scarf.....

 This scarf has been a long time coming....

 not the crocheting of it....

as I finished it months ago!

But for some reason it has avoided being photographed by me...

I'm not sure why, maybe it is the colours?

Anyway, I was photographing another item this morning and thought to myself,

Just get on with it and photograph it!

To me an item isn't really finished until I have photographed
and blogged about it...

silly maybe but hey, I'm a craft blogger & that is what we do!

I have worn it twice, and enjoy it very much when I'm feeling colourful and arty ;)

I purchased the pattern from Jessica Turner on Ravelry

It is called Twisted Granny Wrap :)

You can find the pattern Here

It was a fun piece to create

I used a little over 5 balls of Lincraft Splendour & 5mm hook.

You have yourself a lovely day!

~ Gillian ♥

a slouchy beanie = warm head....

Next up in my knitting list was a beanie for my son

We both decided this was a cool beanie in the pattern book

so I set to work knitting away...

It is a simple beanie knitted flat and seamed down the back.

Perfect for a beginner and we were both pleased with the results.

The pattern comes from Lincraft Creative Book Volume 17

Knits for Men and Boys Comfort with style.

page 20, Boy's Slouchy fold-up rib brim beanie.

I used Moda Vera Pure Wool Extra Twist & 4mm needles

My son is 13 so I made the size for a 14-15years.

have a lovely day

~ Gillian ♥



just love this pattern....

 I really do love this simple little pattern

great for my knitting practice!

 so I made a pair for my daughter in this lovely Teal Cleckheaton wool

and another pair for my son in Charcoal....

Both are made using Cleckheaton Country Tartan 8ply

and 4.5mm (US 7) needles.

The pattern by Roxanne Richardson can be found on Ravelry here

if you are new to knitting or just want an easy pattern this one is great!

hope you are all having a lovely weekend,

~ Gillian ♥

Easy Fingerless Mitts....

 What a simple knitted project these little fingerless mitts are!

 Knitted flat and sewn up along the thumb side,

 they are a perfect beginner pattern!

I knitted this pair with

1 x 50gm ball of Patons Australia Jet (70% Wool, 30% Alpaca)

and a pair of  4.5 mm (US 7) needles.

You can find the pattern by Roxanne Richardson

on Ravelry Here

I am really enjoying doing a bit of knitting again....

I am also working on a couple of crochet projects and

the ever growing tunisian crochet dr who scarf :) 

It has been cold and rainy here the perfect weather for working with yarn,

be it hook, needle or nook!

have a happy day

~ Gillian ♥

Prism Scarf....

 I really enjoyed working with knitting needles again
to make this cute little scarf.

I know there are a couple of small mistakes and maybe my tension isn't perfect...but hey, its warm and soft and pretty :)  and I am sure in time my knitting skills will improve, at least I hope so..lol!

I used almost 4 balls of Lincraft Prism (wool/soy) and 6mm needles

and the pattern can be found on the Lincraft website Here

My scarf measures approx 11cm x 185cm (unblocked)

I really love the way the colours of the wool worked with the stripe pattern of the scarf and it was a joy to work from start to finish.

I hope you are having a lovely day,

~ Gillian ♥

Two pointy sticks.....

 I've been toying with the idea of picking up some knitting needles again...

It has been a few years since I knitted a scarf
and even then it was only Garter Stitch.

When I was in high school, my mum and I went off to evening classes to learn everything you could want to know about knitting....

only thing was we seemed to spend the whole week knitting little sample squares ready for the next class and I got a bit feed up with only making them and not a real project.

This made me put my needles away for years and

I forgot almost everything I had learned except for a few basic stitches.

Recently I have been falling in love with many of the knitted projects on Ravelry and this morning I was reading Omlair's blog and her post inspired me to get on with it and relearn how to knit!  So off I headed down to Lincraft and bought some wool and picked up a leaflet and came home and started :)

.........................................

I am making a simple rib scarf called Prism Scarf (named after the yarn used)

and using Prism yarn, it is a worsted weight wool & Soybean yarn and has a lovely colour change working through the balls and I am using size 6mm needles

The pattern can be found on the Lincraft website Here

Actually I have found the rhythm of knitting enjoyable once again and hopefully I'll soon have another scarf to wear :)

Bye for now

~ Gillian ♥

a little handwarmer love.....

 What a great pattern!

so fast and easy you can crochet them in an evening.

 I whipped these up last night with some of the left over yarn from my wool eater blanket.

As today was a rainy cold winters day, I enjoyed wearing them.

I think I'll pull out some other colours and work up a few more pairs.

You can find the pattern by creativeyarn

on Ravelry Here
and on creativeyarn's blog Here
The pattern only has the scalloped edging on the finger end of the gloves, I also added it to the foundation edge. 
..............................

I thought I would show you my current big project for this winter.
I am making my son a Vintage Dr Who Scarf
(Tom Baker season 16)

I love these gorgeous 1970s colours :)

The original scarf was knitted, but I'm not much of a knitter so am working it in Tunisian Crochet Purl Stitch...this is also the first time I've made anything in Tunisian Crochet and I'm quite pleased with how the front side of the purl actually looks quite similar to knitting purl stitch.
I've got a long way to go, If you are familiar with Dr Who you will know this is an extremely long scarf, and so far I am only about 20% of the way.

Have a great week everyone

~ Gillian ♥

sweet little hat for a sweet little girl....

 Last night I worked up this sweet little hat for a dear little girl....

she makes our whole family smile each time we see her ♥

 The pattern for this hat is called

Any Size, Any Yarn Hat

because you can make it using any type of yarn and you can make it in any size you want from micro preemie to adult male as all of the measurements have been worked out in the pattern.

I love the way the front post stitch is worked in this pattern, it really keeps the pattern interesting and it is so quick to make.  The designer, Thomasina Cummings has done a wonderful job with this pattern and I would have happily purchase more of her designs to work with in the future.

You can find the pattern on Ravelry Here

and for the flower I used Mel Paton's free flower pattern

which is also available on Ravelry Here and on her Blog Here

For this hat I used lincraft cosy wool 8ply (100gm ball) & 4.5mm hook

I worked the 6-12month size and I used a little over 1/2 of the ball of wool.

Have a creative day

~ Gillian ♥

Ribbed Cowl 'aka' Coffee Cozy Cowl....

 I have finished another little project...

this one was a quick one to work up.

 I adapted a pattern for a coffee cozy (see below)

to make this cowl.

 I really enjoyed working the ribbing made of  fpdc & bpdc stitch

 and think I may make another couple of these cowls.

I used 2.85 balls of Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Silk (discontinued)

& a 4.5mm hook

I followed the pattern except for the following changes

I started with a chain of 110 and just worked until it was a width I was happy with.

It measures - folded flat 32cm across, 66cm around, 16.5cm high

below is a coffee cozy I made using the same pattern

You can find the free pattern for this cozy

on Ravelry Here

Designed by Theresa Grant

hope you are having a lovely day,

~ Gillian ♥

Granny Shrug

 Well maybe it is more of a Cardigan than a Shrug ;)

I've been making this project for about a month, not that it takes long to make...but I usually have several things on the go at on time to keep me motivated.  This was a lovely relaxing project to work on and I decided to make it a little longer than the original.

This is a very clever yet simple pattern, made of two hexagons folded in half to form upside down L's which are joined down the centre back and along the top of the sleeve. 

The beauty of this design is you can use any type of yarn, just keep working until the hexagons are the right size for your requirements.

 I made a little loop at the front to hook around this lovely button I found at spotlight.

I used 7.5balls of Lincraft Veronica yarn and a 9mm

This made a lovely roomy plus sized cardigan for me :)

You can find the pattern on Here along with a helpful video

and the Ravelry project page is here

Thank you very much to Kirsty from the blog Thornberry

for sharing this lovely pattern.

Have a lovely day

~ Gillian ♥