inspiration Archives — Page 6 of 7

Blackberries from hedgerow to crochet hook

September 1, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

Blackberries abound

It’s time for blackberries! Every afternoon, I walk my dog for about an hour. For people who don’t know the capital city, you’d probably be surprised how many green spaces there are, expecially in the leafy North London area where I live.

From the vast grassy expanses of Alexandra Palace park (which used to be a racecourse, don’t you know!), to the ancient woodland of Queens Wood and Highgate Wood, up to the acres and acres of Hampstead Heath, there is greenery everywhere.

And over the past few months, there have also been blackberries in abundance.

Ripe blackberries on a bush in the hedgerow

Harvest time for blackberries

So, one day, I took a container with me and began to pick the beautiful ripe fruit. The difficulty was knowing when to stop!

Blackberries in a tupperware container

Since then I’ve collected a number of batches of blackberries and the fridge is full of frozen fruit, and portions of blackberry compote. It’s delicious with Greek yoghurt and honey for breakfast.

Overhead shot of blue bowl of yogurt, compote and honey with jar of blackberry compote

I’ve also made jars of yummy blackberry jam, which go down well as an afternoon treat.

Jar of blackberry jam with bread and jam on a plate

Blackberries – an inspiration

It got me thinking though – I had a dark blue ball of merino DK in my yarn stash, plus a dusky green – could I conjour up some crocheted blackberries?

The answer was definitely! I made a lovely little drawstring bag to keep all my crochet essentials in (scissors, round markers, tape measure, large-eyed blunt needles, pins and hooks)…

Blackberries bag in progress with jar of jam on table by a plant and window

Here it is in progress. I started by crocheting a circular base, then worked up the sides in treble stitches, with some treble clusters to make the berries. A row of double crochet in the blue had 2-chain spaces all the way around to thread the cord through. The cord itself was simply a long chain, which I worked back along with slip stitches. The cord is threaded through the holes in the double crochet before a tiny blackberry ball is attached to each end to keep the cord in place.

Crocheted blackberries drawstring bag on embroidered mat with crochet essentials

I just need to complete it with a cotton lining with a blackberry print when I find some, but it looks so sweet now that I just had to share it with you.

So what would you have to have in your crochet kit? I’d love to know…

Save

Festival fun and time for wristbands and bunting!

June 29, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

crochet festival wristbands and old festival tickets

Festival memories

I’ve just been watching Glastonbury festival on the telly. It seems strange to be watching it at home. In the past, I’ve been there, in the throng, up to my armpits in mud, or sweltering in a sun-drenched tent first thing in the morning. It’s so, so tiring, but such a fun, unique experience.

Here’s me at Glastonbury a taking a well-earned breather in a gorgeous pink shelter (it was very hot that year)…

In fact, in some years I’ve been to as many as seven festivals in 12 months, from Cambridge Folk Festival to Cropredy, from Isle of Wight to Wychwood, No Direction Home to End of The Road (my favourite), and many more besides. But now Lily our dog is here, camping festivals have taken a back seat for a while.

Get the photos out!

I decided to look back over my photos from past years’ festivals for some colourful inspiration, and there was plenty to be found.

There are always so many flags fluttering away among the crowds… Here are some at Glastonbury’s main stage.

And even inside the marquees, colour abounds. Here’s a joyful gig by my friend Sam’s band at End of the Road festival, with balloons everywhere…

And, how about this colourful flock of sheep I came across a few years ago at Latitude festival…

There were so many beautiful night skies too as we sat around the firepit drinking a hot cider with friends…

Sunset over tents at End of The Road Festival

And occasionally lovely blue skies outside the tent in the morning – what a bonus!

Then I came across this pic of me at a festival with my ice cream and floral dress against the bluest of clear blue skies…

Aha! That’s gave me the inspiration for a few items to celebrate festival season.

Shades of blue

I snapped up some Rico Essentials Cotton DK in a number of different shades of blue (and one of sunshine yellow), and came up with a selection of wristbands that I think would be perfect festival accessories. I also made some floral bunting that would brighten up any tent on the campsite (and any home too!). Hope you like them…

First here’s the blueberry wristband. Very simple to make, and fastened by a little ‘blueberry’!

Then how about my floral hand cuff/ring for really dramatic impact? This one has two loops which the two strings lace through to fasten at the back.

Keeping with the floral theme, I made this little daisy wristband – the ends are simply tied together to fasten.

And my final festival wristband incorporated little blue beads. The fastening beaded laces simple slot through a loop and tie togehter,

Properly put me in the festival mood – I even dug out some of my old tickets…

Last but not least, I made my floral festival bunting in three shades of blue, with alternating coloured flags, with a little flower on each one…

The bunting looks perfect strung up outside…

Do let me know if you’d like me to post any of the patterns…

Save

A case of crocheted baskets

May 18, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

We all need more crocheted baskets

You know how it is. There are always odds and ends around when you’ve a craft project on the go. And when you’re crocheting multi-coloured granny squares, those little balls of wool all need keeping in some order. It was when I was about to teach a crochet class the other day that I decided to take matters in hand. I thought I’d quickly rustle up some little baskets to take with me.

As I’ve always lots of spare balls of wool around, I had a good choice of yarn, and once I started, it was baskets all the way.

Small and sweet

First I picked some merino style DK yarn in pinky-mauve, and a 3.5mm hook, and worked a circle in double crochet for the base. I started with 6 stitches, and to keep the circle flat, just increased 6 stitches on each round. When the base was big enough, I worked a round in the back loop, then just continued in double crochet to the required height. I finished with a round of double crochet in a dark pinky purple.

I loved the outcome and still had some of the yarn left over, so made another. This time, halfway up the side I worked a round in the contrast colour, then a row into the back loops. I again finished with the contrast at the top.

Now I had two brilliant little crocheted baskets for my lovely contact cards – so pretty, don’t you think?

Two little crochet baskets

Good things come in threes

Next I picked up a ball of tweedy flecked chunky yarn. This time I just worked in the single colour. From the one ball, I managed to make three matching crocheted baskets of different sizes. These were perfect for holding the little balls of wool I was using for my granny squares at the crochet classes.

Three tweedy crocheted baskets holding wool and crochet hooks

String thing

On a recent shopping trip I discovered some sweet little balls of coloured string, so I snapped up some – in pink and blue.

The blue, I decided, would be interesting to make a small container from. Although it’s slightly tough to manipulate, it crochets up to provide an interesting, stiff texture. Because of this, I included a row of trebles in every other stitch separated by a couple of chain stitches. I then simply worked a row of double crochet above, with a double crochet in each treble and one in each two chain space. Here’s the effect…

Little string crocheted basket

Big and beautiful

I wasn’t finished yet! Two more balls of super chunky yarn – one teal, one fawn – seemed perfect. They crocheted up so quickly. The teal one I completed in double crochet, the largest of the baskets.

Large teal crocheted basket Finally, for the fawn one, in included a couple of rows of trebles, to create texture.

Fawn crocheted basket with treble detail The baskets worked a treat at the crochet classes, and I think I’m going to have to run a crochet basket workshop soon, as everyone wanted to make one.

I love the way all the baskets turned out, but think I’d better stop now, otherwise I’ll have to find a container to keep all my crocheted baskets in!