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Picking Up Stitches

Knitting, crochet, cross stitch and more - the wonderful world of working with wool

floral inspiration

Sunny days and crochet

April 23, 2018 by Annie Leave a Comment
bright coasters

Sunny days arrive!

After my last post when we were shivering in chilly London, it’s strange that we’ve just had the hottest April day here since 1949! We’ve been sweltering our way through the sunny days, eating nothing but salads and sipping buckets of ice-cold drinks. Poor Lily the dog has been panting every time she steps outside – even though we’ve been sticking to  the shady paths around the woods that thankfully are just a few minutes’ from here.

Lily the dog in the woods

She’s been arriving home and rather than running around trying to distract me from my crocheting with her toys, she’s been heading straight for the spot in front of the fan, where the breeze even manages to blow her “down” ear up for once!

Lily the dog lying on a grey carpet

A craft for the sunshine

I always find crochet far more appealing craft than knitting during hot spells, don’t you? At least you can easily carry around small items, rather than having swathes of knitting draped over your knees.

It’s easy to take crochet out and about as well, so plenty of options to craft under the trees in the park (or even in the pub garden!). There’s often inspiration around too, like this pretty blossom I spotted while heading for a spot to sit…

blossom next to a cricket field

And talking about being in the park and the great outdoors, I’ve been working on a whole range of items that would look perfect if you’re eating al fresco. I think they’d be a brilliant way to brighten up picnics – gorgeous sets of crocheted cotton coasters.

bright coasters

I find cotton yarn a really summery choice to work with (even though, technically, I know it’s still spring and it’ll probably be raining and chilly next week!). Cotton comes in such a mouthwatering range of shades as well.

New designs

First off, I thought I’d dig into my existing stash make some simple round mats in the peachy Sheepjes Catona I bought last year, with slip stitch overstitching in pink Rico Essentials DK cotton…

salmon and pink coasters

Then I spotted some Aran weight cotton, and next came some bright and cheerful, simple round coasters…

bright crocheted coasters

Luckily I found some colours that were ideal for a watermelon colourway, which I thought was fun, as melon’s always welcome on sunny days, isn’t it?

watermelon crochet coasters

However, after ordering a whole new palette of shades of Rico Creative Cotton Aran from The Wool Warehouse, it sent me off in a new direction. I loved the fact that the yarn arrived in an organza drawstring bag, which is now in use as my coaster project bag. Here are just some of the colours!

Rico Creative Cotton Aran

Lacy days in the sun

The pattern I came up with next is more lacy than the bold circular ones, and I’ve made up lots of sets in different colourways.

Here are just a few…

retro crochet coaster set

Vintage shades

paster retro crocheted coasters

Pastel hues

crocheted coasters

Bright colours

I think the bright ones are such fun, and the vintage set would be lovely at a retro picnic or street party. And the pastels would be lovely at a at a christening party, or perfect for a summer wedding, especially outdoors or in a marquee.

Pastel coasters in organza bag

Off to market

The sets will be heading to my Etsy shop very soon. However, if you’re in North London in a couple of weeks, they’ll definitely be on sale at my stall at the next Makers Market in Crouch End.

Makers market poster

Did I tell you about the Makers Market? It’s a new collective of local craft makers that I’m part of, and we’re putting on a market every first Saturday afternoon of the month. It’s been great fun so far, and it’s lovely to show what I’ve been creating to everyone who comes along. Lots of interest in my crochet and knitting classes too! Here’s last month’s stall…

Blink Makers Market in April

Talking of classes, lots of people have been asking to learn how to make crochet flowers, and there’ll be more floral classes soon, but, in the meantime, I’ve been planting out my window boxes again, so am getting plenty of inspiration for some new crochet designs. I mean, just look at some of these beauties…

yellow flowers

Yellow is such a happy colour!

violas

And it looks so striking with purples.

daisies

Daisies are always a must…

And how could I finish my Sunny Days post without sharing Lily among the dandelions?!

Lily among the dandelions

 

 

Posted in: craft fair, crochet, inspiration Tagged: cotton yarn, crochet, floral inspiration, inspiration, spring, sunny days

It’s Christmas crochet season – time to get busy

December 22, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment
Christmas crochet stars and snowflakes

It’s Christmas crochet time

I’ve been soooo busy with Christmas crochet in the past few weeks, that I haven’t had a moment to write my blog until now.

Phew, the presents are all made and sent and Christmas merriment can finally begin… I’ve enjoyed all my Christmas crochet makes at the kitchen table, especially as I replanted the kitchen windowsill in Christmassy colours. I even managed to incorporate a little ‘Christmas tree’ with a tiny crochet star.

Christmas crochet star on tiny 'tree' on windowsill

The Christmas windowsill arrangement

I love the fact that the pink daisies from summertime are still going strong, and now with the addition of white cyclamen, silvery foliage plants, ivy and plants covered in bright red berries, the whole view over the back gardens looks so festive.
White cyclamen and pink daisies

Christmas crochet decorations

Even before I started the presents, I crocheted quite a few crochet stars and snowflakes… I’ve taught a couple of classes on stars in the run-up to Christmas, so hopefully crochet decs will be adorning a few trees in North London now. I particularly like my snowflake design, which I crocheted in sparkly yarn.

Christmas crochet stars and snowflakes

As usual, pride of place in our Christmas decorations at home goes to the wreath that I crocheted some years ago, using Attic24s wreath as a basis. There are lots of lovely floral patterns on that blog and it was a delight crocheting the various elements and positioning them with the beads and baubles.

Crochet Christmas wreath

I love the way that it incorporates buttons, bows and pompoms too…

close up of Christmas crochet wreath

Close up of holly on Christmas crochet wreath

Christmas in the open air!

Talking about wreaths, we take our dog Lily to a lovely park just minutes from our flat every morning and there are often unexpected artistic delights in wait there. Here’s a twig wreath that just appeared on a tree…

Twig wreath in park

And when we walked up to Alexandra Palace Park there was a completely unexpected tree standing alone in the middle of the grass. What a delightful surprise!

Ally Pally tree

Christmas crochet presents

But what about the presents? I hear you ask. Well, to all my relations, look away now (unless it’s after Christmas Day!).

For everyone else here’s a sneak preview of some of the items I’ve designed this year…

These coasters were made out of coloured garden twine and specifically designed to be used on the garden table (and there was a large matching mat, too)

Christmas crochet coasters

Using a few shades of Hoooked Zpagetti tee-shirt tape, I made striped baskets. I’m thinking of making a few more for myself now!

Striped crochet basket

One of my other favourites this year are my new Flora fingerless gloves/wristwarmers, which will be making their way to my Etsy shop very soon, as I think they’ll be perfect for chilly spring days. I’ll also be selling the pattern very soon as well. I’ve really enjoyed trying out lots of different colourways. They’re made from Stylecraft Special DK, which comes in loads of shades, so there’s scope for so much variety.

Flora crochet fingerless mittens

Mauve/pink Flora crochet fingerless gloves

It snowed!

And finally, I must say that it’s been lovely this year to actually have snow on the ground in London even if it was only for one day. Here was the view from the kitchen the morning it snowed.

Snow in the garden from the windowsill

It’s such a rarity, that our dog had never experienced snow before despite being two and a half. Here she is in here Rad’N’Bad collar. I think that snowy morning was definitely her Christmas treat!

White Staffy on the snow

Lily loves the snow!

Happy Christmas, everyone!

 

 

Posted in: crochet, Crochet patterns, inspiration Tagged: Christmas, crochet, crochet baskets, floral inspiration, snow

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  • Features and Interviews
    • An interview with Dee Hardwicke
    • Knitwear designer Martin Storey – an interview
    • Louisa Harding, knitwear designer talks to Annie Windley
  • How to guides
    • 1 Making a slip knot
    • 2 Cast on – a step-by-step guide
    • 3 Knit stitch – a step-by-step guide
    • 4 Purl stitch – a step-by-step guide
    • 5 Cast off – a step-by-step guide
    • 6 Making a chain stitch
    • 7 Making a double crochet stitch
    • 8 Making a treble crochet stitch
    • How to make a Basic Granny Square
    • Joining granny squares
  • Lessons in Thanet and North London and by Zoom
    • Crochet projects
    • Now We’re Knitting! (beginners)
  • Patterns
    • Annie’s Advent Calendar: Christmas CAL 2018
    • Carrot & pea bunting pattern
    • Fallen Leaves Autumn Cowl
    • Floral granny squares & little flowers pattern
    • Little crochet heart pattern
    • Little Tea Cosy pattern
    • Waffle Blanket
  • Shop
  • Spring Granny-Square Bag CAL pattern

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