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Picking Up Stitches

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

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

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…

 

 

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Posted in: crochet, inspiration, Uncategorized Tagged: blackberries, crochet, drawstring bag, inspiration, jam making

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)…

Lady in sunhat sitting in a pink hut at a Glastonbury festival 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.

Flags at the main stage a Glastonbury

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…

Diagrams playing at End of the Road Festival with balloons

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

Sheep at Latitude dyed differenct colours

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!

Blue sky with clouds seen from campsite tent

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…

lady in floral maxi dress eating ice cream against blue sky

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’!

Blue crochet wristband

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.

floral hand/wrist/ring crochet cuff

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

blue and yellow daisy crochet bracelet

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

beaded yellow crochet wristband

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

Crochet wristbands and old festival 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…

blue floral crochet bunting against board

The bunting looks perfect strung up outside…

blue floral crochet bunting in tree

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

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Posted in: Crochet patterns, inspiration Tagged: bunting, crochet, Festivals, inspiration, wristbands
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  • How to guides
    • 1 Making a slip knot
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