My 1st Crochet blanket

Hello again my lovelies! Wow have I got some catching up to do, so I'm jumping straight in with this one. Back in the early Summer I went on a crochet course to learn (at last) how to crochet without it looking like something the cats had been playing with :) I did try to teach myself last year but it was a disaster (probably because I had too much on my plate at the time) all that I got out of it was frustration. My lovely friend Andrea (*waves*) and I went to Toft in Rugby and was taught by a lady called Emily who was a fantastic teacher, she even compensated for the fact I was a lefty!! 

From the second I'd finished crocheting the first row of colour it clicked and I was hooked lol and I just couldn't wait to get started on my first blanket!

Of course it had to be a blanket for my room and of course it had to be mint green and lime green.

It's addictive, I can literally lose myself in it for hours and it feels so therapeutic. Not to mention the self pride when you start to see the blanket take shape.

I literally crocheted every where and whenever I could, I even took it with me when we went to Liverpool for the weekend. It didn't bother me in the slightest that the Lorry drivers were giving me funny looks as we passed them on the motorway :D ha ha!

Even though Mr.B kept asking 'when will that be finished?' I thought it didn't take me that long to make, but when I think back now it took me about 2months to finish it completely. So it was definitely a labour of love.

It's so warm and cosy and will be perfect for the colder days/nights in my sewing room! I just need to learn a different stitch to the zigzag now...the challenge is set!!! 

Emma xxx

Crochet hook rolls, oh yes and pretty button too!

Happy Friday my lovelies, I hope that you've had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend. I know I am, I'm hoping to be able to spend a couple of hours sewing at some point. Skimming through my saved posts I had almost forgotton to show you this....

What do you do when you learn to crochet, you buy some pretty crochet hooks and you want somewhere to keep them safe????? Well you go and make yourself a hook roll of course :D

In my favourite colours too!

I actually added a loop later on to safely store my embroidery scissors too....perfect.

It wouldn't be complete without some cute buttons.

Finishing touch...one of my labels. 

I love it, practical and pretty.

Have a fantastic weekend,

Emma xxx

Learning to crochet....at last

Ever since I was about 12 I'd wanted to learn to crochet, I knew how to knit at a basic level (this has never progressed) but was always intrigued by 'knitting with one needle' which is how I saw it. I'm not really sure why I never tried it, maybe it was that other hobbies just got in the way. 

Last year I bought a note book (which I keep in my bag for writing ideas in) and in the front page I wrote:

"I want to........"

First line said "1. Learn to crochet" followed by another four projects I'd like to conquor. There was never a time limit and with most things with me they stay on a list and I'm still saying the same thing the year after. But a few weeks ago I just had the urge to search on Etsy for some crochet hooks and within about five minutes they were in my shopping basket and paid for. To be honest I'd pretty much forgotten I'd ordered them (yes my brain is rubbish at remembering things I've done) and was so excited when they arrived with the postman.

I already had some left over wool from a blanket that I'd made Nell just after Christmas so I thought I'll just have a go. I found some fab tutorials on Youtube, too many really. I found myself flitting between videos to see how different they were but then found a couple that were really basic, just what I needed. 

I decided that the wool I had wasn't really suitable (any excuse to buy craft materials) so I ordered two balls of wool from Knit Nottingham which arrived today. If you look at the photo above you can see how ridiculously chunky the magenta wool is :D 

I love to learn new skills and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into a crochet project soon.

Don't worry I'm not trading in my fabrics for balls of wool, in fact my next project is going to be to make a roll for my crochet hooks and I have the perfect fabric in mind for it too.