Some Inspiration

Goodbye summer, hello autumn! The perfect time to sit in the lounge on an evening in front of the fire and knit or crochet something...yes...something, anything...as long as I can wield a hook or some sticks and produce something useful and/or beautiful with those magic tools. I'm completely rubbish when it comes to following instructions for projects, especially when they're in English with lots of abbreviations, but I love knitting books with inspiring projects just like these:

1. The Spanish Rose Trellis Scarf

2. Fuji Feather Lace Wrap

3. Senorita's Floral Pullover

4. Winter Sun Capelet

Wouldn't the pattern for the capelet not make a lovely cushion cover? If you like these patterns and your knitting skills are advanced, then you might like other projects featured in the book:

Toodles..

More Granny Square Madness...

Granny squares - pain is so close to pleasure... 

It's fun to crochet them, but then my patience is severely tested when I have to darn in all those loose ends.

That's why I haven't yet managed to make a granny square blanket, and I'm not sure I ever will...

For this top I just made eight squares and added a wide border with picot edging at the bottom.

The cotton yarn was leftover from other projects, which was just enough for a sleeveless granny square top, which in materials cost me less than a tenner.

Bargain!

Crochet Boxes

I really enjoyed making this storage box as featured in the latest edition of Inside Crochet (Issue 19, June 2011). It's suitable for beginners and doesn't take long to complete. Best of all, you can let your imagination run wild and create boxes in all colours, patterns and sizes.

I have slightly changed the simple double crochet pattern replacing it with the cross-over double stitch and adding picot edging to the lid.

If you would like to make this box yourself, then click on the instruction image below and zoom in with your cursor:

And if you need more ideas, then check out this book I recently found in my local library; it contains lots of fabulous ideas for all sorts of crochet boxes, containers and pots:

Things to Do with Granny Squares: Arm Warmers

What to do with granny squares? Blankets, throws, table cloths, bags, scarves...whatever. When I recently tried out a new design, the size of it (13cm square) fitted perfectly around my arms, and a light bulb moment sparked off the granny square arm warmer.

Of course you can turn granny squares into gloves, mittens and gauntlets; it all depends on your imagination and skills. Granny square arm warmers are great stash busters, and the ones you can see here are all made of leftover yarn.

All you need to do is crochet two granny squares (any design that takes your fancy) to a size that fits around your arm. Then fold a granny square in half, sew together and add a crochet border to top and bottom in the desired length. And that's it - very easy!

If you love crocheting granny squares, then you will love making these. And once you've made your own granny square arm warmers, then please get in touch and post a link to your pics.

Red Alert - Freestyle Knitting

Strange things happen when I do freestyle knitting; first, I buy yarn I fall in love with, in this case it's Rico Creative Melange Chunky in red code 002.

I bought three balls and wondered what to turn it into, so I went to find inspiration from pattern books.

I eventually found a cable lace pattern and decided to knit a shrug. When I was about to cast on, I decided to use my 7mm/80cm long needle as I prefer the flexibility of circular needles.

Whilst casting on, I changed my mind about the shrug and decided to knit in rounds to create a cropped tank top instead.

Needless to say I ran out of yarn, but only needed little more to add sleeve borders.

And because I needed to buy more yarn anyway, I decided to add 3/4 length sleeves rather than keeping the top sleeveless, so I bought two more balls.

Well, I haven't yet mentioned the fact that the jumper is red; very red.

I don't want to go near a bull with it, not that this is the kind of thing I usually do.

Normally I don't wear red, but the mix of red hues in this yarn won me over when I saw it in the shop. The yarn itself is beautifully soft and warm. I love wearing this top, which just evolved as I went along.

Pink Medieval Style Corset Top

Gosh it's been a while since I last added a project to my blog, but here is my latest creation, another corset top, which I really enjoy wearing.

The yarn used is Sublime Soya Cotton dk, shade 088. Again, it has been crocheted in one piece with straps and borders added to finish it off.

The idea is based on the Medieval Corset Belt design, which can be found in Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker crochet book - very easy to make.

Crochet Corset

In my earlier post about the Medieval Corset Belt, I started exploring historical influences in modern fashion, and here you can see continuation of that theme.

I'm starting to realise that you can crochet any type of clothing, and I was surprised how easy it is to create a funky little garment like this medieval style top, which works best over a frilly t-shirt or white blouse.

Of course, you can wear it without anything underneath, but that would be a bit too kinky for me and doesn't comply with medieval standards ;)

The dark colours give this top a gothic feel, but I'm now working on a similar top in a lighter colour and longer length.

The corset has been worked in one piece, front stripy panels have been added before the picot and frill edging finished the garment.

The main crochet stitch used is the double crochet cross stitch, which gives the corset a textured feel.


Yarn used: Sirdar Balmoral, shade 484 (Butler Black) and shade 487 (Windsor Purple)

Knit Happens: Retro Tie

There are so many things that can be knitted, including ties for husbands, boyfriends and dads, who feel obliged to wear them. Watching them produce an artifical smile, keep calm and carry on going to work with their new handmade fashion accessory attached just makes my twisted day.

And here's my latest creation, an 80s retro tie as featured in the June 2010 edition of Simply Knitting Magazine. Isn't it fabulous? I have used the recommended yarn, just a different shade:

Regia Design Line by Kaffe Fassett, shade 04350, 2.5mm needles

And now that I've knitted my first ever tie, I can continue creating more contemporary designs. Surely my husband will rejoice.

Medieval Corset Belt

I've always been interested in medieval style clothing and how it can be incorporated into 21st century fashion, so when I noticed this lovely crochet pattern in Debbie Stoller's book Happy Hooker, I just had to try it out. You can see the result on the pics, and I must say, I'm really pleased with it.

For this project I have chosen Sirdar's eco wool dk shade 203, which is 100% undyed virgin wool -very medieval I think :)

I'm now working on a medieval style corset top, which is based on this design. Once it's finished, I'll let you know.