For the Love of Crochet

Hey there! To be honest I’m just popping by to say hello. I haven’t written a blog post this week and can’t think of anything specific to write about. So this just because I love crochet and want to share it today. Hope that’s OK.

I finished a blanket, which is pretty much the same as the first Rainbow Edged Granny I made. Unlike the other one, this one is in my Etsy shop. At the moment there is a 20% discount on all the items. That runs until the 16th of this month. The code is ZEENS.  You’ll need that to get the discount, should you wish to spend some spondoolies.

I don’t think I mentioned here that I made my friend an Urban Stripe shawl. I used Drops Merino and in case you wanted to use that too, I will tell you that it took 7 balls of yarn and the notes are all there on my Ravelry project page.

I haven’t had as many views on the latest crochet podcast. I think it might be the big spider that’s done it. The episode actually has very little to do with the spider although of course I have mentioned him. It’s a standard episode with a little bit of dressing up thrown in. Please do check it out, it’s half and hour of crochet chat. Pop over to YouTube and have a look.

I’m picking up and putting down the Weekend Blankie. Have you made one? It’s a lovely, easy project. Completely stress free actually. Mindless crochet is my favourite crochet. I’m using StyleCraft Life dk.

And I’m still working on sitting down to write up the pattern for my Holey Smokes! shawl. It’s coming with me to StitchFest Southwest this weekend. It’s very Totnes is this shawl! If only I could muster the will power to type up the pattern. I know I’ll feel much better once it’s just blimmin well written. A kick up the bum is what’s needed.

That’s pretty much been my love of crochet this week. Although I did have to put it down to watch Stranger Things 2 this week. Oh my, that was good telly!! What have you been up to?

xxx

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Crochet Vlogcast Episode 16

Howdy! So you watched the episode did you? Or you’re planning on it soon? Welcome to the crochet zone! Here’s the latest crochet podcast/crochet vlog = crochet vlogcast. Picture click above, folks. Thank you kindly.

Links below as usual, I hope you find what you’re looking for…

Most importantly, the one I find funny: Sweater Weatha, sweater weatha…

Devonshire yarn shenanigans are afoot in Totnes for Stitch Fest

Mini Beach bag info

You must be Off Your Rocker!  A crochet shawl pattern.

The Back to School Sweater CAL

Colour Block Jumper by Cleckheaton

Some beautiful skeins to be found at Somerset Yarns on Etsy

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Proper Autumn. A Garden One

Autumn. We bypassed summer, did we!? My outdoor space is in tatters, which is why I’ve not shared much about it recently. I have become most accomplished at being blind to the work that needs to be done; these days I just seek out the pretty.

This is the morning glory that has climbed up the canes intended for sweet peas. Did I mention that I forgot to plant sweet peas? I’d forgotten that a keen gardener must start planting in the autumn and winter to have pretties for the following year. I did plant sweet peas in the end (bought them!!), they just never flowered. Well, I got a single bloom, which is absolutely ridiculous. Still, the morning glory is a beautiful flower and it makes me happy.

And I’ve got alyssum, which was planted from seed. They remind me of the eighties when I was little. Mum planted them in the borders with lobelia. I think that’s why I like them now. I used to pick the petals off lobelia and eat them. I’m not sure they’re counted as edible flowers. But you know, I’m not dead.

Everything has gone wild. The natural look is a good one but when it’s actually neglect …er, I’m not sure one can argue that it’s intentional. Every now and then I make the effort to dig up a dandelion but other stuff, like the nasturtium gets left because it’s lovely. But then it drowns everything and turns to sludge underneath the weight of itself. Any way, I’ll stop with the negative spin (although moaning is brilliant fun). Let’s have a look at the rest of it. What’s good…

I’m still getting veg and other edibles. That’s pretty impressive. We had roast lamb on Sunday, so I picked loads of mint to make sauce. With it we had those beans (the very last of this year’s lot). And I am amazed that it is the courgettes that are the last thing to hang on in there. I’ve got loads in the fridge and I’m tempted to make the 121st cake of the season (courgette cake is the best – try the zucchini bread from Rachel Allen’s Bake).

I went round the garden trying to find summer’s leftover flowers too. It’s slim pickings but they are there. And if they’re not then the vivid blue of slug pellets adds a touch of the exotic.

And in desperate times, one can always try arty shots of random stuff. I thought that peg pic was going to be better than it was. Maybe I should have taken twenty more than the twenty I took. Of pegs!? Pegs!

And there we have it. Another season gone. Another season where I didn’t do what I said I’d do. Whatever, I’m giving myself a pat on the back anyway cos last weekend I planted bulbs.

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Episode 15 of a Crochet Vlogcast

Hey, I haven’t been here for ages!  Yes, I’ve been busy doing stuff but I also haven’t been able to edit photos!  I’ve been using PicMonkey since I started blogging but they recently started charging when it was once free. It means that any pictures taken couldn’t be squashed, cropped or edited and that’s no good. A long time ago we got a very old version of Photoshop, so I’m learning that instead. Hopefully normal service will resume soon.

In the mean time, fancy watching a crochet podcast? Vlog. Vlogcast… Click on the pic above and you’ll end up having a chat with me on YouTube!

Stuff I talk about (yeah, I know, it’s all about me this time!)…

Ravelry: free and paid for patterns designed by me! Including the Vintage Autumn mitts.

Etsy: my neglected shop, which has a few things.

Free crochet pattterns: right here on this blog!

And below are a couple of pictures to jazz up the post!

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Crazy Photoshop skills! 😀

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Crochet Vlogcast (!!) Episode 14

Crochet vlog? Crochet podcast? Nooo, it’s a Crochet Vlogcast, of course!!

Please click on the pic above to go to YouTube for the latest in my frantic crafty to-ings and fro-ings.

In this episode I discuss the following things:

Colour Block Jumper . Yep, I couldn’t find the human designer, sorry. I’m sure I saw an interview in Simply Crochet mag a few months ago. I’ll be darned if I can remember who and I don’t have the issue any more!

Ravelry – Fancy being a pattern tester for my my new shawl?

My Urban Stripe Shawl

Like the wrist warmers? The pattern is part of a set called Autumn Vintage, here.

Outlander knitwear inspiration.  Because I’m a few years behind everyone else…

And to cheer us all up a bit, check this out. Because I need a laugh right now.

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Crochet Podcast. Episode 13

Hello!! Please see below for links to this episode of the crochet vlog / crochet podcast (call it what you will!). Thanks ever so much. Click on the picture above to take you to the episode.

My favourite courgette Cake is officially known as Meredith’s Zucchini Bread from Rachel Allen’s Bake. I’ve found a internet version Here but I have the book.

Part one of my holiday up north (with a crochet surprise at the end!). Part two is coming soon.

Tar Barrels: Have a look at 2016 here & 2015 here

Stitch Fest South West. I’ve found a new yarn festival and it’s in Devon!!

Higher Gills Farm accommodation and their Teeswater yarn shop

Easy Knits yarn

Three Springs by Addydae Designs

Cleck Heaton Colour Block Jumper

If something isn’t mentioned here and you want to know, please do give me a shout. Ta. X

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Summer Garden Catch up.

I’ve been waiting for a good day to take pretty pics of the garden. You’ll have to make do with grey skies and raindrops. Sorry.

  Whatever promises I made about taking more care of the garden have been broken. It’s a terrible mishmash of last year’s leggy plants that have somehow survived the winter and whatever I grabbed at the local supermarket. I have empty pots, pots with dead things and weeds aplenty. Very little thought has been put in and I am ashamed. I am Cersei Lannister, walking through the streets of King’s Landing except people throw manure at me rather than human poo. Shame. Shame… Anyway, there is a plumbago in someone’s front garden in town that is glorious. It’s huge and gorgeous and sits next to a pink Japanese anemone; together they are beautiful. Last year I bought one so it could sit next to my anemone. That’s it, top left, puny and sad. I might have planted it in the wrong place. It represents the sadness I feel about my rubbish attempts at being Carol Klein. There’s also a big willow herb patch that’s drowning out penstemon (if I get my bum in gear, this spot will be foxgloves next year). And the verbena has it in for me, it lashes out and scratches me when I walk past. I’m down in the dumps about my garden. Can you tell?!

The veg beds are neglected too. I introduced borage to somewhere else in the garden a few years ago. It has gone mental. It’s popping up everywhere. At first I was reluctant to pull it up because the bees love it. This year I’ve torn up half of it and I keep finding seedlings trying it on. It was never in the veg beds before and now it’s barging its way between the beans and lettuces. On purpose, I planted a load of morning glory in the veg bed (I had so much of it, I didn’t know what to do). It kind of looks like posh bindweed. What am I doing for goodness sake?! I am a lazy gardener with no plan.What I will say is that I have plenty of colour even if it isn’t deliberate. The biggest surprise is this agapanthus. I bought it last year from Aldi and it looked dead for a very long time. There were two in a packet and one did indeed pop its clogs.  So I’m really pleased with this. I bought another one from the garden centre about four years ago and it has never flowered. Monty says it’s in the wrong pot (too big). I’ll feed it and keep my fingers crossed.

On the off chance you want to take a look at the garden at different times of the year. Here is the link to all the posts in the Garden category. I’ve just been scrolling through and it’s fascinating to see the changes in each season. I didn’t read the words as I know they all say things like “next year, I’ll be good”…

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Crochet Podcast Episode 10. There’s a Giveaway too!

Hellooo!! Episode 10 already, where has the time gone?! Anyway, I talk enough in the video, so I won’t do it here too! Below are the links to the things I’ve talked about. As usual, click on the pic above to travel over to YouTube. Thanks so much. X

Links:

The Spider Tutorial on YouTube is here. And this is the written pattern here.

Granny Beach Bag pattern

Zeens and Roger on Ravelry. You’ll find the thread for Episode 10!

Urban Stripe Shawl

Connie’s Blanket

Fluffy Chevron Cowl Pattern

Viking Hand dyed Yarns

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Connie’s Blanket. A Colourful Crochet Granny.

It feels like this pretty crochet granny blanket has been in the making for aaaaggess. Relatively speaking that’s probably not true. I started it because I had leftovers from the Crazy Chevron blanket I made back in February. Trying (unsuccessfully) to reduce the stash has been the aim for quite a while. For this chap, a few colours were swapped depending on what there was most of in my “collection”. I only bought two balls extra.

If you watch my crochet podcast you’ll have heard me go on about this in nearly every single episode! I thought you guys might be interested in a blog post too and it’s a good idea to have all the info in one place. So here we are!

This colourful creation is now called Connie’s Blanket. I didn’t know when I started, that it would end up as a birthday present but at some stage or other it decided (not me), that that was what it was!

Connie’s Blanket is made up of 130 squares (10×13), which were Joined As You Go. The pattern and construction are similar to a blanket I made a few years ago. That one is nattily entitled Crochet Circles in a Square blanket. That blog post has links for all you need if you’re going to make a blanket like this. I’ll break it down here too…

Crochet Circle pattern.  The difference in Connie’s blanket is that I used a magic ring to start each circle and I added no chains between the trebs (US dc’s) of the first round. Oh, and no double trebles on the joining round, just some trebs.

Attic 24’s Join As You Go tutorial

Zeens and Roger on YouTube, pick an and episode, any episode… I’ll probs be talking about it!

I used Stylecraft Special DK in the following colours: Duck Egg, Spring, Fondant, Fuschia, Shrimp, Lobelia, Apricot, Grey, Kelly, Cloud, Mustard, Wisteria,

I made all the inner circles first (well, most of them – I kept adding more when I saw I had enough yarn for more rows), then evenly distributed those between the shades. I haven’t checked but I reckon they’re all unique.

The border is dead simple. Three rounds of Grannies, 1 row of trebles and a scallop edge. To jazz up the edge a bit more I ended up doing this: Starting in a dip: *(ch2, 1dc after next treble) x4, ch2, 1ss in the dip between scallops; rep from *. I think that’s right but give me a shout if it’s weird!

And that’s pretty much it. Blankets like these are one of my favourite things to crochet. I don’t know why, they just are! What about you? How do you get on with granny blankets?! I know some people think they’re naff and old fashioned but I can’t help but love em!

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Episode 9 of a Crochet Podcast

Hey there! Episode 9 of my little crochet podcast/ crochet vlog is up and ready for goggling (I still can’t let go of “vlog” – I’m a pedant). Click on the image above to go to YouTube.

I’ve cut the interesting stuff. Sorry. Therefore there is no tale of how I drunkenly got the bruise on my arm. I deemed the whole saga as just too inappropriate! But give me a shout and I might tell you anyway ;p

Before I list any info about this episode’s stuff, I just want to let you know that there will definitely be a blog post about Connie’s blanket coming soon. I took the pics today. At the same time I also took photos of my fluffy Granny chevron cowl. There will be a post with the pattern for that on here in the next week or so too. Cheers.

Episode 9 gubbins:

The Magnolia Mandala by Crochet Millan is Here.

If you fancy treating yourself to some Phildar Flocon, then that’s Here. But you might want to hang on for episode 10. I’ve been given the go ahead to do a Giveaway!!

Do you think Instagram might have messed up your feed with dodgy algorithms? Check out Lauren Aston’s detailed blog post all about it.

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