Blue & White Stuff!

I'm a sucker for blue & white stuff. I love it!

Blue has always been my favourite colour. When my sister & I were little she got the pink dresses & I got blue, my choice!

I use white crockery for everyday but my best stuff is blue & white willow pattern. I used to use that every day until Wedgewood in their wisdom stopped producing and I couldn't replace it.

Blue doesn't seem to be very fashionable & it's often difficult to buy things for the house. I struggled to replace my blue carpets a few years ago, I could get a hideous bright blue synthetic one but wool was difficult. I eventually ended up with a medium grey, not as nice as my previous airforce blue one but OK.
Blue has a reputation for being cold yet I find it very relaxing & fresh. It hasn't been in fashion for clothes though for  years, well other than denim which seems timeless. Odd but navy was out of fashion for donkeys years, I couldn't buy navy shoes, coats, jackets or dresses until a couple of years ago & I never wear black so it was a nightmare.

I can never buy light blue jumpers or T shirts and it's not easy to buy blue fabric. Luckily blue wool is easier to buy and so is light blue cotton yarn, I've had some stored away for a few years. I had intended to make a couple of jumpers but never got around to it. A few months ago a lady from our charity knitting group gave me some white cotton but I had lots of other things on the needles so never did anything with it.

Last week I decided to get cracking on making this. (It's a blanket not a cloak just in case you were wondering!).

Well an easier version of it just using a single square to get it finished quicker.

I've made twenty squares now so more than half way, I need at least 36 if I have enough balls of white cotton but I think I fancy joining the squares in light blue.

Hope I don't get distracted and start something else before I get it finished! I'm a terror for doing that. 

I've just finished crocheting a shawl for a friend & a knitted chick to hold a Cadbury's cream egg.

• Currently I have a lace shawl on the go which I have been knitting for over a year now. It's been pulled out at least 3 times but I can't seem to accept that I can't finish it for some reason. 

• I am also making another crocheted blanket made up of tiny little squares, that's an ongoing activity which could take years!

That's not a photograph of my squares, it's the gorgeous picture from Annies Place Blog which got me interested in making little squares. (There are lots of great crochet ideas there.)

• I have two advent calendars half made which didn't get finished at Christmas as I was in hospital and a large Christmas stocking cut out. They can wait until next autumn.

• I have three replacement cushion covers for my dining room chairs to finish and at least four cushions for the living room cut out and ready to sew.

Think I had better stop it's getting too depressing!

Food Crochet & Granny Squares

My granddaughter Lauren has just started to crochet. She's left handed but knits right handed. However when I started to teach to crochet her she couldn't use the hook in her right hand, she had to use her left hand. My problem was that although I can knit left handed, I just couldn't crochet with my left hand. So I just had to explain to her how the crochet hook worked and made new loops! She seemed to be able to use it in her own way.

We started off a few weeks ago with just a simple chain & then stitching it in rounds to make a coaster. Then she crochet a chain with two contrasting colours, her idea not mine! We weren't sure what to do with the long chain she made but I suggested she crocheted a chain from it. It turned out really nice & chunky & she used it for to tie her hair.

She wanted to progress so we moved on to double chain, I think that's single chain in USA. Her first attempt with about 20 double chains. It got narrower as she progressed as she was missing out a stitch on each row. It wasn't a problem. I made another matching piece & stitched them together, made a chain to tie it & she had a skirt for Barbie!

I made some crochet food last year which Lauren loved. So we looked at some foodie patterns on the Garnstudio site & she decided she wanted to make a carrot! It was a bit out of her league just yet with all the increasing so I made it for her. Then I made a clementine.

She's certainly got me interested in crocheting again. So much so that I've spent hours looking at some absolutely gorgeous stuff on people's blogs & not just crocheting!

I love Lucy's Blog Attic 24. She has such a great eye for colour & some really beautiful designs. She also gives us an insight into her home and her lifestyle.

Another blog I love is Bunny Mummy Jacquie. Like Lucy she gives us an insight to her daily life with gorgeous photos and colourful designs and tutorial. They are both wonderful at producing tutorials on how to make their designs. Brilliant!

Zjizjipke (I have no idea what this means) is a Dutch site with an English translation, lots of lovely crafty ideas & designs along with some lovely cat photos. This crochet blanket is absolutely beautiful & I would love to have a try at it. However think I'd pop my clogs long before it was finished. She has a tutorial for the squares on the site which I might have a go at to make cushions! I have to be realistic.

Another site I absolutely love is Jenny of elefantz. She has some gorgeous sewing ideas and lots of wonderful free crafty stuff. Her photos and tutorials are fabulous.

Then I went to the Garnstudio website. I buy lots of the DROPS wool at very reasonable prices. Their knitting patterns are wonderful designs but they are not well written if you're used to Patons & Sirdar style patterns. They have some beautiful crochet shawl & blanket patterns. Not sure how well the crochet ones are written as I've only made the food which was OK.

Here's my favourite blanket, Latte Macchiato!

It's not the gorgeous bright colours of some of the ones I've been looking at but I love the muted shades and the different designs of the squares. It could be easily adapted to brighter shades.