Stashbusting – Crochet Along With Me

Too hot? Yes! Still too hot!

It’s a joy to look out of the window and see the lightest of rain fall! Mid May was the last time it fell here, and the gardens are parched. We had a heavyish fall overnight, so there is no watering can duty today. Today should have been the last cricket match of the season for our grandson, but it’s rained off! It’s a shame as they have won the County Championship, and it would have been good for them to play that last game – especially when you are only 10.

The odd crocheted square has continued to materialise. Did you read the previous ‘hot’ post? My project is still on hold, but single small squares haven’t been too much of a problem at times (albeit, not much more than one a day!) You may also have missed the end of Project 100.

As you can imagine, the Temperature Blanket has been interesting! I’m currently playing catchup as I’ve been unexpectedly away (see below). The hot colours have made more than an occasional appearance, as you can see below.

I’m looking forward to seeing them all together – I’ll update you with a few pictures when it’s up to date.

Yes, we’ve been away for a few days. It was a spur of a moment decision to go and stay with family. The weather was perfect for the trip, and we even managed a visit or two to the sea.

We walked along the cliffs, and also visited the surrounding towns. We discovered an amazing bus service and also made a couple of trips by train! Such excitement…! We have promised ourselves another trip soon.

Project 100

Did you take part? There were many posts on Instagram covering a wide range of media and techniques. I chose the challenge as an ideal opportunity to use my scraps, and here is the project so far:

A square a day was the decision. Not too large, it couldn’t interfere with other projects which had priority, so I decided on four rounds. As the squares grew in quantity a plan for their use became apparent and I realised that I actually needed a few extra, so here they all are, laid out and ready for the next stage.

Next comes the best bit. I’ll sit back with a large cup of coffee and weave in the remaining loose ends. It’s very difficult to undo a round once a square is finished off, so I left some in case a colour needed changing.

It will be a while before joining happens, but it occurred to me that it will be an ideal holiday project! First, however, I need to book one 😉

On the way to 100

Once a year there is an online challenge to make something each day for 100 days. This year it began on April 3, and is due to end early next month. I have joined in for a number of years because I actually work in elements of 100 as a personal challenge during the whole year. Previously the object of my creativity has been some form of stitching or art, but this year I’ve concentrated on crochet.

Other projects have continued, but each day I’ve made a simple granny square. So far I’ve used simple short scraps to make them, and it’s proving a wonderful way of using up those little pieces that are too long to throw away, but too short to use on a larger project. Here’s a small selection of those I’ve completed so far.

I’m looking forward to completing the 100, we are on the ‘downhill’ now! You can see a few more here. I’ll join them all with a single colour and I’m just off to order that from Deramores while the yarn is on Special Offer!

What are you all up to? Is it too hot to crochet? I’d love to know what you are doing.

Five Colour Friday

You have probably guessed that I love playing with colour. It is fun to do regardless of the medium that you choose. Sometimes colour will spill over from one craft to another – and often this will form the basis of design.

Today’s colourscheme began with paper play. I was painting pages for my Nine Patch a Day journal. This features one small ‘collage’ a day made very first thing in the morning while the house is still quiet and asleep. I’ve made early morning practice a habit for longer than I can remember – it is a start to the day I really enjoy. It doesn’t take long, in fact it MUSTN’T take long. I only allow 15 minutes max from start to finish.

Anyway, I digress. I couldn’t avoid choosing the above colours and making a square. Before long…..

Colours used are:

Bluebell
Pale Rose
Buttermilk
Lincoln
Plum

All colours are Stylecraft Special DK. Amongst other places they are available from Deramores.

This was the moment…

…

Working by lamplight isn’t easy, especially if you are partly distracted by an interesting tv show. (Let’s face it, there aren’t many, so this was unusual!)

The cold light of day, however, revealed that I’d picked up Sage instead of Storm Blue! Fortunately it won’t matter, I can just reverse their placement, but this is a warning …

Always read the label!

More about this very soon.

Almost there …

My first blanket of the Stashbuster series is almost finished. I just have a little more tidying up to do and that will be that. I’m going to call it the Betsy Blanket because it reminds me of someone! Here are a few glimpses, but another post will come soon with further details.

I’m really pleased with it

Because it really is made entirely with stash
It hasn’t taken long
It’s caused the beginnings of another project!

There will be more details about the C2C in another post to come soon. In the meantime – it’s back to the Spirit of January and the temperature blanket!

Corner turned

It’s always satisfying to turn the corner in a C2C! It signifies that the rows are getting shorter, and, all being well, it won’t be long before it’s all finished. A very satisfying stashbusting exercise.

I’ve started to put together some large thread collections of my hand dyed threads. They will be particularly useful if you are a member of a group with a Sales Table. They are useful for both embroidery and crochet, in fact I’m planning a project with some of them shortly. Click the picture below or follow this link if you are interested – there are a few collections, but this price will only be available for the month of January.