Things to be excited about...

There are so many things for me to be excited about at the moment...

1).  Weekend away

I'm sooooo excited to be having some time away this very weekend.  Me, my good friend A Bunch of Buttons and my tiny car are heading up to Yorkshire from Friday to Sunday.  For me, it's nice to have a little break from the worries of work and life, but for Anna, it's even bigger news. This will be the first time she will be away from her Little Lady since she was born.  Exciting but scary, I'm sure.  We have booked a lovely quaint little inn where the food is supposedly excellent and I'm looking forward to the chance to have a little relax and lots of uninterrupted crochet time!

The real purpose of our trip however is not merely the chance to get away. Oh no, it's for something much bigger...

2).  Yarndale!  Yarndale!  Yarndale!

Yep, Yarndale is finally here!  When we booked it, it seemed like an age away and the time passed dreadfully slowly.  In the last few weeks however it's crept up on me and suddenly it's here!  I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to this event.  The Yarndale team have been dropping hints and teasers of what's to come on Twitter, and now there's a Facebook exhibitors group so that you can see the amazing goodies that will be waiting there.  I've already got a shopping list forming, and it's growing everytime I check my Facebook account!

I'm also eager to see Skipton yarnbombed top to toe.  The rumour is that from the station to the Auction Mart is completely decorated in yarn and everything in between.  It's definitely going to be something to see :)  I'll be sure to get some pictures so you can admire it too.  

3).  Kit Club arrival

I'm sure by now you've realised that Fresh Stitches is one of my favourite crochet designers.  Earlier this year, or possibly even last year (time moves so fast!) Fresh Stitches organised a 'Kit Club' where a mystery package of crochety goodness was sent out every 2 months for 6 months, each complete with everything you need to make a new cutey animal, and a special gift/technique to use in the kit.  

This kit club is just the same; a new package is sent every 2 months, and each has something special included to take your crochet skills to the next level.  The first kit is en route to me right now!  It's got a long old journey though from America, so I'm not expecting to receive mine anytime soon.  That doesn't stop me checking the post everyday mind...

4).  Janie Crow crochet blanket club 2014

Another club!  I guess I'm a sucker for a good crochet mystery.  I've signed up for the 2014 crochet club which starts in February.  The Crochet Club has been held every year since 2011, each with a different theme including art deco, victorian lace and persian mosaic.  This year the theme is 60s and 70s retro flower and geometric patterns and the colours are right up my street.  The kit includes all the Rowan yarn you need to complete the blanket and the online support to do it well.  Now just to tackle the payments...

5).  Movement to the dark side...

Quite possibly the most exciting news of the week is that lovely Leanne Leanne is moving to the dark side.  She's starting to feel the crochet love and becoming a happy hooker!  I gave her her first proper lesson on Friday.  She had been working on sample squares of different stitches and I was helping with crocheting in the spiral, with increases and decreases.  I thought a good place to start was a caterpillar, as it's made up of 6 repeated balls.  I made the eyes, all ready to be attached, and when I left, she had already made one of the balls. 

Later that day, I got this!

I'm massively impressed!  For a first attempt at amigurumi, this is incredibly neatly stitched and perfectly round; so much better than my early work.  I can't wait to see the finished result!

What are you looking forward to over the next few weeks, crafty or otherwise?

The Big Reveal

I have finally finished the Fresh Stitches CAL and I’m extremely pleased with the results :)

As you’ve probably noticed from my previous posts, I am a massive fan of Stacey, Fresh Stitches.  I love her patterns, I love her blog, I love her Ravelry group, I suppose I have a bit of a crochet-crush!  Many of my previous creations are from Fresh stitches patterns because I think they are modern, cute and the kind of thing you would find in many shops today (I love to smugly tell my friends I could make the baby boots or rattle in John Lewis they’re cooing over for less than half price!)

Kanga, photobombed by Sas

This CAL is my favourite pattern to date.  I’m so happy with the end product, a cute Kangaroo and even cuter little Joey to live in her pouch. 

The Joey was so tiny to put together...

But the finished product is just so cute!

I really enjoyed that there were a couple of unusual pieces to make; the tail involves crocheting some shorter rows and then stitching around the sides created as well as around to make the bend in the tail, which eventually balances the Kanga so it can stand properly.  The legs were a little fiddly; but I rather liked the challenge of making things look the same on both sides (although if you had heard me at the time you may not have thought I was enjoying myself!)  I also liked how it was made up of lots of different pieces as this held my interest so much more than one continuous piece of crocheting.  

This project is going to take centre stage in my craft room as I’m not sure I can bare to give it away to anyone else!  Do you have any finished projects that you love too much to give away?  Until then...x

Ravelry, Amber Mystery CAL and a few other things

I love the crochet community.  I honestly can’t remember anytime in my life where I have welcomed by a collection of people who were so supportive, so uplifting, so generous with their words and so kind to take the time to offer words of compliment or encouragement.  

The discussion groups on Ravelry are a perfect example of this.If you have a question, someone will happily give you an answer.  If you’re stuck on something, you will be overwhelmed with people who will offer solutions.  And if you have completed a project, you will receive more praise than from anyone who doesn’t quite appreciate quite how complicated that stitch was or how many times you had to pull it out and start again.  This experience has made me take a little step back to look at my attitude and how I approach things and inspire me to be a little better, a little nicer.  

I particularly enjoy the Fresh Stitches Discussion Board for this.  Friendly, interesting people who treat you like a friend the moment you get involved.  And there’s so many exciting things going on in the group.  Buddy crochet swaps, Kit clubs and my personal favourite, mystery CALs.  

For those of you who haven’t come across a CAL before, it’s a crochet-along, where during a set time period, everyone crochets the same pattern all at once.  Fresh Stitches takes this to a new level.  MYSTERY CAL!  I participated in the last mystery CAL, the Archer CAL.  This turned out to be a dog who stood on four legs, and although the end product wasn’t quite to my liking, I loved getting a little part of the pattern each week and trying to guess just what these funny shapes might turn out to be.

The June/July mystery CAL is almost complete.  Two clues down, one to go, which will include how to put the pieces together and the big reveal.  I have a couple of bits from clue two still to complete (I’m madly crocheting when I should be working to get them all done in time!) so that I’m all set for the last clue.  Here are the pieces I have so far:

Personally, I have no idea, some pieces look like antennas but then the other pieces don’t fit with any kind of insect, there’s definitely some ears in there I think so who knows!  The Fresh Stitches forum is busy with suggestions! A Kangaroo and Joey, dragonfly are just a couple of suggestions.  I’m torn about whether to follow this thread closely or not as I don’t want to spoil the surprise but also want to know.  Only a couple of days until my curiosity is satisfied.  

The yarn I have used for this was from my cute little local yarn shop and the adorable owner Paul.  I have been wanting to use this Knitcol trends yarn for a while now, the colours are so bright and I love the different shades that work through each skein.  When the mystery CAL materials list was released and it said 1 colour, I knew exactly what I had to use and I completely love the results so far.  

It’s also really nice to crochet with and doesn’t split at all.  I usually make most of my amigurumi out of aran weight yarn, but this is dk so my mystery cutie may turn out to be a little smaller than on the pattern, but I’m sure he’ll look just as cute! I’m looking forward to getting the last piece of the puzzle and will be sure to show you the completed result.  Until then...x