Tag: Crochet

An Anniversary…..

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An Anniversary

In my last blog, I mentioned the special date of 27th August being the 1st anniversary of my Ravelry forum. I can now disclose the 2 designs made for that anniversary.

The Anniversary Sharf (knitting):

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And the Simple Circles Scarf/Wrap (crochet):

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If you are a member of Raverly, join my forum on there (Agrarian Artisan Designs), establish a project linked to one of the 2 designs above and tag it properly before 1st September 2013, I will gift the pattern to you via Ravelry….and then you can join in the fun, knitting or crocheting with other like minded folk 🙂

Happy knitting and crocheting xx

The Granny Square Blog Tour

On By agrarianartisan5 Comments

If you have ever attended one of my workshops you will have heard me say ‘granny squares are like marmite’ because you either love ‘em or loathe ‘em. But whatever your views it seems granny squares are firmly embedded in the crochet world. Some people have very strong feelings about them, and some could not care less. So which are you?

I confess I used to hate them and I mean really hate them. Why? Well I think squares can be quite boring and I think the repetition of the design is, frankly, unexciting. And I had this view for many years.

In my teens I made a granny square blanket, it went to university with me part finished and I finished it in my first year. It came in very useful! But then I moved right on. And, I’m sorry to say, so did the blanket.

When formulating this blog I decided to have a look at what granny squares I had made recently and I was a little surprised. It seems in the last few months I have been making quite a few grannies:

Flower power cushion:

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Pin cushion:

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Granny purse:

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Perhaps age has mellowed my views, but now I can see they have their uses and to me their primary use is, to put it simply, colour! Perhaps it is the regularity of the design, but they certainly enable everyone to experiment with colour and somehow bring out the rainbow in all of us. My current experimenting with colour is via Bohemian Rhapsody, perhaps not a true granny but lots of granny elements:

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Now you can experiment with colour in lots of way with crochet, and I absolutely adore the beautiful motif designs by Amanda Perkins – I think they enable more alluring colour experimentation and her blankets are just exquisite, to me so much more pleasing to my eyes than any granny square could be. Have a look at her blog here: http://amandascrochetblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/granny-squares.html she shows how beautiful crochet motifs can be.

The secondary use of granny squares is that they are simple, and thus they enable beginner crocheters to experiment with colour and make useful items with confidence. No-one is a beginner forever, so in time most crocheters do move on from grannies. However, I recognise that some do not – they love grannies so much they just keep making them! So be it – the world is big enough for everyone.

So I no longer hate grannies, I see they have their place in the crochet world. So this blog is part of a celebration of them – the ‘granny square blog tour’, which enables crocheting bloggers the world over to join in and have their say. If you have a blog and want to join in, then please comment on this discussion thread on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/agrarian-artisan-designs/2646102/1-25#11

Next on the tour is the talented Tracey Todhunter, look out for her blog early next week: http://bakingandmaking.com/

Happy knitting and crocheting xxx

Inspiration………

On By agrarianartisan2 Comments

I count myself very lucky to have some inspirational crafting friends, they make some amazing things and are always happy to share their ideas and what inspires them. So I am now going to share 2 things that I made thanks to inspiration from my friends.

The first is a sewing project. Whilst shopping in Tesco this week I spotted some lovely tea towels, good fabric with nice patterns – £4 for a pack of 3 – one spotty, one floral (a little Cath Kidston I think) and one plain white waffle. I instantly remembered Riana sharing her tea towel tote, so I knew exactly how useful these tea towels could be. I just needed a bit of webbing, which I found in John Lewis, and in no time I had made this:

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I call it the Tesco Tea Towel Tote! And it is destined to be a present. Thank you Riana!

The next inspiration came from Heike (do have a look at her blog here http://www.madewithloops.co.uk). She shared a photo on facebook of a very colourful granny bag, gathered at the top into some handles. And this inspired me to make a purse along the same lines – here is my take on a granny purse.

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The best bit of this is the lining, have a close look here:

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Yes, it is a white waffle – taken from one of the Tesco Tea Towels.

I can’t recommend tea towel sewing more highly, you frequently find some lovely printed fabrics (Riana made a tote using a cupcake printed towel from Ikea), they are good quality and they are generally very good value. And they are already edged, which reduces the sewing. Next time you go shopping look for tea towels, you may find yourself inspired to make something beautiful from one…or two……

Happy knitting, crocheting and sewing xx

Glamorous………

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There are some yarns I just love so much….kidsilk is one.   So when I spotted the new Rowan Kidsilk Haze Glamour yarn in John Lewis I just had to buy some.   It has tiny sparkley sequins threaded on the yarn – gorgeous!   This is what I made with it:

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The pattern is called Glamour Wrap and is now for sale on Ravelry here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/glamour-wrap, and will soon be added to Etsy and Craftsy.   Like most of my patterns, it is deceptively easier than it looks!  I love it and just wish it would cool down a little in the evenings so I can wrap it around my shoulders!

Happy knitting and crocheting

xx

 

A good day…….

On By agrarianartisan3 Comments

Yesterday was one of those days to remember.  Along with a group of friends from knitgroup, I attended a patchwork workshop in Moseley, Birmingham.  I have never travelled too far for a workshop before, but when the workshop is being held at Guthrie & Ghani and the tutor is Sarah Hazell, I would travel the length of the country!  Have a look at Guthrie & Ghani here:   http://www.guthrie-ghani.co.uk/about

The Guthrie part of the business is Lauren Guthrie, who some may know was in The Great British Sewing Bee and was just pipped to the winning post by the amazing Ann (my Bohemian Rhapsody inspiration).  The emporium (I just can’t call it a shop!) is lovely. They stock the best fabrics, such beautiful bolts of pattern and colour, the best quality yarn (sooooo squishy) and oodles of really useful haberdashery.  And to top it all they have plenty of space to browse pattern books, or simply sit and drink a coffee inside or outside in the little courtyard.   Upstairs is the studio where workshops are held, and this is large, airy, light and very well equipped. 

Here is what I made:

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The pincushion is destined for my blocking pins, and the lavender pyramid for my wardrobe, although I may change my mind as shutting it away in a wardrobe just doesn’t seem appropriate.

Sarah’s workshop was brilliant, she had prepared  lovely packs for us, and had lots of beautiful fabricfor us to choose from for our projects and she is an excellent tutor.  I have always had great fun at her workshops.    I had never done any sort of patchwork before and I am a little rusty at sewing (which I used to do a lot of in my teens) but I am pretty pleased with the end result!  She will be running more workshops at Guthire & Ghani, including Learn to Crochet and Luxurious Knitting with Kidsilk Haze.  In my view, her workshops are the best and you will learn so much from her.

I feel quite inspired and I have purchased all this:

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I plan to make 2 shells tops, one of which will have some crochet……..so keep your eyes open for that one!  And I love the pyramid lavender pouch, so I think there will be some featured in Christmas presents this year!

Happy knitting and crocheting….. and sewing!

xx

The joy of knitgroup

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I consider myself to be privileged and lucky to be a member of a fabulous knitgroup called Knitsford.  I could write pages on how fabulous it is! 

Although called a knitgroup, it is for any craft – we have knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, embroiderers and sewers who attend regularly, and many are multi-crafters.  They are a wonderful group of people and we have a laugh, share experiences, help each other with any knit/crochet/sewing problems, give each other moral support and generally just have a great time over a coffee, sometimes cake, sometimes bacon butties and sometimes lunch, depending on the time of day. 

We meet in 3 venues on different days/times of the week – a pub, a bar/restaurant and a garden centre café, and people come when they like.  Anything from 4 to 24 people can attend any of them.

Today we were at the garden centre, and I found myself swapping stitch markers, showing the delights of Ravelry, sharing ways of joining crochet motifs, doing a ‘show and tell’ on some recent completed projects such as this:

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And this:

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Yes, only sneaky previews as these are a couple of designs that I plan on publishing (you must be patient!).

I also shared progress on bohemian rhapsody, found out who is coming on our coach trip to Yarndale in September and I worked out how to do a pretty crochet flower for Maxie, who is visiting from South Africa.  

There was an abundance of laughter today and I came away refreshed!

So tell me are you a member of a knitgroup? And, if so, what do you enjoy the most about it?

Bohemian Rhapsody

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Did anyone watch The Great British Sewing Bee?   Well if you did you may have spotted Ann (the winner and my heroine!) wearing a fabulous crochet scarf in the penultimate episode, it was so light some people even thought it was printed on fabric.  The scarf is a design by Marylene Lynx called Bohemian Rhapsody, you can see it here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bohemian-rhapsody-2

Now I am not a huge fan of granny squares.  You should know by now that I am a hexagon girl!  However, what I do like about granny squares is the opportunity you have to experiment with colour, and there are so many amazing colour experts out there who create the most fabulous grannies.   Marylene Lynx did just that with Bohemian Rhapsody, there are 75 colours in the design – the complete colour range in the very fine lace weight merino wool by Renaissance Dyeing http://www.renaissancedyeing.com/en/

I just had to make one!   

First I purchased the kit, which is available only from Renaissance Dyeing and comes from France.   It arrived in double quick time and I laid out all the colours on the table – they looked so beautiful I didn’t want to start!

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Then I had to sort them into 3 groups

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Then I started the long laborious task of winding them into usable balls.  At first I did this on bits of paper as I was so impatient I wanted to start making the scarf.

Within a few days I had used 25 colours and made the first 8 squares – only another 136 to go!

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In the top left of the photo you will see the yarn on bits of paper.

After talking to a friend, who was tempted like me and has bought the kit, I very quickly realised it would be better to use embroidery cards and organise them into an embroidery box, so I had to rewind most of them!

But it has been worth it.  I set a plan to do 8 squares a fortnight and I am a little ahead of that plan – here it is now, 48 squares complete – so a third of the way through.  

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Look closely in the top right and you will see my yarns, now properly organised in a box!

It should be finished in time for Christmas!

 

Happy knitting and crocheting

xx

Curvy Star Hexagon

On By agrarianartisan6 Comments

I talked about my hexagon project yesterday and I’ve been pondering ever since.  Maybe you won’t understand my love of hexagons…or will you?  So I thought I would share another small hexagon design with you just to see if it whet’s your appetite!  Please do tell me what you think of it.

As I made it I was thinking of a star but, as so often happens when I get a hook in my hand, it took on a life of its own – and this little curvy star was born.

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Do you like it?  Subconsciously I must have thought of the blanket I want to make, which I want to be ‘open’ but snug, because I think it is perfect for what I want in that blanket and that’s what I will make with it. It is 3 rounds and really not too difficult to make if you can crochet in the round.  Here’s the pattern:

This is written in English crochet terms and uses standard abbreviations.

 st = stitch

ss = slip stitch

sp = space

dc = double crochet

tr = treble

htr = half treble

dtr = double treble.

I used a 5mm hook (US H/8) and some aran weight yarn, but you can use any yarn as long as you use a suitable hook.

Foundation – make 6 ch and join into a ring with a ss

Round 1 – 3 ch (counts as 1 tr), 1 tr, 1 ch, (2 tr, 1 ch) 5 times, join to 3rd ch from start of round with a ss

Round 2 – ss into gap between first 2 tr from last round (if you are changing colour join your new colour here), into this gap crochet (3 ch (counts as 1 tr), 1 tr, 1 ch, 2 tr, [into next 1 ch-sp, crochet 1 dc, into the gap between next 2 tr from last round crochet (2 tr, 1 ch, 2 tr)] five times, into next 1 ch-sp, crochet 1 dc, join to 3rd ch from start of round with a ss

Round 3 – ss into top of 3 ch from start of last round (if you are changing colour join your new colour here), [(1 htr, 1 tr, 2 dtr, 1, tr, 1 htr) in 1 ch-sp, ss into 2nd tr along, ss into next tr along] five times, (1 htr, 1 tr, 2 dtr, 1, tr, 1 htr) all in 1 ch-sp, ss into 2nd tr along, ss to first ss to complete the round.  Break yarn and fasten off.

If you want to join the motifs together, join between the 2 dtr at the tip of each curve on the last round.

For those who like charts, here’s one for you (this uses standard symbols)But please note this is copyright – do not repost/pin this or you will be in breach of that copyright:

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Now for the legal stuff – I designed this today, it’s all my own work and is copyright.  Please feel free to make as many as you like, but not for commercial purposes, and please credit me with the design.  Thank you!

I am human (yes, I am!) so I am perfectly capable of making mistakes!  So if you spot any errors in the pattern please just tell me and I’ll correct it. 

Happy knitting and crocheting

xx

PS For those who are interested, I use Stitchworks software to chart.

The Hexagon Project 2013

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Hot news – I have just published Motif no 4 from the Hexagon Project 2013

Do you want to know more about it?  Well here goes………

What is the hexagon project? A collection of 7 hexagon motif designs (afghan designs)published from April to October. On 1st April the first design was published, the other 6 are published at monthly intervals.  So today design number 4 was published.

Why hexagons? I have a thing about hexagons, there is something more organic about them compared to squares and I love the way they sit together.

Where are the patterns?  They are published on Ravelry.com   So look under my designs there.  Here’s a link http://www.ravelry.com/designers/agrarian-artisan

Are they free?  Only to ‘hexagon club’ members.  The first design was free for the month of April and people were invited to join the club to receive the next designs free.

How do you become a member? All it takes is a few simple steps. 

1. Join my forum on Ravelry, Agrarian Artisan Designs.  Here’s a link: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/agrarian-artisan-designs

2. Establish a project on Ravelry for your hexagons

3. Tag the project 2013hexagon

4. Link the project to one of the The Hexagon Project 2013 designs.

If you are a member on the day I publish each design, then you will receive that design.

Are they easy to make?  The motifs are suitable for those fairly new to crochet who can crochet in the round, there are no complex stitches used.

Can I get help?  Of course!   There is a discussion group on my forum on Ravelry and everyone in the club shares progress and questions there.  And of course you can always ask me!

There’ll be more on the project as I publish the next designs, meanwhile here’s some photos of the first 4 hexagons.

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Happy knitting and crocheting

xx

 

A crafty weekend!

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I’ve had a productive crafting weekend so far.   I drafted 2 patterns, published one pattern and prepared one for publishing tomorrow.   What are they I hear you ask?

The one I published is a bow brooch.  Sometimes I set myself a challenge and this was one – a bow made in a continuous piece.   It is not at all difficult to make if you are used to working in the round and it is a great stash buster.  Here’s a photograph.

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It has been published on Ravelry and Craftsy.  And the first 20 people who purchase it on Ravelry will get it free if they use coupon code BOW – be quick, it is already selling!  Here’s a link:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bow-beautiful

The 2 patterns I drafted are now in testing.  I have some lovely friends on Ravelry who test my patterns, and I count myself lucky to have them.   The patterns are for a scarf and a cowl and are the first 2 in a series of patterns that I am working on.  You may have spotted parts of them in the photo in my last blog!

The pattern I have prepared for publishing is the fourth in my series of hexagons.  I started The Hexagon Project 2013 in April and I am publishing 1 pattern each month for 7 months.   You can read all about it here:  http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/agrarian-artisan-designs/2521297/1-25

Here is a sneak preview of no 4.

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Happy knitting and crocheting

xx