Vintage Colour and Pattern

Hello lovelies ,
Today was the last day of  term here , the boys now have two weeks off school to look forward to .
This morning I did a mega shop , so that hopefully I won't have to go again for a good while  and on the way home I stopped off at a charity shop as I won't get much (in fact I  probably wont get any ) chance to look in them over the next two weeks.
On the counter were lots of reels of sewing thread for 30 pence each .....

I chose a selection as they were such a bargain. I haven't bought any thread for so long I don't know what the price is for a quality brand like Gutermann, and look at these gorgeous Jewel shades....

Even better , to me anyway , was finding some Dewhursts Sylko. This is not manufactured anymore and is very nostalgic, reminding me of sewing as a child. ..........

I never really thought about where this thread was made , but a quick google search when I got home showed me it was made in Yorkshire, the county of my birth . Two of the three spools are plastic , but one is wooden......

The thread on this one is a little grubby but I couldn't resist a wooden reel ...and look what this lovely blue is called.....

Light Gobelin ????? ...........Not goblin ....took me a while to work that out :0)  Did I say spelling isn't my strong point ?

I think  the sylco threads are from the seventies (earlier for the wooden reel) and I thought the Gutermann threads were modern but now I'm looking at the first picture in this post I can see they say " made in W.Germany " so I guess they have some age too.

The other Vintage find , and one I'm equally pleased with is this Jug ......

What do you think ?

I love the geometric flower pattern .....

Close up it's pretty too , but it's the arrangement of the design that's so pleasing.....

This is what it says underneath .....Midwinter Roselle....which is from the Sixties ( Mr google told me that too :0) )....

For £2 you couldn't buy a modern jug so to get something vintage and so pretty made me really happy.
Have a great weekend.
Jacquie x

HEXAGON TUTORIAL NEWSFLASH
I have e.mailed Coats and Clark and they have very kindly given me permission to do my photo tutorial using their pattern so that should be coming very soon :0)

Weekend - part 2

Hello Lovelies ,
tell me ...is it too early to decorate for Easter  ??? I haven't seen any Easter dec's on the blogs I visit yet , but I have to admit I put mine up at the weekend.
I've had some bare branches ...saved from Mr BMs tree pruning .....in my conservatory for a couple of weeks now. On Saturday I succumbed and decorated them with my little collection of Easter things. I actually let one of the boys do this .. and only  rearranged things a little after he had finished.

Ummmmm....simple twigs , decorated with eggs of the bought variety......

and the homemade variety.....

A touch of crochet ......

And some Bunnies in a jug :0).......

"What no Chocolate ??"

When he was decorating the tree my boy said " this is your crochet haven isn't it Mummy " Certainly looks that way !......

Comparing this corner with last year I can see all the extra pretties and that makes me happy.
In fact there is a make that is very new in this corner...did you spot it ??
It's there high up on the wall...

I made this late on Friday ( I think it was finished after midnight ) It was inspired by Jane at TEAWAGON TALES fabulous version. She's even done a " how-to" .Thank you Jane .

I had such a great time  making this . I know it's a great project to do with kids but they were in bed and I needed to make one.
I can't tell you how much fun it was.Picking out pretty papers and punching out little shapes to add ( I've made cards in the past so I had plenty of supplies)...........

I didn't have a gorgeous bird like Jane's but I think the cheapy chicks ( should that be cheepy chicks :0)) look a lot of fun .Actually blown up this big they look pretty scary but they look great from a distance !
I've made it Easter-ish but not too specific as I know I will want to leave this up when the other dec's come down.( though I will probably change the birds )
I made mine from a tissue box, with a trimmed down kebab stick for the perch as it what it was what I had lying around.
If you want a quick make that's loads of fun this takes a lot of beating...you could even let the little ones join in if you are feeling really generous :0)
Jacquie x

Weekend - Part 1

Hello Lovelies ,
It's been a glorious weekend , with fun times and a little craft . To avoid making a long post I'll split it up into two installments .More to follow tomorrow.
Firstly a few hexagons......

How lovely to sit amongst your completed projects, in a sunny chair ,and work on your latest creation.
I've been making these Kaleidoscope Hexagons production line fashion , four at a time .
Here's round one.......

Two....

Three ....

and Four....

And here they are without their tails....

Thank you all for the sweet Kaleidoscope comments, I'm so glad you love it too :0) I've been taking advice from some more helpful comments and I've decided I will post a tutorial for this pattern . As long as I give credit to the original source , which is a free online pattern , I'm hoping it will be O.K.

But of course on a glorious sunny day it isn't long before the outdoors starts calling and I pop into the garden.

Next doors magnolia is at it's beautiful best and looks extra special against the brightest blue sky......

And it's wonderful to dry washing on the line....

The boys have bare feet ....

We lay on the soft grass , in the warm ,still evening air and imagine what it would be like looking down from a hot air balloon....

Yes we really have been spoiled with fabulous weather this weekend.
Pop back tomorrow for some more weekend craft ( non-crochet ! )
Jacquie x

A Bit of Fresh Air

Hello lovelies ,
It's sunny and it's Friday ,hurray.
I must be honest with you now . If you have been thinking I've been around a lot this week , you know a HUGE Bunny tutorial on Wednesday ( that took most of Tuesday to do !)
and another post yesterday , well, it's because I've been suffering with a back injury I did last Friday .
I know my posts have been happy ,that's because I was taking my mind off my woes. I don't do illness well ( who does ) and always imagine the worst.
I can talk to you lovelies about this today as it finally seems to be getting better ( much touching of wood , and please ,please back ,don't make me regret saying that )
Today I had an appointment in town I didn't want to postpone so I parked close and took a steady walk along the sunny streets.....

What a tonic , even the pansies in the raised planters seemed to be smiling at me :0)....

The bustle was great after nearly a week indoors and the trees suddenly had leaves........

 the sun made for great photos . I'm getting quite brave at taking pictures on the street.....

After my appointment I couldn't resist a quick charity shop peek. Some of the prices were a bit scary...you know Primak tops for about the same they would have been new !
One shop even wanted £50 for some Laura Ashley fabric . It had the original price on ( which was £78 ) so I think £ 50 was a tad unrealistic, what do you think?

At this fabulous flower stall I picked up some sweet peas for me  ......

And a Cowslip for my Mum-in-law ,as hers has dissappeared ....

I did make a couple of charity shop purchases....

A ball of the lovely green/tourquoise Cygnet yarn I'm using in my blankets and a pair of stripy P.J. bottoms in a light cotton material  ( 75p !) . They will be ideal with a T. shirt for our Cornish caravan Holiday :0)
Speaking of holidays I'll leave you with this picture ....

This is on my youngests bedroom wall and I love it , it's Teddy Bear Beach by Molly Brett . I used to have books with her illustrations as a child. Cornwall I've missed you ,can't wait to come back this summer :0) .
Have a great weekend , thanks for listening .
Your comments have really cheered me up this week.
Jacquie x

Hexagon Love.... Plan B

Hello Lovelies,
Hope you are enjoying the fab spring weather we are having if you are in the U.K.
Today I'm so excited to have some more colourful crochet , photographed in the spring sunshine , to share with you ...happy day !!
Do you remember this post ...when I found a hexagon pattern that I loved ???
The pattern was so pretty , but sadly my colour choices were not so great. Many of you said kind things about that project and I may still have a go at turning it into something. But you know how it is ...I just wasn't feeling the love :0)
Soooooo , I tried again with the colours I'm using for my granny square blanket. Want to see how it's looking so far?
Oh

go

on

then !!.......

Oohh....I'm so much happier with this version, can you tell :0)

I know it's a total colourfest , a bit colour crazy , but it makes me hap,hap, happy !!

I just love working with all these cheerful  colours ...

You know what it reminds me of ?

Can you guess?


A Kaleidoscope .
 
Did you have one of those when you were young ?Here's a flickr image , and another here, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about . But in my mind eye the one I had was MUCH prettier. I loved it, turning the end and making pretty  patterns .Listening to the rattle of the little bits of colourful plastic as they fell into another design.

The shape of these hexagons and the diamond shapes within them just say Kaleidoscope to me ...

Here's a link to the original free Coats and Clark pattern. I've changed the final round and I'm using the wonderful join as you go method.
I'm planning on making a tutorial for my version of  that round , I'd love to do one for the whole pattern but I don't think that's allowed .

So lovelies , do you like the begining of my Kaleidoscope blanket ? It's super colourful, even for a gal who loves her colour.I do love the restrained colour schemes too but this is making me SMILE So I'm going with that and it feels good :0)

Right , where's my hook ?
Jacquie x

Baby Bunny Tutorial

Hello Lovelies ,
Well , what was going to be a simple pattern has actually turned out to be a detailed tutorial. It's taken quite a lot of work , but I wanted to make things as straight forward as possible . I'm hoping a few of you who haven't tried this sort of crochet before will be encouraged to give it a go .Or if you have struggled in the past this will explain a few things .

As with all amigurumi this bunny is worked in a spiral so no joining rounds.However this means you will need a stitch marker ( I'm using a safety pin ) to keep track of where each round begins . Its also important to have some paper and a pen handy to write down where you are up to.

The only stitch is U.S. single crochet = sc      ( U.K.double)

So here goes :0)....

Round 1

Start with chain 2 ....

Make 6 sc in second chain from hook....insert hook here

1 sc made

6 sc made

Round 2

make 2 sc in each stitch around. starting with number 1 in the previous image. If you are not sure where to start , I find it easiest to count backwards from my hook. As you go round remember to count up to 12 then you will know when to stop.

Note working 2 stitches together in 1 stitch from the previous row is an increase stitch but I don't refer to them as that.

 At this stage I start marking the beginning of each row with a safety pin, which is removed at the end of each round and reinserted in the first stitch of the following round .So the start of round 3,after I've made the first stitch , looks like this....

Round 3

sc in the next stitch,2 sc in the following stitch.Repeat this pattern 6 times (18 stitches)

Round 4

sc in the next 2 stitches, 2sc in following stitch,repeat around (24 stitches)

Round 5

sc in the next 3 stitches ,2 sc in the following stitch, repeat around (30 stitches)

Round 6

 sc in the next 4 stitches , 2sc in the following stitch , repeat around ( 36 stitches)

Rounds 7 to 13

sc in each stitch around ( 36 stitches)

Round 14..this is where we begin to decrease for her neck.

sc in next 4 stitches ,sc decrease ( sc dec). repeat around (30 stitches)

 This is how you make an sc decrease.....

insert hook in next stitch,yarn over and pull through ( 2 loops on hook) ....

Insert hook in following stitch , yarn over pull through , 3 loops on hook....

Yarn over and pull through all three loops...sc decrease made ....

Round 15

sc in next 3 stitches, sc dec , continue around (30 stitches)

Round 16

sc in next 2 stitches,sc dec, continue around (24 stitches)

Round 17

sc in next 2 stitches ,sc dec , continue around ,this round will finish with 2 sc (14 stitches)

Round 18

sc in each stitch around (14 stitches)

Hurray you've finished the head..

carry on for the body with...

Round 19

sc in next 2 stitches,2 sc in next sc, continue around , this round will finish with 2 sc(18 stitches)

Round 20

2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 2 stitches ,continue around(24 stitches)

Round 21

2 sc in next stitch , sc in next 3 stitches ( 30 stitches)

Rounds 22 to 26

sc in each stitch around

Round 27

sc in next 2 stitches , sc dec, continue around , this round will end with 2sc.

At this stage add her stuffing( and possibly a little bell if this is for a baby)....

Round 28

sc in next stitch , sc dec, continue around , this round has to end with 2 sc (16 stitches)

Round 29

sc dec 8 times around (8 stitches)
finish off leaning a long tail for sewing ( you can add a bit more stuffing at this stage if needed )....

Sew a running stitch around the bottom stitches and close up hole...

Next make 2 ears ....

These are also worked as a spiral.Begin in the same way you did for the head.

Round 1

chain 2 , then 5 sc in second chain from hook

Round 2

make 2 sc in each stitch around (10 stitches )

Rounds 3 to 12

sc in each stitch around .
When working with little tubes of crochet like this I find it easiest to insert my middle finger in the centre , but just do what seems easiest for you and don't forget to mark the round with a marker of some description and write down the rounds as you go ......

Round 13

sc in next stitch, sc dec around (7 stitches). Finish off.
Remember to leave a long tail for sewing

Repeat for ear 2.

Last bit of crochet now , the....
 little white tail ....

Again begin the same way and mark rounds

Round 1

Chain 2 , 4 sc in second chain from hook

Round 2

2 sc in each stitch around (8 stitches)

Round 3

sc in next stitch, 2 sc in the following stitch, repeat around ( 12 stitches )

Round 4

sc in each stitch around

Round 5

sc in next stitch, sc dec in following stitches ,repeat around (8 stitches)

Stuff

Round 6

sc dec around ( 4 stitches )

Finish off leaving long tail for sewing .

Next add fabric to the ears ....

cut out an fabric shape slightly larger than the ear

turn under a hem and pin in place

                                         
Sew fabric to crochet using any stitch you prefer

Bend in bottom of ear and sew using tail of wool....

Use the same yarn to attach ear to head and repeat for second ear....

Next attach her tail using the same method . Then there's just the face to add.
For my second bunny I've tried a different style of face .This one has a mouth ( coz the boys said the first bunny didn't look right without one)
I've also used beads for the eyes as this bunny is not intended as a small children's toy so it is safe to do so.

As you can see lovely lilac bunny was not sure what to think when she met her turquoise cousin ....

But they soon got chatting and became good friends....

Boy this has taken ages
we are all pretty pooped now ....

So it's goodbye from me and its goodbye from them...

.

Happy Amigurumi-ing
Jacquie x