Saturday 15 October 2011

Yarny Distractions

Hello Lovelies,
Firstly let me say a BIG thank you for all you vintage granny love...you are so kind :0)
I must say I'm totally in love with that blanket...every time I catch a glimpse of it on the back of the chair I have to smile.

As I'm sure you are well aware crocheting and blogging , not to mention reading lots of lovely blogs can become a rather time consuming pastime.Other day to day jobs  ...like the housework ...can tend to slide!
Inspired by Lucy I've been making an effort to tackle some of the clutter and dust that has magically appeared in our home.
Instead of an hour a day (not practical as I'm at work for 3 days a week) I've been spending the whole day , Friday, tackling a specific room. I've worked wonders in the boys bedrooms the last couple of Fridays. Tons of stuff has been donated or binned . My hoover has been working overtime and the boys have been impressed with the results.
This week I had written "dining room" on my calendar. This is a high clutter area as it doubles as a craft space for both the boys and myself.


Things did not go to plan .Sorting through my wips I became rather distracted. I discovered long forgotten experiments and began day dreaming :0)
One thing I did finish was my rag rug...well I just finished off the last ball of t.shirt yarn I had and tucked in the ends. Ta-dah....



This was going to be a lot bigger but it had started to curl up a bit a so I've decided it's a good size to go in front of my sink.One less ufo :0)
Another distraction came when the postman delivered some yarn I had ordered earlier this week .....



Ummm yummy style craft special DK.
I ordered ...top row L-R fondant, turquoise,lipstick. Bottom row L-R pomegranate,plum,meadow and lavender.
I haven't ordered pomegranate or fondant before and I was pleased with my choice. Ordering yarn on line can be a bit of a mine field don't you think ? The colours on your monitor can be very misleading . Style craft does have some rather garish colours as I found out when I ordered bright green earlier this year...



yikes !!

I have quite a collection of stylecraft colours nowadays .It's very soft and lovely to work with so it has quickly become a favourite of mine .
I'm pretty bad at keeping the bands from the balls of yarn so remembering which colours are which to re order is tricky.

I liked Sarah's method of stapling a sample of yarn to the band (see bottom of this post ) but then I thought of attaching all the colors to one piece of card...like I used to do with the embroidery threads in my cross stitch days. This is what I ended up with....




I love it :0) Now I should be able to tell you lovelies which colours I've used with confidence and re ordering on line should be a doddle , that's the plan anyway ........





As you can see I was having a nice time playing with yarn and taking photos rather than tidying up !! ...

Right, must go and do some more jobs now . I just want to tell you lovelies I've decided to a tutorial on how I do granny squares as quite a few of you commented that your squares become twisted as you progress. I've taken the photos ... now I just need to find time to add the words !!

Have a great weekend
Jacquie x

34 comments:

  1. Please, please do the 'how not to twist your squares post' - it isn't bad but becoming noticable. You don't need to do the dining room - there is crochet need out here in Blogland! Am also loving the card with the record of colours on. The simple ideas are the great ones. Just as soon as the rugby has finished I am going to spend a happy half an hour copying you. Would it be wrong to order more yarn just to make sure the card is complete? enjoy your weekend x

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  2. That card is a smart plan! I have JUST finished my first blanket (Yeah baby yeah!) and I used your bouble V edging. Pretty!! (Will blog blanket pics later on)
    Esther.

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  3. So organised, I love it, great tip. Love the t-shirt yarn rug, I would think it would be perfect by a kitchen sink, it would make washing up almost fun, lol x

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  4. I love that rug :)

    Those style craft colours with the exception of the pomegranate are the same as I've been using in my granny square blanket :) Just despatched smallest son to the yarn shop for more of the Lipstick.

    Good luck with the flyladying - I plan to start a blitz once I'm out of plaster. The men are doing well but there's so much they aren't able to do due to time etc etc.

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  5. I am so going to go and do that 'yarn card' thing and I'm going to do it NOW - I've run out of a shade of pink on a cushion I'm making and can I find the exact match? Can I heck. Aaargh! Serves me right for being a yarn tart I guess! ;-)

    Jacquie, that rug is fabulous. I keep scrolling back up to look at it. No wonder you got distracted!

    As for your giant granny square - it's beautiful. You've got the vintage vibe spot on, just gorgeous my friend.

    Have a wonderful weekend.

    Hx

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  6. Lovely rag rug! Must make washing up much more cosy on the feet :)
    We just had a bit declutter and a room change around here.... Feels all new and organised now, ready for my boys to mess up again, lol.

    Hope you are enjoying your weekend
    Louise xx

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  7. Love your card idea, I will have to do that myself!! Shamelessly stealing your idea!!

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  8. That yarn card is such a great idea! It would make my next online order soooo much easier! I love your t-shirt yarn rug too, so pretty!!

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  9. Your rug looks fantastic, what a way to bring colour into washing up!

    I love your colour card, the heart holes are brilliant, showing love to the yarn. I always end up with a pile of bands and no idea which colour they are, so I think I might be borrowing your idea!

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  10. Yup, i'll be making a yarn card for my Stylecraft stash tonight. At the moment the record system consists of the labels with a hole poked though and a bit of yarn tied through it. It works but your idea is much tidier and i'm in need of a bit of distraction from my little collection of WIP's.

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  11. Hello, I'm quite new to your blog and it's gorgeous! So much inspiration. I'm a stylecraft fan to and I have a card just like that. It has made the process of choosing and ordering colours so much easier. One day I'll probably have the lot of them sampled on there!
    Thank you for sharing your lovely creations with us.

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  12. Sounds like you have been having a good clear out. Great rag rug. Love those colours of Stylecraft. They are some of my favourite colours. x

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  13. Oh Jacquie thanks for your brilliant organisation of yarn colours on your yarn card, can I be lazy and print your's off to use when I am ordering Stylecraft? It's sooo much more affordable than other yarn and is lovely to hook with and super cosy and soft and you can machine wash it too, what more could a girl ask for :0)

    Love your rag rug, I must get round to making one someday! Lovely lovely post as ever xox

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  14. I use the same method as Sarah to remember the yarn colors but yours is very clever as you can compare and choose matching colors for a blanket to be before ordering online! My favorite between the Stylecraft special DK is the pomegranate color! delicious :)
    Have a great week end!
    Angie
    http://www.lemondedesucrette.com/

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  15. Yarn card is a great idea and your rag rug is fabulous. Keep thinking about doing one myself but smaller projects always seem to win out.
    x

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  16. I think youv'e inspired us all with your card idea I think I will do it next time and out my dyelot beside them as I ended up with 3 different greens last time lol when I got to the shop they all looked like the one at home!Lovely floor rug,well done!

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  17. Your colour card is a great idea, especially with the heart shaped holes.

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  18. I love your kitchen rug. Just the perfect size for that spot in the kitchen.
    Anne xx

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  19. How wonderfully organised. Please pop round sometime and do the same for my life ;o)

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  20. I love Stylecraft too and have two balls of yarn stashed at the very bottom of my stash as they are fluro pink and orange, oh my goodness what to do with them!!!
    I ended up ordering a color chart, like you I didn't attach a little bit of yarn to the band.
    x Sandi

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  21. Anything for a moment of eye candy to share! This is what my husband calls yarn porn! Ha ha ha. Only a crochetoholic (and we are many...) get this. These sample cards are just something to look at. I will be back many times to just look and take in the beauty of colors!

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  22. hello jacqui
    yarn card is a really great idea! i love your rug!
    thanks for the inspirationen.
    have a nice week,
    regina

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  23. What a brill idea!
    Must do the same.
    Also must have a good sort out- I've just started eBaying and the house is a tip!
    Have a great week.
    Xx

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  24. What a great idea, that yarn sampler! I always try to keep the wrappers in the same basket as the yarn, but ofcourse, that hardly works...
    Have a good week! :)
    xo,
    wink

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  25. Brilliant idea , why have I never tout of doing that, and I am still a stitcher lol

    Love the rug!

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  26. I love the rug, and as far as distractions go, that really is a lovely one! :) And your yarn card is such a fantastic idea, I'm definitely going to have to start doing this!

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  27. I love your rug! How very cute. The bright colors are perfect.

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  28. You seem to be several giant strides ahead of me on the organized front! What a great idea to keep track of your colours. Having ruthlessly spring-cleaned my kids rooms, I'm now on to the kitchen cupboards and pantry, a daunting task! I think a lovely rag-rug in front of the sink would be a good start...

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  29. Loving your blanket. Such a good and perfect way of sorting out and remembering what yarn you used. One day I hope to get myself more sorted like that so I don't keep forgetting what I'm after. Also must check out that yarn as great colours.

    First off you've lots of links that are tempting my eye for more blog hopping.

    X

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  30. Hi Jacquie,
    First I'd like to thank you for visiting and joining my blog, I feel very honored.

    I so love the idea of the cards, I sometimes forget what is in my stash, so instead of digging through my huge box of yarn, I just go off and buy some more. Maybe one day I'll stop crocheting long enough to get organized.
    Ya think????


    Have a great rest of your week.

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  31. How wonderfully organised. What a great idea, that yarn sampler!

    Greetings from Spain.

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  32. Lovely post and rug ,very colourfulx

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  33. Stylecraft is my favourite acrylic. It's so soft and the colours are lovely. Can't wait to see what you make!

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  34. Scrumptious new wool Jacquie! I use the card technique for my embroidery thread too, nice idea for your wool. I love the pretty heart stamp you've used to make the holes.

    Happy decluttering! (I could do with doing a bit of that myself...)

    Jones x

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