crochet

I had never heard of Broomstick Crochet before, until Sylvie described it to me. I like to learn new skills/techniques so I googled Broomstick Crochet and found this video tutorial, demonstrating the technique. Following the tutorial I produced a few samples. I found the technique easy, it gives an openwork lace effect. At one time, as the name implies, people used a broomstick to hold the loops, but an oversized knitting needle will do.

When I made my bib necklaces (free pattern)  I incorporated fabric yo-yo puffs (Suffolk puffs) into the design, decorating and embellishing them with embroidery.

If you haven't tried crochet but would like to, this is the perfect project to begin with, it only uses two basic crochet stitches.

Chain, ch - Wrap the yarn over the hook and draw the yarn through to form a new loop.

Double Crochet, dc (US single crochet, sc) - Insert the hook into the work, yarn over the hook and draw the yarn through the work only, yarn over hook draw the yarn through both loops on the hook.

In charity shops you can often see a pile of doilies languishing unappreciated in with the linens, it's a shame as obviously a lot of time and effort went into hand crocheting these cotton doillies. Pondering their plight I had the idea of up-cycleing them into jug/bowl covers, to keep flies off food and drink in summer. All you do to give them a new lease of life is attach, by sewing, glass beads* around the edge. 

On Tuesday I had a nice 'crafty' morning with my friend Sue. I was showing Sue how to crochet roses and spirals, we both agreed the spirals would make interesting necklaces. Sue showed me some of the things she is working on at the moment, I like a show and tell, it's good to share ideas.

I have been given a Kreativ Blogger Award, by Claire at Being a Mummy. I have to name seven creative things I have done. Personally I'm going to narrow it to seven creative things I did over Easter.

If you liked my flip-flop greeting card idea, you may like these ideas I came across to transform mundane flip-flops into unique footwear. I like the idea of taking a basic object and with a little bit of imagination and skill turning it into something individual. Linda Permann on craftstylish shows you how to embellish flip-flops.

This Rosy Cosy was designed and knitted by Rachel, one of the St Albans Knit Night regulars. The cosy won a competition in Knitting Magazine, July 09 issue, what a talented knitter she is. I am also grateful to Rachel because at one of the evening meetings, held at the Hare and Hounds, she was wearing a crocheted flower necklace. I admired it and she was happy to point me to the pattern on Creativeyarn .

My sister and her family came to visit us, for the day, on Friday. We only manage see each other about twice a year. We had a lovely day and exchanged birthday gifts. There are 364 days between our birthday so for one day we are the same age! During the day I had time to teach my sister and niece how to crochet a necklace. They were fast learners and within a couple of hours they had created really pretty necklaces, the photo is of the one my sister made.

My friend Ann came over for the day on Friday. We spent the morning in Hichin, the flea market was a bit sparse as it had been raining quite hard before we got there, a bit disappointing. With all flea markets it can be a bit hit and miss but that's the fun of it. I did buy 3 meters of a Japanese style cotton material. I'm not sure what I'll make, at the very least it will be a scarf. In the afternoon I showed Ann how to crochet. We decided chatting was not conducive to learning how to crochet, too many mistakes!