Magic Time

Once again, the time lapse of wool and hook. Making when you don't have time to make.

I have been making things since we moved: painting, unpacking, framing, organising, but all a little bit here, a little bit there. It was only after making these I felt I could share them. There is something about the wholeness of a completed item of crochet that I love. A beginning, a middle and an end.

Two hats for two of my favourite heads. Both a plain rib (after the foundation chain you stitch into the back loops only) and a pom pom. Made on a pom pom maker too thank you very much, no messing about with cut cereal box circles. 

The blue cowl (I see these called infinity scarves but, well I don't know about that) is spaced iris stitch. I have the pattern for this easy stitch in an old magazine, but I saw it here when I searched. In a lovely blue merino blend with glittery thread running through it.

The cat scarf I love. At least I love the end product, not the process. It was one of the most complex things I have made, possibly beaten only by the Yoda iPod cover I made for my nephew. Must remember to stop seeing beautiful complicated many-pieced things on Ravelry and then buying them. Piece after piece after endless piece. I'm really not that kind of crocheter.

But my little girl she loves cats, grey ones especially. There is something so funnily old-fashioned about this scarf, all the legs and the head flopping down like a fox draped around the shoulders of a old lady. Thinking about this made the lengthy making process bearable.

Then there was the embroidery, the buttons, the ears...frankly if she doesn't wear it I will. I got the pattern here and it's great, really clear but don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, I made the tail a lot thinner than it says.

I wrote about the magic, time-creating miracle of crochet a while ago here and hurray for it. 

Oh, and I started another blog which is really sensible seeing as I can barely cope with my laundry but it turns out I really love to take photographs and write about them. This one's all about my mum and the little stories she makes with some tiny penguins. Works better visually.

Shazbot and a giveaway

One of the best things for me - beating off stiff competition - about being at a music festival, is seeing all the different t-shirts people wear. Funny or serious, new bands, old or obscure ones, it's like the culture department of people's brains walking towards you. 

Trending at Glastonbury this year were Breaking Bad t-shirts, especially this one: 

And it got me thinking about drawing and how, mixed with a t-shirt, there's really no better way to say what you want to say.

Someone doing this brilliantly at the moment is my friend Simeon with his Black Score t-shirt label. I'm lucky to own this beauty:

And this one, which came along with me to Glastonbury and everywhere else I've been this summer:

I love it so much. 

My brother and I used to have a VHS tape of 'Robin Williams Live at the Met' and we would watch it until we were crying and sore from laughing and the tape broke. 

We didn't understand everything, but we didn't need to. He was just so funny. Like the essence of funny. We'd try and do Mork's hand sign with our small hands. My brother could always do it better than me. He could also swim like the Man from Atlantis.

Thinking about all this, I made some drawings. It felt so good to sit quietly and draw. I thought a lot about this article.

From the drawings, I did this on a spare babygro I had lying around with a Sharpie (a textile one for marking laundry):

The best way to do this is to make a screen and screen print it - you can get any effect you want that way - but for quick and dirty printing, it doesn't look too bad does it?

I don't know any 0-3 month babies at the moment so if anyone wants it drop me a line and it's yours. Leave a comment or email me.

vintage boy crochet

The first of Nat's crocheted garments, but by no means the last. My policy is to get as many in as possible before they refuse to wear them. This could be coming any day so I am making hay.

I bought a massive ball of aran weight cream wool/acrylic mix a while ago, and it has so far made a blanket, a hat, and this cardigan, with barely a dent in it. 

Whisper it, but a bit of man-made fibre (woman-made is probably more accurate) is no bad thing in my book. It often wears better and washes easier. And is more affordable.

I got the pattern from an old crochet magazine. As I said in the last post, these always provide excellent comic value and the odd thing I want to make, like this. 

This little cardigan was so easy. It is made in one piece with the edges sewn at the end. A nice picot edging also makes the buttonholes. Wooden buttons seemed best, and it was done.

I have updated my Ravelry page so it's all up there, I am happy to email the pattern if anyone wants to try it. 

Autumn leaves baby blanket

A boy-child is born. A craft project is made. Leaves turn gold and fall. Thus my friends, the world turns. My world, anyway.

He is the baby of a dear friend. He is also the unknowing demonstrator of the magic time-shifting properties of crochet. I have no time at the moment, but I also have my ever-present need to make stuff. 

Happily, crochet takes no time. You simply do it whenever you are sitting still. Find yourself watching '30 Rock' at the end of a long day? Half a granny square. Stuck in traffic on the M1? Enough time to make some more, join them together and do the border. Crochet will not only slot in to these otherwise passive activities, it will actually MAKE you time.

Before you know it you will have a blanket for a new baby when you thought you had far too much on to be even considering a craft project. 

They say the act of eating lettuce actually makes you lose weight as it has so few calories. Well, crochet is lettuce.

Anyway.

In all my adventures in crochet, I had never made the classic granny square. The internet is full of instructions for these and they are easy and incredibly satisfying, not to mention beautiful.

I had also never joined-as-you-go. This method appeals as - rather than wait until you have finished and have the task of joining the squares together - it happens as you make the squares, and is border-free.

I went to the oracle Attic24 for instructions, then kind of made it up myself. I enjoyed watching the blanket grow like a puzzle as each new square was added:

The other challenge was keeping everything muted. The boy's parents love grey with a passion. Yes, grey and passion in the same sentence. It's new to me. So I thought I would use two autumn colours and four greys on each square to keep the balance. And my interest. 

 A few autumn colours for the autumn baby. I love to crochet in autumn colours.

I was pleasantly surprised with the result and quite sad to hand it over.

Sleep well little baby. Please. 

 

 

Snug as a bug in a rug

Ages ago now, we inherited a mini bed with mini quilts to match, for when daughter no.1 graduated from her cot. It is so handy having a sister-in-law with slightly older children. 

She made the big journey from cot to bed over a year ago now, and I wanted to make quilt covers to mark the occasion. Better late than never. 

I reused old sheets for the ever-winning combination of being cheaper/pre-softened/lower consumption/umm...just nicer. My collection built up slowly but surely, coming from a mixture of my mum's airing cupboard, Spitalfields market, my Granny's old sheets and Ilford Oxfam shop. Nice.

I cut one sheet the same size as the quilt with a seam allowance all the way round. The second sheet was the same width, but with an extra 40 cms or so to make a nice flap. I sewed them right sides together with the longer flap folded over in the middle. This simple-yet-complicated bit of sewing made my mind go completely blank for a bit and I had to stare at it until it made sense. There are lots of tutorials about this on the net but I like Amy Karol's one best. It is for a bag but it is essentially the same principle. 

To finish off I added some buttons to hold it all together. My trusty old Toyota struggles with buttonholes but luckily, my friend Kate has an amazing new sewing machine. My word, that thing is amazing: automatic tension, speed control, you basically just drink a glass of wine with your foot on the pedal and some buttonholes appear. At least that is what I did. 

It was all very much like the sewing machine scene in 'Fiddler on the Roof' where the whole village gathers around to marvel at the new invention. I couldn't find  clip of it on YouTube. But I did find this. Next time I sew I'll know what to sing.

Three of the four quilt covers

The fourth. That stain is Marmite.