Saturday 29 October 2016

Button, button, who's got the button?

well actually I do.

This has been the latest craze of mine and a way to connect "throw" with "hook" although the buttons are not thrown, they are made of clay and fired  and glazed and fired again.  And then sometimes sewn onto crochet hats, cowls, or headbands.
There are more still in process. Lots more, I may never need to make them again!


Some will be for sale at the craft fair and at the pottery guild sale.



Still nearly a hundred to glaze and finish. I may have become over-enthusiastic here!

Friday 7 October 2016

What are those crocheters doing now?  Pooling around with colour!

Whenever we crochet with a variegated yarn the pattern of the colours seems ( but clearly is not) random.

There seems to be no way to control where the colours stripe or pool.


But if there is a regularity to the colour sections it is possible to plan your crochet to get interesting effects.
I did NOT figure this out myself. I read a comment about colour pooling on a spinning FB group and googled it. Several blogs and a video tutorial by  Mikey of The Crochet Crowd and I had to give it a try.
 It took a few attempts to get the pattern going ....


 The beginning is upper right, there is a pattern but it is a bit off, and about 14 rows in, I missed a stitch and threw the whole thing off...or did I?  Actually I lucked into finding the correct number of stitches and from then on the argyle type pattern appeared.
But the start is not good so... I took it off.
This sounds awful but there are a few tutorials (google "remove crochet stitches")  and following 2 of them I managed. I have done the same thing before so I knew it was possible. This time  I saved both parts and am working on 2 scarves.
First one

It still needs a fringe and the pattern is not perfect, in fact each time your tension changes, the design morphs as well!  But I am OK with it as first try.

The second is just started

Now to see if I have any more variegated yarns to try!

Sunday 28 August 2016

Sooner or later you have to DO something with all those finished pieces.

A very busy half year, not doing crafts. Now however a craft sale in November looms. I have not done one of those in decades, more than 3 decades actually, so I am definitely out of practice. Worst part: pricing things!

New laptop. Am having trouble with the photo thing.


Monday 18 January 2016

What on earth is a twiddle muff?

Well it is also called a sensory band, but that is such a dull name, probably thought up by a committee.
By any name it is a cylindrical band of crochet or knitting with different parts and bits sewn on. It is intended for Alzheimer's patients or others with dementia to hold and fidget or twiddle with.  I first saw one on a facebook group I follow.  Now I have made 11.
First batch. These were given to Hillcrest. They asked for more so ...





these they volunteered to pay for, but I will only charge what it cost me to make them.














And yes I know that does not add up to 11. I must have missed photoing the one I made first, for my mother.