Busy butterfly!

Although things have been a bit quiet on the blog, life has been pretty busy! With so much going on I thought I’d catch you up in one go.  SO – there’s been lots of…

• Crocheting…

Making a hexagon blanket from this pattern.  No recipient in mind, just a good acrylic stash-busting project!  I plan on adding a border of cream hexagons to match the individual borders.

• Knitting…

I made a hat to match this shrug pattern a couple of years ago, but it got snatched away by my sis almost as soon as it came off the needles! I finally got around to making myself another one, with a matching scarf.

And this – since it’s getting pretty cold here, our new puppy has been feeling it!  More photos to come soon, but project details here.

• Reading…

I got this pile of books from my almost-sister-in-law as a late birthday present! I’ve started on “Along Came A Spider” – great so far, as to be expected from one of my favourite authors.

• Sewing…

This t-shirt blanket has been on the books for ages! This was supposed to be a Christmas present for sis, then a birthday present, then Christmas present again the following year, and it’s finally been completed – and it was well received!

Pre-sewn: I used a favourite book from childhood as a template for cutting out all her childhood t-shirts…

After sewing: I used a flannel blanket for extra padding in the middle, with a cute chunky hem, just the right size for a double bed!

• Wedding prep…

13 weeks to go, and still SO MUCH to do!  Much of my wedding is DIY, so there’s been lots of cutting…

… folding…

… and sheet music cut-outs!

When things settle down a bit, I’d really like to take on another challenge and get into some style posts, but in the meantime, you can check out these favourites that I read all the time – they are great inspiration!

http://franish.blogspot.co.nz/
http://www.merricksart.com/
http://www.puttingmetogether.com/
http://refashionista.net/
http://www.workclothesisuppose.com/
http://www.ajwearsclothes.com/
http://www.bluepaperlanterns.com/

Or check out my “My Style” Pinterest board to see what I love!

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PS: since it’s the beginning of the month I’ve updated my Popular Posts on the side bar – who knew my “Snapshots of my day” post would be my second most popular post in the last month! Should I do another one?

Related articles

• DIY- t-shirt blanket (justatasteoffashion.wordpress.com)
• Granny hexagons, squares and Fibre East. (bamcraftsblog.wordpress.com)
• DIY project list – July (felteddreams.wordpress.com)
• Come on, Kitty! (thekittyspyjamas.wordpress.com)

FO: Balaclava

So its getting colder around here – winter has well and truly settled. If you have to ride your scooter to work at night, like Mr EP does, then you get a cooooold face!  Solution: knitting, of course.    After hunting around on Ravelry I came across a pattern which looked like it would work.

Link to project page and pattern on Ravelry

I used just over one ball of 8ply for this.  Even though I got them from the same place at the same time, there is a huge difference in the colour – which we only just noticed when we were taking the photos!  The modelled shots are closer to the actual colour, and you can see its not so noticeable in person.

Unfortunately I had to change the pattern a bit at the end – the gap was way too big.  First I added a row of crochet along the bottom and sides of the gap, hoping to tighten it up a bit.  Didn’t make much difference.  I ended up bringing the sides in to meet each other with a few sneaky stitches.  Its easy to spot if you know what to look for, but not really that obvious when he’s wearing it.  If I was to make this again, I would have less rows back and forth, and bind off less stitches.

Still on the needles

I’ve finished the back of the cricket vest, and I’ve done the ribbing and one pattern repeat of the front… Still plenty of time to finish it – cricket season doesn’t start until November!

FOs: Crochet Blankets

Remember last week, I told you I was making something from this?

Well, I’m all finished! Here’s the end result:

Here’s the link to my Rav page with the pattern details.  Basically its a huge crochet granny square using double crochet.

I was using up stashed yarn I’ve had for a while, a shopping bag full of unknown weight and fibre, so I just kept going until I ran out of yarn.  I was hoping I would have enough to make a blanket for my bed, but sadly no. It measures 1.2m x 1.2m so its still a pretty decent size.

While I was channelling my inner-Nanna I decided to stay on the crochet path and try out a pin I saw on Pinterest last week.

I had a big piece of woven fabric that I was going to bind with ribbon to turn into a proper blanket, but I thought this was a better idea.  I used leftover yarn from my February Lady Sweater (which I haven’t shown you yet – its not quite cold enough here to get away with wearing a wollen cardigan!), and the whole thing took about two hours.  The link has a great photo tutorial, very easy to follow.

I’m well and truly set for winter!

And, for my next project…