Crochet | Sewchet

September 10, 2015
by sewchet 57 Comments

Giveaways And Giving Back

I knitted an egg this morning before No.1 Son had crawled out from his hungover slumber just after midday.

Yup, you heard right – I knitted an egg.

It took an hour and a half of knitting on 2.25mm needles with leftover sock yarn to finish this tiny creation, which was supposed to be sent flat to be filled with a polystyrene egg by the recipient.

Trouble was, I didn’t have the required 2.75mm needles or a tension gauge to refer to so it probably wouldn’t fit. I stuffed it with fibre fill instead, and popped it in the post.

The deadline was “Autumn”, the first day of which is 21st September so, although I’ve had this on my to-do list since early July, it’s still in time. Forty are needed to give to children next Easter according to Claire’s original post. How’s the tally going Claire? Do you need any more? Look out for this little parcel in the next day or two:)

Talking of parcels, this one arrived a few days ago – I LOVE getting parcels in the post, even if I already know what’s going to be inside. Is anybody else like that?

This was a yarn related giveaway from Sharon who blogs at Creativity and Family.

The ‘wrapping paper’ was printed patchwork cotton fabric and the ‘gift tag’ was a cute little chalkboard with my name on it.

There was a handwritten note inside saying that Sharon had also included some sweets for The Boys. How thoughtful!

This is what the parcel contained. What a spread!

Shall I show you in more detail?

This lovely book which has so many great crochet projects to inspire.

I’m rather liking the look of this boxy cardigan to start with.

Two balls of Debblie Bliss ‘Milano’, a tweed effect yarn with 40% wool.

These gorgeous little stork embroidery scissors with attached miniature crocheted cat – a sweet reference to the competition which I won with the cat’s name “Whiskers”.

All of this will fit in the pretty Cath Kidston project bag.

I’ve already started making a tweedy hat for one of The Boys.

I’ve just found out that I’ve won another giveaway too, this time a Hallowe’en fabric bundle from Nat at Threads and Bobbins.

I can’t wait to get stuck into that little lot – any ideas what I could make?

If you cast your mind back to July, I won another giveaway, this one from Amy at Yarnaway, containing all this: –

I made a crocheted rib beanie from the multi-tonal yarn…..

….and a pair of bobble fingerless gloves from the beautiful book that was included in the giveaway.

I’ve still got a whole ball of yarn left to use myself, so I thought I’d pass forward some of this generosity by hosting another giveaway.

If you would like to win the beanie and matching gloves either for yourself or maybe to give as a Christmas present, just leave a comment below.

A winner will be picked out of the hat as usual (no ‘random number generators’ on this blog!) after midnight on Wednesday 16th September.

Good luck!

July 17, 2015
by sewchet 28 Comments

#MandalasForMarinke

On June 29th I opened my WordPress “Reader” as usual and read through the latest blog posts, commenting as I went, again, as usual. Then something that was far from usual happened.

A Creative Being popped up but, instead of being treated to one of Wink’s entertaining narratives or crochet works of art, her sister was the unwilling author informing us gently that Wink had taken her own life.

Wink, whose name was Marinke, was well known in the crochet world as contributing to the book ‘Crochet Saved My Life’ – she suffered from depression which finally became too much to bear.

Kathryn from the blog Crochet Concupiscence, is organising a collaborative art project in Wink’s honour and to raise awareness of this dreadful illness. If you would like to make a mandala for the cause, you can find out how at #MandalasForMarinke

This is the mandala I made from one of Wink’s own patterns (which you can find here for free) which is already winging its way to Kathryn in America.

On a much lighter note – I won a giveaway!!!

Amy, from the wonderful ‘Yarnaway’ blog was giving away all this yarny loveliness which I was over the moon to receive!

There is an amazing book which I cannot wait to get stuck into…….

……three balls of gorgeous yarn and a crochet hook……

……and a zipped pouch, all of which was tucked into a useful tote.

THANK YOU Amy!

I’m so thrilled to be the winner – the only problem is deciding which of the numerous fabulous patterns in the book to make…..

April 16, 2015
by sewchet 37 Comments

Bloggiversary GIVEAWAY!

I turned on my computer this morning and this popped up in my notifications: –

I thought it was next week but I’ll go with WordPress and celebrate today as my One Year Anniversary, rather comically referred to as a Bloggiversary (my interpretation of spelling, seeing as it is a made up word!).

I’d planned to do a giveaway as a small gesture of thanks to everyone who has followed, visited or commented over the past twelve months as, without such unfailing support, this blog would not be here now. You can’t continue without constant encouragement, can you?

I can’t put into words quite how much I have enjoyed blogging – both the creative process and (even more) discovering the multitude of fantastic blogs out there. That so many lovely (mostly) ladies are happy to share so unselfishly their ideas and creations, quite overwhelmed me in the beginning and gave me the confidence to join in and nervously share some of my own makes.

I fully expected criticism as part of the deal, but can honestly say that I haven’t had a single negative comment – all words have been constructive and, most importantly, kind. I feel as if I ‘know’ a lot of you and hopefully will somehow meet some of you wonderful, like-minded people in the future. (A get-together anyone?!)

Anyway – back to the giveaway.

Remember the hugely successful Crafternoon that I held for Comic Relief, raising £340 in total? I did a couple of posts (here and here) in the run up showing you the things I’d made prior to the day itself.

Would anyone like to win ALL of them?

To enter, just make sure you ‘Follow’ the blog then leave a comment below.

No. 3 Son will pull a name out of the hat after the closing date of midnight on Saturday 18th April – so be quick!

As a reminder, here’s what’s up for grabs: –

Pear Pin Cushion

Felt Chick

Attic 24’s Spring Posy Brooch

‘Make your face funny for money’ Moustache

Felt Cloud Mobile

Crocheted Red Nose

Thanks again to EVERYONE for your brilliantness (definitely a word)!

April 2, 2015
by sewchet 43 Comments

Shawl KAL and other WIPs

It’s back to the needles of the non-machine kind for this post!

Claire of Mollie and Claire started a KAL yesterday and, as I’ve long admired her beautiful shawls, I signed up for this one immediately. It’s funny how it takes something like a KAL to spur you into action sometimes, isn’t it?

It also made me use Ravelry properly for the first time, by which I mean interact and upload photos of WIPs etc.rather than just browse and download patterns. Quite the revelation, so thanks Claire!

I chose an utterly divine yarn by Rowan – Kidsilk Haze Stripe (70% Super Kid Silk Mohair, 30% Silk) in a colourway entitled ‘Circus’, pictured thus on the website: –

However, it looks like this knitted up so far……!

I’m hoping the pink will come out soon as I hadn’t intended to make a yellow and green shawl!

I have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed at the moment at the colours, although the yarn itself is stunning – so soft and extremely light that I just know it’s going to be a delight to wear.

I’m knitting on 4.5mm circular needles to give an open, lacy texture.

I also have a wrap on the go at the moment, crocheted though, not knitted this time.

I’m using Katia Jaipur 100% Cotton (shade 213) which is another self striping laceweight yarn.

Having bought the yarn from Deramores, I was browsing their blog when I spotted a competition that they were running here.

I had already decided to make a rainbow coloured wrap and the self striping nature of the yarn would be perfect for one of the competition themes, so I may enter it for a bit of fun:)

This is progress so far: –

The design is called Alpine Frost by Amy O’Neill Houck and can be found on Ravelry.

It’s a very simple repeated shell stitch which is rather easier to do on auto-pilot than the lace leaf shawl above!

As I mentioned, we are due to become first time Grandparents in September, so I made a third laceweight shawl!

This one is Malabrigo 100% Baby Merino Wool (not Alpaca, as I initially thought) and is super soft in cream – perfect for a baby of either sex.

It was crocheted on a 3.75mm hook, the design being a giant granny square bordered with two rows of scallop pattern – simple, but effective with such fine yarn.

It would make a nice Christening shawl as well I think.

Is anyone else doing a CAL or KAL at the moment?

March 12, 2015
by sewchet 55 Comments

Crafternoon Success!

And……relax!

Wow, what an afternoon, or should I say “Crafternoon”?

A houseful of lovely people busily crafting away to the tune of “Café Olé” on the stereo, fuelled by home-grown egg sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and Red Nose fairy cakes.

Oh, and gallons of Bucks Fizz:)

The dining table was laden with masses of fabric and supplies, together with printouts of the projects on offer.

The coffee table in the lounge housed yet more felt and yarn for what turned out to be a good variety of crafts for everyone to choose from.

Mr. H-L played Butler in his lunch break as he was working from home.

The felt chicks were very popular makes.

Two ladies made good headway with their Cloud mobiles and took them home to finish off.

A classic Red Nose at the start of its crochet journey…..

More cakes….

My daughter’s very first attempt at sewing….

….a cushion for her boyfriend to take on his fishing trips.

Didn’t she do well?!

Mollie Makes’ own rag doll, Mollie, was lovingly crafted as a joint effort between a mother-daughter combo.

Just the eyelashes and mouth to add at close of play.

A Hen doorstop (as seen in an earlier blog post) reached the stuffing stage before the school run ended play.

I am assured photos of all finished off items will be winging their way to me in due course.

All in all, a very jolly and productive three hours was had by everyone…..

….and £265 raised so far with further pledges yet to be collected!

I would like to express HUGE thanks to Ali of Thimberlina, Kerri of Bristol Crochet and Sarah Holmes for their very generous donation of supplies for this event, without which such a great choice of materials would not have been available.

T H A N K Y O U !

March 8, 2015
by sewchet 44 Comments

Sunday Sevens #26

Here we are again for another Sunday Sevens post – seven photos that make up part of your week but are not worthy of a dedicated blog post.

To join in, check out Nat’s post over at Threads and Bobbins where she tells you all about it.

1. Tess presiding, as I finish the second sleeve on my jumper – just the blocking to do now!

2. The ‘Cockatoo’ fabric and wallpaper arrived for The Boys’ bedroom redecoration.

This is the mood board – units from Ikea due to arrive this week then they’ll have proper storage at last!

Will it be enough to enable them to keep their bedroom tidy? I doubt it…..

3. I bought this sewing book for No.2 Son (the one who likes GBSB more than anything!).

We are going to adapt some of the more obviously girly patterns to make them suitable for a nine year old boy which made me think – why are all sewing books aimed at girls?

His first make was this Monster Plushy.

He needs supervision but does all the sewing himself.

Funnily enough, whilst he is VERY much a boy, he chose pink fabric from my stash for both projects.

I suppose he sees Hubby wearing pink so doesn’t consider it a girl’s choice and just likes it.

His second make was this pair of Kissing Doves which he wants to hang in his bedroom.

4. He also finished off his crochet Granny Square blanket this weekend.

He chose all the colours as he went and framed it with three rows of blue to finish.

Isn’t it great?

5. Tulips – my favourite Spring flower. These were £2-00 a bunch in Morrisons so I treated myself:)

6. First Primroses spotted in the field- beautiful.

7. Hubby cooking Sunday Lunch.

Is it just me, or does food always taste much nicer when somebody else has done the cooking?

Hope you had a great week – enjoy what’s left of the weekend!

March 6, 2015
by sewchet 19 Comments

More Projects For Comic Relief’s Crafternoon

It’s just seven days until the Big Comic Relief Crafternoon on Friday 13th March – well, six days until I host mine because it’s my birthday on Friday and I will be otherwise engaged:)

If you saw my earlier post about the samples I have been making from the official Red Nose Day magazine, you will remember that I’ve been giving a number of the free patterns a test run, so to speak, to see which projects can be made in the three hours of my Crafternoon event. I will then set up individual areas with all the materials needed for each project, together with the instruction sheets, for everyone attending to help themselves to.

If you haven’t got your magazine yet, they are only available to buy in Sainsburys, nowhere else, and they are being snapped up extremely quickly so get a move on!

£5.00 out of the cover price of £7.99 goes straight to Comic Relief which is fantastic. Comic Relief get your donation and you get something for your money – a fab “Mollie Makes” Red Nose Day Special magazine with a load of fab projects for you to make.

So, onto the latest additions to the party!

Well, I had to crochet the red nose, didn’t I?

I loved making this Cloud Mobile – all hand stitched in less than three hours!

I think this is my favourite make though…..

….a Pear Pin Cushion!

And when Ali (AKA Thimberlina) revealed her makeshift excuse for a pin cushion (sorry Ali!), I had the perfect reason to make the matching Apple shaped one. I snapped a couple of quick photos and sent it off that same afternoon.

I love the attention to detail that has gone into this particular design, especially the two pieces of contrasting felt rolled together to make the stem. Although this part was completely omitted from the instructions, it was easy enough to work out how it was done.

Ali has very generously sent me a bundle of supplies for my Crafternoon so it was lovely to be able to make her a little something off her wish list as a thank you. Just look at everything she donated!

I still have room for a few more, so if you’re free next Thursday 12th March between 12pm and 3pm, please, PLEASE try to come along. I’d love to get a full house so that I can send off the maximum amount of money to Comic Relief.

I’m also thinking of either auctioning off all the bits I’ve made, or raffle them on the day so bring an extra couple of pounds – it’s for such a good cause!!

Here’s a reminder of all the details: –

February 20, 2015
by sewchet 32 Comments

Craft Progress For The Big Comic Relief Crafternoon

With four weeks to go before Comic Relief’s Big Crafternoon, I have been busy.

Busy making up samples of some of the things that will be available to make on the day, all of which feature in the Mollie Makes Red Nose Day special magazine, and I thought that people would probably like to see and feel examples of what the finished articles are like.

I’m planning on having a dedicated crafting table for each of the items that can be made, so that all the materials for each project are to hand and won’t get mixed up with materials needed for any of the other crafts.

Each area will have a copy of the magazine open at the relevant pages, a selection of fabrics/yarn from which to choose, together with all the sundry items required to complete their chosen item.

I’ve manged to source most of the sundry bits and pieces that will be needed, but NOT round lolly sticks – so I’ve substituted with a straw instead which works perfectly well!

Don’t forget to come along if you can!

February 10, 2015
by sewchet 61 Comments

How To Make A Rug With Homemade T-Shirt Yarn

I made a rare trip to Lidl the other day, just browsing and looking for nothing in particular.

I’m not a fan of Lidl because they only stock basics and I can never get everything on my list. I loathe the weekly Food Shop and am d*****d if I’m going to go to another shop as well to buy the rest. Once, I had a list of thirteen items and could only buy two of them in Lidl!!

Notwithstanding the above, they have a really good selection of non-food items, especially around Christmas and I’ve snapped up some great things in the past.

Anyway, on this occasion, I spotted some T-shirts on offer. A two-pack was reduced from £5.99 to £2.99 and, in true Lidl fashion, they were only stocking men’s size 4XXXL to fit 68-70″ chest so there was a huge pile of them left unsold!

I’ve fancied making my own T-shirt yarn for a while now but decided wisely that Hubby would be a bit peeved if he came home to find that I’d ‘recycled’ them without his knowledge, particularly as they are largely stain and hole free as yet. So these outsize bargains happened along at the right time and I snapped up a couple of packs.

For best results, you need to choose logo-free, 100% cotton T-shirts without side seams. Mine had side seams – you just have to be extra careful not to rip them because they will be weakened after they have been cut through.

My new Olfa cutting mat and rotary cutter were about to have their inaugural outing – how have I lived my entire life without these?!

You can, of course, use scissors – it is just easier and quicker with a rotary cutter.

Start by cutting away the main body of the T-shirt below the armholes.

Fold together leaving about 1 1/2 inches between side seams (as shown below) and smooth out any creases.

Place the cut edge to the left of your cutting mat.

Using the quilting square as a guide, cut 1″ wide strips through all layers.

Finish cutting about an inch from the second side seam as shown below.

Keep going until you reach the end of the fabric.

When you get to the end, trim the hem off completely.

Insert your hand into the T-shirt at the uncut side seam through all the loops.

Slide your hand right through to the other end and let the strips dangle.

Next comes the vital bit.

To create one continuous strip of yarn, you need to cut diagonally from your lower last slit, to the edge of the fabric as shown by the dotted line.

Keep cutting diagonally….

…until you have a nice pool of T-shirt strips on the table!

Now for the fun bit.

You need to stretch the strip between your fingers, holding a section and pulling it firmly until it curls, being very careful not to pull the weakened stitches apart at the seamlines.

Can you see the difference?

Your finished yarn will have increased in length by about 50%.

Roll your new yarn into a ball.

Repeat with the other T-shirts.

So now you have all this glorious new yarn, what to do with it?

I decided to crochet a bathmat and based it on this pattern here, using fewer stitches (10) in the first round and a smaller hook (12mm). This resulted in a slightly less dense texture which I love.