Hello everyone, hope 2025 is treating you well so far.
I have made myself a task to get more videos shot and uploaded to my YouTube this year - mind I have promised myself that in previous years and have spectacularly failed! But we can try and try again... right?
So, here is a new one from me. The cutest little owl keyrings. They take no time to make really and are so dinky and adorable.
And here is a link to the video... I hope you enjoy it.
PS: I am part of the Amazon affiliates program, which means I get a few pennies if you use the links to purchase... it doesn't cost you anything extra though, just buys me a coffee from time-to-time, so I thank you :)
I do hope 2025 has found you well so far, even if we are only a couple of days in.
I thought at the end of 2025 we might all reflect on how our year has been in by making a mood blanket.
Temperature blankets have been very popular for a few years now, so I though it might be nice to do a year long blanket based on something different. Our moods.
I have put together a chart - of course you can choose your own colours and your own criteria for what colours you pick, but this can be inspiration for you.
Each colour has three emotions or feelings attached to it, so you can pick one and select the corresponding colour.
You don't need to work on this every night as the links are relatively quick to make, but do keep a note on your phone or a notepad about how you've generally been feeling each day.
This blanket is based on 28 chain link loops - 28 links x 12 months works well as a size and you can use the remaining days of the month to edge and join your strips. I am using one of my favourite designs which I use to stash bust, and I really quite excited to see how it turns out!
I will be using Stylecraft Special DK yarn and will post my own colour choices soon. I would suggest you choose a different shade or colour from those that you are using for your 'moods' for the edging.
So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is watch this video and produce a length of 28 strips by the end of the month... I will be back before then with updates and progress reports before then - and you can always follow what I am doing on my Instagram .
In a nutshell you will be making 28 links per month for 12 months, then edging the chain links before joining - all those instructions will follow, don't worry, but for now you can get started on your link :)
Please do tag me in any posts on Facebook or Instagram as I will be delighted to see your progress, and do get in touch if there are any questions.
Hello, I hope you are all happily hooking and keeping well.
I have decided that it is time to retire some of my paid for crochet courses and make them into free online tutorials - this is so I can work on new designs and keep my offerings fresh and exciting.
So, the first one on offer was the Rainbow Links blanket, which you can find here - Links Blanket.
The next one I am releasing is the Tumbling Blocks Blanket - this design has been taken from a quilting design where you use three shades of one colour to make the piece look 3D.
Here is a little colour inspiration from other blankets that have been made using this design.
So, do you fancy having a go? Sure you do... pop over to my YouTube channel and have a look.
I would love it if you would share photos with me. Use the hashtag #soozintheshedtumblingblocks on Instagram, or tag me on Facebook - Sooz in The Shed.
Hello, I hope you are all happily hooking and keeping well.
I have decided that it is time to retire some of my paid for crochet courses and make them into free online tutorials - this is so I can work on new designs and keep my offerings fresh and exciting.
So, the first one on offer is the Rainbow Links blanket. Of course, you don't have to do it in rainbow colours, you can do it in any colours you choose! And whatever size you choose. As I explain in the video, the pattern will work the same for all sizes.
Here is a little colour inspiration from other blankets that have been made using this design.
So, do you fancy having a go? Sure you do... pop over to my YouTube channel and have a look.
Round
1: COLOUR A (3dc in corner), *** 13dc across
square, 1 dc in next 2 joining stitches, repeat from *** (REPEAT FOR EACH SIDE)
Round
2: MAIN COLOUR (3dc in corner), 1 dc in every
stitch all the way across (REPEAT)
Round
3: COLOUR A (3dc in corner), *** 1dc, 1 tr
(down) repeat from *** all the way across to last stitch, 1 dc. (REPEAT)
And that is it!
I really hope you have enjoyed this CAL - and I would absolutely love to see some photos so tag me on Instagram or Tiktok @soozintheshed or using the hashtag #logcabincrochetwithsooz
Do contact me on soozintheshed@gmail.com or Facebook/Instagram @SoozinTheShed if you need any assistance. Always happy to help.
For week five you will need to make 15 squares in total.
Here is the square video for a recap for you ....
And here is your joining video....
IT IS IMPORTANT to join the strips as shown in the photos, as joining them to the wrong side will interrupt the pattern.
Using Colours A & H – make 15 squares & join in strips of 7 and 8.
Then join....
And that is it for this week, this is the last week for the mini blanket, if you wish to you can make it much bigger by following the formation shown over the last few weeks, then come back for the edging week which will follow. (week six of the CAL).
Do contact me on soozintheshed@gmail.com or Facebook/Instagram @SoozinTheShed if you need any assistance. Always happy to help.
Alternatively I would love to see your photos so tag me on Instagram or Tiktok @soozintheshed or using the hashtag #logcabincrochetwithsooz
For week four you will need to make 13 squares in total.
Here is the square video for a recap for you ....
And here is your joining video....
IT IS IMPORTANT to join the strips as shown in the photos, as joining them to the wrong side will interrupt the pattern.
Using Colours A & G – make 13 squares & join in strips of 6 and 7.
Then join....
And that is it for this week, do contact me on soozintheshed@gmail.com or Facebook/Instagram @SoozinTheShed if you need any assistance. Always happy to help.
Alternatively I would love to see your photos so tag me on Instagram or Tiktok @soozintheshed or using the hashtag #logcabincrochetwithsooz
For week three you will need to make 11 squares in total.
Here is the square video for a recap for you ....
And here is your joining video....
IT IS IMPORTANT to join the strips as shown in the photos, as joining them to the wrong side will interrupt the pattern.
Using Colours A & F – make 11 squares & join in strips of 5 and 6.
Then join....
And that is it for this week, do contact me on soozintheshed@gmail.com or Facebook/Instagram @SoozinTheShed if you need any assistance. Always happy to help.
Alternatively I would love to see your photos so tag me on Instagram or Tiktok @soozintheshed or using the hashtag #logcabincrochetwithsooz
For week two you will need to make 16 squares in total.
Here is the square video for a recap for you ....
And here is your joining video....
IT IS IMPORTANT to join the strips as shown in the photos, as joining them to the wrong side will interrupt the pattern.
Using Colours A & D – make 7 squares & join in strips of 3 and 4.
Then join....
Using Colours A & E – make 9 squares & join in strips of 4 and 5.
Then join....
And that is it for this week, do contact me on soozintheshed@gmail.com or Facebook/Instagram @SoozinTheShed if you need any assistance. Always happy to help.
Alternatively I would love to see your photos so tag me on Instagram or Tiktok @soozintheshed or using the hashtag #logcabincrochetwithsooz
Hello and welcome back to the Log Cabin Mosaic crochet blanket. This is Week ONE. If you missed the intro you can go back HERE to find out all about it, including material lists etc.....
So, let's begin! For week one you will need to make 9 squares in total.
Here is the square video....
And here is a handy little video for how to sew in your ends....
And here is your joining video....
IT IS IMPORTANT to join the strips as shown in the photos, as joining them to the wrong side will interrupt the pattern.
Week 1, Using Colours A & B – make 4 squares & join into a square.
Using Colours A & C – make 5 squares & join in strips of 2 and 3.
Then join the strips onto your original 4 square as shown in the photos below.
I hope that was easy enough for you, do contact me on soozintheshed@gmail.com or Facebook/Instagram @SoozinTheShed if you need any assistance. Always happy to help.
Alternatively I would love to see your photos so tag me on Instagram or Tiktok @soozintheshed or using the hashtag #logcabincrochetwithsooz
I thought I might do a little CAL (crochet-a-long) to show you how easy it was to tackle mosaic crochet. I often get told that some of my blankets look very complicated, and that is the beauty of this technique - it can look amazing, but actually isn't really that hard at all!
This pattern is just one square, but using a quilting technique to layer it up to create a log cabin effect. It is a wonderful stash buster - just make sure you have enough stash for a full line (I shall post the amounts needed below).
Every monday for 6 weeks, I will issue an update on this blog..... don't worry, it's not one of those waffly blogs where you have to read through LOADS of nonsense to get to the actual content. I can't be bothered to type all that and I am pretty sure you don't need to read it either :)
Here is a little intro for you.....
The 6 week schedule will look like this....
Week 1. make 4 squares & join
make 5 squares & join
Week 2. make 7 squares & join
make 9 squares & join
Week 3. make 11 squares & join
Week 4. make 13 squares & join
Week 5. make 15 squares & join
Week 6. Edging
Of course, if you would like a larger blanket, then I am sure by the end of the 6 weeks you will have worked out how to make it larger. I have included a chart which uses up to 11 colours.
Hook
needed...
4.50mm
Blanket Size...
Each square is 9.5cm big
(approx) – so decide how large out would like your blanket to be.
64 squares (8 x 8) would
give you a blanket of 76cm square
100 squares (10 x 10)
would give you a blanket of 95cm square
144 squares (12 x 12)
would give you a blanket of 114cm square
196 squares (14 x 14)
would give you a blanket of 133cm square
256 squares (16 x 16)
would give you a blanket of 152cm square
Yarn
needed...
Stylecraft Special DKis my preferred choice, or any DK of your
choosing
I would recommend a neutral
colour for Colour A (cream, white, pale grey)
You then need plenty of other colours - as seen in my
sample.
You can absolutely use
up yarn stash, but make sure that COLOUR A stays the same throughout, and the second colour must be the same for each “L” section (as shown by the numbers in the chart),
or the Log Cabin pattern will not work.You must change the second colour for every “L” section that you make, or again,
the pattern will not work.
For each square you
will need approx 5g of Colour A and 6g of the second colour, so count the squares on the chart and check you have enough.
So, please do join me back here on monday where we shall begin! Hopefully you are as excited about trying this as I am at seeing photos of them.
Do tag me on Instagram or Tiktok @soozintheshed or using the hashtag #logcabincrochetwithsooz
As part of a uni assignment I am creating a type of
kaleidoscope – the viewer will be made from mirrors and the discs will all be
different using various forms of architectural glass techniques.
This disc is created to look like confetti
I cut a disc of glass from clear glass and laid
it in the kiln where I then placed small pieces of paper thin blown glass shards
all over it.
It then went into the kiln overnight to be fused together.
I think it looks quite interesting.
And it looks really pretty through the kaleidoscope.
For some random reason I decided to make a useless jug.
I wanted it to be a challenge to pick up due to a strangely
shaped handle, and just in case someone fancied using it as a jug or a vase, I
put holes all the way down the back to make it totally leak if water was added.
Why?No idea.Just a strange idea.
Anyway… I hand build it using rolled out slabs of clay.
I then painted it in a few coats of different coloured
slips.
Can’t even remember what colours I used as I was just grabbing
anything from the cupboard, so it will be a nice (or not) surprise when it
comes out of the kiln.
I decided to do some random designs on it too with my
Sgraffito carving tool. I marked off
some sections to begin…
… then lightly marked a pattern so I could go back and carve
it properly once done.
Quite pleased with the outcome so far, it will look a little
different once glazed and fired.
The first thing to do was to get my equipment together.I needed a clean bucket, water jug, 120 gauge
sieve, a bowl and a stick mixer.You
can use a wooden spoon but it’s a bit quicker with a mixer.
I weighed out 200g of ball clay powder, 200g of china clay
powder, 20g of stain and roughly a litre of water.
I put all the powders (whilst wearing a mask of course) and
the water into a large clean bucket.
Then I blitzed it with my stick blender until it was nice and
smooth.
Once that was done it was time to run the coloured slip
through a 120 gauge sieve, and into a clean bowl, to make sure there was
absolutely no lumps left.
Lovely and smooth.
Ready for painting onto leather hard clay.
I then poured it into a
lidded container and labelled it. As
slips can look a bit different to the powder colour once mixed.
Then I had to thoroughly
clean every piece of equipment properly so not to cross contaminate the next
mix.
