Crochet Patchwork Style Bag

You may remember THIS blog post featuring a colourful jumper.  Well originally I bought this yarn to make a bag with, but as it was so lovely I made a jumper instead.

I ended up with a couple of balls spare, so guess what?  I decided to make that bag after all.

Only I didn't quite have enough. I managed to get 15 and a bit squares and I needed 24.  Was I really going to have to go back and order one more ball online and pay postage for one ball?  Like that would happen, me, ordering one single ball of wool.

But 10 miles away in Wigton I found a stockist, called Woolsty, so I jumped in the car and off I went. (Now, I do know that it would have been cheaper to pay postage of £3.00 than paying for petrol to do a 20 mile round trip, but hey, it was something to do on a miserable Saturday afternoon)

Slight issue was that there was no shade 5.  What to do, what to do?

Easy, buy a different shade, well, it is a patchwork style bag afterall.

This one is shade 7 - and actually, I like it a little bit more. I am wishing I had seen that when buying it originally as I am sure this would make a wonderful jumper.

24 squares later and I am ready to join them up.

Can you believe all these squares from just 2 balls?  Lovely.

I joined them with a very pale blue colour yarn, just because it looked better than others I laid beside it from my stash.

So, this is where I am at the moment.  I now need to sew all those ends in, and I am planning to line it with material and a little wadding.  I think lovely buttons at the joins wouldn't go amiss too   :)

If you fancy making one, you can find the pattern over on A Creative Being's blog  :)

Funky Crocheted Jumper

Just finished this funky, groovy jumper. 

I bought this fabulous "James C Brett" yarn way back in August in a little shop in St Austell, Cornwall.   There was only 4 balls available, so I bought them all thinking I would find something to do with them.

I had a bag pattern that I had been meaning to do for a while, but when I started, the yarn felt so incredibly gorgeous I thought it was a bit of a waste to make a bag with it.  So I started a jumper.   YEP, I started a jumper, only owning 4 balls of this yarn!   Does anyone else do that?

I found the pattern HERE.  (you might have to make an account to view it)

The yarn is James C Brett, Monsoon, shade 5.  It is an Aran weight with a 70% Acrylic 30% Wool mix.

Of course I got so far and ran out  :)

Luckily, I managed to track some down online and ordered it.

At first I was unsure about the arm fitting, looks a bit strange huh?  I thought it would make the jumper fit a bit funny, but it doesn't.  It actually hangs quite nice.  I would show you a photo of me wearing it, but I am still to be convinced that I don't look like a DFS bargain basement sofa!  (Other furniture stockists are available)

I love 3/4 sleeves - so much less to get messy when you craft.  And I really like this jumper, once I pluck up the courage to wear it I am sure it will be a firm favourite.