Crochet waistband Tutu

I made the cutest Tutu for Grandbaby no: 1

What is is about Tutu's that make them incredibly cute.  I wish I could wear one, but I would look a wee bit odd, at my time of life!  Think, Mavis.

Anyhoo, this one is pink, frilly and perfect for a little girl who is just starting dancing lessons.

So, I crochet the waistband in a pink DMC Natura Cotton with a 3mm hook, I crocheted it over a band of thick elastic for sturdyness.

Then added a picot fan edging to make it look pretty.

The Tulle is added to the loops created, I only added two layers of Tulle, but I did enough loops for a third layer, so if she ever wants the Tutu "puffier" I can add the third layer easily.

It fit beautifully, and will look super cute on the dancefloor, don't you think?

I lent it to Hobbycraft, Carlisle for their display, looks quite good like this!

If you would like a copy of the tutorial, please email me and I will send you one through FREE of charge  :)

A C2C (Corner to Corner) crochet Duck panel

Just one of those evenings when you need to fiddle with something, but inspiration has escaped and ran down the road.

I went to search through my laptop for my "things I must try" list and found nothing that inspired me there.  But then, accidentally, I clicked on the icon for my Cross-Stitch designer - I used to design and sell the odd Cross-Stitch pattern about 12 years ago.   

So I was browsing through them when I found a group of Farmyard Animals that I had done.  after a little editing, I printed out a pattern suitable for a C2C panel.  I went and dug some yarn out of my stash and got to work.

Can you tell what it is yet?  Oh yeah, a Duck - because I told you that already!

I put a photo on my Facebook page and got all sorts of random answers - a Mario Mushroom, Angry Birds, Pokemon, Christmas Tree (!!), Dragon.... I can see where most of them were coming from.

Oh, and an eye appears.

Ahhh, and then we have a Duck... but also a huge issue!  I ran out of yarn!!   And as it was from my stash, and unbanded, I have no idea what it was or where it was from.  It is a strange lillacy blue colour too so no hope of matching it.

So, now I am deciding whether to pull it all out, just put it in the bin, or add a totally different coloured corner.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Everest blanket for Derek Eland / Artist on Everest

It was a good while ago that I made "The Everest Blanket" for artist Derek Eland.

Each section of the blanket was taken from a photograph that Derek took whilst he was "Artist on Everest"

I crocheted four rows in each sitting, using the colours from one photo at a time.

The split photos before show the photo of Derek's that I worked from along side the crochet I created from those colours that jumped out at me.

And then it was done! A riot of glorious colour.  If I had have told you I was making a blanket based on colours from the photos taken on Mount Everest, would you have expected it to be so colourful?   No, me neither.  White, grey and blue I expected.

As I say, it has been a while since I made this and it has now gone to it's new home in Derek's house, but there is an exhibition of Derek's amazing work on Everest.  It is at Rheged and is on from SATURDAY 29 APRIL – SUNDAY 2 JULY 2017l

If you can, do take the time to go and see it, it is free entry and I am sure it will blow you away.

https://www.rheged.com/event/derek-eland-being-human-at-base-camp/

C2C (Corner to Corner) Crochet Owl Panel

I have had loads of people ask me for a "Graphghan" workshop.

A Graphghan is working from a chart to create a picture within a piece of crochet.  It can be done with Granny Squares, Bobbles and the popular C2C stitch.

So, off I went, opened my Cross-Stitch program  (did you know I used to design the odd Cross-Stitch pattern) and designed what I thought would be a workable pattern.

An Owl, everyone loves owls don't they?

I grabbed some yarn and first of all I weighed it, after all if I was going to run a workshop I would need to know how much yarn everyone would need.

Then I started hooking away merrily.

Well before this point I realised that this was not going to be a workable class, it was taking me far too long so would take students even longer.

I finished it anyway having spend over 6 hours on it!

Still, it worked out nice, and when I make a few more it will tile together to make a fun blanket.

Feel free to use the chart above if you would like to make your own, but I would appreciate it if you would credit me when you do  :)

And, back to the cross-stitch programme to create a simpler design  :)