My Creative Space is preparing for winter…

…with these little slippers. I crocheted them for Maya but after lightly felting them, her feet barely fit into them. So I have given them to my friend’s little 3 month old daughter whose feet are waaay too small yet.

Speaking of the gorgeous little girl, I forgot to show you what I made for her when she was born. This is my first crocheted blanket, made before I worked out that you can actually join the motifs as you crochet them.

So many hours were spent (unnecessarily) stitching all these hexagons together.

Hopefully it is keeping her nice and cosy with the cooler weather we have been having this season.

And hopefully she is having fun playing “where is the white sheep” with this softie I made from an opped cotton and silk knitted jumper.

More creativity over here at Kootoyoo.

My Crochety Creative Space

I think I’ve jumped into the deep end with this dress I’ve started crocheting for Maya. I have no pattern. I wouldn’t even know how to read a pattern yet. So I’m making it up as I go along.

I’ve learnt how to chain, double crochet and treble crochet and I’m using one of Maya’s other dresses as a guide for shaping the armholes. I’m making 2 pieces, a front and a back, which I’ll join at the shoulders and sides later. I started crocheting at the neckline and created the V shape by adding extra stitches at the centre – I’m guessing that’s what you call increasing? You guys can probably tell me more about what I’m doing than I can! Then to try and flatten the V shape at the bottom of the dress, I’ve had to add “wedges” of crochet at the sides, which is why things look a little wonky in this photo above. It’s looking okay though and I promise to show and tell more later when it’s finished.

There has also been some success with the blanket I want to fix. I’ve only fixed one side so far – it’s slow going trying to push the hook through the grey loops and then pulling my new purple round through. And I have to pull the whole ball of yarn through the grey loops too. The yarn keeps getting tangled which is very frustrating and I can’t wait just to get it finished now and back onto Khye’s bed where it belongs. Thanks heaps for your advice on this one.

Heading to Kootoyoo now to check out your Creative Spaces!

Crochet - help!

My main motivation for learning to crochet (apart from the obvious "making pretty stuff"), has been to fix the hole in this blanket. It has been very happy on Khye's bed except for the big hole staring at me every time I go into his room. So I've finally decided to do something about it.

I removed one round of grey crocheting where the hole was. I've worked out how to treble and do the triple treble thing. I have crocheted the green round on to the middle square to replace the grey round I pulled out. (And wouldn’t you know it, I ran out of green just before the end - bugger.) Anyway my question is how do I attach the middle square to the rest of the blanket?

Do I have to stitch it on separately? Or maybe I need to undo the green round and redo it somehow hooking the bottom of the grey trebles as I go? I’m not quite sure how to hook the grey trebles in though ‘cos I can’t pull the whole ball of yarn through them. Please, I need help! Thanks!

A most opportune find!

For the last couple of months I've been thinking about how I would love to get a carpet sweeper, just to pick up obvious bits of mess without the arduous task of dragging out the vaccuum cleaner. I had decided that it was highly unlikely I would find a carpet sweeper at the oppy and that ebay was probably going to be my best bet. I haven't even checked ebay yet, but just look at what I stumbled across at my local oppy this week ...
... a gorgeous red Sabco "Whisk Away" complete with white wooden handle!

Other finds this week are these two beautiful crochet blankets.

I found these for only $3 each in the dog blanket box. I never understand why they put perfectly good blankets in the dog blankets box.

Actually these aren't "perfectly good". They both need a really, really good wash and a bit of TLC. One has blobs of melted wax all over it.
Hopefully I can get it out. Shannon Lush tells me I should be able to. And the other blanket has a dirty great hole in it.

So all you crocheters out there, tell me, is this hole repairable? I'm assuming all 3 rows of grey will need to be pulled out and replaced??? I can't crochet, but I'm hoping I'll learn one day ... or maybe I can get Mum to help me fix it!

Kiera is pretty happy with my finds this week!

I also picked up some great fabric (read pillowcases, tablecloths, and an apron) from a couple of op shops in Violet Town and Beechworth over the weekend.

I also found this beautiful cotton tea towel.

And this very cute linen pot holder with a 1977 calendar printed on it.

Pop over to Sophie's for more great finds!

New things I’ve been having fun making lately…

…a penguin softie – an order for a work collegue. I designed him from scratch and I am actually amazed at how well he turned out!
…a beautifully soft angora wool cot blanket – an order for a friend for her soon to be grandson.

…another soft wool cot blanket – available for sale.

…a fabric rocking horse for Khye. This is a sneak peek as I haven’t finished him yet. I am making him from a pattern from a 1970’s magazine that Mum collected when we were kids.

…a soft fabric portable house/garage/barn/building for Khye. Again a sneak peek as I haven’t finished it yet. Here is the tutorial from UK Lass in US.

More on the horse and the house later when they are finished.

What new things have you been making lately?