Peach Patterns

A beanie war?

It's winter and that means but one thing: a beanie must be crocheted (especially since my crochet skills do not extend much further than this and the odd granny square).

It's a bit tricky because both of the girls have claimed this one:

But wait!

She who stays home from kindy wins the beanie war!  And, as the old saying goes, winners are grinners: 

Pattern by Retro Mummy is the same as last year's model here.  I added some pre-made felt flowers rather than a crochet flower this time around.

Circles & squares

Wow, that was a long break from posting.  I've had my head down finishing some pattern drafting,  Cee Cee has had the busiest term yet at school and Miss Wink has been just too cute.  So.... I haven't had the time to put much up here.

 

There has been some activity though! I spied the pattern for these circley-grannies over at Jellywares and have been working on them every now and then as a bit of crafting-in-front-of-the-TV type therapy.  I think they've got a much more modern vibe than your standard granny and really love working the circle into a square.

 

 
I think I might make just enough of these for a cushion cover or a cot blanket.  As a crochet newbie, I've got to say I'm dreading the bit where you have to sew the squares together!  Is it as bad as I'm thinking?

Blossom in a beanie

The littlest member of our household was 2 while we were away on holiday so I didn't get a chance to wish her a happy birthday blog-style.  Here she is looking very proud of herself after emptying all the toys onto the living room floor.

 

We're playing inside because despite some early sun the temperature has dropped dramatically today and we're freezing.  A perfect day, in fact, for modelling a recently completed crochet hat made to Retro Mummy's pattern.  (I love this pattern. Thanks Corrie!)

 
"Hold still while I take one of you Mum!"

"OK enough with the photos. Let's put that lens cap back on now and get back to some serious mess making."

Happy belated birthday gorgeous!

Hooray: I can crochet!

I've been involved in a secret squirrel project: teaching myself to crochet.  I started while away on Easter break and have been grabbing snippets of time whenever I can to make some little bits and pieces.

The other day while in Newtown on my way to get some buttons at the best button shop in town, I stumbled upon A Coffee and a Yarn.  This is the new yarn store/cafe that you've probably read about on a few blogs.  I hadn't realised it was so close to my destination and of course, once I spotted it, I had to pop inside for a quick visit.

Being a beginner and with zero yarn knowledge, I'm a bit of a sucker for the overly expensive purchase. Exhibit one: this exquisite "fine milk cotton" which I'm not sure whether to crochet with or eat: it actually contains milk proteins!

I started by making flower motifs from a pdf pattern by Sarah London.  If you're an absolute beginner like me I'd recommend starting with grannies first, though.  I eventually switched to making them and they were much easier to use as an exercise for understand the basics and practicing stitches.

  

Other beginner tips:

• Understanding the pattern explanations are a bit like learning another language.  I stared blankly at first hoping to make some sense.  It's worthwhile persisting because it's such fun when it finally sinks in!
• I bought Learning to Crochet because it includes some cute crochet trim patterns which I'd like to have a go at.  You don't really need a book, though, as there's such a huge amount of information online.  
• If you want to learn to make granny squares, Pip from Meet Me At Mikes has a great tutorial series which is easy to spot via the links in her blog sidebar.
• I think Ravelry is awesome but I'm putting it on the backburner for a little while until I learn a bit more. It can be a bit overwhelming to dive into first up.
• The best for my money on actually learning the stitches are Crochet Australia and Annies Attic because they use stitch diagrams which are large and easy to understand.

So far, so good: am loving my new crafty skill and especially the fact that it's so portable.  Will post more photos as I go....