A Tale of Two Scarves . . . . .

Well, I have actually managed to make a couple of handmade gifts this year . . . . hurray!!  The crochet seashell scarf is finished, complete with scallop border . . .

I'm quite pleased with my modification of adding the scallop pattern to the beginning of the scarf - I think the edging was too pretty to 'square' it off as the pattern suggested.  I finished it during a power-cut this week - lots of thunder and lightning here!

I made the scarf about 100 cm long as that seemed long enough to tuck it under a coat or jacket as I think the recipient would do :)  Great pattern, only problem is I want one for myself now!  It was so nice to see Alessandra's version here - we've been crocheting in tandem, how cool!

I really wanted to have a go at a man's scarf then, so made a simple vertical scarf using half-trebles.  It worked - I'm so delighted with this simple scarf and it only took a few hours to make . . .

I chained 165, then continued in rows of half-trebles (starting chain of 2 at the beginning of each row) - 3 rows of each colour.  I used Lion Brand Wool Ease and a 6.5 mm hook.  It measures about 54.5 inches long (138 cm) and is 5.25 inches wide . . .

I'm not sure if its manly enough or not???!

Anyway, I'm sure the recipient will tell me :)

And this weekend . . . we had snow - yippee!  Youngest made a snowman . . .

Isn't he cute?  He didn't last long sadly - as you can see the snow is melting already, aw :(

Christmas preparations are ongoing here - hope yours are going well wherever you are :) :)

Bye for Now!
Alison xxx

So much to make . . . . so little time!

Aaaaaagh - it's that time of year again, so many plans to make homemade gifts . . .

I keep getting distracted at the moment by lovely patterns in books and online - it's relaxing not to have to come up with my own designs! 

Today I set off to my craft space to do a little sort-out and possibly look for some yarn to make a quick scarf as a pressie maybe.  I came across a stash of King Cole Big Value Chunky acrylic yarn I'd used for a previous project - hmmmmm, that looks good for a scarf maybe??  Quick dash onto Ravelry to see what came up for this yarn - came across a lovely pattern which I happened to have in a book already - bingo!!

Well, before I knew it I was standing in the middle of a guddle of craft stuff and yarn, hook in hand and a yummy ball of bright pink chunky wool . . . . . . there's no time like the present!

The pattern is Chunky Seashell Scarf by Nicki Trench (Cute and Easy Crochet).  Isn't it great when you can start a project there and then, LOL :)

This is a lovely easy pattern using a 7 mm hook - I think I'm really going to enjoy it, and it's working up a treat today already . . .

I've copied out the two main rows of the pattern so I don't have to lug the book around the house while I crochet! . . .

I've just returned to this book in the last week or so . . . . really lovely patterns!  I bought it initially when I was a beginner crocheter so only made some quite basic patterns.  Looking at it last weekend though I decided to have a go at the Russian dolls near the back of the book.  This was a lovely weekend project - I made the largest of the four dolls - it was a treat to make . . .

I'm not sure if she'll be a gift or not yet, but I loved making her and hope to make the rest of the set later - perhaps a Xmas holiday project?  I hiccuped a bit at the reverse double crochet stitch (which I Googled later) in the pattern, but managed to fudge a bit of a fix up!

I'm waiting for some yarn to make some other Xmas gifts (also inspired by this book!) so I'll share them with you soon I hope :)  (Or maybe just a sneaky peek!)

I was really disturbed by the TV images of the Black Friday shopping mania in other parts of the UK last Friday - VERY scary stuff, thankfully we didn't have scenes like that here in the Hebrides!  I'm avoiding the shopping queues until I really have to :) :)  How about you?

Bye for Now . . .
Alison xx