Yarn bombing in Rosslyn near Washington DC

We were on holidays and happened on this as we were leaving the subway to go back to our hotel.

We crossed the road to take better photos.

They were at the corner of Lynn Street and Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn, Virginia.

Enjoy your sewing, knitting,crochet, and the summer.

Pascale

My granny squares crochet bag

After reading too many blogs, some about sewing, but also about knitting and crochet, I was very tempted to take my hooks again. I settled on a granny bag, with some cotton thread from Rico Design (creative cotton aran). I found it in a shop in Bath called Wool.

To make this bag I crocheted 22 squares and linked them together as I went. It did require some thinking at the end, but it means there is no seam  to sew.

 To make the lining, I tried to copy the shape on some paper by flattening the bag. Amazingly it worked.
The lining means that the bag looks more finished and things won't fall through the holes, like pencils (but then loose pencils would put carbon in the bag!).
The handle is shaped bamboo. I had it in stock and was worried it would stretch out but so far so good.

This is a  close up of the square. You could make it any size with bigger/smaller squares, wool, more rows around each centre. There are a lot of possibilities

Enjoy your sewing.

Pascale.

Pink crocheted hat

I forgot to show you this hat I crocheted.

 The design is from Laura Cracknell  from "Made in Oxford". She has a page on Ravelry.

 I made the hat for DD3 who is modelling here in her school uniform . I made the flower to go on the hat, but she doesn't want it. Too bad. It could become a brooch.

 I bought the pattern in a shop called "Wool" in Bath, 10 metres away from my favourite patchwork shop "Country Threads" mentioned before. The thread is variegated and produced by Louisa Harding, Grace col. 20.

And some detail to show you the shells. Very nice if I can say so.

Happy sewing.

Crochet holder

 For some time I have followed the blog of Cecile Franconie, she is french and writes in french but don't let that stop you from visiting and having a look. She uses embroidery to the maximum, adding ribbons and beads. Her choice of fabrics is different and opens new doors.
Her blog is "Facile Cecile", and she also has some projects published in magazines, like Magic Patch, which is translated in English, and books like this one "rangements a coudre". Her next one is coming in March.

Let's come back to my crochet holder. I've used some liberty fabric inside, a piece of ribbon to close it, and some crochet along the top edge. This makes all the difference from other crochet holders, and is in the style of Cecile. Why make simple things when you can make beautiful things.

She admits to spending a lot of time sewing, crocheting or knitting, as well as having a big family.

  So I hope to have inspired you to discover somebody new, or maybe you already knew about her work.

 Have a good Sunday.

Bear Brooch

I found this tutorial on the net, to crochet a bear and mount it as a brooch.

You need 2 big circles and 2 small, easy.

And then my daughter, can't remember which one, said it looked like a pig....maybe because of the colour of the cotton !

Anyway I wore it once and got some interest, so I can say that it is a ..nice .. bear.

You can find the tutorial on Folksy, the author is Irenestrange, and it is called an amigurimi bear.

White hat

We have been on holidays, sorry for the gap in the posts.

As with all holidays, there was much preparation (cancel the milk, cut the grass...), much stress on the journey, what with crossing the Channel, but everything went well at the end. We attended a wedding in the Champagne area, guess what we drank ! and then had a few relaxing days.

Now back home, the fridge is full, and I have a few projects to finish.

The first one, started and finished on holidays, was this little white cotton hat.

With the time, and the sun, I have more and more freckles, so wanted something to protect my face. But I must say that I have a big head, so hats in shops never fit.

Nevermind I decided to make one, and it was easy.

The explanations came in the magazine Marie Claire Idees, summer number, published only in french. I went to a lovely shop in France where the owner recomended the thread. She insisted that there must be some rigidity in the finished product. I bought a crochet hook, and checked after every row that my head could fit. I made one mistake, which meant I added one more stitch per row, but it's OK. Just slightly too big at the bottom.

Oh and you get to see my face, with the little wrinkles that have appeared around my eyes, must be too much laughing...

I know that this hat is not high fashion, but I can wear it in the garden, to read a book outside, etc...and as the weather has been quite nice recently, it is pretty useful.

Enjoy the summer if you have it.

Crochet baby shoes

Sorry I haven't posted for a week, I have been busy but nothing finished.

My log cabin is in the quilting stage, and I am just bracing myself for some free machine quilting.

I knit in the evenings, and at the swimming pool waiting for DD4, I'm on the second sock. The first one is a bit see threw near the heel, I will have to go back to it.

And I also quickly made some baby shoes in crochet, they will be given soon to a friend who had a little boy. He is already a month old so I need to hurry.

The pattern comes from the book "First Crochet" by Lesley Stanfield, and the explanations are very good. I am not a specialist in crochet, at all.

My last word is that finally today the sun is back, after the storm we had last week. One of our fences was damaged by the wind, and DH has just repaired it, so now the rabbit is free again in the garden. He is hopping between the daffodils, and basking in the sunshine. Lovely.

Christmas presents and happy new year

First I want to wish you all a Happy New Year. It seems to be widely celebrated here in France, a sign of the secularisation of society.

I have not been so present on this blog for the past week, and regret it, but I was quite busy, going out and everything, and really enjoying myself. It is so nice to see your good friends and family, even if it is only once a year, or so it seems.

Back to my crafting, I can show you some photos of things I made for Christmas.

Daughter number one is modelling.

There are 2 scarves made in crochet with a thread by Debbie Bliss in cashmere and cotton. They are fast and fun to make, and I found the pattern in this book: "First Crochet: Step-by-step Projects for Crochet Novices by Lesley Stanfield"

I really enjoy the book and have also made some baby shoes from this. I need to take some photos. I have tried the flower but not done anything with it yet.

It is my best book on crochet.

I will show you something else tomorrow, a bag.