Extra Curricular Crafting

I went online shopping a few weeks ago. I blame it all on Maria, one of the girls in my knitting group. She is a MasterCrafter in my opinion. There is no craft she cannot turn her hand to without spectacular results. You name it, she does it. Quilting, Embroidery, Sewing, Knitting, Crochet and box-making. She brought an example of the latter up the other week, and I was smitten. I went home armed with the website addresses, and a couple of weeks later, two parcels arrived.

The first was fabric from E-Quilter:





Isn't it the shizz? I got a yard and a half of each for a total of $27 incl postage. Love.

The second parcel was the box kits from Dreamboxes:

I got a kit to make an A4 pad holder:



I also got a kit to make a Pencil holder:



These beauties are going to brighten up my office no end. I think I paid about €45 for the kits. So, today I got crafting. It took me almost all day, but I finished the A4 pad holder!



Isn't it fab? You slot your pad in on the right hand side, and the left side has a flap for notes etc.



I can't wait to bring this baby to my next tax meeting. This should brighten up the dull discussions! Oh yes, I can bring it to tax.

I also got this notepad. I couldn't resist adding to my sheep collection/obsession.



Remember at the beginning of my post I mentioned Maria, the MasterCrafter? Well, her talents know no end. She finally managed to teach me how to crochet a Granny Square. I can't tell you how long it has taken me to finally master this. I think it was a mental block thing. No matter how many times I tried I just couldn't get it. Well, now I have! Booyah!



Good knitting!

Lots of activity, not much to show

I've been really busy this week, chasing my tail. This always seems to be the way when you return from holidays, doesn't it? It's been a cycle of washing, ironing, cleaning, work (which is mental) and trying to squeeze in some knitting time too.

I made my Christmas puddings this weekend which was a bittersweet occasion. This has always been something my Mam and I did together and it was a day of great fun. This year she wasn't interested at all even going so far as to (gasp) suggest we buy one from a shop!(/gasp)

So, I took matters into my own hands and made them on Saturday. I was up until 2am steaming the first two, so I got this finished while I waited!

Pattern: Toasty Hot Water Bottle Cosy

Yarn: Donegal Tweed Aran

Needles: 5.5mm

This knit up in no time and Alice is thrilled with it. "It's so huggy Mom" she said last night taking it to bed. Aww. I used two colours as they were essentially scraps I had left over. This picture doesn't really show the cables very well, but it turned out nicely I think.

Yesterday while the last pudding steamed (7.5 hrs) in between making breakfast, dinner, tea and Alice's swimming lessons I got cracking on this:

It's going to be a communion cardigan for Alice, allegedly. My crochet instructor says so anyway.

I measured Alice up and am going to make this an almost bolero style cardi that just comes to under her "bust" as her dress has a high waistline.

It's bloody difficult! I'm using a 2.5mm hook and some cotton thread held together with some lurex "for sparkle" the instructor says. Gotta have some sparkle apparently. It's so slippy I keep dropping the thread and my tension is all over the place.

This was the progress made by lunchtime yesterday. By bedtime last night I had finished the 4" up to her armpits to split for the sleeves. It's really hard to see the pattern here, the cotton is so stiff it kinda needs to be spread out to show it properly. Alice doesn't like it, she thinks it's too hard to the touch. I reckon washing would sort that, but tbh, I'm not feeling the love.

I think I might see a sneaky knitted alternative hiding in the wings.

Another FO, my first ever crochet project!
Crochet Tea Cosy, no pattern.

Yarn: Misc Acrylic
Hook: 4.5mm

Sorry for the crappy photo, taken on my mobile in Mam & Dads kitchen.
This was my test piece in class where my instructor taught me how to crochet. She took it home when I had finished and joined the front and back and wadded it for me. I gave it to Mam & Dad as chez moi is strictly a tea bag in a mug type house and Dad loves it!

This is a crochet scarf that I have no pattern for and no idea what stitches to use. I'm just doing trebles at the moment, but must see if I can find a nicer stitch than that.

Absolutely no progress on the second garter rib sock for Dads Christmas present, I must get going on that soon.

Hourglass Sock 2:

Again, nothing much doing. I was determined to get the crochet cardigan and the hot water bottle done so everything else seemed to suffer a bit.

I'm almost glad to be back in work today (I said ALMOST) for the break! What an exhausting weekend.