Yarn Bowl

Yay! We've just been to collect this from our local potters - it is just perfect!

I'd originally started looking on Etsy for one but they were pretty pricey and then there was the postage charge on top which was obviously going to be on the steep side...then someone suggested trying a local potter so we went round there: armed with photos of the type of thing I was looking for.

They'd never heard/seen of one before but he said that he'd give it a go as a trial and would get back to me with the results.



I am so delighted with it - it's the perfect size and is a beautiful shade of blue (I love blues and purples, so it's just a lovely colour for me - really soothing...which for me is what crochet is all about: relaxation and 'me time'.

He'd made a few of them to see if they would be able to sell them in the shop - I hope so -- it was only €20, which is a bargain for something that was custom made for me :)



Doesn't it just 'go' brilliantly with the ocean blue wristers I'm working on?!!!

Oh and yes I did order some more wool, even though I know I don't really need it (blush)-- six balls of the Tivoli 'Ocean Aran' yarn -- 2 of the gorgeous blue one (my favourite) and 2 balls each of two other shades, sort of jewel and peacock colours......thought they'd make some nice wristers - I could sit and make wrist warmers all day long :)

Wonky Crochet...

I think I should start a 'when crochet goes wrong' post... the bag I was making was turning out ok but when I was putting the edging on it it all went a bit wonky....I've left it as it is for now but I need to unpick that and see if I can do it differently.

Think I put too many stitches in the edging so it kind of went too wide and wonky; sigh...

The strap isn't right either - sigh sigh sigh..........

So I've gone back to something I DO know how to make - wrist warmers :) I think I've got enough of my favourite wool for a pair (the Tivoli ocean blue stuff) - not sure but I thought I'd start on a pair anyway and can always rip them out if there isn't enough; it's all good practice.

Oooooh I've just been looking on the Springwools site at the Ocean wool and am quite tempted to buy some more.......and some of the other shades too.....I get so tempted by all the options available...it's too much and I forget that I have a LOT of other yarns already here..........but it would be nice to get some new stuff in..........watch this space :)

Etsy Listing - Ruffly Handbag

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54221359/blackberry-ruffle-bag

I've listed the ruffled handbag on Etsy this evening and it's had seven views already :) I think it looks really perfect for Autumn/Winter so I'm hoping it will sell quite quickly - I'm never too sure what 'tags' to use when I'm listing things on there though...but hopefully someone nice will find it and give it a home.

The colour is just gorgeous - edible almost!

I've sold the shelly fruit salad colour scarf today :) To a lovely local lady :) I've sold quite a few pieces locally now - three pairs of wrist warmers, two scarves and a ruffled handbag ... not too bad I think?!!

I keep thinking 'Oh I must buy some more wool...' but I forget how much I actually have: so I am trying to use some of it up before I do any more spending - this is hard though as I keep finding patterns that don't really suit any of the wool I have. I think it's kind of like when you look in a full wardrobe of lovely clothes and still think that you don't have anything to wear. Sigh!

Peter bought me a crochet book when he was last in England and it's got so many patterns I want to use..but they are nearly all made from really fine fluffy wool - which I need to buy!

But I am trying a bag pattern from there, using up some more of the wool from the ruffled handbags -- I'm making it in the bilberry/blackberry yarn with denim blue stripes - it's a messenger bag I guess. I've only done a little bit so far but it's turning out ok.

I'm not sure what will be next now when I've that finished...I have a pair of chickie chick egg cosies on the go but am taking a break from them as they are so fiddly and I can't find the orange wool for their beaks and feet!

Ruffly Handbag

Oh how I love making these :)

Ha, I haven't been posting on here for a while so I bet you thought I hadn't been busy crocheting...but no! I have been making one of my favourite things -- a ruffled handbag.

I have made a total of six of these to date and I love them!! I have a bright red one myself (the first one I made) and have sold three and now will have two listed on Etsy once I get photos taken of this new one.

The colour is just plain yummy - a colour that reminds me of blackberries and autumn, it has teeny tiny flecks of blue and white fibres that you wouldn't really even notice until you stare at it up close, which I like - it gives a depth to the colour rather than just being a single flat shade.

The photo above shows the ruffle, which I made in the garden over a few days - it is very long and has thousands (literally) of stitches - it takes soooooooooo much wool to make one of these bags - about 600g I think.

As with all the ruffled handbags I've made this is made from Aran weight pure new wool from Kerry Woollen Mills in Killarney so it is locally sourced :) I love working with their yarn but it is pricey...

I'll post some more photos of the finished bag tomorrow and will hopefully get it listed on Etsy - oh how I need another sale...

New Listing...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53593821/fruit-salad-scarf

Well I still haven't figured out how to post a link so you'll have to copy and paste it yourself if you want to check out my finished scarf; I finished it a couple of days ago but never got round to listing it til today.

I had a sale on Etsy the other day - just a crochet hook I don't need; but it's going all the way to Los Angeles -- how cool is that?!

edit - Carrie I can't suss out the link thing at all, I keep thinking it works and then when I preview nothing happens :( sigh...

I'll try again when I'm not so tired I guess -- I still tried to do the Etsy Ireland button (which I'll need to you tell me again as I lost your other instructions...this is a bear of very little brain, remember?!)

Fruit Salad Scarf - continued

Thought I'd post a photo of where I was crocheting this afternoon :)



I am on my days off work (at long last!) and went for a long walk along the beach, to do a bit of beach combing and then sat down for a while to do some more work on this scarf.


While I was there, I could see four seals out of the water and basking on the rocks at the far edge of the rock pools - what a treat! There were also choughs, oyster catchers, curlews and various gulls :)

Fruit Salad Scarf

That's what I'm calling it anyway (at the moment!)- but it also reminds me of shells on the beach.

It's made from 100% cotton, which is nice to work with, but scarves are always so slow...still it's a nice thing to be making when I'm relaxing at home and off work.

I've changed the original pattern - which was wider (more of a shawl than a scarf) and have left out a couple of 'gappy' rows to keep the pattern more simple (if the yarn was just plain I think I'd have left them in, but I like it to look like this).

Rainbow Scarf

I've 'deactivated' the listing on Etsy for this scarf as Rosie wants to have a look at it :)

She already bought a pair of the wristers in this wool so hopefully she will like the scarf too!

I like the colours in this wool - I used the images of the rainbow scarf for some of my mini-moo cards -- I think it's eye catching :)

Shrug...or not!

Well I've ripped out the shrug and have set aside the wool for something else (as yet undecided) and am now making a fancy-looking scarf in cotton yarn instead.

I do tend to change my mind a lot about what I want to make...

The scarf is looking pretty good so far, but I've only done about 10 rows, so there's loads more to do on it yet. This time of year is so busy at work that I'm left exhausted when I'm not at work, so I don't really have my normal energy levels.

I'll post a couple of photos later though, just to show how it's looking so far.

The cotton reminds me of a fruit salad - shades of reds, pinks, creams with a bit of yellow in too - I think it would be easier to just take a photo!

http://cache.lionbrand.com/stores/lionbrand/pictures/80848ada.jpg

that's the photo from the pattern website (god bless lionbrand, they have the best patterns I've found on the internet and all free!)