I bought a simple whole meal bread mix, mixed it in the bread maker and when the dough was ready to be knocked back I added some pitted olives sliced, spring onions and rosemary .. bake for 40mins and enjoy!!!
Then sat back thinking about bunting.. what a perfect day…………..
Sorry for being away for so long… but I’ll let my photos and collages speak for themselves to as to what my absence.
Photos from the NEC Craft Exhibition, cookery and crochet 
Next time I shall be talking about my new found knitting skills and how I am learning to use my yarns for each project .. have a super happy weekend xxxxxxxxx
I hope you have all been thoroughly spoilt for Mothers day or indeed simply because you have deserved it.
Its been a while for me to post anything as I have been told that I need to rest and ensure that I get plenty of sleep.. so that’s what I have been doing.
The knitting group has started again so, its been nice to see the old faces again, catching up on the gossip PLUS I am delighted to say that we have all been invited to attend the Chrildrens Cancer ward Christmas lunch this year, isn’t that fantastic!
This month I have donated Rosita the flower and might work on some more of them in different colours for the kids.. but the pussy cat below I made for Lynn.
Hector who now keep Kikki the dog company!
However now, I’m finding time to make things for me, to spoil me and to please me and only me… so these little african flowers are ….
The start of my new Heidi bears pattern for my fruity Lollo Bear. She will eventually live on my bed to keep me company when watching horror movies in bed!
And here are Mother’s day treat of Custard Tart
Strictly for grown ups
Vodka Gummy Bears!!
As you might have gathered in-between making things for the charity group I’ve undertaken a new project of a slouchy jacket for me.. I have never made anything just for me before and its a nice challenge.. It’s also helping a new member of the group that chose the pattern for us to make together.
She’s new to crochet so its nice to have someone to teach, its like a personal CAL! Here is the back of the jacket.
Its a nice neutral taupe colour I suppose with 20% Aran yarn in the making.
I’m thinking of perhaps embellishing it with some zany flowers to bring it more up to date and stamp a little personality into it… we shall see.
What have you gals been up to over the last couple of weeks .. write and tell me.
Sending you my very best of spring sun kisses hugs … Helen x
Ref …http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-flower-toy-called-rosita
Ref … http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/amineko-crocheted-cat
Ref …http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lollo-the-african-flower-bear
Ref …http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/penny-arcade-jacket
Ref ….http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13353/custard-tart-with-nutmeg-pastry-
Today I am happy to share this pattern with you which really is as easy as 1, 2, 3.!
How to make the coloured madallions.
What you need to note is that there are NO chains inbetween the dc’s in any of the rounds of 1, 2 ,3 . this is so that you have a nice solid madallion, tight and bright.
No 1 MAKE THE PINWHEELS AS SHOWN BELOW
Make a magic circle, chain 3 (1st dc) make another 11 dc.. total 12 dc’s inside magic circle. Slip stitch into first chain
NO 2 round AS BELOW
Change colour and make 2dc’s into each dc space from previous round… slip sitch into 1st chain. ( 12 x 2dc in each space)
NO 3 AS PHOTO BELOW
Change colour and make 3 dc’s into dc space from previous round.
(12 x 3dc in each space from previous round)
No4 AS PHOTO BELOW
Your constant surround colour as in the green found below in photo. In this case the lawn green.
The next round will change your circle into a square so you will need to add a few chains to make the conversion.
Start in any space and make your first corner.
3 dc, 2 chain, 3 dc
chain 1, 3 dc into next space
chain 1, 3 dc into next space
chain 1 3 dc into next corner space, chain 2, plus 3dc makes the 2nd corner.
Continue this way till you have your granny square… finish with a slip stitch.
finally, choose the method in which you would like to join all these little gems together. I chose the join as you go with an off white soft Aran mix yarn for warmth and softness.
There are hundreds of tutorial on the net for you to be able to refer to for this but the best one I found is this one that give three different methods to choose from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUe7rGpHXhc
NOW A WORD OF CAUTION.
Finishing off your blanket can be a challenge … I have found another link on the net that guarantees to eliminate “crinkling on the edge”
Although you could make a feature of a frilly edge I prefer to have a flat seam finish so that I can choose.
So have a look at this if you want to learn something.
http://handmadewardrobe.com/crinkle-free-granny-square-borders/
Again if you’d like to copy the edge that I made for Lynns blanket its easy.
Single crochet all around the edge of blanket twice.
THEN
2dc, chain 3, 2dc in every fourth stitch. Easy
Like all new mothers I’m really proud of my little continental king sized bed spread that I made for Lynn Holland of Doodly Birds..
She has done a great blog respecting my work which you can find here and take a peek into her fantastic paper crating too
http://oneimadeearliertoday.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/whats-on-my-workdesk-today_20.html
Have yourselves a happy and restful weekend
Helen x
Our Knitting Group starts again next week and so I’ve been busy making toys to donate besides all my other projects.. this is one of my main charities.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend
All patterns found on ravelry
Henry’s Rabbit by Sara Elizabeth Kellner
Henry Hound Balloon Animal by Rach
Grey Bear by Jaimai
Amineko Crocheted Cat by Nekoyama
I’d like you all to visit page which is run by a good friend of mine named June.
You may or might not know how this lady has gone to exceptional lengths to create a knitting group with the aim of donations being made to Cardiff’s Children with Cancer.
If you recall, and indeed Natalie commented about it, we made a visit last year and I try and do my best to at least make toy per month to help.
This year though, June had decided to add a book with with the toys EVEN after approaching many booksellers, like Amazon and Watersones for donations only to be given the elbow!!
So this is my appeal.. please just visit June’s page on the following link ….. http://creativecraftscardiff.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/christmas-visit-to-latch-childrens-ward/
And see for yourself what a difference this can make to a child with cancer at Christmas.
Thank you
Mo.. or Twinkle Toes 2day as you may know her as she came up with the idea for another interview.
CONGRATULATIONS MO.. gifts in the post!
I’d like to thank you all for your comments and wish you better luck next time. Some of your replies were amazing so don’t be despondent, there will be more give aways on here.
I’ve chosen to focus on Lynn of the Doodly Bird fame not only because I love her work, also for the trust she placed in me to create and make some very personalised gifts for her closest family.
1 .. Tell us little bit about yourself.. where you live, Phil, Kikki etc.
I live high up on the moor overlooking Healey Dell Nature Reserve where I used to play as a child.
2 .. Have you had any formal training in art??
Ie Uni or college
After working for over 30 years without a break since leaving school, I decided it was time to do something completely different and so 10 years ago after an interview at the local college I enrolled on an two year full time HND Textile Design course.
3 .. How did you come up with the idea of your Doodly Birds?
I can’t answer that precisely, I think the idea came from me just doodling on a bit of paper when I was on the phone. I may have been looking at bird/bird pictures at the time. The little fellows then developed into the Doodly Birds we all love to have fluttering about now.
4 .. What are your most favourite materials to work with?
Hmm, let me think ! Without a doubt my black fineliner pen. No matter how hard I try it always appears in my work somewhere. Whether its creating the Doodlies, designing something, I can’t help making stitch marks and outling things like envelopes with it.
5 .. If you could claim to be the creator of any work of art and put your name on it .. what would it be?
Ooh that’s a big question as I have so many favourite artists. I would like to put my name to the natural land creations of Andy Goldsworthy, the contemporary embroidery of Karen Ruane, the painted letters of Percy Kelly, to many textile artists to mention, Lucienne Days printed fabrics, Michael Brennan-Woods collages……. Shall I go on haha!
Finally,
6.. Where can we find you .. ie your website, etsy and bog… and tell us a little about what your calendar is looking like this year… exhibitions and sales where we can actually come and see you etc… a little Doodly Promo.. eh!
Main meal was meat balls and pasta.
Dessert. Mandarin and Butterscotch Trifle
And a well deserved rest under the Hexagon Blanket in Mum and Dads BIG Bed.
Keep sending me your blog suggestions for the kitchen towel give away.
Many of you have asked me how I have found this product… simply AB FAB!!
I have always loved the mixed medium of fabric and crochet so I chose a simple product to experiment with.
First .. take one simple kitchen towel and evenly single crochet all around to create your foundation stitch.
Dont forget to place three stitches in each of the corners.
All this is explained in the book.
I chose a cloth that had little squares already embossed into the fabric to help me with the spacing.The sharpe tip of the hook was so easy-going through the cloth.
crop single crochet
Then Single crochet x3 in each of the stitches all around the towel as above.
Finally, single stitch, shell stitch and single stitch into each of your foundation till you have something looking like this.
And now you chance to win this little towel to enjoy in your very own kitchen!
All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what you would like to have featured next on my blog?
If choose your suggestion not only will I blog it I’ll gift you this towel!
So go on reveal all and drop me a suggestion.
Should you win I won’t even mind if you tell your friends that you made it yourself!
If you would like to purchase the Sharpe Crochet hook for yourself the pack includes a pattern booklet aswell as the hook.
That was the name of the cat in the original film “The Fly”.
Dandelow disappeared and was never to be seen again, so just when you thought he was a gonner the cat came back and is being donated Cardiff Kids With Cancer charity.
Pattern reference http://kinkylilblackdress.wordpress.com/little-black-cat-translated-amineko-pattern/
The girls went to the hospital and gave out all the toys to the kids. It was a moving experience to say the least. Unfortunately I couldn’t go on the ward as on the day of the visit I had flu.. but here is the link to the full story should you want to read all about it or indeed contribute.
http://www.creative-crafts-cardiff.co.uk/blog.html
You can pick up loads of tips aswell as have a look inside the gallery of our visit.
My next post will involve my experiences with my new sharp crochet hook!
Sending you all my very best xxxxxxx
A happy new look to my blog!
I hope you all like it.
I am firm believer that we should leave things in the past and address whats going to be happening in the days to come so just to tickle your taste buds….
I am going to open up with all the photos of all the things I am going to do my best to find the time to blog about soon… including perhaps a few more posts about our personal lives including Alex and how we deal with his Autism.
And CROCHET to satisfy your crochet cravings.
Of course what never changes is the love and best wishes I send to you all xxxxxxxx
Oh well, all the festivities are over and I’m glad to be back to normal once more. I hope it all went fine for you guys too
Santa brought us a happy boy and with the exception of a few tummy grumbles Alex had a wonderful time of it which of course makes us all happy.
I guess many of you are still running about getting your last minute gifts and food in for the big day… hate me or love me.. I’ve got it all sorted thanks to the internet shopping and making a load of stuff for the family myself.
Firstly…. my Beanie. My very first and brilliant as a last minute stash buster.. I used 100g of chunky and 3 hours later this!
Pattern link was found on the internet..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE_Bp0N8LHI a brilliant tutorial!
And for my next trick…. Lucy of Attic 24 Happy Flowers
Pattern here http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/happy-flower-decoration.html
I actually encrusted these with pearls and glass beads but thanks to this dismal weather I haven’t been able to photograph them well … but here is a photo of one I made for Lynn from Doodly Birds … doesn’t it match her picture so well!
![photo[1]](http://helencrochet1.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/photo1.jpg "photo[1]")
http://oneimadeearliertoday.blogspot.co.uk/ is Lynn’s blog but also have a peep inside her madcap Doodly Bird Site too!
I love all her stuff … and I think the feeling is mutual too as she’s ordered a blanket from me (in the making )
I thought it it sensible to send her a cushion in the same style to help with the revamp of her bedroom… she has a lovely home, so I’d encourage you to pop in to her blog and peek through the keyhole of her work. She’s so talented.
And lastly pictures of my first Christmas here in my new home.
From this bunting set bought at Hobby craft to this……
All handmade by me .. out of 50p’s worth of baubles from Homebase!
To the complete picture… My Base.. my Home.
As you can see on the stool another pile of grannies to me added to Lynn’s blanket too…
So, my dear friends, those of you close and far.. my friends and family now in mind but never forgotten and those who have dedicated to help others instead of them selves….. may all your Christmas Wishes come true.
Have a peaceful joyful time .. sending you all much love, health, never ending hope and genuine happiness.
Helen, Richard and our beautiful boy Alex xxxxxxx
There’s still time for you to make some or place an order with me for your Christmas list.
Just drop me a line at helencrochet1@gmail.com
Just a little snowed under with work and Christmassy things at the moment. But I guess looking at the weather that’s still to come here in Cardiff too!
I suppose many of you are in the same situation in preparing presents and ensuring you get all your chores complete in time for the big day……. But this year, I’m not going to let anything bother me and slowly battle through getting over my flu with a bottle of brandy and a smile
And sit back admiring my work! Hehehe
Wishing you all a happy week xxx
Money is always an issue and I love nothing more than bagging a bargain or “upcycling” something to look “new”.
So.. after treating ourselves to a new kingsized bed, it seemed only fair to have Alex inherit our old double.. but looking through the bedding, although in good condition they appeared dated… so.. here is an idea. Lace Trim!
I just ran a length down the pillow cases and across the top of the duvet cover to breakup the black and bring a new twist to Alex’s “bachelor den”. I’m really pleased with the result. It only took half an hour to do and the lace that was given to me by my mother in law.. bargain!
And another upcycle…. if you haven’t any time to crochet bunting then why not buy some ready made paper garlands and “personalise” them…
These were paper hearts already strung which I bought for £1.50 …
all I did was add a few paper letters, flowers and bling.
Most of these goodies were bought in HobbyCraft… who by the way have a “3 for 2” offer on yarn.
And of course with all that money and time saved… cook yourself a lovely heart warming and filling home made lasagne..
like this one… yummy
Ensure you stay warm and dry … xxxxxxxxxxxx Hugs from Helen xxxxxxx
Hello Everyone,
Where does time go when we’re so close to Christmas, where house & home call for changes to deal with damp and cold conditions.. hence the work I’m doing for Lynn’s king Sized blanket.
The only way to tackle something as big as this and retain your sanity is to slip in smaller projects to kill the monotony…. not to mention good preparation and time for sewing in ends as you go. Above you’ll see another 100 pinwheels to sew into squares… but did I mention I had to spend 5 hours on Saturday just sewing in ends!!!! But soon my fun will start again when I get to handle these colourful little chappies and watch my project grow and grow.
Talking of which.. here is another colourful chap created for the Children’s Cancer Charity..
I love him so much I’m going to make another one for MEEEE this time in greens and pinks.
The pattern is available from Heidi Bears website or Ravelry .. by far the most comprehensible and well prepared pattern I have ever seen.. well worth the money. And the new bear will look great on my new king sized bed… heheh
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lollo-the-african-flower-bear
So amongst the panic.. how many of you are actually going to prepare hand crochet gifts for Christmas.. I am and have already started on some for family and friends… but with so much else to do I chose to look on the internet as to what I can use to “cheat”… well not cheat but easy things which I can customise.
One great find…… stick on lace ribbon!!!
The possibilities are endless… not just bunting but jars for your home made jams and preserves, picture frames and indeed collars, cuffs and whatever else you chose.
They’re easy to use.. they stick and they’re very reasonable to buy. Follow the link to find the eBay store
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/dragonchant
And finally , the other things I’ve been dabbling in .. home sewn appliqués.
This time rabbits… don’t you just love the fluffy tails!
Have a safe and warm week… take special care and we’ll speak again soon…..
Helen xxxxxxx hugs xxxxxxxx
Lynn’s Progress so far… A third of the way there me thinks.
Poly’s Bunting …. She likes Minnie Mouse!
Have a super rest of the week… from all of us. xxxxxxxxxx
Hi there my fellow crochetiers.. its been a busy week for me hence my absence. I’ve been trying to catch up with friends and family. Giving them my time, my help and also trying to invest some time for me too!
So here are some lovely rose which I’ve made for the craft club. I’m not sure what they are going be used for. A wreath I suspect. They are so simple to make. It only took me 2 hours to make a dozen.. follow the pattern link here on Ravelry
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rose-bookmark
And I’ve also been preparing for some Christmas presents too. Bunting and bows being on the agenda for this year.. don’t you just love the felt available from Hobbycraft!!!
But, with the winter nights coming I have taken to reading again. I have to allow my hands to rest especially with the intense work needed on Lynn’s Blanket, although the colours are really cheerful to work with on these darker nights.
So, what’s in my library??
Crochet Saved My Life … by Kathryn Vercillo
A fantastic collection of interviews from people who have found crochet an effective way of dealing with stress, illness and life issues. You must by this book!
And now a proud moment…
The Whole Armour Of God by Linda Parker.
Linda is a member of the family.
This is her first publication on a subject very close to her heart as the daughter of a former Army Chaplain. Her book gives accounts of the hardships faced not only by the chaplains and soldiers on the front line during the Great War but also an insight to how public criticism questioned the bravery of these spiritual heroes .
It is a very thought provoking read and another must buy for Christmas book!
So there we are.. plenty to keep you thinking about till my next pop in session.. time for a little drive to cheer Alex up and a fruit tea later!
Sending you a cosy and warm safe from harm weekend xxxxxxxxxxxxx
![happy.jpg-500x375[1]](http://helencrochet1.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/happy-500x3751.jpg)
