Friday 30 March 2012

Going Mobile

I've just downloaded the iPhone app and am trying it out for the first time. I seem to spend so much time out and about these days, pushing W from coffee shop to park and back to coffee shop, I'm hoping it will be a perfect way for me to post regularly and with the added benefit of taking pictures of what I'm working on at the time. I've always got some crochet with me so I can take advantage of those luxurious moments when he goes to sleep!

When I'm not looking after W or enjoying crochet, I'm getting on with some freelance headhunting work, which is what I ought to be doing now because it pays the bills; but it really is a lovely day out there again, so I'm thinking a trip to the town meadows and river will be much better for both of us than me sitting inside making phone calls to people who would rather be sat out in the sunshine.

I'd best crack on with getting us out of the house. What used to take 5 mins, now takes 30!!

Thursday 29 March 2012

Baby Blanket

crochet baby blanket

... here's a picture of the blanket I made for W - it kept him warm when he was born, and entertains him for hours now he's 3 months old!

here's how I made it Crochet Baby Blanket Free Pattern

First Post

Hello fellow crafters! I fell in love with all things hand made as a child. Thrown into a foreign school with little knowledge of the language, it was possibly inevitable that I would look forward to those lessons where it didn't matter what was being said, it was more important to be able to copy what was being done. So, by the age of 6, the little English girl in a German school in the suburbs of Munich had learned a life long love of knitting, crochet, sewing, weaving and basket making.

Over the years back in the UK, I developed my design and sewing skills. Throughout my secondary schooling, I made extra pocket money from designing and making prom dresses for 6th form and 18th birthday parties. I studied textiles for A level and learned how to spin, weave fabric and make traditional braides from around the world. In amongst that, I periodically picked up the knitting needles, and I still have a jumper I knitted 25 years ago that I pretty much lived in through the summer - I so wish that I still had the pattern!

Crochet is something that I've only recently gone back to. Like the other needlecrafts, I learned to crochet as a girl. I remember enjoying it, but for some reason, I never really pursued it. In the spring of 2011 I fell pregnant with my first child and instinctively, I think, began looking for something that I could do that would connect me on a daily basis with the life growing inside me. I had a really random collection of odd bits of yarn. The old sewing machine repair shop at the bottom of the Roman Road in Bow must surely have a few crochet hooks ... and they did and I was off. So, the very first thing I crocheted after a break of about 25 years, was a lovely colourful stripey blanket for my new baby.

Now he's 3 months, he loves the stripes and bright colours. When he's not inspecting his hands, he's staring at different parts of the blanket, stroking and pulling at the different colours. I haven't stopped there with my crochet. I made my nieces bright, colourful hats for Christmas, and my mum a scarf. I've crocheted my little boy little jackets and myself a lace motif camisole. Now, I'm in the middle of a baby blanket for a friend who has just had a baby too. I'm using it as an opportunity to try out new stitches and practice different techniques. It still has the brightly coloured stripes though, so hopefully he will love it as much as W loves his.

The hardest thing really is finding the time between feeds, nappy changes and playing with W to be able to do a few rows! Luckily, my mother in law has a lovely haberdashery shop and keeps me well supplied with yarn. I'm helping my partner get the shop online and it's really gathering momentum now. Come and see us at www.mariashaberdashery.co.uk. If there's anything you'd like us to stock, then please let us know. We'd like it to be the place you know you can come to for whatever you need for your knitting, sewing, crochet and crafting projects. If we haven't got it, we can get it for you and we regularly check our prices to make sure we are amongst the lowest. I will be posting reviews of the items that I've used and I'll get some pictures so you can see how projects turn out.

I'm off now to crochet a few rows of this baby blanket while W is asleep - hurrah!!