Friday, July 26, 2013

Here, and Gone Again . . .


 Well, my daughter swooped in on our lives, rather like a whirling dervish, and spent a couple of days turning our, rather staid, lives upside down :)

The house is dreadfully quiet now that she's gone again . . .  :(

But, while she was here, we managed to catch up on all the news, and I gave her all the things that I'd been crocheting for her, such as bikini tops to wear in the desert when she goes to Burning Man, and a cool head wrap designed by Clare, of bobwilson123 fame (Link below), which is just about big enough to fit all of her dreads in :) 

The major thing I made for her, though, was a crocheted Lion, made from a free pattern I'd found on Ravelry (Link below). Unlike the pattern, I cut the fur short, as I didn't want a shaggy-looking Lion, I also used a pair of safety eyes, and a nose, instead of embroidering these, as it was going to an adult, rather than a child, and I also made a vest and leg-warmers for him, sewing - rather shakily - my daughter's name, and the name of her newly started business on the vest :)

I actually finished the whole thing around 2 minutes before she stepped through the door, and the look on her face when she realised he was for her was priceless - I am such a fortunate mum, to have as loving a daughter as I have! :)  

Anyway, after a lot of daft suggestions for names, that came mainly from hubby - and anyone knowing him at all will realise just how daft that can be - Brex decided that she'd leave his naming for when she takes him to her next festival gig, as she's sure she'll discover it by then :)

Here's some of the pics that Brex took of her newest companion - his muzzle looks a little skewed in the pics, but it isn't in reality:






































In a way, it was such a relief to finish the lion - it had taken around 4 days to crochet the parts, stuff them, then sew it all together, but it then took a further 3 weeks to add all the fur, one strand at a time - if I ever want to take up rug making, then I've had all the practice I need with this! :)

To be fair, if my hands were a little more flexible, and without the arthritis, I probably could have done it in a fraction of the time, but they aren't, so it did :/


Yesterday, as a bit of light relief, I started the summer's Crochet Crowd project - a blanket/afghan/throw, made with another of Red Heart's wonderful patterns. This pattern is the 'Juicy Fruits and Whipped Crème Throw' (Link below), and Mikey, one of the leaders of The Crochet Crowd, has given us until September 2nd to make it. He also gave us a choice in which size we wished it made, which is great for me, and is a super thing for him to do for us all, as he did all the math himself to ensure we had the choice, and that it would come out in the right size! :)

Because of all this, I can now 'kill two birds with one stone', as the saying goes, and crochet the pattern into a baby blanket size, as I've three of them to make for various family and friends, who are due babies from September through to December time.

The original colours in the pattern are lovely but, as the baby I'm making this for is a boy, I chose instead to use a variety of colours from the Red Heart Super Saver line, such as Blue Windsor, Amethyst, Light Periwinkle, and Real Teal. I've also used a beautiful 
turquoise, made by the Robin DK brand, as I didn't have this shade in the Red Heart. The colours go beautifully together and, as the baby's mum loves Dolphins, I'm going to crochet some as appliques, and sew them onto what looks like a jewelled sea :) 

When I've made it, I'll post a pic on here to show you how it turned out :)

P.S: For anyone who loves to crochet, and who enjoys chatting to others about it, The Crochet Crowd (Link below) is the perfect place to go. There are free patterns galore to try out and Mikey, who is one of the three who run the whole show, has made some amazing tutorials, to suit anybody - from those who are beginners, to the really advanced 'Hooker', as we all call ourselves :)






Mesh Head Wrap Crochet Tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VZ81Ka2WOU&list=PLBAl2EuIYeKuZ_xEytH8ImrHIhEDbXoea)

Lion Pattern:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/leopold-the-lion


Juicy Fruits and Whipped Crème Throw:

http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/juicy-fruits-and-whipped-cr%C3%A8me-throw

The Crochet Crowd:


http://thecrochetcrowd.com/


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