Friday, January 09, 2015

A New Year and, hopefully, a new start . . .


Once again it has been some time since I posted anything on here. 

To be fair, because of yet another flair-up of the Fibro and ME, I've had a lot of problems with staying awake, plus I'm still coping with the gall bladder problem (which is probably why everything else is playing up), as it turns out my blood platelets are far too low for the surgeons to risk operating on me, at least until they get to a reasonable level and, as I've been informed that only my bone marrow can boost this aspect of my blood, it's a case of waiting, and hoping, that it will get on with it :(

It turns out that I can't even have a gall bladder problem, without it becoming something even worse, which is a pain, both physically, and mentally, as I'd - just for once - like to quickly get over something that goes wrong with me!

But, as far as crafting goes, I haven't exactly been totally idle, as there were plenty of times, normally at silly O'clock in the morning, when pain would wake me up, and I needed to do something to distract myself - I thank God that I was given the chance to learn how to crochet, as it has been such a blessing for me this way :)

Anyhoo, my parents and brother came for a visit in September and, due to both of my parents being in bad health themselves (Mum has a variety of health problems, including a weak heart, plus was diagnosed with cancer last year, and Dad has Parkinsons), I decided that, to make them more comfortable when they sit down, I would make a foot stool of some kind. We already had one, which I knew would be great for Dad to use, but I wanted one for mum, too. So I looked through my stash, and came across a box full of bits and pieces left over from other projects, and so I decided to use them to crochet up something bright and cheerful for her :)

I hadn't got a pattern for anything like this so, as I tend to in this position, I immediately went to Ravelry, to see what I could find - and what I found was this lovely, and free, pattern from Sonea Delvon Designs - Sitting Bag which seemed like the perfect thing :)

I used the pattern as the basic start, then just let myself enjoy the act of creating something both pretty and colourful, but also useful:


 






I hadn't thought much about how I was going to stuff this, especially as it was quite big but, fortunately, we had just replaced an old sofa for a couple of armchairs, and so I used the seat pads, cut into rounds, to fill most of it, then used a sleeping bag whose zip had broken to make a nice and soft padding on top. Fortunately, I also had a lovely set of plain wooden buttons in my button stash, and so I used them as fasteners around the lid, so that I can easily wash the cover when needed. I was quite pleased with the results :)

After my parents went back home, and I had recovered somewhat from the visit, I started to feel restless again and, after making Sam the gardening Squirrel, as mentioned in my last post, I then made the Elf Coat for my daughter to wear - and it was just a few days after finishing it, that I was rushed to hospital with a badly inflamed gall bladder thing - and my health went rapidly downhill again :(

It was quite strange for me that, although I then spent the next 10 days in hospital on a permanent drip of antibiotics, I didn't miss my laptop too much, but I really missed my crochet work! Lol

Unfortunately, poor Mr Night Owl was too worried about me to be able to work out what project I might like to work on (I always have several things on the go at once), and so I made do without my usual comfort, and it took a good week after I was able to come home again before I felt able to choose which item I would work on next.

As it happens, I still had plenty of that wonderful Stylecraft Trendsetter Chunky yarn left, and so, as I mentioned in my previous post, I made my daughter two pairs of fingerless gloves - one pair in the Ebony, and the other in the Lilac, then I used both colours to make some striped legwarmers to match:




After that, I wanted something quick and easy to make, and so I decided to make an earring and brooch set for a dear friend of mine, who happened to be visiting my corner of the world for a few weeks, and so I settled on a lovely pattern I had come across only a few weeks before on the Red Heart.com site.

These were called Rosebud Earrings.

I didn't have any of the crochet thread needed in my stash, so I searched out the thinnest yarn that I could, and used that instead. Once I had made the earrings, it only took a short while to make 3 more rosebuds, then I glued some green felt onto a brooch back, and sewed the 3 rosebuds on top - and here is the result of my labours:






After that, I made a toy for my little friend, Harry :)

I'd come across a free stacking toy pattern, on the Lion Brand site, that I thought he would enjoy, as it was made up of a frog in the centre, then a stack consisting of a Bee, a Ladybird (or Ladybug to our friends over the Pond), and then a Dragonfly on top - and here's the link to the pdf download:



 http://www.lionbrand.com/printablePatterns/90075AD.pdf





I enjoyed making this, as I'd not done anything like it before, and I could also use up some of my large stash of yarn that always seems to build up from other projects I do :)

Now, being bed-bound so much of the time, and feeling the cold quite badly, I'd often wished for something that I could snuggle into to keep warm, and so, after finishing Harry's present, I decided, for the very first time since I started to crochet, that I'd make myself something - preferably a lovely warm shawl - and I decided to use a wonderful yarn that my Mum had given me as a gift, as I knew this was something I'd enjoy for a long time to come. Unfortunately, I can't remember the brand name of the yarn, but it was a 400g ball, a Tweed Aran, that Mum had bought from her local Aldi's store.

I looked through my shawl patterns, and I found one, by a wonderful designer called Kathy Lashley, who has a crochet Blog, 
called Elk Studio, which is just filled with the most amazing patterns, and just appealed to me no end - it was the Dixie Charm Shawl. That decided, I took yarn and hook, and started on the pattern there and then.

Here's a ink to the pattern: 

Dixie Charm Shawl - Elk Studio

and here's the results of my work:





My cat, Kushka :)


About this time, our daughter informed us that she'd be able to visit us for 6 days at the beginning of December, so I then looked through my yarn stash, to make her something pretty, and came across a lovely, sparkly, purple yarn that I knew she would like - unfortunately, there wasn't a label on it, and I can't remember where I got it from, but I knew she'd enjoy anything made with it. I looked through my patterns, then finally settled on a really pretty shrug pattern that I'd found a while back. The design is called the Sweet Spring Shrug, and was designed by Michelle of The Painted Hinge. As soon as I saw it I knew my daughter would love it, and didn't have anything like this, so I went ahead and made it, and had just enough of the yarn to complete it, with not much left over! Lol

Here's the link to the free pattern: 



Sweet Spring Shrug - Michelle of The Painted Hinge




Fortunately, I was right, and my daughter loved it - and it fitted her perfectly :)

While Brex visited, she mentioned that a close friend loved Dachshunds, or Sausage Dogs as they're commonly known (or Weiner Dogs to our American friends) and, as I had only just come across some Amigurumi patterns of some, I asked if she'd like me to make one - and so I did :)

I really enjoyed making this. It wasn't too difficult, and I'd not made an amigurumi dog before, so it challenged me in that respect. Brex was delighted with the result, and so I was, too :)

I got the free pattern from the Lion Brand site, and here's the pdf link:

Amigurumi Weiner Dog Pattern Number: 70579AD





Now, what with all the holidays, and my health being so poor, I've only just got around to posting all these pics, but I will have some more to show you soon, as I've kept myself busy making a few more items for my daughter. Once I've had the opportunity to give them to her, I'll post the pics on here :)

Until then, I hope you've all had plenty of opportunities to create your own things, too :)