Sunday 17 July 2011

Glorious crochet sweaters

NowTHIS brings back memories... of a striped green/purple rugby shirt borrowed off a boyfriend in the deep and distant past when we'd got soaked in a summer downpour........Aaaah such memories! LOL.
Looks fun though doesn't it ? Crocheted cotton poloshirt type tops to run along a beach in.
Hi guys, still working on SALICE from Kim Hargreaves/ Rowan but as I had delivery of a brand new computer processor yesterday and darling hubbie copied all my files across I though I'd quickly try out how everything works with the new systems. WOW- its soooo much faster!
A new mouse and a super compact smooth clicky keyboard too..... Above is a book I may have mentioned before, I sooo love it! Especially as it has so many memories: ALL of the patterns I have seen before in a magazine called ARIADNE to which I subscribed as a teenager- so these all connect me to the days when I was 12- 16, early to late 1970's, YUP the seventies!
And yet - maybe that's to me- they don't look all that ''dated'' do they????
It'd raining today, mid July! And not that warm so actually this maohair jacquard cardi looks just the job to snuggle into while reading a good book on holiday- sofa but no fire.... well it IS ''summer''!!!
Gorgeous back....
Ooooh this makes me want to go skiing!
Comfy warm car-coat anyone?
These cables as divine aren't they?
Chunky ribbed shawl collar coats must have been '' the look'' back then?
There's plenty of summer cotton jumpers too, mainly with boat necks, here's just a few:

So sorry I seem to have ''lost'' the function to change the colour to my lovely blue, I don't much like black script......... Will need to learn how to get it to re-do. I tried and it cut the last photo out instead...

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Dancing crochet

Voila a new stole I crocheted the other day, the stitch pattern was inspired by Ravelry but I have amended a few stitches and rows and added a beaded flower dangle fringe. Faerie shamrock shawl this is, light and soft and to be worn and Scottish dance balls in the Autumn..?

It's in Blur mohair with a 5.5mm hook and I started it as a scarf but kept adding rows when I found some extra Blur on e-BAY. The shamrock fringe has a pearl bead in each centre- such fun to do and a first for me.







I am incredibly tired most days at the moment with many headaches and migraines which I think are due to the air pressure, stress and too many bad/ late nights. Am longing for a ''proper'' holiday but nothing is being booked as yet.Work and OU study are keeping me tres busy busy and the eczema is playing up on arms and legs etc. Some battery re-charging in the sun with sea and soft water would be a treat? We've had weeks of muggy ''white cloud'' days again in the first 2 weeks of July. To keep positive I'm planning the next ''big'' project: a Chanel style jacket or maybe a top -down textured one?

From WHISPER patterns by Kim Hargreaves- this is a pattern that was £20 as all the other patterns are for knitting but the photography is fabulous and very inspiring.





This is the stitch gauge sample for it, in Patons DK with a 4mm hook , SALICE.

Crossed trebles with a row of dc in between.



Or a 2 by 2 basketweave?- SCRUMMY texture!

Also have made a denim DK cotton shrug for dancing in strappy tops( I hate my arms) from the Sirdar summer crochet pattern book - published in Spring 2010 I think.


And after the success of the denim one I made another in rose red Bamboo- shiny and wonderful, with a smaller hook and a longer ''sleeve'', more my own pattern really but using the same unusual stitch.

The border too is slightly different, but it also looked good without any border actually as earlier photos show.





And before the shawl became a shawl it was a skinny-ish scarf..









I'll say goodnight with the denim shrug as it's getting late again and I have washing to put on and dogs to walk.