A new year...a new stitch

Diamond crochet basket

While wandering through a thrift store a while back

I came across a giant ball of grey yarn for $4.

Way too hard to resist even though I 

was already in danger of being buried under my stash yarn.

But I had the perfect pattern in mind since

it not only eats yarn but also it uses a stitch which

I've never tried before.

And as a bonus it also stores some of my yarn stash.

It's from a free pattern by Esther Chandler on Ravelry 

Diamond Trellis Basket 

 

It did take me awhile to get the hang of the new (to me) stitch.

As you can see my lines on the basket aren't perfect

 but I'm still happy with it.

This video by moogly was really helpful to me.

It explains the  

front post triple crochet 2 together stitch.

 fptrc2tog

 My cat Mew on the other hand wasn't particularly helpful

although she was nice company.

Crochet Union Jack pillow wip

I'm trying to get myself back into crochet

by posting my wips.

I'm calling this my Union Jack pillow.

I bought the pattern here

I really like this basket that I found at the thrift store.

It holds up to 6 different balls of yarn.

For this project there is just 3 colours so

I can tuck my hook, the instructions and

my project into the remaining spot.

I love that everything I need for

a project is kept nicely together.

I'm curious what other people use to hold their work.

MollieMakes vegetables (Craft Book Challenge)

A while back I found a wonderful vintage bag

at my local thrift shop

and ever since then I have used it as my market bag.

But I've always wanted to gussy it up a bit and

when I saw issue 5 of MollieMakes mag

I knew how I would do it.

I also wondered what else I

could make with these cute veggies.

Then I started to think ahead to

spring when I could start planting

my garden and I came up with these

garden markers.

Pretend that the apples are lovely garden dirt.

 I used chopsticks because I have a lot of them.

I'll have to make more with tomatoes, beans, etc.

The patterns were really easy and quick to make.

I subscribe to the emagazine

because here it is about a third of the price

of the printed version.

I've called this a craft book challenge item 

despite the fact that it came from a magazine.

So for me, at least,

I'm including magazines and books

in both digital and print form.

My son's holey gloves got the Mario treatment...crochet style

My son loves his gloves, 

to the point where they now have large holes in them.

When I promised to fix them I was thinking

of simply crocheting a brown rectangle as a patch.

Then I realized that I could be more creative so

this is what I did.




He's had his gloves for years

and he is the type of kid 

who would rather get something fixed

than buy something new.

(Takes after his mum :D)  

He still really likes Mario so

he was really happy with them.

Also in this picture is my beagle

who was sick all day today and part

of yesterday.

I was so happy to see her sniffing around,
hopefully she

will be eating again soon.

A crochet monkey, a vintage curtain and ginko leaves

Even though monkey is only partly finished

I thought he would enjoy going outside to

enjoy a beautiful autumn day.

Although monkey and I have spent only

a little time together, he and I have bonded.

Maybe it's because we have similar tastes..

obviously he likes vintage fabrics and

we are both fascinated by ginko trees.

But he is more impatient than I am.

I'm enjoying watching how his shape unfolds

as I make changes here and there.

But he is constantly rushing me to finish,

not concerned whether his legs curve

slightly inward, 

or if his shirt should be striped or plain.

But I forgive his restlessness,

for he is young.

Help!......anyone know how to make these lovely thrift store coasters?

Look at those lovely flowers all held together
with what looks like simple knots.
But how are they done and what is the technique called?
I'd love to know!



I flipped the orange one over so that you could see how it is tied together.