It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 9: So Many Projects, So Little Time. (Oh well - I almost made it rhyme!)

[Fairislefandango]

A thread for woolly crafters of all types and levels.
Previous thread here

I'll be honest, I was very tempted by the flower fairy offer. My Grandma and I loved them. But I don't actually need 12 crochet fairies. At least I'm fairly sure I don't.

Mine is supposed to be a 120cm wide but it only seems to be 110cm...

Hi @RadFad! I don’t buy it but read it on the Libby app through my library account. Interweave crochet is on there too which I like looking at even if most of it is beyond my skills! My DM took out the yearly subscription to Simply Crochet though because she wanted to do the CAL and it was as cheap to get the subscription with the free wool as to buy the wool.

@tizwozliz I still can’t see it even with the circles 😂

@sophs29 we could be future neighbours!

Welcome @RadFad

Are you sure you don’t need 12 crochet flower fairies @CrochetBug

Welcome @RadFad sounds like you have some lovely projects on the go! Would love to see them when you're finished ☺️ I always toy with the idea of the crochet magazine, it's annoying now as the free gift seems to take up the whole front page of the mag so I can never preview what patterns are actually inside when I'm browsing in the shop iyswim! I forgot you can view it on the Libby app though so thank you for that @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound ☺️

@CrochetBug your socks sound divine 😍 and oh no, there was me thinking you'd have the nativity set nearly done with your speedy skills 😂

@StillNiceCardigan knitty/crochet neighbours are the best kind ☺️😂

@tizwozliz I often find my blankets don't come out as wide as they're supposed to. I definitely crochet on the tighter side.

@SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound @sophs29 thank you for the Libby tip, I didn't realise I could access it through there. I've recently discovered it for audiobooks so I can still read whilst crocheting.

I have so much cotton yarn from past amigurumi projects that I could probably miss out on the yarn offer with the subscription and just read the magazine on the app.

This is the last photo I took of the neat ripple blanket. Hoping to get it finished this weekend 🤞🏻

@sophs29 I thought I'd have done a lot more of the nativity than I have! I've got one shepherd with a wonky leg. I clearly don't crochet as straight as the pattern creator so am going to adjust the stitch count on the others. But I was ill for 3 weeks with flu/chest infection/sinus infection and struggled to do anything on top of losing the eyes

here's my sock so far, well about 15 rows ago. And my jumper sleeve.

I'm on blanket number 3 in Bernat Blanket, I love how quick it grows.

Quick everyone, get crocheting for the summer! Instagram adverts are a strange and terrifying place sometimes

I suppose they'd look lovely over a bikini on a young thin thing

Even then, imagine the tan lines! 😳

As usual, there’s some lovely stuff being posted. It’s lurgy after lurgy here at the minute and it’s so hard to find the energy to crochet at the minute. I’m still waiting on my friend to have her baby - she’s quite overdue now so must be getting so uncomfortable. Her blanket and wrist warmers are so close to being done but I’m just waiting until he’s here to finish them. I really need to get on with my mum’s blanket as it’s her Christmas present. My MIL is having her hip replaced though and is struggling, I’m thinking of making her an over shoulder bag that she can put her iPad, chargers and her grabbing tool in and can carry those around with her. Although I don’t need to be finding more projects. If I don’t finish it quick enough she’ll have had the op and be recovered!

To be fair they probably would in the right climate

Dear lord - those shorts . I think I'd look like one of those joints of meat packaged in plastic netting .

I am procrastinating by sitting in my classroom MNing instead of getting on with some much-needed lesson planning. <Yaaaawwwn>. I'm stuck here until 7:30 for a meeting that doesn't start until 6:30 and I can't seem to motivate myself to do anything. Shame I haven't got my knitting with me

@Fairislefandango 😂😂😂😂 your description of you in those shorts has tickled me 😂

@CrochetBug the colours in both your socks and jumper sleeve are beautiful 😍

Delurking to show my current WIP. I usually crochet but saw this pattern (just knit, so really easy) and thought it would be good to use up the yarn left over from my previous project.
Love seeing what you are all making.

that looks lovely and cosy @VittysCardigan

Thank you. From one cardigan to another

@VittysCardigan that is gorgeous!

Thank you

Hi, everyone – and welcome @RadFad !

Thank you, everyone, for your yarn advice. Ever one to forge her own path, DM has decided that Cotton Bamboo would be a good alternative choice. I look forward to seeing the fruits of her labours!

Once upon a time, I was a slim young thing, but even then there was no way I could have rocked those shorts!

Lots of crochet activity to report here!

First decision – I just need to crack on any finish the second handle for my bag. I just want it done now! So I made a start yesterday, and actually got half of it done through the course of the evening. Hopefully it will be finished by the next week. DD will inevitably steal it, but I think I’m OK with that. That does mean that my next project needs to be for me.

It was going to be the poncho, but DH told me I’ve decided I can’t justify buying any more yarn when I’ve got loads of Stylecraft Special Aran stashed under the bed. So, the poncho is on hold until Father Christmas hopefully brings me the yarn. In the meantime, I’ve decided to use some of the Aran to make a granny square cocoon shrug cardigan. However, there seem to be so many different approaches to essentially the same thing – something I am fast realising is a hallmark of crochet, or perhaps of yarn craft in general! Either way, it is not helping me decide what to do!

The first (and simplest – very appealing) is to literally just make one big granny square and seam it up, like the blue and white one below. However, the yarn colours I’ve got will lend themselves better to the Bella Coco one made up of 4 different coloured squares. That also has ribbing to the edge and cuffs, which looks lovely and I think will be more robust – but I looked at the pattern for that bit, and it terrified me. This led me to the red one, which also has a border but a much simpler one. However, I don’t have enough of any one colour to make it all, and the border does require an ‘edging’ to be added to the completed square.

So what I’m thinking is to do a combination – make up 4 squares like the Bella Coco one and join them together. Then I’ll effectively have one big square as per the red one. Then I can edge it as per that pattern. Does that sound like it will work? Or should I just accept my limitations and make the simplest one regardless of my concerns about the colours?

Oh dear, that was a much longer post than I expected! Sorry!

Welcome @VittysCardigan ☺️ that blanket is lovely! So cheerful and looks very warm!

Sorry @QuantumWeatherButterfly your post didn't show up when I posted!
That bella coco one is gorgeous!! I often find when I read patterns they scare me a little bit, but when I'm actually doing them they make sense!

I think go with whatever you find comfortable, depends if you fancy a challenge or a nice easy make!

@QuantumWeatherButterfly the Bella Coco one is lovely. I would work on the four big squares and then break the Bella coco one down, so Google the ribbing and just take a break in between. However, crochet is all about taking something you sort of like and tweaking it until it’s yours. I saw something that was knitting is like baking - you measure everything precisely, follow the instructions in the right order and cook for the exact right amount of time. Crochet is like cooking - you raid the fridge for whatever you have in, chuck it in together, realise you don’t quite have the ingredient so say stuff it we’ll try this instead, forget how long it’s been in the oven for. Hopefully you still end up with the same result though!