Massive achievement!

I can crochet!!!

I am so so proud of myself :) I really, truly never thought I'd be able to do it...and now I can! *tears of joy*

It's very scrappy and I have gone wrong in places..but still this is still awesome :3

This is just a bit of double crochet for practice, next I'm going to try treble!

What finally made everything finally click for me was this youtube video. I sat with a crochet guide and this video and just sat and crocheted along with her and tah-dah!

I've also done some cross-stitch this week.

I've stitched my piece for Secret Stitching Sweetheart and I've started this cute little kitten!

This is a Riolis kit that my mum got me for Christmas. The thread is lovely but weird...very fluffy...quite wooly but it gives a lovely finish ^^

It's coming along quite quick - I managed to get all that done last night!

Usually when I read cross stitch magazines I think 'oh that's nice...I'll save that chart' ...but nothing usually comes from it - I just have piles and piles of charts *lol* But this month there is so much that I really want to stitch! So much so that last night I made myself little 'project packs' that have the threads/fabric in them that I need for each thing I want to stitch. I'm going to get some more bits today so when they arrive I'll be good to go :)

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The bug is back!

Ahhh my stitchy bug is very much back :3

This weekend I have managed to get two things stitched.

First up I finished the flower fairy card for my nan...

This was such a pain in the ass to stitch :( I'm not happy with the finish at all...

Then I stitched a cat card for my mum...

This chart was taken from Cross Stitch Crazy (not sure which issue) and was stitched on 16count light blue Zweigart aida using a mix of DMC and Anchor threads.

I really enjoyed stitching this - the cat is so cute =^.^=

So now that stitchy bug is back my knitting as fell to the wayside. I've actually found an error in the mittens pattern! Simply Knitting are going to put a correction up on their site soon so once that is released I'll be able to make a start again. I didn't manage to get any crochet practice in as I was having too much fun with cross-stitch.

I have joined up to the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop over at Serendipitous Stitching. It's such a sweet idea! I've already chosen what I'm going to stitch so I just need to get that done. I'm also taking part in  Daffycats TUSAL. Now, I've always wondered what 'TUSAL' meant (Totally Useless Stitch A Long) and why bloggers make posts of bits of thread in a jar...and now I know ^^ I'm a pretty wasteful stitcher so even though I don't get through a lot of stitching during the year I think it'll fill up pretty quick..

On Saturday I received the catalogue from the Cross Stitch Guild *flails* Ahhhh there's so much that I want but I really need to level-up stitching first. I may get the sampler tote-bag as I've had my eye on that for a while and I still have my voucher from joining.

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Adventures in knitting

Here is my first go at changing colours in my knitting!

It was surprisingly easy....I was expecting much frustration...but no...nice and straightforward really ^^

Now that I know I can do this I can start my mittens!

The tension didn't work out too well..but my Mother who is an amazing knitter assures me it will be fine...so if it all goes horribly wrong.... ^^;

I tried again to crochet yesterday...again a singularly frustrating experience. I have set myself a challenge to complete a 10x10 crochet square this week as there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to crochet. It is turning into a battle of wills!

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Heart Mittens

Here's my next knitting project - Heart Mittens!

It says 'Quick & Easy' so I'm sure I can do this or at least have a jolly good go!

I already had some wool that I could've used for this project but once I saw the Sidar Softspun DK in the shop I just had to have it! The base of the mittens will be the black and the hearts will be the super-soft pink (I know it looks white but trust me it's a super pretty pink). I need to use 3 3/4mm needles which will take some getting used to after using the massive 10mm ones :(

I'm going to start this today - by starting I mean practising the fair isle and getting my tension right ^^

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The Company Scarf complete!

Finished for winter? Finished for now! :D

I cannot believe how quickly this knitted up...I still can't believe I actually have a beautiful scarf that I have knitted myself...I feel quite proud :3

I started this last Sunday night and had it finished on Thursday evening. I spent just and hour or two each evening knitting so it was ideal as a beginners project.

It's so very soft and super warm which I really need right now as we've got something of a cold snap on the way! I really love how the wool changes colour with lovely blues and greens.

Now that I am a super experienced knitter....*ahem*...I have naturally decided on some super ambitious projects to try next. I bought the current issue of Simply Knitting and there are a few things in there that I'd like to have a stab at. I have chosen two projects - first is a cute pair of mittens and second is a big over-sized jumper. Not over-ambitious at all ^^; My mother and I went shopping for my supplies yesterday to Black Sheep Wools, a very dangerous shop indeed. A nice lady remembered me from last time so we had a nice little chat and she made some kind comments about my scarf ^^ We'll probably bump into each other again next time.

After my success with knitting I also want to try my hand at crochet - I had a go once and got so frustrated with myself but I feel more confident now so I'd like to have another go. My mother bought a crochet booklet yesterday by Paton's which has a granny-square blanket in it - I am very obsessed with the thought of having such a blanket. I have bought the new 'Simply Crochet' magazine - it's very pretty and the instructions seem very clear. There is a little heart and an amigurumi dragon I'm going to have a go at.

I've not completely forgotten about cross-stitch! I've made some progress with my Flower Fairy card and I'm going to start a little cat-themed thank-you card for my mum for taking me to the wool shop and helping me with my knitting ^^

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Flower Fairy card

I've not done any cross stitch since I finished Blossom Splendour. I really feel like I've lost the stitchy bug and haven't had the motivation to start a new project. I was having a little tidy up of my craft stuff over the holidays and I realised how many of the free kits that come with magazines I'd stashed over the years..so I picked a few out that caught my eye with the intention of getting back to some serious stitching. Whilst deciding which one I was going to do I came across a Flower Fairies card...now I really dislike fairies...I don't know what it is about them as I adore most other fantastical things. Despite my dislike...I decided to stitch it as my nan loves fairies and I thought it would make a nice thank-you card for her.

Here's my progress so far..

It's stitched on 16ct aida and there are a surprising number of colours for a free kit so it's taking quite a while to stitch. The fabric is too small to fit into a frame so I'm finding it quite difficult to work with and my stitches don't look very neat either :(

There's not much actual stitching left - then it's onto the back-stitch which will bring her features out..she looks so blank right now ^^;

This will be my fist time making a stitched piece into a card. The kit came with a patterned mount...thing which I'll just have to attach to a card blank I think...should have one of those lying around somewhere...

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The Company Scarf

I have decided to knit a scarf!

I already have one knitting project on the go at the moment...but I've lost interest in it :( In the current issue of Company magazine there is a knitting pattern for a nice chunky scarf - I just love the texture of it. So I decided 'I'm going to knit this scarf!' It will soon be spring so that means I have no excuse for this not to be finished for winter...

Yesterday I went to buy my wool and needles...I can only hope that I don't get too into knitting as it could prove to be financially disastrous...there were so many beautiful wools *____*

I was originally going to knit the scarf in a deep red but got distracted by greens..I was first going to use a deep olive wool by Rowan but after much ooohing and ahhhing I went for the Stylecraft wool below because it was softer than the Rowan wool and it is all tweedy and beautiful *___*

The pattern calls for approx. 300g of wool and size 10mm needles. According to my mother this should knit up in no time :)

The pattern also says that the scarf will be about 2 meters long...that seems a bit long for little me...so I may not make it that long, I'll see how it goes.

I'm aiming to make a start on this sometime this week...hopefully my hands will remember the motions ^^

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