Crafting

Mothers Day stall crochet creations

Our school holds an annual Mothers Day stall and as parents we are asked to donate items and then give our children money to go and buy the items at the stall to give us on Mothers Day.  It seems a little twisted when I put it like that, but it helps raise money for the school and it gives the kids a chance to choose something for their mothers.  I like to see what mine choose each year, although it is more difficult for children in the last classes to choose as the options are limited by then.

This year I thought I would see if I could make anything for the stall.  I googled 'crocheted Mothers Day gifts' and found some very tacky and uninspiring ideas, but amidst these I found some that set off my creative juices. 

A pretty mobile phone case.  This is my second attempt.  The first was a learning curve.  I hope to make some more in other colours.

A crocheted beaded bracelet made with silver thread.  This is my first bracelet attempt and I also hope to make more.

A beaded necklace.  This was actually my first jewellry attempt.  I used cheap beads from the craft shop.  They were blue when I began, but by the time I finished, I had blue fingers and clear beads.  It is also way too small.  It just fits Abby as a choker.  Next attempt will be bigger with better quality beads and a pendant.

Now I'm wondering whether these would be appreciated by Mothers as gifts from the school stall, or would they be considered tacky and inappropriate?  I saw some of the jewellry on offer last year (and at Mothers Day stalls at other schools we have attended) and I think mine compares quite well.  In fact I like mine better than some of what I have seen.  I guess it just depends on individual taste really.

Crochet for boys

I have been wondering if it is possible to crochet something suitable for boys, and when my neighbour gave birth to a son two weeks ago, I decided to give it a go.

In the future I am hoping to be able to create even more interesting T-shirts with the help of a fantastic e-book I bought recently.

Hair clips

I had a little friend visiting with me today and she inspired me to get back to work on an idea that has been hovering in the back of my head for awhile.  Here is the result of her inspiration.

Crochet books!

I am very excited because my new crochet books arrived today.  They are "The Crocheter's Companion" by Nancy Brown and "Crocheting School - A complete Course".  I ordered them last week and received an email yesterday saying they had just been posted and may take up to seven days to arrive, but they were here by 10:30 this morning. 

Here are a couple of random pages, just to show what they are like inside.  They look simple enough that even I should be able to understand them. 

I am a little sad that I need to do housework today (we have Bible Study here tonight, so I can't ignore today's housework) because I'd much rather be looking at my new books and trying out some of the new ideas and stitches.  I guess my creativity will have to wait until tomorrow.

Crocheting

On Christmas Day my dear sister-in-law tried to teach me how to crochet.  Fortunately for me she is a talented and patient teacher and I managed to learn enough about reading patterns to be able to pick it up.  She also introduced me to a delightful blog, Attic24, where I discovered the pattern for these little flowers.  If you like to look at crochet, or learn about it, that's a good place to start.  Lucy's work is much better than mine and I love her many beautiful creations.

My intention is to make many of these flowers and use them to decorate a plain net curtain for Abby's bedroom.  The first flower I made, top left, is made of something cheap from K-mart (I lost the label and I don't remember what it was).  The other two, bottom left, (shown with the original) are made from a bamboo/cotton blend.  I like the feel of this, and the fact that it is not so 'fluffy' looking as the first one, although it splits easily when trying to crochet with it.  I'm a little annoyed that I ended up with almost the same colours from two different shopping trips.  I must plan better next time, but I guess this is indicative of what colours I like.   When I have enough money, I intend to buy some different colours, to add variety and brighten it all up a bit.