Ticket for Iknit Weekend

On Friday I took a trip with a good friend to Waterloo to buy my yellow ticket for the I Knit Weekender Event on the 11th & 12th September

Lots of nice yarns were on display in the shop, even a visiting nezumi hiding amongst the skeins

As well as my ticket I was very happy as I managed to get the glow-in-the-dark jelly yarn I have been looking for to make crocheted pods for some solar lights I have. I though when the light goes the pods would glow for a while, I will experiment and see. The yarn might end up as something completely different now I have my paws playing with it.

Craftzine's very first crochet-along!

Laura from Craftzine.com sent me an email about a new crochet event taking place over at blog.craftzine.com Craftzine's very first crochet-along!
A super cute fuzzy panda amigurumi, the first lesson starts on Tuesday, Sept 7th at Noon PST (that's about 4am UK time) with Tamie Snow the designer of the fuzzy panda and author of Tiny Yarn Animals
There a list of materials required so you can get ready before the event plus the pattern all very clear and well written.
There's also a flickr group to share your finished pandas with random giveaways to participants who upload photos.

Mint Tea

I always have mint & basil growing in pots on the kitchen window, this summer they have grown extra large which is great for me as I like to relax with a hot cup of mint tea.

Just take a handful of mint leaves, rinse in cold water, put into a pot (or cup), add boiling water and leave for 3-5 minutes, pour into a cup and sip and relax. (If you want to sweeten add honey or sugar to taste)

Bobble Yarn

I went to All the Fun of the Fair (yarn shop in central London) recently and bought a couple of balls of this very soft bobble yarn.
I am using it to make a knitted bag (the fabric was to holey looking when crocheted to make a bag) which I will attach a selection of knitted and crocheted flowers.
I have been using large needles and doing a simple stocking stitch. Its an interesting yarn to use you knit and purl between the bobbles.

The fabric looks great on both sides and is so soft.


I will line the bag and post when I finish (hopefully soon)

Book shop closing

For about ten years Borders bookshop in Oxford Street (near Oxford Circus) has been the place I could pop into for a quick coffee while browsing over the books I wanted to buy. Its the place I would meet friends & relations passing through London, it did not matter who arrived first as there was always books & magazines to look at while waiting.
Well today I popped there and to my horror it is closing :(
I confess the sadness of the book shop closing did go away (for a while anyway) when I noticed the 50% off all books posters, my mind spun at all the half price books that I could buy but, I am not sure how long it has been closing down as when I looked around there were only a handful of craft books left, a few cooking books that had seen better days, even the computer section was looking bare. I did manage to get one programming book and will try and have another look around next week when I am back near there. Its sad I liked that bookshop and will miss popping in there :(

Crocheted Star Flowers

This crocheted flower has a similar construction as the knitted flower (the flower in the pic above on the right) I posted last month

Yarn DK or worsted weight
I used:
Patons Linen DK (2 colours required - Colour a for petals Colour b for centre use colour combinations you like, experiment) You can experiment with with different DK or worsted weight yarns
Hook size 3.75mm (UK)/ 5/F (USA)
I used a slightly smaller hook than recommended for this yarn (which was a 4mm) to make a firmer flower

Abbreviations:
st – Stitch
sts – Stitches
dc (UK)/ sc (USA) – Double Crochet (UK)/ Single Crochet (USA)
ch – Chain
sl st - Slip Stitch
dec - Decrease

Pattern:
Petals (make 5 alike)
Using colour a
Ch 2
Row 1: 2 dc (UK)/2 sc (USA) into the 1st ch, 1 ch (2sts)
Row 2: 2 dc (UK)/2 sc (USA) into each dc(UK)/ sc(USA), 1 ch (4sts)
Row 3: 1 dc (UK)/1 sc (USA) into each dc(UK)/ sc(USA), 1 ch
Rows 4, 5 & 6: As row 3
Fasten off

Make 4 more petals (don't break yarn or fasten off on 5th petal)

Row 7:Starting with the 5th petal - 1 dc (UK)/1 sc (USA) into each dc (UK)/ sc (USA),
than 1 dc (UK)/1 sc (USA) into each dc (UK)/ sc (USA) on the 4th petal repeat 1 dc (UK)/1 sc (USA) into each dc (UK)/ sc (USA) for the 3rd, 2nd and 1st petals, 1ch (20sts)

Row 8: 1 dc (UK)/1 sc (USA) into each dc (UK)/ sc (USA), 1ch (20sts)

Row 9: (Change to yarn b) *Dec 1 dc (UK)/ dec 1 sc (USA) over next 2 dc (UK)/ 2 sc (USA)** repeat from * to ** to end (10 sts)

Row 10: 1 dc (UK)/1 sc (USA) into each dc (UK)/ sc (USA)
Row 11: *Dec 1 dc (UK)/ dec 1 sc (USA) over next 2 dc (UK)/ 2 sc (USA)** repeat from * to ** to end (5 sts), fasten off cutting yarn leaving a long length to use for sewing up.
Sew up sides.and weave in all ends.

Bee spotting

Been having a play doing some crochet animation, hehe
Bee pattern coming soon