April week 14

Staycation = perfect for crafting!

Week 14 – 1st to 7th April

Two new projects started this week and one finished too! It’s been a great week of rest at home which has led to lots of knitting and crochet!

Meet Bridget

With the baby blanket finished a few weeks ago I wanted to crochet something from the Toft Ed’s Menagerie, as our friends are having a wild animal themed nursery I chose to make Bridget the elephant.

To give more of an impact in the nursery I chose to make this toy in Aran wool instead of DK weight. I’m so pleased with how she turned out and crocheting with a size 5mm hook instead of the usual 3mm meant it whipped up really quickly and is so much easier to work as the stitches are larger.

As both Bridget and the blanket are a gift, Mark suggested making her a little scarf to match them together so using some leftover wool and size 3mm needles I knitted a little scarf – and I think she looks perfect!

Diagonal Drift scarf

My second project this week is the Stephen West diagonal drift scarf where I picked up the wool whilst at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival a few weeks ago. The wool is from Stephen’s new self-titled range – West Wool – and Mark chose the colours for our version.

Once again the pattern calls for ‘turns’ in the work so I’m using my new favourite German Short Rows and as you can see from the pictures, the way the pattern changes direction is great.

I’m totally addicted to this project as it’s simple to remember the sequence and the wool is lovely to work with. I cast this on, on Friday, and I’m about half way through already! Whilst I’m back to work next week I really hope I can plan to finish this week!

And finally

My ‘and finally’ this week is a shout out to my lovely crochet teacher and friend Gaëlle. I met Gaëlle a year ago at Ammonite Yarns where I’d booked myself onto a crochet course after many failed YouTube attempts to teach myself – and without sounding corny, I was hooked!

Gaëlle drops into the weekly craft nights each Tuesday at Ammonite when she’s not teaching and it’s been great to keep in touch and share my crochet progress.

Well this week I was knitting away when a notification popped up on my phone for Twitter and Instagram, Gaëlle had written the most lovely post about me! Why would someone write about little old me? Gaëlle used me as her ‘follow friday’ this week to share my blog and journey with her followers about my blog, my planning and my (very organised) Ravelry page.

I want to give a public thanks to Gaëlle for reading my blog each week, for being so patient and a genuinely lovely person – being able to share my progress with just one person has made it all worthwhile!

Check out Gaëlle’s website and sign up to her newsletter if you’re into crochet, it’s a great monthly read.

Until next week, happy crafting.