Hot and Sticky

I must say it’s lovely to have a sunshiney summer; over the last few years it has felt as if you blinked you missed any sunny days. The sun doesn’t suit me due to my M.E. however; I do enjoy the brightness of sunny days but I tend to shelter away in the shade so I don’t overheat and wilt. Crocheting woolly yarn in this weather is not good. The yarn sticks instead of sliding over the hook, and having a chunky blanket on your lap as you work on it is not appealing! But that doesn’t mean a break from crochet – oh no, I’m too hooked for that! I have found the perfect solution in making the cotton bedspread pictured above. It’s made on fine number 10 crochet thread and a 1.5 mm hook. Because it’s so fine it takes ages to make any progress, but that’s ok as I’m in no rush and the bank manager is relieved as I’m not buying so much yarn. It is made up of panels to join together to make the bedspread. What you can see above is 2 panels width wise which I make in one, and I will keep going until I’ve done the whole length required for the bed. One of the things I love about crochet is once you have mastered a few basic stitches you can make so many different designs – your imagination is the only limit.

Boys Jumpers

I’ve been making jumpers for little boys. the pattern is from DMC and you can get it from here.

For this one for my nephew Jacob, I used the yarn and colours suggested in the pattern. Then I did a beigey/browny version for his little brother Harry:

Lastly I did a navy and white striped one in acrylic rather than cotton for my grandson:

I love how they have all turned out, especially the collar. The collar shows more clearly on the pale blue version; it is just left as an unshaped rectangle when making the front and then picking the stitches up and doing double crochet. The second row you increase on every stitch so you get enough stitches to fold over comfortably, but then you just keep going until the edges meet at the front, and sew in position. Very easy to do, but very effective. I think a good collar can make the difference between something looking professional or cobbled together!

Here are the 3 jumpers together: