The puppy!!!

This is the amazing puppy referred to in the profile, she's a wire -haired dachshund , of standard size and she's completely transformed our lives!

There's less time for crochet or machine embroidery but much more time is spent walking in the lovely local countryside!!!

Wellies are now my daily footwear as well as ''dogwalking trousers and coat'' both dark and easily washed- muddy paw prints from other dogs...- and pockets stuffed with doggie treats to eat, a ball, a clicker, plastic bags,lead, etc etc
A s you can see the girls love it : as well as all the games they now play with the puppy- mostly ''fetch'' and ''tug-of-war'' and lots of cuddles too.
Top left was her at 8 weeks on the day she arrived home.

She's now 5 months old and has almost tripled in size, especially in length of back.

It's the best decision we've nade recently and I have been surprised at the huge changes she's facilitated!

Mind you we're still training her NOT to bite all crochet or run off with a ball of yarn ready to tangle it up into a horrendous mess....

She's also chewed a 12mm knitting needle in half...

Here she is now, I'll have to go she's demanding some attention in terms of a game or a cuddle.

Trendy teen/preteen beanie: HAT!

Here is a beanie hat I made from Margaret Hubert's book on crochet hats: I made it in a DK pure wool and it was both super quick and very easy.

The result you can see my daughter wearing, she loves it!!!

And that's no mean feat I can tell you.....

She has a selection of beanies all different kinds and now this is one of her favourites.

I am pleased also it was fun to make, she's happy AND I made a saving for once: these hats are £5 and upwards in the shops and this one was a small fraction of £3!

( ie less than a 50 g ball of wool, you can probably make 3 out of one ball of yarn)

I do find it a little dissappointing that most of the time it's more expensive to make something yourself than to buy it ready made in the shops?!!

The mark up on buying yarn for crafts is such that the raw materials end up costing more- sometimes much more- than the finished product( which should include the costs of materials,overheads and labour... not to mention design costs, marketing ,distribution and retail mark-ups as well)!!!!

We are supposed to feel so good we made it ourselves that the cost no longer matters?

At least on the whole : when you make it yourself there are other advantages : such as

it's totally unique

it fits superbly

it's of a higher quality in terms of both yarn and construction.

In many cases the fibre content of the yarn can be more luxurious than that found in retail.

Furry gala shrug: free crochet pattern

Here is the crochet pattern for the shrug on the gala shrug post.

I made it myself very quickly and easily.

Yarn: Sirdar Funky Fur - I used plain navy but it comes in variegated colours too or it can be substituted with another eyelash type yarn.

Funky fur is 100% polyester and has 90m/98yds to a 50 g ball, I used 5 balls, the shrug weighs about 130 grammes.

Hook: 4.5mm

Stitches used: chain and trebles ( or chain and dc in USA terminology)with slipstitches to join pieces or you can sew them together.

Tension: approx 10 by 10 cm takes 20 sts in pattern and 12 rows with the 4.5mm hook.

HINT: to count the stitches feel the posts of the trebles ( dc) with your fingers and multiply by 2.

or Hold the piece up against a window or light source to help you SEE the stitches, they are NOT easy to see!!!!

Pattern: mesh stitches : that is after the foundation chain you work 1 treble( 1 dc for USA) , 1 chain over the next 2 stitches in the foundation chain and then you repeat those 2 stitches to the end.

For ease of stitching and increased speed I worked the trebles( USA DC'S) into the chain spaces of the row below rather than into the trebles( dc) below.

Stitches can be difficult to see with this type of yarn but a chainspace is always easily felt!!!!

I also worked in a spiral up the sleeve rather than finishing each row with a slipstitch to the first treble and then chain 3 to lift to the next row, I just kept on going round and round..........

Finished size was as folows, and I'm only 5ft1'' or 1.5 m tall so this is also the span of my arms, BEWARE you may want to make the sleeves a lot longer!!!

Cuff circumference: 28cm

sleeve length: 46cm

backpanel length ( from neck edge to hem) 18cm

back panel width: from shoulder to shoulder: 47cm

You can change all of these to fit your own body by measuring and using your tension sample measurements: all it takes is a bit of arithmetic!

Work out how many stitches you need for your 1cm horizontally, then work out how many rows for each vertical cm ( or inch) and Bob's your uncle!

Multiply the above by your measured horizontal ( or arm circumference) and vertical measurement( or arm length) and you'll have your number of stitches for the foundation chain and the number of rows...!!!

SLEEVE INSTRUCTIONS:

Make 2 of these, identical.

Foundation chain of 58 chains, then add 3 more to lift up to treble( USA DC) height and do 1 more chain, now work a treble(dc USA) in the 7th chain from the hook then work 1 chain, 1 treble ( USA dc), working the treble into the 2nd chain from the hook( ie skipping 1 chain from the foundation chain) then onwards to the end, close circle by working a slipstitch into the 3rd vertical chain at the beginning, then chain 4, work a trble( USA DC) into the first chainspace below , chain 1, trble into next chain space , chain 1, etc etcspiralling around and around to the desired length or for 40 rows.

Then work another 14 rows whilst increasing 1 stitch at the beginning of each row.

( this gives a bit more room at the upper arm for the arm and shoulder)

chain and pulltrough to finish: should have 72 stitches and 54 rows.

But as long as it fits, the count is not that important, as long as the 2 sleeves are the same!

BACK PANEL: work 1 of these.

Back panel: foundation chain of 58 , then add 4 chains for the first treble( dc) and first chain and work the mesh pattern across the whole of the foundation chain, keep this piece as a flat rectangle.

I worked the panel between the sleeves connecting the 2 with a slipstitch and a dc ( USA sc) before turning and working back along the panel to the other sleeve, this is because I hate sewing bits together, but you can make it separately and then sew the 3 pieces together.

I worked 24 rows in this way , pulled through the yarn to finish and worked in any loose ends with a darning needle.

FINITO!

I made it very quickly, in less than a week whilst also working and doing all the'' mum''-jobs , cooking, homemaking etc etc.

HAVE FUN na dlet me know how you get on, please?

Previous colourful crochet projects 2005/2006

Hello, and HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2007!!!
Here are a few items I made in 05/06 and all the details of how I made them and what I used are on my old blogger at merryblogblog.blogspot.com.
As you can see there's cardigans, ponchos,shrugs /waistcoat,cushions( USA read pillows) and so forth.