Hope you've all had a relaxing weekend. We have had a lovely time, family 80th birthday celebration yesterday, short walk and a look round the 'Blue' exhibition at The Devon Guild of Craftsmen this morning http://www.crafts.org.uk/ and a bit of extreme crochet this afternoon (the real reason for this blog!). Perfect!
I thought it would be great to link this post with Handmade Monday over at 1st Unique gifts http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/blog/about-handmade-monday/ as I know you all enjoyed the blog post about Chester. This project, whilst smaller, is created on an even bigger hook than Chester! Think what size Chester could turn out if I used the hook and yarn I used for these projects! Wowee! I'd have a job to get him in the house, let alone the car! Anyway, I'll stop waffling. I know you want to find out about these projects!
Well as I have already said, the projects are quite small but the hook and yarn is not! You may or may not know that I run workshops from time to time and I have an Extreme Crochet one coming up soon at the end of April and hopefully another one coming up in June, so I am starting to think of projects which can be achieved in one day. Remembering of course it also takes a while to sort out all the yarn! Anyway have a look at the first one and see what you think.
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It is difficult to tell the scale in this photograph but the next one may be more helpful. I used a 25mm hook and 20 strands of dk yarn at a time. I thought this would look rather nice on the wall of a conservatory maybe. I did think it would look even better if I edged it in the same yellow as the centre but I haven't got enough!
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Does this show the scale a little better? I hung it on the wall in place of one of the pictures and held up a bottle of wine next to it so you could see how big it actually is.
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A close-up of the flower shows the stitches in this photo. Counting sewing in the ends it took about 1.5 - 2 hrs to complete. So, may be possible to make a couple in a one day workshop depending how much chat and eating cake is going on!
This next project, a Granny Square seat pad cushion for a garden chair (or a kitchen chair for that matter) or a kneeling pad for gardening, was suggested by In the Sky http://inthesky1.blogspot.co.uk/ so I thought I'd give it a go.
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You would not believe it, but this is only 2 rounds of a granny square! It probably took a similar amount of time to work up as the flower - perhaps nearer the 1 - 1.5 hours. It's the sewing in of the ends that take the time.
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Here it is on a chair! Unfortunately we have no square chairs in the house, this was the nearest I could find, but at least it gives it some perspective. No stuffing needed for this cushion!
If you would like a few statistics, the flower took 28m of 20 strand yarn and the seat pad took about 32m. The flower is actually the same distance across as the seat pad. Accidental not planned!
If you have any other simple ideas for 'small' projects I would love to hear them and if any of you would be interested in a workshop please email me at www.alisonjoyw@hotmail.co.uk I will get back to you then with a price and let you know what dates are available. If you have a group of like minded friends you could get together, I would be willing to travel a reasonable distance from Devon and could arrange a date to suit you all.
Oh! One last thing, some people have been having problems commenting on my blog. If you do experience any problems could you please email me (as above) instead and explain the problem you're having and then I can try and sort it out.
Thanks for reading! I'll have a look at some of the other lovely blogs at Handmade Monday over the next few days.
Catch you soon! Alison x
I love the seat cushion granny square! Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good idea from In the Sky. Thought I may need a few more rounds than 2 though lol! Thank you for the comment :)
DeleteI love these - so chunky! We definitely needed the scale photos, they were *both* a shock to me!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband questioned the use of the wine bottle, but that was a very familiar item I thought!! Thank you for the comment :)
DeleteWow, never seen extreme crocheting before. Good job you put the bottle next to it otherwise I would have thought it was normal size!!
ReplyDeleteIt's really good fun to do. I'll post a bit more when I think of what else to make. Thank you for the comment :)
DeleteLove the look of both of these, especially the flower!! Crochet hook must be huge!, like wendy said I'm glad you added the wine bottle to show us the scale, I was surprised to!
ReplyDeleteSamantha x
Glad you like them. If you'd like to see the hook I used there is a picture of it on the previous post 'A bit of everything'. My husband made it for me! Thank you for your comment :)
DeleteSorry! I looked at the wrong post! The flower is great! Ok to reply to a comment on the blog, the word 'reply' is under the comment - I will say I'm sure that it didn't used to be there but one day it just was. Re. the pictures, I used powerpoint to do it. Thanks for you comment on my blog Mich x
ReplyDeleteDon't know how I did it but I altered a couple of things and yes you were right the word 'reply' appeared! Thank you. Think I may have worked out the pictures too. Thank you sooo much!
DeleteJust sent you loads of thank yous for your help but somehow managed to delete them oops. You were right though, I tweaked a couple of things, not sure what and as if by magic the word 'reply' appeared. Thank you :) Will look into the photos too. x
DeleteLove the flower!It's brilliant-and the seat cover's a great idea.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment :) I shall have to think of a few more ideas!
DeleteWow that is extreme crochet and both look really good, did it hurt your hands? mine would have ached with that large a hook
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them :) I've just done a bowl/basket too. I'll put a picture up some time this week. The hook is wooden, so is rather tactile. It's not like 'normal' crocheting as you can only do one or two stitches at a time before you have to sort the yarn out! So your hands don't really get chance to ache. Thank you for your comment :)
DeleteThe flower is really lovely - how about a big vase to place several of them in? Wasn't too sure what Extreme Crochet meant, but know now - it looks great. Good luck with the workshops. Hope you have a good week.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a rather good idea! It would take too long for a workshop though, but I may have a go at it for myself. I thought I would do a stem and a leaf for the flower at some time in the not too distant future. Thank you for your comment.
DeleteGood use of a wine bottle for scale :-) They look really impressive and I love the idea of crocheting a seat cover in 1.5 hours!
ReplyDeleteA bit quicker than the usual crochet! Thanks for your comment :)
DeleteAlison, we need to see the hook... how many strands do you need to use? I think it looks like great fun :)
ReplyDeleteIf you have a look at the previous post 'A bit of everything' you'll find a picture of it on there. My husband made it for me as they are so expensive to buy. This one is about 25mm and I have used 20 strands of dk thickness yarn. Oh and yest it is good fun! Thanks for the comment :)
DeleteI love the flower its so cool and BIG! Definitely extreme crocheting! x
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThis is very extreme crochet! I like! :-)
ReplyDelete@ www.hoooked.nl you can find all information about zpagetti. On the right you can choose the flag of your language :-) I also made some things with zpagetti, you can find them with the 'label' zpagetti :-)
Glad you like them, they are rather chunky! Thank you for the information about the yarn. I shall have a look later on this evening. :)
DeleteBrilliant as usual Alison, i see the wine bottle has been opened !. I have had athought for a cushion for my bench outside, could be knitted like a scarf, strip like, love Liz x
ReplyDeleteI don't think you have the right to comment after the way you were knocking them back on Saturday Mrs S!!! Lol! I like the idea of the bench cushion, you could do a rectangular granny strip! You'd only need about 100m of 20 strand yarn! I trust you had no trouble commenting this time?
DeleteThis is amazing, I've never seen anything like it! The seat cushion is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I've had some lovely comments.
DeleteThese are amazing, I've often thought about trying out some 'large' crochet projects I may be tempted but all those ends are still a little daunting :) xx
ReplyDeleteThey are a bit of a fuss, but the beauty of it is that being chunky stitches they are easier to hide. Thank you for your comment :)
DeleteThe bottle of wine next to the crochet definitely helped show the scale of them. Love that there is only half a bottle left too :-) X
ReplyDeleteThere's none at all now! Lol!
DeleteAmazing!!! I love it!
ReplyDeleteCould you show the crochet you used?
Do you mean the crochet hook? If you click on this link http://www.fiddlyfingers.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/bit-of-everything.html it will take you to a previous post called 'A bit of everything'. On there you can see the hook I used. Hope this helps, my husband made it for me. Thank you for your comment :)
DeleteThese are brilliant, I would never of guessed the size without the bottle and the seat, the hook looks awesome. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping over to 'see' me. The little critters do look like sweeties but I don't think they will taste as good as the éclairs or mints. :)
Jan x