Chunky crochet basket

I left London last week with lots of inspiration and various new projects to add to my ever increasing to do list and as promised in my round up post here is my first project that can be crossed off said list. 

I bought some of this really cool up-cycled yarn that is made from the off cuts of jersey stretchy type fabrics from Hooplayarn. Its pretty thick and chunky so its really quick and easy to stitch up with a crochet hook or a pair or fat knitting needles. If your knew to crochet I'd highly recommend it as its really easy to see the stitches and work out what your doing. 

They had a really gorgeous range of muted colours but their stock varies depending on whats been getting made in the factories. I choose these colours, a dusky pink and grey-purpley one and picked up a suitably chunky size 10 crochet hook too. 

I didn't follow a specific pattern for this...just had an idea in my head of what I wanted and worked it our as I went along. It stitched up really quickly so I didn't mind taking it out a few times while I worked out how to make a flat circle - the key being in changing where you have your increases. 

I made two handles as well by missing a few stitches and doing chain instead, then carried on doing a normal round after that. 

I stripped the sides of the basked by just changing colours every few rows. 

Its the perfect size for a stash of yarn! 

Up-cycled paper basket

I found this really funky paper basket tutorial on the Design Sponge blog last week and I couldn't wait to try it out. Using scrap brown packaging paper you sew long strips of paper that are then woven into a neat little basket to store your bits and bobs.

Unfortunately I don't get packages that require excessive amounts of brown packaging paper, but I do have hoarding tendencies so I managed to dig out an old roll of lining wall paper that we kept - still there form the previous owner of our house. And it was sutiably yellowing in places!

Here are my efforts - now housing my crochet project!

If you keep things sometimes, not entirely sure why, when or what you'll use it for,  then this is a great way to use some of those supplies up. I'm still holding out for something to use all my old tissue paper for, there is only so many presents you can wrap in scrunched up old tissue paper without people thinking your a little bit stingey!