Valentines crochet hearts

As its the big day today and in keeping with the Valentines theme of this month I thought I'd share this great quick tutorial I found on how to crochet a heart from the Little Birdie Secrets Blog.

You could use these versatile hearts for loads of things....to decorate a card, embellish a purse or bag or even make a few a stitch them onto a cushion cover.

I decided to make a little bag charm with mine and added some wooden beads to give a bit more weight.

It only takes a few minutes to hook 'em up and is a great way to use up an scrap yarn you have so get hooking!

What to do with crochet granny squares?.......Bunting!!

Before I left to go on my South American adventure last November I got together a crochet project ready to take with me. I had been knitting and sewing so much before I left that going away for 7 weeks without doing anything crafty seemed pretty hard. 


I had bought the gorgeous 'Cute and Easy Crochet' book by Nikki Trench not long before I left and decided to take some supplies with me to make one of her throws (see previous blog post). 

The same throw was recently featured in Mollie Makes Magazine

I knew there would be long plane and bus journeys so thought it might be a good way to pass some time. Unfortunatly my little scissors got confiscated at security at Birmingham Airport (too pointy apparently) so I had to buy a nail clipper to cut my yarn...quite effective once I got the hang of it! 


So I had great intentions...had all my yarn ready....colour scheme decided...copied out the pattern...had my nail clippers and hook...

The yarn I used was Amy Butler belle organic aran for Rowan 

......hmmmmmm, things didn't quite go as planned....I managed to make about 20 squares in total...... 

 So all this yarn had a lovely trip too...being stuffed in my rucksack for 7 weeks....

I think its hard to just have one project on the go at one time. I missed my vintage top I was knitting before I left...but I could't have brought that too!  


So for all of you out there who have more that one project on the go...good for you!! Variety is the key I say.... especially when it come to me and to crochet. 


So instead of making up the throw I decided to so something that had more instant results.....bunting! Everyone loves a bit of bunting and using crochet squares makes for a good alternative to the traditional triangle ones. 

7 weeks without stitching - NEVER!

As my big trip to South America looms closer I've been thinking about what projects I can take that will keep me going during 7 weeks of backpacking.  We have decided to only take 2 smallish rucksacks each. Mine is 33 litres and hubbys is 35 litres. So space is seriously tight.

We've got quite a distance to cover, and even though we will be spending a lot of time trekking and sightseeing there are quite a few long bus and plane journeys in to get through as well. What better way to pass the time than to take some projects to keep me going.

I thought about taking the vintage knitted top that I keep going on about, but I would be beside myself if anything happened to it, its taken me so long to figure out how to do it and I've spent so long working on it.

A few weeks ago now I was at the Knitting and Stitching show in London and the lovely people there taught me how to crochet. I had tried once before but made the mistake of not practising regularly enough and quickly forgot how to do it.

Since then I've been practicing granny squares and I am defiantly getting more of a hang of it...although still not mastered what to do with all the loose ends.

So I thought something like this might be good to squeeze in my rucksack. Only one hook needed...I can take just a few balls of wool...no biggie if my rucksack gets nicked or anything. Maybe by the time I get back I'll have enough squares to stitch me up a blanket!

I bought this gorgeous crochet book by Nicki Trench recently. 

It has a few blanket projects in it but I'm going for the beginner one...this 'Springtime Throw'. Its bloomin' massive (finished size 162cm x 2223cm)...so I'm just going to work with the few yarn balls that I have and see how many squares I get to. 

House of Fraser have a sale on the Amy Butler Belle Organic aran and DK at the moment...I think they are selling of there end of line stock and I managed to top up some of the yarn that I already had for just £2.50 per ball (usually over £5 so a bit of a bargain). Only problem was you had to buy it in packs of 10 balls...which seemed excessive....so I managed to find a few smaller packs and I'm planning on using the cream and the two shades of blue to make up a smaller blanket. Will probably end up being a baby sized blanket...now I just need a baby...maybe not just yet!