Just passing by...

Hello there!

Sorry I've not been on here for a while. I seem to say that more often than I'd like to, so please do forgive me for neglecting my blog somewhat.

I will soon have lots of things to show you - despite my lack of blogging I'm still crocheting like crazy.

I had told you in a couple of posts a while back that at the end of May I planned to take part in our local organic market and sell some of my crochet toys and accessories. Well, there's been a change of plan. At the end of May I'll be travelling to the UK to visit family and friends, so I won't be here for the market. Instead, I had the good idea of taking my works into my workplace and offering them for sale to my friends and colleagues.

And here's what I sold:

Bunny doudou
Grey/blue baby shoes
Marcel the mallard
Pink/purple owl
Elly elephant
A felt chick brooch
and several felt owl brooches

I was pleased to sell them but I'm wondering when, if ever, I'll built up enough stock for the organic market.

I do have quite a lot of works in progress, so before I paste up any photos (anyone know where I've put my camera?), here's another list:

Several hats
Several owl keyrings to give as gifts to family and friends when I go to visit next month
An owl cushion
and a new secret pattern that I'm working on.

And... last week I went to my first car boot sale for a long time and even though I didn't find much they really were good bargains. More about all this very soon, I promise.

Bye bye for now.

Spring Bunny

Hello there!  Here in this part of the world it IS Spring, even though we've had another sprinkling of snow on the mountains and it's cold and raining. To cheer us all up, what better than a Spring Bunny? Find the pattern here.

Chloe's bag a free pattern

Here's a very simple pattern to make a little bag for a little person. This one is a gift for Chloe, aged 18 months and who is very fond of bags. If you make the handle longer it would also suit for someone rather bigger. You might want to line it and add a zipper, but I'm just offering the basic pattern, then it's up to you to make any changes.You could embellish it with buttons and beads, I'm sure you have lots of ideas. I'd love to see what you come up with!

The bag is made in one piece, with the handle crocheted in so there's no sewing involved. I used aran type yarn and a 4 mm hook, and the bag is 14cm wide and 15cm high, but it's a very adaptable pattern so you can choose the yarn and hook of your choice. Just alter the number of starting chain stiches and the number of rows to obtain the size you want.

Chloe's bag

With main colour, ch 25

Rnd 1 - 1 sc in third ch from hook, 1 sc in each ch, and 3sc in last ch, then sc back up the other side of the ch, finishing with 3sc in the ch sp. ss in first sc

Rnd 2 - 2ch, 1 dc in each st to end, ss in top of 2ch

Rnd 3 - 1ch, 1 sc in each st to end, ss in first ch

Continue rnds 2 and 3 until you reach the size desired. If you want to add a contrasting stripe, do no cut off the main colour yarn. Add the contrast yarn and work rnds 2 and 3 again. Then take up the main colour again for the final rnd:

Final rnd and handle/strap - ch 2, 1htr in each st to end, ss to top of 2 ch. Do not fasten off. Make enough ch for the required length of the handle, attach with a sc to the opposite side of the bag, then ss back up the ch handle, and attach it securely with a sc back at the beginning. Fasten off. Weave in ends.

To embellish Chloe's bag, I made a crochet doodle flower with contrasting yarn, leaving a long tail that I then used to attach it to the front of the bag.

Happy crocheting!

Room with a view

Hello, hello!

I hope you are all very well, happy and enjoying the beginning of Spring (or autumn, depending on which hemisphere you live in).

I had a sudden realisation that since I moved house, I haven't shared the lovely view I have from our new flat. So here it is. We have a view on this gorgeous old house, with the snow-capped mountains behind it and, on a good day, a bright blue sky. We also have an interesting view of the rest of the mountains and a view up the road where if I'm lucky I can see (and sometimes hear) the neighbour's geese and chickens.

Anyway, back to the house. It's a very old house, dating back to the time of Voltaire, who owned a château just down the road. But the house in the picture didn't belong to Voltaire, it belonged to his neighbour and they really didn't get along very well. I heard that Voltaire did everything he could to bother them. Unlike Voltaire's château that now belongs to the state, this house is still privately owned. The shutters are closed almost all the time though, so it doesn't look like anyone lives there. But still, I love to see it when I open my own shutters every morning.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

My first doll!

Hello there!  My amigurumi activity has until now been solely devoted to toy animals (and a robot) and until now I'd never made a doll. For many years I dreamed about sewing a rag doll but nothing ever came of it, so when I found this pattern I decided to give it a try. The pattern calls for quite a heavy yarn which, going from some of the comments, makes rather a large doll. So I decided to use Debbie Bliss eco baby yarn (sports weight, somewhere between 4ply and DK) and a 3mm hook, and my doll is 26cm or 10 inches tall. I'm not extremely happy with her hair, but never mind. 

Here she is in her underwear! Her legs are really the same length, even though they don't look it in this photo. 

I made the dress from my own pattern, and I'm making some shoes for her too. I remember how much fun it is to dress your dolly. Made from organic cotton, she will be for sale at the organic market at the end of May.

I also finished this keyring at the weekend:

It's a small version of my very own owl pattern. I used some left over Catania yarn and a 2.5 mm hook to make this 8cm/3 inch cutie. I love the result you can obtain from this yarn/hook combination, but it's a bit hard on the fingers and takes a lot longer to make than you'd imagine. Worth every minute, though. 

Marcel, Elly and bunny doudou

Hello there! Well what a terrible, terrible blogger I am. I hang my head in shame. Not only have I not blogged for way too long, but the number of followers has passed the 100 mark and I haven't yet organised anything special to celebrate. Oh dear.

But I have been very busy. That's my excuse. Honestly, life at home and at work has been rather... challenging for the last week or two (or three). I'm sure that some of you can sympathise. But hey ho, there's nothing like a spot of crochet to keep one sane. So I've been making. Up there you can see Marcel the mallard (a very good friend of the last post's Ducky). Marcel is awaiting the organic market at the end of May, hoping to find a new home there.

A pattern for Marcel and Ducky is in the pipeline, but still in the experimental phase. I'll need to make another one or two before it's publishable.

Then we have Elly. Here she is in her egg cup.

Elly is tiny and I think she may well end up as a key ring. Once she manages to escape from the egg cup. The inspiration for Elly came from Dawn Toussaint's Padma, but I made a lot of changes to the pattern and Elly really is quite unique. 

Lastly we have a brand new doudou. This time it's a bunny.

Bunny doudou is made with Debbie Bliss aran eco cotton yarn, and will also be on sale at the organic market. The pattern is very similar to my teddy doudou pattern, but bunny has a hidden secret - she is also a puppet. 

Well I'm afraid that's it for today. You'll have to wait a little while longer for our litle celebration, but I did want to say I love that the number of followers has reached and gone beyond one hundred. I love reading your comments, and I hope that you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy sharing it with you. 

This little ducky went to market

Meet my latest creation - a cute little duck! He hasn't gone to market yet, in a few months he probably will. I have just learned that the next edition of our town's organic market that's held twice a year will happen at the end of May. Here was I thinking that I wouldn't have time to build up any sort of stock, but hopefully by then I will have enough to sell. I'll be showing you some more of my items for sale as they roll off the production line. It would be great to know what you think of them because I don't really know what kinds of things will sell. I'll mostly be selling toys and baby accessories (baby shoes and hats). When I was in England a couple of weeks ago, my sister had bought me some more lovely Debbie Bliss organic cotton aran yarn that will go towards some more owls and whatever else inspires me.

Yes, I have been to the UK! That's also why I've not been blogging much recently. It was a very short visit but I did manage to fit in a lot of things. I went to see my lovely cyber-friend Clare and her little boy and husband - it was great to see them "in the flesh". I'd taken Clare a slouchy hat and cowl in lovely soft yarn but I forgot to take a photo... I did also make a lovely orange and brown owl for her little boy, and managed to take a pic of that before leaving. Unfortunately the battery on my camera's died so I can't paste it up right now. Oh dear. But I will as soon as poss, promise.

I also went to see my sister and we went through some of the old ornaments and china that belonged to my Mum and aunt, and I put my name of a few things. I did bring back a vase and two lovely little bowls that belonged to my aunt. The plan is that each time I go I can bring back one or two items. I just have to find somewhere to put them. I've seen a nice display cabinet in Ikea that might just find its way to our living room one of these days...

I'm going to keep today's post short... and I almost forgot!  My blog has 99 followers! I'm really pleased to have you all following my little blog and I hope it keeps you amused and maybe even inspires you. When the 100th follower comes along, maybe I'll organise a little something. Watch this space :-)