Loopy Roses and Other Things

As you know I have going with Rachael (Artyarn) on a couple of days to Accrington to sit with her whilst she teaches crochet. The pupils have been making all kinds of abstract twiddles, curlicues etc and I had been making a few leaves to add in between some of the flower like crocheting that has been made. Today I was fed up with my own crochet so I decided to have a change. As you can see from the first photos I made a loopy stitch ball in yellow and added green sea weed like tentacles. I then made a curlicue in green and random. A little flower in multi.

I wanted something different so I was net browsing and came across Sarah London's patterns and fell in love with a lot of her designs. They are very simple but she uses such vibrant colours that I had to order the loopy rose pattern. The first one I made was a bit of a disaster (see the first photo) but by the second and third rose I have got the hang of the way they are stitched together (I think) The ones that Sarah made are in bright primary colours and I think that is what is missing from my attempts. I need to sort out 9 strong colours for them to work properly. I am sure that my attempts will fit in with the whole design somewhere and I will give them to Rachael when I see her on Saturday.

I have added a link to Sarah London's blog in my title page. The loopy rose pattern gives pictorial lessons on how to make the roses which makes them simple to follow. I just wish that she had shown in more detail the start of curling the loops up to make the flower and how she stitched it together. Mine are more cobbled together as sewing up is not my forte. On her blog is a lovely pattern for a colourful beach bag and a gorgeous round cushion cover. The colours that she chooses for her projects are so bright and cheerful.I could follow a lot of her designs without a pattern. It's the colours that she uses that make them so attractive to me. Her house looks so bright and cheerful with all of it's crochet covers and cushions.

Avert your eyes Bev as another of my pre ordered crochet books from Amazon has arrived early. It is a mix of clothes, blankets, toys and accessories. Although the book says some of the patterns are for boys I feel the patterns are more suited to girls. I will post some photos of the pages tomorrow. That should give Bev time to hide her purse and close her eyes! I only have one book left on pre order and that is also another baby crochet book. Once again it isn't due yet but then neither were the last two books so I presume that will arrive soon.

I rang up today to find out whether my copy of Interweave Crochet has been lost in the post as it is well overdue. I have a subscription and they are always late sending out my copies. When I rang they hadn't posted them out yet even though they are advertised on their website. Time for a change of subscription when this one ends I think. The whole point of a subscription for me is that I get them early and don't have to go searching the newsagents for a copy.

Thankfully the parcel that I posted to Sylvia yesterday arrived safely this morning. I am always on pins when I post anything these days. I know the parcel doesn't have a high monetary value but it's all the hours of labour spent making the little jackets that can't be replaced. Sylvia thinks that the cardigans will fit the babies which is a huge relief. It is hard to crochet for babies that keep growing fast since I last saw them.

Tonight I may continue making some abstract twiddles. I am giving my crochet a break for today as my wrists were aching last night after working on it for an hour or more. It grows so slowly. I will be a few more days before I reach the armhole division,