A Surprise Event Causes a Flurry of Craft Room Chaos

Four weeks ago back in early February my youngest daughter decided she had found the perfect date for her wedding the date she chose was the 2nd of March, not next year or the year after, but yesterday. So after a day of panic off we set to find her the perfect gown for a sunset wedding at the beach, and after just 4 hours of frantic shopping she chose a beautiful red gown trimmed with lots of crystals to catch the sun, and shoes to match. We could hardly believe  our luck one afternoons shopping and we had ticked off the most important items.
Then came the panic of what on earth can I wear!
So after several cups of tea I remembered some fabric I had stashed in my craft room sat waiting to be transformed into a dress, and it was perfect, red poppies that matched the bride's dress perfectly.
My craft room turned into a the home of a crazy seamstress overnight. This was only the second dress I had made, so I was more than a little nervous but thankfully with only minimal unpicking and reworking the dress came together.
When I wasn't sewing my crochet hook was working double time on a lace wrap to compliment the dress and a poppy to adorn a lovely velvet purse I found to match the dress.
With a week to go I had to face the sinking realisation that even if I didn't sleep the whole week my wrap was not going to be finished on time and so I made a difficult decision to make a little jacket to finish off the ensemble.
The wedding was yesterday and it was a perfect day in the sun, and everyone looked beautiful, and of course the bride was radiant in the sun in her gown.
Today I sit in my craft room which has returned to its serene tranquil haven with my loyal craft room companion Noodle the dachshund at my feet enjoying the peace and quiet.
I thought you might like to see the finished dress and purse.
The poppy I have decided will be my flower of the month for February and my next post will have the pattern for you to share.

 

 

Pineapple Doily

I have wanted to combine my love of lace making and crochet for a while but haven't found a pattern that I really wanted to work on. I recently found a pattern I fell in love with at first glance. Pineapple patterns have intrigued me for a while so when I found this pattern I couldn't wait to get started.
I used a beautiful  turquoise Lisbeth thread to match the sofa or lounge as they like to call it in Australia in the theatre room and thought it would look gragainst the black coffee table I have which was begging for a bit of colour. The effect was even better than I imagined, it looks stunning.

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Colour Inspirations

I love the fuschia and jade together!

Flower of the month January Roses

This gorgeous flower from the garden was my inspiration to go and review some of the rose patterns and videos available online .

Justy Joey  is a beautiful standard rose that I fell I in love with at the garden centre about 4 yrs ago the scent is heavenly and the colour a beautiful peach. However once we settled him into the flower bed he didn't thrive at all no matter what we did or where we put him, but we brought him with us to the new house and within a few months  he rewarded us with this beautiful big flower that lasted for several weeks.

Firstly I reviewed several step by step videos on youtube by She's Crafty, the videos are a little long but do take you through the step by step process of crocheting the individual petals, sepal and leaves and construction of a long stem rose in 3 sizes, bud, opening rose, and full bloom.  It took me one or two replays of a few parts of the videos to get the hang of what I needed to do, and it took me a few days to produce the rose. The pattern was fairly simple and the written pattern she includes in a list format was handy to carry around once I'd worked the pattern once on a petal. 

The wool used is 100% acrylic for this project, and the hook size is 3mm, you will also need florist wire for the stems and florist tape in green to attach the petals to the stem. A glue gun is used to secure the petals together, and a candle which is used once the crocheted pieces are completed. Hovering each piece over the naked flame to melt the tiny acrylic fibres that give your work a fuzzy texture gives them a smooth shiny, polished effect.

The petals are worked in 3 sizes small, medium and large.

To make a bud you work 3 small petals. Rows 1-9 = small petal

To make an opening rose work 3 small petals & 3 medium petals. Rows 1-10 = medium petal

To make a full blooming rose work 3 small, 3 medium & 3 large petals. Rows 1-11 = Large petals.

The petals are worked in Amigurumi style, and finished with 3 chain and 2 double crochet into the final stitch to form a loop. This loop is used to fix the petal to the stem, it helps to leave a small length of yarn also for wrapping around the stem.. This is a small petal

The large petal on the left  is finished slightly differently with a single chain between each of the two stitches of the increase stitch. This gives a slightly angular effect to the outside petals of the full bloom rose and enhances the natural appearance of the petal.

Rose Petal Steps

Row 1. Make a magic circle and crochet 6 single crochet into it

Row 2: Crochet 2 single crochet (V) into each of the single crochet (sc) of row 1 (12 stitches)

Row 3: single crochet (sc) into first stitch, 2sc into 2nd stitch (V) repeat to end of row.

Row 4: sc , sc, V repeat to end

Row 5: sc, sc, sc, V repeat to end

Row 6: sc, sc, sc, sc, V repeat to end

Row 7: sc 10 stitches *V, sc, sc, sc, sc (ie 4 sc  )** repeat from * to ** 3x, V, sc 10 stitches

Row 8: sc 10 stitches * V sc, sc, sc, sc, sc  (5sc) ** rep from * to ** 3x, V, sc 10 

Row 9: sc 11, * V, sc 6**  rep * to ** 3x, V, sc 11

Row 10: sc 11, *V,  sc 3 ** rep from *to ** 6x, V, sc 12

Row 11: sc 12 * V, sc 4 ** rep from *to ** 6x, V sc 12