Crochet Therapy and Recovering

Happy Monday everyone!

It's been quite a while since I've posted here. My last post was written the day before I went away for the weekend. It really was a good weekend, spent with family, but my health kinda crashed after and it's been hard to pick up again.

I've been thoroughly enjoying the changing seasons. Autumn is my favourite time of year and October is my favourite month. The leaves have been painted in the most beautiful colours. The seed pods of various plants and trees are such interesting shapes. I've been enjoying seeing and smelling autumn whenever I can get out. Do you like autumn too?

I want to share something I made while I was recovering my health. My head is still very foggy, though, so I apologise for any nonsensical writings!

I showed the beginnings of this shawl in my last post. It was just a little triangle then. It's another Victoria shawl by Sandra of Cherry Heart. You can see the first one I made here. This is such a lovely pattern and easy to memorise too, which is great for when you want to crochet something with a therapeutic repetitiveness to it. I only had the strength for 5 to 10 minutes of crochet at a time but the pattern is written so well and includes charts and stitch counts so that it is hard to lose your way even with all of the stopping and starting that I did.

Let me tell you about this yarn. I love this yarn. It is 100% alpaca 4ply, it has a slight halo and is sooo soft! It makes a beautifully drapey fabric that is warm and cosy when crocheted. It is yummy.

Making this was such good therapy. It is so nice to watch a crochet project grow and grow, isn't it? Then, holding it up and seeing the finished project... It is good for the soul. 😊

Last time I crocheted this Victoria shawl, I made it with just one colour so this time I decided to use two -lavender/light purple with a few rows of grey at the border to create a bit of interest. I really like how turned it out.

Sandra has designed the Victoria shawl to be just the perfect size. It will cover shoulders and arms when worn the traditional way, but it's not big enough to be cumbersome, so you can wear it draped asymmetrically across your shoulders or around your neck like an oversized scarf.

I can see me making many of these in my future. I made this one for my shop but I enjoyed wearing it for this photoshoot so much that I think I might just *need* to make one for myself too 😊. Not that I don't already have enough shawls and scarves to keep a small army warm.😁

It feels really good to be back, writing and showing pics. I have lots of things in the pipeline to share on the blog, including a new bag that I finally finished. My plan is to review the pattern, so if any of you like to make handbags look out for that appearing on my blog soon.

Do you like to crochet? Have you made the Victoria shawl pattern before, or do you have another favourite? Do share in the comments. I'd love to hear about what you've been making.

I hope you have a brilliant week

                                                                          *B*


Ps. I made a page for my shawl on Ravelry here
     The shawl has been listed in my Folksy shop, the link is up on the right if you fancy a look

I'm linking up with Jennifer's Winter Link Party at Thistlebear

What Do You Do With Your Scrap Yarn?

I've recently finished a blanket I've been working on and I'm so glad it's finally complete. Crocheted, joined up and ends sewn in. It's been the never ending project for 2 years! But now it's done and I am cosily snuggled underneath it as we speak. I haven't got any photos yet but I will take some for a Ta-Da post soon.

The thing is, there is a lot of yarn left over from this project which makes my acrylic stash overflow a bit. I decided to pull out all of my acrylic double knit scraps to take stock of what I have.

There's enough to make another lap blanket here

These are the scraps from three projects. two crochet blankets and one woven scarf. Yummy colours and many possibilities 😍

I took advantage of all this spare yarn to try a little pattern I've been meaning to try for aaaages. It is a free tutorial on My Giant Strawberry which is a hugely inspirational blog written by Anne who is a wonderful artist. Anne has been showcasing artists and their sketchbooks recently which has been really interesting. I love looking through other artists sketchbooks, don't you?

This rose weighs 49g so I'm thinking it would take a lot of those to use up all this yarn 😉

One idea I have to use it all up is to make a blanket of flowers. Lots of flowers in a jumble of colours all attached by the petals (as opposed to crocheting them into square blocks). It would look like you were sleeping under a flowerbed, which is a fun thought. 😊 Another idea is to learn to free form crochet and start at one end and free form shapes all the way to the other end. Have you ever tried free form crochet? If you have I'd love some advice. If you haven't come across it before, type it into google and look at the images. It's like painting with yarn! This appeals to me as when I was younger I painted everyday, and with the left over paint on my palette I would paint a page in my sketchbook, starting in one corner and adding paint whenever I had some left to use. I like the idea of doing that with yarn. It looks so fun, but it would be a big learning curve. Then there's the simplicity of stripes. Simple is tempting.

In the mean time, I'm thinking my rose needs a hat to live on so first I must make a hat.

I'd like to know, what do you do with all of your scrap yarn? Is there a favourite scrap busting pattern you always use, or do you save it all that *perfect* project that will come along?

*B*