My son's heirloom crochet blanket

A while ago I promised my 2 boys that I would make them each a crochet granny square blanket for their beds. To keep them warm and snugly at night, and to have something to  for them to keep, and hand down to their children (if they have any!) later on in life. Something that I had made for them. My husband wanted me to make one for our bed too. I had just started to learn to crochet, (granny squares were what I first learnt) and he requested a blanket for our king size bed. Mmmm, I thought, this could take a fair while! Each square took me an hour to crochet. I made 90 squares in total, then there was the tucking in of the ends, joining it all together and then making a border around the edges. Well I made 2 squares a day over last winter and by the end of January I had finished.............

We do really love it, it stays on our bed all year around too. It really is very snugly and cozy. Having seen this one, both my boys said "I want one too". So I half heartedly set about making theirs next. They both wanted to have their blanket made first, so to make it fair I did a bit at a time on each blanket. I kept putting them down, as other projects arose and I was getting a bit bored of the repetitiveness of the granny squares and using the same colours. But now winter is here again I have been inspired to finish the blankets off. Here is my littlest man's blanket all complete........

I have used a mix of granny stripes and granny squares. Mainly to stop me getting bored of making the same thing!

Apologies for this last picture being around the wrong way. For some reason my laptop will not allow me to rotate it! You will just have to crane your neck sideways or if you have a laptop turn it around - lol! 

In the end I decided to concentrate on just the one blanket at a time. I cannot stand to feel bogged down with making things, and would rather complete one project at a time. That way I am satisfied that these rather larger projects do get completed in a shorter space of time! Now to start my bigger ma's blanket. This is going to be very random, with granny squares of all shapes and sizes and granny stripes. Here is a sneaky peek of what I have made so far .........

Before I proceed with the above, I have just been asked by my step-daughter if I could crochet her a  handheld games console cover. So I am currently working on this this afternoon. Speak soon, Natasha xx

My 70's vintage flower afghan (slowly making now!)

I saw this appear in my news feed on Facebook a few weeks ago and instantly fell in love with it. I suddenly had the urge to make one myself....

The very clever Heidi from Speckless wrote a wonderful piece on how to make one of these. You must go over and take a look. I love revisiting her fabulous blog and seeing what she has been up to. Heidi managed to make  a flower with a green edging by just crocheting, rather than using a  flower loom. However I loved the idea of a flower loom and decided to hunt one down. I found a brilliant flower loom on ebay.  Its called a Hana-Ami flower loom, and comes with different sized and shaped looms. the looms are all contained in a handy carry case. The instructions are brilliant too, and these flowers are extremely easy (and very fun) to make.  My friends daughter came over, she is 6 years old and loved making the smaller sized flowers.You can use ribbon, wool, raffia and anything else you can think of to make round, square or hexagon shaped flowers. 

This is my first attempt at using the loom. I have so many ideas about how to use all the flowers that I make. Although, so far I have only used the large circle loom to make similar flowers to the vintage throw.

I found some chunky white wool which I have used for the daisies. The  centres are  made from doubling up some yellow DK yarn and over stitching into each petal. I haven't worked out how to make the larger more prominent flower centres like the original 70's throw. If any of you out there know how to, then please let me know .I  then double crocheted around the edges in a green DK yarn.

I have also made some colourful flowers as I was unsure whether I wanted to make an updated version in some brighter colours.....

 

In the end I decided I liked the vintage look of the plain white daisies with the yellow and pale green, so that is what I am working on now. This is how much I have done so far.........

 The pic above is the right side ip and the lower pic in the wrong side up. I feel that this may be a long, but very enjoyable and satisfying project....... Catch you next time, Natasha xx

October winter warmers!

Hiya! Yet again it has been nearly a whole month since I last sat down and wrote a blog post! Time time time!!! My main excuse is that my laptop has been poorly and has been in for repair for the last 3 weeks, which made it slightly difficult to write a post. Oh, and I have been ill for the past week too.  I have had the horrible flu which turned into a nasty cough and I can't seem to shake it off.  I  hope you are all well, and keeping those awful bugs at bay? The weather is getting colder and I have been making lot's of wrist warmers and hats. I really love to crochet beanie hats as they are really so easy to make and Ilove experimenting with different wools and colours.

 

The above 3 children's hats were made for one customer for Christmas presents for her neice and 2 nephews.

 

 

This one was also made for a customer as a Christmas present for her friend. I also made some matching wrist warmers to go with it.

 

 

I have been making some cotton crochet slippers and lot's of pairs of wrist warmers, as a local arts & crafts shop wanted my crochet items for their shop. Leck & Jones is a fabulous array of gorgeous gifts made by local people of Portland and the surrounding areas. It really is a little treasure trove! If you are ever this way do pop in and take a peek.

 

These are the 4 pairs that I have made for the shop. There are long stripey ones with a black flower and button feature, long multi coloured, snuggly ones, red glitter shorter ones and a pair that are completely different colours as they were made form colour change wool! I posted these on my Facebook page and luckily that made customers order some more pairs.

 

 

 

And finally I made this pair for myself..............

 

 

See the flowers on this pair? Well they are made from a Hana - Ami flower loom which I have just bought myself. Apparently these were very popular in the 60s and 70s and some really wonderfull blankets and afghans were made using one. I am attempting to re-create a flower loom afghan like the vintage ones. But this is a different post for next time! Pop back soon as I will reveal all.......Natasha xxx

 

Just before I go would you like to take a sneaky peek??

 

 

Woolly Mumas!

Well hello! Sorry I haven't been around for a while. Have missed you all! Life seems to be getting busier and busier. Every moment I have had spare this week I have been sat in my  craft room (well the bottom end of my bedroom - see below) creating a variety of things for customers Christmas orders. Loving every minute of it mind!

I have been making a lot of personalised Christmas stockings. Made from red felt,  with an appliqued fabric design and name. They have  lot's of buttons and embellishments (love these!), and are sewn together with my favorite stitch - blanket stitch. I really enjoy coming up with each one and making it personal to that child (or adult!). I have made quite a few this last week.

I have also been working on a some mini stocking bunting, and I made one which you can actually put a gift inside the stocking, and each member of the family has their own stocking with their initial appliqued on to it. Even the hamster and bunny in this family have their own stocking, one with a felt carrot and the other with a felt cabbage appliqued on to it.

I have  been making more pairs of cotton slippers. A local art & craft shop has asked me if I can make a few pairs to sell in their shop -  which is fab news. 

Unfortunately this lovely blue pair above were for a lovely customer. I sent them off by 1st class mail and a week later and she has  still not received them! I really do hope they turn up where they belong - fingers crossed x

This week I took the plunge and decided to try and teach a group of 7 friends how to crochet. We all gathered at my house for  a cuppa and cake. Some Mum's had to bring their little ones (which was great fun). We started off by learning double crochet. I am hoping by next week that everyone has completed a square! We didn't really get much done by the time we had all had a good chat, ate cake and drank our cuppas. Time went too quickly and before we knew it mum's had to leave to collect their children from pre-school! But I think we all enjoyed ourselves. We are meeting at one of the  other Mum's houses next week to learn triple crochet. We decided that it might be nice if we could all make a blanket for the Linus project. Project Linus UK is a volunteer organisation which provides homemade quilts, blankets and incubator covers to children in hospitals and hospices. So if any of you out there are interested in getting involved in the Linus Project then please click on the link above which will take you to their Facebook page. Incidently we called our little crochet group the "Woolly Mumas"!!! 

Right lovely people. Thank you for coming back and visiting me. I will return shortly with my next lot of news! Have a lovely week, whatever you may be up to! I would love to see some of your creations if you are a fellow crafter. Please feel free to email me with them at: daisychainsbynatasha@hotmail.co.uk  You might even find that I put them on my blog! Natasha  xxxx

Comments please

I was asked to come up with a unique gift for a  friends, friends baby shower. I offered  to make her a crochet baby hat but she said that as much as she loved the hats I make she wanted to find something totally unique that no-one else would give as a present. So I put my thinking cap on and came up with a baby scan keepsake necklace. I asked her if she thought it was a good idea or just a plain weird one, and she loved it! I have listed them on my Facebook page, as well as on Ebay and  Folksy. So far I have sold two. They are available in 4D and normal scan photos. Take a peek at the pics below and let me know what you think.........

This is the very first attempt, using a black and white scan photo.

Isn't this baby just so delightful??  Makes me feel  broody all over again! This one is taken from a 4D scan.

I have really enjoyed making these, and hopefully the ladies that are due to receive them will get just as much pleasure from wearing the love of their life around their necks. What do you all think?? Natasha xxx

A couple of today's makes

How are you all on this wet, miserable day? I have to admit that I am still in my PJ's and have been crafting in them all day. Sometimes it just has to be done, especially when the weather is so wet and windy! I have a feeling that autumn is finally here. Autumn is actually my favorite season. There are no expectations on the weather like there is in the summer. I love the chilly autumn mornings when the sun is shining, going for walks with my dog lily, all wrapped up in a scarf and  a warm coat. ( Note to self -  buy myself  a winter coat, else I shall be cold this year!) Business is steadily picking up which is wonderful. I have been working on a custom order memory bracelet today. I love making these. Each one is unique and individual to that person. It is a silver acrylic stretch bracelet with space for 8 of your favorite photo's, which are covered with  glass cabochons. These are rather popular  with my customers, and I have sold a fair few. What do you think?

They are available in either a square or round bezel. 

 

I also make other memory gifts, bookmarks, necklaces, tins and compact mirrors.

I also crocheted a few small flowers today, as a lovely lady who makes  bespoke nappies might be interested in adding them to the back of her lovely designs.

Also this week I have made another pair of cotton slippers for a friend, and still have another pair to make!

I also attempted a new venture to sell in my Folksy shop, making wooden hanging hearts and painting them, to hang on Christmas trees and around the house. Hubbie had some scrap plywood and all the tools, so he taught me to use a scroll saw, cordless drill and an electric sander. I then painted them and added personal messages to them. Each one took far to long to make and were quite fiddly, so my so called fab  idea has been ditched and all tools returned to  hubbies garage to collect dust lol! Oh well, it kept me quiet for a whole weekend!

This one hangs in our lounge

This one I gave to my hubbie on our anniversary. We have been married for 5 years and the gift was wood, so very appropriate I thought!

This one ended up with a lovely friend of mine as one of her birthday pressies, as I used her daughters name and details on the heart.

Finally, these 2 are waiting to be homed.

Well, that's quite enough of me and my makes, until next time xxxxx

Want to see my latest crafting projects?

I am back  (with a vengeance) to  my crafting again, after the summer break - yipee! I have managed to make a couple of items which I will show you some pics of in a minute. I'm not sure whether it is the time of the year or if I'm just being lucky lately, as I have had a few orders coming my way via my Face book page (Daisy Chains By Natasha). One person ordered a pair of crochet slippers, and then I had  2 orders for crochet hats, then an order for a baby pom pom blanket and finally an order for 3  more pairs of slippers! Maybe people are starting to think about Christmas early? I LOVE making gifts for other people around this time of year. I was very busy with Christmas orders from Sept last year so i'm really hoping the same will happen again - fingers crossed!

These are the crochet slippers I attempted to make. Made from 100% cotton, they fit me a treat!

The boys beanie style hat has a crochet boat motif on it - first time I have attempted a crochet motif on a hat.

The pink rose hat was made for a lovely little girl, and her Mum send me this lovely pic of her wearing it! The navy blue rose and edging  were made to match her coat.

Below is one of the baby pom pom blankets that I have made. They are lovely and snuggly and perfect for a newborn.

Right, really mst go and get crocheting some  more slippers, see you soon, Natasha xxx