Category Archives: My crochet

Surbiton Festival 2011

24 Saturday Sep 2011

Posted by in Markets, My crochet

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Post market stall greetings to all! Today was A Good Day. I sold a record breaking six brooches and a blanket!!! I know it doesn’t sound like much to you, but to me, it is. At the last market we didn’t sell anything, so things are definitely improving!

Apart from people buying, a lot of people took business cards. I even had two people taking photos so that they could show it to friends / family. It was really lovely getting such a lot of positive feedback from passers by. Ladies stopped to chat with me about crochet, french knitting (still have to Google that…), the price of yarn, one even said she was going to email me a pattern for a shawl that she has made more than a hundred of! So so so lovely!

But you know what I enjoyed the most? Seeing the smiles on people’s faces as soon as they see my table! I just love that! Even if they don’t buy, I cheered them up. Result!

Just like last time, I learned a few things which I am going to put to use for the WI Christmas Fayre in November:

  1. Baby blankets sell better than clocks;
  2. Brooches sell better than clocks;
  3. Leading on from point no. 1, I should have more blankets, including unisex colour options;
  4. Leading on from point no. 2, I should make more single colour brooches, especially ones that can be word on red coats;
  5. You can never have enough business cards;
  6. Me crocheting at the table draws more people;
  7. Children really like the clocks;
  8. The over-60’s really like the clocks;
  9. You can meet lovely fellow crafters at a market. I met Maudi of MaudiMade, who is also going to be at the WI Christmas Fayre. Maudi is a trainee book conservator and book binder. So interesting and such a lovely person! Do yourself a favour and visit her website and her shop – especially if you have filofax or prefer the dying art of writing things on paper (as opposed to clicking, typing or swiping on a smart phone or iPad).

All in all it was a very good day. The Festival was well organised and drew A LOT of people! I posted a video to the crocheTime Facebook Page if you want to see the Morris Dancers and a couple of old cars.

I also have to say a big big thank you to my lovely husband who sat patiently next to me entertaining himself watching the rugby on his iPhone, and later playing Angry Birds on his iPad. He also did the coffee & pies run for us and was just generally being a loving and supportive husband.  Love you like Rowan ♥

Identity crisis blanket

02 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in My crochet, My ramblings, Pattern

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Okay, so I have this blanket that I’m working on….. since November 2009!  It’s coming up for its third Winter as a WIP. That’s just wrong man! The blanket is meant for a our double bed. Double Bed. No baby blanket or even single bed blanket  for me to try as a first crochet blanket. Nope, I go big! Double bed big!

The blanket has gone through some life changing events in its lifetime. I started off using Lion Brand Yarn’s Spicy Delights Afghan pattern (you will have log into their website to find the pattern) and I used Biscuit & Jam’s Random Stripe Generator for the colour sequence. The pattern is very easy to do – just shells of 5 dc, with no chain in between the shells. Later I realised that the omission of the chain between shells sort of pulls down the rows into each other so it doesn’t grow as quickly as you would expect. If you look at the slideslow below (a.k.a. timeline of the life of the Identity Crisis blanket) you’ll see what I mean.

I did 72 rows of the blanket in its first Winter and gave up. I was hooking and hooking and hooking but it just looked like a very big scarf. So I packed it up and started again in May 2010.

This time I planned on doing a granny square version of the Babette blanket in the middle. I made up loads of 2 round, 4 round and 6 round grannies. I attached a row of 4 round grannies to kick off the Babette and then I packed it all up. Again.

Last week –  year no. 3 – I got the blanket out again and decided that I actually like the look of 4 rounds grannies neatly arranged in a row. By this stage the poor blanket started off as a proper Spicy Delights Afghan, had a brief spell as a granny square Babette, and now it’s actually going to end up as 97% Spicy Delights blanket and 3% granny squares. Can you see where I got the name “Identity Crisis blanket” from?

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So here is what I will be doing. No really. This is it:

72 rows of Spicy Delights pattern, a row of 4 round grannies,  20 rows of the Spicy Delights pattern, a row of 4 round grannies (that’s where I’m up to now), 20 rows of the Spicy Delights pattern, another row of 4 round grannies and then end off with 72 rows of the Spicy Delights pattern.  

Then I have to weave in all the ends.

And add a border.

This may take a while….

Ola, I’m in Spanish!

18 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in Etsy, My crochet, My ramblings

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So yesterday I spent the whole day retaking all the photos for the clocks currently in my Etsy shop. Yup, I retook them all. I did this on advice from an Etsy guru, Amity, who said that I need to make my photos more crisp and “clean” so that magazine could pick up on the crochet clocks and use them in features, which would generate more sales.

I’ve always been hanging my clocks against my kitchen wall, which is painted a very light green, in order to take photos for Etsy. The photos were fine and I still got a lot of Favourites and Treasury finds using them, but I needed to perfect them, hence following Amity’s advice.  I have to say Amity was right! It made a huge difference and it wasn’t even hard to do. I went outside and lay the clocks down flat on white hardboard. It was an overcast day which makes for perfect photos – no harsh shadows, and no glare. Perfect for Etsy photos.

Apart from updating my current listings, I also listed two new clocks: a blue and purple granny

and a jumbo circles clock in shades of green. This bad boy is 45cm diameter!

Guess what happened then… I got an email from Ingrid Valls saying that she has featured my three granny square clocks (therefore including newly listed blue granny square clock) on her Spanish blog lastejeymaneje.blogspot.com, which according to Google Translates means “The Weave Endorsements”. How cool is that?! One day on Etsy and the blue clock is picked up by a blogger! Hooray for Amity!

Ingrid’s blog features amazing crochet finds. You should really go have a look! I’ve added a link to the blog in my blogroll for easy clicking.

I was especially blown away by John Hamilton’s crochet faces. Thanks Ingrid for introducing me to an amazing artist and of course for including my grannies!

I’ve been Foffed!

17 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by in Folksy, My crochet, My ramblings

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The lovely Lucy of Found on Folksy has included one of my granny square clocks in her Granny Chic blog post for today!


Each Tuesday Lucy chooses a theme and goes through all the lovely items on Folksy (which is similar to Etsy, but only for UK sellers) to create a collection of loveliness.  I wasn’t even aware of this blog, so it was a very pleasant suprise! I’m in good company as well, as Emma Lamb’s mobile is listed below my clock.  I’m also loving the granny pincushion and candle in a cup!

Please go have a look at all Lucy’s Folksy Finds on her blog here.

Flower brooches and a bit of a bargain

10 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by in My crochet

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I’ve listed these thirteen flower brooches in my Etsy shop over the last two days.  (These are the brooches that I took with me to the market on Sunday). Don’t they just scream Summer?!

It’s such fun making them because the yarn changes colour as I crochet and it’s really exciting to see what colour comes next.

They are 10cm diameter each so they really make an impact when you attach them to a coat, cardigan, or even just onto a t-shirt. I love wearing the brightest one I can find on a black, grey or navy outfit. When I need an extra dose of self-confidence I wear two – no-one can ignore you with two of these babies on your shoulder!

Now, for the best part! Once I get 50 subscribers to this blog, I will post a 20% discount code for brooches, to be used in my Etsy shop. That means these babies will go for £4 in stead of £5! If you haven’t already signed up to receive this blog by email, you can do so on the right hand side. The moment I get 50 subscribers, I’ll post the code, so tell your friends and other bloggers!

I’m so looking forward to posting these bright brooches all over the world!

Natasja