Almost Done!!

I started crochet-ing a blanket in February of this year...FINALLY, almost a year later, I am almost done! Its been months and months of work, but I'm so pleased I've stuck by it because its really coming together nicely! :

Tara Duff

I got my daily knitting / crochet / craft magazine email newsletter today as usual & this little gem was found! Tara Duff, crochets bearded beanies. How very awesome! :)
Her Etsy shop is here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/taraduff

Hot Water Bottle Cover

I finally have a picture of the hot water bottle cover that I made for Robyn for her birthday. The pattern I used is the African Flower pattern:

Crochet Purse

Inspired by the African Flower crochet pattern group on Flickr, I have made a gift purse for Katherine for her birthday today :)

(She's saving up to buy some gorgeous shoes she's seen and has requested some funds to help her afford them - what better way to "present" money than in a purse!)

New Colours

Oh sweet crochet addiction!

I found these mohair colours at the waterfront when Geoff and I went through last Saturday - The result is one of many...of which one is that my double bed blanket of granny squares as taken a further step back from a completion date.

I am totally smitten with the African Flower pattern! I went to the Wool Boutique in Fish Hoek on Friday and got some cotton, new wool and bamboo colours to compliment my mohair colours:

African Flower

I am so very excited. I have posted about Moxy Crochet before. I absolutely LOVE their flower pattern!

I've been working very hard at trying to finish my crochet blanket. I currently have about 100 blocks out of 224 completed...all my centres made & about 35 that just need the cream borders...and then I'll have to stitch it all up! I am SO tired of making squares & have been looking for hexagonal patterns on Ravelry. I was doing a search for granny squares instead of just for hexagons so I thought that there weren't any patterns available....

A little searching later, I found so many patterns! ..and the BEST part is that I found the 'African Flower' pattern that Moxy Crochet uses! For people on Ravelry it is called the, African flower hexagon by Lounette Fourie & Anita Rossouw and it was published in Sarie Magazine June 2009.

I linked to the pattern & simply had to try it out as soon as possible!

On my first attempt (left) I did something funny with the second round (I only did 1dc going around)

My second attempt (right) went much better! ....Now to get some fluffy wool to add texture!

I also played around in Photoshop with what my hexagon would look like if I made lots of blocks & put it together as a blanket....pretty cool! :)

Have a look at what some other people on Flickr have made!
This one is amazing: click here

...and for anybody in a panic of how to get started, I found a photo tutorial to explain! :)

Needle Keeper

I found this cool idea on a website of somebody who had adapted a pair of old jeans and an old shirt into a holder to keep their knitting & crochet needles in.....so on Friday (public holiday) I set to work designing & making my own version out of upholstery fabric, ribbon & trimmings in my sewing cupboard! I'm SO happy with the results! :