...easter treats

These cute little fellas were made as Easter gifts for Dan's nephews who are both serious cuties themselves. Dan has 3 nephews but as the youngest had only just been born when I made these he was probably not quite ready for the cream eggs that are hidden in each one (and I had left it a bit late to get 3 made).

... lavender bags

Well, it has been a long gap between posts......

I had some time off as I managed to chop the end off my right thumb which, it turns out, makes it hard to do, well, almost anything - especially crochet! Once my thumb was better I got started again by making these lovely Lavender bags for my Mum. I have been planning on making these for ages - you know, one of those ideas which you keep meaning to do but you don't quite get round to.

Anyway, finally it came out of my head and into the real world and I was really pleased with them and I think my Mum was too. They are filled with home grown lavender and hopefully will make all they are near smell lovely!

So I made these in March and have only just got round to posting them up - very shoddy blogging. More things I have made and failed to blog in a timely manner coming up soon.

...a thing?

Ok I really don't know what this is but there was a bit of sock left after making Calista Fashionista's legs and this little fella sort of happened on Sunday as I was sitting round watching the skiing. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am almost incapable of actually just sitting and watching tv - I often have something else on the go as well. So in between the downhill, some slalom and a bit of bobsleigh (loving Eurosport's winter sports programme) he evolved into something quite cute, if a little pointless. Name anyone?

...Calista

Calista (or Calista Fashionista to give her her full title) is my newest sock creature, made for my friend Nicky because she has been a bit under the weather recently. Calista is a lover of fashion making her the perfect companion for Nicky as she is too!

... a crochet hook case

This is my new crochet hook case, I absolutely love it!! Up to now I have been keping my hooks in a funny little case I made when I first started crocheting. It was ok but this is really nice - I can find my hooks much easier and I don't end up playing pick up sticks with my crochet hooks when they have fallen out all over the floor as they were prone to do. ther is even room for my row markers and favourite needle (future developments will include space for scissors and other accoutrements).

It required a bit of improvisation as I did not understand the pattern for toffee at times and I am not sure it helped that I went wrong somewhere along the line making the pattern totally nonsensical! Anyways it all turned out nice in the end so i am off to plan what to make next with my newly organised hooks.

... Rodriguez

Rodriguez is my first ever stray sock creature and it was love at first site with us. He was made especially for my friend Sandra who bought me a most wonderful book for my birthday called Stupid Sock Creatures . I love his lovely button eyes and his wavy scarf. Rodriguez is going to undoubtedly be the first of many sock creatures. For three reasons - he was lovely to make, he is adorable finished and now Sandra has leant me another sock creature book and I am fighting off the urge to shelve my current project to make more!

... an apple cozy

In the process of searching the crochet pattern database on the new website love of my life - Ravelry I came across this pattern and felt compelled to make Dan it for Christmas. While I am aware Dan will never use it, it was funny to us due to a long standing joke regarding fruit protection in one's work bag ......

... Gilbert the Giraffe

I have not posted anything for ages, but for good reason. I realised mid November that everything I was making was for birthday / Christmas pressies so blogging them would have spoiled the surprise somewhat!!! So .... the next few posts are not quite in order as not all the gifts have been given yet - i will start with those that have!

This is Gilbert and he is a giraffe, all be it a blue one (I could not find any yellow wool I liked - I have realised i am quite fussy about what I like crocheting with). He was crocheted for Dan's Nephews for Christmas as they are giraffe mad. I had grand plans about making two, one for each Nephew but time dictated otherwise!

You can see more photos of Gilbert on my Flickr page - he has lovely Giraffe spots on his back which I was quite pleased with, they were not part of the original pattern and required some freeform crochet which I enjoyed. Gilbert is made from a pattern by the wonderful Roxycraft.

... a hot water bottle cover

As mentioned before I am a serial hoarder. I find it hard to throw most things away but this was especially true when years ago one of my favourite jumpers got accidentally shrunk in the wash. I loved the jumper and I loved the felty material that resulted from it's washing machine experience as well (after I had got over the trauma of losing a treasured piece of clothing).

This happened so many years ago I can't remember how many. And all this time I have carefully stored it fully intending to do something with it one day.

I decided some time ago that it would make a great hot water bottle cover but never quite got round to it. For some reason I decided to make it this week. Maybe it was the pattern for the lovely crochet circles I found in one of my craft books that inspired me. I am really pleased I got it finished. It is lovely and most importnatly means you don't get scalded by your hot water bottle.

... a brain slug

Sometimes good things come in the smallest packages and this is one of those times. This chap is tiny - only 4cm tall to the top of his cute antennae. He is a brain slug which is not particularly cute at all I suppose. Brain slugs exist in Futurama, my all time favourite cartoon. They turn their human hosts into semi comatose shadows of themselves, I sometimes wonder if I have been infected - it would explain my recent slowness! The pattern, which I got from a cool blog called hooks and needles came in two sizes, small and large. Turns out the small one was the perfect size for the crochet me! More information on the brain slugs and their nefarious plan to take over the earth can be found here