So far so good!

Huge thank you to everyone on all the social media sites who sent best wishes to my hubby last week. I am glad to say he is doing fantastic. This time last week we were told there was a huge risk with the surgery and that he would be in ICU for 2 weeks. The operation was a success although a few complications, a double heart bypass later he was in ICU with so many machines it was upsetting but he has done so well that he was only in ICU for 4 days, now back up on the ward doing slow and steady exercises and everything going to plan. With a bit of luck he will be home within the next week.

While at the hospital I came across a charity who carryout fantastic work both at the Leeds General Infirmary and St James's Hospital. The Take Heart charity carry out fund raising events plus hold regular stalls in the hospitals themselves. So far just the things I have seen while at the LGI they have raised millions to create a roof top garden (which is fantastic), refurbished family rooms, supplied brand new furniture to the wards, Dyson fans for the patients, plus so much more. if you have time and are interested in looking at what they do then please pop along to www.takeheart.net. I was surprised to find that you can become a life long member for a one off fee of £1.50, this gives you a quarterly newsletter to keep you up to date with the events and current projects. £1.50 I can't even get a cup of tea for that, so I am gladly becoming a member today.

Everyone knows that I love my crochet and I make things for all kinds of charities, from premature and angel babies, pet blankets, plus just about anyone who needs something crocheted. So my new plan following a lovely chat last week with a volunteer for the Take Heart charity is to crochet items toys, clothing etc that they can sell on their stall each week. The beauty of this is I get my crochet fix and get to buy more yarn and then by donating my creations raise much needed funds too. So today I am sorting through my completed goodies to see what I can donate.

If anyone would like to contribute any items for the charity please drop me an email to discuss. My plan is drop items off when I go visiting and then maybe every other month once my hubby is home.

Decision Made

Well it's been a bit of a stressful time at my house this last few weeks but with crochet to keep me sane I'm sure all will work out well. Mick (my hubby) had a heart bypass yesterday and due to rheumatoid arthritis complications he shall be in intensive care for 2 weeks instead of 2-3 days. Then up to the main ward for a week or so. We are hoping to have him home by the end of November. From here on in it shall be around 6 months until he is fit enough to lift anything heavier than his cup of tea. I have to praise the staff at both Bradford Royal Infirmary and Leeds General Infirmary all have been brilliant. Between the two hospitals I have seen at 1st hand the dedication all the nurses and doctors put into looking after not just my husband but all patients. I'm now thinking of creating a new card design to raise funds for the Take Heart Charity. I shall be looking into that soon. So this post was a just little update and now its time to put the kettle on and have maybe an hour with my hook and yarn.

Crochet Therapy

Morning, I haven't posted for a few days due to Hubby still being in hospital. He is awaiting a decision on a heart bypass, the decision is being made by surgeons in Leeds and he is in Bradford so waiting, waiting and a bit more waiting. On the up side he is allowed to come home each day then go back to the hospital at night. He jokes its worse than being a prisoner. I must admit it feels very strange picking him up on a morning then drop him back off at night, but thats what we after to do to keep his space on the list so to speak. Anyhow in-between being a taxi service along with everything else that needs to be done I have tried to have some crochet therapy, some would think it is cheaper than a spa day or an actual therapist but I'm not so sure, my stash of yarn seems to multiply on its own. I have been good this last week and not bought anymore. I have been commissioned to make a cot blanket for a new baby due soon, I'm about a third of the way through but I can't just do the one project so I do some work on the blanket then pick up something small to do. I recently made a baby beret which I blogged early and have spent a few hours writing up the pattern which is over on my free patterns page. It was my small thing to do last night.  Free pattern here.

My next free pattern is going to be a bottle gift bag so keep watching this space as they are perfect for Christmas.

Autumn's On It's Way

Things have been and still are a little stressful over the last few weeks and shall continue to be for a few more to come due to Hubby being ill. So I have lost myself when able into my crochet just to keep me sane. I wanted to make something easy and small but also something I could complete and not have to put down and turn into a WIP (work in progress) I have so many WIP's that another was not a good idea. Well I checked my stash and found just 1 x 50g ball of a lovely dark grey, light grey and purple mixed yarn and thought what can I make with just this one ball, after a couple of false starts I came up with a pair of fingerless gloves. If like me your not keen on wearing gloves then these are a great alternative.

Very simple to make with a pattern here and a great stash buster. They can be made longer but you'll probably need more than a 50g ball of yarn. I had enough yarn left over to create 4 flowers which will be added to a scarf or cowl at a later date. There was no label on the yarn so other than it being acrylic I have no idea of the make but I think they turned out well.

Cute Baby Beret

I offered my services this week to a lady who needed a baby beret making for a new born baby gift. I set about researching a pattern that would fit the bill, I was unable to find just the right one so had to create one. I think it looks lovely in baby pink finished with silver bow.

Another Week Another Blanket

I feel I am becoming the blanket lady. I have been feeling sorry for myself this week suffering with a stinking cold that is only just going away so it gave me plenty of time to create my lovely new baby blanket. I want and have so many ideas to create and make but somehow recently get side tracked into yet another blanket. I justify it in that everyone needs a blanket. Well I joined a Facebook crochet group the other week, we just post photos of our makes and share tips and hints etc. Lots of people in the group were talking about C2C blankets. I knew what they were just never made one. So after a bit of research I found a tutorial which you can find here and the thats it I'm hooked (pardon the pun). I had recently bought some lovely Patons baby 4ply in a mixed baby colours and cream. So off I went with my 3.5mm hook and came up with this lovely baby blanket. It is sized to fit a pram or moses basket and it feels so soft.

I am now going to use the same principles of this pattern and make lots of other goodies. I have a single bed sized blanket to make and I am going to make some lap rugs for charity. I am also thinking  of scarves and cowls too, this pattern is so easy that my mind is a whirl with possibilities. I am finding that my crochet and card orders are keeping me almost sane while I silently worry for my hubby who is going back into hospital in October.  He has already had two heart attacks in the last 14 months and is having symptoms again, hence back into hospital on the 13th for another angiogram and possible extra stents. Because we are almost house bound, he can't walk very far I am getting lots of crochet time.

Rainbow Blanket

Happy Friday everyone.

I have not blogged for a little while due to family illness but while its been a stressful time at home I have still been hooking. My youngest requested a blanket for her bed in rainbow colours so I looked through my stash and came up with this beautiful blanket. I wanted something that would make up in one go with minimal weaving in of ends ( I loath that bit) and here it is HOTH (hot of the hook). I had to finish it today because Rebecca said she really needs to sleep with it TONIGHT!.

Although this blanket now belongs to Rebecca and I will probably never see it again, I am putting it in my crochet shop to have made to order. If anyone would like me to make them one then just drop me a message. To make takes approximately 50 hours, this one took me four weeks to complete so please remember that if placing an order. I do have an order book and all large blanket orders are completed on date placed basis. I hope that makes sense.  Anyway here it is and I hope you like it.

I can make this blanket in pram, cot, single bed or double bed size and also in various colours, this version is rainbow but I have other colours too which shall be in my shop soon. Any questions or commissions please drop me a message.

This is the pattern.

I choose 13 different colours of Stylecraft Special DK and a 4mm hook.

2 x 100g for the stripes and border colour choice and 12 x 100g for the stripes.

I used the following stitches - tr, htr, V stitch, ch

V st = tr1, ch1, tr1 in same chain.

To begin chain 163, work 1tr into the 3rd ch from the hook, *skip 2 ch's and work a V st into next ch* continue from * to * to last 4 ch's, skip 2 ch's, tr1, tr1.

Row 2: Ch2 (counts as 1st treble), tr1, then work a V st into each ch1 space along the row to last 4 ch's, skip 2, tr1, tr1.

Row 3: repeat row 2 until desired length achieved.

Border - change colour and work 1htr stitches all around the blanket, I worked 1 in each ch along the top and bottom and two in gaps down the sides.

Change colour again and work 1htr into each ch, in the corners make a ch1 to continue around.

I worked two rows for the border but you can make it as thick as you prefer.

I worked 3 rows of pattern per colour but you can work as many as you prefer.

I hope all of that makes sense but please message me if I have made a mistake and I shall update the pattern, I have written the above from memory because I forgot to write it down as I went.

Happy hooking Friday on International Crochet Day 2014.