happy snaps

On Saturday night we celebrated Emma’s 19th + Tom’s 10th!

Cake, sparklers, presents + food, family and friends!

We also have a new addition to our family, a sweet little beagle puppy!

We haven’t decided on a name as yet, any suggestions for this sweet little girl?

november :: mystery crochet project :: part 4

It’s time now, to dress our crocheted Christmas Tree and turn it into an ‘Advent Tree’!

Gather some Christmas wrap and I’ve collected an assortment of different sized matchboxes.

Cover the matchboxes simply by wrapping each matchbox with a scrap of Christmas wrap, secure the wrap with a piece of sticky tape at the back of the matchbox.

Next we have to print out some numbers 1 – 24. Chose a snazzy font, and make sure to leave some space around your numbers so that each number can be cut out.

I’ve cut circles, you could cut stars, you could also use fancy scissors to cut out your numbers, creating a decorative edge.

Alternate your numbers on opposite sides of the branches, as shown in the photo below. My youngest child wished to ‘help’ dress the tree, so I’m waiting for him to get home from school today, but I’m sure you get the general idea.

Fill the ‘gift boxes’ with a sweet treat, and place them in each branch. Ta Da! That concludes this month’s mystery crochet project, I hope you’ve enjoyed it!

 

november :: mystery crochet project :: part 3

Now that our green granny squares have been trimmed with ’snow’ it’s time to start assembling!

Begin with the largest granny square, place right side up, referring to the below photo, insert the ‘tail’ into the ’space’ as indicated.

Draw the ‘tail’ through and pull tightly, as shown in the photo below.

Securely weave the ‘tail’ in on the wrong side of the granny square to fasten into place, as shown below.

Repeat for the remaining granny squares. Once completed you’ll find you have a set of ‘branches’ ready to assemble as shown below.

Start assembling with the bottom ‘branches’ as shown below.

I’ve chosen to ‘assemble’ my branches with nifty red velvet ready made bows, the ones with the twist ties, they make for quick and easy assembling. You could use ordinary ribbon also if you prefer and form your own bows.

Layer two ‘branches’ as shown below,

insert the twist ties through the ‘top’ granny square as indicated,

then through the ‘bottom’ granny square as indicated.

Flip your branches over and twist to secure.

Ta Da! the first set of branches are secured into position.

Continue as before, until you have securely fixed all branches into position.

Note: I  have used three different sized red velvet bows.

Now we need to fix our christmas tree to a wall or door perhaps. I hammered a nail directly into the wall, there are other products on the market to adhesive things to walls etc if you prefer not to nail directly.

I then topped my tree with two granny stars!

Now don’t think we’ve finished yet, no, this tree has a twist to it! can you guess?

Gather some Christmas wrapping and small boxes ie: matchboxes, and I’ll be back on Monday to finish ‘dressing’ the tree!

I’m seeing stars!

Lot’s a bright shining ‘Granny Stars’!

The Granny Star PDF Pattern is now available.

Included are three patterns, the basic granny star, along with two variations + the technique to make larger stars… like those in my Granny Star Garland!

Please email me direct for the pattern.

sarahlondontextiles@gmail.com

Cost $5 AUD

Grace in Small Things 2 :: 365

1. my daugther

2. my sons

3. my brother

 

november :: mystery crochet project :: part 2

Ok, so by now, if you have been crocheting your little heart off,  you should have your-self a nice little pile of green granny squares varying in size, as shown in the photo above. Well done if you have made all 12 squares!

Next we are going to add a sprinkling of ’snow’ to our green granny squares. Reach for your white yarn, I’ve chosen a textured yarn (the one shown in the photo below) it’s another favorite yarn of mine for christmas crocheting, it kind of resembles terry toweling I suppose you could say, it just adds a new dimension to your crochet. Please don’t worry if you can’t source that particular yarn as I said before plain white yarn will be perfect!

With your white yarn work one round of crochet around each of your green granny squares, refer to the photo below.

Lovely, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Once that’s been done, it’s time to weave and trim the tails. Turn over your squares so that the wrong side is facing upward. If you have ‘worked over’ the centre tail…

…then you can simply snip that tail off. If you haven’t ‘worked over’ that tail then make sure you weave in the tail before snipping.

The wrong side of your squares should look like this now (refer to the photo below).

I only want you to weave and snip two of the remaining three tails. We will need one of the tails to assist with ‘assembling’. Refer to the above and below photo for reference as to which tails to weave and snip.

All squares should now resemble the below photo.

The next installment will be posted on Friday! We will begin assembling….

Grace in Small Things 1 :: 365

1. panadol

2. fresh drinking water

3. new people coming into my life

Grace in Small Things is a daily reminder to take notice of the positive things we tend to overlook.

Each day, I will be posting a list of three things that has graced my life, on that day.

I found out about Grace in Small Things via Casey, thank you!

november :: mystery crochet project

Hooks at the ready!

Let’s get started with this month’s mystery crochet project. To make this project all you need to know how to do is to make a basic granny square. Don’t worry if you’re just starting out and you are more of a beginner, this post has been flooded with step by step diagrams for you to follow so you can join in too.

With the green yarn you need to crochet 12 granny squares. Each consecutive granny square needs to increase in size by one round (take note of the below photo).

For easy reference take note of the chart below.

square 1 = 2 rounds

square 2 = 3 rounds

square 3 = 4 rounds

square 4 = 5 rounds

square 5 = 6 rounds

square 6 = 7 rounds

square 7 = 8 rounds

square 8 = 9 rounds

square 9 = 10 rounds

square 10 = 11 rounds

square 11 = 12 rounds

square 12 = 13 rounds

Now don’t be alarmed, it will take a few days to make all those granny squares, we are going to pace ourselves, the first few squares you’ll have done in a flash, it’s the larger ones that take a bit of time!

Second installment will be posted on Wednesday.

Get crocheting now! That’s right, off the computer, plonk yourself down in a comfy chair and crochet you’re little heart out, we want this made for Christmas 09!

How to Make a Basic Granny Square:

Step-by-Step.

Continue working around as before.

garlands galore

1. Crochet flower garland, 2. pom poms crochet bunting for the winter days, 3. garlanding, 4. IMGP0135, 5. Snowflake garland, 6. Granny Square Garland / Girlande, 7. hmmm.. a chain of hearts, 8. New Garland, 9. Crochet Flower Garland

Pretty crocheted garlands all in a row!

Thank you so much for the ‘Granny Star Garland‘ love!

 

mystery christmas crochet project

It’s time!

I’ve had this mystery project waiting in the wings! It’s designed especially for the Christmas Season and with Christmas being only 46 days away we best get started!

As I said, it is our Mystery Project for November, so no reveals til the end, plunge in if you have faith, plunge in if you love to crochet and plunge in if you’re looking to decorate with crochet this Holiday Season!

I think it’s nifty, I think you’ll like it, or perhaps you might think I have completely lost my marbles!

Supply List

4mm crochet hook

scissors

tapestry needle

2 x balls of 100g yarn in Green

1 ball of 50g Peter Pan ‘Darling’ yarn in White or Off White

Collect your supplies we will begin tomorrow!

NOTE: I’ve chosen a lime green, but any colour green will be fine, example, forest green, olive etc. Also if you are unable to source the ‘Darling’ don’t stress, plain white yarn will be just fine.