Crochet Socks

Hi,

I was bought this lovely little booklet last Christmas for creating my own crochet socks called "Learn to Crochet Socks the Toe-Way Up!" 

I bought some more of the Women's Institute wool from Hobbycraft. You will need 2 balls for this pattern.

I opted for the sock pattern "River Moss" on page 6 of the book and decided to give it a go.  It took me a bit of a working out because I had a first try and found the 'small' size were still huge for my feet so I had to adapt the pattern somewhat.  It was quite straight forward but you need to keep an even tension as I did find that one sock was slightly larger than the other from not maintaining the appropriate tension. 

The finished result was pretty good and the socks are very warm.  I'm thinking now that I have got the gist of how to go about it I could definitely develop my own style sock design and I would like to have a go with some chunkier and more colourful designs.  Have you had any successes with crocheting socks?  Can anyone recommend a particularly good pattern?

Bye For Now

Von x

Spotty Nail Design

This is a design I came up with when doing my nails the other day:

I started by painting a layer of the colour duck egg blue and I used the number 7 brand as shown below.

I then used my Nails Supreme pens to add a spotty effect to the nails after the base coat was dry. I added a small blob of each colour on my nails, using different colours to make the spotty effect multi-coloured.

To finish, I then added a clear coat to give a more shiny effect after the nails were dry. This also helps to add some strength to the nails, making the design last longer. 

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial, bye for now, 

Heather :) 

Braclets

I made the bracelets pictured above by simply  threading my choice of beads on to a piece of elastic.   Really easy first project to have a go at if you want to try some basic jewellery making skills.

It was my brothers birthday this week so we are celebrating with a BBQ at the weekend.  Should be fun.   I am going to make him a birthday cake so I will post it for you to look at once it is done ... only planning something simple though because it is the school holidays and the children's social life is pretty hectic!!

Julie
x

 

A Visit to York Minster

Hi,
We are staying in our caravan just outside York.  The weather has been glorious today and we had a great visit to York Minster.  The building was amazing and we enjoyed exploring it throughout the morning.

 We went on to visit the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens which was another fab place to visit. Learned lots about Romans there. Planning on a nice quiet session with my crochet this evening. Having a go at some socks. I will fill you in on this soon.

Bye for now

Von x

Heart Card Tutorial

Hi,

I realised I needed some Thank You cards as I am leaving my job to move on to a new one.  So I decided to create my own.  I used a 5inch by 5inch black card blank and then found 4 patterned papers of similar colours that I thought would compliment each other on the card.

Then I used a heart shaped punch to cut out 4 hearts from each of the papers.





Next, I carefully placed the hearts on the card so they were equally spaced apart. I began by laying out the top horizontal line and the first column.  Then added the rest, alternating the patterns to complete the rows.

Finally, I used foam sticky pads to attach each heart to the card and give it a three dimensional look.

I was really pleased with the finished card.  Quick and easy but looks really effective.  Have a go!

Bye for now!

Von x

   

Bookmark

 

 

These cute little bookmarks make a great present for anyone who stills enjoy reading a good old fashioned book rather than using a kindle!    I love reading and as yet I have not been converted to reading from a kindle (I'm sure I will catch up eventually!)    Unfortunately reading just isn't something that I manage to fit in very often.    I can usually manage to read 1 or 2 books a year but this is usually when we are relaxing on holiday in the evening when the children are all snuggled up in their beds.  

 

I made this bookmark using accessories from my jewellery making kits.

 

Julie
x

 

 

Summer and Strawberries

Hi,

Its that brilliant time of the year again with the long drawn out evenings and plenty of sunshine!  The lovely spell of weather we have had in the midlands this last week encouraged us to get out and about.  So off we went to pick strawberries at our local 'pick your own' farm.

 

 

 We returned home with a bumper basket and I must say they were soon gone....   

I have been enjoying some gorgeous flowers that a friend bought me too this week and their colours have really cheered me up throughout the week.

 

 

 

These got me thinking about making a Summer Wreath.  I'm thinking of fusing some sewing and crochet together.  I have bought some lovely print fabrics in green and I think I may make some leaves with this and then maybe some crochet flowers?  What do you think?  Any ideas?

 

Bye for now

 

Von x