Crochet Mood Blanket 2014

I have decided to embark on a 365 day challenge which will be to crochet one Granny Square every day throughout 2014 and so far I am off to a good start. 20 days in and the blanket is getting pretty big already!

                              

I will actually be making 2 Granny Squares a day so that I will have 2 identical blankets one which I will keep for myself and the other will be a gift for my sister as she has mentioned a few times that she would like a crocheted blanket, but I just never got around to starting one and so this way it can be made bit by bit throughout the year.

                   

I am getting more than a little addicted with making these little Granny Squares and I have started to make several other little blankets alongside these mood blankets. The colour combinations are endless and I just love checking out all the different blankets being made on Instagram.

                   

I do love my hobby and often sit listening to the radio forgetting what the time is and crocheting long in to the night.

                  

I have been a busy bee...

Wow! Its been a busy few months and I am now starting to get back on track with things now that my Christmas fair has been and gone!

It was a fantastic 3 day Christmas fair and I made some wonderful friends and had some lovely customers buying my creations to give as gifts to their loved ones.

This was the fair that I was involved in and it was amazing!!!

                                         

I sold so many of my creations and I purchased a few lovely things as well including this gorgeous tea set

                              

My Nan has a lot of the Willow patterned crockery so when I saw this I just had to have it...my husband sighed and said "more teacups! do we really need more teacups?" to which I replied a lady can never have enough teacups.

I also purchased some gorgeous little presents from Dainty 'N' Arty a lovely lady who makes the most beautiful brooches in an origami style using fabric and leather; another of my purchases was a lovely knitted tea cosy from two very friendly ladies. It was a fabulous weekend but very tiring.

Here's a few pictures of what my stall looked like 

                        

And another with a view of my friends stall selling the brooches I mentioned above

               

My best selling items were my toadstools, Christmas puddings, ice-creams and items I made using patterns from PlanetJune and Annabooshouse House.

I will definitely be holding a stall here again next year.

Me, Myself and My Creations

I am going to begin my blog by telling you a little bit about my much loved hobbies and how they came to be a part of my life today.  I have several hobbies that I tend to dip in and out of depending on what creative ideas pop in to my crowded head of creativity. These ideas usually enter my mind whilst at work and so after a long day I like to cosy up on the sofa with of a ball of wool and a crochet hook, or don my finest apron and reach for my baking books to prepare for my next baking challenge.

My favourite hobby changes all the time; one week I love baking and I will bake enough cakes to share with my entire Facebook friends list and then the next week it can change and all I want to do is crochet until I get writers crocheters cramp, but sometimes all I want to do is enjoy a more tranquil craft like finishing off one of my many cross-stitch projects whilst sipping a cup of tea in the garden.

I have several cross-stitch projects sitting in my craft box which I say with a gentle sigh as they were supposed to be presents many Christmas’s ago!
My Cross-stitch projects are a labor of love therefore I don’t like to work on them because I feel I have to which does create an issue when you are making them as gifts. I have discovered over the years that if I work on my hobbies because I have to I enjoy them less and start making mistakes!

Cross-stitch patterns are never fun when you start making mistakes Flashbacks to hours spent unpicking parts where I have missed a row sends shudders down my spine. Many a cross-stitch project have been abandoned due to tiny little mistakes, so it is best to work on these without deadlines.

Crochet is probably the hobby I love and work on the most and excusing the pun I am actually quite hooked on the craft, so much so that I hold regular craft fairs selling the bits and pieces that I have made over the course of the year. I love Christmas fairs as they are always the most successful and well attended; you meet some lovely people and I always go home having learnt something new about a craft belonging to a fellow stall holder.

My dear Mum taught me to crochet around 3 years ago now and I have never looked back. I started off with the humble 'Granny Square' blanket and since then I have created Teddy Bears, baby blankets and clothes and so much more and every time I make something new it always makes me smile.

Baking is a more recent hobby that I have started and one that makes my friends and family very happy when I am visiting with the latest baked goods that I have attempted in the kitchen.  I started baking for the first time around two years ago after watching the 2nd series of The Great British Bake Off.

Baking really pushes my creative ability as there have been success stories and major fails in my kitchen, but I learn new techniques all the time.

These are my main three hobbies, but I do dabble in other areas depending on the challenges put to me, a bit like my craft guru Kirsty Allsopp! Hopefully if you choose to follow me and my crafty ramblings you will be able to get a glimpse at my creative life and all the things I make, bake and stitch with a few little freebie tutorials added in along the way.