18 Feb 2015

Ripply Ripplesome Awesomely Awesomeness

Have you ever made something for someone and really wished you could have kept it? Because it turned out exactly as awesome as you imagined it would, and sometimes you just need proof that it can happen like that?

This is the case with my latest crochet project. It is a baby blanket that I have made for a close friend at work. I have long been in love with the marvellous work done by Lucy over at Attic24 and one of my favourite patterns has been her Neat Ripple.

It is the loveliest pattern to sit and work up when you need you hands to be busy but your head to not have to deal with anything more strenuous than counting to 4. Perfect to pick up and put down. I lost count of the number of times that I picked it up as something to do to keep my hands busy whilst I needed to take 10 minutes to stop and think about what the best thing to do was, rather than just rushing off and getting muddled. Or the times that I just sat and worked up row upon row and let my mind wander and think up new projects and ideas.

I particularly love her interlocking ripple and the inspiration for this project was the completion of a cushion cover, made with 4 shades of purple and one silver. I really enjoyed that pattern,although the frequent colour change did make it a cumbersome project to have out.

I decided to have a look at proper "baby wool" for this project so picked some shades of Stylecraft Wondersoft. It is the loveliest wool for babies, not too expensive and machine washable which is essential. I chose Denim and Vanilla, and quite quickly decided to work on large sections of each colour with thin interlocking bands. I really love the denim shade and have already planned its use in the seaside picture blanket I am longing to get started on.

I used Lucy's neat edging tutorial for the first time and it did give the best finishing touch. I still have a lot of the wool left and have a pattern for a lovely newsboy hat that I want to make, hopefully along with some scratch mits.

This has turned out so well, and if we do have another child of our own, I will be repeating this blanket for keeps!

5 Feb 2015

You may need to cut my phone off my hand...

...but I do seem firmly wedded to it currently. And to the social whirl of the internet. I am Instagram-ing, pintrest-ing, reddit-ified and blog-loving! With a little bit of WhatsApp thrown in here and there.

I don't know what has sparked this new year of "social media" obsession (a phrase that I as actually hate) but it might have something to do with having a new, clear year in front of me. Aside from a week of curtain hell (another story for another day) I have been pretty good at giving myself time off which has allowed me to spend time with these new things.

I had always anticipated that they would take up a lot of my time, which they have, but they have lead me to new fun projects that only take a little of my time and allow me to connect with worlds and groups and people who I have things in common with.

Of course it has also given me unrealistic expectations of how I want my house and food to look but hey, I can normally manage those all by myself!

Love Elliefantasy

Xx

PS Instagram and pintrest links will appear soon. Also planning a slight xjsnfe again and some updated photos of what I have been up to lately.