Oh dear - has it really been that long?

I admit that, when I finally got around to looking at my Blog today, I couldn't believe just how long it had been since I posted anything!

Due to unforeseen circumstances, including serious illness, and hospital stays, for both myself, my mum, and my dad, I'd got into a real fug where creativity was concerned, and my output dropped accordingly. But I'm slowly, but surely, getting back into the swing of things, and so have a few items to show for all the time I've been silent :)

First of all, I've finally got some more pictures of the fancy dress outfits I'd made for a friend's gorgeous little boy (I'd made them in June), so here they are:

Here's Harry in his Frog outfit - and thoroughly enjoying it, too :)

And here he is in his Fox outfit:

. . . with a back view, showing his bushy Fox tail! Lol

Here's another occasion Harry wore the Fox outfit - and looking extra cute doing so:

Here's Harry wearing his Bee outfit:

. . . and with a back view of his folded wings (as with all the other main outfits, I didn't have a pattern for this, and so used Google to find some close-up pics of bees, then made up the shape, using the pictures).

And here's a lovely picture of one of Harry's best friends, wearing the Bee outfit - can you see the sting I made? Lol

There are still a couple of outfits that Harry hasn't worn yet so, when he does, I'll show them here, too :)

As for the things I've been making since my last post in July, as I mentioned in that post, I had been working on a gift for Mr Night Owl. I had bought a wonderful book, published by amigurumipatterns.net, called Amigurumi Animals at Work. 


You can find it in the list of books for sale, here:

 Amigurumi Animals at Work

The book has 14 of the cutest, and very different, patterns of various animals, all dressed up in their work clothes - and the pattern that brought my attention to this wonderfully creative book, was the design I fell in love with, which was by one of my favourite designers, Moji-Moji Design.

Her Cyril the Squirrel, all dressed up as a gardener, with his own wheelbarrow, was just so cute, and also very relevant for Mr Night Owl, that I had to make a start on it straight away!

As it happened, I had a huge plastic box, full of partial skeins of various yarns, that I'd used for different projects, so I thought this a wonderful opportunity to use some of it up. I wanted this to be a complete surprise for Hubby, and so found myself working on it at the oddest times of the day and night. I guess that, in actual hours, it didn't take too very long to make but, due to the secrecy, it was actually a couple of weeks before I'd managed to finish it :)

So, here he is - one Sam the Gardening Squirrel! Lol

I had a lot of fun making this, as I needed to source some tiny items to go with it, such as the seed packets in Sam's waistcoat pocket, and some gardening tools, for the wheelbarrow. I was fortunate enough to find a seller on eBay who deals with Doll House items, and so managed to get what I wanted from him - Mr Night Owl was so chuffed to receive Sam, and he now stands in pride of place on a shelf in our living room :)

I've made a couple of items, for my brother's new dog, Sheba. The first was a bone I crocheted with pure cotton, and a 2.5mm hook,so that it would crochet really tight, as she is renowned for chewing up her toys! So far, she still hasn't made a dent in it, which I'm happy about but, unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of it before she got a hold of it - but I used a pattern that I had bought from Crochet Spot, created by Rachel Choi, which gives 3 different sizes of bone to crochet.

You can find it here, if you're interested:

 http://www.crochetspot.com/store

I've also got another, nearly finished, toy that I'm making for Sheba. It is a Star Ball, and the pattern was created by another of my favourite designers Dedri Uys, whose Blog, Look at What I Made, has a plethora of amazing patterns to try out :)

The ball was actually designed for a child, but I figured that, if I did as I had with the bone pattern, and used a tough cotton yarn, with a smaller hook size than normal, then I'd get another Sheba-proof toy! Lol

Unfortunately, a spell in hospital set me back, and I've still got a little bit more to finish up before it's done but, as soon as it is, I'll try to remember to take a picture to show you - and, in the meantime, here's the link to the pattern, if you'd like to give it a try:

Crocheted Star Ball – A Crochet Amish Puzzle Ball Pattern

The one item that has really taken up most of my time though - when I was well enough to wield a crochet hook - was a coat that I made for my daughter, something that would be thick enough to keep her really warm in the winter.

I got the idea after I'd purchased a wonderful pattern from Ravelry - it was a set of 3 patterns, designed by Sylvie Damey, that I'd bought recently, due to the wonderful detailing of her patterns - she'd created Elf Hoods, and that was just the look I wanted. So, selecting the Jehanne Hooded Cardigan, which can be found here:

Jehanne Hooded Cardigan


I then looked at my stash for a suitable yarn, but couldn't find anything there jazzy enough to suit my daughter's wonderfully outgoing personality - which then drove me to look at all my favourite online sites, to see if I could find something I liked. Fortunately, I came across a wonderfully sparkling yarn at the Deramores site. It was called Stylecraft Trendsetter Chunky, and came in a variety of colours, but the ones I fell in love with, and knew would suit my daughter to perfection, were the Ebony (1685), and the Lilac Cloud (1688). The yarn was, and still is at the moment, on sale, and so I couldn't resist getting it :)

 Here's a link for you to see the gorgeousness of the yarns:

Stylecraft Trendsetter Chunky

Now, as I said, the pattern was for a hooded cardigan but, as I crocheted away, and got to the point where a change in pattern came, I realised that it would look great, and be more suitable for my daughter, as a coat, rather than a cardigan so, going back online, I bought some more of the yarn, then made my first real attempt to adapt a pattern to something else. I made some adjustment to the hood as I went along, making it a lot longer than the pattern specified, due to my daughter having very long dreads, and the skirt part of the coat was made in A-line panels, that I crocheted together after completing them all. I then went back to following the pattern to make the edging specified.

This coat was to be a complete surprise for my girl, as she was due to come for a visit with us, to celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary in October so, as soon as I completed it, using a set of buttons that I'd had in my button stash for ages, and adding some shell stars to the tip of the hood, and around the bottom edge of the coat, I made a granny square belt, using the square used within the pattern.

I then hung the coat in my wardrobe, waiting eagerly for my daughter to appear.

Unfortunately, a couple of days after I finished the coat, I was rushed into hospital with a badly inflamed gallbladder, and was kept in for almost a fortnight, which meant we had to cancel our anniversary plans :(

My daughter came rushing from Bristol to Wales while I was still in the hospital, and so it was her Dad who gave her the coat - thankfully, it fitted her to perfection, and she wore it to the hospital to show me but, because of that, I hadn't taken any photos of it, and so had to wait for my daughter to get some taken - which she sent to me a few days ago! :)

So here it is:

I've now almost finished a couple of pairs of fingerless gloves to match the coat, one pair in the Ebony, and the other in the Lilac Cloud, and then I want to use up the last of the yarn to make some legwarmers and, if there's enough after that, maybe a scarf to match!

At least I know my girl will be warm this winter! Lol