The Adventures of the Peacock Brooch

Regular readers of my blog will know that I like to combine materials in my work and for some time I’ve been thinking of ways to incorporate crochet/knitting somehow. You may think that this brooch was completely planned to do this but in fact I designed it backwards! It started off with a little beaded flower I was making in the colours of our August Moodboard on Operation Tackle That Beadstash and me wondering what I could do with it.

The usual ideas like make another and turn them into earrings went through my head and then I thought…hmm, wouldn’t that look nice with a crochet flower behind it! As luck would have it, I had a little ball of Robin variegated yarn in the exact same colours. After sitting the beadwork on top of the crocheted flower, it looked nice but a little bit floppy so I came up with the idea of putting it on top of felt flower. This would not only give it an extra layer but would also add some much needed stability. It was at that point I decided it was going to be a brooch.

Then came the blanket stitch edging. Would you believe I had to Google this? I hadn’t blanket stitched since I was a little girl! I don’t know whether it was the lack of practice or just the thread I was using but after about an inch or so it looked dreadful. So I unpicked it and, remembering the bead-edged fabric earrings I’ve been making recently, added a layer of purple seed beads. The final touch is a little crystal at the centre. It’s a shame the camera has refused to pick out the green in this, it looks mostly blue. But I’m not blue, I love the finished brooch! : ) You can find it on my website and here in my Etsy shop.

More Stitch Markers

Here are some more stitch markers I’ve made. They’re fun to do and now I’m learning how to crochet in the round, I’ve found that they’re invaluable for marking the first stitch! These are also for sale, you can find them in my Etsy shop. Hope you like ‘em!

Stitch markers

I must admit, I’ve got quite addicted to crochet. I learned how to make a granny square using this fab tutorial and I got just a little bit carried away! I chose to make each square in one solid colour so that I wouldn’t have so many ends to stitch in afterwards – that’s one job I just hate. They haven’t been blocked yet so the edges are a bit curly and when I have enough they’re going to be joined together to make a nice Summer blanket for my Mum. I’ve made 15 of these so I have a way to go yet, but I’m not going to work out how many I need because it’ll just put me off!

Now I had planned to use all the tiny beaded beads I made earlier in the week into earrings, but I couldn’t resist making some of them into these cute little stitch markers! They would add a little bit of sparkle and glamour to any crochet project and can be used to mark your knitting too. Both pairs are for sale and you can find them in my Etsy shop. I hope you like them! 

 

Another crochet purse

I had another go, just to make sure the first one wasn’t a fluke! And I learned how to make a little flower too.

Crochet hooked

For years I’ve wanted to learn how to crochet. As a lifelong knitter I found it really frustrating not being able to do what, to me, looked quite simple. After several failed attempts over the years I decided that I was probably never going to be able to do it.

Then in the newsagents last week I spotted The Art of Crochet, a new magazine collection, so I thought I’d give it one last try. It was the best 99p I’ve ever spent! The DVD is the best part, I think I really needed to see how to crochet rather than try to figure out written instructions.

Of course I was all fingers and thumbs to begin with and it was very strange having to hold the yarn in my left hand, opposite to what I would do when knitting. But then after a week, something clicked and all of a sudden I understood turning chains and how to keep the yarn tension even and now it feels very natural, as if I’ve been crocheting all my life!

My first project is this little purse. I just made a long strip with a buttonhole at one end, folded it and stitched the sides. Simples!