Granny Wednesday - 'Jewelled Mandala'

Hello! How is everyone? Spring is only shyly showing itself here in London, but there is definitely something in the air. How lovely!

OK, so for this week's challenge, I have something entirely new to show you, a mandala I have been working on with a view to making a bag (yes, another bag, I'll come back in a minute to the granny square bag I was recently working on). This mandala is purposefully 'over the top', hence the name 'Jewelled' in the title. It is not yet complete, as I need to square it off to turn it into a bag (mind you, I could make a round bag as well... we'll see).

Here it is!

At the moment, I am envisioning a reverse side of the bag in plain stripes using the same colours I used here. I would love to find the perfect lining fabric for it but I need to go through my existing stash of fabrics, so it most likely will have to be remnants. Sigh.

Anyway, you may remember from a previous post that I wanted to make a bag out of the square that I made for my Blanket tutorial. Well, last time I took pics, here's where I was at:

As you can see, the back of the bag was done. It so happens that the bag is currently almost completely finished, just awaiting to have its lining sewn in, so in no state to be photographed at the moment, but hopefully the whole thing will be ready for a reveal next week. Watch this space!

More Granny love this way, as always :)

Granny Square Challenge - The Skirt Reveal

UPDATE: The pattern to this skirt is now available here :)

Hellooo! Well, shock horror, would you believe it, I missed last week's Granny Square Challenge! Truth be told, I was absolutely shattered after completing a huge work project (of the non-crochet variety) which had taken most of my time for two-three weeks, and the Challenge completely eluded me!

Anyway, you are now long overdue a proper reveal for my Granny Square Skirt, which I finished two weeks ago, and which several of you have kindly asked to see worn.

So, without further ado, I give you... the Granny Square Skirt!

I must say, it took me a while to warm to this skirt. It was a bit stiff to begin with, and it didn't help that in the first pics we took of them, I absolutely hated the look of me. But having worn it a few times, I find that the stitches are beginning to loosen up a bit. Unfortunately (but very predictably indeed), so is the waistband, so I am really going to have to sew in a piece of elastic inside it. For now, I am making do with a bit of ribbon passed through the top row just underneath the waistband, just so that my bottom suddenly doesn't find itself unduly exposed...

Anyway, I am now very pleased with my new skirt, which I have found can also double up as a poncho, although I am hoping I won't need to use it as such, should spring be willing to come (and stay). Yay, I can't wait for spring! :)

Thanks for reading, peeps, and as usual, don't forget to go have a gander here for more Granny Square love.

See you next week! :)

New Yarn

Hello, how is everyone? I can't quite believe I haven't posted anything on here for nearly ten days. I've even missed the granny square challenge ;( Truth is, it's been a crazy few days and I have been a little overworked, so crochet and blogging have taken a step back. I can't say I am fully back into crocheting mode yet, but I'll get there for sure :)

Sooo, before all this, as I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I went on holiday. To Finland, more precisely. And it so happens that I went to a craft show there, firmly intending to buy some typical Finnish yarn.

Well? I did buy some yarn. And I'm afraid none of it was Finnish. But boy is it gorgeous, take a look:

So we have Drops Big Delight, which I bought from this lovely lady.

Lang Jawoll Magic...

And the one I fell very hard for, Fyberspates Vivacious DK:

Aaaah, look at those colours!

Two of those I have already started using for as yet mysterious projects, The third one may have to wait till next autumn/winter, as I am now feeling the lure of spring makes!

Thank you for reading and see you soon! :)

Wednesday Grannies - One Finished Skirt

Hello everyone! I am back from holiday just in time for another installment of granny square challenge. And this week, the big news is... my granny square skirt is finished! Well, let me rephrase this. The crochet part of the granny square is finished. This means you don't get to see it worn, I'm afraid, but you get to see this:

I've added a total of three rows since last time, including the final row of crabstitch. I do love a bit of crabstitch for a neat finish on stuff :)

Now all that is left to do, is weave the ends in (bored face)...

...and sew some elastic into the waistband (slightly worried face) and possibly hide those under black satin lining (positively scared face).

I do hope I'll be able to reveal the finished product to you guys before spring arrives (it is supposed to be a winter skirt after all), but don't hold your breath ;)

Thanks for reading, and as always go have a gander for more granny square love at Jijihook's