We're off! Patricia gets her squares in first!

I was pleased as punch when I noticed the little

 Airmail sticker on a brown envelope... the first

 squares for the Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2013

 have arrived! 

Shall we take a sneaky peak inside?

Four squares for four entries from Trish and

 a lovely little card giving me all the details.  

Here they are....

Pattern no. 35, 'Tricolour Square - P51.

Gorgeous colours Trish! 

Pattern no. 71, 'StarFlower'.  P69

The yarn Trish used is Patons Sincere.  

Pattern no. 166/167/168. P.100

Pattern no.15, 'Corner Square'. P.41

 The patterns are all from '200 Crochet Blocks' by Jan Eaton. 

Trish writes a blog called, 'Tales From Trish' 

and comes from Maryland in the United States! 

She blogs about her running, the books she 

loves and crochet...amongst many other things.

Having missed the Beautiful Blogger Blanket

 of 2012 Trish was really disappointed... 

so it is lovely to see her squares

 get here first this year! 

Thanks so much for joining in Trish!  

Four squares = four chances to win the whole 

Beautiful Blogger Blanket of 2013! 

Last year I put photos of all the squares in a folder

 on the bloggy side-bar here.  I shall do the same

 this year, but also add the pattern details

 as I go along so that the folder can be used

 as a resource for choosing patterns....so keep

 an eye out for that.

I hope you won't mind if I add a little note here: 

If anyone likes scarf yarns I am selling some 

excess stock on Ebay this week... greatly 

discounted prices here! 

Picmonkey and Stylecraft ....

I love Picmonkey... it is so easy to use...

I did a quick collage in seconds of some 

Stylecraft Special DK which arrived today....

Stylecraft Special DK collage

making a quick collage is a great way of putting

colours together to see if they work...or to 

plan a granny blanket for example...

Just load all your pics in and jiggle them 

about...you could even print out the result 

as a template for your blanket! 

Hmmm.....

I need to make a baby boys blanket... 

Have you visited Ana's lovely blog, "Lanas & Hilos"?

Ana is in Guatemala and she has just finished 

a beautiful granny tiled blanket... -

I'm going to try something similar I think...

The baby (who lives over the road) has already 

been born, so I'd better get a move on!

Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2013... Let’s get going!

If you read my blog last year, or read about 

the Beautiful Blogger Blanket competition 2012, 

you will know that the prize is....

the Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2013 itself!

 The Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2012

 The Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2012

As last year, our Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2013

 does not mind who you are,

it does not mind where you are 

it does not mind whether you are

 a beginner or an expert crocheter.... 

It is a

multi-cultural

worldly-wise

love-filled blanket!

Now for the formal bit....

THE RULES OF THE SQUARE:

RULE 1:

Your squares MUST be made in 100% double knit (DK) cotton to make it suitable for all.

RULE 2:

They must be made using the appropriate hook for your yarn.

RULE 3:

Your squares should be between 5 x 5 cm (smallest) and 20 x 20cm (largest)...anything in between is okay too.

RULE 4:

Your squares can be made in whatever colour you choose...

RULE 5:

Your squares should be CROCHETED using ANY PATTERN.  Please look at the squares which were sent last year HERE for inspiration. 

RULE 6:

Please sew all ends in!

RULE 7:

Post your squares to me...you can get my address by emailing the address on the contacts page of my website, or by texting the mobile number given there: 

www.stocktoncrafts.co.uk

RULE 8:

Don’t forget to include your name and blog address in your envelope. 

If you don’t have a blog that is okay, but please make sure you say so.

RULE 9:

Please include the source of the pattern you have used in with your square, for example: ‘From 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton’, so that I give credit where due. If the pattern is yours please say so.

RULE 10 (FINAL AND VERY IMPORTANT RULE):

Please ensure that your squares reach me by midnight on 31^st January 2013 at the very latest. (I will be strict about this rule this year).

The ONLY difference in the rules this year

 is that you are only allowed to send a 

maximum of 4 squares.  

For every square you send, 

you will get the same number of entries...

1 square =1 entry

2 squares = 2 entries 

3 squares = 3 entries

4 squares = 4 entries

Now for my bit: 

As the curator of the Beautiful Blogger Blanket of 2013 I promise to:

Keep your squares safe, clean and dry.

Blog about EVERY SINGLE square I receive - 

including photographs of each square you send.  

I will give details of who sent it 

(I will publish your blog name if you have one

 and link to your blog).  

I will also give details about the source

 of the square pattern.

I will then sew up ALL the squares until we can 

finally see our Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2013!

and then....

I will put the names of all lovely contributors into a bag, and 

(with witnesses) will draw out the name of the winner of 

The Beautiful Bloggers Blanket of 2013 on.... 

1^st MARCH 2013

I will then post The Beautiful Bloggers Blanket of 2013 to it’s 

rightful owner who could be YOU!

Have I missed anything out? 

 Let me know if you have any 

questions or problems...

Shall we have another go?

Life is on the up here in Stocki Land....

My parents are regaining their independence

 little by little every day and I am about to 

reopen my little online yarn shop

Stockton Crafts  

I am also going to start selling some

 of the things I have been making this

 summer on Folksy... or Etsy...

.....not sure which yet! 

How best to launch this new beginning then? 

Do you remember this....

 

At about this time last year we embarked
 on the 'Beautiful Blogger Blanket of 2012'... 

 

It went so well that your crochet entries 

came in from 11 countries: 

Australia,England,Germany,Holland,
Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, New Zealand, 
South Africa, USA and Wales! .

Our blanket grew and grew....

 Eventually in spring of this year, 

the blanket was complete..

Lucky, lucky Barbina of 

'Little Things Made With Love' 

was the lucky winner and the 

blanket went to it's new home 

in Germany.

That was all in April / May time...

Since then I have rarely blogged - 

my life has been busy with caring...

So what do you think? 

Shall we have another go? 

I'm ready if you are! 

(details to follow)

Hello...remember me?

Italy - September 2008

Hello! Remember me? Blimey it's been a while since I last posted....late May I think it was... I had just been inspired by the lovely Sarah at Annaboo's House to plunge into another crochet project... my enthusiasm was fired and I was off... 

Pride DOES come before falls you know... Sadly it wasn't my fall.. but my parents failing health that hit me and my family full force in the beginning of June.  First Mum (a fiercely independent 88 year old), then Dad (89 and a proud half years old), and then Mum again... the whole late spring and summer have disappeared for my family under hospital visits, admissions and an incredible list of horrible happenings.... 

Dad is now regaining his health and Mum is coming home from her latest hospital admission tonight... there is light at the end of the tunnel! However, at 88 and 89 they need LOTS of support... so my 2 sisters and I are staying with them in turns.  

I have had to close Stockton Crafts for a while... my little fantasy wool shop corner of the internet...hopefully only for a little while.

In amongst all this 'caring' my sanity has been preserved by 3 things: 
1.  Lurking on other everyone's blogs... seeing the wonderful things you have all been doing over the summer... 
2.  My crochet...always my crochet... it calms me, distracts me, keeps my nervous fingers busy... and creates many a conversation in hospital waiting rooms with complete strangers! 
3.  My lovely supportive hubby... who in June was expecting to spend a summer in Suffolk with me.. and who ended up spending it mostly on his own! The photo above is of us exactly 4 years ago on our honeymoon in Italy.. look how relaxed and happy we look... we are going to go back to that olive grove one day...... 

So to those of you who have been lovely enough to wonder... I am still here... I will be back soon (God willing)... 

Thank you Annaboo! I'm addicted!

I lost it again you know... you may have noticed a rather long gap in bloggy posts... 
I just lost my bloggy / crochet mojo... 

I spent hours on Pinterest looking for it... but it was nowhere to be found.  Then one day I happened upon Sarah's CAL over at Annaboo's House... and that was it...

I'M OFF AGAIN! MEET MOJO! 

Mojo's first smile

It was one of those times when you start a little something just before you go to bed, feeling a bit lack-lustre, but you think you had better give it a go... 

and within 30 minutes that was me addicted! 

I was only meant to blow the bloody doors off crochet the head...

but by 2am I had a head with a body and 2 legs attached.....

Mojo learns to sit up alone

I think this counts as Amigurumi doesn't it?  I have been wanting to tick that off of my list for a while...and now that I have started... oh my goodness I love to see little legs forming under my hook...

So a big THANKYOU to the lovely Sarah of Annaboo's House... 

Sarah has long been a favourite blogger of mine... so it is apt that she 

helped my find my mojo...

Mojo enjoys her first sunshine

It isn't too late to join Annaboo's CAL... you can go straight to the first link here.  If you would like to see what other joiner-inners are doing, pop over to the group on Flickr here...

Now, what can I do before next weekend when Sarah will give us the pattern for arms and things? Hmmm.....

My 24 year old son came into the room and saw Mojo... he loves her, but for another reason than the wonderful accomplishment I had achieved... 

he says Mojo looks like STITCHPUNK   

Cover your ears Mojo! I had never heard of Stitchpunk...and if you haven't either... have a look here... but be prepared to be scared...and please don't come back and tell Mojo what you saw! 

PS: On a sorry...sorry...sorry note... it appears that I left our the name and bloggyland address of one of the contributors to the Beautiful Blogger Blanket of 2012! What a wally I am! So sorry Charlotte.... so please everyone pop over to Charlottes Web Page to see what lovely things are going on there.. and tell her Stocki sent you xxx

My first baby blanket...

For some reason I have never made a baby blanket.  
None for my own children, none for gifts... nada! 
I don't know why... I must have made most things in 
my crochet career.

So when I saw this one on Pinterest I 

just couldn't resist... and along came a new 

nephew for my future Son-In-Law...so off I went....

The pattern comes from a lovely blog called, 
"One Little Rayndrop".  

It is easy... a huge block of trebles into the back
 loop only (called double crochet on the blog because
 the writer used American terminology), then a 
sweet little border.

I used Debbie Bliss Eco Baby Cotton 
in pale cream (shade 14016).  It's a gorgeous 
softcotton and splits are rare. 

The original pattern specified 4 ply cotton
 yarn and a 6mm crochet hook, but I used a 
3.50mm hook.  Because of that slight change
 I had to make minor adjustments to the border
 to get it balanced.

By the way, the Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2012 arrived safely at 

Barbina's (Little Things Made With Love)... and she loves it! 

The Second Spray Blocking Tutorial - Sewing together HUGE projects....

This second tutorial is the result of sewing....unsewing....resewing the Beautiful Blogger Blanket of 2012.  


The blanket turned out to be the size of a single bed and after my first attempt at sewing it all together it was fan shaped and wouldn't lay flat! 


On my second attempt I found the way to create a symmetrical piece with parallel sides ... it even laid flat on a bed! This tutorial should help you if you ever attempt a big project...and it will remind me next year! 

REMEMBER TO PIN YOUR SHAPES TO YOUR BOARD 

FACE DOWN, READY TO BE SEWN TOGETHER!

Hope it helps!  

This tutorial will stay on my blog in the 'Tutorials and Projects' 

section at the top right of the home page x

Spray Blocking Crochet ... A Couple of Little Tutorials...

Since the little problems (!) I had wrestling the Beautiful Blogger Blanket 2012 into shape I have made a couple of wee tutorials for you all... it is also to remind me next year... Part one is a simple 'Spray Blocking Crochet'.


I will post it today and then it will be in my new TUTORIALS section in the column on the right.... hope it helps...

The web addresses above are not links... here are the direct links:

http://www.keep-on-knitting.com/blocking-knitting.html

http://megan.cc/Blocking/

http://www.crochetmemories.com/crochet7.php

The second tutorial  is entitled....

'Sewing a large / HUGE blanket or object into a good shape'

(coming soon)