Book review: Edward's Menagerie: Birds... and a giveaway!

*Blows dust off blog*

*Swipes at cobwebs*

*Sweeps away biscuit crumbs from last time she was in here*

*Settles with mug of tea*

HELLO!

Been a while, hasn't it?  Sorry about that. Life gets in the way and all.  It's been a bit quiet around Hookery HQ lately, but now it's time to wake things up a bit. Having been so quiet, I have nothing to tell you about what I've been doing, so let's have a look at what someone else has been up to, shall we?

If you've been to any yarn-y type show or fair, you will almost certainly have come across TOFT. Some of you may remember that last year, Kerry Lord (founder and director of TOFT) wrote a smashing crochet book called Edward's Menagerie. Well, unlike lazy old me, she's been busy lately and so there's a sequel - Edward's Menagerie: Birds.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the new book is that the TOFT range of yarns has had to stretch a bit to accommodate it, so some new colours have been added. Well, how else are you going to make Sophia the Flamingo?

The book is clever.  Like its predecessor, anyone can use it, even if you've never held a hook in your life. There are basic body shapes which are common to all the patterns and whether you make a dove or a peacock pretty much depends on how much of a challenge you fancy. As soon as you've grasped the basics, you can crack on with your first bird. If you're a pro and have been whipping up complex projects for years, fine - skip on to the more advanced patterns and have a play with some colour work.  It's a book for anyone at any level.

The patterns are cute.  Seriously cute.  If you're making for small children, great - lots of long legs, necks and beaks to grab hold of and drag about. If you're making for yourself, they'll look equally sweet sat on a shelf or desk.

Also, she's thought of everything.  If you've ever felt short-changed in the past by a pattern that ends with something along the lines of 'stuff body parts and sew together', then you'll be delighted to find a little section at the back which takes you through the nitty-gritty of things like  assembly, stuffing for that perfect cuddly-toy consistency (rather than toy-about-to-burst consistency), sewing in ends and all the rest.

The layout of the book is easy to follow. There are full-colour illustrations for each pattern and it's a great book to flick through and just enjoy.  There are 40 patterns in all, so really rather good value at £15.99, and if you buy it direct from TOFT, there are 10 bonus patterns too!

Now, the giveaway...

If you've ever fancied spending a day ogling 200 alpacas, squidging luxury yarn and scoffing nice buns in a coffee shop, this is most definitely for you.  The lovely people at TOFT are having a bit of a jolly on Friday 28th August to celebrate the new book, with free workshops and farm tours.  To win a family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children), just leave a comment below.  I'll pick the winner on Saturday night (the 22nd). NB: TOFT is based in Warwickshire, near Rugby, so you'll need to be able to get yourselves there.

Back on it

I've been making an effort to set aside some crochet time of late. Remember the weather blanket? I've been playing catch-up with that.

I'm currently up to mid-September and have just hit a big long stretch of bright blue. 

It's good remembering late summer warmth on these chilly days when the temperature is hovering around zero. Looking back through my diary, I'm reminded how great September was: Erik arrived and there were warm, sunny hacks with Bailey (when I was still just his sharer).

We may have started the week with snow, but I did manage to squeeze in a bright sunny hack today on the Ginger Beast. Funny how all you need is one bright day to feel like Spring is just around the corner. That said, Hector's not taking any chances...

The mercury will need to rise a bit further before we can prise him out from under the duvet! I expect he'll appreciate another blanket being added to the collection...

Out of Season

I know it's typically British to talk/complain about the weather, but I am a Brit, so for those of you reading this on distant shores, bear with me.

Oh my giddy aunt it's HOT!

Sweltering hot. And the storms! I seem to have woken up to lightning more times than not in the last week.

Being a pale-skinned northerner, I am suffering somewhat. The regular slathering-on of factor 50 means that I have trouble gripping my gin and tonic in my suncreamed hands and if I walk anywhere, I have to flit, ninja-like, from one shady patch to another. Is it any wonder I am in denial? The only suitable place for me to be from now until circa mid-September is in a giant freezer, so this last week I've been indulging in a spot of out-of-season snowboarding at the Snozone in Milton Keynes. I had this last week off and can wholly recommend first thing Monday morning for a quiet zoom down near-deserted pistes with no lift queues. Oh, and an ambient temperature of -5. Hurrah!

My crochet is also in firm denial. Normally at this time of the year I am making small things: baubles, appliques, cards, things that you can make in a jiffy between scoffing ice lollies. Not this year.

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know I've become a tad obsessed with the v-stitch (check out Le Monde de Sucrette's vintage blanket!). Consequently, the only thing coming off my hook at the moment is snoods. I made one for me...

...and liked it so much, I decided to add a couple to the shop...

...because that's just what people are shopping for in 30 degree heat: snoods!

*sigh*

Half way

It's July. The year is half way through and consequently, so is the weather blanket. 

The weather has definitely picked up. I've got a definite splotch of darker blue from a week of glorious weather which had everyone stretched out on their sun loungers while the ginger among us bathed in factor 50 and clung to the trees in search of shade.

Seeing it spread out across the back of the sofa, it seems to have grown almost out of nowhere. I jot down the colour in the diary each day and then at the weekend, I spend an hour or so (depending on how many weeks I've got to catch up) adding to the blanket.

I'm very much enjoying it. I admit, it looks a bit weird and the spread of colours is maybe a bit odd at first glance. 

I think the first days of 2015 might have to be taken up with embroidering a little patch to explain exactly what it is.

June? Already?

I don't know quite how, but May has pretty much passed me by. I was dimly aware of it at the time, indeed, there were a few memorable bits and overall, I think it was generally quite enjoyable, but suddenly, somehow, I found myself turning over the calendar this morning for the first day of June.

JUNE!

So, what's new?  Well, there has been a spot of reshuffling in the Sewing Room to make space for more shelving.

Of course, about three days after the shelves were assembled and stacked and looking beautiful, a batch of yarn that I'd had on back order arrived and now they're rammed. Ah well.

I had grand plans for the garden, but have so far been thwarted by some irritating decking screws. You know the square drive ones? The ones that are described in DIY shops as 'professional' deck screws? Those. Actually, don't get me started on the decking. The screws are the only 'pro' bit about it...

Anyway, while I've been grumbling about the decking, the pots that I brought from the cottage (and whose contents have been patiently waiting to be planted out) have burst forth. There's a definite whiff of honey and lavender in the air from the alyssa and er, lavender.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that there were sparrows everywhere.  This weekend, there seem to be robins at every turn. The bird feeder empties as fast as I can fill it and the days are punctuated with screeches from squabbling starlings.

And there has been crochet. If you subscribe to the newsletter, you'll have received the Daisy Hexagon pattern. If you read Craftseller, you might have noticed this quick little brooch project, and if you've had cause to venture into my living room, you'll have spotted that this has now become a cushion cover and is awaiting some poppers to finish the closing.

So maybe I did do something with May, after all...?

This & That

I've been on a bit of a go-slow since my last post. In fact, I don't think I've really gotten going again properly post-Easter Bank Holiday. Consequently, the crochet had been a tad erratic and the mojo is at a low ebb. The weather blanket continues to grow, of course, and there has been little bit of fibre fiddling, which resulted in these...

I wasn't entirely sure what to do with them though, and then I saw this blog post about a Filofax revamp. I recently swiped The Beloved's old FF, so it might be about to get 'pimped'!

Just when I thought I'd never recover the mojo, two things happened. These arrived...

...and this was published...

And between them, they've terrified me into action!

Patterns, picots and general exhaustion

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I would be writing up the pattern for those super-handy little hanging baskets, didn't I? Well, they're done! You can find them in my Folksy and Etsy shops in both UK and US terms and they're just £1.20. You can find the yarn, Rico's Fashion Cotton Big, here, where it's only £2.90 a ball.

In other news, my day job has an annual event, a conference, which is a Big Deal. It's a lot of work, and from January until Easter, it's a bit full on. I'm always glad that Easter brings chocolate in abundance - by this point in the year, I need the sugar (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). So now that Easter is over, and the conference is done, a weight has been lifted. I've got a few days' grace to dust myself down, catch up on some sleep and tackle the pile of little projects on my desk that have been put aside until later.

One such project has actually been my companion during the conference. I once read somewhere on a knitting blog of the pleasures of 'vanilla knitting', well this has been a sort of vanilla crochet. Easy crochet. The type of crochet you can do with your eyes shut, or watching the telly. Crochet that requires no brain input. I am of course talking about the granny stitch.

A while ago, I made a very simple granny shawl out of some chunky mustard tweed. It was such a satisfying project that ever since I've been hankering after making another. So I did.

I decided I needed - yes, NEEDED - a spring shawl. Not as big as most shawls, I don't need to be swaddled in it, just something to keep that piercing spring breeze out. I'm very pleased with the finished product, not least because I had just enough yarn in the basket of leftovers and half-started balls. A simple edging in a darker shade with a little picot detailing finished it off nicely and like the main body of the shawl, it required zero conscious effort. Hurrah for picot!

The light green is Paton's Eco Cotton DK in Lime (70), a shade that I think is now discontinued. I found a batch of it on eBay when I was making the ripple blanket and had a few balls leftover. The edging is Freedom echo DK, but having lost the ball band, I can't tell you what shade - the dark green one, assuming they still make it.

I did have good intentions about blocking this little lovely, and it kind of needs it as the border yarn is on the thicker end of DK weight, but it didn't happen. No sooner had I snipped off the last sewn-in end than The Beloved suggested dinner at the pub. Well what could I do? I put down my scissors, swept my new shawl round my neck and trotted out of the door. It's been on active service ever since. Ah well...

Square #100

Yesterday, 10 April, was the 100th day of the year.  It was a fairly standard spring day. It didn't rain, there was sunshine and it was reasonably warm.  A pale blue day.

This is square #100. Can you believe it? 100 squares of 'my-general-impression-of-the-weather-on-that-day'. 

As you can see, already this year we've had some amazingly bright and sunny days (sunscreen days, in fact!). Three of them, on the trot!

And there have been a few patches of not-so-great weather. Welly-boot-wearing, puddle-splashing weather.

I can't wait to see what it will look like after the next hundred days!

Fashion Cotton Big

Probably the best thing about running an online yarn shop is testing out new yarn. I feel I have a duty to do so. You can't walk through the doors of The Hookery and squidge, stroke and squeeze yarn for yourself, so I absolutely have to write posts like these. Ah well...

There are a few new yarns in the shop this week, one of which is Fashion Cotton Big. It comes in a nice bright range of colours (with a couple of neutrals for balance) and it's a chunky cotton yarn. As soon as the nice man from Rico showed it to me, I wanted to get cracking with it. Rico have been very clever with this line. You can pretty much pick your colours at random and they'll work. Very clever indeed.

Anyway, the yarn. Chunky 100% cotton, for which you'll need a 7mm hook. It didn't disappoint. Smooth to use and not nearly as 'splitty' as I was expecting. In fact, if you're a beginner, you'd do well to start with a ball of this. I had a few goes at random stitches before settling on 'a thing' to make. Not only is it not very splitty, it holds up very well to being crocheted up and unravelled a few times. 

So what did I make? An old favourite, that's what...

004 Melon

004 Melon + 002 Lime

004 Melon + 002 Lime + 006 Turquoise

004 Melon + 002 Lime + 006 Turquoise + 001 White

This is half of a cushion cover. I have yet to decide whether to make the back  out of more granny squares, one big granny square, or something altogether different. It's a cushion that will live in the conservatory, and probably also see some action in the garden, so I like the tougher, thicker cotton for it. 

And if you think this reminds you of something I've made before, you're right! I didn't notice until I was a few squares in, but I've made virtually the same cushion before... It's not exactly the same pattern, but the colours! How did that happen?

When I'd finished the piece above, it struck me that this could be the perfect yarn for making storage baskets, so I moved down a hook size and set to work.

007 Medium Grey + 002 Lime + 004 Melon

Again, I wasn't disappointed. It's perfect. I'll be hooking up more of these. This one is in the sewing room now, and Sebastian has adopted it.

Apologies for the blurry picture - he wouldn't hold still.

I shall be writing up the pattern for these little baskets soon.

The Happy Happy Blanky... and associated terror!

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you might have caught sight of something bright on my hook lately...

This little lovely has been a delight. Well, sort of. I started it towards the end of the summer. In fact, if you were at Yarndale on the second day, you might even have seen me working on it. It worked up pretty quickly and the colours are just a delight: bright and punchy and made to go together. They're the best of friends.

And then I ran out of yellow.

And the yarn supplier ran out of yellow.

And for AAAAAAAAGGGES, I was second on the waiting list for when yellow came back in stock.

And then it arrived. Hooray! I could crack on and finish my happy happy blanky.

Wait... that yellow... it's a different dyelot.  I can tell it's a different dyelot...

And so for a brief spell, the happy happy blanky was actually a grumbly grumbly blanky as I pulled out row after row to get back to the first row of yellow. Then I started again.

And soon I was past the point at which I had started unravelling.

And soon it became a joy again.

And then it was finished.

It's not a massive blanket, but a good size for a pram or a cot, or for tucking your toes under while watching TV.

It's worked up with a 7mm hook and Rico Creative Cotton Aran. The larger-than-recommended hook means that the blanket has a brilliant floppiness and flappiness, or 'drape'. It's also deliciously squidgey.

So why the terror? Ah, well. I might have gone and written it up as a pattern and I might have gone and listed said pattern for sale. It's available on Etsy and Folksy in either UK or US terms, whichever you prefer.

My first pattern for sale.  Eek!

I made copious notes while I was working on it and I've read and better read the final version. I've even remade it in miniature to check the border instructions.  The pattern includes a tutorial for the stitch with pictures and everything.

There's something really quite nerve-wracking about it though!

Fiat lux!

..and then let that light have a crochet lampshade. This weekend, I finished a most satisfying project. It was one of those projects that lurk in the back of your mind for weeks, months, years, even. Every so often I'd return to it, give a mental poke, a prod, finesse it a little and then pick up something else. I don't know what took me so long, but in the end, I'm glad I waited. When I finally picked up the hook and yarn for this project, I knew exactly what I was going to do. That said, the maths were still to be worked out - how many stitches round the frame, how many rows for the perfect tension, and the perfect tension is essential to show off the pattern properly - too loose, and it will be all saggy; too tight and the pattern will look uneven.

I'm pleased to say, this one tripped off the hook perfectly first time. No unravelling, no restarting, no problem. You may even have seen it in progress, as I keep finding it lurking in the back of shots on my camera and phone...

Here, have a closer look at the finished piece...

The pattern is the same one that I used for the mutant blanket, if you've been around long enough to remember that. The blanket was made in mega-chunky cotton and required a 10mm hook. This little beauty is made in 10 count cotton and used a 1.75mm hook.

I've yet to get a good shot of it on a lamp. but here's a couple of hasty shots taken this morning in the sewing room...

I love the halo it makes on the ceiling. Over the weekend, I happened across it in the late afternoon when the sun was streaming through it (I'd left it on a windowsill) - it decorated the whole living room in spots of light.

However, fabulous as this project has been, it has not been without casualty.

When I'm working in crochet cotton, I often find a needle stretches the fabric when I come to sew in the ends, so I use a crochet hook in a smaller size to pull the yarn through. As you can see, the hook in the middle didn't make it.  Also, I don't know what it is about 10 count cotton, but whenever I use it in a project, it's always a project that requires the crochet to be stretched over a frame of some sort. There comes a point when 10 count cotton can be a bit like cheese wire.

This photo was taken about an hour after I'd finished crocheting! Will it dissuade me from doing it all again though? No. I've got another empty lampshade frame sitting in the sewing room and a white version of the above would be lovely!

Providing a suitable photo opportunity presents itself, the shade above will be in the shop this week.