Piers (The Beast of a Blanket!)

A few months ago I was asked to create a blanket to match a swatch of wallpaper a customer provided. I love a challenge, especially as my preferred yarn Stylecraft Special is unfortunately lacking in the Duck Egg shade that would have matched best.

So, after much deliberation I settled on the shades below, and also to get the balance right between neutrals and turquoises I decided to do a completely random colour order for the first time ever.

7 weeks, and many crochet hours later, here is the finished result!

Piers' vital statistics are as follows:

Size: 1 x 1.5m

Starting chain: 196 + 3 for turning (using 4.5mm hook)

Rows: 144 (not including straightening off rows)

Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK

Colours: Cream, Parchment, Mocha, Silver, Grey, Sherbet, Turquoise, Petrol

Hook Size: 4mm for main body & 3.5mm for edging.

As with Bert, I have used the neat ripple pattern by the fabulous Lucy at Attic24 (attic24.typepad.com) for the main body of the blanket.

Again, the edging and straightening off is my own creation, but you can find good instructions at Attic24 or www.littletinbird.co.uk.

Please leave me a comment if you have any questions or think I've left anything out. I'm always happy to help a fellow crafter.

L

Xx

Bert The Blanket

Hello!

When I finish a blanket and post it to Facebook & Instagram I always get so many people ask me about my makes that I've decided to pop a little post about each blanket here on Blogger so people can find it all in one place.

Bert!

Size: 70 x 90cm

Starting chain: 140 + 3 for turning (using 4.5mm hook)

Rows: 92 (not including straightening off rows)

Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK

Colours: Cream, Silver, Cloud Blue, Aster, Denim.

Hook Size: 4mm for main body & 3.5mm for edging.

I have used the neat ripple pattern by te fabulous Lucy at Attic24 (attic24.typepad.com) for the main body of the blanket.

I straightened the edges using a modified version of Lucy's instructions and the edging is my own creation. I haven't had the time at the moment to write instructions but Lucy has a nice edging tutorial too.

Don't forget you can see updates of my crochet escapades on Instagram and Facebook (links in the sidebar)

If any of you still keep track of my dusty little blog then please, please say hello! I promise not to be a stranger anymore.

L

Xx

How Do They Manage It?

Hello!

When I restarted this blog, I completely promised myself I would blog at least once a week, and I would become super organised like some of the other lovely crafty/etsy selling/bloggers out there (see claireabellemakes.com for instance). However, I appear to have failed so far. Oops!

I'm completely in awe of the people who manage to find time to network, craft, be a mum & blog. I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day :-)

My last fortnight in pictures goes a little something like this...

1. I made a very purple stripey blanket to match an equally purple pram.

2. We enjoyed the sunshine, I discovered loom bands, my youngest celebrated her birthday, and I enjoyed a week off from work :-)

3. A dolls blanket from my Etsy shop went on a mammoth journey across the Atlantic, so I made a new one to list there :-)

And Finally! Inspired by the sunny weather I made a Sunshiney stripey blanket.

I feel like I've packed lots into the last few weeks, but all this loveliness has meant no extra time for blogging (boo-hiss).

This week I'm making yet another blanket, a lovely sunburst blanket someone has ordered for their new baby, I've even brought a sneaky bit of crochet to do a lunchtime to break up the monotony.

I'd love to see what's been keeping all of you busy in blogland!

L

Xx

Monochrome & Red

Hello!

This weekends weather has been pretty dreary to say the least, we had a busy weekend with the tiddlers as my youngest celebrated her 2nd Birthday. It feel like yesterday I brought her home from the hospital and crocheted her a baby blanket.

This week I've been kept busy finishing off the Red Sunburst Granny pram blanket I gave you a sneaky peak of in last weeks post. It's been made to match a Cosatto Yo in Busy Betty and I'm really really pleased with how it's turned out.

It was my first time using the continuous join method and it was such a dream to join as I only ended up with 3 ends to sew in at the finishing stage.

It was a project totally different to any colour scheme I've used before. One of the beauties of making things for other people is they come up with colour choices I'd never dream of using myself.

I'm already nearing the end of my latest order too, I've had a bit if a surge in crochet work rate this weekend, probably because of the weather and new toys keeping my kids occupied!

Away from my crocheting, I've been pondering on how to increase traffic to my etsy shop, and I've once again been bowled over by the generosity of fellow crafters in giving their time so freely to give me advice and support.

Both Ruth from Blue Eggs & Tea (http://blueeggsandtea.squarespace.com) and Claire from claireabellemakes (claireabellemakes.com), have been amazing and a real confidence boost. They've also given me loads of pointers, which I'll hopefully be able to implement over the next few months. Please pop & say hello, they both have lovely Etsy shops full of beautiful bit & bobs.

I have a week off from the day job this week so hopefully I'll have lots of crochet goodies to show off next week! 

L

Xx

Hello! Back Again (At Last)

Hello!

After 369 long days, I've finally got round to dusting down this blog and returning to the lovely little world of all you crafty bloggers out there. Much has happened in the last year, the lovely yellow blanket I last posted about has long been wth a new baby, and I've been busy making blankets for plenty of other babies and to refill my little Etsy shop with stock.

Here's just a little snippet of some of the things I've made...

I'm finding making blankets for other people so fulfilling, especially as people never cease to suprise me with their colour scheme choices, which gives me a chance to work with some lovely color palettes that I'd never have dreamed of using myself, including a beautiful blanket in shades of red & orange.

All in all it's been a great year, but I've missed my little ramblings over here on my blog, I love all the crafting talk over on Twitter (come and say hello! @mrssnufflebean), but sometimes 140 characters isn't enough :-)

If any of you are on Etsy or Facebook, please let me know too, I love having a mooch through other peoples pages :-)

I'll leave you with a snippet of my latest blanket and I'll be hopefully able to write a post about the finished item next week!

L

Xx

A Voyage Into The Unknown!

Hello! Hope you're all well out there in Blogland.

Today marks a momentous (and somewhat nervewracking) day for me here at Snufflebean towers. I finally took the decision to list my latest creation on Etsy. Its simply too much for me to keep making blankets and stockpiling them, so I have tenantively listed one here.

Here is the blanket in question...

 

I've been experimenting with alternatives to the tradional pastel neutrals and I'm just a little bit in love with this colour scheme. Its sunny and calm, everything a baby blanket should be.

 

 

Time will tell if it sells, but for the moment I'm in love with its sunni-ness!

 

Also, I have ventured into the (somewhat confusing) world of facebook pages. Any likes are most welcome! www.facebook.com/mrssnufflebean

 

 

 

Mr Crocodile's Nautical-ish Blanket!

Well Hello! I haven't been around for a while, mainly because I've had nothing crochet related to report and my evenings have been taken up beavering away with this little lovely! (Those of you on instagram will have seen endless idenical photos of this as a WIP!)

 

A few months ago a friend asked me to make a blanket for her son (Mr Crocodile), and it just happened that I'd bought some lovely blue hues of Stylecraft Special DK on a whim from Lemonade Yarns, so it must've been fate as I instantly knew the colours would suit him down to a tee.

 

Its taken ages, its big (He's 6 so it needed to be bigger than my normal stuff), and there were times when I felt like I'd never finish it! But here it is... (Apologies in advance for the dark photos, its sooo sunny here that I couldn't get decent photos in my normal place and I was too impatient to wait until the sun swings round)

All of it!

Close Up

 

Scrunched Up

 

Folded Up!

 

 

A couple of the edge

 

 

I think I've finally settled on a method to edge my straight stripey blankets. I do 3 crochets across 2 rows, it produces a lovely even finish with no ruffling at the edges :-)

 

I'm at pains to part with this one, its so lovely and calming but I know its going to go to someone who will hopefully enjoy many hours snuggled under it.

 

Next I'm going to tackle a crochet Giraffe! So watch this space :-)

 

Im off to enjoy the sunshine with the tiddlers.

 

xx