A little helping hand

Thank you so much for your kind words yesterday, they mean so much to me.

It's taken a while to pluck up the courage to have a blog again, after my cardmaking days ended rather sourly! However, as said they are behind me, and so onwards with my new hobby!

I was asked by Allie to add a follower gadget to my blog, so now you can find the following options on the right hand side. Forgot about all the gadgets you can put on here, so thank you for asking.

Sarah, has requested that I post the tutorials that I used when making my Horse, which actually is a brilliant idea, as when I need to refer to them again they will be easier to find on my blog!

So here goes! I will point out though, that I am left handed, so therefore the tutorials are often for just left handers, although fabulous people like PlanetJune make videos for both left and right handed people!

When I begin my Amigurumi, I use a Magic Circle. I did try using a foundation chain, but this always left a small hole in the middle and the stuffing poked through! So now I always use the Magic Ring as it can be pulled fully closed.

This tutorial is from PlanetJune and is for Left Handers, there is a Righthanded version and a video tutorial if you click on this link

How do I make a Magic Ring?

Please note: in the following photos, the starting yarn tail is always on the right and hanging down. The working yarn begins on the left and is then picked up over my right forefinger in Step 2.

1. Make a loop a few inches from the end of your yarn. Grasp the join of the loop (where the 2 strands of yarn overlap) between your right thumb and forefinger:
   
    
2. Insert hook into the loop from front to back. Draw up a loop:
   
    
3. Ch 1. Note: this does NOT count as a stitch:
   
    
4. Insert hook into the loop, so you are crocheting over the loop and the yarn tail. Draw up a loop to begin your first sc:
   
    
5. Complete the sc. Continue to crochet over the loop and the yarn tail until you have the required number of sc for your first rnd (6 sc shown here):
   
    
6. Grab the yarn tail and pull to draw the centre of the ring tightly closed:
   
    
7. Begin your second round by crocheting into the first stitch of the first round (below, left). At the end of round 2 your work will look like this (below, right):
   
    

  So throughout the next couple of days, I'll hunt out the other tutorials I've used and provide the links to them too! I'm sure I'll need them again! Thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming, and hopefully I'll keep the projects coming too!

Yeah or Neigh?

With so much enthusiasm, a heap of wool spilling over the box, and YouTube poised for action, I needed inspiration on what to make!

I knew exactly what, after I found this rather gorgeous Alfalfa the Horse pattern on Ravelry.

If you've never looked on Ravelry before, I highly recommend it, with loads of free patterns, and lots of fabulous designs for just a few pounds each, plus oodles of inspiration!

So, having only really ever mastered the foundation chain, I set about making this little cutie!

I was really surprised just how easy it was! I've used up loads of paper clips, which have made reasonably good stitch markers, until my ones arrive from Japan!

I've gone through so many, mainly because they end up down the back and sides of the sofa!

The ones I'm waiting for are like nappy pins, so hopefully they'll stay in the stitch.

The weather here today has been terribly poor and so the photo is really poor quality, so will hopefully take a few better ones when it brightens up a bit. But hopefully you can see how gorgeous it turned out?

I love all the details, the pattern includes directions to make the reins, lead rope, blanket and there is a saddle too!

I'm so surprised with how well it turned out, I never in a month of Sundays expected it to look anything like the pattern picture! But I'm rather pleased to say it does!

Hope you like it too!

Please give me a Yeah or a Neigh?

I'll be back soon with another project!

I'm now hooked!

I've ditched the knitting needles, it was getting too hard for me to hold them AND the weight of the knitted item, so have grabbed a crochet needle for the first time EVER!

Thankfully there are plenty of YouTube videos out there to help me along my journey, especially helpful are the left handed ones! I remember many HUGE sighs from my Mum trying to teach me to knit as a child. We tried everything when I was little to try and make it easier for me to understand, but it was very much Knit 1, unpick 2, pick up 10 dropped stitches......whatever I made looked like a string vest!

So hopefully the crochet hook and I will get along much better!

I have a basket FULL of wool, and I'm hoping over the next few months, I can create a few items to sell on a craft stall somewhere. I have no idea if I'm even going to be able to do it, so no major plans are set!

With my M.E. I need something to keep me occupied, and at the moment I have a passion to learn new skills, hopefully this will be something that could help while away the hours of boredom, whilst feeling too tired to do anything else.

I hope you will enjoy following me along my crochet journey.....I'm looking forward to my new adventure, and hope to share some of the patterns I use along the way.