Pretending to be a Provincial Lady

 
I feel I am mentally pretending to myself that I have more time for out of work pursuits at the moment than I actually do. The result of which is this post!

I had my birthday last week, and was given a very pretty copy of E.M. Delafield's Diary of a Provincial Lady which you can just see the cover of in the pictures here. I haven't actually had a chance to start reading yet, though I will very soon! It's something I have wanted to read for ages. Now that I have finished my study course, my brain keeps telling me I should have time for all these things. Somehow it is not quite coming true though!

Sigh. My problem is a very minor one in the scale of things, but still. I think I am experiencing crafting burnout. This is what comes of having no time at all for your favourtie hobbies for a long time, and then suddenly having that time given back to you. You try and pack in so much in such a short space of time that you actually end up stressing yourself out with it!

This is what has happened to me. I now have way to many knitting and crochet projects on the go as well as some sewing I'd like to do, and several potential ideas for future projects floating around my head. Its starting to make me feel a little crazy as I don't know which to do first!

I have still squeezed in time to spot the lovely Royal Albert Blue Damask Old Country Roses tea cup on eBay and purchase it! This is the blue tea cup which you can see in the pictures (with tea in it), and goes so well with the Peppermint Damask pattern cup which I bought in the summer. I felt so lucky to be the high bidder and snag this cup!

Well, back to crochet. I really can't list all of my crochet projects here, but I can tell you about a couple of them!

Christmas cushion covers

I decided it would be nice to make some simple red and white cushion covers, just to help tie the Christmas colour scheme together in our living room. This isn't an ambitious project - I am only aiming to make 2 covers in total. Here's the start of the first cover:

Do you remember this design? Its the same as the design I used for my starburst cushion covers back in the summer.

Flowers in the snow blanket

This is also the same pattern - I'm intending this to be a throw, but its only cushion cover size at the moment. To be honest it may in fact end up as another cushion cover - somehow the colour scheme is not motivating me enough to make it grow any larger!

Well, thats all for now. I really will try and post more regularly - hopefully the next post might actually contain a finished project!

Christmas star garland tutorial

A while ago I had an idea for making a Christmassy-garland of silver stars. I had some left over shimmery yarn which I bought a couple of Christmasses ago and never used. I knew I wanted to make small crochet stars using this, and then string them together to make a garland you could drape over a mantelpiece or put on the tree.
Here is the result, with a tutorial.

Materials

Rowan Shimmer yarn, silver 2x balls
3.5mm crochet hook.

Note: I'm not sure you can still buy Rowan Shimmer, but I have seen Anchor Artiste Metallic in the shops, which looks very similar.

This tutorial uses UK crochet terms.

Work each star using 2 strands of yarn held together.

Chain 4, join into a ring using a slip stitch.

Round 1: Chain 3, work 11 trebles into ring. Complete round by slip stitching into top of 3 chain from start of round - 12 stitches

Round 2: Chain 3, work 1 treble into top of first stitch, and 2 trebles into each stitch to end of round. Slip stitch into top pf 3 chain to finish - 24 stitches.

Round 3: Chain 8. Work a slip stitch into second chain from hook. Work back down the chain, working 1 stitch into each chain, using the following stitches: 1 dc, 1 half treble, 1 treble, 1 treble, 1 double treble, 1 double treble. This should take you back to the base of the 8 chain, flush with the circle you had created at end of round 2. skip 3 trebles in the circle, slip stitch into top of next treble. This has made one point in your star, with both sides of the point now joined to your circle.

Repeat round 3 4 more times, to make 5 points. Slip stitch into base of first point to finish round.

Round 4: Work an edging of double crochet right around your shape, going around the edges of the points of your star. On the right hand side of each point you will be working into the single loop from the bottom of the 8 chains you made in the last round. You may need to work 2 double crochet stitches into the tops of each point before you can turn and work down the left hand side of the point.

Slip stitch into first stitch to complete and fasten off.

You can make as many as you like and them start stringing them together!