Noro - The most beautiful wool I've set my eyes on

Ok, so there's this fancy wool shop in Chester. Top stuff. I might have spent .. lots on this little stash.

I think I'm in love.

I usually only buy wool when I have a plan for what to use it for (this is to avoid this situation) however... Don't you think this wool is worth the exception? After thinking dreaming about my new Noro on the way home from Chester, I came up with a plan. I have always wanted a sort of long sleeved cropped shrug thing. So, I'm going to endeavour to write my own pattern. Heck, if I can successfully hook around other people's pattern I could probably wing it on my own. As for the Araucania stuff, I don't have a plan for that yet. That will stay in my "pretties" draw for now. This drawer is only opened when I need inspiration. I do get excited by pretty wool.  Bloke ensures me this is normal... as normal as any other Bloke getting excited with a deconstructed engine strewn all over the floor.

Current Crochet projects

First post! I thought I'd start off showing you what Crochet projects I have with me on holiday on the go right at this moment.

Granny square blanket

My lovely collection of cheapo acrylic wool

The blanket is 66cm / 26in across (the bit of paper on the blanket is a 100g ball band to compare sizes. I seem to like rainbows ^^ I've got a huge stash of blue wool which I'll use to bulk it up after I've finished the current round of colour. With a few stripes of cream. and more blue. Maybe a bit of green too.Very excited.

Men's size 13 socks

Making some super-sized socks for the Bloke. One sock uses almost one ball of 100g super chunky wool with a 6mm hook. I had about 12 inch strand left of the stuff from the first one- not bad going I'd say!

The pattern is free from Lion Brand, found on Ravelry

I must confess- I use crochet patterns like I do recipes. I get an idea of the shape of the thing of which I'm making, then sort of wing it. Hence why I can make a women's size 6 sock into a men's size 13. I'm just magic. To be honest, it isn't very hard with super chunky wool and a 6mm hook. I would have used an 8mm but I couldn't find it- but I think it's worked better this way, there isn't too much pull on the stitches.

Sheep Tea Cosy

The Bloke has an 8 pint teapot which needs cosying. Cus y'know, no man can drink 8 pints of tea in one sitting. Ok, that's debatable. But anyway, Project Giant Sheep Cosy will be another "make-it-up-as-I-go-along" sort of thing with a few measurements thrown in. Planning to do a bobble stitch for the body, then a simple arigurami head. The little black blob on the left hand side of the image is one of the legs. I tried to teach bloke to make a leg but working with a 4mm hook with black wool is difficult to teach with :D

Grandma's stash

Because Bloke's family are so lovely, his Grandma bought me a stash of wool from the charity shops. The perfect find! 8 balls for my blanket, and some sort of fluffy stuff (gorgeous colour too) to make cushion covers. Ooohh exciting!

My weapons of choice

A simple rectangle made with chunky wool with a length on the end to wrap it up with ^^ Cheapo hooks too. I wouldn't get those fancy wooden ones or the ones with handles- I learnt to crochet with these, so my movements are suited to these hooks. I twist the hook a lot so the handled ones would get in the way. The wooden ones I found to be too light, and the hook bit is very narrow. I just like these ones kay :D Oh, and a trusty biro, and some scissors. 

That is all for now! I have many more projects on the go at home, so when I get back from holiday I'll document all those too. And update you on these ones!

See you soon!

Beansprout