Hooky Goodness

Hi everyone. As promised, here are just a couple of my recent crochet projects. I've spent a lot of time hook in hand lately - and I'm loving the results. If you don't know how to crochet, I highly recommend learning - I taught myself in an afternoon just using resources found on the web.

The stitches are really basic, the hardest thing is probably coming to terms with the abbreviations in patterns and the fact that the US and British terminolgy call different stitches by the same names! Once you get the hang of that you're set though - I've been crocheting for six months now and can see I'll do it for as long as I can hold a hook!

Grab yourself a ball of yarn and a hook (I bet your mum or grandma have one - but they're really cheap regardless) and just give it a go. It's easy to pull out stitches and start again!
Here's a set of coasters I whipped up on Thursday morning. I used Moda Vera's Cupcake yarn - I can't remember the make-up at the moment, I think it's partly Nylon - but it's soooo soft. I love working with it. The pattern for these is in a great book by Melissa Leapman called Cozy Crochet. I had enough of my ball of yarn (yup - the whole set from one ball, I used a 4mm hook) to make a fifth coaster and added a picot edge so it would look pretty sitting under my Nana's vase (I guess it's really my vase now, but I think of it as Nana's vase).
Probably my favourite project this past week has been this GORGEOUS headband from Susan in Stitches. I love, love, love it! I used the same cupcake yarn in a lovely cream colour and found the pattern so much fun I did it all in one sitting. I added some single crochet rows to get the length I needed. Here's a bad webcam pic of it on.
I'm forever tying my mane back, so this was perfect for me. I intend to make many, many more!
My favourite part of the headband is this gorgeous button from my Grandma's button stash. I love being able to use her buttons like this and wear them everyday. I already have a fancy black one picked out for next time, I just need the yarn to go along with it.
Here's a pic of the kerchief I made on Boxing Day. Same Cupcake yarn (there's a reason for that - I originally bought 5 balls in different colours to make granny squares but quickly lost interest!) The pattern for this is also in Cozy Crochet. Love it!
In case any of you wondered, as did my darling hubby, just WHAT that is on my Gerbera's - it's Glimmermist (Shanan thought it looked like mould from a distance! Needless to say, I won't be using the pearl on red flowers again!). It's pretty and sparkly in real life, trust me! Is it wrong to add decoration to something already so beautiful? Not if you're a die-hard crafter, right?!

Have a wonderful weekend,