crochet granny square blankets

I've made a few crocheted granny square blankets over the last few months, which I'm now selling. I've listed them in the Quite Contrary Handmade store at Ribbons Galore, or you can contact me directly if you are interested.

Each blanket is made from beautifully soft cotton yarn, which is machine washable.

If you are interested in a blanket made with your choice of colours, please email me. I have a large selection of coloured yarn which can be used to create a custom designed blanket.

The first blanket I've made is my rainbow blanket.

 

This blanket is finished with a white edging.

Rainbow granny square blanket is approximately 71cm (28") square.

The next blanket is the peach and teal granny square blanket.

The peach and teal granny square blanket is approximately 70cm (27.5") square.

My third granny square is a blue, red and grey blanket.

This granny square blanket is approximately 72cm (28.5") square.

These blankets are a perfect size for babies and toddlers, or as a throw or lap rug.

Visit Quite Contrary at Ribbons Galore for more details.

Thanks for visiting...

Cheers

Fiona x

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handmade crochet bags

Ribbons Galore in Australian Homespun magazine

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handmade crochet bags

I've been crocheting away the cold winter rainy nights here, and have made some cute crochet bags.

Just in time for spring, they are now for sale in the Quite Contrary Handmade section at Ribbons Galore. They are perfect for carrying small items bought at the farmer's market or taking the essentials out shopping or to the beach. Theyr'e a great size for younger girls too. All the details are over at Ribbons Galore.

I'm happy to take custom requests if you'd like to choose another colour, please get in touch.

The bags are crocheted from 100% Australian cotton yarn, in delicious colours (perfect for our upcoming spring and summer). They are super soft and the open stitches give some stretch.... and they have been lots of fun to make.

Hope you're having a great creative week!

Thanks for dropping by...

Cheers

Fiona

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aussie dish cloth swap

men's crochet beanie

men's crochet beanie

I made my first crocheted beanie this weekend!

The pattern I used is by Kathy North, and can be found HERE.

Craftsy also has an online class, Crocheting in the Round, which teaches you the basics of crocheting and creating your own beanie.

Yarn used: Bendigo Woollen Mills cotton 8 ply yarn in glacier, sky and pomegranate colours.

It was a quick and easy little project... think I'll be making some more!

Hope you've had a lovely weekend, we've enjoyed some welcome rain here in NSW.

Thanks for visiting.

Cheers

Fiona x

aussie dish cloth swap

I recently signed up to Mel's [onecraftymumma] Aussie dish cloth swap. This is Mel's second swap that she has organised. Every one who joined (and there's 50 of us) has made four cotton dish cloths which could be either crocheted or knitted. As my relationship with knitting is not a good one, I have crocheted all four of my dish cloths.

I crocheted four different designs. Two dish cloths I made up as I went along, and two I used patterns found on the internet. I used one of my favourite yarns, Morris and Sons Avalon 8 ply cotton yarn.

Here's the four dish cloths I made...

Dish cloth #1: I made this one up. It uses triple crochet stitches in a square shape, with a scallop edging. There are similar ones around on the internet, but I just started crocheting and kept going...

 

Dish cloth #2: This is another Fiona creation. Mostly treble crochet stitches in a circle.

Dish cloth #3: I used the Flower Power dish cloth pattern on Ravelry. Very cute design will be making more of these.

Dish cloth #4: I used the ZigZag dish cloth pattern by Mellie Blossom. I really, really like this design. I'd love to make a rug using this zig zag design. I also added a simple edge to this dishcloth which wasn't on the original pattern.

Once the dish cloths were finished, I made four tags to attach to each dish cloth. The tags have fabric fronts, with wool felt flowers. The back of each tag was cardboard with information about each dish cloth like, the yarn I used, the pattern and my name. The tags were finished with a little baker's twine from Ribbons Galore.

The dish cloths have arrived safely at Mel's house. Make sure you visit Mel's blog, she's been writing about all the dish cloths she's received for the swap there.

I'll be back to show off the four dish cloths I receive in the swap soon.

Thanks for visiting...

Cheers

Fiona x

new crochet ripple blanket

I've taken a short break from my New Zealand wool ripple blanket to crochet a blanket for someone special. In preparation, I had bought cotton yarn in two colourways, one for a boy and one for a girl, waiting the news so I could make a start.... girl or boy, can you guess???? 

I've used one of my favourite yarns [AGAIN], Morris and Sons Avalon cotton to make this one.

I've almost finished, only a few more rows left. Then I'll have to choose a simple edge to finish it off.

Here's the details of the yarn I have used...

Morris and Sons Avalon 8 ply cotton:

• #4803 Moonstone (Off White)
• #4834 Rose Quartz (Light Pink)
• #4836 Carnelian (Rose Pink)
• #4838 Spinel (Dark Pink/Red)

I'll be back shortly with a photo of the finished blanket.

Thanks for dropping by....

Cheers

Fiona x

 

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ripple crochet blanket with ripplealong

It's not like I needed another crochet project, but when Mel Goodsell announced she was hosting a RIPPLE-ALONG... I just felt I needed to join in!

While I have been happily crocheting my african flowers, Mel had been posting pictures of her ripple blanket she's been crocheting on her blog and intasgram. It was gorgeous!

After signing up to Mel's "ripple-along", I had to choose the wool for my new project.

Last year (January 2012) I was holidaying on the beautiful South Island of New Zealand. We had a few nights in Dunedan where I found a few crafty shops selling gorgeous New Zealand wool. I bought a few balls back with me, buying only one colour of each. These are the wools that I decided to use for my ripple blanket, it's going to be my New Zealand South Island inspired Ripple Blanket.

So here's my wool selection...

Random Dyed Tekapo 8 ply wool

Colour "landscape" (shade #062) by Ashford.

Why I bought this wool: During another holiday on the South Island of New Zealand, we stayed a couple of nights at Lake Tekapo. It snowed while we were there, the first time my girls saw snow. The colours of the lake and the surrounding mountains was amazing, like the colours in this wool.

Merino Possum 8 ply wool

Colour navy by Merino Possum

Why I bought this wool: Curiosity, to be honest. Possums are a protected animal here in Australia, they are a pest in New Zealand. Introduced from Australia a long time ago, they loved New Zealand (who wouldn't), and spread, and spread and became a pest. They are "harvested" for their fur. The fur is mixed with merino wool resulting in an incredibly soft wool.

Rare Earth 8 ply wool

Colours "old snow", "champagne" and "camel" by The Rare Yarns Company

Why I bought these wools: The softness of these wools, they are beautifully soft being made from alpaca and merino.

Starting the ripple

Two days ago, during soccer training, I finally made a start. I'm using Lucy's pattern from the Attic24 blog. Lucy's instructions are very good, with lots of photos.

I started with 199 chain stitches. The first row was the hardest and slowest. It got easier after that.

I'm 14 rows into the blanket so far, and I fear I'm going to be running out of wool some time soon. I'm already researching how I can buy more of my wool... I might have to plan a shopping trip back to New Zealand to stock up :)

If you'd like to play along with the ripple-along, visit Mel's blog for details.

If you'd like some inpiration and ideas for a ripple blanket, I've been adding ripple blankets to my crochet board over at Pinterest.

Will be back soon to share my progress.

Cheers

Fiona x

a new crochet project & the granny square at newtown

I've started a new crochet project. I'm crocheting a hexagon granny rug for Emily.

I bought some lovely wool from a little wool shop I stumbled upon in Newtown recently, called The Granny Square. It has apparently been open for a while now, I'd just missed it on previous drives along King Street. The Granny Square is a cute little shop full of wool... think of an old fashioned candy shop, and replace the shelves of lollies with beautiful coloured wool. It's inviting and homely.

After chatting with the lovely lady serving in the shop, I found out The Granny Square is part of the Morris and Sons group. If you're in Sydney, that's the gorgeous wool shop in York Street, Sydney. That lovely lady I was talking to in the shop... her name was Ruth, and I'm thinking she owns the business after reading this page.

If you follow this link, you can read a little of the background of The Granny Square (the images seem to be missing, but the story is good). The Granny Square does have a website which has it's class schedule.

Anyway... back to the wool and my crochet project.

The wool Emily choose is called Morris Arabesque Sugar Plum, which is a lovely verigated wool with pink, plum, dusty blue and tan.

Here's a little close up of how the rug is coming along...

Thanks for dropping by, til next time...

Cheers

Fiona

crocheting the wool-eater blanket [the 2012 crochet-along project]

I've made a start on a crocheted blanket for Emily.

While looking for some ideas I found the Wool-Eater blanket which is a crochet along project for 2012 over on Sarah London's blog.

I'm using the wool I bought last year from Bendigo Woollen Mill [Emily chose the colours].

This blanket is going to use a lot of wool, it will be heavy and thick and I'm sure it will be super warm to snuggle up with when finished.

There's a challenge on Sarah's blog, to complete a certain number of rounds or rows every week. I'm not sure if I'm up to date, but I'm enjoying crocheting this pattern.

And in other news... I've finished Phoebe's granny square blanket. I'm just looking for a nice crocheted edging to finish it off. This hasn't stopped Phoebe snuggling under the blanket while relaxing in front of the TV sometimes.

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Fiona

a little crocheting... making a large granny square rug

While at the Craft Fair in Sydney last June I spotted this gorgeous wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I fell in love with the colours of the Classic pure wool collection and decided it was time I crocheted my girls a little rug each, something they could snuggle under during winter (or whenever they needed a little warmth).

The wools below are being used for Phoebe's rug, the colours are... Seaquest (top), Periwinkle (mid left), Aster (mid right) and Musk (bottom).

I've made good progress on the giant granny square rug so far, crocheting when I'm waiting at music lessons, sports training and in the evenings, keeping myself warm while this little rug grows and grows.

I have to mention this great little crochet hook by Clover. That extra soft bit in the middle makes the hook very easy to hold.

Once I finish Phoebe's rug, I'll start on Emily's (she may not have hers until next winter). The colours Emily chose for her rug are similar to Phoebe's swapping the Aster for Celery (top ball of wool).

I first learnt to crochet when I was about 8 years old and have a few of my original crocheted granny square rugs still around the house. They are a VERY easy crochet project to take on.

Here are a few links to the ideas/how tos, should you need some instruction on granny square making:

• Joelle's Giant Granny Square on the Purl Bee blog
• The Granny Square Project on the Purl Bee blog
• How to Crochet a Granny Square (good step by step with photos)

Pinterest has some lovely ideas for granny squares large and small.

For now, I'll keep crocheting round and round the granny square until I run out of wool!

Thanks for dropping by.

Cheers

Fiona