African flower cushion: finished!

Ta dah! It's finally finished from it's conceptual idea on the 24 July 2010... It seems like 2 months , albeit just about 6 weeks or so start to finish. Do you like it? We do.

It's been made everywhere, at home, on car journeys- JJ driving of course- , in the Eurotunnel, on a beach, on the Brittany apartment balcony, the sofa at home, on a train to London and on a narrowboat travelling the Oxfordshire canal.

It has a fabulously brightly striped back with BIG red buttons, which are rather fun I think. The back is in 1 dc 1 chain which is one of my all time fave fabrics at the mo.

Ta dah! Again, I couldn;t resist. We just love it, Miss Y especially and we'll be sorry when it's posted to my sister this week as it is a present for her and her partner.

Here come the flowers: all 16 of them, they are all totally different. But from a base of about 12 core colours.

It's a great pattern to play with colours as you get a chance to use 5 colours in each hexagon:

centre, petal base V's, petals, spikes and petal edge,outside edge.

I've gone right outside my comfort zone colours here and really had a ball playing with some unusual combinations, trying to get colours to clash and zing and make a big impact together.

They were all crocheted together as I went along, no sewing or joining later when I had a pile and no grand plan at all. Just happy chaos. And a desire to have minimum repeats close to each other, outside edges always had to have a contrast and no same petals or centres in a row....

At first only red, green and beige were allowed as outside edges, but I did relax that rule a bit later. Two backs were made with buttonholes in one so they overlap and the stripe sequence continues uninterrupted.

Back with buttons on. And then it all got assembled this morning. Finished with a red crab stitch border.

It all fits nice and snug. Perfect for a weary head to fall asleep on. After of course choosing the favourite flower or stripe sequence.

It's meant for my sister's campervan so I wanted it to be comfortable, bright, cheerful and practical as well as entertaining in the way that there's plenty to look at. The campervan is red.

Leave a comment if you'd like the pattern or any'' how to'' details, happy hooking!

Japanese Joys: new crochet books!

Here's a tiny preview of the Japanese crochet books I have received recently and which excite me so very much. I just love the simple and elegant styling they do!

This lovely cardigan has an intricate pinneapple design yoke, and then the body and sleeves are added later. Quite in the way Doris Chan sometimes works: top down fan stitches.

There are also the beautiful subtle variegated yarns to admire!

And the young models which I was hoping would appeal to my -almost- teenage daughter...

This one for the raglan shapings: I so love a raglan sleeve for comfort.

In browns,ochre greens and orange definately not my colours and yet it really appeals to me, minus the frills. Fun colour and pattern play.

This is a favourite, the lovely surprise at the back!

Cover of one of the books.....Alas the index did not come out that well. More later I promise.

African flowers for a cushion cover

Hip hip hooray! My first attempt at African flowers and i'M A-LUVVIN THESE!
If you like them too, I found the pattern over on FLICKR in the african flower crochet group.
They have the pattern in words as well as a diagram. Have a go, these are fun!

And you have 5 rows of colours to play with. I have crocheted them together on the fifth row.

It's a wedding present for my sister who is getting married for the second time and who has requested only handmade creative presents..... And their campervan ( new) is a deep red, hence the choice of colours.

Something to make it look cosy and to rest a weary well-travelled head on....

14 colours from my stash and some I bought specially: mostly DK cottons, some bamboo, all different brands: Patons, Wendy, Rowan,King Cole,Elle,Sirdar and so on.

3 greens, 3 reds, 2 orange tones, 1 peach, 3 pinks,2 beiges. Some to brightly clash a bit. Fun.

At forst I thought it wasn't so portable, but then I thought why not crochet the first 4 rows ''on the go'' ( train journeys, hockey matches, waiting in line at Mme Tussauds.....) and then do the joining row at home?!! So that's what happened above, both made in London on 2 August.

same 2 with a flash, colours don't look so good now?Another 16-18 to go I reckon!

That's the perfick ( a la Larkin) project for our little holiday starting tomorrow! A great adventure on the canals: our first mission in travelling by narrowboat.......!!!!!! Will I have time to crochet? Or will it all be ''all hands on deck'' for all those locks, 36 I believe.