Adventures in Crochet!

As everyone does each January, I made New Year's Resolutions. Not too many, but one of them was to improve my crochet skills.

I have dabbled in crochet a little over the past few years but never really felt fully committed. Stitching and knitting have always taken up my precious spare time - both of which I feel pretty confident about. I have mentioned before that I was taught to knit and sew by the women in my family when I was a child but crochet lessons have come in the form of a book and I can safely say that I am self taught.

A few weeks ago I became frustrated with a knitting pattern for a lacy scarf which I just couldn't seem to get right so I decided to swap my knitting needles for a crochet hook for a while and I thought I'd share the results so far.

To me it seems that the secret to crochet success can be found by holding the yarn in a way that is most comfortable for you and also getting the tension right - the two seem to be linked. In order to get these things right I began my new crochet adventures with a simple project - A Colourful Cafetiere Cosy....

The cosy was made using a simple double crochet stitch and scraps of wool. I love the bright colours mixed in with the neutral cream and this project also provided a great way to get back in to the swing of crochet.

Setting my sights a little higher I embarked on a crocheted cushion. This project is made using half treble stitches and again is a great practice project. I made this one up as I went along and the colours were chosen because they happened to be in my knitting box next to my arm chair. I hadn't intended to use these colours but they were close to hand and the cushion has turned out to be in a funky retro style which I love.

I even managed to crochet some button holes so that I could use these gorgeous, bright orange buttons on the back.

The front of the cushion is finished off with three cute flowers - these were from a lovely Nicky Trench pattern that I found online and they took just minutes to make - another great beginners project.

I am delighted with the results and the cushion brings a lovely splash of summer sunshine to my workroom.

I'll be sharing how to make this simple but effective project in my next blog post. In the meantime I'll be starting a Granny Square Blanket - this crochet business is addictive!