The only 2 ply lace scarf I will ever make!

I can't imagine that I will ever crochet another 2 ply lace scarf...

The stitches are wonderfully delicate... and I love the way they look...

But they're a little bit too "fly away" if you know what I mean...

It's as though there's not enough weight in the scarf to allow it to drape...

But it does look gorgeous...

BUT it was pretty fiddly to make...

So...

NO!

Not again.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Fabulous Christmas!

Christmas Eve Blocking...

Every Christmas I end up in a last-minute-muddle

and vow that I will be more organized the following year!

And here we are yet again...

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm busy finishing off gifts.

At least it's not the wee small hours of Christmas Day....

It's 5 pm on Christmas Eve - and the final gift is all pinned out and blocking as we speak. This time I'm using an arrangement of polystyrene foam boards, and about a squillion pins...

Hopefully I'll remember to take photos before I wrap it in the morning - but just in case I don't - here's some close ups of the stitch pattern:

And a reminder of how it looked before blocking:

And again after:

(well during really)

It looks like a completely different scarf, doesn't it?

Laceweight Ziggy

Yes. 

I'm obsessed with "The Zigmeister".

It's yet another Ziggy Lace Scarf.

This time it's a LACE WEIGHT yarn... 

That's a 2 ply yarn...

And Yes. It IS a Christmas gift! Hopefully.

It's surprisingly fiddly. 

Somewhere in my naive mind, I thought that a 2 ply yarn worked on a 4.0 mm hook would actually work up quite quickly - but I couldn't have been more wrong...

This is really, really slow work!

It Blocked Beautifully...

How about that?




The Ziggy Lace Scarf blocked up beautifully - and is now the perfect length - YIPPEE!



I do need to organize some blocking wires for myself though...

Is it too late to send a letter to Santa?

I fiddled about and used a bunch of straight knitting needles - but it really wasn't ideal...

And just to refresh your memory about how the stitches looked BEFORE blocking:



And here they are AFTER:



Pretty cool, huh?

Moving On.

Working my way through the Christmas list...

Checking off item number one - the snails are done!

Item number two is the red Ziggy Lace Scarf.

Free online pattern available here.

I'd have liked to make it a few inches longer, but I ran out of yarn. 

So I'm hoping to be able to add a little to the length during the blocking process.

The scarf is off having a quick soak, then I'll pin her out for a bit of a stretch.

Really looking forward to seeing how the lace blocks up.

Here's a before shot of the stitch pattern for you:

Snail Buddies.

Finished.

And they're going to be SO hard to give away...

Honestly. I have to stop getting so attached to my creatures.

I ended up ditching the wire in the antennae which I was talking about here.

It just kept poking out in all the wrong places - so I was really unhappy with it.

So I used some glue instead.

How exactly? Well, I just wet my fingers... Put a dot of PVA glue on my fingertip... Then worked it into the stem of the antennae... Positioned it the way I wanted, then left it to dry overnight...

Oh and I added some texta. The spiral shape of the shell wasn't as pronounced as I wanted it to be, so I used a medium tip black Sharpie pen to draw it in a bit. Just go lightly if you're trying this. You can always go darker if you need to.

Just a reminder that the pattern is HERE if you are interested.

Or if you're a Ravelry member, check out all the cute and coulourful snails which have been made HERE.

One and a Half Snails.

I've been plodding away very slowly at that To Do List of mine...



The first snail is finished... and the second is nearly done. The crochet is complete, but he still needs his shell attached and stuffed, then his eyes stitched into place and a little bit of wire threaded into his antennae:



If you're interested in the pattern, you can find it here. If you're not already a member over at the Lion Brand site then you might find that you need to sign up in order to view their patterns.



I wanted to add some interest to the shells but I didn't have a variegated yarn. So I've used three strands of sewing cotton held together with the yarn when I did the crochet. There's a dark brown, medium brown and beige. I love the way they add some interest to the shell which would otherwise look pretty bland.



I've also made use of some recycled copper wire. Just threaded it into each antennae. It means you can position them as you fancy - and they stay in place. Obviously you wouldn't include the wire if you were making a child's toy. Or the little beads for that matter.



Meanwhile - I need to stop crawling along at a SNAIL'S PACE... and get these gifts finished!

Starting the Sun Hat...

Starting out on the Sun Hat from my Christmas List.

Using Bendigo Cotton 8 ply in Wild Lavender with a 3.0mm hook...

Love the effect of using Back Loops Only!

To Do List...

Fourteen days left until Christmas... and there's still some goodies to be made!

Scarey part is that the last four items on the list haven't even been started yet...

One of them is an Endemon, and I don't even know what that is - Apparently it's a Minecraft character, so I've got some research to do...

Ziggy Lace...

Well, it suddenly dawns on me that I'd better get a few gifts made!

I was fussing about the other day looking for a simple lace crochet scarf pattern - when I remembered about the Ziggy Lace Scarf. I've made a few of these before, and I find the pattern easy to follow and quick to work up... Particularly important - since it's already December.

I'm working it up in a 4ply fingering weight yarn - it's this hand-dyed Moseley Park yarn, from the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show:



Just getting started, and I'm thinking about making the scarf a bit wider than the pattern.

Best to make my mind up sooner rather than later!

While I decide, here's the Ziggys I've made in the past:

This one here was made for a swap:



I didn't blog about this other one when I made it. Not sure why not, but here's a few photos now:

A Simple Christmas.

I say it every year - and once again I'm planning for a simple Christmas...

Sometimes it works out that way, sometimes not so much...

But I figure I can at least try!

I made this Twiggy Star as my contribution to the Advent Calendar which Loren is running over in my Ravelry Group this month. The idea is that each participant makes a SIMPLE decoration, using "bits and pieces". Then on their nominated date, they share a before and after photo of their decoration.

I nominated myself to take December 1st. Partly because no one else seemed to be claiming it... and partly because I knew it would push me to jump in and get it done - instead of "umming and ahhhing" about what to make!

And so I made my star. I love its elegant simplicity - and the organic feel of it.

I don't love that it took me 45 minutes to make!

Mostly because I was stuffing around with twigs and string which were both too short!



As you can see, I've used twigs and recycled tea bag strings. Best length for the twigs is 15 cm (6 in) and I found that I needed to tie two strings together first, and then bind the twigs. You need to weave the twigs in an under-over fashion for the star to be stable.

I tell you all of this, not to be BOSSY - but to save you from spending 45 minutes on a 5 minute job!



You might remember that Katie, my eight-year-old daughter is also a member on Ravelry...

And of course she wanted to join in the fun of the advent - so she claimed December 2nd for her decoration.

Here were her starting materials... some cardboard cut into stars, some scrap yarn and a little gem:



And her finished piece:



So don't be shy... If an eight-year-old can do it - then SO CAN YOU!

Come and sign up to make a decoration. Or just stalk us to see what everyone else is making.

Correct!

You guessed correctly - this month's design is a SEAHORSE!



Meet Flotsam the Fascinating Seahorse...

If you'd like to join in the fun of making your own seahorse - then come on over here to join us in my Ravelry group. We're a very friendly bunch, and love to see new members.

The pattern (untested) is available for free to those participating in the Monthly Challenge. I've had about 20 people already sign up to make him... and one is already finished (you're amazing Julie!)

Or if you prefer to wait for the fully tested version of the pattern, it will be available for sale in January 2013... which SOUNDS like it's a long way off, but is really just around the corner.

Easy guess...

There's still some finishing touches to be added... 

But here's a sneak peek at the December Challenge - Due for release tomorrow:

And you can probably guess what I'm making this time...

It's not as obscure as the Patchwork Stuffed Moose Head!

A Little Peek...

Just a little peek at this one...

It's a gift for my niece.

She's turning ONE very soon... And you never know who might be reading this post!