Jessica’s Stocking

For Jessica’s first Christmas I completed my first ever crochet project, which was inspired by the Hobbycraft blog. It required 19 4 granny squares, a cuff of treble crochet and a crocheted loop that I didn’t follow the instructions for as it was late on Christmas eve, I still had Jess asleep on me as she was refusing to be put down and I didn’t have the instructions to hand! During my 10 or so hours making this I have discovered that you can crochet holding a baby quite easily (if Jess still counts as a baby). It’s all a bit mad really and if I had my time over I would stick to three or four colours and make sure that each granny square had some pattern to it but I didn’t even know how to change colours at the beginning and was using up odd bits of wool that I had by me. Anyway, here’s a couple of photos of the front and back of the stocking along with a couple of close-ups…

  

  

Pompom Skirt Mark 2

Having seen the pompom skirt that I made for Jessica, Katryn requested that I make one for her too. This gave me the opportunity to hone the design and incorporate a different waistband. I found it so difficult to stretch the elastic through the sewing machine so I opted for threading it through a folded and stitched casing at the waist. It gave a much cleaner finish and has made me determined to make more skirts in the spring. Even with the two layers of fabric and pompoms it only took me about an hour from start to finish.

I just wish my model would let me take a normal photograph of her. These were the most sensible shots I managed and it only got worse when Archie and Jessica got involved too!

    

Merry Mario

I absolutely love our Christmas card from the Haighs this year. A brilliant use of Hama beads!

Hanging Wire Stars

Just a few more handmade decorations for my tree. These ones are quite rustic and take a lot of wire but I like how they look on the tree…

  

  

Small Wedding Gift

When stitching wedding gifts, I love it when I can steal the design from the bride and groom’s wedding stationery, which is exactly what I did with this piece. I enlarged the image from the wedding invitation then pricked and stitched for a couple of hours (or so). I have put the finished item in a silver plated frame from John Lewis.

Needle Felted Tree Ornament

I will post a picture of all these things on my tree once it’s up but for now here’s another Christmas item I’ve crafted…

I’m using styrofoam eggs because the Hobbycraft in Harlow had run out of balls believe it or not. Sarah thinks this looks like an egg crossed with a tennis ball. She might be right but I’m keeping this one for myself so she can please herself! Love you little sister.