Yarn and Pattern Review

Just as I said I would on my Instagram, here's my review of Lesur Empress crochet thread and the pattern I used to create this cute doily!

First up, the yarn! I was bought a selection of Lesur Empress by my boyfriend, who bought me Mint, Lemon, White, Lilac and Beige. For the pattern I used I decided lilac would suit best. It's a mercerised cotton and easy to use, suitable for doilies and micro amigurimi, with excellent stitch definition which is great for showing off motifs like the hearts in this doily.

Lesur Empress in the background, with my new Lesur Pixie crochet thread

My thread was purchased from a LYS in Southport, NW England, and I've also found it for a decent price here if you're willing to try it! It honestly is the perfect thread for this pattern.

Onto the pattern! I followed Denise Owen's February's Valentine Doily pattern and it was great fun. Once you're a few rounds in you can really see how it's going to look and it is fab! It really shows off this yarn in a great way, and with jersey yarn it could easily be adapted to make a lovely rug for any room!

The only bit I found difficult was the last round with the picots, as you can see from the picture I made a mistake which I only noticed once I'd cut the yarn and sewn in the ends. The website is very hard to read with her background, but if you copy and paste into a Word document like I did, you can print it out and take it anywhere you like! I often took mine to Costa to enjoy a hot chocolate, ham and cheese toastie, and some time away from work to relax.

Hot choc time!

The reason for me to make this lovely doily was to sit my vase on, and I think I've done pretty well.

Georgia!

Where's my crojo at?!

The past two weeks have involved little or no crochet for me. I was signed off with stress, my boyfriend came to visit me, and I spent my spare time playing The Sims 3 or running.

I haven't had anything to write about and only went back to crocheting a few days ago. I plan on doing a separate post for that with details of how I found the pattern & crochet thread I used.

Seeing as there isn't yet anything eventful to post about, enjoy the pictures I've been sharing on my Instagram page.

Georgia

A blanket I've been working on, currently in hibernation due to the doily

Hyacinths have very quickly become my favourite flowers thanks to their amazing scent and colours 

I didn't even have to edit these beautiful tulips! The sun just blasted right through my nets creating a lovely pattern on some of the petals, and see how great they looked opened up!

How Much Is Too Much?

When it comes to selling blankets or other crocheted items I am a complete novice. I - KNOW - NOTHING. Zilch. Nada.

I've had some great advice from a great Instagram friend called Hookawoolly who said I should sell some of blankets for a whopping £80+ (or there abouts!). But I have seen others undersell themselves majorly.

My first real sale came from a colleague at work. I had 6 days to make a blanket suitable for a baby and charged £20 for it. Going by what Hookawoolly suggested, I should have doubled the cost of the yarn (at £12.20 inc p+p) and then popped on a bit for myself. Had I followed this, the blanket could be priced anywhere from £30-40. That would make anyone happy who has spent time and money on a lovely project, yet this is also expensive for some people. Of course, price is up to the artist and there will be someone out there willing to pay, but is the wait for a buyer worth it when by lowering the price you may be able to get a buyer within days? It's all very confusing.

I had no time to block!

But would you pay £75-90 for a blanket? The larger the blanket, the more expensive it will become. Stylecraft is quite an inexpensive yarn when you buy it online through websites such as Woolwarehouse, Deramores, or LoveKnitting, but if you choose to support your friends (as I recently have started with some yarns) then the price can quickly rocket, making your blankets even more expensive.

My Maybelle Square flower blanket, my largest blanket to date, and possibly my most expensive.

So what do you do? Do you go to popular online retailers of yarn and wools, or do you support your woolly friends and go to them? Any comments on my Instagram and on this post will be welcome and please let me know, where do you buy your yarn? Local yarn shops, online retailers, or people you've found on Instagram, Etsy and other social media sites?

Georgia

This Should Really Be Called ~The Lazy Blog~

Because I haven't posted in maybe, forever? So here's a little catch up!

• I got a new job! YAY! I'm 100% happier there & I have already got a mini promotion!
• I've really improved on my crochet. A new job & earning more means a lot more money for yarn
• I've learnt to knit, I can only knit and purl right now, but I've been watching videos by Wool And The Gang and taking notes. I really want to try socks, so if you know of any great patterns for beginners, do let me know!
• Along with 120 crochet artists I took part in the Patchwork Heart Community Blanket, a lovely woman known on Instagram as CrafternoonTreats won it and has decided to auction off the blanket for charity and you can bid until midnight 23rd April for it! Each donation of £2 gets one entry. It truly is a beautiful, magnificent and utterly unique floral blanket, made by those you may or may not have heard of. It is a fantastic opportunity to grab a handmade beauty for a pittance & raise money for Marie Curie UK.

Here's a small collage of some of the crochet project's I've made, both completed and WIPs

I'll try and update as often as possible, but I won't make any promises. You can always follow me on Instagram & Pinterest 

My Journal

In the past year or two I have really, really grown up and out of things. If you'd have met me then you'd know what I mean. All I wanted to talk about was my favourite film, my favourite actress and I how much I loved them both. Now, starting my 20s, I don't care about that any more. I've changed, and I can only see that being a good thing.

My passion for the film and actress has transpired into my love for crochet, yarn, and learning new things. In fact, this time last year I had picked up some super cheap yarn, a hook and looked on YouTube for some crochet lessons. A month after that, thanks to my wonderful boyfriend having faith in me and buying me my first crochet book, I had made my first finished piece of crochet/amigurimi- Duckie, shortly followed by little Geoff.

 My little Duckie

Geoff!

Since then I feel the change in me has snowballed. I got a promotion at work, (and two more since), I'm only caring for those who care about me, and I feel like that makes me a better person. I still worry about others and life, but I'm trying not to spend too much time on that.

New Week Blues

It's Monday!! The weekend has flown by and many of us have 5 more days to get through before we can relax again.

This week I'm going to start organising this blog a little bit more and March has drawn the lucky short straw for me to start! Hopefully this means I'll be super strict and I'll get everything I want done, written up, pictured, and posted. If I get it all done it will be a miracle... this is going to be one bumpy ride.

There **will not** be any "I can't be bothered today"'s, no "I'll do it tomorrow"'s, I've got to give myself a kick up the bum for my blog to work exactly how I want it to. If I don't like something, I can change it. This month will be all about change for me- I'm changing how I think, what I eat, my blog, and trying to stay tidy and organised. If my phone can be organised, so can I.

So in my first New Week Blues post, I'm going to spend my week trying to do what I've set out to do and not give up!!

Georgia

Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star!

I have been a very, very lazy hooker recently, so sorry for the lack of posts. (I promise to one day make it up to you, I don't know how, I don't know when, but I will find you and make it up to you)

The past few nights I have been flicking through my new book, 500 Crochet Blocks (great book) and I stumbled across the stars, as a result I have fallen in love with the easy pattern. I have previously looked at stars and bunting with stars on Pinterest, but I've always shied away from trying them for one reason or another. So Saturday, I decided to just go for it, and since then that's all I've really done.

 I love this Anchor sparkly yarn. Perfect for stars!

This little fella didn't survive :c

His little arm came off :'c

Do excuse this out of focus picture, but I really, really love it.

The book is a totally brilliant book- great for those just beginning crochet or even for those who want to learn a few more stitches and techniques. I got mine from John Lewis, £9.99, and it is worth the buy. It's not just full of blocks/squares, but as you can tell little motifs too. Each pattern has a variation of colours and other ways you can use each base pattern to create something new.