2012

Hello to you all, yarn lovers and lovers of yarn and those who just like to peek into the chaos that is my mind!

How are we all doing?

Have you enjoyed the festivities or is it a case of bah humbug and you are just waiting for 2013 to start?

A lovely time was had by all at Loves a good yarn HQ and the little ladies were super excited – and still are.  Their favourite presents at the moment are new felt tip colouring pens and a princess and pony set!

I must admit 2012 has been good for me both personally and with regards to Loves a good yarn.

I changed my job so now I see more of the little ladies which is good for all of us and as for Loves a good yarn, things have started to go in the right direction after a mid-year loss-of-mojo blip!

So there you go, just 2 of my highlights from 2012, there are many more.  So I am looking forward with great anticipation to 2013, I have big plans for this business of mine, so many ideas!

I hope you all come along for the ride with me and join in as when you want to.

I will wish you all a Happy New Year and may 2013 be full of wonder and nice surprises for you all, x

Tags : 2012, 2013, crochet, Loves a good yarn, New Year, thread, yarn

Hello people, how are we all?  Did you enjoy your extra hour (if you are UK based) this morning, I did!

However this morning I ache all over, I have used muscles that I didn’t know existed and this is all because of yesterday.  What happened yesterday I hear you ask…yesterday I undertook a CBT course.  A CBT course is a Compulsory Basic Training certificate to provide you with the basic skills and knowledge needed to keep you safe (safer) when using a motorbike out on the road.

Now I always said that you would never get me riding a motorbike but what is that saying…never say never?  What I should mention here is that my husband is a biker, he uses his bike for work to free up the car for children transportation.  He loves his ‘Holly’, she is my 23 yr old rival for his affections and he likes to take a run out now and then, loaded up with his camping equipment and will follow his front wheel on the open road.  Never truly understood this, it was his ‘thing’ , each to their own and all that!

Since I changed my job early in the summer (pfft what summer?) I have been using a bicycle to get to work and back unless the car was free.  I did used to have a car but someone who will remain nameless (but I am married to him) wrote it off, thankfully he was fine but little car wasn’t.  These things happen for a reason and this forced me to change jobs which in turn is better for all of us all round.  Anyway I digress, now cycling is good for you, obviously, even if coming home at night is all up hill from the river front, honest its good for you! But as the weather has got a bit worse and a bit colder in Autumn I am really not liking the idea of doing this journey in the winter when its colder and darker and generally more yucky.

I sat down with DH and we bandied the idea of getting a little moped, 50cc or under, that I would be able to get on ride with my car license (as I am of an age where this is possible – I passed my test before 2001) as this would not incur too high a cost and I would be home in 10 mins instead of 30-40 (depending on the weather).

Browsed the internet and looked at various models, nearly had heart failure at the cost of insurance, bearing in mind this was not supposed to be an expensive option!

We found one, that we would be able to get a dealer subsidised insurance on as well and she is really gorgeous.  Want to see a pic?

This image is from the SYM UK official website, it is not my image.

I however will not look quite as glamorous!

Now the whole plan was to get a 49cc bike, I would not need to do a CBT or need a bike license, at the showroom on Thursday night, I got a turn to ride around the car park.  Pfft, who was I kidding, in the eyes of the law I could buy this bike and take it home straight away, however my test ride proved that even though I drive for a living and ride a bicycle, these skills were in no way helpful when it came to riding a motorbike, and this was why I spent yesterday doing basic training.

Now, with having had road time after some proper training I can now see why bikers do what they do, I had so much fun on the open road, the skills I had been taught in the day were essential for personal survival as well for the benefit of other road users.  At one point I did start to laugh inside my helmet, oh I cannot wait until I get my own little scooter.

Now I have my CBT certificate I am going to go for a 125cc bike as unfortunately I do not look like the slim model in the picture and a 49cc bike will (and did) struggle with my build!

It is a case of waiting for the paperwork to come through so I can complete the purchase which means this week I am back to pedal power, ho hum – bet the weather is rubbish this week too!

I will keep you informed and let you know when my little scooter-rooni is home.

Pam, x

P.S.  Mine is in sparkly red!

Tags : 2012, CBT, Loves a good yarn, motorbike, red, Scooter, sparkly

Wow, it really has been a looooooong time since I have been on here.  Doesn’t life sometimes take over eh?

Firstly I would like to apologise to all fans of Crochet 366, you may have noticed (!) that I have fallen behind with my challenge of a crochet square a day and this irkes me a lot I can tell you.  I am not considering it a failure, as I know exactly where I am up to and given the opportunity I will pick up where I left off.

There are a number of reasons, life as I mentioned earlier and the fact that Loves a good yarn was created as a business and to this end my aim is to crochet items for sale that people want to buy.  Anyone who has ever picked up a crochet hook or a set of knitting needles knows that creating beautiful items is a time consuming task.

Trying to build a name and a business can also be a time eater when it comes to ‘getting yourself out there’ and networking!

An original design from Loves a good yarn.

I have been creating my own designs for a number of items that I fully intend to write up into legible patterns from my scribbled notes, get tested and then put up for sale, I have also had custom orders to create and Facebook orders and sales to fulfill.

There has also been a crisis of confidence in my business too which meant a long hard look at where I was going and whether I needed to change direction slightly, plans are a foot on that side of things too but I am back with faith in both my skill and my products.

A small selection of Loves a good yarn’s crochet creations that are available in Arts Hub 47 on Lodge Lane, Liverpool.

As a further boost to my confidence, my work is on show and is for sale at an exciting new opportunity here in Liverpool.  There is an Arts Co-op opened on Lark Lane – known as a place to go to if looking for artsy, unusual, one-of-a-kind boutique-y kind of place, with lots of lovely eateries and a big Farmers Market once a month, they like my work and that means Loves a good yarn is available in a bricks and mortar shop, not just a virtual one.  I am really excited by this!

And now we are hurtling head long towards Christmas and the start of a New Year, where has 2012 gone, it has disappeared so fast (is that an age thing?) and I am up to my eyes in crochet snowflakes and Christmas decorations, all done in wonderful fine thread.

Now none of this is an excuse for not being up to date with Crochet 366, just an explanation of the reasons.  Once again I am sorry for not being able to complete this challenge within the specified time frame but I will add to it as when I get the opportunity, in the meantime I intend to blog a bit more about the goings on both inside and outside of Loves a good yarn and I hope you will be with me when I do. Thank you, x

Tags : 2012, apology, challenge, crochet 366, Loves a good yarn

Helloooo,

Here is today’s square, Lacy Diamond Square.

Quite an effective looking square, could use any number possible colour combinations in this one, I went with shades of purple.

This is another US pattern so US terminology is used throughout, here are the instructions for Lacy Diamond.

I worked as per pattern then repeated Round 8 again before doing Round 9, this made it slightly larger than 6″ – oops!

Tags : 2012, 6", acrylic, challenge, colourful, crochet, crochet 366, easy, free, lacy, Lacy Diamond, lilac, Loves a good yarn, multi colour, open, purple, square

Hello there, fancy another square?

This is the square for today, the Sweet Sixteen square, a really easy pattern to follow and an effective looking square.

Here are the instructions for Sweet Sixteen square, they are available on the yarn lovers site Ravelry (free to register and a fantastic source of patterns and advice).

I worked as per pattern instructions then added 2 rounds of UK dc in the same colours to bring my square up to size.

(This is a US pattern so remember the name changes for stitches)

Tags : 2 colour, 2012, 6", acrylic, blue, challenge, colourful, crochet 366, crocheted, easy, free, Loves a good yarn, popcorn, square, yellow

Hello and good morning to you,

Here is today’s square, Centred Square.

This is from the book 200 Crochet blocks for blankets, throws and afghans and the instructions can be found on pg61.

As with most of the patterns in this book I had to miss out a couple of rows to keep my square to size, in this instance I worked up to and including Round 6, I then did 2 more rounds of dc, one in each colour.

Tags : 2 colour, 2012, 6", acrylic, blue, challenge, colourful, crochet, crocheted, easy, granny, Loves a good yarn, open, square

Hello and good morning..

Today’s square is called Spring green therefore I decided to make it in a pale green!

It is a really simple one row repeat and once you get into the rhythm of it you are off!

- ch 25

- dc in 3rd ch from hook, *tr in next ch, dc in next ch,, rep from * to end

- 1ch, *dc in next tr, tr in next dc, rep from* across

- rep above row 22 times

-  1ch, 1dc in same, dc in each st and in each row end around, making corners with 3 dc in the same stitch.

Tags : 2012, 366, 6", acrylic, colour, colourful, crochet, crochet 366, crocheted, easy, free, green, Loves a good yarn, single colour, square, texture

Hello crochet square admirer,

Here is today’s square, Kata Square.  I stumbled across this pattern while mooching around the internet and I think it looks gorgeous.

I only worked part of the pattern as it is a bigger square but I would like to go back another day and make the larger square in more than one colour.

Here are the instructions for the Kata Square, it is an American pattern so US terminology is used throughout.

I worked up to Round 5 then skipped to Round 6, worked rounds 6 and 7 then worked a round of UK dc to finish and bring up to size.

Tags : 2012, 6", acrylic, challenge, circle, cluster, crochet, crochet 366, easy, free, Loves a good yarn, open, single colour, square, white

Hello crochet square fan!

Today’s square comes all the way from New Zealand, I found this square on Ravelry but the link is to her own site so all good!

This was a simple and easy square to make, it has been written in both Us terminology and UK terminology, just scroll down for the UK version.

The colours I used for this square make me think of chocolate and banana, funny what happens when you go stash diving isn’t it.

Here is the link for Its Wheely a Square,  I worked as per pattern and repeated Round 5 once more before working 2 rounds of UK dc to bring it up to size.

Tags : 2 colour, 2012, 6", acrylic, brown, challenge, colourful, crochet, crochet 366, easy, granny, lacy, Loves a good yarn, open, square, wheel, wheely, yellow

Hello there you, how is it going?  Good I hope!

Here is today’s square which I have called Calypso, the reason for this is that the square is from a free pattern for an afghan which is called Calypso.

You can find the instructions for the Calypso Afghan by clicking on the link, this will take you to the American site, Lion Brand Yarns where there is a wealth of crochet goodness, most of the patterns are free too!  You have to register to view the patterns but this is a quick process and totally free, patterns will obviously use US terminology.

I worked as per pattern instructions but did one more round of trebles (US – double crochet) before finishing off with a dc round (US – sc)

Tags : 2 colour, 2012, 6", acrylic, blue, calypso, challenge, crochet, crochet 366, crocheted, easy, free, Loves a good yarn