challenge

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 again,

Today’s square, the V-Star square is an easy and effective square to crochet.  I used 3 colours as in the pattern but it would look light and lacy in a one colour or very vibrant in multi colours.

The pattern instructions are available on Ravelry (free membership, just need to register) and can be found as V Star Square.

I worked as per pattern instructions, the designer used Aran weight yarn and created an 8″ square but with DK yarn it easy to get a 6″ square without any alterations.

Tags : 6", acrylic, challenge, colourful, crochet, crochet 366, easy, grey, lacy, Loves a good yarn, multi colour, open, pink, red, square, V stitch

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 there you, how are you doing today?

Today’s square pattern come courtesy of ‘One Crochet Day at a Time’ via Ravelry again and is called Pixie Flower.

An American pattern so different stitch names but quite easy to follow once you get your head around all the ‘front loops only’ and ‘back loops only’ and remember which side you going next.  Pattern suggest one or two colours but I think two colours definitely works best, helps show off the flower better.

You can find the instructions for Pixie Flower as  free download from Ravelry.

I worked as per pattern and then brought my square up to size with another 2 rounds of UK dc.

Tags : 2 colour, acrylic, challenge, colourful, crochet, crochet 366, crocheted, easy, free, grey, Loves a good yarn, pixie flower, square, white

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 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

Hello and good day square fan,

Here is today’s square, Granny Flower.  I enjoyed this square, it is actually a pattern for a 12″ square and uses US terminology, I just worked up to and including Round 1 of the border colour, I then did another round of (UK) dc to bring to size.

The instructions are here for Granny Flower Square

Tags : 6", acrylic, challenge, colourful, crochet, crochet 366, easy, flower, free, granny, granny flower, grey, lacy, Loves a good yarn, multi colour, open, pink, purple, square