Monday 19 January 2015

Shades of Spring Cushion - Thrifty January Blog Hop

Honestly! If it wasn't for another blog hop whipping me into action I would never post on my blog at the moment! Life has been busy, there has been barely time to pick up a hook let alone write about it but the lovely team at Stitch Craft Create have asked me to join in with their Thrify January blog hop and so 'Boing!' here I go again!

The theme for the Stitch Craft Create digital magazine this month is Thriftiness and upcycling after the overspending and excesses of the festive period. I read some great articles and projects in there such as  knitted rug made from strips of fabric, updating a dress by adding a cute patch pocket from your fabric stash, a bag made from children's clothing and even one for us hooky types - a log cabin patchwork design cushion using those little bits and pieces of leftover yarn we can never bear to part with. I considered giving this one a go and embarked on a journey of discovery in my craft room in search for my leftover stash. Instead I found these...



I made this riot of crocheted squares last year for months and months. The idea had been to yarn-bomb a chair with them. I even began to attach them to the chair. The only problem was - and it took me a year to admit it - the chair was too big for my craft room. Eventually I came to terms with this and sold the chair. I have different plans now chair-wise so I am left with a huge carrier bag full of colourful crochet, asking to be made into something.

After careful consideration I have decided to join them together into a kaleidoscopic blanket for my spare room bed. It will really brighten the room up and I am sure the cat will appreciate a cosy new blanket on what he believes to be his bed!



So this week, as a test to see how the colours could blend in sections I created a smaller, cushion version from springtime yellows and blues. We are not quite there yet, the weather today is grey and cold and even the warm browns and golds are disappearing from the hedges leaving bare branches. My choice of colours are a reminder of the splendour to come with daffodils, bluebells and green buds on the branches along with those crisp, blue sky days where the air seems to smell fresher and it feels like everything will be ok.



It really felt great joining together those squares, finally using something I had put so much effort into so long ago! I slip stitched them together along the back in rows, then worked down the horizontals. This is absolutely my favourite way to join crochet but I am not keen on the seams it creates showing so for the blanket I will mattress stitch them (which I hate doing but prefer the look of - isn't that always the way?!) for the cushion it worked just fine as the back is hidden inside. I didn't even bother sewing in the ends, just hooked them through to the back and left them hidden. What a massive cheat I hear you say! I assure you had the cushion been destined as a gift or being kept as a permanent fixture I would have taken the time for washability purposes! As I plan on adding these sections into my blanket later on I left that work for another day.



To join the two sides together I started with a round of dc going through the stitch spaces. In the next round I put two trebles into every second dc space. And finally - the pompom edging! I have fallen in love with this technique and wish to share it with you all. As this tale is growing long I will post the pattern details separately.



So if you have a bunch of motifs from a UFO you can't quite bring yourself to grow to blanket proportions, make a cushion! You get that great feeling of success and with half the time!

Well that's it. There are a host of thrifty January posts coming along and the list of participating blogs can be found here. Next, it is the turn of Yarn Demon.

Happy New Year everyone and enjoy the rest of the hop. I will be back soon with the pompom edging for those of you who want to try it out.


4 comments:

  1. I love the pillow, very colorful. Love the pompom trim too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. How cute and thrifty! I know some crochet basics and really admire those who do it so well. The pillow is adorable and personally, I like the look of the seams - almost seems that you added an embroidery running stitch. At first, I didn't realize that the pom poms were crocheted! You are so talented; thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the colour combo's! Crochet is still a bit of a mystery to me. Currently I'm trying to learn the basics of knitting which isn't very easy either :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is really a wonderful post.

    ReplyDelete