Sunday 1 January 2012

Yarn Along


Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this first Yarn Along of 2012! 
I'm not ready to let go of Christmas yet ; ) 
Liz our lovely crochet mentor at the Woollygatherings brought along this pattern for a tree decoration, a snowflake with a flower centre at one of our last sessions. It was tricky enough to begin with... I finished it at home and very happy to be conquering the art of following crochet patterns. Very satisfying to work in this mercerised cotton with a small hook.
I have such a block about blocking these days ; ) no idea why. I've a stack of crochet pieces waiting. It's vital for this little piece, as the six corners get pinned out to lovely points. The pattern calls for spraying starch to stiffen it for hanging and I haven't been able to find such a thing in our local shops yet. I'm envisioning this hanging at the top of our christmas tree next year : )

I'm doing very little reading at the moment, just getting caught up with all my favourite blogs. It's so much more fun to talk about childrens books at this time of year, no? My sister gave this charming book The Story of the Snow Children to smallie for Christmas and we've been enjoying it, such a seasonal read. The illustrations are really darling. Sibylle von Olfers died almost a century ago, she was only thirty four. There's a captivating photo of her at the back of the book, complete with crochet collar (a little obsession of mine these days, sharing these in an upcoming post) and what looks like a silk smocked dress. She was born in a castle, was stunningly beautiful and became a nun. Fascinating, I really want to read more about her. 

Thank you for lovely comments on last weeks post and look forward to checking in with what you're all up to in this much calmer time for stitching. Warmly, M


10 comments:

  1. Beautiful snowflake. What size thread are you using?
    JNCL
    The Beauty of Eclecticism

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  2. I'm glad your not ready to let Christms go, because we Orthodox Christians follow the old calendar and celebrate in 3 more days, then the 12 days of Christmas start! I love your red star...beautiful!!!

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  3. Oh my, what a beautiful shot! The star and the cover of that book. Print-worthy!

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  4. Lovely lace ornament!

    We bought The Story of the Snow Children for our little Cupcake this year too. I completely agree with you, it is a sweet story with beautiful illustrations.

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  5. The color of the yarn goes so nicely with the cover of the book. Well done! I know what you mean about not wanting to let go of Christmas yet - the entire last year went by too quickly! Hope you are cozy and warm this time of year.

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  6. I never thought I'd ever like crochet much until I saw your projects. The snowflake is fabulous.
    Sybille von Olfers is one of our favourites as well, so timeless.

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  7. I'm thinking I need to learn to crochet. That snowflake is lovely. We are in full Christmas mode until the 6th. Happy New Year!
    Ang from Peach Coglo

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  8. It looks lovely. Every effort of mine to extend Christmas to the 6th is thwarted by my husband- whose birthday is the 3rd and seems to think Christmas ends on Boxing day!

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  9. Hi girls, thanks for visiting and great to hear about all your various Christmas and celebratory calenders! We'll be celebrating Nollaig na mban here tomorrow night, Women's Little Christmas : )
    Hi JNCL, it DK weight cotton with a 3mm hook, hope that helps. M x

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  10. Thats really beautiful. I wish my brain could understand crochet! :P I would definitely make one then.

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