Stash-buster February review

Welcome to the February review! The stash-busting is moving at an exceedingly fast pace and I'm really impressed with the lovely things you have all made. As you can see on the right there are now 99 of us stash-busting! remember it's never too late to join in.

I have had a lovely time this week visiting all your blogs and gathering pictures of your beautiful projects, here is a selection below.

Lisa at My world of Crochet

Astri at Apple Blossom Dreams

Ana at Lana de-Ana

Erin at a crafty cook

Dari at Dari's Corner

Eizabeth from Elizy Art

Marianna at Lazy Daisy Days

Julia at Jaydee's Ramblings

Ali at Random Wooliness

Julie at Mack and Mable

Shelly at Family Books and Crochet

Tonna at Navy Wife Peters

Natalie at Marigolds Loft

Jaqueline at Opening The Front Door

Val at Yarni Gras

Lorna at my makes and musings

Tracy at Crochet Happy

Regula at  Babajeza's Wundertüte 

Mistea at Mistea Crafts

Inga at Arctic Strawberries

Hafza at Hook n needle creations

Jaqueline at Opening The Front Door

Nicole at dabbling all day

Kate at Stitches,Scraps and Sparkles in the Sun.

Tammy at T's Daily Treasures

Becca at Restoring her Lecacy

Ashley at Sincerely Teal

Wendy at September Violets

Loving Hands 

Mo

Helen

Pat

Scotsgirl

Pat A

I hope you have all enjoyed your stroll through the February Gallery, I will be pinning the link to the stash-buster galleries at the top of my blog so you can come back and take a peek whenever you like.

The next review will be on Thursday 28th March

• Please label your projects stash-buster so I know that they have been made for the challenge.
• if like me you want to keep a tab on how much stash you have busted please weigh your projects and I will update the totals every month.

If I have missed anyone and they would like their pictures included in the gallery please leave me a comment

January Galleries

Now how much stash has everyone busted?.. follow me and find out here 

Stash-Buster Sweater

 I have just found this in my archives, looks like I have been trying to stash-bust for a while because this was posted in June 2011.

It was lovely to knit and of course so easy, great for using up those little bits of yarn.  You can find the pattern here and have fun with lots of different colour combinations.

I used Double knit wool and 4 mm knitting needles
This one is to fit a 7 year old 
Sorry I didn't weigh it at the time so I'm not sure how much yarn it took.

It seems ages since I did any knitting and I feel a knitting urge coming on!

My stash-buster totals for February - 1276 grams which includes 4 strips from Astri's Rockman Cal which I am hoping to finish in March yey!




Meanwhile these are the next victims to be busted haha





See you Thurday !

The Monday Smile

Good Morning and happy Monday everyone, I hope you have all had a pleasant weekend, unfortunately it has been snowing here and it's bitterly cold but look in the bright side it can only get warmer... right?

Now for those that didn't know this already please heed the warning below :)

Hope you all have a lovely week! 

                          here

Something for the weekend.

Another week over, I love signing out of work on a Friday knowing that I have a whole weekend to look forward to, even if I have nothing special planned it's great knowing that I can just relax and do something crafty.  Even better if I can complete a project then I feel that I have achieved something.  My weekends are usually used for finishing off my wips or making something small.

Remember that red wool? well I untangled it and used it to make this little hat.

Super cute, quick, easy to make, cosy and warm.  The perfect weekend project.

I used Aran weight yarn and a 5.5mm hook 

Yarn used - 68 grams

The free pattern can be found  here

The problem with using little bits of yarn is you never know if there will be enough to finish the project, that's why I like to weigh my projects and keep a record of much it took then if I want to make it again I will know how much I need.  I know it sounds like a chore but when you are stash busting believe me it saves a lot of anguish.  How many times have you nearly finished something only to run out a couple of rows before the end.
Take my advice buy some digital scales and start weighing, this way you can keep a track of exactly how much stash you have busted too.

Another problem can arise when you have odd balls of yarn and are not sure what yarn weight they are, here is a chart I have found to be very useful and quite accurate.

For all Stash-busters! We are nearly at the end of February already so if you would like your projects displayed in the February stash-buster gallery now is the time to finish them off and post them on your blog, I will be visiting you all and collecting your February masterpieces for the February review next Thursday.

Please leave your totals by Wednesday if you are counting :)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend !

Sweet Little Lamb Hoodie

Another one for the boys, I felt I must because I have made so many little girl things it's definitely the boys turn.
I just love this little hoodie you must admit it's so sweet.

The pattern is so easy to make, I had the six pieces made in no time but... then you have to join them together.  Now if you like the sewing up and finishing bit then for you it would be a doddle but it took me ages, I would say it took just as long to finish it off as it did for me to make it.  
Having said that it was worth it and I would make it again.

Wool used - King Cole Big Value Baby Double Knit 188 grams
Hook 4.00 mm
Size to fit a one year old
Find the pattern here

For the little lamb that final touch which just finishes it off perfectly I think, I first saw it here on Ana's blog and fell in love, you can do so much with it, the pattern link is there too.  I left the beads off and just used embroidery so much safer for little people.

The Monday Smile

Good morning! did everyone had a lovely Valentines day and were you all spoilt with lovely flowers and chocolates?  For those of you who weren't, I hope you spoilt yourself like I did.

I'm sharing my lovely roses with you, I know they aren't red for love, they are actually orange even though they don't look like it in the photo. Orange roses are vibrant and cheerful and are sure to put a smile on your face. Apparently they are indicative of the all consuming fire of passion and desire but I don't think we better go there haha.

•  What do you call a bunch of crocheters working by the side of the road?

A chain gang!

  

• What happened to the cat who ate a ball of yarn?

She had mittens!

• What did the invisible man make when he learned to crochet?

An afghan like you've never seen!

• What did the crocheter say when her doily thread got tangled up?

"I guess that's what happens when bad strings happen to good people"!

• Why are crocheters so funny? 

Because they keep us in stitches!

• What do you call an unmarried stitch? 

A single crochet!

• What happened to the naughty little afghan? 

He got into treble! 

Ok so you've probably heard them before but even if they gave you just a little chuckle then my job is done:) 

Have a lovely week everyone, I have something in blue to show you very soon.

here

and
                                                                    here

Sea Breeze Sundress

Peaches and cream

Such a pretty little sun dress, I can recommend this pattern the instructions are well written, easy to understand and the dress makes up in no time, I managed to make this in just one evening.  

I made this one in Aran weight yarn and went up a hook size to 5.50 mm to obtain the correct gauge. 
Underarm width 7.5 inches, length 12 inches.


Remember these

Pretty in Purple

This one took a little longer, I used a strand of each of the 4 ply cotton yarn above and a 7 mm hook to make a larger size.  The pattern is very versatile as it's easy to change hook size and yarn to make it the size you want.

This one measures 9 inches underarm and is 13 inches from top to bottom.

The pattern for this cute little dress is by RAKJ patterns and can be found here here

Weight of yarn used 
Cream dress = 100g
Purple dress = 270g

Just goes to show how heavy cotton yarn is, I haven't even made a dent in the cones above, it does say 4ply on the label but it's a very fine yarn and it will certainly be a challenge to use it all up, it's going back in the box for now. :) 

Back to pale baby shades for next project :)

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I hope you are all spoilt with beautiful flowers and chocolates, because I have no one to spoil me ...sigh :(  I will be spoiling myself even if it's just with a bar of chocolate..well I think I'm worth it haha have a lovely day :)