Amigurumi dinosaur and currently reading

Yesterday I finished my first attempt at amigurmi crochet.  I followed this pattern to make a dinosaur for my 2 year old nephew.

It’s not perfect but I’m pleased that I have made it. I think I needed to use a smaller hook, as the wool is only 4 ply and you can see on the arms, the stitches are stretched too wide (or perhaps I’ve just over stuffed them). I also noticed when I was linking up the pattern that I had attached the legs to the body the wrong way round! Never the less I am happy with this dinosaur and hope my nephew will like it too.

When I first started learning to crochet before Christmas I struggled with the magic ring technique needed to do amigurumi but after completing my blanket I tried again and found it much easier. Obviously all the crochet practice made all the difference. Now I just need to decide what to make next.

Last week I finished reading When god was a rabbit by Sarah Winman. I can’t say I was that impressed with the book to be honest but I liked it enough to read it through to the end (an improvement on the book I read in February). I went to the library on saturday and found a few books that were on my list of books to read and dove straight in to the first wife by Emily Barr. At my current rate of one a month these will keep me going for some time! I’m hoping though that I will find more time to read with a selection of books that I can’t wait to read on hand. When I signed up to good reads last month, I joined the 2012 challenge and set my goal as 12 books.

2012 Reading Challenge

Claires365hasread 2 books toward her goal of 12 books.

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2 of 12 (16%)

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Linking up with our creative spaces and finish it friday (finished too late for this weeks yarn along).

Crochet blanket complete

Do you remember the blanket I started between Christmas and new year? well I finally completed it last weekend.

It’s now sat on the end of our sofa just waiting to be used on these chilli March evenings.

It measures 1.5 meters by 1.3 meters. The red and cream stripes are double crochet and the grey mostly single crochet, with a few rows in the middle being double crochet (where I used a slightly thicker yarn). I did not follow a pattern. I started by chaining to the width of the blanket I wanted and then crocheting stripes of different widths and colours, trying to keep the colour changes and size of each stripe random.

At the moment I feel I am not reading enough books (too many blogs but not enough books!). I spent too long in February trying to get in to a book that I didn’t dislike but equally there was nothing making me want to pick the book up so consequently I didn’t. This morning I decided to sign up to good reads (you can find me here). I’ve added all the books that I can remember having read (over the last 5 years possibly longer) so that I can get recommendations based on these. However I have a problem remembering books I have read before so it is by no means all of them. There is also the option to set yourself a challenge of reading x number of books in 2012. I’ve started low with just 12 books this year. I love that I can keep a record of books I want to read and also that it will give me personalised recommendations based not only on the books I have read but those I have put on my to read list. Does anyone else use good reads?

Also linking up with our creative spaces.

Scavenger hunt sunday 5th February

Strike a Pose

I struggled with this one, so here is the best I could come up with. A photo taken last weekend during my street safari course.

Footwear

It’s snowed a lot here yesterday and overnight so this morning we walked through the park to the supermarket. I was going to take a photo of our walking boots in the snow but then I looked up and noticed the shoes hanging in the tree near the skate park area.

Hobby

Apart from photography, my hobbies include cooking, baking and recently learning to crochet. This is the throw I started just after christmas.

Shiny

The children’s play area was empty due to the snow. This is the shiny, climbing frame.

Color Me Green

Green leaves in the snowy park.

Yarn along, crochet and reading January

You might remember back in December I posted about starting to learn to crochet. I used the stars I crocheted to decorate some of the gift we gave this christmas including jars of chutney. Between Christmas and new year I went along with my sister-in-law to her local wool shop (I can’t find one local to me) and bought some red, grey and cream yarn. I’ve started making a throw for the sofa but as you can see at the moment it is more of a scarf! I’m enjoying working on it though and watching it grow row by row. I’m not following a pattern, I simply chained to the width I wanted the throw and then I’m doing a mixture of coloured stripes in different thicknesses and in a random order. The red and cream stripes are double crochet and the grey single crochet (I think that’s the right terms in UK terminology but I could be wrong).

My nephew decided he wanted to be in the photo too!

Reading wise I took a short break from reading The language of flowers that I shared with you last time to read a festive book over the holidays. The book was Comfort and Joy by India Knight, a short and funny story about family Christmases set over three years. This was the first book by India Knight that I have read and although it did make me laugh in places, it hasn’t made me want to go and read any of her other novels. Now I’m really looking forward to getting back in to the language of flowers.

Linking up with Yarn along for further inspiration for reading, crochet and knitting.

 

Currently reading and crocheting Christmas stars

Out of the blue I have developed an interest in learning to crochet. So I bought a hook and a ball of wall and away I went. I used various utube videos and blog tutorials to teach myself the basic stitches. Once I felt confident bored with practicing rows of the different stitches I knew I needed a project. I decided to make Christmas stars. I used this pattern here. I’ve not quiet decided what to do with them yet, hang them on the tree? use them as part of my gift wrapping or string some together to make a garland?

I’ve also been trying to find more time to read. I’ve just finished Room by Emma Donoghue, which despite being tough reading in places, I loved and finished pretty quickly for me. I stumbled upon an online reading group and their book for December is The language of flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. This book is on my list of books that I have heard about and want to read and was in stock at my local library so I’ve decided to jump in. I’m only about a quarter of the way in but enjoying it and making the time to pick it up regularly (a good sign for me).

Linking up with Yarn along for further inspiration for reading, crochet and knitting.