More than a Granny, review and giveaway!

Hello! 

Today I have something lovely to share with you all, my crafty friends.  

A hooky friend of mine, Shelley Husband, has just written a fabulous 

ebook called 'More than a Granny' and it is full of good stuff for us crochet fans.

(Shelley has a great blog called Spincushions and is big on Instagram too!)  

Lucky me, Shelley forwarded a copy to me for a sneaky preview, 

so I have been giving it a good read!

I am in awe of her ability to produce such a resource for crocheters, her designs are really great, with 20 motifs including a nice mix of flowery motifs, more lacy type square and also some excellent geometric designs too.  There is something for everyone in this selection of patterns, and another interesting thing that Shelley has done is make them all the same size so you could make a beautiful mixed motif blanket using lots of different squares!  How gorgeous would that be, I think that's going on my to do list! 

The patterns are very well explained with clear instructions and a good stitch dictionary for those slightly trickier stitches.   There are some simpler patterns that would be good for new crocheters, and there are also some challenging ones for the more experienced hooker to get their teeth into! 

There is a US and UK version so you won't get confused with stitch terms. 

I thought I would give this lovely square called 'Crop Circles' a try, I love all the circles, and it would also look great in bold mixed colours, I think it has a bit of a modern retro feel to it, it would make a great blanket!

This is Shelley's example from the ebook, noice! :)

 And here is my first two squares, I love them, even if they need a bit of a blocking!  

I am thinking I will make 42 and do a little blanket, I have gone to my favourite colours, but I have a few others to add in the next square.

This pattern was a nice challenge for me, I wasn't sure if I could do all the different circles and get them looking good, but I followed Shelley's pattern and it has turned out great!  I like Shelley's tips for getting a professional finish to your crochet, it really is the little things that make a difference.

I have to confess I had never read an ebook before, ( I am a bit of a traditionalist and like a real book to look at) but I found it really easy and convenient and think I am a convert, I will probably look into more books in this format!   

And you don't need an e-reader to use it, it can be downloaded as a PDF from Smashwords, easy peasy!  It is available from lots of places on the internet, have a look at Shelley's post here for more info on techy stuff, and where you can pick up a copy. :)

And guess what!

Shelley has generously offered a free copy to a reader of Little Woollie! :)  

So if you would  like to win a copy of this lovely crochet ebook, leave a comment and tell me what is your favourite thing to make from motifs.  Blankets? Bags? Cushions? I will pick a winner on Saturday, good luck! 

Ok I think that is all I have for you today, I am going to go and make another crop circles square! :)

Have a lovely hooky day! :)

Simply Crochet Review

Hello everyone!

How is your week progressing?  I hope it is all going well for you wherever you are!

I got a nice surprise the other day in the mail, a copy of the new crochet magazine Simply Crochet, sent to me by the publishers.  

Occasionally I get offers for things through my blog and I usually don't follow them up as they don't interest me, or I don't think they are relevant to my blog and the things I talk about.  But I thought a crochet magazine would be right up my alley ( and yours!), so was happy to accept the magazine and the chance to review a new player in the crafty magazine scene. 

I am sure most of you would have seen this magazine by now, here in Australia I haven't seen it in the shops yet, but it has been available in the UK for a while I think.  It is produced by the same people responsible for Mollie Makes, and has a similar feel to the styling and layout, I loved it!

So here are my thoughts on what's inside!

There are lots patterns throughout the magazine, some wearables, blankets, motifs, amigurumi and homewares, so a little bit of everything.  The patterns are all fairly easy, so beginners could find lots to enjoy.  

 I am not really interested in crocheting clothes, so found the other patterns of more interest, and I will probably give one of the motifs a try soon. 

Personally, I enjoy the inspiration pages the most in crafty magazines, and I really liked the Notebook page by Jane Crowfoot, I hope that is a regular feature.  

I liked the 'hooked' pages of inspiring snippets of crochet and yarny news, some things I had seen before on blogs and pinterest, but it was nice to have them all together in one place. There were also some interesting interviews with some talented crafty ladies, and an article on the online crochet community (hello us!).

There is also a 'getting started' guide to crochet with nice clear instructions on the basic stitches, another good thing for beginners, but less interesting for more experienced crocheters. 

(although it is nice to have as a reference, I discovered I have been working stitches into my foundation chain wrong all this time!!)

I am jealous of all the wonderful yarn shops in the UK, the advertisements are lovely eye candy too! 

I hope this magazine does well, it feels like a Mollie Make for crochet, so I am sure it will go from strength to strength and just get better with time.  The more resources out there for crocheters, and places to share the crochet  love, the better! I really enjoyed reading Simply Crochet, it is the type of magazine you can dip into for a bit of crochet inspiration, and not feel that the projects are beyond reach.  I will be keeping an eye out for the next issue, although we get magazines long after they are issued in the UK.

Cute newsy stuff, nice to see Coco Rose's hot water bottle covers there :) 

I  like this note book page, I keep an ideas journal like this too.

Nice bracelets..... 

This would be cute in a little girl's room, or my hallway! 

Clever crocheters

I love these cycling gloves, how chic !

Amigurumi love!!

So what are you guys reading at the moment?

Do you read magazines? 

Do you read crafty magazines?

Yarn Along.....

Hello.

I'm joining in with Yarn Along today.  

(Sorry about the poor quality photo, I had to take this after dark)

This week I have been trying to get a few rows done on the stripey blanket so I can update the crochet along.  I'm slowly getting there, I like to have a bit of a chunk done to post on the crochet along, so am madly hooking away most evenings.  Except that this is a time of year when there are lots of things happening in the evenings, eating into my crochet time!  Tonight we had an information night at the high school for Max who is starting there next year, it's the end of primary school for him, and for me the end of 11 years of being involved at that school, quite a milestone.

There is also night tennis finals to play in, award nights, a graduation dinner and various other commitments, all good things to be involved with, but I am missing my down time! 

As my boys would say, first world problems mum. Laugh.

Anyway, back to the yarn along, I have started 'Hidden Empire' by Kevin J Anderson, the first book in a big sci fi series. I think this will be a good one for the summer holidays, it has nearly sucked me in, I need to read a bit more to really get involved.

I enjoy a good sci fi, so if anyone has any recommendations I'd love to hear them.

One of my favourite sci fi authors is Sheri Tepper, has anyone read her books?  

If you like sci fi and haven't read anything of hers, give her a go, I love her stories!  

She used to publish a  new book each year around my birthday, and Gary would give me a lovely hardcover edition as a present, but I think she might be getting very old now as I haven't seen anything new from her for a few years, I hope she is still alive!

And for something completely unrelated, we had a glorious sunset tonight after a beautiful day, I think tomorrow is going to be very hot, so a bit of slothing in the shade keeping cool might be in order, and very likely a swim in the evening.  Looking forward to it already!

Stay cool if you are in Melbourne.

Have a great day!

Yarn Along

I am joining in with Yarn Along today, so here is my current knitting,  the hexagon blanket.  I didn't get very far last night, still getting confused with the 4 needles, it is not coming naturally yet, but I will persevere and hopefully I will get in a rhythm.  

I am reading The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe which is an interesting book about food gardening for times of uncertainty.  Lots about seed saving and how to produce staples and get the most from your garden.  Carol is a very knowledgeable gardener and a scientist,  and her opinions make a really good read.  It is American based, but I think there is a lot  can take from her experiences and adapt to my gardening.  Yes, lots to mull over with this book.

What are you making and reading?