this week, I have been busy with new crochet projects....I have made a lady's poncho in a pretty pink/grey mix Aran yarn and then I made a matinee coat in white and fluorescent pink.
The matinee coat has gone into my etsy shop  www.etsy.com/shop/teabreaks   and the pink poncho has gone into my folksy shop  www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks    
As well as these items I have been making granny squares and when I have enough, I will join them to make a blanket which will go into my etsy shop.
My fingers never stop.....
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I had some yarn left over from making the Lady's shrug and so , not liking to have too many scraps of yarn lying around, I made a bobble hat....
There was still more left and so with the remaining yarn, I made another infinity scarf.
Sometimes I am amazed at how far some yarns go.
I know from my days working for a well know yarn spinners that you pay for the weight of yarn but you knit or crochet the length.
If yarn has a tight twist on it, then you get less length for your money.
That is why , in my days of machine knitting, I liked to use 3 strands of industrial 2/30's yarn rather than shop bought 4 ply. Using thinner strands together meant that I could make a child's jumper using a lot less yarn than the pre spun shop yarns.
The looser the twist...the further the yarn goes.
Here are the pics of the Bobble hat and the infinity scarf....both are now in my folksy shop
www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks.
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the last few days I have spent making a lady's shrug. This is a very simple and easy pattern based on the granny square. No real instructions are needed once you know the system.
I made this one in Aran yarn but to be honest, it is more like a chunky yarn than Aran.
I spent many years in the knitwear trade and so I know my yarns well.
The yarn I used was lovely and had a crepe feel to it.
 As I had never made a granny shrug before I wasn't really sure how much yarn I would need and so I stopped short of the size that I really wanted to make. This one is for a smaller lady.....difficult to be sure, as it is a loose fitting style but I would estimate no bigger than as size 12 or 34" bust. Here are some pictures of the finished item which will be listed on Folksy tomorrow (Friday 4th March).
I will deliberately list at a very low price....I know some people will be miffed at this but it is my choice to offer my work to everyone, no matter what their financial situation.
www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks

Over the weekend I bought some very bright fluorescent yarn ....I am not sure why...I suppose it just caught my eye and jumped into my shopping basket.
I wanted to make a vintage Granny striped blanket and so hook in hand off I went.
Getting the colours in a nice looking order was the most difficult thing and I decided to separate some of them with Navy. I worked until the colour sequence had repeated enough times to make a nice length. Then I did a border in navy, finishing with a fluorescent pink edging.
I am quite pleased with the result and it is now listed for sale in my Folksy shop.
www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks
I am trying where possible to keep my charges down to a minimum.
I know prices are a controversial subject and I try never to get drawn into the discussions.
We each have our own price ranges and our individual needs.
I choose to keep my prices as low as possible because I feel it is fair to allow everyone the opportunity to afford good work.
Just because my prices are low, it doesn't mean they are badly made or that I use inferior products...I DON'T.

In all my 63 years of crochet, I have never made a corner to corner blanket. (C2C)
Last week, I decided that it was time to make one for my folksy shop.
www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks
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Making the blanket was no problem at all but I have a very symetrical mind and so I had to make sure that when I reached the half way point I was able to work down the second side to match the first side.
That meant that the half way row had to be either a row of a single colour or the middle of an odd number of rows.
I decided to work in rows of 3. (3 white and 3 mauve.)
Working corner to corner was fun and I can only liken it to knitting a raglan sleeve....when you reach the decreases, each row gets shorter.
When I was happy with the size I started the decreases.
I have always been a person to save time and energy and found that although all the stitch patterns I looked at had 6 ch for turning....to me, it made it loose and so I cut this down to 5 ch. With all those hundreds of blocks of trebles......think of all the yarn saved by omitting just ONE ch per block !!
ALso when on the start of each decrease row it was neater to ss over alternate sts and not every stitch ,as this helped to keep the sides of the blanket straighter.
For the edging I started at a corner with 1dc,2ch,1dc then 2ch and one dc in each row end.
I then did a second row, working 2tr1ch2tr

(yes TWO and not three) in each corner and 3tr in each ch loop (NO ch between the blocks of trs....more yarn saved).
Finally I did a third row ...again starting in the corner with 1dc.2ch.1dc and then 2ch and 1dc between each 3tr block.
On my second blanket, I did the final edging row in a different colour.
I enjoyed making the first white and mauve C2C blanket so much, that I then made a multicoloured one. I did 43 rows before starting the decreases.

Today I have started a classic granny square baby blanket....It will be in white with baby pink stripes....a lot will depend on what I feel like, as to what edging I decide to add.
I have been very busy for the last few weeks with other things and so I decided to do the classic style blanket so that I can chill out, crochet and watch tv at the same time. I am able to crochet in this style without looking....well perhaps an occasional look to make sure that I haven't made any mistakes !
I have also been sorting out my yarns and came across a few items that I made , goodness knows when...and didn't realise I still had......here is a freeform crochet purse.
This was done in a basic shell stitch using a magic ball of yarn.
A magic ball of yarn is when you take lots of short lengths from your stash and tie them and wind them into a ball, without really worrying where the colour change will come, or even which colours you put next to each other. The purse is also lined in a basic dc to stop anything falling through.

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today, the sun is shining but it is still cold outside. With this in mind I am continuing to make more infinity scarves and will list them in my etsy and folksy shops.
www.folksy.com/shops/teabreaks
and
www.etsy.com/shop/teabreaks

Today's scarf has been made using James Brett acrylic in a lovely autumn random mix of colours.
I used a shell pattern and a 7mm hook as it keeps the scarf feeling light and soft yet warm.
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