…She gets around
How incredibly gorgeous is this crochet rug from Cath Kidston? I told Big-P that I had found my Christmas present but after a quick calculation of the exchange rate (ahh! sob!) I have decided that I am going to have to learn how to crochet afghan squares. Luckily my mum has a pretty good grasp of crochet so hopefully we can nut it out together. I have found a web page which looks useful with lots of different variations on the square so I know what I am doing when we go down to Venus Bay in January! It will probably be pretty insane sitting on a beach in scorching temperatures crocheting a wool rug.
Speaking of crafting – I got my copy of Craft: in the mail last week and can’t wait to find some time to delve into it. I have turned the corner down on the page with the article on Diana Eng, Mary Belton’s article on creepy cute dolls, Jill Bliss’s Gocco piece and the article on screen printing at home. I have subscribed and am looking forward to receiving these in the future. Big-P subscribes to Make: (I guess we are a true geek couple) but the last two issues failed to arrive. We have our theories about this, so fingers crossed that Craft: doesn’t appeal to the same geeky postal worker with sticky fingers.
Speaking of crafting (part two) – Plush You II looks amazing! Possibly even better than last year. I like Blair’s flickr photos.
Oh yeah! YOu could definately make that yourself, so easy once you’ve figured out the first square. I look forward to seeing your progress.
We get MAKE right now, and out of the past 6 issues, 4 have failed to arrive. (I live in the US) I think it’s a problem with MAKE itself, but they’ll send you a new copy if you ask.
Claire, that price is outrageous! Listen to me, I sound like my mother! I think you would be able to master it. And it wouldn’t be such a bad summer project if you did it all in squares and then joined them up? It is gorgeous though, isn’t it.
I am not so hot at crotchet but have always hoped to one day make a rug that is supposed to turn out like that one. I love them!Lucky that you’ll have access to a friendly teacher 🙂
Can’t wait to see how you go!
It’s definitely a Make problem. They told us they had changed their mail forwarder, so hopefully things will get better… although I’m still waiting for my issue of Craft!
oh YES! that is a beautiful blanket!! looks so inviting and cozy…
Yep, I talked to Make about non-arrival, and they said they’d been badly let down by their mailing company, and had sacked them. YAY!! i did ask for a copy of the most recent Make to be sent and it arrived today (Hcak your plants! head mounted water cannon! oh BLISS!)_ but have yet to see Craft. Threads has also been having an awful time getting it’s international subscriptions right, most of Australia haven’t received the last two!
Claire, I saw the saw the same pic on Cath’s website and copied it myself during the winter months – much easier to make then as it kept me warm and occupied. By the way, I hadn’t crocheted in years – maybe 20 (am I that old?) and it was easy to pick up again. Good luck!
The international Make non-arrivals are a known problem – my boyfriend’s last few issues didn’t make it to the UK, but when he emailed they re-sent them and they just arrived. That’s what’s put me off subscribing to Craft, but hopefully they’ll get it sorted!
We lost our MAKEs too! We live in Europe (Denmark) and I was suspecting the mailman, just like you. We got the previous issue after e-mailing the magazine, but are still waiting for the latest one…. Sigh. Good to hear we’re not the only ones with problems. I’m very curious about Craft though!
agree with your choice of rug – great colours. don’t you hate the old conversion working against us?! thanks too for the craft reminder – I have just subscribed.
Crocheting is easy peasy..you’ll get this done in no time….but over summer???? You’ll deserve a medal if you work with wool in the Australian sun. Good luck, can’t wait to see the results.
Ohh, that’s so pretty! I think the colours are gorgeous! My great grandmother and her sister used to make ones like that, but they picked the most hideous colour combinations, like mustard, brown and orange.. or garish clashing pinks, purples and greens.
Good luck with it!
Crochet is great for trips and really easy to travel with. I crochet a lot and would make all the squares first and attach them when you get home. There are so my great tutorials on the web that it willl be so easy to learn., even videos to watch. Good luck!
WOW..I love those rugs. My Nanna made one each for me, my sister and two brothers. Im pretty sure my Mum still has them..if only brown and yellow were in fashion again! LOL
Wouldn’t an afghan-style rug slip all over? I love the reds in the Cath version. Yum.
I used to LOVE to cross-stitch as a kid. As a grown up I cannot for the life of me think of anything to actually USE with a cross-stitched / needlework piece.
Any suggestions? Also
Oh dear, I bought one when we were in England and I still has some of our saved trip spending money on me in the last days before we were going home! Its very nice though. I have it on my knees while I sew in the cold months, I look so Granny!
my mum whipped up one of those blankets for me over a warm perth summer in time for a cold sydney winter. it was big enough to fit on a king size bed!
i miss my blanket! i think i might learn and make one myself this year too!
Crochet is not hard, I taught myself from a book a few years back. Then I taught myself knitting, however that is another story.One word of caution there is a difference between the crochet stitch terminology used in North America and the one used in Europe, Australia & NZ. http://www.yarnforward.com/crochet.html
I am assuming your Mom will teach you the Australia & UK terminology for the stitches. Most websites will use the North American terminology in their patterns. One way around this confusion is to learn crochet symbols, which are generally universal.
Found these Australian sites.
http://www.crochetaustralia.com.au/webcontent3.htm
http://www.crochet.com.au/site/index.cfm
Mary Card was a well-known designer from Australia you may find her patterns in second hand store or the library. Jenny King is an Australian designer she has published patterns written for the North America market, however I believe she also has books out in Australia as well. http://www.jennykingdesigns.com/
I used to buy a beautiful magazine called Australian Crochet however; I have not seen it in a couple of years it was written with the Australian terminology. You may find copies in a second hand store.
Prudence Mapstone is an amazing Australian designer. http://www.eject.com.au/e-motive/prudence/default.htm
I gave Sparky a subscription to Make for his birthday last year. We have had the hardest time getting the issues to arrive, too! The first two only showed up after I rang three times. The other two have yet to arrive. He loves Make, but I don’t think it’s worth the hassle to renew next year.