The Janelle Wind Collection

Housework is hazardess to your health...

Sometime during our moving house a few months ago and all that it entailed, I injured my back. I must confess it hit me for six and for a while there I wondered if the pain would ever go away. Well I have been progressing along and recovering slowly and some days quite impatiently. Well on Monday I decided I would do some furniture shifting and vacuuming. Now that my work space is central in my home, we are VERY limited for space and I wanted to make my space feel 'nice'. BAD mistake. I didn't realise until the next day that I had badly hurt my back again. It knocked me for a few sixes and all I could do was sit.

Not one to have idle hands, I decided to pick up my crocheting again. I wanted to see if I could advance from flowers and Blythe beanies. I went straight to my favourite crochet blog - Attic 24 - and had a look at what she had to offer.

I settled on her crochet bag pattern, grabbed the wool we had on hand (8 ply acrylic) and my size 3.5 crochet hook and began crocheting. I was SO surprised how quickly it came together and how it took my mind off my pain too. After a full day of resting and doing nothing other than crocheting, my back was much improved AND I had a brand new bag to store my wool and crochet projects in. Thank you Lucy from Attic 24 for making crochet SO achievable. I am itching to begin something more now BUT stitching calls...

I adore the crochet flowers on the handles too - and the bright colours added some sunshine to my day. So I have learnt my lesson - housework is hazardess! hehe x Janelle

More on crocheting...

How exciting that so many of you have been bitten by the crocheting bug or are keen to have a try too. Here are a few answers to some of your questions...

I am using 100% acrylic wool (as I really liked the colours and was only getting something to have a try with). It is by Panda and is called Magnum (8ply). I paid $4 a 100gram ball.

I use a 3.5 size crochet hook for the flowers and a size 4 for the granny squares.

For those wanting to have a try at crocheting I suggest finding a book that explains the stitches in plain and simple words with lots of diagrams. Then start with something simple and keep trying until you are happy with the result. Crocheting is much easier to unpull and redo than knitting, so why not give it a try - be warned though, it is VERY addictive.

As promised, here are some photos of the beanies I have been making for Emily (and Jasper's) dolls.

First I made the slouch hat...

Then the bear beannie...

And here is Emily with her beloved Blythe doll, Grace, in their matching clothes. Emily in her top made from the same vintage sheet as mine and Grace in her little dress to match. 

Then last night I adapted the bear beanie pattern and made one with a flower for Emily and a smaller version for Jasper's Live doll (shh don't tell him I told you).

And because Emily has been heavily featured on my blog lately, I wanted to share a photo of my rapidly growing little man - he is taller than Emily now, and we can literally watch him growing over night! 

I think he is looking very grown up these days, so I am cherishing my 'little boy' days as much as possible.

I am no expert at crocheting but am really enjoying having a play. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my very best to answer them for you. I am off now to put some finishing touches to a pattern for a secret squirrel coming out soon. Not long to wait and I can reveal all. x Janelle

My name is Janelle and I am addicted to...

crocheting!

Yes, would you believe that I have become very addicted to crocheting.

You see, over the last week while Emily has been recovering, she has been looking at lots of inspirational items for her new Blythe doll that is on its way here. One of the things she found was a crocheted hat for her new doll, so armed with a very old but wonderful book explaining each of the stitches, I rose to the challenge and had a go at crocheting. (I hadn't crocheted in over 12 years). After a few starts, I got into the swing of things and was quickly looking for more things to make.

So first I made a slouch hat for a blythe.

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I will share photos of my hat once Emily's doll arrives.

I then progressed onto flowers. Now these little fellows sure are addictive and I must confess that I spent a whole day watching DVD's with Emily and crocheting flowers.

As my crocheting confidence grew, I decided to tackle granny squares. I found the most wonderful online tutorial for both the flowers and grannny squares, so set to work and made 9 granny squares. Plus a few extra things for the kids. This is what the granny squares are supposed to look like...

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And here is my little pile of granny squares. These are SO addictive too.

So there you have my little confession for today. Rest assured I will be back to stitching and making more patterns VERY soon. I just needed a little distraction this week and these little flowers and squares were just what the doctor ordered.

Is there something you would like to confess?

Are you addicted to something (craft related of course)? I would love to hear all about it...

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I wanted to say a HUGE thank you for your kind words re Emily. She had the stitches removed from her head and elbow today, poor little thing was so scared but was all survived and she is doing really well. She started back at school today and loved it, so I am happy to have my happy little girl back too. Again, I thank you for your well wishes and kind words of support. xx Janelle