The Tower, Poppies and WWI Remembrance...

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit the poppies at the Tower of London - it was both stunning and humbling to think that each one represented a life given in WWI (and that was before the installation was even completed!) I am so glad I bought one ages ago as they are sold out now and I'm very much looking forward to having it in my new creative space when it's finished.

During half term my son was given the task of making something for his World War I topic homework.  One of the suggestions was to make a poppy and, as I'd made loads a couple of years ago after writing the crochet poppy post, it was an obvious one to pick (even his teacher suggested I would do it with him!)  So, while G made a mock up of a trench with soldiers for a photo based project I had a think about how we could do a different sort of poppy this time.  I remembered that he had used some foam clay earlier in the year for another project and decided we would make our own 'clay' poppies as a sort of tribute to the Tower poppies. We made several in both foam clay and silk clay which we bought from a lovely little craft shop called 'All The Pretty Things'....

We made them into brooches & keyrings and G took them to school on the Monday.  Later that day he came home with... an 'order' list for around 30 (!) ...so you can guess what we spent the next few evenings doing...

..they were free on promise of making a donation so at least it should've raised a good bit for Poppy Appeal :-)

I also bought some gorgeous 'Milly' 100% wool while I was in the shop so I could have a go at 'super sizing' the crochet poppy pattern which turned out like this...

I used a chunky 10mm crochet hook... this pic is to give you an idea of scale

I still get requests to make those little crochet poppies and made several new patterns for a Simply Homemade magazine feature  (one is now a free pattern on their blog here) However, I also felt I should do a new crochet poppy project for the Centenary and wrote a pattern for this 'Remembrance Style Poppy'...

I used a 4mm crochet hook, some red cotton DK - you'll also need a button, scissors and a needle.

Begin with a magic circle and make 2ch into it...

Then make 13dc into the circle...

Join with a ss then make 2ch...

Make 2tr into that first dc...

then make 3dtr into the next dc...

3ttr into the next dc..

3dtr into the next dc...

Finally, 2tr plus 2 ch into the next dc and ss to the next dc. That's the first 'petal' done.

Start the second petal with 2ch, 2tr in next dc...

followed by 3dtr in next dc...

3ttr in nect dc...

3qtr in next dc...

3ttr in nect dc...

3dtr in nect dc...

2tr plus 1ch in nect dc...

Leave last dc empty (it kind of helps to define the petal shape). Finish off and pull the thread end to close the middle circle. Sew in the ends at the back for neatness.

Find a suitable button and sew it on with black thread.  Add a pin at the back.

The pattern is free for you to use for personal use but please do make a donation to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal in return.

Lest we forget.

All pictures and text (c) Addicted to Making 2014

Cherries, earrings & crochet...

Occasionally in life other things take over the things that you had planned to be doing and that is just the way it is here right now. 

I always think of crafting as a great form of therapy or a good distraction technique so today, although there is not much in the way of blog musings, there is a little tutorial I've put together for a pair of mixed media earrings... cherry earrings because when things get tough you have to go find your own!

For this project you'll need a 2.0mm crochet hook, some jewellery pliers plus green embroidery thread, 0.6mm green coated craft wire, earring findings, jump rings and I've used 2 x 12mm red 'crochet' covered beads.

First, the embroidery thread is used to make two small leaves to compliment the crochet covered beads and they are quite simple as follows:  make 4 chain...

...then make 1 dc into the 2nd ch from the hook

..make 2 tr into the next chain stitch

make 1 dc into the last chain stitch

Fasten off and make another.  Sew the ends in neatly and put to one side ready to use later.

Next cut 2 x 6cm length of the green wire..

Fold the end of one wire piece over as shown and thread the long end through the bead.  

Use the bent end to catch a thread on the bottom of the bead like a hook (i.e. so the wire won't pull all the way through).

Pull the long end so the wire is almost hidden at the bottom of the bead..

Repeat with the second piece of wire & bead..

Bend the tops of the wires over (equally) and trim to around 1cm..

Make a loop on the end of each and slightly bend the wire to make a cherry stalk 'curve'..

Attach each cherry directly to the bottom of an earring finding..

Now use jump rings to catch the ends of the leaves so that you can loop them on the earring findings too...

just like so..

and that's all there is to it... sweet like cherries!

Happy Making!




All photos & text (c) Addicted to Making 2014

Doodles & How to crochet a Granny Square.....

Crafting in the sunshine.. it doesn't get much better than that does it?! 

Last week it was tempting to spend every day outside but I had a website to build and a stack of other paperwork-y stuff to do so all the creative moments were a bit snatched or guilty because I knew I should be inside.

However, by Friday night the paperwork was done and the website launched which meant I did get to soak up a few rays & chill in the garden over the weekend  - total bliss - and play with a new blog project idea bubbling round in my head which was largely triggered by two things:

The first bit was inspired by accidentally hitting the I'm feeling lucky button on my browser when I was web building last week which took me to all the 'Google Doodles' (try it but be warned you can loose time real fast!) - it got me thinking about the colours of the word Google....

The second bit was having had a couple of friends bemoan the fact that they would love to crochet granny squares but couldn't quite get the hang of it....

Now you probably already know how much I ❤️ Granny Squares (any excuse will do!) so I just put the two thoughts together and came up with the idea of a Google inspired Granny Square tutorial!

So, if you are having trouble with your naughty Grannies I hope this will help you sort them out..(I've even added proper 'Step' number headings so you can keep track of where you are if you have to break in the middle of making one!)

Here goes....

Step 1
Gather your hook, scissors & Google colour yarns..

Step 2 (Round One)
Begin by attaching your blue wool to your crochet hook...

Step 3
Make 5 chain...

Step 4
Make a circle by joining the last chain back to the first chain with a slip stitch..

Step 5
Now make 3 new chain stitches - these will act as the first treble stitch...

Step 6
Now make 2 (real) treble stitches into the circle and then make 2 chain stitches....

Step 7
Now make a new 'cluster' of 3 treble stitches into the circle...

Step 8
Make 2 chain stitches and follow that with another 'cluster' of 3 x treble stitches...

Step 9
Make a further 2 chain stitches and follow that with another 'cluster' of 3 x treble stitches and 2 more chains...

Step 10
Now slip stitch to the 2nd chain in your first 'treble' and fasten off.   

Well done - that's the first round done!

Step 11 (Round Two)
Now connect your red yarn into one of the chain spaces & make 3 chain stitches as your first treble..

Step 12
Make 2 treble into the same space to make your first red cluster, followed by 2 chain...

Step 13
Now make another cluster of 3 trebles into the same space, followed by a single chain stitch...

Step 14
Now make a new cluster of 3 trebles into the next chain space, followed by 2 chain stitches, 3 more treble stitches and a single chain stitch...

Step 15
And repeat (Step 14) into the next chain space.. 

Step 16
And repeat (Step 14) again...ending with a slip stitch to the 2nd chain in your first 'treble' and fasten off. 

                        And that's the second round done!

Step 17 (Round Three)
Now hopefully you are getting the hang of this by the time you are connecting your yellow yarn?  

The basic trick is: 
Make 1 x treble cluster in the side spaces plus 2 x treble clusters in each corner space  (I make 2 x chains between the clusters on the corners but only 1 x chain between each cluster on the sides)...

Once you have mastered that idea you can happily add as many round as you want to your squares! To make it a 'Google' themed granny you need to add another round in blue....

The another round in green...

And finally, one more round in red...

Don't forget to tidy up your granny by sewing in all the loose ends!

 Ta-dah.... 

The Google(inspired )Granny Square!

I'm actually thinking this could make a fun blanket or retro style cushion cover for a boys room (I know it's not only my son who's addicted to all things electronic!)..


Happy Making :-)




All pictures & text (c) Addicted to Making 2014