A couple of Ta-da moments before the giveaway

Hello everyone. Thanks for stopping by and a very big thank you to all of those that responded to my give away which will be drawn on Wednesday 22 September. It gives me such delight packaging up a pretty parcel and sending it into the world for someone else's joy. I know how excited I feel when a parcel arrives at our door x

I have tried to resist posting before Wednesday but as you can see discipline is something I need to work on! I thought I might show you some pictures of a couple of my finished projects. It's always an accomplishment when you do that last stitch don't you think and who better to share it with other than your lovely selves.

So.... here we have the makings of a 'grandala' cushion inspired by the ever so lovely Alice who's blog brims with colours and gorgeous hooky stuff (check it out if you haven't already).

I have used an acrylic yarn here to keep costs down a little as my purse is feeling a little empty from all my yarn purchases of late and to reduce my 'snobbish' attitude I used to have towards acrylic. I'm not sure where it came from because I don't consider myself a snob as such, I think I just had it in my head that all acrylic crochet granny blankets felt harsh and almost squeaky and rough on your skin. However, I am now a convert after using this Stylecraft yarn seen here. 

It's soft, cosy and rather affordable!

And now for the finished cushion...

Something nice to snuggle up with on the sofa with all the nights drawing in :o(

And then came these for my friend Janice down the road, to say thank you for looking after Alice's goldfish Donny and Hatty and her hamster Giggles when we went to Marrakesh this summer.

The yarn is fabuloso it's 30% wool and 70% acrylic and self patterns with it's colours as you crochet along. I must apologise but I cannot find the label and so can't tell you what it's called but am more than happy to let you know next time I pop down to my LYS.

What do you think of the colours? I think they are a bit of fun and jazzy for the autumn. best of all is that almost 300m of this yarn costs me £3.95 certainly enough to make a pair of these me thinks.

I made this pattern up and have called them granny (fingerless) gloves. For those who are interested all you need to do for each glove is:

Make two 'granny' squares either 3 or 4 rounds depending how wide your hand is. I made 4 rounds for mine, I think a child's size would be 2 or 3 rounds.

Sew / crochet the granny square's together along the sides leaving a space for your thumb to pop through.

Is this making sense so far ?

Now you can pass your hand through your joined up squares and pop your thumb through the space and start to visualise your glove taking shape.

Next; tr or dc (US)  around both the top and bottom of the joined up squares. I did 3 rows on the top, fingers bit of the glove and 8 rows on the bottom, wrist bit of the glove. The number of stitches you do one again depends on the size of your hand and wrist/arm and how loose or tight you want your gloves to be.

Then do a small shell or picot design at the end of the wrist/arm end and a row of dc or sc (US) at the top, fingers bit.

Almost there...

Last but not least make a decision about whether you want to have a "naked" thumb popping out or a covered one ? If you like naked you have FINISHED your fingerless glove, however, if you want a clothed thumb you can tr or dc (US) 3 rounds {or longer if you have a long thumb} around the thumb space you created earlier when you sewed your granny square's together.

Phew... I hope this makes some kind of vague sense ? If not you can all riot and I will make a more photo based explanation if you would like to make some granny gloves for yourself?

Here is the finished product Ta-da

I like mine to have a cosy fit so can you see how much more narrow my finger and wrists are in comparison to the granny square bit ?

A closer up of those jazzy colours

Can you see my wee little shell edging?

And one last (rather naff) picture of me trying it on. They are super cosy that's for sure and super practical for autumnal days.

and another...

Well, that's all folks, hope you've enjoyed your read, see you on Wednesday xox