Joining Those Popcorn Grannies

Hello dear patient crochet friends (and other friends who don't crochet but are happy to scroll down to the latter part of the blog post for the other stuff that isn't wool related).

I've finally got around to doing you a little How To Join Popcorn Granny Squares Tutorial, and here it is for you.  As usual, the crochet terminology is USA, so if you work in UK stitches, just amend accordingly and it should all go swimmingly.

First of all, take two of your squares and join them evenly, corner to corner with the good sides facing in.  On my grannies there are two stitches per corner, try and match these up.

Push your hook through the corner stitch (this will be the left stitch of the two corner stitches as you look at them), and pull a loop of wool through.

Wrap your yarn around your hook again and pull it through the first loop on your hook.

Take your hook out of the loop, yes - don't worry it's quite safe, and pull on the loop to make it a little larger with your fingers.  Next, feed the short tail end of yarn through it and tug on the ball of wool end to make a secure knot.

Once the knot is firmly in place and you're happy it's not all going to unravel, wrap the yarn around your hook:

Push your hook underneath the two stitch loops on each square that lay on the outside, wrap your yarn around your hook and pull through another loop (2 on hook).

As per a slip stitch, pull the second loop through the first loop; one loop left on hook:

Push your hook through the next stitch, through the two outside loops of the stitches and pull a loop through...

Continue in this way, slip stitching along to the end of the row.

At this point, you can carry on around the corner, adding another square, or cast off in your usual way, sewing in your ends.

The front looks something like this when you join at the back, but you can also join on the front if you wish to have colourful strips running through your work, and instead use SC instead of SS if you prefer.  Just put the backs together at the beginning instead of the good sides facing.

As usual, I hope my tutorial makes sense, please do holler if you think I've missed an important bit out or if there is something you don't quite understand and i'll try my best to help.

_____________________________________

For those of you who have just joined us and skipped the tutorial; 'Hello!'

Well we've had some wonderfully bright, sunny days of late.  The moors close to our home look gloriously wild and vast at the moment...

And to say it's almost November, things still look decidedly Septemberish to me, very green wouldn't you say!

This time of year is all about crunchy walks in the woods, big blue skies and cascades of crimson, gold and lemon yellow leaves.  It's also about cosying up in nice scarves, warm socks, eating roast dinners and lighting candles as the darkness draws itself in ever earlier...it's starting a new crochet project (I caved in and bought Rowan Cocoon ~ more about that next time) and re-designing my note card collections.

Oh my, I am so happy with these...

Both sets of cards feature five of my most popular artworks, the choice of cards have been updated with some newer work and the boxes redesigned completely.  The only thing I haven't changed is the price, which is still £7.50 per box with free P&P to UK Mainland customers.

These boxes of cards would make a really nice gift for someone, or for yourself (why not!), and are available in my gallery shop here where you can have a look at the card images that come with each set.

They will also be available in my Etsy and Folksy shops within the next day or two.

Although it's still only October I'm finding myself rather busy with all things Christmas, so it's left little time for me to work on anything else!  I think I could do with advertising for a Little Helper.  

I did try engaging my three year old in a spot of leaflet printing the other day, and for a time she was delightedly making neat piles of freshly printed paper...but she got rather bored (after about six) and started pulling the leaflets through the printer before they'd actually finished printing...I discovered it before too many were ruined but needless to say, she was swiftly put onto house building duties in the lego department while I tidied up the mess.

Well, I must make an effort to visit Blogland now, as this last week I've hardly had the chance and I miss my little roamings and readings.  Do forgive me, life is rather full at times and the nice bits have to be shoved firmly to the bottom of the pile while the Important Stuff is dealt with.

Welcome also to some new followers, please do drop in and say Hello if you have the time, it's always lovely to hear from you!

Sending love and hot mugs of spicy pumpkin soup;  have a glowing and spooky Halloween weekend!

Much love, Julia x x x

Seaside Inspiration

Hello dear people!

After an unexpected interlude (a two week one actually), I'm back ~ and how are you? It feels like an age since my last post, so let me explain what I've been up to!

First of all I'll tell you about the picture above. It's the beginning of a new/old painting. I say this because I started it several months ago and suddenly stopped because I lost all direction and couldn't for the life of me decide where to take it. It's strange how that happens, despite sketches and being able to see it so very clearly in your mind, some paintings just follow their own journey and end up being nothing like you intended. Which isn't always a bad thing, and I'm sometimes quite good about this process, being very patient and just seeing where we'll end up, and other times not; I stamp my foot and get cross. I remember how this painting stirred up something of a small temper and the painting ended up being shoved carefully out of sight, until I rediscovered it a few days ago and realised exactly what was needed to make it good...and I will share that with you as soon as its done!

Lets just say for now (and you can probably tell by the colours) that it's going to be a very happy, colourful, coasty type of painting!! Hurrah!! :D

And that's something else I've been doing too, spending a bit of time at the coast! I have been staying with my sister in Suffolk and we had the absolute best fun crabbing at Walberswick (near Southwold) one warm, sunny afternoon!

This is that lovely sort of fun that takes you back to childhood, putting pieces of ham on your hook then lowering your line and waiting a while...drawing it up slowly through the luminous green water to see if you've caught anything, and oh so exciting when you do!! (happy little dances on the quayside when we realised we had actually caught a real live crab).

After a long and enjoyable while, someone suggested ice-creams and so we walked over to the little beach and let our crabs go...nothing better than a nice ice-cream after a spot of crabbing eh?!

Off the little chaps go...

...scampering safely back to sea!!

There's such a lovely nostalgia about this part of our coastline for me, old fisherman's huts, upturned old boats with peeling paint, it feels as though nothing has changed in a very long time and I do like how coast meets countryside here and is so very, very pretty.

As for the rest of my 10 days in Suffolk, although the weather wasn't too fabulous for August, we did enjoy some gorgeous sunsets from the garden, chatting and enjoying a nice drink together once all the kiddiwinkles were in bed fast asleep.

Continuing with a seaside theme, I had to show you these postcards I picked up at a very nice shop in Walberswick. They are taken from etchings by a very talented fellow called Glynn Thomas.

This one above is of Southwold lighthouse, and the one below is of Aldebrough:

I like to collect postcards and cards like this, they are very good for inspiring me when the creative well has run dry. Luckily at the moment, I'm full of enthusiasm for my new/old painting and I also had a fabulous idea whilst away for another new crochet project. Yes. I know...another one.

I can't help myself.

But....I'm being very strict with myself, I have bought the wool...

...see how coastal and seasidey blue they are?

Very nice, I know - but I am absolutely and completely going to finish my Popcorn Granny bag first before I begin my New Project.

And whilst I haven't made much headway this last week or two, the squares are mounting up and all I need are a couple more before I start to join them ~ and I will share a little tutorial for this as I've been asked how you do this, and so I will gladly explain (with the help of a few trusty pics) as soon as I get to that point, which won't be much longer I hope as I'm itching for a new bag, my old one is dropping to bits!

I might just have to take my squares off to Northumberland when we go, for something to do in the evenings as those nights are quickly drawing in aren't they? We have taken to lighting a few candles of an evening, to enjoy the last stretch of evening before night falls (about half past eight in these parts now) and resist putting the lamps on until we can barely see one another! I do like this time of year, for lots of reasons, but notice inwardly that subtle things are changing, like the scent of the air in the morning, and the sun now lower in the sky, altering how the shadows fall in the garden...

And it feels as if Summer is quickly ebbing away, and so, to help holiday memories linger a little longer I have repackaged my Beachside Art Cards, which are a fabulously printed set of five of my most favourite seaside inspired paintings! They come in a sturdy brown box that is prettily flecked with white (and reminds me a little of sand) with five envelopes, and they are blank for your own message.

And this is what is inside!

They are available here for UK customers, with free P&P - and for my lovely customers overseas, please check my Etsy shop (link up on the right there), as I'll be listing them there too.

Because Summer isn't quite over yet, is it?

I'm looking forward to catching up with your blogs now I'm back, and want to thank you for visiting me today, it's always a pleasure to know you have stopped by!

Have a great weekend, much love

Julia x x x