yarn

When I made my bib necklaces (free pattern)  I incorporated fabric yo-yo puffs (Suffolk puffs) into the design, decorating and embellishing them with embroidery.

If you haven't tried crochet but would like to, this is the perfect project to begin with, it only uses two basic crochet stitches.

Chain, ch - Wrap the yarn over the hook and draw the yarn through to form a new loop.

Double Crochet, dc (US single crochet, sc) - Insert the hook into the work, yarn over the hook and draw the yarn through the work only, yarn over hook draw the yarn through both loops on the hook.

These flowers are so simple to make and look as fresh as spring!

Basic Flower 

I knitted a length of i-cord 25cm (10") long, you could make it from French knitting. From this I formed a five looped petal flower then attached a button for the centre, piece of cake!

Flower Hair Band

Another bead necklace. This time instead of knitting one of the beads, I purled it, in the round, to give a different texture to the bead. Basic knitted bead necklace here 

I thought I would try to make a pom pom scarf, how hard could it be?

At last I've finished my 'Bunch of Flowers' Necklace. I am not the world's fastest knitter so I get frustrated at the length of time it takes me to knit something, it's just a means to an end. Sewing on the other hand gives me a quick fix, the results are more instant. I like both crafts I just wish I was a bit more speedy with knitting needles.

These are nice ideas to make use of pom poms. These rugs look so cosy. The top rug is from a book called Craftivity  The rug below is a free pattern on the Lion Brand website

The window display in Accessorize caught my eye this morning, it was the pom poms! I thought the pom poms were there for display, like bunting, but they are scarves. They are £20 online from Accessorize  but if you had the wool and the inclination you could make your own scarf/bunting by following the pom pom making tutorial here . Just remember to omit the face and wings!

If you liked my flip-flop greeting card idea, you may like these ideas I came across to transform mundane flip-flops into unique footwear. I like the idea of taking a basic object and with a little bit of imagination and skill turning it into something individual. Linda Permann on craftstylish shows you how to embellish flip-flops.

My friend Ann came over for the day on Friday. We spent the morning in Hichin, the flea market was a bit sparse as it had been raining quite hard before we got there, a bit disappointing. With all flea markets it can be a bit hit and miss but that's the fun of it. I did buy 3 meters of a Japanese style cotton material. I'm not sure what I'll make, at the very least it will be a scarf. In the afternoon I showed Ann how to crochet. We decided chatting was not conducive to learning how to crochet, too many mistakes!