Finished Projects

Before I begin, I'd just like to say a big 'thank you' to everyone for your lovely, positive comments about my shed.  I must admit I do keep pinching myself to check that it's real and I keep popping out there to pootle about, finding it hard to drag myself back indoors again.
B and J have been home for Easter but are going back for their summer terms now. I've been back at work this week, so it spurred me on to finish a couple of projects which have been hanging around for a while. Both are for J who, you will recall, started at university this year. I'd planned to have both things ready for him to take with him when he started, but for various reasons I've been really slow in getting them done. At least I've finished them before the end of his first year!

The first was relatively quick to make and it was the first thing I've made in my shed on my sewing machine, as I've never had electricity out there before.

Here it is, a cushion for his student room. He is a bit of a scientist, so I found this lovely insect-covered fabric and made it into an envelope-style cushion cover with a Velcro fastening at the back.



A bigger project is his crocheted blanket - yes, I have actually finished it! It's taken me months and I'm not sure why. Lots of smaller projects have come and gone while I've been doing it and there have been whole weeks at a time when I didn't even pick it up, but I worked hard on it darning in ends this weekend, and here it is.

I used 13 colours of acrylic yarn crocheted in 49 granny squares which consisted of 6 rounds each.

When I'd crocheted them together I added a border of 7 rows of double crochet. I kept it fairly plain without any fancy edges because that's how J wanted it.

It's not a huge blanket, more of a throw really, a good size for picnics and keeping warm under on cooler days.

And of course the obligatory washing-line shot. Hooray! I'm so glad I've finished it!

I even made him a pen pot to match - it's a tin can covered in a snug-fitting sleeve of double crochet rows. I made sure that there are no sharp edges, of course.

While I'm at it, I thought I'd show you the one I made for B when she started at university almost 3 years ago. I was far more organised then and actually finished it before she went., so she was able to take it with her.

It's similar in size, but consists of 36 larger squares with 7 rounds each and a granny-stripe border.

I also made her some lacy bunting from net curtain fabric, some fabric-covered pen-pots, a fabric bag and some lavender bags. Please excuse the rather dark photos!

D's only just started her GCSEs but with my recent track-record I'm wondering if I should start her blanket fairly soon? No, I think I'll take a break from bigger projects for a while. My next project is a present for a friend who's going on maternity leave. I'll show you what I've made after I've given it to her. Better get on with it now - see you soon!