Stitches

One think I've really found that I like about crochet is how easy it is to make lots of different kinds of fancy stitches. Here's a couple of practice goes I had, of making rounds, chevrons, 'eyelash' stitch and one that I then used to make a complete project (photo soon).

Obligatory granny squares

One of the first things that most people learn how to crochet is granny squares: they're easy, quick, and use up little bits of wool rather than needing to buy big quantities. You can then put the squares together to make things like blankets and cushions (and more, if you're creative). Here's my first go at a cushion cover, not yet attached to a cushion:

When you attach the squares together you can do it with crochet, rather than having to sew them. Gives a nice neat edge. Some people actually crochet the lot together as they're going, building one on what's already there, but I made little ones and attached them in rows.

Making paper beads

It's both my aunts' birthdays in early March, and this year I made them both necklaces made of paper beads. These are so easy to make (if a little bit of a faff) and they look great (if I do say so myself). 

If you're not keen on making them, you can very easily buy them. Get them from a supplier like this one and give some money to Ugandan women at the same time. If, however, you'd prefer to make your own, there are lots of Youtube videos and online tutorials to show you how, so I'm not going to do that here. This is a good, simple set of instructions if you want them. 

I made two very different necklaces with mine. For one aunt, I made them from Peter Capaldi. Magazine pages are good type of paper to use, as they're thin and glossy and good colours. I chose Peter because I thought my aunt would like the resulting beads - mostly dark grey, with pinkish highlights. Here he is being cut into triangles:

Peter Capaldi in the Radio Times being cut into triangles

Then I rolled them up, glued them and left them to dry, then varnished them. If you put them on cocktail sticks this is much easier to do. Mr T came up with this great idea for a stand, scrumpled up tinfoil:

Beads drying on cocktail sticks

Once varnished (two coats) and dry, they look like this:

Finished varnished paper beads

I strang them with grey seed beads in between, and a few silver-coloured metal ones at the front. They're from an African stall at Portobello Road market in London:

The finished necklace

For my other aunt, I used normal white paper and coloured it with permanent marker. You only need to colour the edges of the paper where it'll show when it's rolled, not the whole triangle. Then I did the same as with the Capaldi ones:

Beads drying

And I strang these ones with blue and red seed beads, and chips of malachite for super-bright contrast:

The finished paper bead and malachite necklace

Child's jewellery

I don't normally make jewellery for children. But I will make an exception for people I like, and a work colleague who I like asked me to make some for a child of her acquaintance. So I did. Said colleague has a necklace of mine which said child liked, and so this is her tiny little version all of her very own, with matching bracelet. I'm quite pleased with getting the two different kinds of hearts to match (I used different kinds because a necklace likes dangly beads but a bracelet likes non-dangly ones, specially for a kid who may catch it on stuff). Hope she likes it - the colours are quite muted but I didn't have any in really bright pink, which is what small girls like, I'm told.

A very Pat-like necklace

I made this cluster necklace from a kit which came with my Make Jewellery magazine subscription starter kit (from Beads Unlimited). As soon as I made it I thought of my colleague Pat, who wears a lot of black and loves pink and purple, and chunky jewellery. So I took it in to work and sure enough, she loved it. I enjoyed making it too, though it's fiddly trying to get all the beads onto the same jump ring. I think you get a good effect, and I like the dangly chains.

Sweeties!

They look a bit like sweets. To me, anyway. It's not that clear in the photo but they're strung on two colours of tigertail, blue and black. Here's a similar one with purple and pink where you can see the colours. The bumpy ones make me think of the everlasting gobstoppers in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (yes, the 1971 film, in which they for some reason made the gobstoppers which you suck forever in a shape which would be most uncomfortable to suck).

Paper beads

I learnt how to make beads from rolling up strips of paper - I bought some recently which were made by some African women, and they're so pretty. You cut a magazine page into triangles, as wide at the bottom as you want your beads to be wide, and then just wrap them around a cocktail stick, gluing as you go. Then you really need to varnish them, to make them colourfast and to make them look really good. These are what they look like before varnishing:
And this is a necklace made with some pink ones (for another birthday present, as it happens).