Pen toppers

My pen topper patterns have now been collated into one PDF file, you can now download them from my website Tangle tree creative

I used the Paintbox simply DK mini 10 gram balls to make each of these creatures

You can find these mini balls via >>>>>Love crochet<<<<<<<

I hope you enjoy making them as much as I did creating them. 

If you don't want to miss out on future patterns then join my online community and be the first in line to learn whats new.

Perfect for beginners

I so excited to start to share my new simple quick makes that for me have become really popular and my best selling item to date.

Who would have thought that simple pen toppers would be so much in demand.

For me they make perfect little gifts that add a personal touch. Great stocking fillers, teacher gifts and cute little just because gifts that are not seasonal or have a limited use.

The possibilities are endless in the type of toppers we can make.

Follow my blog, or better still join my newsletter where I can keep you up to date with new releases

Crochet business tick list

So you love to crochet and want to turn your hobby into a business, or your trying to but wondering what you are missing in terms of promoting your wares and making yourself seem more professional.

I hope this blog post will help you with a bit of a tick list in terms of what you need as you start out on your new venture.

Read on.......

sweatember

Forget about getting in shape for summer. Autumn is all about getting in shape too with 

#sweatember 

where we start to think about the cooler months and those warm and cozy creations.

My most recent make is the the Cleackheaton colour block Jumper that is a FREE pattern on Ravelry

>>>>>find it here<<<<<<

Read on find out more about my colour choices

Preparing for 2019?

I love temperature blankets, and yes I know they have been doing the rounds for a few years now. I think they will become one of those timeless classics, and surprisingly I still see people asking what they are.

So I decided to make a helpful and FREE printable to help you prepare for a 2019 temperature blanket project.

If you would like this FREE 2019 calendar then keep reading......

Any Rain Dear?

We all love the Sun, but we need some rain right?

I can't help with a rain dance or anything like that so the next best thing is this Reindeer Hexi puff motif.

Beautiful colours, swatches and more

My Temperature Blanket with Paint box Simply DK

From

I love the Paintbox range of colours and have collected all 60 colours in the range

I made myself some really useful Popsicle sticks with the yarn wrapped around them. This helps me with my colour referencing.

The paintbox bands only have the colour code and not the colour name which I find a little bit of a pain, and once you take the band off you of course then might forget what that colour was called in the future.

By having these reference sticks I will always know what the colour name and code is.

Its also fun to play around and see how placing different colours next to each other affect the feel and look.

I have a confession

I miss the Sun, please come back. I know I moaned about being too hot, but now I am cold, I have Jeans and a jumper on for goodness sake, yesterday I had shorts and a t-shirt. I can't deal with the extreme. 

My temperature blanket has a pale yellow streak in it for today. 

I know I am fickle but please come back.

It must be why I felt like sharing my snowflake design with you all today.

Read on, but I will not be held accountable for making you feel cold.....

Want a Freebie,or Four ?

Grab these four free fun Crochet printables.

What a mouthful!!!!

The Printables contain

Crochet Slang terms
Stitch terms
Yarn and hook guide
Do you have OCD (obsessive crochet disorder) fun questionnaire.

Below is a sneak peek

Get this and other crochet related freebie fun printables and crochet hacks direct to your email. 

>>>>Just click here to Grab them<<<<

Yarn Dyeing

I have always wanted to try my hand at dyeing my own yarn, but its something that scares me. I don't know why.

 The other day my Seven year old daughter asked if she could try to tie dye a t-shirt, she had watched some u tube videos and told me exactly what she needed.

 Off to the shops we went. She wanted quite a few colours, but me knowing a little bit more than a seven year old when it comes to art and crafts (only a bit mind you she is quite apt at doing things herself). I told her how we could make different colours from only buying the basic primary colours of Red, Yellow and Blue.

These are the three colours we brought....

Click on one of the three colours to go the the Range online where we got ours from only £2.99 each. We mixed up half a sachet and had plenty left over from the two t-shirts we have done so far.

 We got stuck right in as soon as we got back from the shops

Read on for the finished piece......

You can't catch me.......

I'm the Gingerbread man.

This is Hexi Number two for our Festive Hexi Blanket. Please read on for details on how to create this Hexipuff .......

Christmas in July

Since the success of my Unicorn Hexi puff blanket design I have been busy beavering away at a new design specifically for the festive season.

Here is my long awaited Christmas hexi puff design.

It has 7 motifs in total.
Christmas Tree
Gingerbread man
Santa
Robin
Angel
Reindeer
Snowflake

If you have seen my Unicorn Hexi puff Blanket previously then it will be made in a similar fashion, however there will be no plain hexis in this blanket. It will take some time to make but its the perfect pattern to pick up at your leisure.

Get my Free Unicorn Blanket pattern >>>>>here<<<<<<

Ideally I would have liked to have the final blanket all finished, but I have been far to occupied with my three children that it kind of got pushed to the back to the shelf.

So I will share the 7 motifs I have made and the pattern of how to make these. I will at a later date update you all with the final borders and quantity of yarn used, though I envisage only using I ball of each colour and possibly three balls of white.

Lets start with the Christmas tree......

Temperature blankets

Have you made one yet?

They have been doing the rounds in the crochet world for a year or more now (maybe longer). I have always wanted to make one but never got round to starting it.

I like the idea of starting a temperature blanket from an important date or life changing moment rather than from the 1st of Jan through to 31st December.

This is what I am doing, my blanket starts on the 21st of May 2018 and maybe this time next year I will tell you why this was an important date for me.

This blanket for me will show my growth and journey since this date in a really visual way and yes I know its July now, but I have been fine tuning my colour choices and think I finally cracked it.

Want to see my colours I think I have 31 colours in total. I am using Paintbox simply DK colours of which there are currently 60 in the range.

You can view the full range here >>> LOVE CROCHET<<<and maybe have a guess at some of the 31 colours I have selected for my blanket.

Please read on for a small colour preview for May............

Odds and ends

 I am an advocate of using up all your odds and ends. It always makes me feel better about buying my next bundle of yarn.

Do I ever get to use up all my odds and ends......errrrmmmm no not quite but half the fun is trying to.

I have one friend who admitted that she starts a project with the aim of finishing off all her odds and ends but ends up buying new yarn to finish it off.

I promise that this little project will not have you shopping for more yarn to get it finished. Well at least I am not going to take the blame for your next spending splurge. You have to hold your hand up to your own yarn hording weakness yourself.


Without further ado .......

Give it a try yourself

This may be of interest to those who would like to give the Hexipuff Unicorn blanket a try but are unsure about being able to create the hexipuffs.

This little freebie is a taster of the plain one colour hexagons. If you find that you can make one of these its not too much of a step to then follow the pattern and create a rainbow and then a unicorn.

The pattern I have created gives great step by step written instructions supported by visual prompts and with charts to follow should you wish.

It suits all types of crochet folk no matter what your preferred method of following a pattern is.

The images and written instructions I am sharing below are written and presented in the same way as the final hexipuff unicorn pattern that can be purchased on my Ravelry store.

Without further ado (waffling) ....

First week of our Unicorn Hexipuff CAL

We are at the end of our first week of the Hexipuff Unicorn CAL.

We started on Thursday the 1st of March, it turned out to be a snow day and the majority of schools in the UK decided to close. (It tutned out to be a good idea) and remained closed on Friday the 2nd.

I decided to add the temperature each day to my daily hexagon for this reason and hope to remember to do so, along with the time I completed the Hexagon.

See me hexis.......

My life has been changed forever

I love doing Amigurumi, however when it comes to doing the hair I end up nearly tearing mine out.

I either hate the look, it takes too long or uses up far to much yarn and then the doll looks like it has been electrified.

I just wanted a simple way to add hair, is it too much to ask?.

I am making some Micro Angels and some of the hair is a bit of a mess. With them being Micro creations the mess shows up more.

I needed neat, 

I needed tidy and 

I needed fuss free.

Three You tube videos skipped

Done that, 

Tried it, 

Hate it

I found one that intrigued me.

I watched.....for a bit, got the concept and rushed off to find a bald doll to try it out on.

See my before and after here.......

Colourways

Who is as excited as me about the pending CAL. I can't stop rearranging all my colours and taking photos of them in all their scrumptious-ness. 

Above is our Brights colourways and the colours really pop and sing. I am looking forward to swapping and changing which colour hexagons go where. Placing different colours together can really change the intensity and look/feel of a colour.

See my pastels......

Jumping in the deep end

I did it. I made a micro Owl on a perch. I love how it turned out. I now want to make some little girl and boy dolls.

I am thinking that I can use one of my own patterns and that using this small thread and hook will make it micro in size.

I used a size 1.00 hook in the end, I think I will reduce it down again and am toying with the idea of DMC petra crochet cotton 8.

I love the size of this one though and this will be an end of school teachers gift.

My daughter is in Owls class and this will be quite unique as a gift.


I am hoping to make a little character tomorrow so watch this space.

Another investment would be a lamp so I could work in the evenings when the natural light goes.

Wish me Luck

So here we are, wish me luck. I have purchased some craft cotton. I have watched miniature crochet from a distance for some time. I had the hooks since the day I first purchased some crochet hooks, but they have remained unused. The thread is so thin and the hooks so small...... Gulp. 

 Here is a close up on my much used gold hook which is a 3.5. It is well used as the colour has worn off along the shaft. Next to it is a 1.7, not the smallest hook I have but the one I will start with I think.

So hello Crochet cotton lets hope its the start to a loving relationship and you will not become my nemesis.