Out of hibernation

Oooh hello my soft and luverlies. It’s been a long time in my cave, or should i say enjoying the outdoor sunshine, wind and rain 😦 . Summer didn’t really seem to arrive, only briefly visited for sporadic periods.

I am glad to let you all know, that my hands have started the big journey into my woollen basket of goodies to start crocheting all manner of accessories for our autumn and winter of 2011. I’ve already finished one piece, let’s call it BIG SOFTY…only because I miscalculated and it has resulted in a grossley oversized beret with pompom, which my daughter laughs at heartily and thinks is silly. Boy this one sure is going to be a winner. Photos to come. 🙂

Looking forward to getting all warm and cosy with you again in the months to come.

Send a hello if you feel the need, I always welcome comments.

Ciao for now

Adelina x

Sleepy time

Hello folks, well it’s been a while since my last post. Truth be known, amongst all the last minute crocheting, and the nearing end of winter, it seems that life in the fast lane is slowly coming to a standstill…and so, my soft and luscious friends, it is nearly time for me to hibernate for the warmer months where I shall away and hermitify in solitude and emerge a butterfly with treble crochet wings in the cooler climes.

Thank you for the eyes and interest during winter.

Love you until next year.

Adelina aka Soft and Lush xx

A bit of window shopping.

Soft and Lush features in the front window of Shop Handmade, just like a proud mumma seeing her kids on display – silly? Definitely! But makes me smile none-the-less. Thought I’d share these pics of all the winter woollies on display for consumption.

Shop Handmade window today - June 19, 2010.

Shop Handmade window today - June 19, 2010.

Shop Handmade window today - June 19, 2010.

Finally, new product shipped to Shop Handmade.

Well it seems like a small eternity since I have delivered stock to Shop Handmade, or even managed to add a new post to this blog, but alas, I have and I just did…and I’m feeling a whole lot better now. There has been a small quiet on this front due to illness, the influenza and trips to Sydney to see off dear dad on his overseas sojourn, as well as family landing in the ACT for the long weekend. And so productivity slowed to a standstill for quite some time.

However, the mice have been fed and are running around that wheel producing all sorts of crochet goodies. Here is a small selection of the deliveries today.

Enjoy. Adelina x.

Soft and Lush - Grey and Silver crochet brooch with diamontee and pearl detail.

Soft and Lush - Cream mohair crochet brooch with diamontee and pearl detail.

Soft and Lush - Black lace and mohair crochet brooch with diamontee and glass detail.

Soft and Lush Snowflake - Cream mohair crochet brooch with diamontee and pearl detail.

Soft and Lush selection of brooches and Victorian mohair scarves with antique-styled brooch.

A little crochet experiment.

in construction - Adelina's crochet bag from the bottom - up.

This is a little crochet experiment that I undertook, to see if  i could fashion myself a little crochet bag. So I decided to search ‘easy crochet bag’ in the Raverly commune and find myself an easy pattern. Hurrah!

You start with the base and work your way around until you have something that resembles a bath-tub for barbie. As Ruby puts it.

Then you keep crocheting.

As you can see from the images here, you keep crocheting until the size of the bag you like appears before your very eyes, then stop. I’ve done 28 single crochet rows. I finished the top with the finishing stitch – 1 single crochet, 2 chains, then another single crochet in the cream wool.

For the handle I pleated some wool together to form 2 straps. Then did the finishing stitch on both sides of the handle. And added 1 Rhinestone brooch for decoration.

Sew everything together and voila! a bag.

The final bits - Adelina's crochet bag

Soft and Lush - crochet bag with rhinestone brooch.

Detail - handbag straps

Another warm delivery to shop handmade today.

I have been busy these past few days, crocheting some warm and soft scarves for Shop Handmade.
The floral-pattern Victorian-inspired scarves took around 4 hours to complete, they are very detailed and lots of work. But I loved it.
The more intricate and delicate are the female variety, and the other is unisex.
It’s proving difficult to try and get out there to drop them off before I finish work, but that is the plan today.
Next project: a hand-crocheted bag. Pics to come shortly. Oh and more brooches of course, I am just waiting for a shipment of sparkles to arrive on my door before re-inventing them into a new Soft and Lush brooch.

Unisex thin hand-crocheted Soft and Lush scarf - with trim.

Ladies mohair Victorian-floral-pattern hand-crocheted Soft and Lush scarf.

Charcoal mohair Victorian-floral-pattern hand-crocheted Soft and Lush scarf.

A scarf for winter.

Well I tracked down a pattern for the most feminine and very Victorian scarf on the internet me thinks.
Behold the latest addition to the Soft and Lush repertoire. It took over 4 hours to create, albeit it was the first and so reading a ‘pattern’ was a new experience also. But alas, I did finish it, and am very proud, mistakes and all. : )
I will be making these for the lovely Shop Handmade soon (without mistakes ; )).

Adelina sporting the latest Soft and Lush addition, the Victorian inspired floral mohair scarf.

Side view - Victorian inspired floral mohair scarf.

View from above...with diamontee brooch to complete the look.

Stocking up, it’s getting chilly outside.

Well I’ve been up all night making my next shipment of warm and soft accessories to bring into Shop Handmade this morning.

I’ve discovered the fine art of making POM-POMs…I LOVE THEM!!

Soft and Lush stock for Saturday morning.

Chris – my next pour homme.

Chris is now sporting the manly charcoal beanie, keeping his head warm and looking edgy.  You can find Chris wandering down those long back alleyways in search of the perfect shot. ; )

Chris wears Soft and Lush Charcoal beanie.

Innovative crochet designs 01

I’m starting to post a series of really interesting and innovative crochet ideas, and designs that i have uncovered online, and share them with you all, so we can all goggle (not google) and gasp in awe. I did not make this blanket, but would love to try.

Babette Blanket, Kathy Merrick

This blanket is INSPIRED BY THE WORK OF DESIGNERS Kaffe Fassett and Liza Prior Lucy, this blanket offers a journey in color for the crocheter. The modules are all based on the same motif pattern; they vary only in the number of rounds worked. Crocheted in superwash wool, this blanket is sure to become a modern heirloom.* text taken from interweavestore.com