I bought this cardigan in a local charity shop and the picture here is much more flattering than it looked first hand. I liked the shape more than anything else. It was a pale blue but very tired looking, from lots of washing I guess, and beginning to become more grey-blue.

After wearing it a few times I realised that the colour did nothing for me at all, plus I have far too many pale blue things in my wardrobe. So I thought it needed a sprucing up to a much warmer purple and the addition of these cute buttons from the fabulous Brinsley craft fair I’ve mentioned before.

Fabric dyeing tip: Wear gloves when handling dye, oh yes, and make sure they don’t have any holes in them! I did not take my advice and now I have one purple left thumb. It looks like something from an old Tom and Jerry cartoon.

Whilst I’m talking about charity shop finds, check out these two bags I found today. I just couldn’t resist them.

Read up on colour symbolism and you’ll find that the colour orange is associated with happiness, heat and flamboyance.

Despite my declaration for a love of orange there is a distinct lack of it in my wardrobe and in our home. I’ve even taken a little tour around the house to see if I can actually find it anywhere. As of today the things around me that are orange are some body scrub, the spines of 3 penguin books…

a jumper, a bunny food bowl…

and this ball of yarn and ribbon…

That’s really it, nothing more. So I guess I need to make something. Well, I have been. Using the Happy Hookers crochet book as mentioned in my previous post (‘The ripple effect‘) and this very yarn I followed a pattern for a lovely little clutch bag. In this wintry weather I thought a crochet bag in a warming orange would be just the ticket. But look what happened….

Can you see that when the bag is laid out flat it changes shape? Rather than being a rectangle, its more like a trapezium. I followed the pattern to the letter (except I added a few extra rows because I wanted the bag to be a little deeper) but my tension changed through the fabric. I guess at the beginning I was making looser loops and stitches because I was cautiously labouring over each one but as the pattern progressed I became faster, more confident and tightened it up.

That’s a biggie to look out for in crochet. If the tension isn’t consistent you’ll end up with a really bizarrely shaped item.

I am going to unravel this bag and start again. I don’t mind, I’d rather get it right and use the opportunity to hone those tension skills.

Watch this space to see the finished product and in the meantime hop on over to the ‘Resources’ page where you can find some interesting colour links.