Lovely crochet!

I've been beavering away to complete my 6 granny squares for Hannah's Granny Square Swap, and get them sent off by the end of July. After a lot of last minute faffing around (why do I always forget things need washing and blocking?), I managed to get them in the post just in time. What I failed to do was take a picture of them before I packed them up - can't believe I forgot! Hopefully Jane and Izabela might take a pic or two and I'll be able to link to them another time. I'm so excited to have received one and a half of my swap gifts in return. Look at all these lovely goodies from Marie (woollyholic):

The squares are great - in lovely funky colours, and Marie made me a cute little brooch and a drawstring bag (with teabags - hurrah!) as well. Lucky me eh? The only thing missing from this pic is the lovely little mini Green & Blacks collection - they all disappeared very quickly - I promise I DID share!! I am receiving my other granny squares from Amy in instalments, which makes it even more exciting! I'll post a pic of them when I've had them all. By the way, don't visit Amy's blog if you are on a diet - she makes and decorates the most unbelievably gorgeous cakes! Good luck with your new business Amy.

Whilst I've been crocheting I've been wondering what to do with the 6 granny squares that I'll eventually end up with. I wondered about using them to make pot holders - - as you can see from these pics on Flickr, it's a pretty standard use of a granny square. All I'd need to do is perhaps crochet 2 squares together and add a loop. But now I am thinking - bags! All the brilliant crafters on Flickr are providing me with lots of inspiration.

The other bit of crochet I've been doing recently is making these coasters for my friend's birthday.

The pattern is based on a round motif pattern from Beyond The Square Crochet Motifs by Edie Eckman. I would really recommend this book - there's hardly a duff pattern design-wise, and they're all written very clearly. She also includes some really great hints and tips that I have already benefitted from - like how to do invisible joins. I bought the book with the Amazon voucher that I got for winning The Duelling Crafters challenge, so I should take this opportunity to say a really big thanks to Vonnie of the always-readable and inspirational Blotted Copy Book. It was a real treat to be able to browse and choose from all those lovely craft books.

I really like the way the coasters have turned out. I was a bit concerned about the way in which machine sewing the fabric layer would affect the crochet, but it's actually worked pretty well. Sadly, I was so rushed to get something together that I only managed to crochet 3! Not much of a set really is it...? So Becky, I owe you!