Friday 12 March 2010

Happy Hooker Update

Way back at the beginning of February this year, I did a post about the cushions I was crocheting then and said I'd post a picture of the black one when I'd finished it.

I finally got off my lazy arse yesterday and finished it off.  It's now a proper cushion - ta-da!!!!


Each of the granny squares is quite small, just 2 rounds.  The centre of each, as you can see, is a different colour and the outside round on all of them is black.  I think it's really quite effective. Each of the granny squares measures about 2" across and I sewed them together with the same black wool.  I then added two rounds in treble crochet stitch around the outside of the whole thing, just to make it a little larger and be guaranteed that it would cover the front of the cushion properly.

The back is made from a large man's jumper that I got from a charity shop for about £4 or so and looks like this:


What I'm meant to do now is attach buttons to the back but I've made the envelope overlap so deep that they're not really necessary.  The cushion pad inside is 14" x 14" and is feather.  It's really quite 'plumpy' so I had to make sure the cushion cover would be big enough to accommodate it.  I'm really pleased.

So here it is, next to the other cushion I've made with the ongoing throw over the back of the sofa.


I'm currently in the middle of making a blanket for our double bed from flower granny squares (you can just see them on the table, under the black cushion on the table) but I need around 432 of the buggers.  I'm up to 96 so far...


PS.  There were one or two photos of interesting stuff in Godalming I forgot to take the other day, so when I remember, I'll add them.

13 comments:

DameEmma said...

Those are so unbelievably rockin'. Well done! The blanket on the back of the sofa is making me crazy.

Mrs Jones said...

DameEmma - hello and welcome! Thanks for your kind comments - there are a few other pictures of the moon and stars throw further back but basically it's just different sized circles (each in only 2 colours) with the holes in between filled with single coloured five-pointed stars (I found a video online that showed how to do it). I shall head off to your blog for a leisurely peruse.

Kella said...

The finished product looks great, I can't wait to see the finished blanket when its completed.

Kella said...

By the way I love the new header, that crocus is vibrant.

sas said...

its gorgeous!
when can i buy one from the etsy store?

Mrs Jones said...

sas - funnily enough I've been sort of pondering that but, frankly, I wouldn't know what to charge. As the cushions are handmade they take quite a long time to do and although the wool is cheap enough, it's the time that's costly. If I remember (because Kella asked me about the first cushion I made), each little granny square takes about 10 minutes to make. There's 49 of them in the black one so that's 490 minutes which is just over 8 hours all told. Minimum wage is now £5.80 an hour so that equals £46.40 just for the labour. Add in the cost of the wool and the jumper for the back, and you're looking at about £50 without even putting in the cushion pad. No-one is going to pay that, so all you can do is to not consider the time element and just charge what you think people will pay (I have to do exactly the same with my jewellery over at venerablebead.co.uk). I mean, would people pay £25 for a handmade crochet cushion cover? £20? I'm glad you raised this - I may do a proper post to garner opinion...

Mrs Jones said...

Kella - you may wait a loooooong time to see the finished blanket!

Kella said...

Thats ok I'm not going anywhere :)

Anonymous said...

Whoa girl! Your stuff is lovely! You know that you have infected me now and I have made my first granny squares and a couple of circles in the last week. Thanks for the photos - you inspire me.
And your town looks lovely, we are looking for a town to live in and will now put it on the list..Cheers!

Also - I reckon you could get £20-£25 maybe more for your cushion covers. You really couldn't sell them for less surely, with all that time and skill to make them. Also if you look in the featured shopping section of mags like Country Living you can find comparative stuff, selling for more!

Mrs Jones said...

Ms Cheese - thank you! Yes, it does get unbelievably addictive and then you find you can't afford food because you've spent all your money on wool. Oh well, at least you'll be warm. Godalming is very nice - it's also halfway between the south coast and London and is on the main Waterloo to Portsmouth rail line (45 mins journey time to London) so communications are excellent. Trouble is, because of all that, it's an expensive place to live - house prices are astronomical but then that's true of all places the nearer they are to London. Go one or two stops further south on the train line for more reasonable prices. Cushions - I may experiment by putting one or two in my Etsy shop (or start another just for crocheted things) - but I have to make them first! With that in mind, last night I started another 'spotty' cover, but this time in white rather than black.

Anonymous said...

Lovely, lovely, shiny. Do more. Do not sleep until you have crocheted your whole house and taken photos of it so I can revere you. Yum.x

Unknown said...

Just had a moment to myself and decided to catch up on blogs, and how glad I am that I did - your crochet is FAB & I love the black cushion - it's so fantastic - the colours are amazingly vibrant ofset by the black - well done you.
Please add more pictures asap!
xxx

Mrs Jones said...

Hi Ali - the black one is very effective and extremely simple to make. Bright colours are best against the black background, I think. I'm finishing off the front of a white version (possibly today) so will take pics of that. Then I need to get a white jumper from the charity shops to finish it off.