PlanetJune by June Gilbank

You’ve probably noticed that PlanetJune has been MIA for the past three days. I’ve been having problems with my webhost – they suspended my site without notice for using too much bandwidth… Oops, I guess I am just too popular – isn’t that crazy?!

To anyone who e-mailed me this week via craft@planetjune.com, the e-mail account was also suspended so I haven’t received any e-mail. Please write to me again!

I’m not sure if it’s all back up for good, but fingers crossed it’ll be okay from now on. I think I have found a new host to switch to in the next few days and then PlanetJune will be bigger and better than ever!

Thank you so much to everyone who sent me concerned messages this week – I am fine, thank you

Ahhh, it’s good to be back…

Introducing the next addition to AmiDogs Set 3: a Corgi!

While researching the breed, I discovered there are actually two breeds of Corgi. The Cardigan Welsh Corgi is larger and has a long bushy tail.

The smaller Pembroke Welsh Corgi has a foxy appearance and no tail! I chose to make this variety

Queen Elizabeth II keeps several of these little corgis. I wonder what she would think of my crocheted version…

For the Granny Squares theme on Crochet Along, I decided to make a throw to decorate the office chair in my craft room. I figured out I would need a long strip, 13 squares long and 3 squares wide. When I’d finished all the squares, I measured the finished squares against the chair and decided it needed a 4th column of squares to look better. I didn’t quite have enough yarn for the additional 13 squares, so I had a mad dash to Michaels to hope they still had the same dye lots in stock (they did with the linen colour, but not the brown, but I can’t see the difference so that’s okay).

The upshot of all this is that I didn’t finish the project during the theme time, but I’m only a week overdue. And here is the completed throw:

The throw also comes to the same length behind the chair, so it breaks up the expanse of black leather nicely. I’m especially pleased with the way one square is exactly the same as the width of the top of the chair, so the throw sits squarely on top of the chair and isn’t likely to slide about:

I found the Vanna’s Choice yarn pleasant and even to work with, although not as soft as the yarns I usually favour. But I think it will stand up well to use, and may soften with washing.

The rest of my craft room is still plain and undecorated (apart from the toy shelves), but I have grand plans! More on that soon…

We’ve just started a new theme on my other blog, Crochet Along. The new theme is Small Crochet – basically anything goes, as long as it’s small(ish). I’ve given 6″ or less as a guide for size, but it’s not a strict rule. We’re going for small stuff as instant gratification – it’ll be refreshing after making countless granny squares for the last theme!

Here are some examples of small crocheted items you could make:

• Amigurumi
• Small wearables: headbands, wrist warmers, etc
• Coffee mug cosies / iPod cosies, etc
• Baby booties
• Flowers & embellishments
• Small thread or wire crocheted items
• Anything else that’s small and crocheted…

We have free pattern links and advice to share. If you’ve considered trying crochet for the first time, this would be the perfect opportunity! If you’d like to join in, head over to the Crochet Along blog or drop me an e-mail and I’ll sign you up.