The Crochet road trip & how to make African roses

Tats and I had planned to go to fenny stratford today in search of wool suitable for making leaves from- I have all kinds of garish colours, but no rusty reds or autumnal oranges or browns.
We got to the wool shop, after a 40 minute drive- only to find it was closed!
We went to the fabric shop and they had a very limited wool selection, although they did have their latest craft class brochure so the journey wasn't all for nothing.

Next we headed to Milton Keynes hobby craft- As the bedford one had loads of wool and most of the doubleknit was £1- The one in milton keynes had only baby colours or super fancy very expensive wools.
No luck there.

We ended up driving back to Oakley as theres a small craft shop/cafe there, and they did have all the colours we were after. And a 4mm hook- and we almost bought a book on lace making, but that's an adventure for another day I think.
:) Score!
And they also run craft workshops- much closer to home than fenny stratford- So, today has taught me many things, and I haven't even shown you what Tats and I made.

This is the Website for the workshops in Oakley:
http://www.tudorrosepatchwork.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_17

We tried the pattern for leaves I found on ravelry. If you're thinking of making leaves and following a similar pattern, Can I just save you the time and suggest that you don't?
It's pretty badly written. They're really fiddley. and the outcome doesn't look like a leaf.
It wasn't just mine either- Tat's is an ace Crocheter and hers also looked like someone had sat on it.

She did manage to find some different directions in a book- so we might try  these leaves again. We also found directions for holly and mistletoe. Too early for that yet.

We also had a go at an "african roses" pattern- which is a kind of granny square hexagon. It's used to make the dinosaur that I wanted to have a go at- but our hexagons ended up the size of a saucer so either we're making a life sized dino or we're doing something wrong!

I love this because it looks tricky but is actually really easy- It's the same stitches as a basic granny square- no halves or bobbles or anything weird:

Chain 6 and slip stitch together.
6 double crochet into the middle.
(Change colour)
3 chain and one chain, one double crochet into the gap, After that, one double crochet and one chain into each gap- no chain between the gaps- just go straight into the next gap.
At the end of the round, slip stitch to join and chain 3.
7 double crochet into each gap.
Slip stitch to finish the round
(Change colour)
Single crochet into every stitch EXCEPT between the sets of 7, where you put a double stitch into the 1st row of the second colour (This is easier to understand if you look at the photo! there is no easier way to explain!)
Slip stitch to finish the round.
(Change colour- optional)
Chain 3
Double stitch into each of the single stitches. Slip stitch to join the round and tie off.
Voila!

I think these would make nice coasters, and obviously a lush blanket if I had time to make 100s of them- I think they look like pansies!
I even saw one that had been made into a pot holder which was pretty cool. Someone else on ravelry had done them in citrus colours and whits so they looked like sliced fruit. Very swish.

I might experiment with making them into xmas tree decorations- doing the "flower" white or silver and the back black or dark blue.. maybe with some added spangly beads or something...
Urgh.
I have christmas on the brain since that newspaper article.

For anyone who's reading this thinking "I didn't know she could crochet!" I've been keeping loads of my crafty activities on the down low as I've been working on my Xmas challenge (All my xmas presents this year will be home made, useful- so clothes, kitchen ware, food, alcohol, teas, toiletries, etc- and hopefully completed by 25th December! I have 3 items left to finish and one left to start! I have updated my progress and given my reasons every month this year so feel free to have a look and join in!) Obviously, I can't really put pictures of my friends xmas presents on here, as they'd probably realise which was theres! I've been really careful to make things my friends will use/wear/go with their homes and to pick wools/ fabrics/colours that reflect their tastes- Which has backfired, as despite trying my hand at more than 50 different crafts and skills since January, I can rarely write about them!