I am on my way to making a crochet blanket – very similar to this one here and using the instructions here – they will eventually be hexagons – but start out their life as circles. I am using beautiful wool from Bendigo wool mills – you get 200gram balls instead of 50gram balls – and it is incredibly soft and yummy. [colours I am using are natural cream, storm grey and grey alpaca and various colours from the luxury wool range - may i recommend purple storm, leaf and lavender.

I am finding crochet to be incredibly relaxing - my parenting tip of the day is when you feel like screaming - crochet instead! Moving the hands by making something seems to do something to your brain - you suddenly focus and everything becomes clearer - you realise that yelling and getting stressed is not the answer - really its not worth it - much better to wind down and go slow and talk softly - all this is possible if you are crocheting. Give it a go. [Hey Jon its good for dads too.]