Crochet Squares...

Thanks for the lovely positive comments on the baby blanket!  I've not made much progress since I posted that - it's been a busy week!  However, earlier in the week I did get around to taking some more pictures...

Piles of squares...

I like seeing them stacked in piles!

And here they are laid out...

We actually have the baby shower for my sister-in-law today, so that should be good fun!

I've got more to share on a couple of wins (!!!) and another make!!  But you'll have to wait for that, as I've got to rush now!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!  :o)

Baby Blanket Update

Hi all - thanks for the lovely comments on my flower keyring!  Also for the comments on the cup-cosy post.  I meant to mention at the time that I got the idea from Annaboo's House, here.  I hadn't seen cup-cosies until then, and I love them!  Hers are much more snuggly looking than mine - not to mention neater!  I think I've seen a cup-cosy on another blog too somewhere, but can't remember which one...

I've been working hard on the baby blanket for my nephew - he's due next month, so I thought I'd better get a move on!  Here is how it's looking so far:

Last time I showed it I was just doing the three colours - mid blue, baby blue and yellow, but now I've added a turquoise colour, just to hopefully make it a bit funkier and more modern maybe... not sure!  The colours haven't come out quite right here, due to having to use the flash - the yellow is a nicer shade in real life.


I can't wait to get the squares finished and start getting it all sewn together!


Here is a picture of me with my sister-in-law and the 'nephew-bump'!!  This was taken in September, so the bump is bigger now!

I hope it won't be too long until I can do a 'ta-dah' post for the blanket!  It better be soon, as I think I'm getting repetitive strain injury from it - I've even started working on it at my desk on my lunch breaks!!  One of the young guys at work caught me the other day and commented "that is the funniest thing I have ever seen..." - slight exaggeration maybe!  :o)

Flower Keyring

I wrote this yesterday and meant to post it then!..........


Sorry - it's been two weeks since my last post - where did the time go?!


Well, I've been doing another bit of Saturday morning crafting in bed - love it!  This is what I have produced:

It's a flower keyring, stuffed with lavender, for a friend.  The picture is a bit dark - not much chance for bright photos these days!

I'm hoping my friend will like it - it's just a little something...

I'm going to a fireworks thing at her house tonight - should be good fun, and at least we can hide indoors if it's raining!


Hope you all have a fun weekend!

A Pretty Little Ta-Dah!

Finally I've started and finished something!!  A cute little cup cosy - and I love it!

Made with King Cole Bamboo yarn.

Lovely stripes in bright pink, light pink and white.  A mixture of single and double crochet. Although I wish I'd done it all in double crochet, as less rows would have been needed - making it quicker and leaving less ends to sew in!!  There were a total of 26 ends to sew in, in total!  A ridiculous amount for an item so small!!!  (Although I do like the look of wider and thinner rows together - so I guess it was worth it!)

Look at those gorgeous pale pink polka-dot buttons!  (Part of my giveaway from Jackie of Sew Special Bears - thanks Jackie!)  And bright pink polka-dot ribbon for an extra bit of detail!  Not at all because the join between the white border and the stripy ends looked like a big pile of poo - all gappy and holey and horrible, and I had to cover it up!  Not at all because of that....  (Sometimes the best "design features" are accidents or cover-ups!)

I love it!


Although, it really took rather a lot of time to make, considering what a mini project it is.  I had some grit stitch involved at one point, which I frogged as it just wasn't going right.  Then what with having to sew all those ends in, and keep fiddling about with and re-doing the white border before I eventually came up with the ribbon idea, which then had to be sewn on - well, it wasn't as quick as it should have been!  But, at least I'm happy with it!!


(I'll try not to think how many squares of the baby blanket I could have made while I was messing around with this unnecessary item!!)  :o)

Stupid Cowl!

Yes, stupid cowl!!  (And that's 'cowl', not 'cow', Jenny!  Hehe!  Although a cute little crocheted cow would be cool!)

It's too big now!  The first attempt would have been too small to get over my head - this one is too big!  Also, I'm not sure the stitches/yarn/hook size (something!) is right.  I just don't think it's working as a cowl.  I'm fed up with the whole idea!  I'm going to "frog" it.  (First time I've used that expression - look at me getting all "crochety" - picking up the terms!!)

Ah well, you live and learn.  Although not sure what I've learned?!  Not to make a cowl?!

What I've Been Up To...

Well, I've been busy painting my living room!  I'd been thinking of doing it for months, but couldn't bring myself to go through the hassle of actually doing it.  I was lying in bed on Saturday morning and I suddenly decided that the time had come!  Off I went to Homebase, bought a pot of paint and got to work!


I am loving it!  It is a Crown Naturals colour called Snowdrop, and looks so light and bright!  My living room doesn't get a lot of light (you may have read me whinging about my dingy flat in the past!) so this light colour really brightens it.  It was a light beigey colour before - which did look nice, and I did like it, but this is just lovely!  And it was time for a change, as I last painted it 5 and 1/2 years ago when I moved in.


I've still got one more coat to go on one wall - the most fiddley wall which has the window and the radiator on - lots of awkward places to try to paint around.  Typically I had painted that one wall a bit of a darker colour last time, so it needs three coats.  It would be the tricky wall that needs an extra coat - delightful!


I also had a family meal yesterday, to celebrate my brother's 30th birthday, which was lovely.  He is a big fan of sweets, so I made him this as an extra present:

I filled the bowl with blue shredded tissue paper and sweets.  I made the letters out of card and stuck them onto acetate, so that they were bobbing about above the bowl.

A bit more crochet has been done on the cowl and the baby blanket - but I will save that for another post!


Bye for now...

I've Started a Cowl!

I know I should be working on the baby blanket, but I had a sudden desire to make a scarf!  I'd seen this lovely scarf on Cupcakejojo's blog, which got me inspired!  I have also seen quite a few lovely cowls at Annaboo's house, here and here.  Check out both those blogs, they're amazing!

Well, I decided I wanted to do stripes inspired by Cupcakejojo, but a cowl inspired by Annaboo's house!  (Also, I thought a cowl would require less length, therefore less work, and there might be a slim chance I'd finish it!!)

For a while I've been loving ripple blankets - the pattern is from Attic24's blog.  I love this ripple blanket!  I've seen it on a few blogs, and adore it!  My lovely blogging friend Becky is actually making one over at The Fluff Pot!


So I thought maybe I'd make a stripey rippley cowl!  But things did not go to plan!


I don't really know what I was doing, but I got this far:

...then I realised that it wouldn't actually go over my head to get to my neck, once it was joined together!  I'd made it too small!  I'm not sure what was going on in my simple little brain!!

(Pictures aren't great as always - especially now it's getting dark earlier!)

So, I ripped it apart and started again!  (Annoying, as it took me ages to get that far!)  I decided that maybe the ripple is better left for a blanket or cushion... and have decided on a different design.  It's one I'm kind of making up as I go along.  I hope I will be able to show you a finished item at some point in the not too distant future!  For now, here is a glimpse...

A Few of my Favourite Things...

Hello!  I was just looking through my blog at some of the things I have made this year, and I thought I would do a post about a few of my favourite things.


I've not been making (or finishing!) much lately, so it was good to see some of the things I had finished when I was more 'in the zone'!


This post is like one of those episodes they do in a series, where they just recycle a load of clips from other episodes - I always hate those!  Oh dear, what a cop out!  :o)  Well, here goes...


The PE Bag I made for my friend's daughter: (post)

The funky cafetiere cosy: (post)

I really love that cafetiere cosy - I am extremely careful when making coffee, as I still live in fear of spilling anything on it!  (Not sure how washable it is!)


African Flowers which got turned into a hanging: (post)

Lavender heart: (post)

A couple of things I made for a Button Swap I was part of - a drawstring bag and a lavender bag: (post)

And that will do for now, as I can't be bothered to do any more!  :o)


Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Baby Blanket Progress

Here is the latest progress with the baby blanket for my nephew, due on Christmas Day.  I've got a way to go.  I'm not sure how many squares I'll need to do, but a lot more than six!

Happy Birthday Mumsie!

It's my Mum's birthday today, so happy birthday Mum!!


I'm just off round there for dinner, with my brother and sister-in-law, for a birthday celebration.


Here is a card I've made:

I've stuck silver outline stickers onto vellum across the middle of the card, then used spotted paper either side, with ribbons and a bow.


It's ok, but not great.  I seem to have lost my card-making mojo lately!!  I've been giving a lot of bought cards instead, as I haven't been in a card-making mood, but thought I should make the effort for my little Mum!


I just hope she doesn't check out my blog before I get round there!!  :o)

I'm Back!

Hi!  I have returned from my lovely holiday to Turkey!!  I had such a fantastic time!  It was really great!  Lots of laying round in the sun in the day, and eating and drinking and drinking and drinking (oh, and some more drinking!) in the evening!  I've never been on holiday when I've been single before, so it was the first time I had a real party holiday!!  I think I needed it!

Here is a little shot of me doing some Turkish spoon dancing (where you clack wooden spoons together) with a traditional Turkish dancer in a restaurant!  I've got two wooden spoons in each hand and a funny hat on my head!  (Blurry photo, sorry!)

Since arriving home (5.15am on Thursday morning!!  Aarrgghh!) I have had a work's party on Friday night and family wedding on Saturday, arriving back home from that on Sunday.  All in all, exhausting!!!  Time to relax I think!

I have taken photos of the lovely goodies I won in Jackie's giveaway over at Sew Special Bears.  I was very lucky!!

Thank you so much Jackie, I really appreciate it!!  :o)

I can't wait to start creating with these lovely bits and bobs!  That bundle of fabric is especially exciting!!

Well, I am going to toddle off now and do... not a lot!!  I may get round to catching up with your blogs!  I need to see what I've missed!!  Bye for now...

Lucky Me!

Just a quick post from me, as I'm off to Turkey in the morning with a friend!  (Another single girl!)  I'll be getting up at 3am!!!  Eurgh!  It should be worth it when I'm lying in the sunshine tomorrow afternoon, cocktail in hand!  (If nothing goes wrong!)

I wanted to say thank you to the lovely Jackie, of Sew Special Bears, for a giveaway prize that I received from her at the weekend!

I haven't had chance to photograph it all, but here is the pretty packaging:

I love that dotty tissue paper, and the ribbons!

Here is the gorgeous card that came with it:

Thank you so much Jackie, I really appreciate it!

You can all see the contents when I'm back from my holiday, and have time to take photos!

I hope you all have a good week!  :o)

Another Post...

Another post so soon?!  I'm trying not to be so lapse with my blog!


Here are the magnets for my friend Anna, packaged up with a bow:

You'll have to excuse the darkness.  The light is never the best in my dingy little flat - but it's getting even worse these days, now that Autumn is upon us!  Not that I'm complaining, I love the different seasons... and I love Autumn!


Here is a picture of some fake flowers I bought the other day, to go into my lovely pink polka dot jug vase.  (I bought the vase back in April for my Easter Tree!)

I just love pinks and aquas together!  I'm quite pleased with how it looks.  To be honest when it comes to flower arranging (of fake or real flowers) I am utterly useless.  When it comes to even owning or growing plants I also fail miserably.  Poor things always end up dead!  I guess I can't be good at everything - I am so very talented in so many other areas.... hahahaha!  Just joking!  ;o)


Somehow, however, this arrangement seemed to flukily go ok!  The flowers came on stems that were too long, so I just grabbed them all and haphazardly bent them, crammed them into the vase, and it just seemed to luckily look alright!  The vase looks a bit more in proportion to the flowers in real life, I think it's the angle I took the photo at, which makes them look massive.


Well... I must get on!  :o)

Pink Magnets

Hello!!


My crafting has really been suffering lately - I seem to have no time, and not much inclination, to get things made!  Very bad!!


What have I been up to...?  Nothing particularly productive!  Lots of socialising I guess!!  The life of a single girl...! (Well... maybe 'girl' is pushing it, at 31 years old!)


But, my lovely friend Anna requested a set of magnets, so I was spurred to action and got these made!

These are colour set 'Pinks 1' - available in my Folksy Shop.


And here are a couple of giveaways that are going on at the moment:

• The Cosy Corner
• Pootle Handmade

They are both lovely giveaways, so get on over and check them out!


I'm off out for dinner soon... lovely, I'm starving!!  :o)  Have great weekends everyone!

Hearts

Thanks for the lovely comments on my last post!  I have now made a baby blue square to join the other two...

I'm not sure whether to add more colours, or just stick with these three.  I quite like them together, I'm not sure whether any more colours are needed.  Although I hope it's boyish enough for a baby boy, I'm not sure...

For those of you who wanted the pattern, you can find it here.


Although, when doing the white border, I didn't quite understand the pattern - it seemed to be suggesting that along the top and bottom you skip 1 stitch and do 2dc, then skip 1 stitch, do another 2dc and so on... however I did it skipping 2 stitches each time, as that seemed to match the picture better.  Maybe I just didn't understand the pattern!!  It is more than likely!  :o)


If anyone wants to know any more about how to do it, just let me know!