Busy as a bee...

Well, yes, I am the worlds worst blogger, ok. But I have been busy so I think I'll just bombard you with lots of lovely photos of what I've been making this last year.....are you ready?

Remember these, well look what they became.....

 ...a yummy scrummy blanket. This yarn is so soft and so warm. It still needs a few ends sewing in and a border. I have ran out of this yarn but I am thinking of putting a plain border on it, to kind of bring it all together. Not sure yet, maybe purple. I love shaded yarns and this ball of King Cole Riot was sitting in my stash box, and I just didn't know what to make with it it is much finer yarn than I am used to. I tried a granny square but even though the yarn has bright colours, the greys made it dull, so digging deeper into my stash I found my gorgeous mustard King Cole Big Value 4ply (which I simply bought because of the colour, not realising it was 4 ply), I pulled out a 3mm hook and this is what happened...

I just love the effect of using the shaded yarn next to the bright golden mustard. This is going to become a cushion cover, I need to find a suitable backing for it yet though.

I haven't quite finished, and have soooo many photos, and things to show you. I can't stop crocheting, has it become apparent yet? I am currently involved in a Granny square swap, which I will make a special post about. When I first started making squares for the swap, I used my acrylic yarns of which I have a huge amount, it builds up quick doesn't it.But I was worried my colours weren't right, so I bought new yarn for the swap and started again. The squares I had already made are these....

I wasn't going to use the black, in fact I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, then my friend called round for a brew, he sat admiring this little pile of granny squares and said the colours reminded him of Mexico. Instantly I thought abut Mexican folk art and the beautiful painted colours, what better colour to show off colours....black! Yes, it works!!! And these squares are now on their way to becoming a bedspread, and I am picturing our future bedroom already, it's heaven. I'm so excited about this bedspread, it will take some time, but it will be worth it. I'll keep you updated on its progress.

Well its late now, and I'm rather sleepy, I have much more to show, my gorgeous granny blanket I am making for my little man, and I'll tell you all the Square Swap and my  new found love for Stylecraft Special DK.

Much love, toodle-pip. xxx

and again...

Oh dear....lol. I have so many photos to sort out, I've been a busy girl.

Back soon...honest. :)

Drooling over wool

I've done it again, not kept up with my blog. Well, it dosn't mena I have been up to anything. I've been hooking away at my ripple blankets, started a baby boy granny blanket, and this last few weeks I have literally been drooling over wools. I treated myself to a couple of balls of Noro Kureyon, a gorgeous shaded 100% wool yarn, in a sale on ebay, bad move because I want more but my purse won't let me.

So, I searched online and came across James C. Brett Monsoon yarn, a wool/acrylic blend, but oh my, it's so soft and lovely to work with, it also works well with the Noro, because it is aran weight and not as expensive, so my dream heirloom blanket can be achieved.

 

We have got our hearts set on a new settee some time this year so I want to make us a lovely blanket to throw over it, snuggle under and just look damn pretty. The shaded yarns are fantastic for this as you don't have to keep changing yarn after every round, although I have been changing the yarn after every so many rounds  to get new colour combinations. I am in love with this already and it's not even a quarter done yet. :D

Sunshine, stitiching and sowing seeds

Yep, thats what I've been up to, the weather has been amazing, I have finally got through my mountain of washing, all dried in the sunshine, happy days. I have been busy in the yarden too, sowing seeds, little man sowed his own sunflowers too, at 17 months he really seemed to know what he was doing. We also sowed radishes, tomatoes, carrots, peas and pansies.And the first photo is the herb seed kit, growing coriander, thyme and basil.

I finally got round to making my cactus garden, but it needs some gravel yet and it has even been suggested I make sombreros for the little guys, hmmmm, I can see it already, hehe.

We had a walk to the local garden centre, which is such a beautiful little haven here, and bought pansies, violas and forget me nots, I've planted these in pots that hang on the fence, instant sunshiney happiness. This last couple of weeks I have been in my element out in the back yard, little man happy with pots and pans of water and numerous animals figures which he hides amongst the plants. He loves being outside, so I am hoping this sun is here to stay. :)

Whilst not pottering about in the yard, I've been busy making my blankets too. I have completed my first blanket, a granny square made from yummy shaded yarn that reminds me of tropical sunsets and nasturiums...

I've also been getting totally carried away with my ripples, I can't stop and currently have three on the go. I started the blue, green and purple one first, and it's growing nicely, but just 'had' to start one with pinks and oranges, then I just 'had' to try out my new sprakly yarn, hence, I now have three on the go, each day each one gets a bit of love and attention, I can't to see how they turn out.

That pink is really bright, it didn't look so bright under electric shop lights, or under lights at home but in the sunshine, it glows, it's amazing!!!

Babies, blossoms and more blanketyness

I've not had much chance to get on here over the last few days , as my little man has been full of a cold. Poor little thing, its so hard when they can't even tell how rubbish they are feeling, so it's been cuddles, cuddles and more cuddles. We did go for a stroll in hope to cheer little man up, we saw pigeons which little man finds hilarious, and the most beautiful cherry blossoms, so pretty and fluffy like pink clouds of bubbliness.

I took the opportunity of stocking up on new yarns whilst we were out, I went for Robin DK, cheap and cheerful, yet still nice and soft enough for blankets, and got a few colours, but now I'm wanting more.

The colours haven't come out as strong on the photo, but the purple is really rich and strong and the green is gorgeous and appley. Now I have itching to have a go at Lucys Neat Ripple pattern blanket as featured in her Attic24 blog, and ooooh I do love her blog, its just too yummy. After a couple of previous attempts at the ripple pattern, I found I was getting holes in my 'valleys' and I wasn't really liking it, so finding Lucys pattern was a godsend, and here is my rippling so far

I am really enjoying making this one, and can see my other blankets being neglected for a while, I am already thinking of colour choices for more blankets and find my mind wandering back to India, a real inspiration for me, the colours, the textiles, all so beautiful and rich. Speaking of colour, I found this old 1970's craft book whilst tidying up in the cupboard a couple of days back, I'm a little bit gutted that there is no crochet in there but look at the colours, a feast for the eyes. It's funny I have a craft book from the 1990's that looks more dated than this, and it's certainly not as inspiring for colour as this 70's treat. :)

Blankety blankets

I'm currently obsessed with granny squares and stripes, this is just one of my few projects on the go at the moment, my 'dewy meadow' blanket made from sparkly 'dewy' green yarn with pink flowers, I'm getting there, it's amazing how fast these things grow once you get going.

I cannot wait till it's done, but enjoying making it all the same. I have a couple more blankets on the go at the moment, I will post pics soon. :)

Hello

Well I thought I should best make a start seeing as this is the umpteenth time I've attempted to start my blog, just been getting my head around it on top of sussing out new crochet techniques, knitting patterns and whatnot. Anyways, I shall start off with something that makes me happy, spring flowers in my front garden, I love mini daffs, they are sooo cute especially against the huuuge tulips. My bluebells should be flowering soon too.

I spent a good hour this afternoon clearing away all the old leaves, and dead stuff, it looks alive now and so many shoots coming up. Oooh I do love springtime. :)