Showing posts with label crochet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crochet. Show all posts

Thursday, 21 January 2021

Mum’s Christmas block stitch blanket.

In September I decided a crocheted blanket would keep mum a bit warmer, she’s always cold. I found a fairly simple block stitch pattern that I could work on at bedtime, the end result is based on a pattern by Emma Leith that was in Simply Crochet magazine issue 61.

I am trying to stash bust, so I used yarn I had already. This is Aran weight with 30% wool and a mixture of Marriners and Aldi. 

Mum’s cat approved, mum loves the blanket too.

I really love the bobble border.

Getting a photo at home proved tricky, as soon as I set the shot up a dog appeared and claimed the blanket.


 

Friday, 15 January 2021

The amazing Lizard shawl.

I just found this draft post I had forgotten about, probably because my mum was very ill in hospital about the time i started it, she was in for nearly 6 weeks and since then has needed help at home. So my focus has been on her for over a year now, and I’m one of her care givers every day.

I made this gorgeous scarf with a 150g cake of hand dyed sparkle  gradient 4ply sock yarn from Pook Yarns which has relocated to Denmark. The shawl is the Lizard.

I just love the colours in this yarn!

Sunday, 24 November 2019

Bernat Baby Blanket - so soft!

A blanket made from Bernat Baby Blanket yarn and the Crochet Crew pattern called Candy-ghan, basically a solid granny square. I'm not totally happy with the puckering, the yarn is lovely and soft and very washable. It's for my great niece born in South Wales who lives in the mountains and I hope it will keep her warm.

Rainbow baby.

A rainbow outfit and blanket for a rainbow baby called Maya. All made with Stylecraft yarns, the rainbow colour yarn is Wondersoft Merry Go Round, and there is a tiny bit of King Cole baby yarn on the blue headband because I ran out of rainbow.
The dress and bolero is a free pattern by Just Crochet. The booties were also made from a free pattern by Hopeful Honey, called Pink Lady Baby Booties, and the headband pattern, which goes up to adult size, is also free from Crochet Dreamz.


The star blanket was from a pattern in Inside Crochet magazine.

Saturday, 23 November 2019

Bobble hats.

 This is the Two Brothers Blankets Joey hat. I got the pattern free in return for a pledge to make at least one for a cancer unit. The dark blue one went to the Macmillan support centre at the hospital that treated my husband.

I just happened to have a lucky dip selection of three skeins of Caron Simply Soft, the same yarn used in the pattern, they were all different weights and I have some oddments left - maybe a striped Joey next.
I made the pompom with my new Rico pompom maker, which sadly snapped in the bag and I've had it a while and can't remember where I bought it, or the other sizes.

Monday, 18 February 2019

Well hello there!



I’ve not blogged for ages, years! I just don’t seem to have time these days.

I finally finished Persian Tiles in Stylecraft Life by Janie Crow. It still needs blocking when I can wrestle it away from Mable, I’m waiting for nicer weather to do that. After my previous post I left it, I lost the pattern and bought it again, then found the first copy. I only had to finish the last two rows on each large motif, complete a less finished one, join them and do the border. Phew it’s done, quite a relief really.  I’m working on a circular Tunisian crochet cushion to use the leftover yarn now.
It’s been a dhalk Meg, a totally new technique so there has been much frogging, I like it.







Tuesday, 18 July 2017

T on Tuesday long post.

I haven't joined in T on Tuesday for so long, first I wasn't well for a few weeks which seems to be an allergic reaction to something, I've been taking antihistamines since I worked it out and have felt a lot better. I was so drowsy, I just wanted to sleep and had no energy and everything was an effort. I thought it was the heat then it carried on. 
It's hot again here though.
My friend posted about a fruit infuser bottle, and I thought why not just put some fruit and mint in a glass? I kept this fruit going for over a week until I noticed this morning it had gone mouldy. How long is the fruit good for really I wonder? Now I've gone and bought an infuser bottle myself, I wasn't going to.
So grab a drink yourself and join in the fun at Elizabeth and Bleubeard's place. There seems to be a party going on.

I've been thinking for a while that I needed a comfy chair I could sit and crochet in, and remembering the IKEA Poang chair I used to have that was so comfy, but we didn't have the room for it at the time. I wanted a chair for the summerhouse this time. Well I was driving home from dropping off the great grannies and saw a sign saying free, there were two chairs. I turned around and between me and my son's girlfriend we managed to get one of them in the car. It was dirty so I washed the outer and inner covers and then the foam. Covers shrank a bit but it's fine. Now I am planning a crocheted cover for it as if I don't have enough queued up!



















Then my son found an advert for two leather cushioned chairs and a footstool, I had been wishing I had gone back for the second free chair, when I did the next day it was gone. I wanted a footstool too! I was thinking if I ruined the chair by washing it I could go get a new cushion in IKEA quite cheaply, but I had no idea that there were loads of these chairs selling second hand locally.
The leather ones are gorgeous and so comfortable, I really feel like the summerhouse is somewhere I want to sit all day until it gets too hot!
Now I am worried that when the sun gets round to shining on the summerhouse windows in the late afternoon and evening it will fade the lovely leather cushions so now I have ordered some blinds for the windows and doors! This could also make it cooler to sit in, well a little as there is no insulation, but it is feeling less shed like to me now. I'm thinking of getting some solar powered lights, bought some before but they never worked. If the solar bit is outside and the lights inside, I hope I can get it to work this time.
I'm also thinking a little side table or even two would be nice. The dogs love the new chairs too which are being covered to protect them for now.


Luna in the free chair, now washed and clean.

As for the dogs, there is so much to tell. Bertie makes Luna much naughtier than she was before, although she was pretty good - they have both hopped over the fence into next door's garden when they were out in the front part of my garden. This happened twice now, the second time they sneaked past me and I suddenly noticed they were gone! If I shout Bertie - biscuit, he comes back and Luna will follow, luckily they can't get out anywhere else.
This morning I had to rescue a small frog that Bertie was playing with in the kitchen, then I had to lift him up to extract him from Luna's breakfast!
Yesterday I saw him on top of the pond net with Luna watching, later I found a fish tail and part of a fish on the sofa! Don't know if he found a dead fish or caught a live one!


We've gone walking round the fields a few times, the crop of rapeseed looked ready and Luna thought it was wonderful to run inside it and explore, I daren't let Bertie off too or I would have been there all night trying to get them back. Bertie was on the extender and one time I was talking to some people and he went in and got tangled - then I had to go in and untangle him and then I looked like I had been through a hedge!



Yesterday  they had harvested the crops, Luna was so surprised to find her playground flattened. So for the first time I let him off the lead round the fields, he and Luna went charging off at great speed. 
They did keep coming back, well Bertie did for biscuits and Luna followed. They both went off through a stile into a field where the crop was not harvested and I thought that was it, would lose them for hours but thank goodness Bertie came back for biscuits again closely followed by Luna. Further round the field and Bertie was heading back in the wrong direction towards that stile, so I called him and put him back on the lead. Too much excitement for one day! Sooty always plods along behind.
Poor Sooty had a grass seed in his paw and was biting me when I tried to get it out, Bertie and Luna were both shouting at Sooty to protect me, since then Luna has attacked Sooty twice for no good reason which I really need to stop, Bertie joins in and poor Sooty is scared to go near them or me.

 Before all of this we went to a couple of dog shows, well three and Luna picked up some rosettes so did Sooty. The last show we went to Bertie was there too, I take all three into the ring but they are fun dog shows not serious ones. Bertie didn't get a rosette but Luna got first in Best Rescue and then was Best in Show. Sooty got third in Best Veteran, he won third in Best rescue in an earlier show.



 The dogs got prizes and vouchers at this show too!
I'm assuming it was Bertie who chewed through the vacuum cleaner cable, as Luna has never chewed cables and Bertie looked very guilty when I asked who did it!

Luna got her bronze award at dog training, so she should be very very good lol!
This was the top I told you I wouldn't wear with a light vest underneath...

... same top dark vest underneath, I wore it like this! 

We went on a very long walk, about 3 hours one Sunday afternoon round the Iford Manor estate.



Worked out how to grow marigolds that don't get eaten, tubs and copper tape!

This is the biggest fish in the pond, nothing else comes close yet! Luna is scared of it!

Bertie posing.

My little granddaugher Lily on the pink bike I bought her secondhand, worrying about the dogs play fighting!

What my washing line often looks like since Bertie got here!