Monthly Archives: March 2012

Planet Penny Cotton Club Update

I’m just slipping in a quick post because I’m away for the weekend.  By now, everyone who was ordered their very own cotton rainbow will have received their pink parcel in the post. As I understand it, those who are not actually using the yarn yet are gazing at it lovingly and squishing it gently, it gets you like that!

We’re all systems go for the next batch, and I have quite a substantial waiting list.  As I mentioned before, I am rejigging the price just a little.  There seems to be a cost associated with every stage of moving money about, whether it’s within the UK or paying for goods in Europe.  I started this because it seemed a nice way of sharing a lovely discovery, and I’m having to learn how to do it as I go along, so please bear with me!

I’ve done a test post to the US which has worked and it took about 10 days to arrive.  I’m prepared to give that a go with the next batch, especially as I have so many lovely people from the US on the waiting list desperate to try out the yarn!  Once I’ve worked out all the postage rates I will update the Cotton Club Page so you can see exactly how much it will cost.

One thing I have to say with the postage is that I am sending everything First Class Post with Proof of Postage and Airmail to the US. It is possible to arrange for it to be signed for in the UK, obviously bumping up the cost, but that facility will cost far more than the cost of yarn sending out of the UK.  Once I have handed over the parcels to the Post Office and collected the proof of postage, it’s out of my hands, so please bear in mind when you order the yarn  that it will be  best endeavours on my part to package it safely and post it to the address I have been given, but that it must be at your own risk.

Over on the Planet Penny Cotton Club page there are already links to take you to members blogs so you can see what they’ve been doing.

At Baxter’s Rest there really is a rainbow…

crochet rainbow in Planet Penny Cotton Club yarn

In the Little Room of Rachell it seems to be being admired at the moment!

Penelope by the Sea over at L is for Love  has done some gorgeous embroidery…

And Mrs Micawber , who was my US posting  ‘guinea pig’, couldn’t wait to get started on her stash…

Please add your blog to the Linky on the page if you have one, and don’t forget to add the PPCC button to your sidebar. If you don’t have a blog but want to share what you have been doing, you can join the Flickr group.

So have a lovely weekend one and all.  I’m off to the theatre tomorrow and then staying with friends in a part of Norfolk I don’t know very well – it’s a big county – so I mustn’t forget my camera!

See you soon x

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Higgins and the Bootscraper

Ever since the East Anglian drought situation has been in the news, it has barely stopped raining in this little corner of Norfolk! Poor  Higgins couldn’t leave the house on Monday because the floods in both directions were deeper than his little legs could cope with, even if he was prepared to venture out in the rain.

We got out yesterday, but the all pervading gloom really put a damper on things…roll on Spring!

a damp Norfolk walk

a damp Norfolk walk with a dachshund

We also fell foul of the dreaded hedge cutter.  I know it make things quicker and more efficient to have large machines to cope with things that might have been a full time job for one man, but I hate the way the hedge cutter just rips and slashes the  twigs and branches from the hedges and small trees, leaving jagged stumps and debris scattered all over the lanes.  Higgins stopped dead in his tracks and held up a paw half way through the walk and had to be upended so I could remove a thorn from his pad. (He was very brave…)

You can see that having this to contend with on a regular basis would make a bootscraper by the back door a useful thing to have.  I was very excited when a friend sent me this link a few weeks before Christmas with the perfect Christmas pressie for Tim, who is always a nightmare to buy for.

Source: grahamandgreen.co.uk via Penny on Pinterest

 

I duly sent off the order feeling quite smug that for once I was ahead of my usual Christmas panic.  Unfortunately, I didn’t make any allowances for the Higgins factor, and when it arrived, conveniently while Tim was offshore so I didn’t have to worry about secrecy, I unwrapped it and put it on the floor to admire it….

Oh dear…

Competition?  Or maybe a little friend to play with?

It’s probably just as well I don’t have a little film, complete with wuffing and gruffing and growling and yodelling which goes with these photos…

We’ve tried to sneak it out by the back door while Higgins isn’t looking, but as soon as he spots it he starts all over again, so for now it’s on a high shelf in Tim’s workshop…

As I said, Oh dear….

I’ve got lots more to ‘show and tell’ but reliving this means I need a cup of tea, if not a lie down!  Do please have a game with Higgins in the side bar, he loves chasing the ball.  And it is possible to make him roll over, has anyone managed to do that yet?

I’ll be back with Planet Penny Cotton Club news, see you soon x

 

 

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Birthdays and Crochet Butterflies

Oh, how wet and miserable it’s been today!  Tim has just donned waterproofs and wellies and winkled a very reluctant little dog out from the bottom of his bed to go for a splosh down the road.  I have to be on standby with towels and a roaring fire for their return.  Meanwhile I have crochet butterflies to make…

Hang on! That didn’t last long…they’re back…Higgins got 100 yards down the road, did what he had to do, then made a determined bid for home and the towel on the utility room floor.  It’s so comical the way he goes flat on his tummy and wriggles around to get dry, before I even get down there with him to help…

Then on to the dry towel in front of the fire to finish off…

miniature dachshund drying by the fire on a towel

Steaming nicely now!

I mentioned that March is birthday month in our family, starting with younger son on Friday, and today was my mum’s turn, 83 today! A small family gathering for tea and birthday cake, deliciously chocolatey and made by my sister, whilst the smallest great-grandson entertained my mum in fine style.

So of course there were presents…

crochet butterflies on gift wrap

…and flowers.

a bouquet of yellow tulips, blue hyacinths and birthday presents

And also crochet butterflies!  I found these little lovelies on line and thought they were perfect for the Planet Penny cotton.  Because there has been an issue with the link breaking I have written and photographed my own version of this pattern so it’s available to you as a downloadable PDF.  Just click this Crochet Butterflies link. They are sooo quick and easy to make…

four crochet butterflies http://blog.mariesmaking.com/2011/05/crochet-butterfly-pattern.html

I also tried knitting with the cotton as someone said it looks as if it’s only suitable for crochet, and I have to report it knits like a dream.  I made another little jar cover, as it’s ideally suited for showing off a sample.  I think I could have cast on another 2 or 4 stitches as it’s a teeny bit stretched but it still works well and shows off the colours…

blue crochet butterfly

orange crochet butterfly

So I hope the weather is being a little kinder where you are, but in the meantime make some crochet butterflies and dream of summer!

If you’d like even more butterfly love, how about a Butterfly and flower mobile  You can find the pattern here.

See you soon…x

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