Category Archives: Craft

No Time for Crochet Hearts!

Hello! I thought I’d start with cheery daffodils ‘cos I’m going to moan…only a bit, but I’ve had so little time to be creative this week, and all I really want to do is make more crochet hearts because I have a cunning plan! I had a flash of inspiration last week, sourced the very thing I wanted on line and when the box arrived I thought yessss…that’ll do the trick and life piled in behind and filled up all my available minutes.

So, darn…and other, more colourful expletives. However I’m not going to spoil the whole thing by rushing it, or giving the game away so you’ll have to wait until later in the week I’m afraid!

One thing I did do was to redisplay the Hearts and Crochet Garland. I wanted to put it on the dresser to instil a little Spring like colour to cheer things up so I carefully divided it into two pieces. I’m happy with the way it works…

…and it’s most decidedly cheerful!

A complete change in the weather means we’ve swapped the snow and grey clouds for this…

…but losing the snow so quickly means this…

and also…

…but there were a few places where Higgins could walk rather than swim…

He came back and parked himself on his favourite look out post, he does prefer to admire the great outdoors from the comfort of an armchair I’m afraid!

Thinking of crochet hearts got me digging around in the archives, back to last February in fact, when I made this for the dresser…

I never did write a pattern for the whole piece, but the pattern for the crochet hearts you can find here if you are thinking ahead to Valentines Day.

I’ll leave you now to get back to the crochet but in the meantime do call over to Handmade Harbour to check out the Handmade Monday links. Lots of busy crafters making beautiful things! Don’t forget, you can join me on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter!

See you soon…x

Crochet Hearts and Snowy Weather

Four pm and the first flakes of a promised band of snow have started to fall as the light fades. Higgins hasn’t been beyond the garden today because there’s so much ice about and I’m paranoid about slipping over, damaging myself and not being able to walk, drive and generally take care of my immediate responsibilities, namely my Mum, Henry and Higgins. Snowy roads I can cope with, ice? No!

So I’ve been going a little stir crazy this week what with treacherous conditions and antisocial germs. I can’t imagine what it would be like without being able to reach outside my own little orbit and communicate in cyberspace. It’s not like I haven’t been busy, it’s just a bit solitary round here.

Yesterday’s walk was very bracing. Higgins has a new coat, just the same as the last one – red is definitely his colour – but a size larger. You may have noticed the one he’s been wearing is rather Pooh Bearish, snug and a little too short. I’ve been saving this one for the snowy weather, and it was perfect, reaching all the way down to keep his rump cosy! I think he liked it too because he ran all the way out…

…all the way around the fields…

…and back home again!

Not the most attractive angle, but you try getting in front of him!

It’s been extremely busy in the garden. I’ve put an assortment bird feeders just outside the glazed garden door and it’s been fascinating to watch the birds flocking to feed. The house sparrows who live in the roof, the robin, a colourful assortment of finches, several blackbirds, blue tits, a thrush and a fieldfare. I had suspended a wrinkly apple in the bush out of reach of a greedy dog, and there was quite a lot of kerfuffle as the fieldfare wrestled it to the ground, and then proceeded to demolish it whilst beating off any other bird that dared to come within pecking distance. It was mainly the blackbird!

This morning the blackbird had decided to fight back and had eaten quite a bit of apple before the field fare turned up with a couple of chums. The area round the garden door is a mass of bird prints and scuffles now, and I’m nearly out of apples!

I’ve had to abandon the studio this week alas, the snow on the skylights made it too dark, and it seemed silly to heat it as well as the house, what with all the to-ing and fro-ing and opening doors and letting in cold air so I’ve been crocheting in front of the fire quite a bit.

It might be snowy outside but February and St Valentines Day is just around the corner so I’ve been revisiting my Hearts and Flowers Garland Pattern which is one of my favourites.

It’s quite versatile, the little hearts are pretty on their own…

…and the flowers are simple to make, are a great way to use up short lengths of yarn and make a simple but beautiful decoration on a polystyrene ring…

I’ve attached clasps on individual hearts too, they look pretty on a key ring or as a bag charm…

If you like the look of these you might be interested in the current Giveaway on the Planet Penny Face Book Page which is a sample pack of all the Planet Penny Cotton yarns with a crochet hook and the Hearts and Flowers Garland Pattern. It’s running until tomorrow morning so you still have time to join in!

I’ll leave you with the usual link to Handmade Harbour where there is a special Handmade Monday Linky running to celebrate the 100th Handmade Monday post. There will be lots of goodies to win during the week too, so do pay a visit and find out all about it.

Wherever you are, have a lovely week, and I’ll be back soon…x

Birthday, Butterfly and Blanket!

Well, that was the first Sunday without a post for months and months, but I had an excuse, my sister had a ‘Big Birthday’ celebration! By the time I got home it was rather late, so I sat in front of ‘Blandings’ and digested my slice of birthday cake, rather like the Empress!

Empress of Blandings

Having just come back from Weight Watchers I find I’m well on the way to looking a lot like the Empress after Christmas (too many Frangipane Mince Pies!) so no more cake for me for a while!

One of my sister’s birthday presents was a beautiful scarf, knitted by a fellow member of our Knit and Stitch group in gorgeous Noro yarn, but guess who forgot to photograph it? Sorry! But it did look pretty wrapped up…

It was my first chance to use my lace effect sticky tape, which is lovely!

And aren’t these pink tulips cheery?

Today is my first day properly ‘back at work’ after a week of organising and catching up after the rather manic month of December so I hope to get my blogging rhythm back very soon. Tim goes back to work too tomorrow and will be away for his usual two weeks so meals will be simpler (and Weight Watcher approved) less wine will flow (!) and I will be spending more time on Planet Penny!

The Planet Penny Crafty Cotton has proved popular so more winding is needed…

…and more Rainbow Mouse Kits are required!

Meanwhile the baby blanket has been progressing slowly in the evenings in front of the fire. Coincidently a friend asked the other day if I could show her how to make a baby blanket in ripple stitch and I was able to whip out mine and say ‘What? Like this?!’ so I will be writing a pattern for it…

It’s really pretty just as it is, but I wanted to add an individual twist …

…and added a weave through the lacy holes…

ripple blanket and crochet bunny - Planet Penny Cotton Club yarn

There are few more ends to weave in, that’s a job for tonight while watching Lewis!

So I’d better get out of the office and back into the studio and get my winding arm whirring, but before I go I want to share a picture of the moon last night. I stepped outside into a clear frosty night and saw the moon as a slender shining crescent but with the rest of the moon clearly visible in the light reflected from the earth. It was beautiful…

My Mother told me later that it was the New Moon with the Old Moon in her arms, which I thought was lovely. Although a little pocket digital is not the right equipment to photograph heavenly bodies you can just about see what I’m getting at…

There’s also an Old Wives Tale about the ‘Moon on her back, rain in her lap’, and that figures!

Be back soon…x

Another Milestone

Hello again…and how have the first few days of January been for you? It’s been very strange not to be on here every day, although I can’t say I’m not glad of the rest! And it’s another milestone. My first post of 2013 and it’s my 400th… This is extraordinary when I think about my bloggy beginnings when I kept thinking ‘I’ve got nothing to say! ‘

Higgins and I went off to the beach this morning for some exercise out of the mud. It was beautiful…

and very quiet…

I don’t know who drew the line in the sand, but Higgins didn’t have any problem crossing it!

I’ve been doing quite a bit of reorganising in the studio after nearly a month of daily making. Creating chaos is one of my specialities and I couldn’t move by Christmas Day. Thank goodness I was able to shut the door on it and have Christmas indoors where there was a space to sit down! Anyway, it’s all right now…

…for a brief moment at least.

I have a new project on the horizon because we are anticipating a new arrival in the family next month. My nephew and his wife are expecting a baby, which is very exciting. (Isn’t it strange how being a Granny is fine, but being a Great Aunt somehow sounds incredibly ancient? Or is that just me?) I have it on good authority (from my sister who was wielding a paintbrush) that the nursery has been decorated in yellow so I’m planning a little baby blanket.

It just so happens that I have the ‘Sunshine’ yarn which replaced the Planet Penny ‘Buttercup’ when it was out of stock. It’s really pretty, but slightly different from the rest of the range because of the variagated shades of yellow and lemon. I’m combining it with some of the Planet Penny ‘Snowdrop’ which I had as a limited amount for the Christmas Crochet Kits to make a ripple blanket with a twist…

This it so far, but you can’t see the twist yet!

I’ve also been playing with the rest of the Planet Penny Cottons because I’ve had enquiries about buying the all the colours, but a smaller amount of each. This still gives plenty of scope for making little toys and bunting etc, any of the patterns on here or for sale on Etsy but less expensively and crucially lighter to post overseas. It’s a bit of a fiddle to weigh and wind but I have two to go on Etsy next week…

Approximately 25gms/62m per ball, 14 balls plus a crochet hook for £20.00. I’d be interested to know what you think. And if you’d like to buy them and can’t find them in the shop, please let me know. Create a demand!

I’m rather missing the snow on the blog now we’ve had to take the decorations down for Twelve Night so I’m having a play with the background I think this one is suitably wintry for January, but I have other plans so watch this space. However, as an eternal optimist and being well into the Spring yellow vibe with my crochet I’d just like to share this photo, taken at the end of my garden this very morning…

…and that’s not wintry at all!

I’ll leave you with a link to the first Handmade Monday of 2013 over on Handmade Harbour where the links will start at 6pm, and I shall get back to my crocheting!

See you soon….x

Advent Calendar – Day Twentyone

I’m hoping that the Advent Calendar for today is going to get posted and that the world hasn’t ended yet. Those Mayans have a lot to answer for!

For me, the 21st December is a special day because it’s the Winter Solstice, and this date always means so much more to me than the man made celebrations of New Year. The shortest day, and tomorrow the world in the Northern Hemisphere starts turning forward into the light. Now that’s something to celebrate! We usually get together with friends for a celebration as we did last year but with Tim offshore and various other reasons it’ll just be me, Higgins and Henry tonight!

But that’s why today’s Advent make is all about light, I’ve been making candle holders.

I’ve always got too many jam jars, and although I could recycle them so many are just too nicely shaped to drop in the bottle bank. And I love to light the room wth candles in the winter, it looks so pretty and festive, so I’ve rootled around in amongst my pretty bits and pieces and decorated an assortment of glass jars for holding tea lights.

With pretty paper (this is the time you can print out on the most basic and thin 80gsm printer paper!) Lace scraps, short lengths of ribbon, cord, string and trimmings your imagination can run riot and you can fill your mantelpiece or windowsill with twinkling prettiness.

I hope that’s inspired you, even if it’s only to get all the half used jars out of the cupboard and make jam tarts so you can decorate them!

Talking of cooking, I have a date in the kitchen. Tomorrow I’m meeting my sister and family over at my mum’s for lunch, and I’ve promised to take one of my most popular edible creations to the party. I’ll be bake tomorrow to share the recipe…

I’ll see you then, and in the meantime, Happy Solstice!

Advent Calendar – Day Twenty

Can you believe we’re at Day Twenty on the Advent Calendar? I’m out in the office with the rain hammering on the roof in a most unseasonable fashion, while Higgins makes the most of his cosy little bed by the heater.

I’ve never known a dog who likes to be wrapped in a blanket as much as Higgins does!

Anyway, despite the gloom I’ve managed to take some photos of today’s make. (I seem to have had my camera set to the ‘Low Light’ setting for days and days). I loved the music sheets from this post so much I was determined to use it some more, so this time I’ve made a Christmas Song Bird.

It’s very simple to make and lends itself to all sorts of variations depending on the paper you use. You need something fairly sturdy, or a light card. Double sided wrapping paper would be good or you could scan or photocopy on to both sides of your sheet of paper. For children you could draw out the shape first for them to colour it in, then cut out and complete.

Because this requires a template I have made the instructions as a PDF so you can print it out. You’ll find it by clicking on Christmas Song Bird right here, then clicking again on the link which comes up. This is first time I’ve tried this so do let me know if you have problems.

So that’s the Advent Calendar for today, and I’ll be back tomorrow if we haven’t been washed downstream!

See you then…x