Tag Archives: crochet

Beautiful Blues

I’m suffering from the Blues a bit here after last weekend. No lounging in the garden for me this time, but it’s all full on for Open Studios in 10 days time, and anyway the weather has gone back to it’s default setting – Rubbish! I can’t believe it’s nearly mid May and I’m back to lighting a fire in the evening. Not that the four legged members of the family are complaining, they can’t believe their luck!

I didn’t even find time to write a blog post either, and I’ve been collecting lots of photos over the week. Mother Nature is a lot more robust about the weather than I am, she’s in ‘I’ve started, so I’ll finish’ mode and the garden is filling up nicely, and the hedgerows and verges too.

I love the way Spring has a sequence of colours, it’s reminds me of the little mantra of names I run through when I’m packing the Planet Penny Cottons…Aubretia, Delphinium, Cornflower, Eggshell, Aqua, Jade, Apple, Lime, Buttercup, Marigold, Peach, Petal, Gerbera and Rose Red. Spring starts white, with Snowdrops, but almost immediately there are yellow Aconites…

photo: Van Muewen

…and then the Daffodils and Primroses arrive.

Not long after, pink is added to the mix, with Primulas, Tulips and all manner of blossoming trees. But get to May, and it’s blue…the Beautiful Blues and probably my favourite time of year. I’ve tried and failed so often to capture that mysterious ethereal blue of the Bluebells but it always defeats my little camera…

…and anyway I can’t catch that glorious smell and save it in a file on the computer, can I? It’s an experience, and all the more exquisite because it’s impossible to completely capture it.

In the garden, there are Forget-me-nots.

….Periwinkles…

and Cornflowers, and quite a few of the ‘Wrong sort of Bluebell’ , a European interloper, very prolific but not quite achieving deep glow of our native species. Still, it looks pretty good as a flower arrangement…

There are also Irises, but I can never bring myself to pick those…

…aren’t they amazing?

Back in the studio the challenge is to turn the working space of one incredibly messy worker (Moi!) into an exhibition space for two, and it’s a l-o-n-g job. I can always think of so many things I would rather do than tidy up! T’was ever thus. My dear Mamma, listening to me moaning said, ‘Well, you always used to stuff things under your bed…’ Too late….full!

I’ve tried hard to keep the creative vibe going though. I mentioned the on going white cotton theme in this post, and I’ve at last found time to complete the project which required it. I found this gorgeous pattern…

…with a tutorial here which was just perfect for the Planet Penny colours. One day I might have time to make a throw, but in the meantime, there is this…

It looks perfect on the dresser.

If you are looking for white cotton, there are still a couple of packs left from this post and of course all the other colours can be found in the Etsy shop.

I might be a little random in my appearances over the next week or so, there are a couple of family birthdays, a confirmation and much travelling round the country coming up, but I’ll be back, like the proverbial ‘Bad Penny’!

See you soon …x

The Right White

I can’t believe it’s sunny again! The Spring has taken so long to arrive but it’s so nice to be able to get out with Higgins for a walk with the camera.

I’ve just trawled back through the May posts for 2010, 2011, 2012 and been amazed at the flowers I photographed then. the cherry blossom was out, lupins and poppies, tulips, wisteria and roses. There’s an awful lot of catching up to do. I’m really hoping the back yard get’s a move on or it will look like a desert for Open Studios!

On our walk however, I was looking for ‘White’ and I found it. A daisy…

..a feather…

…white sloe blossom…

…and stitchwort…

Higgins tends to get a little impatient with all the stop/start on his walks. He does like to keep an eye on me at all times, and if he’s wandered away and found something really interesting (and probably revolting!) just hiding behind something is the best way to attract his attention. He come’s hurtling round the corner convinced I’m eating all the dog treats!

I’ve been thinking about white because I’ve been planning to add white to the Planet Penny Cotton range, as I’ve had quite a few requests. I trialled it at Christmas for the Christmas Crochet Bunting kits and was very pleased with it. However I’ve been caught out with the dreaded dye batch anomaly, and the yarn I received is not quite the the right white to put the Snowdrop labels on. I’m probably being over fussy as it’s the same lovely quality and the difference is very slight. But I’ve decided to sell it on at a reduced price because it may be just what you need to create a bag, or some bunting or edge your granny squares.

There are just 7, SEVEN, packs left now priced at £20.00, which is £2.00 a 50g/125m ball instead of the usual £2.60 and is a light DK weight. If you would like to purchase a pack just leave a message on the contact form with your email address and I will get in touch to arrange payment. The postage in the UK is £3.50, for elsewhere, please ask me.

And now I’m going to get back out into the sunshine and do a spot of gardening. I think Higgins will be assuming his usual gardening position, however…

…you just can’t get the staff!

See you soon…x

P.S. Don’t forget, there is still time to enter the Planet Penny MOO Prize Draw and win yourself some gorgeous business cards!

Waiting for Spring

Happy Easter! It seems strange to start a post entitled ‘Waiting for Spring’ that way but we are really stuck in some topsy turvy weather at the moment. Hard to credit getting up on the first morning after the clocks change for British Summer Time to a sprinkling of snow! We’ve actually got off lightly here in Norfolk as far as snow goes, the pictures of devastated farmers digging their sheep out of snowdrifts in other parts of the country have been heartbreaking. We’ve just got the Arctic blast coming straight off the North Sea and hitting us sitting on the exposed lumpy bit sticking out of the East of England to contend with.

So I’m sharing a pretty Spring like picture to cheer us up…

Higgins is not a fan of going out in the cold and I’ve had a running battle with him over the building of dachshund ‘nests’ out of the soft furnishings. He’s only really happy when he has buried himself and if he finds himself on the sofa with no available ‘blankie’ he will grizzle until he’s been covered up.

Since he’s eaten the corners of all the old cushions he now has a cushion of his very own, and a fleece blanket he can do whatever he likes with. Unfortunately, he feels these are just not good enough, and compare very poorly with the fluffy throw I have draped over the back of the sofa, and the new velvet cushions in anemone colours I rashly bought a few weeks ago.

Every time my back is turned, this happens…

…and he might look guilty…

…but that doesn’t mean he’s going to move!

I’ve reached a bit of a hiatus on Planet Penny just now. It’s always slightly problematic judging stock levels with the Planet Penny cotton because I don’t have a huge amount of space to store it. Unfortunately an unexpected rush of orders has coincided with a couple of colours being out of stock at the suppliers so it’ll be first come first served on the few packs remaining until the middle of April.

But…

There are some changes afoot. I’ll be trialling a new pack, which some of you have been asking about for a while AND I have a new venture in the pipeline which I will tell you about later on in the year, so I’m not standing still by any means.

Meanwhile, Open Studios is on the horizon and I have started an ambitious needlefelted piece for exhibition so a lull on the cotton front is probably a good thing. There are only so many hours in the day! It’s refreshing change to be doing something creative and challenging just for me, I hope it turns out looking at least a little bit like the image in my head.

Just a reminder, the Bunny crochet pattern offer ends tomorrow, Easter Monday at 5pm UK time. After that it will be available through the Etsy shop, but for now it’s still yours for FREE!

I changed the yarn to make this version, a big soft squidgy version as a baby toy…

I’m off now to dig Higgins out of his latest nest, put on his coat and march him round a field or two…

…and then get back to my felting needle. Don’t forget to nip over the Handmade Harbour to see what’s going on for Handmade Monday this week.

I’ll see you soon…x

Challenges, and the Easter Bunny

I think we’ve all been a bit challenged in the UK this week, by the weather! What’s it been like with you? We haven’t had huge amounts of snow here in Norfolk, but we are very exposed to the biting wind heading our way across the North Sea: it seems to have been howling down the chimney for days. It’s hard to believe it’s Easter next weekend, the poor old Easter Bunny is going to have to wear his thermals to do his chocolate egg deliveries!

My main challenge over the week was a talk I had promised to give, months ago. You know how you agree to these things and they seem so far away in the distance and then suddenly, it’s here and you are wondering why on earth you agreed to it! I headed off to Beccles, which is just over the border into Suffolk to give a talk to the Spinners and Weavers Guild about Needlefelting. I sort of had a feeling I might be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, as the saying goes. Then I found out there might well be over 30 people there and…ooo-er…!

As it was, it was fine. After I got over my initial dry mouthed panic as I was introduced and stood there with no notes, no script but lots of props it went very well.

They were a lovely audience and very keen to set to with needles and fleece to have a go themselves after I’d finished the talk.

As they were all textile practitioners they were happy to be experimental rather than being given a project and although there wasn’t a huge amount of time – and needlefelt is very time consuming – they came up with some jolly pieces and all seemed to have fun.

However, I also had another challenge, and that was definitely down to the Easter Bunny! I’ve been feeling so bad because I have been promising to write up the pattern for the bunny I made last Easter and my goodness, haven’t I got myself in a pickle with it! And all of a sudden, there’s only a week to go! I am sorry, aren’t I rubbish? I think I’ve just been over thinking what I was doing, and seemed to spend ages ripping out and redoing the same piece. Then suddenly, it all fell into place and the pattern is finished.

I’m on the way to having a complete Bunny Brigade…

As you can see, they each have their own personality, right down to a challenger for Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer’s title! (Percy, the Pink Nosed Bunny?)

So I’m thinking of an Easter present for you. From now until after Easter the pattern will be available FREE as a downloadable PDF right HERE! (This offer has expired, but the bunny will be available soon via the Etsy Shop) There is a Planet Penny Bunny Brigade group board on Pinterest so if you would like to add your version of the bunny just let me know and I can invite you. You obviously have to be on Pinterest yourself and I have to be following at least one of your boards (but that can easily be arranged!) Although I’ve made the Bunnies using the Planet Penny Cotton, they can be made using any yarn oddments, just match your hook to the yarn. You can find out more about that in this post.

This is a limited offer, but I’d like to give my followers and customers a head start. Although there’s only a week till Easter, they only take an hour or two to make so I’m sure we could have a wonderful board full of bunnies on Pinterest very soon, let me know what you think.

Finally, for those of you who read last week’s post about delivering Clovis, the Mad French Cat to his home by the sea you might be interested in a follow up tale (tail?) from his new home. Visit Thomas’s blog to find out how he’s settling in, and have a chortle. Tom seems to think there’s not a lot of call for cat stories, so if you disagree do leave a comment with him. I need more pictures like that!

I’m joining in again with Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour so do pay a visit to see what’s going on…

Back soon…x

Feeling Blue…and Grey.

This is a post in two halves because I’ve had a few days where my usual Pollyanna disposition has been conspicuous by it’s absence. I’ve been in two minds too, as to whether to even write the post but in the end I felt that appearing relentlessly upbeat is probably a tad annoying and maybe letting on about the down times is a good thing (occasionally)

It’s not been helped by the weather. Not just the cold, but the unrelenting gloom. I don’t function well under sullen grey skies and feel like I’m carrying the weight of them around balanced on the top of my head. I know this means I’m feeling blue but I love blue, and grey, well not so much.

Add to this an M.E. flare up, my other half being in the middle of the North Sea and the boys heading off back home to the South Coast it’s been a bit grim round here, I’ve definitely been Mrs Grumpy.

But today there was sunshine.

The aches and pains have subsided a little so I could enjoy my walk with Higgins properly and I could almost see the flowers in the garden opening…

Apparently the Met Office consider March 1st as the first day of Spring, so the end is in sight. Lets hope it sweeps the grey away!

I celebrated the sunshine by announcing an upcoming Facebook Giveaway which will happen when I reach the 2000 ‘likes’ milestone so if you’d like the join in the link is here.

…and I also indulged in some silliness with a little sheep. I retired the sheep I’d had on my keyring for some years when I changed my car and swapped it for a crochet heart keyring, but despite looking a little battered and tired I couldn’t bear to part with her.

So after a quick wizz around in the washing machine she has now been spruced up and given another car based role. Together with her knitting she’s going back in the car to sit on the dashboard to bring a spot of Planet Penny colour to what is alas, a grey car!

Next step, a crochet cushion or two!

Back soon …x

Mollie Makes and a Little Down Time

This was the week that I finally decided I wasn’t going to beat the bugs on my own and headed off to the doctor. So, with a large box of antibiotics and some concern from the doc that I’ve been overdoing things I’ve tried very hard to keep myself confined to the sofa. This was helped by Higgins’ favourite Post Lady arriving with my copy of Mollie Makes with a crochet project which looked right up my street.

I’ve been very focused lately on creating my own original ideas so it was nice to relax and enjoy someone else’s pattern! This garland has been devised exclusively for Mollie Makes by Emma Lamb and is very easy, and oh so pretty. I love Emma’s colour palette, very delicate and pretty and very much in the Mollie Makes style.

But I have lots of odds and ends of Planet Penny cotton in the Planet Penny palette so I’ve made my own interpretation of Emma’s garland…

Nothing delicate about this colour palette!

I thought it might be fun to try a little Mollie Makes styling for the photos…

I don’t know whether all that was strictly restful, but I am definitely on the mend now!

This is a perfect project for using up yarn from other projects, and I found the Planet Penny Cotton ideal. I’ve just been looking on line for approximate yarn prices and found that Debbie Bliss Cotton, 50g /84m is around £3.30 a ball and Rowan Cotton Glace 50g/115m is around £4.95 per ball. The Planet Penny Cotton packs are £36.50 per pack of 14 50g/125m balls making them just £2.60 per ball. I like it more than ever!

Spring is trying hard to arrive here in Norfolk, it was very nearly mild yesterday, and taking my camera out when Higgins and I go walking is essential. Otherwise I’d miss recording little sights like this…

…and yesterday’s evening sky…

And finally, I know some of you feel deprived if you don’t get your Higgins fix and he has been working very hard at being cute this week. (He needs to, he’s eaten the corners off yet another cushion!)

I’m joining in as usual with Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour which starts on this evening. I’m off to walk Higgins while the sun shines and I’ll be back soon….x