Tag Archives: crochet blanket

Planet Penny Cotton Colours – A New Look

I mentioned recently news about the Planet Penny Cotton which I sell via the Etsy Shop, it’s got a new look!

I’ve been deliberating for a long time about the colour range. I love it still, and didn’t want to change something which works so well, but from the feedback I’ve been getting it needed a slight tweak. The pack now consists of 12 colours. It looks more vibrant without the two pastel shades, and of course it’s now cheaper!

From the administrative point of view it solves a couple of niggles too, so I hope everyone is happy with it. (Anyone mid-project relying on purchasing a second 14 ball pack please contact me for help)

What helped me take the final step was seeing this gorgeous blanket made by Alison, one of my customers using the Planet Penny Cotton..

This what Alison said about her method of making the blanket:

“This was a Lucy ripple and I believe I did 196 stitches plus the extra 3.(or whatever was divisible by 3, I think I had a few more on the start chain and unpicked from the start when I had done my first row as I wanted). I have done three rows of each of the colours Apple, Lime, Buttercup, Marigold, Peach, RoseBud, Gerbera, Aubretia, Cornflower, Delphinium, Aqua and Jade. We have ended up with 4 sets of 12 colours, the finished blanket is about 96cm x 152cm. I have a small amount of each ball left, so a ball did six rows.”

As Alison said, it’s an Attic 24 Ripple pattern which you will find here and you can buy the yarn here.

If you would prefer to buy outside Etsy then you can purchase through Planet Penny Direct Sales here.

I hope that’s inspired you! It’s always nice to have a little Rainbow colour infusion…

I’m off into the sunshine now. I have grandsons visiting for a few days. They’ve been off to the North Norfolk coast today but I’ve promised them a spot of Granny style crafting when they come back so I shall have a few minutes rest in the garden before they get home.

See you 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

Bringing the Rainbow Home…

Hello, and Happy Monday! And it’s Handmade Monday too, so lots of lovely links on the Ist Uniques Gifts blog to follow to see what other crafty things are going on.

I’ve just about recovered from our long day on Friday, which ended up with a Chinese takeaway at 9pm! I’m so glad we had a nice coach driver to get us there and back too, or I might have been found still in the hall on packing up day, asleep round the back of a stall on a pile of wool…

So much to see at the Knitting and Stitching Show, I did try to focus on the knitting, crochet and yarn, and not be distracted by embroidery, cross-stitch, dyeing, machining, fabrics, jewellery and…and…!

It was actually quite hard to photograph. Not everyone was happy with photos being taken, and a lot of the time it was hard to get past the crowds, but here is a flavour…

The venue, Alexandra Palace, has an interesting history and a wonderful view of London…

…and inside…

There were exhibitions too…

…I think this might give Higgins a fright!

I found Sasha Kagan and a blast from the past, I remember my mother knitting this one in the eighties…

I could have spent a fortune, so many beautiful yarns, but at least I could gather up cards for contacts and websites so I can browse online. I was very happy to find this company…

because they have a fabulous shade card…

It was lovely to find Sarah at Blooming Felt, I did spend a bit there ….umm…

There were big jars full of little felt balls like a sweetie shop, SO pretty!

Fell for these gorgeous buttons…

…and some bobbly blue yarn..

…and then I found something completely different, but it was just my colours…

I know. You’re looking and thinking, but there’s black, and orange, those aren’t Planet Penny colours.

But look…

…and watch this…

…and now I have a rainbow ball to hang from the ceiling to add a little happiness to the forth coming winter gloom…

So after that paper folding episode, I’d better get back to business, and my crochet rainbow…

Tonight’s the night for the Naming of the Cow, and the draw so do call back in a couple of days and find out what went on!

See you then x

A Wave in Passing…

…to Handmade Monday! I shouldn’t really be here…I’m packing….. but I just had to fit in a quick post before we take off for a few days at the seaside.

I do seem to have packed quite a lot of little projects to take with me, you know, just in case. It would be terrible to have idle hands!

So, there are the birthday socks to finish…

…a few more squares to add to the blanket…

…and if I need a change, something warm and snuggly to made from this, I haven’t decided quite what yet…

as well as a couple of books, my camera, notebook….

I’ve just time to share the birthday cake, (well, pictures of it, that’s all that’s left!) which I made for a friend’s birthday party over the weekend. An extremely clever friend who built his own car….

…like this…

When I come home I will share the recipe of this, the most chocolatey chocolate cake in the world…it’s called Clovis cake!

All will be explained…..

So do pop along to Handmade Monday 31 to see who else is joining in. Sorry to be so brief, Higgins and I will be back soon with tales of holiday fun….

Byeeee! xx

Accelerated Aging

I’ve just had a birthday so I don’t need any more help towards wrinkles and grey hair. Higgins however is doing his best.

I’ve been a little lax on the blogging front lately, mainly due to a lack of photography rather than a lack of material so I decided to have a little photoshoot this afternoon. I have to confess to a lack of originality for my latest project as I have been drawn back a number of times to Lucy’s technicolour blanket. The colours are just SO scrummy! I copied the list and left it at my favourite wool shop, and when a week later I had a call to say all the shades were in I dropped everything to go into Norwich to pick up my rainbow in a bag and came home to drool over the bright sugariness of the colours.

I toyed with another zigzag stripe but I’ve just made two in quick succession and I know my boredom levels are low. I decided on squares, not granny squares, too much stopping and starting and ends. Big squares, using all seventeen colours, but in a different order ever time.

This way, hopefully, all the colours will run down at about the same rate and I can experiment with different combinations and be inspired for future projects. I used my lovely blue studio sofa bed as a back drop, but despite being higher than our main sofa, Higgins’ ‘Zebedee’ springs meant that he went ‘boing’, and joined in.

It was afterwards, when I was downloading the pictures on to the computer that I heard suspicious noises from under the sofa bed. (If Higgins is behind or under something, there is always something illegal going on) There he was right at the back and out of reach, with a 2” long needle hanging out of one side of his mouth like a cigarette which meant he’d probably already swallowed the yarn threaded through it. Panic stations…my only hope was to lure him out with a bribe, but by the time I got back with the doggie treats, the needle had gone.

PANIC STATIONS! Ring the vet. It’s Sunday. Listen to the recorded message telling me the opening hours. That there is an emergency service. Where the emergency is situated. And then at last, the emergency service number. Ring the number. Recorded message explaining the function of the emergency service. That it costs £80. Eighty Pounds! That it’s for emergencies only. At last, Gemma, the vet. I’ve usefully spent the time on the phone so far hyperventilating and crying and trying to control same. Managed to explain what happened coherently. Gemma says get here as soon as possible. Right. Fine. Oh God! Can’t find the map. Can’t SEE Google maps.
I sort of know where to go, but it’s about 15 miles away, the other side of Norwich, I’m a wet mess and Tim is in the middle of the North Sea. Oblivious.

Deep breaths. I can do this. Higgins strapped into the car next to me looking bemused. Set off. I CAN do this. A hundred yards down the road, look at Higgins. Higgins looks at me. Spits out the needle…

It’s bent, the thread has gone and the eye has broken. I turn round, go home and call the vet again. She’s very pleased, we have gone from ‘Dire Emergency’ to ‘Keeping An Eye on Him’ and ‘Checking Out His Poos’.

And so here we are. On the sofa. Higgins, exhausted by my histrionics, snoring…

…and me, trying to regain my composure with a glass of wine…and another crochet square…

Presents, and keeping out of mischief…

Anyone reading my blog would think that all I do is shopping, a bit of gardening and running round after Higgins. Actually I do a lot of running round after Higgins, but despite that I have managed to fit in a bit of making . (Only today I was remaking the garden hose after someone – I wonder who? – bit twenty metres off the end. The hosepipe ban monitors are recruiting early it seems.)

Before I went to visit the family in France I had my usual panic when I realised that the thing I had been planning in my head for months has still not actually been made. At Christmas I had come home with a little cross stitch kit which had been given to my daughter-in-law. I’m afraid it flummoxed me completely, and having got to the ‘throw-it-on-the-floor-and-stamp-on-it stage I took it round to my mum, who took one look and polished it off in a couple of days. (Looking at this I now realise there will be any number of people baffled by my ineptitude but there were three different reds and life is too short…)

I really wanted to turn it into something useful for Celia, rather than something that sits and gathers dust and decided it could make a great replacement for the Yellow Plastic Bag. (The Yellow Plastic Bag has been the home of Celia’s sewing kit for quite some time and is where I rummage for needles and threads when I lose my own when on holiday – don’t ask…) Anyway, I had a big plan and all of a sudden I realised that that was all it was, a plan, and I had better get on with it. And eventually, this was it… (Spotty tablecloth courtesy of Celia) Meanwhile, Rose, Celia’s mum and the other half of the Belle Mere Mafia had already announced that on retirement she intended to knit socks so obviously a knitting bag was needed… Sewing completed, I also needed a little something to keep my hands occupied while travelling. I’ve been following Lucy at Attic 24 and her efforts to find a reasonably priced acrylic yarn with a good range of colours and she is now making a blanket in Stylecraft Special DK, priced at £1.60 a ball. I was triumphant when I found that the nice lady on Norwich Market not only carries ALL the colours in the range, but she only charges £1.49 a ball, for 100grams! What a bargain! I recently finished a UFO which had been languishing in a bag for too long, so long in fact I’ve lost the ball bands so I can’t tell you what the yarn is. It is also acrylic, beautifully soft though, but I do remember the colour range was quite limited. I really like the colours I used though, and love the zigzags so I thought I’d go for a bigger version of a snuggly blankie for winter evenings. After a happy half hour at the wool stall gathering various combinations of colours together, I eventually ended up with this… …selection of colours. I started the blanket off in the car as we travelled through the Channel Tunnel, it kept me company watching DVDs with the grandsons, and chatting in the evenings with a glass of wine (or two!) It’s coming along nicely, I’ve got to the point where it’s just about square, so I’ll have judge when the proportions are just right. The zigzag effect is so easy, and I love the slightly Missoni feel to it. If you’d like a tutorial do let me know. I haven’t written one yet but I’m happy to if it would help. It’s certainly a good project for a beginner because you don’t have all the colour changes involved with granny squares which can be a bit distracting. Crochet can be so relaxing when it just flows…
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