Tag Archives: Norfolk

It’s where I grew up and where I live

Back in the Dye Bath…

D’you remember the fun I had couple of weeks customising  my bargain tunic top from Cotton Traders in this post?  Well I bought a couple more and I’ve been back in the dye bath with those packets of Dylon dye again.

I have to admit to initially being a teensy bit disappointed with the results, I rather thought I was going to get a deep lavender colour and a dark blue, and what I got was a pastel lavender and a rather grey blue…

dyed shirts

…and as you know I do like my saturated colours!  But rather than buying yet more dye and trying again I decided to go with the flow and see what I could do to make them more ‘me’.

Before I emptied my entire button collection out of the big (very!) box where they are stashed I remembered a little collection dating back several years from a little handmade dress shop in Norwich which unfortunately closed down.  I knew one day I’d have the project  which needed a selection of tiny fabric buttons and I only had to wait about 10 years for that moment to come!

I think I bought 300, well I’ve used 11 of them now, 289 to go!

As well as changing the original buttons, I’ve also stitch an extra one in between each of the functioning buttons and I really like the effect…

(looking at this next photo it’s actually just the colour I was hoping for…ho hum! )

The dark one?  Well I have a cunning plan, but haven’t quite executed it yet so watch this space!

It’s all been rather lovely here the past couple of days.  It always seems to happen when the children go back to school doesn’t it?

Norfolk field

I’m going to try and take Higgins out for a walk in few minutes.  It all went very wrong yesterday when we set out a good pace, got about 200 yards from the house and someone fired a gun several fields away.  Without flinching. or breaking stride Higgins wheeled round and headed back home at a brisk trot…and that was that!  Hopeless gun dog!

Back soon….x

A Brief Pause…

I hope everyone has been able to enjoy the belated summer sunshine over the last week.  It’s been lovely in Norfolk which has been quite a relief with two little boys to entertain!  As you can imagine, not a lot of Planet Penny business has been undertaken over the past few days, we’ve had a brief pause for some fun and picnics on the beach…

…with sausages on the menu of course!  And eating in the garden late in the evening has been lovely.

So with no real brain power free to think about crochet and patterns, I’ve been needlefelting some bases to be worked on when it all goes quiet in a couple of days, with no little boys to entertain.  I’m very aware my new Etsy shop hasn’t yet featured any needlefelted pieces, and I have had several requests for my little lovebirds…

needlefelt lovebirds in wool hearts

…so these are next on the agenda.

So I hope you’ll understand why this post is just a short one, as I’m snatching a few minutes on the last day of the visit to link up with Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour.

I’ll be back soon though!

x

Crochet, Cats and Crochet Mice….

Welcome back to Planet Penny and another Handmade Monday post.  It’s also a catch up post, because last week I didn’t feel able to bring you up to date with the ‘Clovis the Cat Saga’ because I was dreading the outcome.  But I’m back now, with more crochet, more mice, and even more cats!

If you’ve not visited before, Clovis is my ‘foster’ cat, living with my mum and who suffered a nasty accident 10 days ago, you can find out more in this post.  Last weekend he was safely ensconced in his crate, and I thought I had the after-care sussed.  That was before the Break Out, when he hefted his 8 kilos plus frame out of the crate just as I was juggling with a used earth tray (YUK!) and got out outside!!

To cut a very long story and traumatic story short, he got out, panicked, ran under the neighbour’s car, got up inside the car while we searched elsewhere.  Reappeared several hours later when the neighbour started the car and belted down the garden on three legs and vanished into the undergrowth.  Hours of fruitless searching and calling later I gave up for the night, hoping he would creep in via the catflap under cover of darkness.  The next morning my mum went to look for him inside…no sign… By now it was raining, and I went back to search, dressed in waterproofs and wellies…convinced that he had displaced the pins, caused an infection, had soggy bandages,  was lying somewhere in pain and unable to move and it was all my fault

The neighbour came out and suggested starting his car again, just to make sure he hadn’t gone back underneath, and, just on the off chance before he did, I went back inside  just to check Clovis wasn’t inside.  And there he was, on the bed in the spare room!!!  I couldn’t get near enough to check him over, so I shut him in with food, water and a tray and left him alone over night to recover his nerves, as the following day I had to catch him again and take him to the vet.

Against all the odds he was absolutely fine, I meanwhile have aged 10 years….

Tabby cat on a patchwork quilt with a purple bandage

Tomorrow of course, I have to catch him again for the next vet visit, please wish me luck!

However, I have still fitted in some creativity, the first being a little ‘Granny’ project with the Planet Penny Cotton.  It’s fun making all the little bits and bobs with the rainbow colours, but I wanted to make something pretty for the home…

Crochet 'Granny' squares on Provencal Print

This small remnant of beautiful vintage Provençal Print was crying out to be a cushion back…

Provençal Print cushion back

…and I was pretty pleased with the front too!

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion detail with button

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion detail with orange button

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion on polka dots

Planet Penny Cotton Cushion on school chair

I can’t get away from pussy cats though, while my back was turned Henry decided to give it a quality control check!

Tabby Cat on Crochet cushion

…it passed!

And the crochet mice?

Well, after my last post about using different yarns and hooks to change the size of the mice on the Mouse Patterns, I had lots of comments via the Planet Penny Facebook Page about the cuteness of the teeny tiny mice made from Coton Perlé using the Planet Penny Mini Mice pattern.  I’ve raided my embroidery basket to make some pretty little crochet mouse hair slides…

crochet mice hair ornaments

a handful of crochet mice hair ornaments

crochet mice hair ornaments

blue/green crochet mice hair slides

and have now bought a mini rainbow selection to have a play with using this much finer crochet hook…

Very happy colours!

a rainbow of embroidery threads

I hope you’ve had a slightly less exciting time where ever you have been over the last week.  I know I’ve given the impression with my photos lately that Norfolk has been having the summer no one else has had, but we’ve had our share of wet days too.  It’s St Swithin’s Day today, and this is supposed to happen…

‘St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mair.’

So far around here it’s been dry, so fingers crossed!

I’ll leave you with the usual link to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour where you can find lots of lovely blogs to visit…

See you soon …x

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...