Tuesday Tallies - On Wednesday, oopsie

Hi Everyone,

I started my new one a day project. Its a granny stripe blanket using Stylecraft DK, colour combination and pattern from Lucy at Attic 24. Progress is going well. I needed to pick a project that I had the yarn for and that wouldn't require huge amounts of concentration. Time is precious so I needed to have a project that could be picked up without ten minutes figuring out where I was when I last put it down. This is perfect for that. I have all the yarn bands numbered in their order so its just a case of reach into the stash, grab the colour change and continue. That's as complicated as it gets.

I started last Wednesday so i'm exactly a week at it. I started with 240ch and I plan to continue in length until it is roughly a square. I have each colour done once and there's 17 colours in all, 2 rows in each stripe so that's a total of 34 rows this week. I know each week won't be as good as this but i'm hoping that i'll get a colour a day(2rows) done.

I hope everyone else is getting on well. I don't think Gingerbread Girl has posted this week so if she hasn't everyone's progress can be checked out on the groups Ravelry page.

I mentioned yesterday that I'm giving my All About Granny Blanket to my aunt. She's been very good to us and i'm glad its going to a good home. I hope she'll get the use out of it. Here she is all wrapped up and ready to go.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Surprise Parcels

Hi Everyone,

Its official, I have the best husband in the world ever. I am so so so lucky. This morning the postman arrived with not one but two surprise parcels. One was a beautiful pair of stud earrings. I had recently lost one of my studs and had been switching my remaining stud between ears to stop them closing up.

The second parcel though is the one I am most excited about. It is the All Sewn Up book by Chloe Owens. I saw a review of it recently and I had shown a photo of the owl cushion to my husband. It looked like a beautiful book and got a great review so I put the reference in my Amazon wishlist and thought no more off it till this morning when I opened my second parcel.

I thought I would burst with excitement when I started going through the book. It is absolutely stunning and inspiring. I could not put it down. From the first pattern to the last, they are all patterns I would try. I think I'm going to start with the Springtime Showers Mobile. I'm also going to do the Customised Lampshade Covers because I have three plain cream lampshades around the house and it would be nice to have a burst of colour on them. Not too mention trying the Owl Cushion. I have the kid in a candy store feeling where I don't really know what to do first.

All this reading is making me neglect my granny stripe blanket but I have the 7 rows done for the week so I'm happy. More on that tomorrow on Tuesday Tallies. Oh and I decided I'm going to give my All about Granny blanket to my Aunt as a present. She's always very good to us and I know she'll like it. I want it to go to a good home where it will get use and I'm sure it will there.

Hope you all had a good weekend. See you tomorrow for One a Day.

Happy Crafting, x

Horray for Friday

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all had a good week. Things are good here. Enjoying time with my little man so not getting much done. Sorry I didn't post for the one a day. I was trying to pick my next project. I made myself a promise that everything I make this year has to be able to be entered into the agricultural shows crafts section during the summer. Having that said though I always have an overwhelming urge to make blankets, which I could enter but they rarely win. So I decided the heart must win out over the head. Therefore I've began another blanket for the one a day. I picked Lucy's Granny Stripe Blanket from Attic24 because I had the yarn and it was a pattern that I could remember easily.

I began it on Wednesday and I love it already. It's easy to follow and I don't have to spend 10 minutes trying to remember where I was when I pick it up. Just what I need at the moment.

I do have a little confession though. I justified picking this pattern because I had the yarn but I had been using some of the yarn for other projects so I may have to buy more, oops :)

I will definitely do the hexagon blanket after this one, I just needed something that didn't require alot of concentration now.

I'm still working on the tea cosy I started 2 weeks ago. I worked up both sides in a day, I just have buttons to finish it off so its sitting WIP pile. Oh and it still needs to be blocked.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Happy Crocheting, x

Ta-Dah - Finaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy

Hi Everyone,

All about Granny is finally finished. Well it would have been finished months ago if I hadn't been so slow, picked a regular join and had calculated yarn amounts correctly. Anyway its finished now and i'm relieved.

I did a granny stripe around the edge and then a final row to edge it. For that I did a 6tr together in a chain space (like a scallop) then 1ch and a slip stitch in the next ch sp and repeated it around. (6tr, 1ch, sl st, 1ch, rep to end).

It's very snug but very droopy if that makes sense. The yarn was a wool blend and very soft so I probably should have used a smaller hook if I wanted a tighter stitch and more rigid finish. The main thing is though is that its snug and warm which is what is needed on a cold winters night.

So now its time to decide on the next project. I started a tea cosy Friday which I'll finish while I decide what to do next. Maybe some cushions would be nice.

How are you all getting on? I'm looking forward to checking out everyone's progress over at Gingerbread Girl.

Have a good week.

Happy Crocheting, x

Happy Friday Everyone

Hi Everyone,

Happy Friday. I hope you have had a lovely week. Recently I've had a busy time, like so many of you out there, with lots of worries. I really try to be positive. Its so refreshing to enter blog land and find so many inspirational and talented people that very kindly share all their work with us. It definitely brightens up my day.

I was a little fed up with sewing in ends this morning so I decided to look up tea cosies. I found a beautiful pattern and blog from Jenny in Australia. Her blog is called JustJen - Knits & Stitches, link here.

I found her ripple tea cosy pattern, this is Jenny's picture above of her finished cosy. It is just beautiful, I LOVE it.

I've eagerly dug into the stash and pulled out some nice bright stylecraft yarn. I'm very excited to get it started and its definitely brightened up my day. Hopefully I'll have some more tea cosy goodness to share very soon :)

Have a great weekend.

Happy Crocheting, x

Tea Cosy Love

Hi Everyone,

I hope your all having a good week. I was delighted to be awarded the Versatile Blogger Award by two more lovely bloggers, Judy at Vintage Homespun and Jill at Stocki. Thank you very much to both of you, I really enjoy reading your blogs and i'm delighted that you both enjoy my blog. Its been a hectic week so far with hospital appointments for Ben but i'll try before long to think up some more random bits about myself and pass on the award to some more favourite blogs.

Once again I missed Tuesday Tallies on the One a Day. I'm still sewing in those pesky ends but i'm sooooooooooooo close to being finished.

I did finally finish a tea cosy I was making from the book Cute and Easy Crochet so I'm delighted to have a little ta-dah moment for the week. I love tea cosies, tea just tastes so much better from a tea cosy snuggled tea pot :)

This is the second tea cosy i've crocheted. I also crocheted a tea cosy from Crochet with Raymonds blog. I love both of them and I found both of them easy to make so would definitely recommend them. The tutorial for Crochet with Raymond is here.

This week was my husbands birthday so I made his favourite Lemon tart and Chocolate cake. I'll leave with a picture of the chocolate, it was yummy.

Have a great week. Until next time,
Happy Crocheting, x

Versatile Blogger Award

Hi Everyone,

I hope your all having a lovely weekend. I was recently given the Versatile Blogger Award from Kashi at Kashi's Corner. I am delighted to get this award and even more delighted that Kashi and others enjoy reading my blog. I am relatively new to blogging and I love getting to know people with the same interests as me, its an inspiration and really great fun. Thank you Kashi for the award, it means alot to me and I am grateful :)

The rules of the award are:

1. Add the award to your blog;

2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you;

3. Mention 7 random things about yourself;

4. List the rules;

5. Award to 15 bloggers; and 

6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

Hmmmmmm, 7 random things about me, well lets see:

1. I have a phobia of tomato ketchup. I hate it and I can't even touch a plate if its on it, how weird is that :)

2. I burned 2 fingers on my right hand when I was a toddler, I put my hand over a candle and didn't think to take it out, oooopsie

3. I have an honours degree in Chemistry and a Masters Degree in Environmental Science

4. I met my husband when I was 17

5. I really am addicted to books, I just love books especially craft and cook books

6. I LOVE Christmas

7. I love a hot cup of tea first thing in the morning, it sets me up for the day

Now to pick 15 bloggers to give the award too, this will be tough because I love Kashi's blog and her list, alot of them are my favourites too. :  

1. Rose & Dahlia

2. Little Woolie

3. Sew On and Sew On

4. Unravelled

5. Lori Makes

6. Bunny Mummy

7. Coco Rose Diaries

8. Country Rose

9. Crea in the City

10. Ali G Knits

11. Sweet Birdy Love

12. Tales from Cuckoo Land

13. Sew I See

14. Off the Hook on the East Coast

15. Knitspiring Odyssey

I didn't like to overlap my choices so the following blogs are the ones Kashi nominated but I also really enjoy them. They're really worth checking out:

All4Meggymoo, Faith, Hilly Town Blue, Stocki, Vintage Homespun, Little Things Made with Love 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. 

Happy Crocheting, x