Thank You - Liebster Blog Award

Hi Everyone,

I just received some super exciting news, I was nominated for the Liebster Blogger Award by Shelley at All4MeggyMoo. I am over the moon and it really means so so much to me. Thank you Shelley, this was a lovely nod of approval and I am honored that you enjoy visiting my blog.

When I began this blog I worried that I wouldn't have enough things to blog about. That was not the case. I've a list a mile long and not enough hours in the day to write about everything. What I didn't anticipate though was that through blogging I would become part of an online group of friends. It's really great to get to know people with similar interests that can share ideas and offer words of praise and encouragement. 

I have found so many fabulous blogs which I really enjoy visiting. When I saw that I could nominate 5 blogs I love to visit, I was in a real dilemma. How can I pick just 5, it's a very difficult decision. On my blog there is a full list of my favourite blogs and besides the following 5 brilliant bloggers there are some more on this list that I also love.

So, without further ado, here are my 5 favourite blogs to visit :)

1. Sew On and Sew On

2. Bella Bee and Me

3. Lori Makes

4. Vintage Homespun

5. Faith

I hope you get the chance to check out these blogs, they are very talented people sharing their world with us.

Thank you for stopping by :)

Happy Crocheting & Crafting, x

Christmas decorating :)

Hi Everyone,

After much dusting and trips to the attic the decorations are finally up. Our Christmas lights are getting old so this year we have spent hours replacing bulbs. I think though that we must finally say goodbye to our snowball lights in the mantelpiece garland. They did serve us well though so i'm definitely not complaining.

This is our tree. Its usually in the corner but we put up a new bookcase so its been moved over to the window.

Our Christmas Tree

This year we've had some additions to the decorations. A lovely My First Christmas 2011 bauble from Ben's uncle and auntie. I also won a give away on a fantastic blog by Noelle, Its called Sew On and Sew On. She makes the most beautiful pieces. I entered her Christmas House giveaway and was so excited to win. She also sent me a beautiful Felt Robin decoration.

First Christmas Bauble

Christmas House

Felt Robin

Last year I needle felted a Santa Clause and made a cushion with some leftover fabric. I also crocheted some snowflakes.

Needle felted Santa

Christmas Cushion

Snowflakes

Well that's our decorating. We're very lucky to have a lovely cosy home with lots of nice decorations for the holidays. I hope everyone's decorating and Christmas preparations are going well. I'm busy making some more Christmas presents but I can't say anything about them incase the intended recipients see this post.

I must go now and pack up my little man for his hospital check up. Its very stormy here today and its started to snow. Hopefully it'll be a quick visit and we'll be back home and tucked up before we know it.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

The Christening gown - Finally :)

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all well. I am on a break from Tuesday Tallies while I wait for yarn so I am finally getting around to posting about the christening gown I made for my son. I only have one photo so far, I scanned it in to the computer but the quality isn't the best, I'm sorry I don't have better ones to show.

The pattern I started with was Simplicity No 4766 pattern C. I adapted it slightly by removing the trims and lace and added the crochet trims instead. I used an off white bridal satin from Hickeys and a matching off white chiffon for over the skirt also purchased in Hickeys.

So here is the dress, ooops I mean gown/robe ;)

Christening gown back

Christening gown front

As you can see on the front it is slightly puckered on one side. At this point it was nearing 3am the night before the christening, I had mangled thread hanging everywhere, I had smashed 4 machine needles and I couldn't see straight. I let the pucker defeat me. It may have won the battle but not the war, I will fix it.

Here is a close up of the back and the trims. I made up the trims myself because I thought that searching internet and pattern books would side track me way too much and result in another pile of to do projects. They're crocheted using a 1mm hook and Aida 20 crochet cotton in Cream. The stitches are just chains, doubles, trebles and picots. If anyone is likes them and thinks they would like to use them just email me and i'll send you what I did and the measurements of the finished trims.

Back close up

Trims

Bodice Trim

Neck Trim

Sleeve Trim

I'm very proud of it even with the little flaws. I'm going to embroider his name and date of christening on the lining and if anyone else uses it or if someday Ben's children want to use it then they can embroider their names too. Ben also wore a beautiful crochet shawl that was crocheted by his great granny and was worn by his dad, his uncle and his auntie on their baptisms.

Hope everyone is getting on well with their Christmas projects and their One a Day.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies - Catastrophe strikes

Hi everyone,

OK, I know catastrophe is a massive exaggeration but last night I really felt as though the world had ended. I ran out of yarn for the join with one row and three squares to join. I guess that's what happens when you don't plan a project properly.

I ordered another ball this morning but I know there's as much chance of getting the same dye lot as there is of me winning the lotto(which I didn't buy a ticket for).

I was super bummed last night over this mistake but this morning things are in perspective. I'm forced to take a break now from the blanket while I wait for the yarn so I can do some Christmas crochet instead. This led me to another thought, I follow of a lot of blogs and websites of people who crochet/knit/sew/felt etc, everyone there is excited about Christmas. Whereas in the offline world where people shop for their presents the majority of people complain about how much they hate Christmas. I wonder is that why people who create their own presents love Christmas because they are eliminating a lot of the commercial hectic Christmas world.

To check out everyone else's progress head on over to Gingerbread Girls Blog. I must go now and investigate a strange odour coming from my son, perhaps its due to the inclusion of peas and broccoli in his food. Oh this weaning is so much fun :)

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

P.S. I promise to put up my post about Ben's christening gown, I was waiting for a photo of him on his big day but since I didn't take any photos on the day I must wait for guests to email me some photos. This is taking too long so I will post with just photos of the gown.

Tuesdays Tallies - Still joining

Hi everyone,

Thank you to you all for the lovely comments you left on my post last week and welcome new followers. I hope you enjoy my blog. I've said it before but its really great to be part of a community that have the same interests as me and can give valuable feedback and inspiration.

Sorry I'm a day late on progress. Progress wasn't exactly speedy this week. On the bright side I got the christening gown finished, well almost finished. It needs the seams and hems tidied up. I'm waiting for some pics to be sent on to me from a friend and then I will post a blog on the christening gown and the big day. It was a brilliant day, even though the priest forgot us. Still it ended up being way nicer and personal to Ben as a result. Ben was the star of the show, he smiled and cooed all day. He's just such a good baby.

Now for my progress. I finished joining the blocks and began the long rows running the length of the blanket. Pictures should explain this better than words.

The blanket is 5 blocks across by 9 blocks in length so I have another 3 lengths to join. I'm very happy with the overall look of the join. However I wasn't very careful lining up the blocks so 3 of the blocks are not lined up properly. Therefore I will do the row again. There's no point in doing something unless you do it right and it would drive me crazy if I didn't fix it.

Overall though I'm please with the blanket and I think it will look good when its finished. I hope everyone's progress is going well. I'm going to Gingerbread Girls blog now to check out everyone's progress.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies - Joining the blocks

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I missed last weeks tallies. I have gotten completely sidetracked with making a christening gown for my son. The christening is next Sunday and the gown is no where near completion. I have been having numberous incidents of blind panic over will I or won't I get the gown finished. The jury is still out with that verdict. I will post next week on all christening gown related news.

Back to Tuesdays Tallies. Progress on One a Day has been slow again this week due to the aforementioned project. I have been re doing the join and work the rows from the top down. I know my explaination of this left everyone(including myself) confused in my last post so here are some pictures. I hope it helps explain.

I have 5 blocks across and 9 blocks lengthways. I have them numbered 1A - 1E on the top row and the bottom row is row 9 and numbered 9A - 9E. So I have joined 1A to 2A, 2A to 3A... down to 9A. Then I have done the same for 1B - 9B and so on. Once I have all the rows joined lengthways then I will crochet one long row down between row 1 and 2 and so on. I know my photos aren't the best so I hope this makes sense. I have used a variation of lemondesucrettes zig zag join. The edges are a little uneven at the minute but once all rows are complete it should in theory be ok, fingers crossed.

I hope everyone elses progress is going well. Thank you for all your lovely comments and words of encouragement. For everyones elses progress check out Gingerbread Girls blog, thats where i'm heading now.

Till next time,

Happy Crocheting, x

Tuesday Tallies Update

Hi Everyone,

I just want to say thank you all so much for all the lovely comments you left on my post last week and for the advice of where to go to find nice joins. I was absolutely shocked and so thrilled when I logged on and saw all the comments. It absolutely made my week, thank you all.

I spent hours searching other blogs and websites based on the recommendations. I thought myself that I saw the join on Meme Rose Blog but it doesn't seem to be there. I went with a variation of the one I saw on Lemondedesucrette Blog. Oh and I loved the Pinterest website, I had never seen that site before and I spent hours browsing through it.

Now I'd love to report huge progress but I've just spent hours ripping back all the joins I'd done. I began by laying out the squares. I numbered them row 1-9 and squares A-E. I began by joining 1A-1E with a double crochet across the top of all the squares and bottom of all the squares and did the same again for all the rows. Then when the rows were joined I began the join. I worked across and this is what the join looked like and a close up of the join.

There were two problems that resulted in ripping the whole lot out and starting again. As you can see I didn't leave a gap between the squares for the join to run lengthways on the blanket and also the squares on the rows don't line up. It doesn't look too bad on these photos but by the time I got to the 4th row the squares were completely out of line and looked ridiculous.

So its back to the drawing board. I think what I'm going to do now is join 1A to 1B etc and work top to bottom, then repeat for 1B-9B etc. Once i've all them done then I will work the full 9 row length from top to bottom between squares A-E. I know that doesn't make sense without photos so I hope it works and I hope i'll have more to show you all next week.

Thanks again for all the lovely comments. Check out everyones progress at Gingerbread Girl's Blog. Hope everyone is getting on well, can't wait to see everyones progress.

Until next time,

Happy Crocheting, x