Stash Busting

The thing with making so many blankets recently is that I have acquired rather a lot of leftover Stylecraft Special DK! So I have decided that I am going to try to use some of it up before I allow myself to buy any more yarn, or start any more blankets for that matter. I now have a few crochet projects on the go...

I had quite a bit of leftover pink from making Miss M's pink sweetie blanket a few months ago. So I am working on a pink and cream granny stripe tea cosy from the book above - Granny Square Crochet by Catherine Hirst. I received this gorgeous book as a Christmas gift last year but had yet to make anything from it until now...

From making my very first granny blanket I had quite a lot of leftover yarn which I then used to make my little crocheted cushion. However, even after that there was still a small amount left in each colour except clematis! So I am now making some sweet little egg cosies from Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench. I am enjoying crocheting these so much, they are so quick and simple...

Finally from my most recent blanket, the ice cream blanket, I have been working on a little crochet make using only the pink and cream. I am actually hoping to finish this off tonight, it just needs making up really so it looks like I will still have some leftovers to find a use for...

Is anyone else trying to use up their stash of yarn (or fabric!) at the moment?

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Little decopatch jars

My mum and dad bought me Crafts Beautiful magazine a couple of months ago and it had a free little decopatch kit with it. The kit included a wooden butterfly, glue and some pretty decopatch paper. However, I had been collecting some little glass spice jars and decided to use the free paper to decorate them instead...

This little project only took around an hour and in fact i did it last night when Miss M went to bed. I really like how the little jars have turned out - I think they make pretty little flower vases which look sweet with the fresh pink carnations.

Tomorrow I am going to Glasgow for afternoon tea with three really good friends and Sunday will be spent watching the tennis (of course!) and making a nice roast dinner. I really can't wait! Hope everyone has a really lovely weekend whatever you happen to be doing.

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Summer holidays so far...

We are nearly a week into the school summer holidays here and as the weather has not really been kind so far, we have been keeping occupied with mostly indoor activities...

Miss M is very keen on reading at the moment and the books above are her current favourites...

Playing with Hama beads...

Colouring with an all important snack and drink to hand...

Making pasta necklaces...

Planning what we are going to make from this lovely magazine given to Miss M by my mum as a little treat last weekend....

Doing Lego together. I have no idea why the horse is visiting the cafe though...

So lots of things to keep us busy, still hoping for some sunshine though!

Thank you so very much for the lovely comments on the ice cream blanket. I was really quite overwhelmed, and am often amazed at the loveliness of the blogging community. So really, thank you and welcome to my new readers, it is lovely to have you here.

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Ice Cream Blanket

Last week I finished the blanket I was working on for a friend's wee girl who is 18 months old. My friend requested that the blanket be cream and brown to match the nursery. I added in a little pink and it became "the ice cream blanket" as the colours reminded me of Neapolitan ice cream...

I think I was working on this blanket for around 8 weeks and truthfully, I had to keep taking little breaks from it and did quite a few other small projects in between. I find I often do this with bigger projects, do others do the same I wonder?

So a few details...

I used 4mm knitting needles for the squares and the yarn was Stylecraft Special DK. I used 2 balls of cream (1005), 2 balls of mocha (1064) and 1 ball of pale rose (1080).

Each square measured 10cm x 10cm and had 22 stitches and 28 rows. The first and last 2 rows of each square were knitted in garter stitch as were the first and last 2 stitches of each row, to give a border around each square. The rest was knitted in stocking stitch. Some squares were a solid colour and other striped whereby I knitted 2 rows of each colour throughout.

The little pink flowers are crocheted using a 4mm hook and the pattern for these was from the 'floral purse' in Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench.

The blanket measures 6 squares across by 8 squares long. Before sewing the squares together (which was a very time consuming task, I must admit!), I 'steam blocked' each square using the wonderful advice and instructions from this post from the fantastic Attic24. I think doing this made such a difference to the finish of the blanket.

Lastly, the border was double crochet into each stitch all the way around and then I used my favourite border which I seem to have used in all my blankets - the border from the 'flower cot blanket' in Cute & Easy Crocheted Baby Clothes by Nicki Trench. Again, I used a 4mm crochet hook.

It was quite hard work this blanket it really was, but enjoyable all the same! Thankfully, it was all worth it as my friend was really, really pleased with it and I am told the wee one loves it too...

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Tea for Three

My mum came to visit today, so Miss M and I decided it would be nice to have a little afternoon tea together...

We baked a batch of fairy cakes this morning...

Miss M enjoyed making a little floral arrangement for the table...

We set the table with my best tea cups, saucers, side plates and teapot...

Tea seems to taste nicer in a proper tea cup, although I must admit it can be a little nerve wracking giving your six year old a china cup...

The three of us enjoyed our little afternoon tea and agreed it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

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For Teacher

It is the last day if school tomorrow and Miss M will finish at 1pm for the summer holidays. I feel it has been a very quick school year somehow and I can't believe she has finished P2 and will begin P3 in the summer. My mum is right, time really does pass especially quickly with children, it seems to me that only yesterday she was a wee baby in my arms...

Anyway, this week we have been busy making a couple of little gifts for Miss M's teacher whom she has liked very very much...

A card handmade by Miss M. She made the little flower from Hama beads, glued it on to the front of the card (her own idea!) and wrote a very sweet message inside in her best handwriting...

 

We made a little appliquéd picture together. Miss M drew the picture onto Bondaweb and helped cut out the pieces, then I ironed it onto some calico fabric. She wrote 'Miss Robinson' on red felt (in her best bubble writing) and I cut the letters out for her as it was quite fiddly! She sewed around the picture and letters so carefully and finally painted the little hoop with some red paint from her paint box. I really think it looks very sweet!

She took so much time and care over both the card and the little picture - a special gift for a special teacher....

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Enjoying...

Lately, I have been enjoying...

Crocheting yet more flowers with this gorgeous bright purple yarn given to me by my lovely mum...

Having pretty flowers around the house, some from the garden and some from the supermarket...

Reading the latest issue of Simply Crochet and planning lots of projects. I am enjoying this issue so much and am very keen on the peg bag, wrist corsage, birdhouse bunting and tissue box holder...

Sewing in the ends and finishing off my ice cream blanket at last...

Eating lemon drizzle cake with a nice cup of tea...

Lots of good little moments in a busy week! This week looks as if it will be very busy too as it is the last week of term before the school summer holidays and there are lots of extra things on as well as the usual work, swimming, play dates etc. Hopefully I will be able to squeeze in at least a little crafty activity too...!

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post and welcome to my new readers and followers!

Also, I keep reading about Google Reader going really soon so thought I would just mention that if you would like, you can continue to keep up with my blog posts using bloglovin' and there is a button at the top right hand of the page.

Back soon...

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