Cosy November Evenings

Although, it is now getting dark around tea time here, and the weather has been mostly grey and drizzly, I have found that I am really quite enjoying my cosy evenings indoors...

 

 

I love having lots of candles on in the living room...

 

 

The wood burner has been lit most evenings, keeping the house really toasty warm...

 

 

I have been busy knitting Christmas gifts, in lovely chunky and cosy yarn...

 

 

The fairy lights have been on in the kitchen a lot recently, I adore fairy lights and love how atmospheric and inviting they make a room...

 

 

It was lovely to settle down together last night when Miss M was in bed with a glass of something nice (wine for me, beer for G). We watched the last part of The Escape Artist...

 

Cosy evenings are great for working on craft projects, I especially want to knit at the moment...I often feel like this in the colder months. I have quite a few projects on the go to keep me busy, particularly Christmas gifts...

 

Hope everyone is having a lovely, cosy weekend!

 

X

 

 

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Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long Week 7

This week, I have been working on a couple of new crochet projects...

 

 

 

Some tiny little hearts to use as part of another Christmas swap I have joined, organised by Mezz. I have made these simple and quick hearts lots of times before. The pattern for them can be found here...

 

 

A good friend of G's became a dad for the first time last week! He and his partner now have a gorgeous baby boy and so of course I wanted to make a little something as a gift. I am making a very simple blanket in the softest blue yarn...

 

 

I also finished off a scarf I was making as a Christmas gift for our lovely neighbour. She is such a nice lady and so good to us. I really hope she likes her scarf, it should be nice and cosy for chilly days. The pattern is from Inveleith here although I finished it off as a scarf rather than a cowl, the same as I did with my own scarf here. Again, I used Sirdar Snuggly yarn, because it really is so soft and snuggly and perfect for a scarf...

 

It feels good to have at least one Christmas gift made! I have a few other projects in progress for Christmas which I will hopefully be able to show you soon...

Chrissie and I are so enjoying these weekly CAL posts...it's great to see what everyone else is working on and great for ideas and inspiration! As before, if you would like me to link up with your crochet post here, simply leave a little note in the comments...

Some lovely crochet here...

Three Stories High

 

A World of Imagination

 

Cosmos and Cotton

 

Forgetmenotsblue

 

Love Made My Home

 

The Summerhouse By The Sea

 

Snap That

 

Hazel's Crochet

 

 

X

 

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Handmade Christmas Decoration Swap Partners!

 

Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up for my little Christmas Decoration Swap! I have now paired everyone up (using the super technical names in a bowl method!), and the partners are as follows...

 

Tammy at My Journey + Snap That

 

Joy at Loving Crochet + Suzanne at Tales From My Craft Room

 

Jessie's Needle + Gone Beading

 

Crafting not Cleaning + Clare at The Summerhouse by The Sea

 

Jules at Little Woollie + Deb at A World of Imagination

 

Joy at JoyJinks Creations + Leanne at Craftyfatcat

 

Eco Ethel + Kim at The Little White Sewing Shed

 

Kimberley at Creative Chaos + Mezz at Mezz Makes Stuff

 

Mellie Moo Crochet + Katy's Clutter

 

Plain Jane + Amy at Love Made My Home

 

Love to Craft + Dorothy's Room

 

Chrissie Crafts + Carol at Tales From Spring Cottage

 

Woolly Dog + Monique's Mess

 

Hannapat at Cosmos and Cotton + Clicky Needles

 

Jo at Three Stories High + Rosie at Old Magnolia Tree

 

Penny at L is For Love + Marianne at Ladybird Diaries

 

Gilly at Gilly Makes + Kate at Just Pootling

 

I really hope all those links work! I also hope I haven't left anyone out who said they wanted to join in, if I have, please let me know.

 

I think we should aim to have our swaps made and posted for Monday 2nd December at the latest, just so that everyone receives their swap in time to display and enjoy it at Christmas...and to blog about it of course! I will try to get round everyone's blog to leave a message about swap partners and this post...but I think I deserve a cuppa first, my brain feels quite tired after writing up this post with all those links!

 

Thanks again for taking part and...happy swapping!

 

X

Edited to add: I think I have managed to leave a message on everyone's blogs now about swap partners etc, so now all you have to do is contact each other and enjoy the making!

 

 

 

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A Few Good Things

From the past week or so...

 

 

I bought a copy of Vintage Home by Sarah Moore this week after seeing it recommended on lots of blogs. The Works had it for £5.99 and I was lucky to get the last copy in the shop. I am pretty pleased with this little bargain, as I have found lately that some magazines cost almost as much as this, if not more! It's a really gorgeous book which I have been enjoying looking through in the evenings, lots of inspiration and nice little projects...

 

 

I have appreciated having this pretty bunch of flowers on my kitchen table...

 

 

I bought this tiny but sweet brooch at the car boot sale last weekend. It looks so pretty pinned to a cardigan or blazer. I really love it and feel that it was definitely £1 well spent...

 

 

My mum makes the best tablet ever. She made a batch for Halloween and we all enjoyed it very much. It's gorgeous with a hot cup of tea...

 

I am working all weekend so will not manage any crafting, but I plan to sit down with my crochet and a cuppa this afternoon before it's time to collect my lovely Miss M from school. Hope everyone has a great weekend, whatever you have planned...

 

X

 

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Bloomin' Crochet-A-Long Week 6

I have a confession to make....

 

I have abandoned my hexie blanket (for the time being at least), because I had an overwhelming urge to make a granny square blanket for the living room. I was inspired by some gorgeous blankets I saw on the blog Hopscotch Lane - there is some really beautiful crochet here, using the nicest, freshest colours.

 

So over the past week, I have been making squares for my new blanket. I love the colours, they are like the Cath Kidston colours which seems to be a bit of a theme with me at the moment...

 

 

I also finished making my mums scarf, which is the same as the one I made for myself here. The pattern, as before, is from Inverleith...

 

 

My mum is really pleased with it, which makes me very happy. I love to make things for my lovely mum.

 

I have also been busy crocheting some Christmas gifts which I have enjoyed too.

 

What have you been crocheting this week? Chrissie and I have really enjoyed hosting the crochet-a-long and it has been great to see what others are hooking up. As before, leave a little note in the comments if you want me to link up your post to this one...

 

Also, if you feel like doing a little Christmas making for a fellow blogger/crafter, maybe you would like to join up for my Handmade Christmas Decoration Swap? There is still a few days left to sign up before I start pairing people up...

 

Some lovely crochet here...

Hazel's Crochet

Summerhouse by the Sea

Sweetpea Family

Snap That

Three Stories High

Crafty Fat Cat

A World of Imagination

Forgetmenotsblue

 

X

 

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Handmade Christmas Decoration Swap

 

I have decided to organise a little Christmas swap and hope that some of you may join me?! I think it would be so lovely to hand make a Christmas decoration/ornament for a fellow blogger and then to receive one in return in the post. I love getting mail...especially happy mail!

 

So, the decoration should be handmade, in any way you like, you could use crochet, knitting, paper crafting, sewing...the possibilities are endless! It doesn't have to be anything too elaborate...simple is good especially since we are all extra busy at this time of year. There is absolutely no obligation to add anything else to your parcel for your swap partner, unless you especially want to...the decoration/ornament and a little hand written note or card is great.

 

Please leave a little note in the comments if you want to join in, and if you could also let me know where in the world you are and if you are happy to post overseas or not, that would also be really helpful. I will leave it open until next Tuesday, the 12th November, when I will pair people up and post details here.

 

I am really quite excited, I love the idea of making something especially for someone else which they will hopefully enjoy having in their home this Christmas and maybe in years to come!

X

 

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Friday

This week has been so very busy with work, school and lots of after school and Halloween activities and I am so glad it's Friday. I am now off work for a few days and G didn't have to work until 3pm today so we decided to spend the morning together in Glasgow...

 

It was such a lovely Autumn morning, sunny and crisp. We parked the car on Kelvin Way and walked to one of G's favourite cafes. I don't drink coffee at all, but G is a big coffee drinker and he says the coffee here is pretty great...

 

 

I had tea and a frangipane cherry tart, which was really delicious. It is quite a cool coffee shop this, with lots of nice little touches. I liked how Lyle's Golden Syrup tins were used as sugar bowls. I think I may be saving our next empty syrup tin now...

 

 

After our drinks and cakes, we went for a nice leisurely walk, doing a little window shopping along the way. I loved this colourful display of fruit and vegetables outside a green grocers on Dumbarton Road...

 

 

We walked back to the car, just enjoying the sights on such a nice day. Above you can see Glasgow University just behind Kelvin Way bridge...

 

 

I went into the garden when we got home to hang some washing out and was delighted to see a few little flowers and some lavender remaining. I was so sure they had all gone, maybe all the rain we have had lately has given them a little boost. I snipped a few blooms and brought them inside to have on my bedside table. I really love having flowers beside my bed...

 

 

Miss M has a playdate today and won't be home until 6pm. So I have lit a few candles, made myself a cup of tea and I am going to catch up on a little television. Most probably I will do some crochet too!

 

I have made a couple of new discoveries this week...

 

I have realised that saucers make really nice tea light holders and I now have some saucers dotted around the living room for this very purpose.

 

G has been teaching me how to edit my photographs and how to use filters in my pictures. I had no idea these sort of things could be done...I am a complete techno phobe! I have a very basic little camera and I am definitely not a natural photographer, so it has been nice to learn a few little tricks to make my photos look a bit better! A few of the photos above were snapped with my phone and I think I will probably use it more often now to take photos as it is so quick and easy. G has also shown me how to add photos from my phone to a blog post, which I had no idea could be done either!

 

Thank you for the lovely comments recently, I really do appreciate and read every one and I so enjoy visiting your blogs in return. Also, hello and welcome to my new readers and followers.

 

Before I go, now it is November, my thoughts are turning to the festive season and I was thinking of maybe organising a little handmade Christmas decoration swap. Would anyone be interested? I think it would be quite a fun thing to do...

 

Hope everyone has a really lovely weekend...

 

X

 

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