Quality time...

...the last few days of the school summer holidays are over and my Miss M goes back to school tomorrow.  We are both quite sad about this - we've had a really nice summer, even though the weather has very rarely been summer like! 

Our baking challenge continues! The first week was a disaster....we made 'Cake in a Jar' and it looked and tasted awful! This week we made a chocolate cake with vanilla icing (which my girl piped on, she loved doing this) which I'm glad to say was so much nicer.

We went to do some ceramic painting which is one of our favourite things to do together.  I painted the little cow you can see in the photo which Miss M has named Daisy - very original! 

We went to see the Kelpies which I loved - they are so impressive! The weather was very cloudy and grey that day but somehow it added to the experience for me and I loved the way the Kelpies looked against the moody sky. On the way home we went to Kelvingrove museum in Glasgow which is one of Miss M's favourite places to go. 

My girl was very keen to do some sewing using the sewing machine and she ended up spending an afternoon making a pile of cute little cushions to give to her friends!

I had a go at some amigurumi this week and made this little cat which Miss M had seen in my Simply Crochet magazine and loved. I have to say...amigurumi is not for me! All that counting! I didn't really enjoy making it to be honest and the poor little cat is quite wonky! But my girl likes it and that's the main thing. I'm just hoping that she won't ask for anymore amigurumi toys...blankets and cushions etc are more my thing!

So back to the usual routine for us tomorrow...but then I've told myself it won't be long until the next school holiday!

Wishing you all a lovely week.

X

A little pink dress

I finished the little baby dress I started last week. I absolutely loved making this and I really didn't want to put it down whenever I started working on it! 

The pattern is pretty simple and is worked from the top down which meant there was minimal sewing up.  This was definitely a good thing as that's the part I struggle with whenever I make garments. I'm sure that I will make this wee dress again as it was a pleasure to crochet and I love how it's turned out. 

The pattern is from Cute & Easy Crocheted Baby Clothes by Nicki Trench. I adore this book, the patterns are so pretty and there is a good variety of items for boys and girls. I really recommend it if you have wee ones to make things for. 

The yarn I used was Sirdar Snuggly (my favourite baby yarn!) in shade Little Bud.  I used some cute little daisy buttons for the back.  The dress is made to fit a 6-9 month baby.

I am going to be an Aunty again soon and if the baby is a girl I will definitely be giving her this little dress as a gift! In fact, I'm thinking of making a blanket to coordinate with it as well...

X

This and that

I've really been enjoying making a pot of tea in the afternoons and taking the time to have a couple of cups of tea. I've also decided that I really want to make another couple of tea cosies...despite G protesting that there's really no need!

Miss M and I are looking forward to The Great British Bake Off starting again this week!  We both enjoy it so much and love watching it together. This year, we have set ourselves a little challenge to try to bake something new each week. Our own little Bake Off challenge!

I finally bought a hydrangea to plant in the garden. I've wanted one for ages and kept meaning to get one each year so I'm glad I've eventually done it. G has planted it for me and I'm hoping that as long as I only admire it and not touch it (I have a bad track record with plants of any kind!) it should do okay in the garden.

Do you like my tiny little house ornament? My mum and Miss M gave it to me as a little gift and it's so cute, I really love it. 

As usual, there is some crochet on the go here. I bought some new yarn for my Island blanket which I started on holiday and will talk more about another time. I'm using Stylecraft Life DK in mint again...I'm obsessed with this colour at the moment. I also have another Sugar & Spice cardigan on my hook at the moment, this time for my 3 year old niece. This will be the 4th time I've used this pattern! Needless to say, I love it. I also have a little baby dress in the softest pink on the go for my friends wee girl. I'm really hoping this works out as if it does I can see me making more of them as gifts. 

So...quite a long post from me for a change! Thank you so much for the lovely comments on my melon-mint bag I appreciate them so much :-)

Wishing you all a lovely week!

X

Melon-mint Bag

I finished the bag I was making last night. I've had this on the go for quite a few weeks now...I had made all the squares and then abandoned it for...yes you guessed it...another blanket!

Anyway I decided that this week I was going to finish it and I'm actually so pleased that I did as I love it.  The pattern is from issue 26 of Simply Crochet. It's a nice pattern and the squares would also make a pretty blanket or cushion I think.  I used Stylecraft Life DK in melon, mint and cream...I love these colours together! Actually I love lots of the colours that this yarn is available in although I have a particular soft spot for the mint at the moment. 

We have been away on holiday and had such a great time...I will hopefully share a few holiday snaps soon. I started another blanket when I was away and will share more on that soon too.

Wishing you all a lovely day!

X

Pinks and purples

I'm really enjoying my current crochet project and these pretty shades of soft pink and purple. 

I had been planning a blanket with these little squares but have changed my mind and they are now going to become a little cushion. 

I've not had as much time to crochet over the past few days with one thing and another, but I've loved every minute I've spent on this wee project. 

Thank you for the lovely comments recently and hope you are all having a great weekend :-)

X

Candy blanket

I finished the little blanket I was making. It's a gift for a colleague at work who had a baby girl a month or so ago.  I've named this blanket the 'Candy' blanket as the colours remind me of sweeties!

I do love making these little striped blankets!  I never seem to tire of them.  I think because they aren't too big, I don't get bored and I just enjoy the process of choosing the colours and making them. 

The pattern is just rows of half trebles with a border of double crochet then simple shells all the way around. As usual, I used Stylecraft Special DK in the following colours...white, fondant, spring green, sherbet, candy floss and lemon. I used a 4mm crochet hook. 

I'm really happy with how this turned out...I was unsure of how the colours would work together at first but now I really like the way the sugary stripes complement each other. 

Hopefully the recipient will like it too!

X

Summer days

My favourite things about summer....

Wearing flip flops...

Sweet Scottish strawberries...

Pretty daisies...

Picking bunches of lavender from the garden...

Colourful crochet blankets drying in the sunshine and smelling gorgeous when they come back inside...

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

X