Brightening the grey days

Well the weather has been pretty awful the last week or so...lots of rain and grey skies.

But indoors is cheery and bright...

Pretty spring flowers - tulips and daffodils. I love both these flowers and daffodils especially make me happy just by looking at them!

I made a lemon cake...zesty and tasty.

I finished my pink scarf! I really love this scarf - I finished it on Friday and have been wearing it lots. It's so cosy but not too heavy if that makes sense?! I used Stylecraft 4ply in shade Pale Rose and the pattern is the Catherine Scarf from Inside Crochet Magazine issue 34 (from 2012!). It was so enjoyable to make and I want to make another one for my mum now.

I have made very little progress (ok...no progress) on my cardigan this week. I have wanted to make another granny blanket for a while now and I decided I couldn't resist starting it any longer! So I began a new one at the weekend in soft, pastel colours. I'm infatuated with it and have been working on it whenever I have any spare time. 

So lots of things to cheer up these grey January days!

Wishing you all a lovely week.

X

Pastels, and some white

I've been crocheting with some nice pastel colours this past week.  I've now finished the yoke of my cardigan and I'm ready to start the lacy pattern part. I'm a bit scared about that so at the moment I'm working on a forgotten project until I pluck up the courage to continue with the cardigan!  I'm making a scarf in 4 ply yarn with a pretty shell pattern. I'm making it nice and long so that I can wrap it around twice...I'm hoping to have it finished this week as its been really cold here.

Pretty flowers in the house...I love to have fresh flowers at home and I'm loving these roses and carnations. I love those two flowers together, so pretty.

My little Miss celebrated her birthday this week...I made her a pastel layer cake like last year although I have to say that the layers didn't turn out as vividly coloured as before. I didn't want it to be too bright so probably didn't use quite enough colouring. But...I was really happy with how the decorating of the cake turned out! Animals in party hats, with lots of candles! Totally inspired by the gorgeous cakes I saw on Coco Rose Diaries and Posy Gets Cozy blogs.  Miss M was so happy with it when she came home from school and saw it! I was exhausted after making it (making party hats for tiny toy animals is not entirely straight forward!) but it was worth it as she loved it.

We have had snow this weekend!  We've had lots of fun building snowmen and throwing snowballs at each other. Miss M loved it. It's almost all gone now though and I'm glad as I didn't fancy having to drive to work in the snow tomorrow! We enjoyed it whilst it lasted though especially as we didn't really need to be anywhere. 

Hopefully next time I will have a finished scarf to show you!

Wishing you all a lovely week.

X

Happy New Year

I can't believe we are into the second week of January already!  We are getting back into our usual routine again after the festive period. I love Christmas and we had a lovely time but I'm always pretty glad to get back to normal! Everyone is back at work and school now, although it's been quite an effort for a certain person (me!) to get used to the early starts again especially with it being so dark in the mornings.

I've been busy with lots of crochet as usual...mainly Christmas gift making the past couple of months so it's actually been really nice to work on some things for me for a change!

I made a tea cosy...it's just a simple pattern which I made up as I went along...it worked out the way I had hoped it would so I was pretty pleased about that. I made it with cotton yarn - Stylecraft Classique Cotton which is great to crochet with and not at all splitty which is real bugbear of mine with certain cotton yarns.

I've also started a cardigan for myself. I'm absolutely determined not to give up with this one...I don't have a good track record with crocheting garments for myself and tend to give up when things get a bit tricky! So far I've had to pull this right back 3 times and I'm only on the yoke. Not good! But I will persevere.  I'm making the Lacy Cardigan from issue 33 of Simply Crochet magazine. I'm really having to take my time with it and properly concentrate because if anyone talks to me when I'm working on it I just lose my place...so it's one to work on when I'm home alone. 

I've also got another blanket in the go (of course!) which I'm really enjoying and it's an easy project to pick up in the evenings when I'm tired after work.

It's been really cold here the past few days and we even had some snow yesterday although it didn't last long at all. We've had some nice family walks but the best part of those for me is getting back home to get cosy with a cuppa and the wood burner!

Hope you're all having a great start to the new year.

X

Catching up...

Hello there...

It's been a busy few weeks here, hence my absence from blog land. I've been posting on Instagram but just haven't been able to find the time to do a proper blog post until now, so I thought I would do a little catch up post...

Although I've been busy I've still made time to crochet...an absolute must for my sanity! I bought a copy of Inside Crochet  magazine a few weeks ago. It was a new to me magazine and I've found that I really like it. I fell in love with the pom pom slippers from issue 71 and have made several pairs! Some for me, for my mum, for a good friend and for Miss M. I'm not done with them yet either...they are so quick and addictive to make...I want to make at least another 4 pairs!! 

I also finished the little starburst baby blanket I was making. I loved making this as I adore starburst squares, they are so pretty and fun to make. I love choosing the colour combinations for each square. This was made with yarn leftover from my colourful granny squares blanket...I love it when I can make a blanket without buying more yarn! I am hoping that the little recipient of this blanket will enjoy using it.

I've got some pretty new craft supplies to use. I'm going to make a skirt for myself with the floral fabric and I'm planning a little stool cover with the pink cotton for Miss M's room. The craft ribbon was a free gift in this months issue of Simply Crochet...I love it and can't wait to use it on some crocheted gifts.

So that's my little catch up! It's set to be another busy week here but I've already scheduled in my crochet time!

Wishing you all a great week.

X

Chunky yarn ❤️

I've been enjoying crocheting with some lovely cosy, chunky yarn recently.  I think as the weather turns cooler it definitely makes you want to make cosy things doesn't it? 

I made a little heart cushion for Miss M in gorgeous Drops Andes yarn. It's really soft and cuddly and she just loves it.  I found the pattern for the heart cushion in a blog called Mon Makes Things (sorry I'm unable to provide a link, I can't seem to do links when blogging from my phone).  It's a great pattern and the cushion is fun to make.  I sort of want one for myself now!

I'm planning to make a chunky scarf or cowl for myself and have started a few different patterns but have pulled them all back, I just can't seem to find one that is right. Maybe at the weekend I'll have time to have more of a play...I hope so as it's getting chilly in the mornings and I really need a new cosy scarf or cowl to wear on the way to work!

I've stocked up on some super chunky Stylecraft Weekender as I'm planning to make some hot water bottle cosies as Christmas gifts again this year.  Last year I used a pattern from Cocorose Diaries (link to her gorgeous blog is in my side bar) and I plan to use the same pattern again as I was so pleased with how they turned out last time. They are so enjoyable to make and seem to be well received as gifts too.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my colourful granny squares blanket...that blanket is certainly getting a lot of use and actually Miss M appears to have claimed it as her own! Of course I have another couple of blankets on the go...more on those soon...and I'm enjoying planning some handmade Christmas presents.

What projects are you enjoying at the moment and have you started any Chritmas crafting yet?!

X

Colourful granny square blanket

I finished my latest blanket last night...and I really, really ❤️ it.

It's just a simple granny square blanket but it was so relaxing to work on a straight forward project in the evenings after work. This only took me a few weeks to make and I have to say that I was sad when it was finished!  

It's a good sized blanket, big enough to wrap around myself and big enough to wrap around my 8 year old daughter at least twice!  It's cosy, cheerful and colourful...can you tell that I really love it?! 

I had a little break from using my usual Stylcraft Special DK which is usually always my first choice for making blankets.  Instead I used mainly James C Brett DK, simply because when I went into my local yarn shop these were the colours I liked best.  I think it was mainly baby yarn.  It was nice yarn to work with, lovely and soft and the colours are great. 

Even better is that I have a fair bit of the yarn in each colour left so I'm planning to make another starburst blanket as I enjoyed making the starburst squares for my island blanket so much.

I don't think I will ever tire of crocheting blankets...I have a couple of baby blankets to make and G has requested that I make him a camping blanket.  So plenty to keep me going for the next few months!

Wishing you all a lovely week.

X

Things that are making me happy...

...working on my latest blanket whilst keeping cosy with the wood burner on...

...flowers always make me happy and these roses are especially pretty...

... I got a new crochet book and I completely love every project in it. It's honestly the nicest crochet book I've seen in a long time. It's called Crochet Home and is written by Emma Lamb. There are so many beautiful projects and I have plans to make several of them! I love the excitement of a new crochet book with lots of inspiration and possibilities...

... A lovely long walk with my family at the weekend. I love Autumn walks...

... I enjoyed some sewing at the weekend and made a couple of simple skirts for myself. I forget how much I enjoy other crafts like sewing as I just want to crochet all the time! It was good to do a little sewing for a change though...

So lots of happy things! What little things have made you happy lately?

Thank you for all the lovely comments lately, I really do appreciate them. I will try to be a little better at answering the questions I get asked...promise!

Wishing you all a lovely week :-)

X