Spring colours

I absolutely love this time of year!  It's not just because the nights are lighter and it's a bit warmer...it's mainly to do with the fact that all my favourite colours are everywhere!

Pretty spring flowers in the garden, in the shops and in my kitchen have been making me so happy lately.

I adore fresh pastel shades and have been enjoying working on a new project with pretty colours from the Stylecraft Special DK range.  I also made a cute little egg cosy (we'll just ignore the fact that I have never eaten and will never eat, a boiled egg!) in pretty pink cotton. The pattern for this little cosy is by Kate from the lovely Just Pootling blog. Link in my sidebar.

Those little sugar coated mini eggs have been tempting me a bit too much lately...I just can't resist them! Little Miss and I made some chocolate cornflake nests at the weekend with them and they were so delicious.

The sun has been shining all day today and it has been so nice to have all the windows open and have the house filled with fresh air. I just ❤️ Spring.

X

Handmade gifts

I've been busy making gifts over the past few weeks. I absolutely love giving handmade gifts...although I have to admit that I only give them to people that I know will truly appreciate them.

I made a Catherine scarf for my lovely mum for Mother's Day. I just love this pattern from issue 34 of Inside Crochet magazine. It's a really simple pattern but works up into such a pretty scarf. My mum was really happy with her new scarf and as its still pretty chilly here, she should get quite a lot of wear out of it over the next month or two.

I have been making more hot water bottle cosies...one as a birthday present for my sister-in-law and another as a gift for a workmate. I based my pattern on one from the beautiful Coco Rose Diaries blog.  They are a quick make and always seem to be pretty well received.

Lastly, I finished off a cross stitch picture for my gorgeous baby nephew. I've had it framed and it's now all ready to be hung in his room. I really must make time to do more cross stitch - crochet always seems to win when I have any free time for crafting - because I really do enjoy it. 

So now it's time to make things to keep! I have a blanket on the go for my little Miss as well as a cushion cover for the living room. Only 2 projects on the go isn't much for me at all! But...I have about a million ideas for other projects in my head, I just need someone to give me more hours in the day so I can make them all! 

Wishing you all a lovely week.

X

All pastels really...

I'm really into pastels at the moment...especially soft mint green, pale pinks, lilacs and soft peach.  Such pretty, calming colours.

I made a little hoop picture this weekend using fabrics, buttons and trimmings I had at home already and some mint green paint we had in the shed. I loved making this and I'm so happy with how it turned out. It looks sweet hanging up in the living room too. I so want to make more of these and actually, when I was browsing Amazon earlier I did see a book all about decorating little embroidery hoops! I can't remember the name of it now but I think it will definitely be going on my birthday list! 

A blanket I had been working on for a while finally got finished this weekend too. It's a little baby blanket made up of 3 round solid granny squares. The pattern for these cute little squares can be found on Lucy's blog Attic24 (link in sidebar). I used Stylecraft Special DK in duck egg, soft peach, pale rose, cream, parchment, Parma violet, silver and clematis. I joined the squares with a dc seam and then did a border of two rounds of double crochet and then one round of trebles. I'm pleased with this little blanket and hopefully it's new owner will like it too!

Miss M and I had fun making some pom poms yesterday too. I popped a few in a little vase and I think they look quite cute there...G is not convinced though! Oh well, you can't please everyone!

Wishing you all a lovely week.

X

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