Wednesday 31 December 2014

Well that was 2014...









...lots of crochet, baking, crafting with my daughter and sewing! I hadn't really planned  to do a round up post at the end of the year but I was looking through my photos today (when I was supposed to be cleaning!) and thought I would quite like to have a little reminder of all the things I made this year. And anyway, I do love making photo collages....!

2014 was a pretty good year for me all in all. But now the big Hogmanay clean has finally been done and it's nearly time to welcome in the new year. I am so looking forward to 2015 and have lots and lots of projects planned!

But now I would like to wish you all...


     ðŸ’• A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 💕


Thank you for your visits, comments and friendship this year...see you in 2015!

X









Tuesday 16 December 2014

December Days














December days are busy days!! There is so much going on...parties, night out, school concerts, brownie outings etc. However Miss M and I have managed to do a little festive making together which has been fun...we decorated a gingerbread house, made mince pies and gingerbread men. We also spent a cosy afternoon making simple gift tags. I love crafting with my girl. 


The tree is up and the house is looking quite Christmassy now! I love the festive season...all the decorating, making and baking. 


I have still quite a few gifts to finish off which hopefully will get done in time for Christmas. Although I still have 4 long 12 hour days to get through at work as well as two brownie meetings before then so we will see! 


I will be taking a little blog break until after Christmas but I would like to thank you all for visiting my blog throughout the year and for the lovely comments which are always read and always appreciated.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and festive season!

X
















Wednesday 10 December 2014

Dotty spotty blanket







So I finished this blanket a few days ago now and I am so pleased with it! I couldnt decide if the circle motifs were dots or spots so I decided I would just name it the dotty spotty blanket and that should cover it!  It has been so dark and dismal here lately, in fact some days it has barely been getting light at all so getting the opportunity to photograph this blanket was a little tricky!  Anyway, I managed to take a few snaps during some brief light spells.  Even if I didn't blog or use Instagram I'm sure I would still photograph my makes as I love having a reminder of how something looked when it was finished, before it gets given away as a gift or is used (and sometimes abused!) at home. 

This is going to be a gift for a special work colleague of mine and I really hope that she likes it.  I certainly enjoyed every moment of making it for her.

The pattern for the squares used in this blanket can be found in Granny Squares by Susan Pinner. I love this book and there are so many projects in it I want to make! Actually, I have found myself going back to my craft books a lot lately for crafty inspiration and I have stopped using Pinterest completely for ideas. I'm not sure why that is? Maybe the novelty has just worn off for me and to be honest I actually I find there is just too much to look at and it becomes overwhelming. 

 Anyway...back to the blanket! The circle motifs were a joy to make and surprisingly quick too. I used a 4mm hook rather than a 5mm as suggested in the pattern. I made 49 squares and joined them using a double crochet seam.  I then did 2 rounds of trebles and finished with a shell border. 

I really enjoyed making this blanket so much. As you can see the chosen colours were once again influenced by the Cath Kidston colours as my friend loves these colours too.

 I can see me making another in a softer colour scheme to keep for our own home I think...

X




Sunday 7 December 2014

This week....



...lots of candles have been lit around the house as almost every day has been dark and cold....




...we have been enjoying eating the lemon curd which G made.  It is so delicious spread on crusty bread or swirled into Greek yoghurt. Yum...




...there have been pretty pink roses brightening up the living room window sill...




...Miss M and I went to a really lovely Christmas fayre one evening. It was so nice and made us both feel all festive and excited! I bought a tiny little glass angel...she is so pretty and delicate...




... I bought some new yarn! To make yet another blanket!  I love these colours together and I'm so looking forward to starting this one...


It has also been a week for Christmas shopping, school concerts and work!  I managed to finish the blanket I was working on and I'm so happy with how it has turned out, hopefully I will get a chance to photograph it this week to show you. 

It's been a busy week but an enjoyable one! Hope yours has been a good one too...

X




Wednesday 3 December 2014

Blanket ❤️









I enjoy everything about making blankets from planning and choosing the pattern and colours, the excitement of starting a new blanket and of course I enjoy the actual crocheting! I love putting it all together (apart from sewing in the ends, I would be fibbing if I said I enjoyed that part!) and making a pretty border to finish it all off. 

I love the fact that the blankets I have made for our house actually get used...especially now the weather is colder. Miss M loves to snuggle under a blanket whilst she reads or watches television in the evenings. They are also used a lot for den building when she has friends over! I love the extra warmth of having a blanket on my bed at night too...and actually G has admitted that he appreciates this too. Surely this is him secretly saying go ahead and make plenty more blankets as they are so cosy and useful?!


My blankets are always made using DK yarn usually a mix of Stylecraft Special and Sirdar Snuggly as I love the colours available in these ranges, they are soft and wash really well too. 


My latest blanket which you can see in the last photograph in this post, is almost finished and I am currently double crocheting all the squares together. This blanket will be a Christmas gift for a special work friend. I really hope she likes it. 


I have 2 more blankets that I want to make now and am just waiting on a yarn delivery so that I can make a start on one of them. I can't wait!


Do you love making blankets too?

X





Sunday 30 November 2014

November






Another month has passed already! I can hardly believe that today is the last day of November.


It's been a good month for us with lots going on...autumn walks, Remembrance Day with my brownie group, garden flowers, baking, sewing and crochet and a nice weekend in Edinburgh for G and I while Miss M stayed with my parents.  We had a lovely Thai meal, drinks and went to see the musical Wicked at the Playhouse. We are just home now after spending a lovely sunny morning in beautiful Edinburgh. 


So I have enjoyed November but I'm really looking forward to December now. I love all the festivities and the seasonal making, baking and decorating.


Hope November was good for you too. 

X



Thursday 27 November 2014

Stars & Stripes Baby Blanket







I've just finished making a wee blanket for a new baby boy. 


I find it really difficult to chose colours when making things for boys, maybe because I don't have any boys of my own and I seem to be drawn towards really feminine colours and pastels. I went for a sort of nautical colour scheme in the end with blue, red and white stripes. I added the little stars in the corners so it then became the Stars and Stripes blanket as named by my daughter!

This was a fairly quick make although I must  admit that I didn't particularly enjoy making this one...I'm sure it was all the white that put me off a bit!  Using lots of pretty colours is what I enjoy most about blanket making.

I started off with a foundation chain of 120 + 2 for turning and then worked 72 rows of half double trebles. I worked 5 rows of white then a row of either dark blue, red or pale blue. The border is a simple shell border. The pattern for the little stars on each corner is by Lucy of Attic 24, (I'm sorry I still haven't worked out how to link when blogging from my phone! ) and is a lovely, simple pattern to follow. Thank you Lucy.


Hope you are all having a good week so far? I am on annual leave from work this week and I am enjoying every minute...finishing off projects (and starting new ones!), cooking, pottering and meeting friends.  It has been lovely. 


X




Friday 14 November 2014

This week


I finished crocheting my cowl. I love it, it's so snuggly and warm. I used Stylecraft Weekender and I can really recommend this yarn, it's gorgeously soft...




I was so happy and surprised this week to see these pretty daisies still growing in the garden. So I picked some to have in the house in a little jar...



Miss M made another really pretty decoration at school this week. I think this one looks like a house covered in sweeties...





I have started another big blanket. This is going to be a gift for a really lovely lady I work with. Hopefully I will have it finished in time for Christmas. I'm using Cath Kidston inspired colours (again!) and the pattern is from Granny Squares by Susan  Pinner...

So the weekend is here again and I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing one with my wee family.  Wishing you all a really lovely weekend too.

X




Thursday 6 November 2014

Three good things



A quick and simple crochet project...




Pretty pink roses in my living room...





A sweet little hanging decoration made for me by my Miss M at school this week. I think it's actually a Christmas decoration (very early though!) but it's too pretty to put away until then. I just love it...


What has been making you smile this week?

X




Saturday 1 November 2014

October






A day late with my little round up of October but here it is....


....autumn walks...seasonal flowers...tea...baking....and lots and lots of crochet!


Hope October was a good month for you too?


I'm now looking forward to what November might bring...

X