An Update

I’m busy with some works in progress at the minute they are:

Flower motif scarf
Big granny square blanket
Mohair shrug
Stripey hat

Unfortunately I’ve been too busy for taking pictures so here are some blogs of note with bright coloured pictures and interesting posts for you to have a read of instead, enjoy!

http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/
http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/
http://bevmatheson.blogspot.com/
http://greedyforcolour.blogspot.com/
http://gephart836.blogspot.com/

Knitted Baby Blanket

It's baby blanket time again and here's a project I finished a few weeks back but still need to weave the ends in (of course!!) This time it's knitted, I felt like experimenting a little. To be honest the squares were for another larger project which was just taking too long. Some of the squares became cushion covers and the leftover ones were sat staring at me. So I made them into a little baby blanket.

Can you see what's hidden in the centre square? No? How about a closer look...

Yep! A bear!

Somehow the tension isn't the same as the other squares so it looks a bit smaller. I'm hoping once blocked the shape will improve. It's the first time I've used knitting to make actual patterns and am rather pleased with the result. I found the bear pattern online somewhere - I can't remember where, I print so many off I lose track (if you recognise it let me know and I'll stick a link in) and it's also the first time I've successfully followed a knitting chart (I'm more of a pattern person!).

I then needed to come up with an edging. I wanted something fancy but easy. Unfortunately most of the edgings I found online were too complicated so I designed my own!

No doubt someone else will have done the same at some stage but I've never seen it. It's a ch3 ss into first ch, ss repeat and looks wavy and lovely!

General Election 2010

It's the General Election here in the UK where we choose our new Prime Minister. I will be voting later today and you should too. Go on, put down your crocheting and go vote!

Hatty Bank Holiday

I love Bank Holidays. If I were in charge of the country there's be a Bank Holiday Monday at least every other week. It's amazing how they cheer everyone up! This weekend was Bank Holiday Monday which means an extra day of weekend! AWESOME!

My weekend was spent knitting hats and delivering hats I had crocheted especially for my sister's boyfriend and his brother in law (confused? yep. me too!). They both have rather big heads and struggle to find hats that fit. They're also both scaffolders so need something cuddly and warm to protect their chilly little [big] heads and that's where I come in! Armed with a 4.5mm crochet hook and a selection of fairly chunky yarn I set about creating these earflap hats.

Now I'm from Yorkshire, as is my sister (obviously) and like a traitor she fell in love with a Lancastrian. I say traitor, he's actually a very nice lad (other than the fact he talks a bit funny) the truth is there's just a half-joking, half drunkard moronic rage between Yorkshire and Lancashire folk which I believe has something to do with the War of the Roses. We liked white ones, they wanted red ones, no-one was prepared to compromise and get yellow ones as they didn't match the frocks, I'm not sure.

Either way I'm proud to report two Lancashire men have on their heads today Yorkshire hats crocheted by a Yorkshire lass made from Bradford wool . That's my bit for inter-county diplomacy. Maybe my next hat should have pink roses on it?...

Adventures With Pastry

I've found out how to make pastry. As a result I've been experimenting with tarts. Tasty jam tarts!They're so easy I don't know why I haven't made them before. Luckily I always have cold hands which is apparently the key to making good pastry.

Here have a close up so you can see how tasty they are!

The Eternal Blanket of Colourful Doom

What do you call a blanket which takes up all of your spare time but ultimately, when finished is the most colourful project you've ever had the patience to make?

Why 'The Eternal Blanket of Colourful Doom' of course...My plan was to make small squares, join them to make bigger squares then join those to make one big cosy blanket. Sounds easy right? Yep, it wasn't. First I had to buy lots of new wool as I decided I wanted all squares to be joined in similar hues, then I had to stop and do the maths to see if I had enough squares every so often, arranging them neatly on the floor trying to stop a playful greyhound from laying on them, eating them or just messing them up. Then, once I had made enough and I'd joined it all neatly together I realised it didn't quite look finished so had to go round the edge twice with a nice yarn.

So I sat back to admire my work and realised it wasn't as finished as I thought it was. From the front I had a lovely neat colourful blanket but from the back I had the end-weaving in challenge of a lifetime.

I'm still very happy with it. The colours are great and it's very cosy when the cool Spring nights draw in but those ends, they go on forever! If anyone needs me I'll be busy weaving them in!

Zig-zag Baby Blanket

I must admit ever since I saw my first ripple blanket I wanted to make one and now I have I'm very pleased with the result. I loved making it, it somehow seemed very theraputic plus I liked the way it used up some of the odds and ends in my ever-growing stash! I love the way the pattern builds up and the ridges. In fact I could gush for hours about it. Instead I'll show you a close up:

I used a variety of stash yarns and am very pleased with it. Now all I have to do is weave in those pesky ends, which I've come to discover thanks to my soon to be blogged about Eternal Blanket of Colourful Doom is my new pet hate...

Gardening

I've been spending a lot of time in the garden lately. In fact I've been very busy which is why, sadly, this blog has been neglected. But never fear, where there's colour, there's a blog post and and there's lots of colour popping out this time of year.

I've always thought purple and yellow look great together and this was the first plant in the garden to flower up. Well, actually it was a race between this and... ...the daffodils. I love spring and the weather has started to become glorious. Goodbye winter. Hello Spring!There's also lots of pansies popping up in an array of colours. Purple and deep red, blue and lilac...

Speaking of blues I've made the mistake of planting Forget-me-nots. I say mistake because although I love the tiny little blue flowers I'm not a fan of how this plant self-seeds EVERYWHERE. However I'll worry about that next year. This year they're exactly where I want them and look so very sweet.

In the grass little daisies are showing their faces. I love daisies in long grass, I'm not a fan of a neatly clipped lawn. Gardens should be overgrown and magical!

Then there's these. Very green and not at all flowery, but soon to be making up most of our meals. Baby salad leaves are brilliant and easy to grow. I love watching planting seeds and watching them appear. I have been crafting and will post some of my projects shortly but just wanted to share with you some of the colours of my garden.

Granny Square Blanket 2

Or as I like to call it the endless blanket of eternal colourful doom...

I have no pictures yet as I'm still making the edging. I made 240 small squares, joined them in similar hues to make 60 squares and joined them to make one 6x10 blanket. It has taken a bleedin' age.

As soon as the damn thing is finished normal service will be resumed. Hopefully.

An Ode To A Wool Shop

I give my thanks for your multi-coloured hanks
As I finger through them with glee
And I can't help but fall for those lovely balls
Wound up oh so tight just for me

And I really despair as I fall for mohair
So expensive but silky and fine
And my arms are so full of 100% wool
With a softness and warmth so divine

There's needles and hooks and then pattern books
There's 4-ply and 2-ply and chunky
I can't help but be elated when I find variegated
And eyelash yarn that's oh so funky

Acrylic is cheap but it works up a treat
There's fun fur and ribbon yarn too
And the colours so bright, pink, black and white
Purple, orange, red, yellow and blue

So I go to the till and my arms they are filled
With yarns of all shapes and sizes
I'm addicted to yarn, though it causes no harm
Addiction comes in all kinds of guises!

I Want To Make That Of The Week

In some remarkably dull story about Christina Aguilera doing some acting with a little less make-up on than usual I spotted this lovely piece of knitwear that the Daily Mail seemed to have overlooked. It's lovely.

Knitted Character Creation

Oh. My. God. One my favourite TV shows is hosting a competition so awesome I'm a little afraid to enter it, I'm so excited all my imagination has run out of my head screaming "aaarrrgghh this is awesome!!" It's Harry Hill's TV Burp that are running the K Factor, an X Factor style show for Knitted Characters! I need to knit a character and take a picture of me holding it.
Now I've already discussed how the original Knitted Character is not knitted but is, in fact, crochet so what I'm wondering is can I crochet a character instead as I prefer crocheting when making 3d models. Looks like I'm going to have to have a peek through the rules and see...

Just Popping In

I am still here! Here are a list of my excuses for not blogging:

1. It has snowed, outrageously - I've not been able to work and so have spent the time making a hooded scarf. It then stopped snowing and melted so now there is no need for aforementioned hooded scarf

2. It has been cold, too cold to make things, too cold to sit with your hands out typing and too cold for running water to either enter or leave our home. Three weeks without water and you realise Blogger is not a priority. Nor is making anything out of wool.

3. The dog ate it

4. Winter makes me depressed. I'm fed up of my job, I have nothing creative to say, anything I have made I've been too lazy to photograph or blog about. I think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Or maybe I'm just genuinely bored?!

5. I have no more reasons I just felt the need to add another point.

Hope you're all feeling cheerier than I am. Happy Crafting! Keep warm!