A Brief Update

I just thought I would give you a brief update to explain my blogging absence of late.


To say that life has thrown my family curve balls since Christmas is a bit of an understatement. To cut a long story short both my Aunt and Uncle were taken into hospital over Christmas. My Aunt is very seriously ill and although my Uncle was discharged a few days ago he is now back in hospital although hopefully not for long. My Aunt's sister also ended up in hospital just after Christmas as well so my time has been taken up with visiting, providing transport etc.


I also have to go into Southampton Hospital today for an eye operation to repair a macular hole so I will be unable to drive for a few weeks but I am hoping that I will be able to see to crochet before too long. I have also downloaded four books from Audible so hopefully that will keep me sane as I have to lie face down for a few days which I am dreading.


I will leave you with a photo of the Moorland Blanket CAL that I am currently working on. This has been designed by the very talented Lucy from Attic24. I have completed week 1 but obviously this will have to be put on hold for a little while but I hope to catch up as soon as I am able. I am also crocheting a cot blanket for a work colleague which I had hoped to complete over the Christmas holiday but with feeling poorly from a flu type cold and with all the family issues it has taken a back seat. Hopefully I will be able to complete that one very soon.

Hopefully I will be back in Blogland before too long. Have a great weekend.

Five On Friday - crochet mania!

Hello, Five On Friday time again hosted by Amy at Love Made My Home. 


Well my post this week is going to be dominated by crochet, I have been crocheting up a storm just lately. I am pleased to say that I have now completed fourteen blankets for SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets of Love) and I will be taking these to the residential care home this afternoon.

My fourteen SIBOL blankets (2016)

They have now been packaged and given names - yes, SIBOL blankets have to have a name. I struggled with this bit but thankfully some of my Facebook friends came up with some suggestions to help me. They also all have a crochet butterfly attached (the SIBOL logo).


I will show you the last three blankets which have all been completed in the last couple of weeks.


I spent nearly all of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday working on number 14 with breaks only for eating meals to get this completed on time. I have to say I am really pleased with how it has ended up, it was probably the most time-consuming of them all - I do like to make life difficult for myself. I have called this one Jan's Garden.

Pattern: Painted Roses by Sandra at Cherry Heart

This is blanket number 13, a straight forward ripple pattern for this one which I can crochet whilst watching TV or listening to music/podcasts or even reading on my Kindle. I have named this one Rippling Brook.

Pattern: Neat Ripple by Lucy from Attic24

Number 12 has been called Fields of Gold, I came up with this name as I was listening to Alexander Armstrong singing Fields of Gold whilst I was working on the blanket and the colours just seemed to fit.

Pattern: Cosy Stripe by Lucy from Attic 24

So what else have I been crocheting lately? 


One of my friends has been without heating as her boiler has given up the ghost so I made her these and hopefully they gave her a bit of comfort.

No pattern for these but inspired by Heather from The Patchwork Heart

I am taking a bit of a break from crocheting blankets to do a few projects that have been calling to me but I know I will be itching to get back to blankets before too long. 


Please visit Amy's link up where there are lots more Five On Friday posts to discover.

                   

Love Made My Home

Five On Friday - a random five!

It is great to be back with Five On Friday, thank you Amy for organising this yet again. My blogging has been on a back burner for a little while so it is good to be back in blogland.


1.  One of the main reasons for my absence from blogland has been the fact that I am working to a deadline to get my Sunshine blankets completed. As my regular readers will know I set myself a target of producing twelve blankets to be donated to a local residential care home to give to the residents for Christmas. I completed twelve blankets but then on speaking to the home I decided to try and get a couple more done (well thirteen would be unlucky wouldn't it)! I now have thirteen completed and am well under way with number fourteen - I am really down to the wire with this one. I have planned to get them all photographed and packaged on Monday next week ready to take to the home on Friday afternoon. Hopefully I will manage to get this one done in time. Here is a photo of it in its current state.

I will hopefully be back soon with a crochet related post - I have lots to show you.

2. I treated myself to a slow cooker a few weeks ago and I am loving it. During this cold spell we have been having I have enjoyed warm tasty meals and it is ideal for Slimming World recipes - my current favourite is Campfire Stew, so yummy and tasty. The main ingredient is a gammon joint which you shred up once cooked and mix in with the sauce, the meat just falls apart once cooked, I will be making this lots more.

3.  When I was on holiday at the end of October I treated myself to a new Christmas decoration which I love. I haven't decorated yet but just got this out to show you. The dome just sits on a base and is battery operated. However you can sit the base on a saucer and use a night light if you prefer. I am looking forward to getting the tree and the rest of my decorations out but I anticipate I will have a couple of weeks of nagging to do yet before the men folk will get my tree out of the loft! They definitely don't get excited about the onset of the Christmas season.

4.  Having read Amy's blog today about having an untidy desk I suffer from the same syndrome. However over the past couple of weeks I have made an effort to become more organised. I am lucky that a friend gave me this stationery carousel for all my numerous pens etc. Thank you Janice - I love it!

5.  Carrying on with the organised theme I saw one of these in my friend's house and just had to get one. It is an Ikea Raskog cart (trolley according to my DS2)! It is brilliant, so much room in the trays and already my crafting corner has become a lot more organised. I still have a bit of sorting to do but this is such a handy gadget. I love the little magnetic tins that are easy to attach to the sides of the cart. 

Please visit Amy's link up page to find links to other five posts. 

A special crochet project

I have recently had the great joy of taking part in testing a crochet pattern for the very talented Sandra from Cherry Heart.


The pattern was the Getting Ziggy Shawl and I first saw this design on Sandra's podcast episode 13 and fell in love with it. However I was disappointed that the pattern was not available at the time but looking forward to when Sandra was able to release it. I am pleased to say that she released the design for testing last week and I was very happy to be selected as one of the testers. I have never taken part in testing a design before so this was an exciting project for me to be involved in.


The recommendation on the pattern was to use a merino/silk yarn so I visited a local yarn store on Friday to select my yarn. I chose a 4 ply yarn by Fyberspates which is 45% silk/55% superwash merino called Scrumptious in purple and glisten. This yarn is just about the most soft and squishy yarn I have ever used and was an absolute delight to crochet with.

I could not wait to get home and get the yarn wound into cakes ready to start the pattern. The pattern is termed as 'advanced' but everything on the pattern was clearly explained with helpful photos to guide you, especially on the edge shaping which was the most advanced part but which gives the shawl its beautiful shape.


Here is a photo taken on the second day of crocheting, I really could not put my crochet hook down so it was lucky that I had four clear days of not having to to to work so that I could really get my teeth into this project.

Not a lot else got done over the four days it took me to complete this design, it really was an addictive project and my hook was on fire! 


I completed the project on day 4 and then set out to block the shawl. I am pleased to say that it blocked out to the correct size perfectly.

I couldn't wait to take it off the blocking mats and try it on. I am never sure how to wear a shawl, somehow they always seem to look better on other people than on me so I tried it first wrapping it around a coat hanger (pinching Sandra's idea) to get an idea of how it would drape.

Here is is laid out flat so you can see the shaping.

And finally, it was time for me to try it on. I should have done something about my hair before getting my DH to take a photo and selected a better backdrop than the garden fence but as usual was in too much of a hurry.

I couldn't be more happy with how this has worked up, I have loved being part of Sandra's testing team, This design did take a fair bit of concentration and after being a crocheter for over fifty years I have discovered some new techniques which I will be able to use for future projects. The pattern will be released by Sandra on Ravelry very soon. I love the colourway she has used and I am already thinking of new colourways that I can make this design in. 

A random selection

Time for Five On Friday again, as usual I am linking with Amy from Love Made My Home to bring you this post. Even though I thought I hadn't done a lot this week I was determined to get here and post after failing miserably last week to a) find time and b) get inspiration on what to post.


So what have I been up to in the last week:-


1.  Card Party: On Saturday I helped my friend Janice from Crafty Castle blog with a card party that she was holding at another friend's house. We had a wonderful bacon sandwich breakfast and then had a fun time packaging and pricing up all the cards and other bits and pieces before heading to the party which I am happy to say was a great success.

2.  My Birthday: Sunday was my birthday and I was thoroughly spoilt by my family and friends. The highlight of the day was being taken out for lunch by my DH and eldest son, we chose a location (The Hatchet at Lower Chute) that was recommended by a friend and we will definitely be visiting again. I was also taken out for another lunch by my youngest son on Monday as he was busy playing football on the Sunday - not sure how I managed to maintain at Slimming World this week!

3.  Cot Blanket: I was asked by a work colleague to make her a cot blanket for her baby son who is due in December. She chose the colours but left the design up to me - here it is finished and packaged up ready to gift. I am pleased to say she was delighted with it.

4. Next on my hook: I have just started work on my next charity blanket for the Sunshine International Blankets of Love. This is number 11 of 12 that I aim to complete and give to the residents in a local residential care home at Christmas. I am making this using the Harlequin stitch which I haven't used before but am quite pleased with how it is working out.

5.  Autumn colours: I couldn't think what to use for my 5th entry this week but suddenly thought about the beautiful trees on the corner of our close so quickly walked up the road this morning to snap them. I love this time of the year and these trees are always a delight.

Well that is it for this week, I hope you all have a great weekend and for those of you that have children or work in schools have a wonderful half term holiday.


Please do go and pay Amy a visit where you will find link ups to more Five On Friday posts.

Five On Friday - colour combo's

Wow - where has this week gone to? Cannot believe it is a week since the last Five On Friday. Once again I am linking with Amy at Love Made My Home - please do go and visit Amy where you will find links to many more 'Five' posts.


This week I am going to show you my colour selections for my next five charity blankets. I like to think ahead!!!


I have made these yarn pegs to help me plan my colour schemes for the blankets that I make so thought I would show you the schemes I have come up with, it is always possible that I might change my mind when it comes to the actual project but I like to have everything planned to ensure I have enough of the correct colours in stock (what better excuse do I need to purchase yet more wool)!

I use Stylecraft Special DK for my charity blankets, this yarn is inexpensive but lovely and soft to crochet with, it is also machine washable and can be tumble dried which I think is a big consideration when they are going to be used for the elderly in care homes. As you can see from the above photo it also comes in a wide range of colours.


Number 1

I have a completely new design in mind to use these colours with so watch this space to see what I create, I have a cot blanket to make for a work colleague first but then this one will be coming off my hook.

Number 2

This colour scheme is going to be used to create the cozy stripe blanket designed by Lucy at Attic24. As Autumn is rapidly approaching I have chosen autumnal colours that remind me of fields of sunflowers. 

Number 3

The square for my next blanket is designed by Sandra from Cherry Heart. I have put together my own colours to crochet this blanket and I hope they work well together.

Number 4

I have been looking forward to creating a blanket using this square for a long time but as it is a snowflake design I decided to leave this one until the end of the year. I do like to reflect the current season as I am crocheting so hence this one will probably be the one I work on during December. I am still a bit unsure about the colour scheme for this one but for the moment I am liking these colours together. Initially I had thought to do it in just two colours but then thought it might be a bit boring but you will have to watch this space as to which colours I end up using on this blanket. I might even change this square into a hexagon shape with six points to the snowflake to make it a true snowflake shape instead of the eight sided one in the photo below.

Number 5

This blanket will definitely be a next year project and I have tried to choose bright colours as I think that after all the Christmas festivities are out of the way it will be good to work on something vibrant and cheerful during January. I came across this square on Facebook and it is designed by Nana's Crochet Creations.

My plan at the start of this year was to produce twelve blankets to donate to a local residential care home at Christmas. I am just about to finish the edging on blanket number ten so if all goes to plan I might be able to deliver more than twelve blankets to the residents. I have so many more ideas and blankets I want to make so will be continuing to make more next year for this worthwhile cause.


Have a great weekend and see you next week for another 'five'.

The return of Five On Friday

Five On Friday returns today from its Summer break and I am linking with Amy from Love Made My Home who hosts this weekly event. 


I thought I would round up my Summer break this week before I return to school on Monday. I do apologise to anyone who follows me on Instagram as you might have seen a few of these photos on there.


1.  Crochet projects:-  

August has definitely been a crafting month for me with lots of progress on my charity blankets as well as a couple of other projects.


Here is my latest finish plus a photo of the one I am working on at the moment.

The colours for this one were inspired by my Cath Kidston coffee mug!

I discovered this pattern online recently, it crochets up very quickly

2.  Cross Stitch:-

Up until five years ago my all-consuming passion was cross-stitching but after my father passed away I completely lost my stitching mojo and have only done a few odd bits since then. However a friend asked me last weekend if I had done any stitching lately and somehow that ignited a spark and I suddenly was inspired to start stitching again. I have only started on a small straight-forward piece but have really enjoyed the three days I have spent stitching this week.

3.  Craft Meet-up

As regular readers will know I meet up once a month with some of my crafting friends for a day of crafting and fun, this time it was hosted by Sarah at her home in Whittlesey. We had a wonderful day finishing off with a barbecue which was enjoyed by our other halves as well. 

The day didn't quite end as planned. As our journey to Whittlesey is 3 hours+ we had booked into a hotel and had planned to drive home the next day. However as Sarah's DH was preparing the barbecue an almighty thunder storm was approaching as you can see from the photos below. The rain did hold off until almost the end of the barbecue but when we got to our hotel and were shown our room we found the sash window had been left wide open. The carpet and the bed were saturated. Unfortunately they had no other vacant rooms and were unable to find us another hotel in the Peterborough area with a room so we had no option but to make the long journey home. Seven hours driving in a day is not my idea of fun (my DH doesn't do motorway driving) but we arrived home safely if a little exhausted!

4. Butterflies and Bees

I have chosen plants for our garden this year that attract butterflies and bees and I am happy to say that it certainly has achieved that aim and it is good to see the bees are collecting lots of pollen from the sedums. Here are a few of the photos that I have taken this week.

5. Books

I haven't managed so much reading as I had intended during the holiday period and stuck to fairly light easy reading when I was away. I have so many books stacked up that I really must stop using my iPad as much and start reading more again. I am still reading Islands, this book is by a debut author. It is written in the present tense which is quite unusual but so far that hasn't stopped me being engrossed with the storyline.

Please go and explore the other Five On Friday posts by clicking on the link below.

                   

Love Made My Home