Flower squares

Well it's been a while but at last some creative content here again! Though don't get too excited it's not much.I've managed to finish four of the sixteen square I'm making for my crochet cushion top. As you can see they have not been blocked out yet, but they all seem to be working out about the same sort of size so I'm happy that I seem to have settled in to a consistent rhythm with my crochet hook. They are still taking quite a while to do I'm finding that I have to keep checking the method for each stitch it's not sinking in yet but I'm sure it will the more I do!

Crochet Scarf

Something new to share today craft wise ... that hasn't happened for a while so I must have my blogging mojo back. Can you remember last month when I fell in love with an alpaca or two? Well I've started using this lovely Alpaca wool.It came in a kit to make some wrist warmers. I'd gotten to the point of getting knitting needles out and everything when I decided at the very last minute to change tack and go with a crochet hook to make a scarf instead.There is a long way to go yet but everything seems to take me an age these days. Anyhow it'll get done slowly but surely and I like the way it's turning out so far. The wool is so soft and lovely to work with.

Flowers in the Garden

For anyone who might have been wondering exactly what it was that I was crocheting up a mountain in my post the other day. It was one of these.I've been making lots of middles for my water lily blocks. You might remember back here I was making tryout blocks for an idea for a throw. Well I've scrapped the throw idea and I'm just going to make a water lily cushion for now. I have another throw plan but I'm not going to start until these babies are finished! (Well at least that's what I keep telling myself, I am widely known for my total lack of will power though!)Anyhow these middles are all done so I just have to get to making the outer rounds now to finish the blocks up.

Today I fell in love with an Alpaca

... ok if I'm being totally honest it's not just one but a whole herd that stole my heart today when I went on a visit to Latton Alpacas. I mean seriously look at this and then try and tell me you don't think they're adorable too.I was made to feel so welcome during my visit. These animals are obviously well loved and cared for and the owners, Mym and Adrian were so generous with their time and their knowledge as I bombarded them with questions.I was lucky enough to be allowed in with the alpacas for a while and got to feed a few from my hands, honestly you wouldn't believe how soft their fleeces are. If you haven't already passed out from cuteness overload check out this adorable little girl.If I'm remembering correctly she is about 10 days old and her name was Keira, but there were so many names to take in I might be wrong!

All of the adult alpacas have recently been shorn, they have a little craft shop which is open over the weekends where they sell all manor of alpaca goodies. Including some fleeces and yarn made from the boys and girls in the herd.Of course I wasn't able to resist coming away with a few goodies myself! I ended up with this beautifully presented kit to make some wrist warmers.And also this little drop spindle spinning kit, and the most adorable hedgehog pincushion.I've not tried spinning before so it will be interesting to see if I can get the hang of it.

If you live anywhere near Cricklade/Swindon/Malmesbury I would so encourage you to go along and make a visit yourself. You can find out more info on the website here or facebook here. They do have mail order if you want to buy any of the goodies yourself just have a look round on the website :)

Extreme Crochet

A trip to the Lakes doesn't just mean lots of lovely walking, it's also time for me to participate in some extreme crafting :) Last year saw me knitting in windy conditions at Wast Water.

This year saw me perching precariously on a pile of rocks complete with crochet in hand at the top of Pavey Ark.Another one of me acting silly for the camera much to the bemusement of some other walkers that were also around trying to enjoy the spectacular summit views........
.... the things I do to amuse you my lovely loyal blog readers :) I wouldn't have the excuse to be half as silly without you. THANK YOU. X

Back to the drawing board

With my machine on the fritz I have to rely on my handwork projects for my stitching fix at the moment :) Unfortunatley these have all taken against me as well, sigh. I'm just going to ride this wave of 'everything I touch goes wrong' and hope that life goes on the upturn again soon :)

Stop waffling and get to the point you might be screaming at me by now, and I wouldn't blame you. I've been working up a couple of the crochet blocks that I gave a test drive too last week. The cream and the red yarns are slightly different weights but are almost the same thickness so I thought I'd get away with combining the two. Sadly not.I've hooked up the two blocks that I wanted to make my throw from and they've come out at different sizes. So it's back to the drawing board. These are the options I've come up with so far

1. Stick with the idea of a throw from these two blocks and go shopping again for some different yarns

2. I like both of the blocks so I could make a throw using just one of the block patterns, maybe adding some more colour variations in to make it a bit more interesting.

3. Scrap the whole idea of a throw and admitt that my crochet ambitions are way beyond my actual skill level!!

Any thoughts will be gratefully received.

second test block done

A really quick post today as I'm hoping to go off to the Quilts, UK show for the day. A quick and not particularly good snap of the second crochet block that I finished up yesterday. So now that I'm happy I can follow the directions for both the blocks I will be able to get cracking with the yarn I bought the other day. This will be a long term project. The blocks do take a bit of time, though hopefully I will get faster as I get more practise on them, I'm hoping to start out at the rate of two blocks a week, but I still have a tonne of other things to work on too so we'll see.

Still hooking

Time flies when your having fun - so the saying goes. I had a lovely day yesterday wandering in the rain, visiting a local exhibition and then going to the movies for a good dose of Johnny Depp - swoon. Anyway all that means I still don't have anything much to show here. So I thought I'd share the progress on the test blocks for the crochet project I have in mind.

The other day I happened to find myself in the local craft shop - not quite sure how or why, I'm sure you've had those experiences before ;-) They had lying around a few sample crochet blocks they had using some of these lovely yarns (though not quite the same colours as the ones I came home with).I have in mind to make a throw, something that will just sling over the back of the sofa, to be dragged down and snuggled in to whenever the need arises. So I've been having a flick through this book. Even though I've only just learned to crochet I already had a few books in my collection just things that I've picked up and dreamed that I might be able to work from someday! The blocks in the book are graded for beginners, intermediate and experienced. I didn't want to make things too complicated so figured I'd pick two blocks and make a simple design from them, but of course the ones I like fall into the second and third category, so I figured that I should make a couple of test blocks to see if I could follow the pattern before attempting them for real.This first block is called Waterlily. I didn't quite get the flower right but I know where I went wrong and am happy that I'll be able to fix it when I start on the throw.

So far I've only managed the centre of the second block which is called Big RoundThe pattern isn't really showing too well in the photo yet but I'm hoping it will start to look better as I add the square outer borders. Wish me luck.

I can't believe it's done

Siberian Gold is finally finished. Now it's done it doesn't seem possible, I think it might take me a while to settle in to the idea. I first picked this UFO out of Mum's project box back in August 2008. This is what it looked like.It's been a long time in the finishing hasn't it? Of course I haven't worked on it nonstop and in those years I've had a good few months of downtime where I didn't touch any stitching or creative stuff at all. But it's done.
I don't think I could even hazard a guess as to how many stitching hours have gone in to this one. Way too many to count or even think about. The finished size is 11.5 x 16 inches. The back stitching is quite subtle - some for the whiskers and also round the branches and grasses in the background so that took me a couple of sessions to get finished.
All that needs to be done now is to get these cats washed and damp stretched and they will be ready for a frame.

I already have the next of Mum's UFOs picked out. After 3 years the thought of going through that box again was weighing heavily on my mind, it always makes me sad to see how many projects Mum never got to finish. Anyway Dave bless him took that burden away from me and he went in and picked something out. It's another big one that's not had much of a start so it could be another few years before I have to visit the box again. I'm going to leave you in suspense though until next month to find out what it is. The rest of this month will be spent trying to make some progress on Lakeside Farm.

A weekend with Granny

Usually at the weekends I try and cram in as much as I can. I'm usually rushing round more than I do in the week, because I'm trying to fit in as much of the stuff that I want to do as possible. But every now and then you just have to take some down time. This weekend was one of those times. I pretty much did nothing all weekend, curled up on the sofa reading, listening to the rain, watching movies. Heaven.

All that time on the sofa means that I have my granny squares all done.To be honest I'm not sure that my Granny would really like all these bright and clashy colours together but I think this is going to make one fun cushion. Have no idea where I'm going to put it though, as you might be glad to hear that none of the rooms in my house are actually decked out in these colours, lol.

I'm a hooker

It's official I have another obsession. After years of wanting to learn the lovely Sue taught me my first crochet stitches last week. This is my progress so far.Looking through some crochet books and stuff on the web, I can't believe how much variety can be gotten from just one little hook and some yarn.

It's probably another thing learned that I probably won't have the time to do justice with. I think I'm destined to spend my life being a jack of all trades type person, but hey that's ok with me. I would like to make 16 of these little squares and make them up into a cushion cover so I'm going to add this to my to do list for May.

So it's official..... I'm a hooker..... Sue if your reading I guess technically that makes you a Madam ;)