Crochet will live on ...

The girls dutifully turned up for their second session last night - and excitement or excitements, we sat in the Summer House!  How fab.
Both girls had managed to turn round on themselves and were doing rounds in reverse but it wasn't too noticeable so with a little bit of remedial work they were off and on their way again.

Harriet is making a blanket in one big round with some unusual colours which really work well.  How proud does she look, bless her!

Rachel is going for a checkerboard approach with lots of big grannies and is in danger of poking her eye out with the hook if she gets much closer to her work!  Not easy working in a dark colour though.

Two natural born crafters are in the making here as they already have lots of thoughts tumbling around about what they want to make next, crochet, patchwork - looks like the competition at the boot sales and charity shops is increasing :)

I'm still working on my bright stripey blanket but have used up all my colours now so will have to take a break whilst I wait for more to arrive. 

 No matter, two weeks off work now so plenty of time to let my creativity run wild. 

 Ooooh, I am so excited about being off work!  Can't remember the last time I had two consecutive weeks off.

Deb had commented on my crochet flower a while back so I will try and post some instructions that make sense (since I kind of made it up as I went along).

It may be grey and overcast but these lillies have continued to thrive, struggling their way up through the soil to give a wonderful display and scent outside my back door.  Aren't bulbs amazing?

Happy Weekend!

Summer Loving

... finally, my big garden treat has arrived!  I've been toying with the idea of a summer house ever since I had to leave my lovely old one 8 years ago and decided to take the plunge.  I was hoping it would be in situ for Michael's 21st but it wasn't to be.  It arrived on Saturday evening and I spent Sunday applying white emulsion for the beach hut look.

Before

After

It's a long way from finished but I had two dear friends round for some bubbles and a christening meal which was just fabulous.   I had to make a start with the interior furnishings but am very excited at the prospect of making it a lovely cosy hideaway.  I've spent many a happy hour in Angie's summer house so it was great to return the favour for a change (and the lovely Captain Birdseye is going to put the electrics in for me in the Autumn) so we'll be all set for Winter evenings out there too.

Not much time for anything else this weekend what with cooking, gardening, painting and socialising but just time to squeeze in a few little pressies for one of my favourite blog pals which I can show you now because she was a happy recipient at the weekend.  It warms my heart  to know I've spread a little happiness.  My friend, Vive loved her book as she can never find anything with her name on.

Small pleasures....

Wishing you sunshine, happiness and a warm glow in your heart

xxx

Happy Girlies

How lovely to see a young girl's face light up at the prospect of learning an old lady craft.  At Michael's party one of his friends expressed a wish to learn to crochet so I was more than happy to host a small sisterhood mark 3 gathering - an intimate little group with just myself, my big sis, Anne, Harriet and Rachel (a beginner returner in need of a quick refresher course).

I reckon Harriet is going to be a crochet fiend once she finds her own way of handling the hook and Rachel quickly picked up where she left off so two granny blankets are now well under way.  I wonder what time the girls went to bed as they were both eager to get home and carry on!  Hope neither fell asleep and ended up with a crochet hook up the nose!

Harriet is very pleased with her little self!

Look at clever Rahel!

Anne tries to decide which colour next for her ever growing blanket

OK, yes, there were cakes and a smidgen of wine. 

Where has the week gone?  It's flown by but there's always time to squeeze in a little creativity around the mundanity of work and domestic chores, hey?

I covered this book with some lovely fresh Greengate fabric for my lovely Swedish office mate, Viveka - a belated birthday present - but need to make another little something to go with it...

I made a start on my Lucy granny stripe blanket - might have to put my sunglasses on for this project!

So much to fit into this weekend - the garden needs some attention, the house needs some attention, I have not one but two social events (!!!), a car boot sale on Sunday and I want to sew!  Will have to get my skates on and be mega organised.  Maybe just one more cup of tea first .....

Wishing you and yours a happy weekend!

A gay day in York

As promised, Michael and I headed off to York to do a little 21st birthday present shopping.  His wallet was bulging with birthday money - but who needs that when Mummy has her handy piece of plastic.  Needing to recover from no sleep at all on the Saturday night he rose quite late but at least we missed the rain but then it felt like a sauna in York.  Almost too hot to shop...

almost.... 

we had a little Love Actually moment in Reiss as the very nice young man lovingly wrapped a t-shirt in tissue, drawers were opened and stickers brandished with a flourish, a bag produced with apologies for it being the old design, more stickers adorned the bag and then the receipt also got the treatment (no lavender though) - Michael and I were both thinking the same thing  "tis but the work of a moment" - oh, the joys of such little shared moments ....

all that for a sale t-shirt!

We went for a very nice lunch and headed home happy and content with our little foray.

Whilst Michael was sleeping I managed to finish the quilt - my tennis elbows were protesting pointedly by the end of the machine quilting (and one broken needle) session later.  The wadding was very thick and the backing was a brushed cotton duvet cover I was recycling so all in all quite a weighty project what with all the denim too.

Happily, Michael was suitably pleased .... his three favourite squares being his initial

(don't look too closely at my wonky sewing - now I know why it's best to use all the same weight fabric!)

the Liberty lawn 

and the cheeky little owl - him being a wise old owl lover.

I amused myself with a little nod to Janet Bolton and little touches from the shirt cuff I used on one of the squares.

One happy Mum and son

So, what's next?  I was going to crochet some flowers for my Mum's cotton crochet bag she's made but she rather liked this one I prepared earlier in true Blue Peter fashion so she adopted it.

However, two of Michael's friends want to learn to crochet so there will be a teach in on Thursday evening.  Should be a nice girlie evening as the boys have been despatched to their Dad's today - always a sad time for me but it does mean lots of free evenings..... and I've a yen to tackle a bit of clothes making - having purchased a couple of tops from White Stuff which look like they might be within the realms of my expertise (ie not requiring much at all!)

21 today - where have all those years gone?

Well, 21 yesterday now as I was too tired to finish this post last night!  I'm talking about son number 2 - Michael 'we have names, mother!'  My sister, Anne and I were both in hospital about to give birth at the same tine - she in Scarborough, me in Winchester trying to hang on a bit longer as Michael was a bit too keen to get out into the big wide world.  We gave birth within 12 hours of each other and I have to say, both these little boys have a lovely nature so I have to think the planets were nicely aligned at the time.

Michael is on the left, Harry on the right, fresh, clean and shiny straight out of the bath in their matching jim-jams.  Those were the days when I could wear horizontal stripes!!

Michael and I are off for a gay day in York today to get him a birthday present but I wanted to make him something as a keepsake.  Ben  (my eldest) didn't want any crochet in his house, thank you very much but I think Michael will appreciate my efforts and I am sure he will put this to good use as a picnic blanket.

I couldn't get it finished in time for the big day but they are off to Scotland with their Dad tomorrow so that should give me plenty of time to get it done

I used old jeans, some old shirts - two of which Ben and Michael wore when they were very, very little boys, some liberty fabric that Michael mentioned liking and some bits of crochet and knitting - lots of different textures but a mainly blue and white theme.  I used the red to cheer it up a bit.  I was a bit worried about tackling this many different weights and textures on my machine and had a few hairy moments with the the bobbin - don't you just hate it when the machine gives that little hiccup as you start to sew which invariably means it's about to cotter up and get your knickers in a knot?  After much cursing and re-threading it was purring away quite happily - not sewing anything but purring away!  Thank goodness it has a self threading needle thingy otherwise it might have been heading out the window!

Now get thee to the kitchen to run the dishwasher for the third time and wash up all those champagne flutes!  

and I'm sorry but I didn't get chance to go shopping for Winter woollies and it's still raining (typical - just pegged out a whole lines of clothes!!)

Silly British Weather

I seem to have lost interest in cooking and even thinking about what meals to cook so William and I tend to eat whatever is quick and easy. However, last night whilst he had his nose stuck in the fridge looking for something to eat he said to me 'Mum, I think some baked potatoes and coleslaw are called for.'  I keep trying to tempt him with the new potatoes from the garden but he's not a fan. I told him that it's not the right season for jacket spuds and they are not at their best. His reply? 'Well, they're a Winter thing really, aren’t they and we are going into Winter now.' I know that we are having very silly weather for this time of year but the onset of winter in mid July? That's pushing it, even for the UK!

But, I feel I must apologise to my fellow Britons about the weather as I think it is my fault. Since we were enjoying a heat wave at the weekend I bought some new flimsy tops (no, not patchwork flimsy although Anne's suggestion of making mine into a kaftan has a certain appeal). So, now that I have some lovely light and cool tops the rain and wind has put in an appearance!  It feels like it's time to put the sweaters and sock back on. I'll go shopping for a winter coat this weekend. Maybe that will do the trick!

Wishing you sunshine and smiles

xxx

My Flimsy Is Finished

What's a flimsy?  New word I learned today whilst surfing on Fredashive blogspot.  It sounds so much better than saying 'my quilt is nearly finished/needs quilting'.  I've been burning the midnight oil which is rather silly as it makes for a very long and tedious day at work the following day but I just can't help myself!

So here it is.... a tad difficult to photograph as it was rather breezy so had to make it snappy - literally!

I don't know how my blocks still don't meet perfectly in every corner despite being very careful with my rotary cutter and my 1/4 inch patching foot but Anne says that's part of the charm.  I'll go with that and push Jules the perfectionist back in her box.

I am a bit stuck now as I can't decide how to back it as I think this will be an eiderdown rather than a quilt so I want it to be reversible.  Hey ho, guess I'll just have to go fabric shopping.......