I've Moved!

I have a new home in Blogland, please do come and pay me a visit, I'd be delighted to see you there!

Long Time No See!

I can't believe I've been away from Blogland for quite as long as I have.  Life's pretty busy here as usual and the stresses of everyday life usually mean something has to give and once again it was my blog time that I had to sacrifice.  I've been crafting away even though I've not been posting, but for a change it was my knitting needles that were holding my attention.  This last week has seen me rekindle my crochet love and I've poured myself into finishing a project I started way back in September.  It was originally a One a Day project but once I stopped hosting the One a day Project it just became a regular WIP! 

Ten by twelve rows of five round granny squares, ready and waiting for a border to frame them!  And to be honest, adding the border is my favourite part of a project.  I haven't totally decided what I am doing for my border, but I'm feeling very strongly drawn to something similar to Lucy's!  I have nine colours to play with and so far I have added two rounds of granny clusters, in the deep blue. 

Now, I know the photo's were taken at different times of the day and the light is different but what a difference that makes!  It's also helped to even out the blanket, as it seems to have grown somewhat on one edge!  I'm planning to take photos after each stage of the border so you can see the progress, so do check back and see how I am doing.

On a completely different note, do any of you out there still receive Mollies Makes, the magazine?  I subscribe and so it plops through my letterbox each month, but I'm beginning to feel it's time to end my subscription.  I don't really enjoy reading it as much as I used to and I'm very frustrated at the way they show you projects that require you to buy one of their 'sister' magazines.  Perhaps it's time to invest my money elsewhere, I'd love some recommendations if you have any, thank you muchly!

I promise I shall be back sooner than last time!  But now I must go and wake the sleeping child who is at that awful stage of dropping her afternoon nap, but some days just not having enough energy to last until bedtime.

xXx

PS - I'm LOVING The Great British Sewing Bee, are you too?

The Quickest Makeover Ever!

I have always admired the stool that Lucy of Attic24 has in her home. It's just a simple stool, with a pretty crochet cover. I managed to acquire a little stool from a charity shop but it was more of a bar stool, than a cute little stool. So, the wonderful Mr Gingerbread chopped the legs down for me and made it the perfect height for my desk. Making the crochet cover was slightly more of a challenge, in that I've just never found the time to do it. I've found the perfect solution though. Do you want to see the quickest and easiest stool makeover ever?
Here are the ingredients....
One stool of your choosing

A cute shower cap

This one came from Matalan. I love the cute ditsy floral print. Now for the difficult bit - place your shower cap over the seat of your stool.

Now stand back and admire your handy work! I'm rather proud of my stool cover, I think it was rather a clever idea, even if I do say so myself!
xXx
ps - please ignore the very tired eyes and yes, I have ridiculously pale eyebrows and probably should have applied some make up before taking that photo and sharing it on the www!

Thoughts for the Future

Despite being thoroughly in love with with my granny stripes, my thoughts are never far away from my next project. I've been enjoying gathering some images on Pinterest related to colour and I think I have picked a lovely selection of colours for my next project. Once again, I am completely breaking the mould in terms of my usual colour choices but my thoughts are also never far away from the warmer weather and I think my colour selection reflects the desire for a summer! I'm thinking warm sun and beaches, deck chairs and wind breaks, ice cream and beach towels and I can't wait to see how these colours will come together. I haven't totally decided on what pattern to use yet, but I am very strongly drawn towards an interlocking ripple......

Do you like my yarn holder thingy? It's not my idea, I remember reading about something similar on a blog recently. It's just some pieces of card wrapped with yarn, a hole punched in the corner and threaded onto a locking jump ring raided from my long forgotten scrap booking supplies!

I love the pop of red! All the yarn is Stylecraft Special DK apart from Mint, which is Stylecraft Life DK.
I'm back to work this week, but I'm feeling rested and ready to return. We are getting a new to us car this week too, which is very exciting. It's a Volvo and it's automatic and it's BIG! We are thinking of calling her Verity!
xXx

Progress

I've been at work a lot recently and as some of you might have seen on the news recently, a lot of hospitals are really struggling at the moment. I work long night shifts in A and E and boy does it take it out of you. Whilst we still get a lot of minor injuries (and a lot of inappropriate attendances) the vast majority of our patients are very poorly and require a huge amount of care. I'm finding it takes me longer, both emotionally and physically to recover from my night shifts, which is why I've been quiet here. I'm now in the middle of a week off and still have a few more days off to enjoy.

I've made huge amounts of progress on my 'Gankie'. I've just completed my 29th row and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. I've also got some yarn details to share with you.


Top Row - Sirdar Snuggly DK - Gold, Annell Rapido - Blue Grey 3236
Second Row - Stylecraft Luxury Wool Rich DK - Petrol - Autumn Glow, Stylecraft Life DK - Mint - Fern
Third Row - Stylecraft Special DK - Parchment - Pale Rose - Camel - Walnut
Fourth Row - Khaki - Graphite - Copper - Silver
Fifth Row - Grape - Claret - Mocha


I'm not sure how many rows I'll make it, perhaps 70, maybe a few more. I'm already excited about the border!

xXx

Clever, Crafty Husband

So my husband is a rather crafty fella. Okay, so he doesn't crochet or share my love of yarn but he does like to spend time creating. This week he made me my very own remote control. He used an image of my granny stripe and with a little bit of his crafty magic he turned a Sky remote into this!



How cool is that?

I hope you all have a great weekend, xXx

Granny Stripe - the beginning.....

As promised, I've braved the chill this morning, ventured out into the garden and snapped a couple of shots of the granny stripe. The garden is looking so sorry for itself and it was tricky to find somewhere suitable, but I managed! I've now completed 20 rows or 10 stripes and I'm really enjoying how the colours are coming together.


I leaving the ends. Normally I like to sew them in after finishing a row, but I've decided to wait this time. I've knotted them together to stop tangles and I quite like seeing the knots with their different colours.


I've used mostly Stylecraft Special DK, but there are a few other acrylics in there along with a couple of acrylic/wool blends. I shall try my best to share the colours with you soon.

I'm pleased to say George was in a much brighter mood after school and seems a little more positive about going than he was on Monday. It was lovely to read your comments, thank you.


xXx