One a Day Project - Tuesday's Tallies

I feel like I'm letting the side down a little this week as I just don't have anything to share with you this week at all!  I've been fiddling and faffing all week starting lots of new projects, only to cast them aside and start something else.  I'm also feeling very overwhelmed with the amount of work still left to do on my blanket and its taking all my self control to stop myself ripping out the joins and making a smaller blanket with the squares I already have.  Must try harder this week!

Please do go and visit Nicole at Nicole and the Bee for her absolutely fabulous Ta-Dah today.  How I would love to have her blanket draped on my bed, it's simple gorgeous.

So, time for the fun part!  If you would like to take part in Tuesday's Tallies, please post your details below, remembering to add the link to the specific post.  You don't have to leave a comment, although I really do appreciate it when you do and if you have time to visit some of the other links that would be lovely.  Please could you link back to here in your blog post too :)

Little Granny Squares Cushion Ta-Dah

I finished my Little Granny Squares Cushion Cover this week. 100 teeny tiny, two round granny squares, joined 'as you go'.  400 ends sewn in, attached with invisible yarn to a cushion cover and filled with a plump feather pillow.

Am I pleased with it, yes most definitely!

Yarn - Rowan Amy Butler Belle Organic DK

Have a lovely weekend x

Flash my Stash!

The theme in the gingerbread House for a couple of weeks or perhaps months has been to try and reduce my stash a little.  My cotton/acrylic stash has been mostly taken care of with my Springtime Throw but I still have a mountain of acrylic yarn to work my way through.  It's oh so easy to acquire a stash of acrylic yarn - it's so cheap for starters and it also comes in the most dazzling array of colours.  I thought it was time to face the reality of just how much acrylic yarn I have lurking in my various stash cupboards and this is what I found.....

64 balls of rainbow colours.  5.2 kilograms of the stuff!  Seriously, how on earth did I amass THIS much acrylic yarn and what on earth am I going to do with it all!

I know what I'll do, I'll make a Yarn Eater Blanket.  The name says it all really!

One a Day Project - Tuesday's Tallies

Yes, it's that time again!  How are you all getting along I wonder?  My enthusiasm for my project is starting to dwindle a little if I am honest.  I managed to complete all of my purple yarns, giving me 67 purple squares.  It felt good to get those done but when I looked at the basketful of yarn still left I felt a little overwhelmed.  I did make a few more squares pushing my overall total up to 207 squares but that was as far as I got.

It was then I decided I needed a new plan of attack, something to reignite my enthusiasm, something to help keep my end goal in sight.  So, I decided to join some squares.  I've managed to join 150 squares in six rows.  My goal is to make this blanket 25 x 20 squares so I have another 14 rows to add.  I'm using stash yarn for joining, but I'm not totally sure I've made a good decision there.  I have only 4 balls of this yarn and it's now discontinued!  I'm keeping my fingers very tightly crossed I can do all the joins with the yarn I have.  The yarn is Drops Cotton Light, the original one, not the new one which is totally different, just in case any of my lovely readers have some which they might be willing to part with.  It's the off white colour :)

So, what next for this project?  I'm hoping I can add at least one row every week.  Obviously I have my stash of purple squares, so it means making 22 new squares each week, plus the joining, which takes me about an hour!!!!  Can you bear to hear about this project for another 14 weeks?  I hope so!

So, time for the fun part!  If you would like to take part in Tuesday's Tallies, please post your details below, remembering to add the link to the specific post.  You don't have to leave a comment, although I really do appreciate it when you do and if you have time to visit some of the other links that would be lovely.  Please could you link back to here in your blog post too :)

Muddled

a small selection of experiments and UFO's

Do you ever get that feeling of being all muddled?  Today I woke up fairly sure it was Monday, then as the morning went on I became fairly sure it was really Tuesday and began to panic a little as I hadn't given my One a Day post much thought, let alone taken photographs.  Then the realisation dawned once again that, no I had been right the first time and it was definitely Monday.  Although I confess I did check with my other half to be absolutely sure.  This feeling of muddledness has been present for most of the summer holidays to be fair, the days are slipping by, merging into one long memory of sunshine and showers.  I'm feeling all disjointed and unable to settle to anything.  My crochet is suffering particularly - the crochet part of my brain is most definitely fuddled and muddled.  Too many projects on the go I think.  The search for the perfect project that will hold my attention right through to the end without getting distracted eludes me.  One pile of yarn comes out only to be replaced by another pile of yarn - I'll just try this pattern and see if I like it - must work on something else I have already started - must just have a browse on the internet for new patterns and new yarn.  Do you get the idea?  I think I need to slow down a little and tackle some of my current projects, clear my mind a little before moving on to something new and fresh.

I feel a little less muddled in the garden, my plants are coming along really nicely and some of the flowers are truly beautiful.  The passionflower was purchased two years ago and so far has bloomed only the once.  It's worth it though, don't you think?  Even if it only managed to produce one flower!

The gladioli are new this year too, as are the red flowers, whose name escapes me right now.  Despite my love of bedding plants I am trying to invest the time and pennies into plants that will return year after year.

We had an awful lot of heavy rain here yesterday and I finally remembered to take a photograph of what happens after heavy rain in our garden.  This is what we are up against - hundred of snails!  Once in a while we fill a bucket with soapy water and get rid of them as they appear but within a few weeks back they come.  I don't remember having quite some many in previous years, but I guess the chickens used to feast on them.

See I told you I was feeling muddled, this post is rather muddled too!  Can you bear with the muddledness a little longer to hear about this little fella?

This is Jake.  He was in need of a new home after his previous owner became allergic to him.  He's rather handsome, if a little on the podgy side of what is healthy for a piggie.  Katherine has taken him on as her own and to give credit where credit is due she's showered him with her time and attention.  His new home is in the old chicken coop, so for a piggie it's rather palatial and he has plenty of room to run off his rather large piggie belly!

Well, I shall return tomorrow, hopefully a little less muddled and fuddled.  In the meantime I am cloud watching/drying washing.  The two go hand in hand at the moment don't they?

One a Day Project - Tuesday's Tallies

Normally Tuesday's seem to come around really quickly but not this week, it's been a long and enjoyable week.  The temptation was very great this week to have a break from my little squares and work on some other exciting projects I have on the go.  I didn't give in to the temptation though and decided to try a different approach to my squares instead.  Previously I have been working one square from each of the colours but this week became a purple week.  I've worked my way through roughly 150 grams of yarn and produced a whopping 41 squares.  I still have one half ball of purple to work up and then I shall be moving on to the next set of colours.  I now have 191 squares and have used approx 550 grams of yarn.  I still have about 1 kilo of yarn to work my way through, which means this will be a WIP for quite some time yet!

Please do come and join our Flickr Group if you haven't already and if you are new to my blog and wondering what on earth this post is all about hop over to our Raverly group for more details.

Time for the fun bit! If you would like to participate in 'Tuesday's Tallies' please add your details below, remembering to use your the link for your post rather than your blog. You don't have to leave a comment (although it's very lovely when you do!) and it would be great if you could visit some of the links too. If you are participating please could you link back to this post :)

Plans

Despite the fact I have worked permanent night shifts for almost four years now and night shifts on and off for 12 years I don't think I'll ever get used to the tiredness it causes.  Today is one of those days where the tiredness is at it's peak, which is not good as back to work I go tonight.  I love my job, I work with a great bunch of people and I'm proud of the fact I continue to work with four children but today is one of those days when I wish my other half had a better paid job so I could stop working nightshifts and having to cope on little or no sleep.  There I've had my moan, as you were! Let's move on to more exciting things.....

Yes, some of you may remember this little project from a while ago.  Yes, it was a long while ago since I last did anything on this.  I started it in October last year and it's been resting in my cupboard ever since.  Well, the reason I've bought it out of hiding today, is I have a plan.  It's been swimming around in my head a little while now but I've decided it's time the plan was put into action.  Now bear with me here as I may waffle a little - I'm rather good at waffling sometimes!  We have a rather large, very dark brown corner settee in our lounge.  It totally dominates the room BUT we can all fit on there comfortably so although I don't love the settee it does serve a purpose and the very useful purpose of seating at that!  I expressed to the other half a little while ago that perhaps it would be nice to replace the settee with something more pleasing to the eye but, well, as usual the finances don't stretch to new large items of furniture very often and so that idea was quickly shelved.  For a little while we even thought about buying one on one of these fantastic buy now, 4 years interest free offers but I don't really fancy the idea of committing to years of finance for just a settee.  So this little plan starting forming in my mind of keeping the large brown settee and adorning it with some large squishy crochet covered cushions.  And perhaps a couple of crochet throws draped over the back.  It was then I remembered this little project that was always destined to become a cushion, I even bought a cushion cover to attach it too.  It's a little smaller than the cushions I have plans for BUT I think it will be the perfect start to my grand plans don't you?

It's fiddly faffy crochet this cushion cover, lots of ends to hide away, lots of thinking about colour placement and lots of finger crossing that it will work.  That my plan to sew it onto the cushion cover will be okay - you see I have to be able to remove the covers for washing - four children and two dogs make for messy settee happenings sometimes, so washability is high on the list of priorities for this plan to work.  I'm excited about my plan and I will keep you all up to date with my progress and perhaps when the small people have not made quite such a mess on the settee I will share a photograph of the big brown settee.

Snippets

We've had some lovely blue skies.  My flowers are really enjoying the heat and filling the patio area with their bright showy colours.

Hooky time took place outside yesterday to take advantage of the sunshine.

And dinosaurs are the favourite toy for Katherine right now!

One a Day Project - Tuesday's Tallies

I normally like to get my Tuesday's Tallies post up on my blog nice and early but the morning just flew by in a rush of housework and child duties.  I'm here now though, ready to share this weeks progress.  I've managed to churn out quite a few squares this week bringing my total up to 150 - not bad going I thought!  The Olympics have helped as I'm watching as much as I can which gives me lots of chances to sit and hook.

I'm desperate to lay out my squares again so I can see how big (or small) a blanket I have now but there are too many helpers here at the moment!  I've also bagged them up into colour groups now  and so I think I will wait until I have a fair few more squares before I lay them out again.

Well, here's hoping for another productive week - although I have more birthdays and work to deal with this weekend so maybe not as productive as this week!

Please do come and join our Flickr Group if you haven't already and if you are new to my blog and wondering what on earth this post is all about hop over to our Raverly group for more details.


Time for the fun bit! If you would like to participate in 'Tuesday's Tallies' please add your details below, remembering to use your the link for your post rather than your blog. You don't have to leave a comment (although it's very lovely when you do!) and it would be great if you could visit some of the links too. If you are participating please could you link back to this post :)

Making the Most.....

I find the weather an endless source of fascination and I think we are very lucky here in the UK to enjoy interesting weather and changing seasons.  This years weather hasn't been particularly great so far with ample amounts of rain and little in the way of a real British summer.  There have been days though when the sky has been blue and we make the most of those days.  These shots were taken towards the end of last week and although the temperatures weren't great we pumped up the pool and made the most of it.

We've enjoyed some really lazy days this week, but cabin fever is setting in.  I'm happy to potter around the house and I'm really enjoying watching the Olympics but the children are not quite so keen to continue with this lazy approach to life.  Today we are heading a little way up the motorway to visit my parents.  We enjoyed a lovely day with them last week and I know they have plans for us today so hopefully some good old fashioned fresh air should do them so good and help to blow the cobwebs away.

I'm sure a lot of you say this wonderful granny blanket from Sandra at Cherryheart but if you didn't do please do go and have a look.  It's absolutely beautiful and very inspiring and some of the lovely folks from the We Love Lucy Ravelry Group have started a CAL.  I'm joining in but I'm using Heather's lovely Elmer Baby Blanket as my inspiration.  I raided my rather large basketful of acrylic yarn yesterday and I had all but four of the colours that Heather used which will make it another stash busting project.  I really was going to finish another blanket before starting but what can I say I am weak!