This Week, I Have Been Mostly Making...

...a birthday card for my dad! Made from recycled materials, of course! Happy Birthday, Pops!


...new squares for my throw! I love the different coloured one, and the purple one has a lovely texture that really doesn't photograph well...the yellow one is a work in progress, however - it's set to be embroidered, but I haven't decided if I like the pattern yet!




So the pile is growing again steadily!


One day, this will become a blanket...! What have you been creating this week?

New Crafty Bits!

Hello there! This is a little bit late - more mid-week than usual! - because of an impromptu long weekend! I did get around to making a couple of little bits I thought I'd show you!


First a couple of new home cards for friends who are moving! I really like the orange one - the blue one is nice, but I think the little house is a bit big! Future ones will be modelled on the orange one! Soon to be in my shop - this is definitely the time of year to be moving!






I've managed to complete a few more squares, too! The red one was an absolute nightmare to get the hang of - I started and re-started and re-started about six times, always getting almost halfway through thinking I'd definitely figured it out this time only to be bitterly disappointed (I realise that this is highly melodramatic for a crocheted throw, but, honestly, it was a right fanny!)...but I got there in the end, hurrah! The cross-stitch on the yellow one was also a bit of a pain, but only because I was too busy watching Spartacus: Blood and Sand - it's pretty hypnotising, in my defence! And check out my lovely new granny square :)


So the complete throw (so far!) now looks like this! I can only just fit it on the table - I'm going to have to find somewhere else to photograph it soon!


Look! My little pile is getting bigger!



Have you been getting along with any new projects recently?

The Throw Grows...!

Hello there! I hope you all had jolly good weekends filled with at least a bit of sunshine! I visited some lovely friends, blew some imaginary bubbles with babies (mine were green!), did some pretty funky dancing with the same babies, went to the (RIDICULOUSLY windy!) beach, flew kites, ate far too much delicious food and drank Lambrini (oh yes!) amongst other things!

That's me flying a kite!


The kites later had a fight...


I saw this piece of artwork in the restaurant we had tea in and absolutely loved it:


It says 'Touch Me' in Braille and is by Liverpool-based artist Leon Ellis Jakeman (read more here and here!)...if I had £240 spare, it would have been mine!

I also managed to complete another couple of crochet squares, hurrah! I LOVE the dotty one, even if I did manage to get myself completely muddled up throughout...


So the throw now looks like this! I'm loving the purple and the granny square especially, hopefully there'll be more squares like that!


I am currently fighting with the most recent, which almost reduced me to tears of frustration yesterday, and I'm only four rows in...


Do any other crocheters out there just HATE changing colour? I'm awful at it, invariably get myself in a massive knot and have a strop...yes I am a child! Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I can NOT do it!

What did you get up to? Did it involve any stropping? No? Just me then...!

The Crocheted Throw Continues...!

Hiya! I hope the Bank Holiday treated you well and you spent it doing lots of things you enjoy! We did a bit of cycling, a bit of running, a bit of barbecuing, too much shopping (it was payday...!), plenty of cocktail-creating, far too much giggling at this video, and I also managed a couple more squares of my crochet throw! The magazine seems to have caught up with itself now - I've suddenly had a tonne of them through the door and have plenty to be going on with (including some comfy-looking socks that I might begin soon as they'll probably take me until Christmas to finish!)!

The most recent squares have been these two - the blue is a half-treble and is nice and dense (and square!), and the yellow one (maize, apparently!) is a ribbed treble stitch that doesn't really show very well, but it's very nice, I promise!


I've also begun a third, which promises to be really pretty when I manage to untangle myself from the various coloured cottons...it was really tricky to get, but satisfying when I finally did! There are more rows of bobbles to come, in yellow, blue and cream. I like it!


So here's the throw so far...it's taking shape at last!


I also finally picked up this monster from the Post Office...


It's a paper punch holder with 36 tiny punches in some really cute shapes! A teeny tiny cow! An aeroplane and a helicopter! An elephant!


I actually bought the punches below originally, without realising you need the holder thing to make the punches work, and then found the entire set for less than I'd bought the separate punches for, so I now have these twelve little paper punches going spare if anybody wants them?! You can use them without the holder, it's just really fiddly - but you can also buy the punch for a couple of pounds on eBay, so if anybody wants the spare punches, you're very welcome to them - just leave me a comment! Waste not want not and all that!


What did you get up to over the Bank Holiday?

Crochet Throw Update!

Hello! How was your weekend? Wasn't the sun lovely?! I went to stay with Oliver up near York and I burned my face whilst feeding goats ha! We also saw some newborn lambs (aww!) and the most beautiful spaniel puppy, which I wanted to steal - I think the puppy's owner knew it, too! He looked just like the grey ones in this photo (I daren't take a photo of the actual puppy, I think his owner already thought I was going to run off with him!), and made me long for a dog even more!


I managed to do plenty of crocheting in the evenings, too - whilst watching Ratatouille, in fact (I loved it, I am such a child)! I finished another two squares of my throw, though I have to admit I'm not that impressed with the designs...


The tension was perfect and the squares themselves are really neat, but the cross-stitch looks a bit naff, especially on the white one - it looks like it's a bit drunk (or I was when I made it...I wasn't, promise!). It was a bit annoying to do; I pulled it out and re-started it a few times, and this was by far the best attempt, so I'm not sure if I can be bothered to try again - I might just hide it in the throw beside some nicer squares!

Anyway, here's the throw so far!


I love the granny square more and more each time I look at it - I might try crafting some other items using the granny square technique, although with the beautiful weather I'm not really in the mood for warm clothes! Perhaps a crochet bikini?


Perhaps not...

What did you get up to over the weekend?

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Happy Easter!

Hiya! Today I thought I'd show you a couple of things I've been making recently!

First a little Easter card for my friend and her children - I think it's a bit busy (I decided this after I'd stuck everything down...) but I do really like the colours!



And then the next square for my throw! A granny square this time - I love how it turned out!


So here's my throw so far...I don't really like the pink one in the middle; I don't think I got the tension quite right, and I'll probably pull it out and redo it in the future, but it took such a long time I just can't bear to yet!


We're off to Liverpool for the weekend, which will hopefully involve seeing some friends, plenty of snoozing, eating some chocolate, a nice spring jog or two and an Easter egg hunt if I can convince Oliver to embrace his inner child!

I also might have a look at getting a bike, ready to cycle to and from work to make the most of any nice weather! Something nice and ladylike (to keep up the pretence that I am ladylike, obviously!) like these lovelies (click photos to go to source)...






I imagine this must be from a film, given his bloody nose, suit, and determined look in his eye, but I'd love to think Harrison Ford rides around on a pink flowery bike!


What are you up to for Easter?

Change the World in Your Pyjamas!

Hello! Today I thought I'd share the website Help From Home, which promotes 'easy home based micro volunteer actions that benefit so many worthy causes'! Their mission is to inspire people to volunteer their time for worthy causes from the comfort of their own home - sounds good, yes?


You can choose from 'charity', 'green' or 'advocacy' volunteering, and each volunteer action is listed by the time-taken to complete, the impact it has and the cost (everything I've seen is free!) and given a pyjama-rating, indicating how much effort is required to complete it - most of the actions have a 100% pyjama-rating! You can track your actions, and also print off 'Do Good Cards' to pass around and inspire others to give their spare time!


So go on, have a click! Here are some of my favourite green actions:

- Morsbags - make reusable bags to handout, encouraging people to use fewer plastic bags - you can even print out cute labels to sew in them!


- Read It Swap It - set up a 'My Books' list and 'Wishlist', and start swapping your books for new ones!


- The PB&J Campaign - this one fits in well with Meat Free Mondays!


- Freecycle - give away your unwanted stuff to people who'll love it all over!


- The Billion Tree Campaign - pledge to plant a tree and help fight climate change!


- EcologyFund - sign yourself up to a free email address - 50% of revenue from site advertising goes towards protecting land.


There are hundreds more in many different areas - have a look here now!
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I also wanted to show you my latest crocheted square for the (slowly) developing throw - this one is done in a scallop lace stitch, which is really just chains and treble crochets combined. I didn't really like it at first - it's simple enough and quite nice to create, but it looked a bit 'old-lady' when I began it, especially if I imagined it being any bigger than the square. It's grown on me, though, and I think it'll look quite nice combined with the rest of the squares! With and without flash so you can see the detail - here's the throw so far...!



In other news...I'm slightly embarrassed to admit, it was inevitable, but it's finally got me, I am now a fully paid-up Gleek - I spent Monday crocheting and watching the entire series so far...oh dear!


When I grow up, I want to be as well put-together as Miss Pillsbury!

Let me know if you do any of the volunteer actions at Help From Home!