All about my girl

Hello me dears, thanks so much or all your gorgeous words of encouragement about my Japanese Flower scarf, it truly was a pleasure to make and give away to H who was bowled over by it. It adorned her neck the next day when I saw her and I was really pleased to see that not only did it look pretty and spring like but was also practical and kept her warm xox

So have you all had a lovely weekend of whimsy and frollicking with yarn ?

For the first time in what feels like aaaaaages I haven't had any projects on the go! No sireee not one, can you believe it? I did say in my previous post that all my creative energy had run a little dry and then I found Lucy's Japanese Flowers to crochet which I thoroughly enjoyed and have now once again felt a little slump re-appear.

So, we decided to follow another of my other passions.........

BOOKS, however this time it was all about my girl,

Alice..... buying books, feeling their covers, reading about the author's, knowing when they were published, appreciating the illustrations, discussing the plots and themes and just wallowing in the joy of the English language. Soon we found ourselves here, at Mr. & Mrs. Doaks Bumper Book Store for boys and girls in Hastings Old Town.

Now, I am definitely partial to shopping for books in my local charity shops and usually find incredible bargains but this weekend we decided to go big with spending some of that Christmas cash on new ones. 

Alice was in heaven, so many books, such gorgeous words and titles pulling us this way and that. I have to admit that I have always been a huge fan of children's books and have always admired people who can write stories to capture a child's imagination. It is one of the many privileges I have as a parent, being able to re-live my childhood through Alice and really take pure delight in seeing her eyes open up to the world of literature. Something I didn't really appreciate when I was her age but now have the maturity to fully embrace.

So, we came away with some interesting choices...

Apparently The Wimpy Kid is all the rage right now! Ok I said, now Can I show you what was all the rage when I was 10?

Oh, how times have changed! and how old I feel all of a sudden! I know this glorious book was published back in 1930 but as far as I am concerned it's a timeless classic and it must of been revived in the 70's for me to have enjoyed it so much.

All in all it was a happy afternoon, we came away with some lovely buys and will use some of our free time this half term to get stuck in to reading them. In amongst all of this I am chaperoning for Alice's performing arts school production of

Alice in Wonderland

I hope that all of you who have children on half term holiday's, enjoy your time together no matter what you do xox

As for me, I am hoping to have a surge of inspiration very soon for I cannot be without needles and hooks and yarn for very long :0)

A litte ta dah moment

I'm back again! Somehow I am finding a few more windows of blogging time in amongst working almost full tme and being mum and homemaker etc. It feels great to have time to show you all my little makes. I was thinking about why I blog the other day and it's quite a strange old thing really when you think objectively about it. Showing "virtual friends" what you've made and sharing some of your life and happenings to the world. I don't want to get too cerebral about it but I realised that what it does for me and that is, it:

inspires me; encourages me; feeds my need for creativity; enables me to meet like minded people; it's an escape from the stresses of everyday life and generally is good for my mental health and well being... how about you?

So, today a little ta dah moment, I'm am going to show you my finished Japanese Flower Scarf which I started making here having been inspired by Lucy from Attic 24 fame. In total I made 16 flowers from all my left over purple stash.

I crocheted them together 2 by 2 petals

It's rather snug despite all the hooky holes (excuse the rubbish photo of me I had just woken up and there was little light!)

It's long enough to wrap round at least twice and shows off the flowery goodness on your neck like a pretty necklace

I'm rather pleased with this very quick and easy make which will be wrapped up and given to one of my lovely girl friends.

So, now I'm onto my next few projects I've lined up and look forward to seeing all of your makes and happenings. Can I leave you with a couple of photographs I took on Saturday when the sun was merry and bright? 

 
Some old fisherman's boats in Hastings Old Town peeling away in the sunshine, I just love the whole fishing history behind this town and am fascinated by the old boats sitting on the pebbles wondering what adventures they have been on in their lives

Have a wonderful mid-february week xox

Happy heart day

Wishing you all a happy heart day today



This heart was made for me by my fine artist friend B some years ago, who made me an anatomical heart as she wanted me to remember that love can be a bloody thing.

(Hope this has not offended anyone, but I see why she saw the dark side of love at that time and my poetical self sees it too)

On a lighter note here is a picture of a beautifully painted Claire Fletcher children's drum I saw in one of my favourite shops called Made in Hastings Old town on Saturday

May your coming week be full of delight xox

Flowery goodiness

'The sun is in the sky and why oh why would I want to be anywhere else' - Lily Allen sung these words a year or 2 ago and that's what I feel like today. England in the crisp, cool wintery sunshine is one of my favourite feelings. I love getting layers of woolly goodness on and going for a long walk with my beloved Andy and our gorgeous girl Alice. Either down by the sea-side or up in the woods/countryside, followed by a hot cup of tea and cake.

xox simple perfection I think xox

Of course a sunny day has other meanings too... grab the camera quick for a few photo's of my latest project. We all know and love the gorgeous Lucy of Attic24 fame, well she gave me oh such a boost of inspiration when she posted her Japanese Flower Scarf and pattern links here.

I was feeling like I was in a bit of a creative slump, thinking that I didn't have too much spare cash to spend on new yarn and that I must not be greedy for more yarn, instead I needed to use up all my bits and bobs from this basket

So Lucy's timing of her pattern links for the Japanese Flower Scarf could not have been better and so I download the pictorial instructions and gave it a whirl

I made it in about 10 minutes and felt my creative juices re-appearing as I was rather pleased with myself for having interpreted a crochet diagram pattern for the first time ever and to be frank with you I think I found it easier than written instructions!

So last night, it was DVD, popcorn and hooky time with Alice and these little flowers materialised

They are really easy, I promise and I decided to make a magic circle instead of a chain to begin with and in the first row did Trebles without 1 chain between them as the pattern suggests. I wanted a then 'tighter' in the centres and am pleased with the results.

And so my purple stash is now becoming depleted and I am a happy hooking girl again xox Yay !

A scarf rather than a shawl will be created as a present for a friend's up and coming birthday. I feel very high spirited and happy about it today... (this may well be linked to the tax man sending me a letter which I dreaded opening this morning to find that I am owed some money! Oh frubjulous day.... I can put it away towards a happy camping trip we are planning for the summer!)

Blessings and beautiful moments and memories to you all. Thank you so much for all your comments of kindness. I'll say goodbye with some more flowery goodiness xox

Mosaic madness

I've been playing with Picassa this evening and am having fun with making mosaic's from some of my latest pictures. So...thank you for letting me indulge in a little mosaic madness xox

Tea and flowers

Yay, I have found a little window of time to do a short but sweet post about my latest finished project.

I hope you all had a super fab weekend? Ours was very busy with social gatherings and a wedding on Saturday, it just flew by. I'll show you a photo of Alice's stockings she chose to wear with her Scottish kilt to the wedding, I thought she looked rather funky and gorgeous if I don't mind saying so myself!

Can I also  show you a quick photo of my sorted out "left overs" stash which Alice and I had great fun rolling into balls where needed and popping into a basket to make it look a bit rustic and pretty...

Quite a lot of pinks and purples going on there! Hmm I feel a little project coming on....

Ok, on with the ta dah moment I've been yearning to show you for a few days now but the light has been so awful and I just couldn't wait any more, so, sorry if the photo's are not best quality.

It all started with this...

 Which became this...

This amazingly simple but very quick and effective pattern was the brainchild of the ever lovely Alice who's Spring Explosion tea cozy inspired me into knitting this as a gift for one of my dearest friends who is having a new kitchen put in and needed a little knitted love for her tea pot.

So it progressed on to making these...

 And finally became this beauty...

 Ta dah.... I just love it! Not as complicated on the flower front as it could of been, I haven't progressed to knitting the gorgeous flowers Alice does (One day I can but only hope !) but nevertheless a little posy of flower happiness on the top of my cosy.

and a little one of these buttons to adorn the cosy

I know this will go to H's good home with many cups of tea brewing away and it might just set off a conversation or two, I'm sure she'll let me know xox

Thanks for stopping in and all your encouraging and sweet comments. They do make me happy and all the sharing and goodwill in blogland makes it great fun. I'll say goodbye with some of our flowers we've been enjoying this past 10 days or so. Have a glorious and blessed week ahead xox

For those of yu who guessed, my hyacinth was this delicious candyfloss pink x

And last but not least my all time spring favourite, the tulip x

The weird and wonderful

Hello again lovely readers, how are you this mid-week? I have had a strange old time these past 3 days at work, a real roller coaster of emotions, but I am pleased to say I am feeling quite at peace and balanced this afternoon. I hope your week has been treating you well.

Can I introduce you to my new hot drink? I was perusing the shelves of the gorgeous natural / organic / health provisions shop Plenty in St. Leonards-on-Sea this past weekend and discovered the joy of this weird but I think wonderful brew... licquorice tea

It's almost impossible to describe how it tastes but I find it very uplifting and refreshing. It's unusual and you may need to acquire the taste for it but I find it a bit of fun and something different from the normal herbal teas I tend to go for. There are many health clains for licquorice and it's a herb commonly used in chinese medicine. If you have a few spare pennies / cents give it a try you may be pleasantly surprised xox

So, the weekend was a lovely one, deeply buried under the covers I read more of my book, perused my latest Country Living magazine and knitted these...(Do you ever knit in bed?)

Don't you just love the Debbie Bliss Scottish tweed yarn with all it's pretty moss green variations! I felt quite pleased with myself for knitting these from this great book by Lesley Stanfield

What I was pleased about is that I avoided using DPN's to knit these leaves as per instructions in the book. I don't know about you but I seem to have developed a fear of double pointed needles .... I avoid any pattern which suggests you use them like the plague!(Alice @ Crochet with Raymond HELP!!!)

I know it's just a confidence thing and I think I need to make it one of my goal is to conquer this irrational fear very soon! I need an "idiots guide" on how to use them, no doubt Youtube may well oblige... or the lovely ladies in my LYS I am sure will smile when I arrive all knotted up, to help teach me this new skill.

Oh well, I will have to put that goal on my growing list of things to do in the first half of this year. Shall I give you a little hint of where those leaves are going? OK then, just a little hint ...

That's an obvious hint if there ever was one. Look out for my next post for the full glory and ta-dah moment of early February. (See the green garter stitch? That's Alice's latest knitting xox)

So, back to the previous weekend, sunday was sunny here on the south east coast and so we went down to the De la Warr Pavillion to see the latest exhibition and along the sea front for a stroll and cup of tea. There is much movement going on at the moment on our sea front with digging, building, planting and updating, so this summer should bring about a different feeling down there. Some of the locals are not best pleased with what our Council is doing, my judgement will be reserved for when it's all finished.

Alice really enjoys the exhibitions and it's good fun hearing from a child what they think of the installations / art  that is being exhibited. At the moment its all about moving portraits and there were some weird and wonderful exhibits... a bit like my licquorice tea really!







I'll leave you all with a couple of pictures of snow drops we discovered in a church garden on the way home. Oh so very quiet and very beautiful for soul food in the bleakness.

Here is sending you all hearts of joy this February and see you all soon xox