I crochet therefore I am

Good saturday sunny morning! Oooooh it's sunny, I have had a fabulous restful night's sleep and I am filled with the joy's of spring today.

I also started something new, something simple, something that any granny would approve of...

Ode to the granny square and all her simple therapeutic goodness!

All made from this yarn and a 4mm hook

The brown is 50% wool found in Lidl yesterday (6 x 50g for £3.99) and the Freedom Spirit bought in C & H fabrics last Saturday, 100% wool (1 x 50g at £4.55 per ball)

I love it!

Thank you God for simple things xox

Wishing you all a free spirited weekend xox

Dear Diary

Hello all you lovelies out there in the blogosphere. How has the week been treating you so far? Firstly, do you mind if I have a little "dear diary rant" ? I do like to keep my blog a positive, happy place but I feel I need to get this off my chest, so please forgive me for the first bit of this post xox

I have been brooding over some of the negative/nasty comments that some gorgeous / inspiring bloggers  in the land of blog have been getting lately which has brought me round to thinking once again.... Why am I doing a blog, what inspired me to start this in 2009? Do I want to make myself vulnerable to people on the internet sending me negative comments and nasty vibes?

I looked up the definition on Wikipedia here where they define a blog as a blend of the term "web log" and hence it being a log of events/photos/video's etc that are personal to the individual doing the blog and is also defined as a personal online diary which I really loved the idea that it would be something I could have as a chronical / archive of some of the creative aspects of my life which I could keep forever and access from any computer at any time.

Of course having this blog has brought so much more than what was anticipated back in August 2009 and I have discovered all of you and your inspiration that has been such a positive force in my life. As I have already mentioned before in a previous post blogging has become a "hobby" for me and as a result it has brought many smiles, joy, incredible inspiration, knowledge, a break from other responsibilities (being mum/wife/working), a meeting of like minds and a community of strong, beautiful and caring people who find hope and beauty in amongst all the despair and difficulties life / the world can bring. So..... I would like to say a big Thank You for all of the above and I hope that my blog continues to be a little fun time out for you to visit from your busy lives.

Here's to New Life and New Joy !

Oh thank you Mother Nature for all your perfection xox

Do you remember these photographs from my last couple of posts?

Well, today I am bringing you my attempt at a Cath Kidston inspired crochet tea cosy. I do so love pink  and green together so I pulled out my Debbie Bliss bubblegum pink and minty green DK cashmerino yarn and got hooking to produce this sweet cosy.

It was my very first attempt at creating a pattern as such and it was good fun! I know it's by no means perfect and seems a little "holey" in places but I feel quite pleased with the result (perfection is not something I personally aspire to!). As you can see I left a little hole at the top to pop the teapot lid through. I started by chaining 60 and +3 chains for the first treble (Tr) and just carried on in pink and green stripes until I needed to divide in half to crochet one side and then come back to the other, hence creating a space for the spout in my "all in one" tea cosy (is this making sense?)

The teapot handle side was then stitiched from the topof the cosy down to the top of the teapot handle and then I added a button a the bottom of the cosy to close it into a snug hugging teapot cosy. This picture might make more sense than my words!

Then it was time for a little decorating...

Nothing like a bit of ric rac sewn onto the bottom edge of the cosy warm the cockles of my heart xox II am a rather massve fan of ric rac, such childhood memories of my mum sewing all my dresses and adding ric rac for fun x

And there she is, a tribute to CK and the much needed inspiration to kick start me into hooking again! I also had a very strong desire to play with felt and embroidery cotton and so a heart and flower was born. Who know's what will be next? The world is my oyster so they say xox

Anyone fancy a cuppa? xox

Well, that's all folks for the time being.

Wishing you all oodles of inspiration

Sunshine

Little flowers

Butterflies and

Love

xox

Little pleasures

Guess what? I've hung my washing on the line for the first time this year and it feels goooooood! I love sunshine  on our washed clothes and linens and having a soft breeze blow all the winter cobwebs away :0)

I've also had my little garden gnome helping me pot up some new rose bushes I bought and sew some wild flower seeds for our little courtyard garden. Alice has joined eco-club at school and is really into encouraging insect life and recycling which I am so chuffed about! (shhh...don't tell, I am a little sad she hasn't chosen knitting club yet.... oh well, there is still time and an excuse for me to carry on hooking and knitting so as to set a good example for her... hee hee that's my excuse anyway)

So should we get on with me sharing some of my little pleasures with you this sunny Saturday? Ok then, 

Little pleasure #1: a lovely little parcel was waiting for me on Thursday when I got back from work and it was my blog give-away win I received from the lovely Julie over at Swedish House, I was very happy to receive such a dotty prize, it makes me want to have a polka dot party....hmmm now that's a idea!

Little pleasure #2:

Beautiful, very fragrant daffs picked from a dear friend's allotment this week. This was my lovely friend who was given my last tea cosy and Japanese crochet flower scarf, a perfect exchange of happiness I think.

Little pleasure #3:

A heart cut out for mama by Alice from a galaxy choc wrap x

Little pleasure #4:

New magazines... pure curl up on the couch decadence

I like the look of these upcycling ladies who have called themselves The Skip Sisters (very clever indeed) and their website can be found here with a bit about them, their gallery and links. 

Little pleasure #5:

It's true what they say ~ there's 'nuffin like a puffin ~ I bought these on Amazon at half price and just adore them. I have always been a secret stasher of postcards and this little box of 100 have given me and I'm sure will continue to give me immense pleasure. My inspiration for buying these came from Sue at The Quince Tree who loves puffin publications.

Last but not least a little hint of things to come to this blog...

Little pleasure #6:

Have a pleasurable weekend where ever you are xox

Needing some inspiration

Did you all have a lovely, blissful weekend? I hope so xox  

It was a busy but lovely one for us, we wallowed in Friday night, went to give almost 1 year old Annabelle her present of home knitted bunting (her birthday is tomorrow so it won't be opened until then) and then after Alice's ballet jetted to Brighton to pick up Papa and spend the night at Granny's house. Sunday was gorgeous with sunnyshine and blue skies and heavenly warmth from the earth. These last 2 days have been so heavenly too, I feel a real spring in my step when it FEELs like spring.

Not sure about your but all my senses need to be stimulated to evoke a feeling / memory. So not only am I greedy for seeing buds appearing, flowers awakening and scents wafting. I need to feel the sun, smell the warmth, hear the birds chirping and taste the joy of spring :0)

A little tiny bit of retail therapy was done for a quick 1hour trek into Brighton town on late Sunday morning and a little visit to here was called for...

Have you got a Cath Kidston shop near you ? I have one 45 minutes drive north of me in Tunbridge Wells and 1 hour drive away to the West of me in Brighton and it's not that often I get a chance to potter in one of her lovely shops. I tend to buy things that are super reduced in the sales or small bits and bobs for adding to presents and sometimes I come away a little inspired (sorry CK but especially after seeing some of the prices and being a wee happy hooker myself)

So firstly I spotted these crocheted tea cosies for a cool £20 !
Love love love pink and green together, not sure if I could replicate the parrot but some flowers might do.

  
And then there were these for £18 ! Such pretties for the spring time me thinks.

I think it's time to get my hook out again and see what I can come up with ?

And then there were these gorgeous soft cotton waistcoats in delicious colours, so very beautiful but so very much too money for my purse at a cool £68, it did however remind me of the very creative and clever Julia Crossland who has been inspired by a picture of this waistcoat in last month's Country Living magazine and is creating her very own version! She hope's to make a pattern too so I am watching this space with bated breathe xox

One more

If your purse can afford it, you can of course purchase it here

We did make a little purchase for a little someone called Alice who has been pleading for a CK umbrella for sometime now and she is best pleased with her new acquisition and is hoping for rain.....charming :0)

In the meantime, I'm knitting my very first lacey beanie hat which is knitted lace for beginners really as it's something I've wanted to try for ages but just could not find a simple easy pattern to understand until I found this one. It's not very
complicated, just easy for building confidence in all those psso's !!!

I'm using a teal colour of alpaca 4ply yarn which is super soft and will surely keep those last winter chills away before we can go out without layers on (can't wait...layers drive me crazy).

Hopefully this will be finished soon before I attempt a crochet tea cosy and I'll let you see my efforts at lacey knitting.

Hope you all have an inspiring mad march hare week xox

Friday Bliss

Hello dearest fellow bloggers!

Have you had a good week? It's been a groovy kind of week here whilst Andy has been away, Alice and I have had such fun together doing all the great things mums and daughters can do. I know I go on about his sometimes, but I really do still have to pinch myself at how incredibly fortunate and blessed I am to have a beautiful daughter who is a true wonder and great company too xox

She made me this heart last night and it was waiting for me on my pillow as I climbed into bed... love the colours Alice x

Ok, enough of me being sentimental... I am going to be the worst blubbering mother when she reaches big milestones in the next 10+ years of her little life. Amazing how history repeats itself, I guess it's my turn to go through this process.

So.... back to the subject at hand.                                Friday b*l*i*s*s* , what a divine feeling after the working week. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of the fortunate one's to love my job and get a kick out of helping people in my daily work BUT nothing can take away that Friday feeling. I wallow in it to be honest, I take a few minutes out when I get  home to close my eyes and just embrace the joy of life and what we can do in our lovely family weekend time together. I have been known to do the dance of joy if I can use this as a confessional! {dance of joy = me jumping about in a silly way... poor Alice, note to self: I will must stop this habit before she becomes a teenager!}

We have a couple of routine weekend activities like Alice's ballet on a Saturday and church on a Sunday which gives us soul food for the week ahead, but other than that it's open sesame as to what happens.

Tonight we will be couch potatoes with a DVD and popcorn (home-made of course) and tomorrow morning we will be visiting a little new friend who will be 1 next week and will be the receiver of my 'mopping up yarn stash' mission I seem to have found myself on before I allow myself to indulge in buying more yarn. So, do you remember this photo from the last post?

You may very well have guessed that I was knitting little triangles for some baby bunting

A perfect little project to use up bits and bobs of yarn that you may have left over from other projects. It's also such a satisfying thing to do as it's quick and really involves very basic knitting skills. I casted on 30 stitches of cotton, merino, cotton wool mixes , anything i had that needed using up really and knitted 2 rows in garter stitch and then decreased by 1stitch at the beginning of each row until I was left with 1 stitch and pulled the yarn through to finish it off.

To finish these off I sewed the ends in and made a few decorative centres for the bunting flags...

I had great fun doing these and eventually joined them all together with one long crochet chain made from a natural  rowan tweed wool I had left over from one of my T-cosy's.

Not a brilliant ta-dah! photo as I didn't have time to hang it up before work this morning and I was afraid that the sun would have disappeared before I got home! I still need to add a couple of buttons on to finish it completely this evening. To really show it off a little to all of you who like this kind of thing I made a wee little mosaic on Picasa...

Yay, I really hope baby Annabel likes this and that it brings a little fun and joy into her new bedroom xox

All that leaves me to do is say happy weekend to all of you, and welcome to some new followers I've noticed arriving.  Thank you for letting me indulge my frivolity with all of you xox