Tuesday 26 February 2013

mostly, I have been crocheting...

Actually, mostly I've been at work! But in between, I've been on a bit of a mission... My friend's baby is due in about a months time, but she's been having a bit of a rough time, had to leave work early and its looking very likely that this little person wont wait until the official due date! So I had a few evenings of mad square-making before getting to this...


You'll have to excuse the dingy colours, I just can't get a decent photo in my house because the rooms are never properly light at the moment and its been way too miserable to take photos outside. I love this bit of making a blanket and spent some time fiddling around with the layout. 

I usually leave a longish tail on each square and use that to join them but this time I'd been very disciplined and sewed all the ends in as I went along. So this time I decided to crochet them all together with a contrasting colour and actually, I really liked the end result...



Then came the tricky business of a border... I always stress over this a bit, mainly because you can't tell if it looks ok til you've done it! Originally I thought I'd go for quite a wide border and try to incorporate most of the colours...


I faffed about with the first row, first a row of trebles in every stitch, then 3 treble clusters, then clusters with spaces... After several lots of unravelling, I settled for three rows of 2 treble clusters, then a solid trebles row. I was going to do a fancy border after a dc row in the bright red, but then I kind of liked it with just that plain edge so, suddenly I was finished!!




Its a bit wiggly round the edges, mainly because I don't do the whole blocking/pressing thing with blankets, but I quite like it that way and I think they feel squishier and nicer somehow...



I hope my friend likes it!

I've also managed to finish a little thing thats been hanging around years! To be honest I'd forgotten about it, then found it when I was having a bit of a sort out. Can you spot it on my bed...? (in the awful dark, fuzzy photo!)



I think I made this little piece of lacework (think it has a proper name but can't remember it!) shortly after teaching myself to crochet again two or three years ago. It was supposed to be square but my tension was obviously off a bit. I'd made the cushion and the base cover from an old jumper but had never got around to attaching the crochet.


Silly really, it didn't take long to stitch on the crochet, add a few buttons...



...and I tucked in a little lavender bag, the plan being that it'll sit on my bed and help me sleep (ha ha!!!). It's not my favourite thing ever, don't really think the essentially monochrome look is for me, but there is a certain satisfaction in ticking another 'thing done' off the list :-) And it smells lovely!

Now I'm back to knitting... I'm making a poncho for a friend who has to spend much of her time in a wheelchair and thought a poncho would be an easy. cosy thing to put on and off.


Its dead easy - basically like knitting two small blankets, joining at the shoulders and adding a collar, but they are seriously long rows!! Getting there, I'm probably two thirds of the way up the back now. The yarn is Stylecraft aran, acrylic and wool mix and its really soft and lovely to knit with. Need to get it finished while the weather's still cold!!

Apart from all that...

I've had another trip to London, to a meeting at a venue practically under Tower Bridge - great view!


You can walk across the high walkways, where there is apparently an exhibition but I missed the last entrance by about a milisecond!


Quite imposing up close! Will have to save the exhibition for another time. Instead, although it was bitterly cold, I had a nice walk along the south bank of the Thames, under the bridges and through all the modern glass fronted office buildings...


I really love walking through London and I am definitely getting better at doing this on my own!!

Last weekend my eldest son was 24, can't quite believe that, it still seems amazing to me that these lovely men have appeared where my babies were 5 minutes ago! We had a lovely day out at the zoo. Although, I've always had slightly mixed feelings about zoos, Ben has loved seeing the animals, right from a small boy - think his favourites are the big cats - and this zoo seems to have happy, healthy animals and a big part in the breeding programmes that seem to be essential for preserving some of the animals that used to be prevalent in the wild.

This family of lions look and behave just like giant versions of your household moggie, basically pretty lazy and laid back...



They are seriously impressive beasts...


but I think I still love the giraffe the best...


We had a fun time, but why oh why can I still not manage to get a decent shot of my sons at the same time...!?!




Love them to bits!

That's about me done, til next time then...
Sx

Monday 18 February 2013

Seriously overdue...

I just don't seem to be able to get the life balance right at the moment! It seems as though I could spend almost all my waking hours at work and still not feel on top of everything. I can't decide if this is a subconscious way of avoiding facing 'stuff' at home (or rather lack of anything particularly positive at home) or if there's not much positive on the home front because I'm spending way too many hours at work! Either way, I seem to be in a bit of a stuck place just now and all my good intentions at the beginning of the year have gone a bit out of the window!

So this is a bit of a catch up and confession post...

Confession no 1... I have completely failed to get out there and do the scavenger hunt thing. I love looking at how other people turn the words into images but I've decided not to beat myself up about not managing it myself.

Confession no 2... It is looking a tad unlikely that I'm going to meet my own goal of taking alphabet related pictures each month! 

Confession no 3... And if I do, guaranteed I'm not going to post on time at the end of the month -January being case in point!

So now I've got that off my chest... here comes a random selection of catch up photos... Some of these were deliberate attempts at the photo challenges, some just things I want to record...

I loved this bright blue post box outside a house in a little village near where my son is living in Shropshire...



The colour looks odd on the next photo - it was taken under street lamps on my phone - but it really made me smile when, after a very long day at work I came out to this on my car...



You have to admire the perfection of the circle and if anyone's of a science-y frame of mind, the little 2 was a clue to me as to who the culprit was - we have been working on a project to do with oxygen...!

Another finished object...


I found a couple of skeins of gorgeous Debbie Bliss Alpaca and Silk blend in the bargain bin, just enough to knit up this lacy cowl for a friend who is a 'purple' girl. It was so lovely to knit with, beautifully soft and warm.

I didn't manage to take a single photo of anything beginning with A for January! You wouldn't think it would be so tricky to think of things but it was a bit like that board game where you have to name things against the clock - suddenly nothing comes to mind at all!

I did manage a few things for B...

Potted bulbs...


Pretty bow...


This is the prettiest little parcel of tea ever! It was part of a Christmas present and contains jasmine tea flowers that open up slowly when you put hot water over them. Lovely.

Bubbles...


Bunting and baubles...


Blue sky...


It has to be said, given that it is 17th February now, its not looking good for C and D for February but hey, can't worry about it!

In terms of my challenges to myself each month, this is how January shapes up...

  • Photo challenges - bit hopeless, as above...
  • Crafty stuff - better... Finished scarf for eldest son, cowl for friend and have very nearly finished crocheted baby blanket for my friend. Not sure I've done much successful stash busting - the pile seems to grow as fast as I use it, can't think how that happens...
  • General living
    • go somewhere new - had never been to Stafford before... Sorry Stafford, but you didn't set me alight. Although, to be fair, it was the most miserable wet day and I'm sure in sunshine it might have been more appealing...
    • Doing things I might have said no to - played badminton...and enjoyed it!
    • Catching up with friends - terrible! Haven't managed this at all! Must try harder!!
  • Learning about something - finally watched a Tarantino film, not the new one, but Inglorious Bastards, recommended by my sons and happened upon on late night TV one night... Honest opinion??? It was ok, quirky and darkly humorous but probably not really my thing...
So, belatedly, that's January in a nutshell. Best go phone a friend if I'm going to get anywhere with that one this year...!

Til next time...
Sx