Stripin' Away Again

So yes, I'm in the process of another lovely granny stripe blanket, this time as a present for my Mum's birthday, as she reaches a milestone later this year. It's quite different from the last one (I used chunky yarn so the blanket got bigger quicker!) as I'm using Stylecraft Special DK, in about 32 colours. The aim is for it to be a graduated rainbow.... so lets see how it turns out. I'm currently on colour number 6, 'Shrimp' as so far it is looking quite nice if I do say so myself. Here it is.... 4 rows of each colour (Camel, Copper, Rosehip, Lipstick, Matador, Shrimp)

As you know, I can't just have one project on the go at one time, so I'm also currently rippling away (yes, another Lucy pattern!). It's going to be a cushion cover for my little P's cotbed to make it more cozy, as it's a bit prison cell-like at the moment! For this I'm using Rico Creative Cotton Aran, which has to be one of my favourite yarns - it is a splitty yarn, but the colours are so bright and cheery and it feels so soft and non-itchy, which is very important to me!

 
So hopefully this will turn into a cushion cover.... watch this space! I have another cushion too, but am yet to decide on it's outcome! Stripe? Square? Hexagons? Who knows...

I also have been making another one of my own design cows, as a present for my niece's 2nd birthday.... now she has recieved it, I can post a picture. It was interesting following my own scruffily scrawled pattern to see if it worked, and in most parts it did, just a couple of errors here and there. I'm going to get my friend to road-test it for me when I write it up neater. Now she's getting pretty good with the old crochet hook, I suppose she deserves a little mention. She asked me if I would teach her to crochet, not so long ago, I couldn't refuse as my life wouldn't be worth living! So I took some supplies round to her house, where she'd already mastered the chain stitch and tried to teach her the basics. It was actually quite tricky to explain, but it obviously worked. I think actually seeing someone else do it is really helpful. She's left-handed too which made it more tricky, but by the end of the little session she had made a rather charming oddly shaped ball. But she was pleased, and so was I! It was great passing on what I had taught myself and being able to share a hobby with a friend! So glad she has got into crochet, and she really has.... she is knocking out amazing blankets, baskets and toys already. In fact I'm slightly concerned the apprentice will overtake the master....
So back to the cow (the stuffed toy, not my friend), here is version #2, made with Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo... total yarn snobbery!

So that's what I've been up to lately.... until next time....