The Adventures of Kiki

Wow, it's been another age since I last dropped in here. I have so many good intentions, and with Little P at nursery every afternoon for a while, I thought I'd have more time for things like this - but I seem to have less if anything! How does that work?
It's been another busy few weeks, settling the Little Lady into nursery routine, which she has finally got used to just as half term arrives! Also, adopting a 4 month old kitten from the RSPCA has eaten up a fair amount of my time. She is so lovely, such a nice temperament and great fun, but definitely scatty and crazy and keeps me on my toes. It's like having two children. I know there is a big cliche of cats and wool... but I guess I didn't entirely think that through when adopting Kiki! She goes crazy for it, absolutely nuts. she loves grabbing the balls in her mouth and making off with them. She looks as pleased as punch with herself too. It's made crochet difficult at best - I have scratches all over my hands from fending her off! I even designate a small ball of wool for her, but it's not as interesting as the one I'm currently using! And then there is batting the hook. Catching the dangling stitch markers. Emptying the stuffing all over the floor. Crochet is now a battle of wits with the cat, but it is also very funny I have to admit. My Instagram feed is mainly full of Kiki related catastrophes and woolly disasters at the moment.
Meet the Kiki, A.K.A. 'Squeaky' ...

There has been crafting... mainly crochet. First up, I finally managed to finish the 'As We Go Stripey Blanket' (pattern here)

As I have said before, it was a love-hate blanket. Love the pattern and colours, do not like the wavy edges. It is a well written pattern, and I'm glad I went for it, but it's not one with a 'flow' that you really get into and can carry on watching the telly whilst making, as you have to swap pattern every line almost, and do lots of counting and checking. Now it's finished, the wobbly edges bother me less as it is rarely laid out completely flat, but crumpled on the sofa, usually with a child or a kitten on it! It's had a lot of use already, in fact, the kitten is laid out on it right now.

I also made a few hats, as it is getting a bit cooler now, especially when I whizz Little P to nursery on the back of the bike. I had my eyes on a pattern for a while now - The All Grown Up Slouch Hat by Moogly and just needed to find yarn to go with it. I don't get on with wearing wool, I just itch, so wanted a cotton based yarn. I suddenly remembered a certain yarn I had squished in a John Lewis haberdashery once before - Rowan Softknit Cotton - an aran weight cotton blend which is super soft, non-itchy and in some yummy colours. After playing around with a colour palette, I settled upon these...

It's hard to get a picture that does it justice, as it looks very different when it's slouched on a head! I love love love the way the back-post double crochet makes 'ridges' around it, almost like rows of surface crochet...

I really love wearing it! Super snuggly! May have to make a snood to go with it. I would make everything out of this yarn if I could!
On the topic of hats, Little P brought two little friends home over a weekend from nursery. We had to do the usual - write in a little diary what we did with the cuddly toys and take pictures of the fun we had with them. First thing the Little Lady asked for was for me to make little hats for them... so obviously I did!

Two miniature MyBoshi's for two little nursery friends! When we returned them to nursery, I was commissioned by one of the staff to make a pink hat for a little girl who is undergoing chemotherapy and has lost all her hair. I was more than happy to do so, in fact I made 2. One earflap hat to keep her warm in winter, and a prettier one made from the super-soft leftover Rowan Softknit Cotton I used for my hat...

The top one is made from MyBoshi yarn and is a pattern I made up as I went along... I did take notes as I think Little P wants one too now! And the bottom one is made from Rowan Softknit Cotton and is from a pattern called Perenni and is available as a free Ravelry download. It's the second one I have made, and it's a lovely little hat. I really hope these fit the little girl they are going to, as it's not easy guessing sizes!
One of Little P's good friends turned 5 earlier this month, and I made her an 'E' shaped cushion, to match her sister's 'A' shaped one I made her earlier this year. I do like these chunky letters, but they are a bind to put together nicley! The instructions are so well written and diagrams help loads, which makes it a bit easier!

That's my Little Lady modelling it! They are fun things, and would love to make more, but I just can't do them too close, as they do test my patience a bit! If you fancy a go, patterns for all letters can be bought through Ravelry in the CAROcreated store.

I have been designing amigurumi again, in the form of a monster. My friend had a little boy earlier this month, and after a flurry of girl babies it was fun to make something boyish. I drew a few monsters in Little P's colouring book with wax crayons one morning and decided I would make one of them. I love making monsters, so much fun. I made up 'Spike' as I went along, (named Spike as that's what my friend would like to have called her little man if she had no boundaries!) and he turned out something like this...

I rather like him, although I think I would tweak his bottom a bit so he sits flatter and not so pear-shaped. That monster took ages due to the amount of time spent recovering balls of yarn from a certain kitten. Oh the joys!

I am conscious that this post is getting lengthy, and I'm getting tired, so I shall leave the second part for tomorrow. That is my adventures in yarn dyeing. Seems like ages ago, but only just got around to uploading photos and sorting them all out. So watch this space... yarn dyeing coming this way very soon!

To Bunt

It has been an age since I last fired up the laptop and got to this point of sitting down and preparing to write. It's also been an age since I turned the laptop on and was able to even get to this stage. First, there was a mountain of photos to sort through and edit, then upload. And then I actually have to remember what has happened over the last couple of months, and what I even intend to say... so here goes!

Somehow time has skipped to mid-September all of a sudden, and a whole summer holidays has been and gone. It was indeed nice, had a few days out - rock pooling on the North Norfolk coast, wildlife parks, boating trips on the Norfolk Broads to name but a few. Oh, and the family trip to London - Little Lady's first 'proper' holiday. 

She was not much into the idea of going away anywhere (a summer holiday-long problem, some insecure phase she went through!) but nevertheless we made our way out of 'the Bump' as she calls it (that's East Anglia to the rest of us) and ventured to the Big Smoke. It was a home from home really, as we stayed at my Auntie and Uncle's house, so plenty of home comforts and toys for Little P to play with. And she did. We got out and about a lot too, showing her the sights, travelling by as many means as possible - underground, overground (wombling free), boat, bus and cable car. We had a lovely time, my particular favourites were the Emirates Airline cable car-thingy and seeing the memorial poppies 'spewing out' around the Tower of London...

It really is quite a sight. I didn't take too many pictures as I really couldn't be bothered to keep getting the camera out on busy streets whilst trying to juggle a buggy too, but this is one of my faves I shot, looking down Whitehall back at the Houses of Parliament, and the sun catching it just right...

I love London. I couldn't live there as the business frustrates me, but it's such a great city and I never get sick of visiting it!

Amongst all the frivolities of summer, there has been much crafting. New endeavors, old favourites, and plenty in between.
My favourite makes recently have been for a delightful little arrival - a new baby girl cousin for Little P. I met the little cutie the other day for the first time, and was able to deliver my presents to her and her big sister. I had made a baby blanket for her a while back, but can now show it off! I used Lion Brand Baby's First chunky cotton yarn and 3 colours plus white - I love the palette, babyish but without being wishy-washy like some baby yarns can be...

It's very chunky and soft, but at the sametime breathable as it is cotton. Perfect for the upcoming colder months. I used the free pattern by The Stitchin Mommy as a guide... super easy to follow and with chunky weight yarn, works up really quick too.

I love it, and want to make more of these, quick, fun and very pleasing! Here she is in her full glory...

I hope little Cora enjoys this blanket as much as I did making it! I also made some bunting for the girls - as I knew their Mummy loves the crochet bunting! Some for the newborn...

and for the big sister...

I made this using Lily Sugar 'n Cream Solids - 100% cotton worsted weight yarn. I love this yarn, the colours, the stitch definition, the way it doesn't split hardly at all when crocheting. I also love playing about with the colours when designing bunting - the last few I have made have all had 'neutral' triangles with coloured edges, so it was fun to reverse it this time!
This is also when Little P, whilst studying her bunting above her bed asks 'Mummy, why did you bunt my name?' Yes I thought, what a good verb - to bunt. It should be added to our language. I often find myself bunting names right now.

The little piles of freshly pressed triangles melt my heart!

I have also had more fun with Lily Sugar 'n Cream - making more moss stitch covers for iPad and iPhone. I call it 'moss stitch' as that was what the pattern I first followed called it, and if you search for moss stitch, it comes up with that, although someone has informed me that this is in fact 'linen stitch'. Apparently moss stitch alternates between single and double crochet, whereas linen stitch uses single crochet and chains only. Whatever it is truly called I love it - works up quickly and creates many different effects depending on how you use the colours. For example, working alternate coloured rows and white rows gives you a 'spotted' effect...

That's from my bolster cushion I made a while back. Here is the first iPad cozy made from my own free guide available here. It is made with tropical summery colours in mind...

It has a reverse single crochet border and double button detailing to fasten...

And another, using colours inspired by this piece of art by Her Art. Summery goodness...

I wish I used a smaller hook for this one though, as you can see there are a few gappy bits when the iPad is in, but I do love it!

I also toyed around with a smaller one to house my phone if I sling it in my bag - it just gives a bit of protection...

And a mossy-montage...

Also on the crochet front, the 'as we go stripey blanket' as striping as it slowly goes. I have been picking it up in the evening again recently, and it has started growing after somewhat of a break. It is a love/hate blanket. I love the colours and different stitches, and it looks pretty. But on the other side I can't deal with the 'wavy' edges that using all these different stitches creates. I have read that when the border goes on it does pull straighter. I shall continue to stripe away and see how it turns out!

Other crafting adventures have included painting old furniture and flower pots - pictures next time! And making this card for my brother and his girlfriend who have just bought their first house together...

It is made with different papers, a Copic Multiliner and POSCA glitter markers. I had great fun making this one afternoon whilst Little P was at nursery... which has been an eventful time in our lives! 2 weeks in and she is getting better there - gets upset leaving me but then has a great afternoon playing and joining in with everything. She just likes to make it hard for me dropping her off!

I have also been playing with the camera in the garden as usual. I love patterns and design in nature. This sunflower head sums it up...

and this dew drop covered spider web...

We also met these creepy looking characters in the garden one afternoon - a sycamore moth caterpillar I have since found out. Would make sense as they were on our little maple tree!

Now I must be off, a bit more flower pot painting before Little P returns and is a bit too helpful! Until next time..

Quilt Love

I thought I'd just give a quick update on the craft swap with FromTwelveToTwoFifteen... well as planned last Sunday I quickly popped over to where she was staying, dodging rain showers and traffic in town and we happily swapped blankets! Very happily! I was so eager to see the patchwork quilt she had made for Little P after seeing photos of it on her blog... It did not disappoint!

It's so bright and cheerful and each and every fabric is lovely - I like just sitting and looking at them all and how well they work together! 

It certainly is a feast for the eyes. It's so soft and squishy too. My favourite part is the edging...

and how it works so well with the fabric on the back. Amazing. I wouldn't know where to start when making one of these but I'm so glad Maddy does! Little P also loves it too. She spotted it as soon as she walked in and promptly made herself a bed on the floor with it and asked it she could sleep under it all night. I like it because it is just the right amount of 'girl'... It's not covered in pink, pink, pink, but it's definitely a little girl's blanket! Love it! So glad we did the swap! Here's a look at some of the fabrics...

It will definitely be a Forever Quilt... so thank you so much FromTwelveToTwoFifteen! 

I've been getting on with new crochet projects since the completion of the big granny square blanket. It didn't take long at all to get inspired for new things, and with plenty of babies on the way again (not my own!) why not start with a baby project? Something not quite so big as the last project!

I'm not usually a fan of baby yarns. Don't get me wrong, I love the softness and squishiness, but it's the colour palette available that gets me. Pale pink. Pale blue. Yellow. White. That's it. I like bright and vibrant colours usually. But it just so happens that the idea I had for my latest yarny venture called for these colours. After looking at my own stash and realising I did not have the correct colour combination available, it seemed only natural to order more yarn. What else? After scouting about the internet for various colour combinations and yarn weights, I settled on Lion Brand Baby's First - a chunky weight cotton blend yarn in just the right colours for what I wanted. I do love cotton and cotton blends! 

So it is essentially pink, blue and yellow - traditional baby colours, but the blue is more 'teal-ish' and the pink is a bit stronger than many baby pinks. It's so lovely and squishy and nice to work with - it can split a bit but as long as you pay attention it's fine. Also being chunky weight, it works up really quickly, and I'm almost done! The only downside of this yarn is that it is only available in 9 colours - all quite pale and babyish. It would be awesome if it was available in a range of bright colours too, I would use it loads.

It's been a dull rainy week here in my part of the world. Except yesterday which was a scorcher. I've been papping in the garden again whilst Little P runs around playing. I soon know when she gets bored of me taking pictures as she tries to put her hand in every picture! Loads more daylilies out in the garden, but one of my fave plants, my Pineapple Lily (Eucomis bicolour) is in flower and looking great...

I have also had a stamp carving session but will show more of that when I finish the rest of it, but now I'm going to head off and try and squeeze in a bit of crochet before Little Lady returns, so until next time...

The Crafty Swap

You may remember that once upon a time I mentioned a craft swap I'm doing with Maddy of From Twelve to Two Fifteen... well the time is almost upon us to complete the task and swap creations. Tomorrow is the day, I'll venture over to see her whilst she is back in the UK and present her with what has been a mammoth project over the last few months... the giant granny square blanket.
Firstly I was building up piles and piles of brightly coloured granny squares made from lovely yarn - Mostly Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran with some RICO Essentials Soft Merino Aran thrown in to complete the colour palette.
This...

Became this...

which have eventually become this...

I have to admit I love it, and this picture doesn't really do it justice at all. There are 100 granny squares (made using Attic 24's Summer Garden Granny Square pattern) and they are all joined in one continuous motion using this method  by Babylove Brand which I found very easy to follow! It actually all joined together quicker than I thought, and I will definitely be joining future granny square blankets in this way. Revelation. I have really enjoyed this project, and will miss it somewhat. I've had endless evenings of crocheting random colour squares and then the privilege of combining them to make a blanket which I hope will be greatly received. I have already had a preview of the quilt made for Little P, as Maddy finished a while back and posted about it here... I have 'borrowed' a pic off her blog to show it off, but will no doubt take more photos when we receive it tomorrow!

Isn't it super lovely? Sewing is really not a craft I know a lot about, so I can't even imagine the work that went into this, but I know it will be huge amounts since it has been dubbed 'the forever quilt'! I know Little Lady will love it and spend many hours using it in her games and snuggling under it... as will I.

Here's a few more pics of the blanket, before I part with it... I think it deserved a montage...

and another full-body shot...

and a little look at it all packaged up...

and a close-up of that super little detail...

Yep, personalised wooden buttons bought for me by my trusty friend Curly Girl Coop... the perfect detailing to finish it off!

So there was an enormous cavern left where the blanket once filled my evenings... but not for long. It seems it's baby time again... it always seems to come in gluts, 3 babies due close together, then none for months! So I'll be back on baby crafting for a bit, and see what else takes my fancy. I also still have the 'As We Go Stripy Blanket' which I started work on months ago but it went on the back-burner when the BIG granny blanket came along. I did find time last weekend to figure out and type up a pattern for a square I created last year (or maybe actually the year before that) as I have been asked a couple of times recently for a pattern for it. I have titled it 'The Popcorn Flower Square' and it can be found from a link at the top of the page or by simply clicking here.

I've also been enjoying the glorious sunshine over the last week, and have had lots of lovely days with my Little P, including trips to the park and beach. We took a day trip to Southwold earlier this week, which was great fun. Always such a lovely place to visit. I particularly love the shot of Little Lady wandering along the pier...

I've had great fun also playing with my camera, and trying to snap some nice shots of the nature around me. There are plenty of flowers in the garden to practice on, since I went overboard on my daylily collection a few years back! They are great plants, the flowers may only last a day but there are so many of them, staggered throughout the summer months. Here are a few of my faves...

I also found myself a teeny weeny baby cactus from a local exotic plant nursey, and look forward to watching him grow!

My cacti and succulent collection is coming along nicely... Now I realise I do have a few collections going on... ooops.

I also made it out into the countryside again with the Little One and spotted a few more of those Six-Spotted Burnet moths I took a photo of before. I managed to get close up this time and I am pretty proud of the photo I got...

Look at him drinking! I love it!

Right, got to go, I'm continuing on a new project and having a well deserved cup of tea. I shall update you all on the craft swap in due course! So until next time...

Priorities

When I embarked on this journey into Blogland, I had great ambitions. I would blog weekly. I would have lots of photos. I would design lots of new things and share them with the world. I would give anyone who took time to read my blog a little insight into the life of me. Weekly became fortnightly. Fortnightly became monthly, and now it is just when I get the chance to sit and organise myself.
Blogging is something I very much enjoy, and think about a lot. I am always thinking of what I'll write, taking pictures and organising them. But actually taking the time to down write has fallen down my priorities list somewhat - until now, when I find myself waiting for the super-late England match to kick off!
Anyone with a high-maintenance 3 year old will know that they will take up most of your time, and energy. Often when I finally get her to bed, I'm ready to hit the sack too. It's not just physical exhaustion, it's the mental too. Questions all day long, good ones too. Why is asked for everything. Why do apples float? Why why why... by the end of the day I have run out of answers!
Of course, I am happy she is inquisitive and asks questions. She's growing up so fast and most of the time is a pleasure (she is very much still a nightmare at other times!) and I love being her Mum and am privileged to spend all the time I do with her.
Spare time gets split between 'boring' household chores and routines and my little bubble of 'being me'. I have been indulging in what makes me happy and what I'm interested in over the last couple of years. Crochet fills a great deal of my creative time... and rubber stamp carving. And lots of other little things I love - music, art, plants, nature, rocks etc... When I sit back and look at my life and the things I have surrounded myself with, I realise I am very happy right now. I love my life - my girl, my family and friends, my hobbies and interests. One interest I have 'indulged' in recently is rocks and minerals... I have always been fascinated by rocks and minerals, the colours, patterns and forms they take on. I love opal... natural opal, not lab created stuff. I love my opal ring, and my Australian boulder opal pendant. I also have a small collection of stones and crystals which I am now able to display on a super shelf!

It is very much inspired by Stone and Violet but made by a friend who takes old wooden pallets and fashions them into furniture. I wondered if he could make smaller items so I dropped him a line and a day later he made the most beautiful mountain shelf! Any local people to me check out Joe's Pallet Wood Furniture Facebook page!
Nature has also been filling my time. Spring is a super time of year, and last year you may remember I was preoccupied with nesting blackbirds in our garden... well this year it has been the turn of the goldfinch. Yep, such a beautiful little bird nested in a small tree outside our lounge window. Great viewpoint! The Little Lady and I spent many an hour sitting at the window chatting and spotting the birds as they were to and fro from the nest. I love her taking an interest too. I even tried some stealth photography to try and capture one of the babies who was peeping out of the nest...

Ahh baby goldfinch and a proud parent. I didn't see them fledge however. They were suddenly gone, but there are quite a few goldfinches about here at the moment so I hope they are doing OK. Last time I spied them, they were sitting right up on the edge of the nest and looked pretty big.
I have been out and about with the camera snapping the beauty that is nature. Here are a couple of my faves:
A single Allium flower opening

A trip to see some wild orchids at a local wildlife reserve was fruitful... there was a field littered with these amazing flowers...

And some strange moths I have never seen before... No idea how I spotted these on a blade of grass in a meadow, but I'm glad I did. I since researched and discovered that they are Six-spot Burnet moths. Who knew?

Obviously crafting has been filling my time. The main project is the ongoing blanket for the craft swap with Maddy (see her lovely blog FromTwelveToTwoFifteen) The granny squares have been piling up...

And today I reached the 100 mark! Then came the laying out and colour planning, and then learning to continuously join the whole lot! I used this tutorial to help me along my way. So far I have 2 rows of 10 joined, and I really like the continuous process... it's easier than I thought it would be so far! More pictures to follow...
I also made a couple of gifts for a little man who entered the world a few weeks ago... It's a friend of my Mum's, so she asked me to make some bunting with his name on, and I made a cute little giraffe toy for him too.

Pattern is that of I Love Buttons by Emma and yarn is a mixture of Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo and King Cole Bamboo Cotton. I love this pattern - it's super easy and it's great fun to use loads of colours, even if the changes are a bind.

And there is the bunting, looking good against the blue sky. I like this bunting -  a very simple pattern by Pink Milk adapted slightly to add a border to it. Finished off with felt letters, as I find they look neater than crocheted ones.

Yarn is Rico Creative Cotton Aran in a variety of colours  - my favourite for making bunting.

Last year I, like hundreds of others, partook in making bunting triangles for Yarndale. I loved being part of a community project, thinking my tiny contribution helped to make an awesome spectacle of bunting strung up around Yarndale. So naturally, when the Yarndale team called for mandala makers, I was of course intrigued. Firtsly, I love the cause - even though I won't be able to make it this year - and secondly, I love mandalas. I have made a few previously and admit that they are totally addictive. I love playing with colour and texture... and just winging it round by round. I turned to my stash of Lily Sugar 'n' Cream, a lovely stiff cotton in amazing bright colours and set to work. Previously my mandalas had been a riot of colour, but this time I fancied sticking to a colour scheme, so I just picked 3 colours that I liked together...

I'm not sure exactly how I made it as I followed a rough pattern but adapted it a fair amount. I am pleased with it, and rather like limiting my colour use sometimes - I think it shows the pattern off a bit more in this case.
I also decided to decorate the packaging up a bit, and to keep it in my style I decided to carve up a couple of mandala stamps. I researched simple mandala patterns and tweaked them to make them suitable for stamp carving. I used jet black StazOn ink and was super pleased with the overall effect...

I also stamped up the back with some Yarndale bunting...

I mounted one of the stamps up and sent it off to Lucy as a little extra gift, as I was quite proud of it!

So that brings me nearly to kick-off time... can I manage to actually stay awake for the match now? I'm not so sure about that! I will try and pop in and post when I can, but blogging is taking very much a backseat at the moment like I said, but it is always at the forefront of my thoughts! So until next time, however long that may be...