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...

11 Days and Counting!

Until Yarndale! I am beside myself with excitement. I keep having dreams where I forget to pack important things - not the usual toothbrush etc, but my crochet hook and yarn! It has taken over my brain entirely. I'm lucky enough to be going up next Friday with my good friend Curly Girl Coop, and staying a couple of nights 'oop North' near Skipton. Just going away is exciting enough for me (I don't get out much these days, and this is my first 'break' since the Little P arrived 2 and a half years ago!) so going to a festival of yarn is something else! I am a little apprehensive about leaving my Little Lady for 2 whole days - it's the longest we've ever been apart (The other time was when I went to the Knitting and Stitching Show at the Ally Pally, so you can see how my priorities lie!) but she is in very capable hands, and will probably have a whale of a time, her own little holiday! And maybe we'll even appreciate each other more when we reunite, as she's been running me ragged this week!

Casting my excitement to one side for the moment, I'll show you a couple of things I've made recently. You'll have to forgive the lower standard of photography, but I left it too late in the day and the light had disappeared - leaving ghastly colour photos, not true to life at all! A little computer magic and they look a bit better, but still not as good as daylight - come back sunshine!

My recent makes have all been made from the wonderful Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton. I know I rave about it, but I love it, and it is my favourite yarn. I think. It's just so bright and cheery and nice to work with. First up was a couple of coasters for the desk I'm sort of borrowing from my Brother (I was under strict instructions not to mark the surface of it, so better not put hot mugs of tea on there!) I just wanted a simple little pattern, free of course, but not a circle. After looking through Ravelry, I found this one by ChirpinBirdie. Perfect. And it was also made using Sugar 'n Cream, bonus!
I love the little coasters, so quick to make, endless colour combo's and they do the job well, and protect the desk. I hooked up 3 whilst watching some crime drama on the telly box!

I also whizzed up yet another Made in K-Town Mandala, just incase I needed a bigger coaster, and well, cos it looks nice!

That's before I blocked them, but there would have been even less light if I had waited any longer to take pictures!

A while back, I received a message on Ravelry from a member, asking if she could translate my Monty Moo pattern into Danish, so it could be used for her Facebook group's 'animal of the month CAL'. Of course I was only happy for Monty to go Danish! I had a snoop at the Facebook group the other day, and was pleased to see a fair few Danish Montys taking over the world, or at least a few homes in Denmark. Some people have also adapted him in various ways to turn him into a baby snuggler, how cute! I'm so proud of Monty for going global! I have no idea what is being said about him as it's all in Danish, but there are several smiley faces and hearts, so I think they like him, and this makes me very happy! Go Monty!

Due to high demand (well, 2) I've adapted the laptop cozy into an iPad cozy. The first I made exactly the same way as the laptop cozy. Only problem was the drifting seam. On the laptop one, which is thicker, it was disguised more easily, but the iPad one, with it's thin sides, was proving a problem. I'm not sure how many times I frogged it, and how many round-joining techniques I tried before I got it to a standard I was happy with. I wasn't obviously overly happy still, as I've gone on to improve it... with the moss stitch. What else? I loved using the stitch on my bolster cushion and was looking for an opportunity to use it again. It turned out much better too, the joins are pretty much invisible, it looks nicer, all round winner really. I WILL write up the tutorial soon and it will appear here in the near future. So here it is...

Of course it's made from Lily Sugar 'n Cream. Here's a close look at that moss-iness...

I received some exciting post last Friday too... I treated myself to a jewellery tree as I'm sick of my necklaces getting all tangled, and wanted to display them nicely. I've seen a few in shops but nothing stood out - they all looked like glorified mug trees. I had a bit of a look around the internet and came across this Baobab Jewellery Tree sold by Out of Africa Gifts - they have an Etsy and eBay site. I have to admit, it was bigger than I imagined, but it's perfect. It's different, a beautiful, functional item which is a centrepiece in it's own right. It's handmade in Kenya with wood bound tightly with banana leaf, and wired branches so you can bend them for your every need. It's also fairtrade, and a portion of the sale goes to a Christian aid charity in Nairobi. So not only do you have a beautiful jewellery tree, you feel good about buying it too!

Now I must go, Little P is tucked up in bed, the football is on, and I'm going to crochet whilst I watch it, so until next time...

The Big Blanket

Something happened the other day, something that hasn't happened for a long time. I was projectless. Not for long, I will quickly add, but for a brief window in my life, I was projectless.
A couple of my larger projects have been finished and sent to their new homes, including one very large one. Introducing the massively enormous patchwork blanket, a present for my Auntie and Uncle on their silver wedding anniversary.

I started this just after I finished Little P's mini patchwork blanket, so maybe back in March I think, and finished it a few days before the day it was due - so it was a mammoth project, 5 months in the making! It was more of an 'evening project', one for when Little P had gone to bed and I could watch TV and crochet square after square, joining as I went along.
I based it on Attic24's Patchwork Granny Blanket. It is made up of 144 six-round granny squares (my calculation told me that was nearly 20000 double crochet stitches alone!) and then finished off with a calming border - 7 rounds of 'grannying' and then a round of moss stitch (in purple to give 'dotted' effect) before finishing with a round of bobble shells (see Attic24 tutorial).

I forgot to measure if, but it must be at least 180cm x 180cm. It consumed an enormous amount of yarn - Stylecraft Special DK - in loads of colours! I machine washed it before giving it to my Auntie and Uncle, and was so nervous hoping it would come out in one piece, and not just a jumble of wool! It was greatly received and I was a bit sad to see it leave, as it had been a labour of love for so long! I guess I'll just have to start another blanket, as I feel a bit lost without one on the go! Just look at that feast of colour...

Yesterday was the 3rd Birthday of my little niece, so of course I had to make a little something for her. Just like her cousin, Little P, she is all girly and pink and fluffy, so I thought I would make something pink. I decided on a monkey, using the 'Monkey Girl' pattern by Lilleliis. I changed it a bit to fit with my colour scheme, and adapted the face a bit, but the general shape followed that pattern. I used Rico Creative Cotton Aran as it's super soft and bright - great for chunkier toys...

 

 

Here she is having a photo shoot in the garden (ignore the weeds! No time for weeding at the moment!)

 



Whilst making her, I had an idea for my own design monkey - and more animals, maybe a series - so watch this space for a new creation!

After finishing the monkey, and catching up with a couple of other bits, I actually had to think of something to crochet. I had an empty list of my phone to-do app - first time in a long, long, time. I had caught up after all the babies, birthdays and anniversaries. What to do?
It didn't take long before I rediscovered the bag of Hooplayarn I had picked up at last Autumn's Knitting and Stitching Show at the Ally Pally (read my post here). I had bought loads of odds and ends in a variety of colours, with the plan of making a rug. I had visions of a small, round rug, but never really got on with it. Now was the perfect time to start, and with my recent love of mandalas, it seemed like a great opportunity to make a really big one.
I started my research, but it didn't take long to find inspiration. I wanted to keep the pattern fairly simple, and let the colours do the work - although I didn't want just round after round of double crochets. I discovered that one of my fave bloggers, A Creative Being, had in fact designed just what I was looking for, and had a free pattern - brilliant!
I set to work with my Hooplayarn and a 15mm hook. It was a struggle at first, but I soon got into the rhythm of working with such massive yarn.

It worked up fairly quickly, but I soon realised my odds and ends wouldn't go that far. In fact, I've now ground to a halt, and have ordered some more Hooplayarn to get me going again. Hooplayarn are exhibiting at Yarndale in a few weeks time, and I'm hoping I can get some more odds and ends then! I love it so far though...

mmm.... colour...I hope the new bobbins hurry up and arrive so I can continue with it!
Now I'm a bit stuck again for projects... maybe I will have a play with that monkey design?! Until net time...

All Singing, All Dancing

So, I am currently recovering from a late night. I don't have many of these nowadays and I'm quite thankful actually as it seems I can't handle them! I know I sound old, but it's just how it is! It was, however, a very good night, worthy of feeling a little bit tired this morning.
I was invited by my Auntie to her 'hen night' as she is getting married next weekend. We were off to see 'Evita' the musical and then out for a meal. I have never been to a musical before, and to be honest, didn't think I would ever go - I am just not into singing and dancing like that. I always find the singing in movies unnecessary, I really don't see the need for breaking into song and dance every five minutes. I know I sound miserable, but it's just not my thing at all. I love my music, but not musicals and all that frivolity! Anyway, I didn't hesitate in accepting the offer to go along to see Evita, as it was my Auntie's hen night, and I was really chuffed to be asked to go. Plus, I kind of saw it as a challenge to prove me wrong about theatre!
And I was proved wrong, to an extent. The opening 10 minutes, I did think, 'oh no, I'm not going to like this'. I saw my Mum look at me as if to say the same thing, but as it went on, I really did get into the story of Evita. I have never really known much about Eva Peron or any of the work she did, but I found it fascinating. It was the story that done it for me, rather than the singing and dancing (even if it was Marti Pellow!) I had to have a quick scout on Wikipedia at the interval to check I was understanding the story properly!
So, all in all, I have come to the realisation, I may not think so much of the singing and dancing, but a musical can still very much be enjoyed if there is a good storyline. There I said it, I enjoyed Evita, and I never thought I'd say that about a musical! I must be more open minded to these things!
So after a late night and a few glasses of wine, I'm a little weary this morning. In fact, it's not morning, it's actually afternoon... I had a very rare lay in!
My little blog also passed it's first birthday earlier this month. Looking back at it I realise I haven't posted nearly as many times as I would have hoped to, but I guess that's what happens with a baby/toddler around all the time! I'm not so ambitious now, more realistic with posts - maybe fortnightly, but really whenever I have the chance to sit down and get it all together. I love keeping a little diary of my crafting and such things, and it is lovely to look back over the months and see what I have made in a logical timeline. It is however, not my priority. When I get some 'spare time' my priority is to do what I love - crochet. And watch the cricket. They go quite well together actually. I'm currently sitting here watching The Ashes, and enjoying England rattling the Aussies. It's quite a relaxing sport, and seems to sit really nicely with crochet for me.
I hope to pick up my hook in a bit, I've got a couple of projects on the go at the moment, the Yarndale bunting being one. Lucy of Attic24 has sorted out a postal address now, and set a deadline for the end of August, so I'm getting my act together and churning out a few more triangles for the cause. I'm not going to make loads, but I think 10 will be my goal. I have a couple which I think I will definatley be able to spot as my own when I go in September - I can't wait!
I've had a couple of projects fly off the hook the last couple of weeks. First up is a cute little giraffe toy for a baby boy born a couple of weeks ago. I wanted it to be 'floppy' and cuddly for the new arrival, so searched for a pattern and found this wonderful free pattern by Emma Dent. It's written for quite a few colours, but I just used 2 plus cream. I used Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo, as it's really soft and nice to work with and perfect for baby toys. It also comes in lovely colours, and recently they launched a few new colours, so I couldn't wait to use them. I sneaked the new 'Deckster Blue' into the giraffe. I love it, such a lovely blue, I can see me using a lot of it in the future. The other new colour I love is Suzi Sizzle - a deep orangey-red colour which is just gorgeous. So without further ado, here is my little giraffe - I was very proud of him I must say!

 

 

 

The last couple of weeks has also seen the conclusion of the FreshStitches' Mystery CAL. I was once again duped by the clues, and had absolutely no idea what I was making. After Clue 1 I had this...



 

 



And after Clue 2 I had all this...

 

 

Clue 3 just left one piece to crochet, and the crucial assembly instructions. A lot of the guesses seemed to point to kangaroo with baby joey. I was not convinced by this, as I couldn't really see kangaroo in the pieces I had, but after I saw some people who had pinned their pieces together to back up their guess, I was a bit swayed. It could be a kangaroo I guess.

And it was. All was revealed in the final clue, and Amber was indeed a kangaroo, with her little joey to fit in her pouch! Very cute!

 

She is lovely - quite large (and I used DK weight yarn instead of worsted so it was smaller than the pattern suggested). Assembly was tricky in places, getting those legs to attach nice and straight so Amber could stand without support, but I am very pleased with the final result, and Little P loves her!

I still have the mandala bug too. And love using Lily Sugar n' Cream yarn. So I combined the two again to make the gorgeous mandala pattern by A Creative Being featured in Simply Crochet magazine issue 7. I love, love, love it...

 

 

and a couple of close-ups...

 



I wouldn't be British if I didn't mention the weather. It has been glorious here the last couple of weeks (except this weekend!) and the Little Lady and I have been revelling in the sunshine. Plenty of outdoors time and trips out to the zoo and beach, and of course the swings. There has also been paddling pool action, a lot later this year, but it has finally made an appearance! Little Lady loves splashing about and anything to do with water, so there has been plenty of fun with that in the garden. The weather also spurred me to make her a new sunhat. I made a couple last year using this pattern, but fancied making a new one. I ordered some more Lily Sugar n' Cream from the States (I ordered here, great prices and fairly quick delivery considering it is from the US) including some yummy variegated ones - (from L-R) Summer Splash, Playtime and Key Lime Pie.

 

I love it when the Postman brings this...



I really wanted to use Playtime for the hat, as Little P loves Pink and bright, fun colours. I couldn't find a pattern I really liked, and didn't really want to buy one, as they really are very simple to make. The main thing is not gauge, but getting the head measurements right. And if you make it too big, just take an increase round out, and if it's too small, just add one in. I played around a bit (Little P wouldn't let me measure her head!) but I roughly knew the size using the hats I made last year as a guide.
I wanted a fairly simple hat, nice and airy so it doesn't get too hot, with a slightly ruffled brim. After trying a few variations, I came up with this...

Modelled by Little P...

She must have loved it as she went to bed with it on, and wouldn't let me take it off her!
I have made a note of the stitches, and hope to type it up as a pattern sometime soon.

Well, this post has taken an age. I didn't realise I had so much to say! Maybe smaller, more frequent posts may be the answer?! Now it's time for lunch and a little bit more cricket-watching hooky before the Little One returns!

Loose Ends

Yup, lately I have been tying up many of these loose end things. Since I lost got a chance to write, I have been hooking up a few things and completing some of those projects that have been going on an age. I still have one rather large one in the pipeline but I did manage to cross a couple off my to do list!

Months and months ago I spotted a bolster cushion on a visit to John Lewis. It was a feathery one too - I never usually go for these but it felt so nice and squishy. Since then, I've been keeping an eye open for stitches or granny squares I like to make a cover for it. I never really found anything that stood out enough to transform the bare white bolster to an explosion of colour. It went on the backburner for quite some time. Until I discovered the moss stitch. I saw a couple of pictures on Pinterest which really jumped out at me, and I thought, I really have to give this stitch a go, but what can I make... the obvious answer, the Bolster! It also gave me a chance to use up some more Lily Sugar n' Cream yarn that I ordered with the bolster in mind months ago. 

I was still in two minds whether to do each row a different colour to give a tweedy effect, or whether to alternate cream yarn in with the colours to give a spotted look. I eventually opted for the latter. So I'd hook up some rows until it was big enough to stretch around the cushion, without being saggy or gappy. Sorted. Then the ends - 2 circles. There was only one thing for this - the Made in K-Town Mandalas! Yes! I got to hook up 2 more of those! I knew they would be a bit big in their entirety, but i would keep going until they were the right size. I love making these, so didn't have to think too hard about choosing these for the ends. 

With the main body parts made, it was a case of stitching them together. Once I stitched the main 'spotty' body to form a tube around the cushion, it became evident that it was a bit 'gapey' at the ends. I counted my stitches and worked out how many times I had to decrease to get to the number of stitches on the outside of the mandala - which was 72. I then staggered the decreases evenly around the end. I also worked a couple of plain single crochet rounds around the edge of the mandalas in order to pull them in around the cushion. I then sewed it all up using a simple whip stitch, and voila, the Bolster!

I'm pleased with it, after so long deciding how to do it, it's nice to have it sitting there all finished and ready for action. Which mainly involves being squished behind me or under the little Lady. She has dubbed it 'Mummy's cushion' and she has claimed the first ever cushion I made last year, the Puffy Flower cushion! So we each sit with our cushions on the sofa watching Peppa Pig in the morning, noon and night. 

Here's a close up of those moss stitches...

and a montage. I think it deserves one!

The moss stitch is so simple to do, yet so effective and can be used in many ways to create different effects (see this blog here). I shall definitely be using it again (and already have, making some pretend oven gloves for Little P as she keeps stealing the real ones when they are needed!)

Little oven gloves... not for use in a real oven!

It is basically just single crochet one, chain one, skip a stitch and do it all over again. I started by chaining an even number a bit longer than I needed, as it does shrink up somewhat. Then I sc in 2nd chain from hook, ch1, skip 1 chain and repeat until the end. You then either chain 1 and turn, working the same pattern, or join a new colour in. You need to be chaining over your stitches in the previous row, and sc'ing into the chain spaces, and as long as you get that right, you'll end up with a nice square piece. When joining a new colour on the second row, you need to start with a slip stitch in place of the chain (you can't just join with a chain!) and then sc into the next stitch and continue as usual. To get the spotted look like my cushion, I worked 2 rows of cream, then a colour, 2 rows of cream, then another colour etc etc. It just so happened to work out that I used 3 repeats of my colour pattern, but I didn't plan this - it was luck!

Also flying off the hook this week was my first item of clothing. A cardigan for the Little Lady, who is due to be a bridesmaid for my Auntie at the end of July. She has the most beautiful dress and shoes but we worried she may get a little cold around the shoulders - well you can't expect it to be hot in July can you?! We thought just a short, bolero type thing would be best - nothing bulky. I wanted to have a go at making one, as I've never made something to fit before (just a couple of hats) so this would be new territory for me.

I trawled the wonderful Ravelry for patterns and my heart resided with this one, the Sunburst Cardigan. I didn't mind buying a pattern as long as I really liked it and knew it would be suitable. The stitching in this is so pretty and the pattern gets good reviews - it has lots of pictures, charts and very clear instruction - perfect for the clothing novice! 

I already knew the yarn for the job before I started (that limited my search to pattern for DK weight yarn) - Sirdar Snuggle Baby Bamboo in Cream, and I had plenty of it. Then came the sizing, the pattern has various size guides, but I know my Little Lady is a titch, so I made the size 18 month one - a size down from her age. 

To begin with the chain and first few rows looked really long and I was worried it would be too big, but as it went on it began to take it's proper shape and it seemed fine. You have the option of cap sleeves of longer, puff sleeves. I opted for the latter as the cap sleeves wouldn't have really made much difference. I will try and get a picture of it being modelled some time in the future, but no luck so far! So here it is!

and a closer look at the pretty stitches...

The other excitement this week has been the release of Clue 1 of FreshStitches new Mystery Crochet-A-Long. The last one was great fun (even if I wasn't overly smitten with the final product), but that not knowing what you are making is quite fun. A lot of the guesses on the Ravelry group seem to be pointing to Kangaroo, possibly with baby. I'm not convinced by this argument, but have no suggestions to put forward myself as I genuinely have no idea at this stage! This pattern calls for only one colour yarn, so I went with a variegated yarn - King Cole Bamboo Cotton Prints. I love it colours (and Little Lady picked it out too) so it was a no-brainer. 

The pieces of Clue 1...

A close up of the lovely yarn...

I am so excited already about Yarndale in September and have been making a few granny bunting triangles for the cause. I have only made 6 so far, and some people seem to have made loads, but every little helps right? Plus I hooked up a shameless self-plug of a triangle... my blog logo! At least I'll be able to spot it at Yarndale right?!

and the others...

In other news, I have been watching bits and pieces of Glastonbury on the BBC, and realising how out of touch I am with popular music and culture. I am officially old. But hey ho, I'd rather be that way I think than like some of those little yobs! So until next time, I'm going to go and sit in the sun whilst it makes a brief appearance!