Crafty Goodness and Some Sweet Loveliness

Before I begin with all the loveliness can I show you my cottage pie? It was just such a perfect looking pie we didn't want to eat it! But I quickly came back to reality when DN3 said "you're taking a picture of that?"

I know, moving right along...

Craftiness. Not a word used around here lately, but I did manage two of these little cuties. One for me and one for Mother. It is a crocheted granny square done in pure, lovely wool. Then I felted it! My hot pots are very comfy now.

Then I lined the back of it with this lurvely fabric. If you plan on making one please email me and I will give you a few hints.

This charming bit of goodness I ordered for myself. Love it except for the fact I cannot get the melted candle out.

Gorgeous rose scented candle and holder from Ikea. I received two of these for Christmas from DN1's BF and adore them. Simple beauty. Did you see the pretty books? From DN1. My sweet daughter believes that mother should get everything she writes on her list. And I did!

Where did I get this darling little gem? Well my best friend, Clara, felt I needed more cornishware. And voila.

See how it fits in ever so cosy like? Too much happiness over here!

Isn't it just so easy to love Cornishware?

Clara also treated me to this delightful Limoges plate.

My heart is warm.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The painting has begun. Sort of. The pre-painting chores. But this weekend? It's all about the paint.

Thanks for dropping by

xoxo

So you would like to know?

Since there were so many questions asked in the last couple of posts I thought it would be best to answer them. Oh and did you notice I have 200 followers? How crazy is that? But thank you!

Andrea asked:
I love the crochet cushion in an earlier post, would love to know how you put the final product together because I too am in the middle of a granny square which was meant for a blanket but boredom is taking over with it!!! Xx

After I crocheted the granny to the size of my cushion form I cut up a felted cashmere sweater and used that for the other side. I used the ribbed bottom of the sweater for the folds, eliminating the need for a zipper or button closure. I hand sewed the crochet front to the cashmere back.

Elizabeth asked:
Love the boots but those metal garden tool holders for twine and seeds, etc? Those are for me. Where did you find them?

The metal tool holders are from Garden Trading.


Madelief asked:
Yes, those two ladies do look alike :-)! Love the boots!! I am going to England in three months time. Hopefully I can find them. Would like to wear them in my garden. The match the new colour of my garden house perfectly ;-)!

Madelief, the wellies are from Joules but not sure if they are in stock right now.


Krawuggl asked:
The candy coloured trugs are beautibeautiful. Do you know where to buy them?

The pastel trugs can be found at Burgon and Ball.



And lastly, the garden tools can be found at Gift Ideas.

~~~Have a lovely week girls~~~

Granny Rectangle (as opposed to a Granny Square)

Before

After

Quick post today. March break and trying to keep the youngest busy. Here is something I thought was quite magnificent. Ever wanted to granny something but it was NOT a square? Well here is your chance. I grannied this lovely stool/storage thingy and BELIEVE me it is 100x better than what it used to be.

See pretty granniness? If you want to granny a rectangle here is what helped me. If you would like specifics on how to tighten near the end to get that secure tucked in edge, email me and I will tell you how.

And I have storage as well!

And crocheting trim on pillowcases. What are you up to?

Crafty Knitty

Lest you believe I have been up to no good, here are pictures to prove you quite wrong.

A granny square cushion.

A cushion that has been in the making for about one year.

A cushion that started out as a blanket with the odd bits from the ripple blanket. Half way through, the thought of continuing on to form a huge blanket really did not appeal. But there is some yummy yarn in there I tell you. Have you ever used Lamb's Pride? Well there is some in there and they do have such scrumptious colours.

The finished baby hat. You know I just want a little one around just to knit for?

Too much sweetness, really.

Can we use the expression "charmingly adorable"?

Hexagon of Love

Finally, a crocheted hexagon Granny would be proud of. I have been trying to make these little guys for a while now and have finally mastered the hexagon. I spoke before of the ones I tried to make and they were a mess. They were kind of crocheted circles (try sewing those together!). I have tried to colour match the Cath Kidston colours and I think I have succeeded. Not 100% sure about the green though. It is not the Lamb's Pride Cotton Fleece like the other colours. My yarn store did not have the green I needed so I went with the wool/mohair. However, I am really loving the pink/red combination. So cosy! The hexagon pattern is free online. Very easy pattern. Believe me, I NEED easy. And it didn't look like a circle!

I really owe Alex at Moonstitches a great big thank you. It was her that motivated me. Hers are truly lovely and her eye for colour is brilliant. She is now trying to make the Nanny McPhee blanket and it is looking terrific.

Can't you just feel the Granny Square love spreading across the world?

Granny Square Love

Well here she is. The beloved granny square blanket and/or afghan. I really love it. It was a pleasure to make and it is yummy to curl up in. I tried to base it on the afghan in the "Nanny McPhee" movie. There are a few that are really similar but some of Nanny's had a real mustardy yellow which I found very difficult to find. I used the basic granny square pattern and sewed it together using the whip stitch. Up to this point, I never even knew what a whip stitch was and really not 100% sure I do now. I had to kind of wing this whole project as I do not know anyone that knows how to crochet. Does it look old fashioned? Could it have been crocheted by a little old granny two or three decades ago with the remnants of yarn from old projects? That was my aim.

I used mostly a wool/acrylic mix, just for laundering purposes but as it got bigger and bigger I needed more and more yarn. As a result there is some pure wool in there so laundering will, in fact, be a delicate operation.

My favourites are the greens, mauves, pinks and blues. Everybody seems to have an opinion on what one is the prettiest. I do like the odd black one though. They add interest somehow.

Well there you have it.

Oh, and I wish to thank all the bloggers out there that inspired me. You all know who you are. How influential you are to me. Really. Next thing you know, I'll be sewing.

Back From Sabbatical

Hello faithful readers. I know there are a few of you that have missed me and I am feeling a wee bit more sorted now. I have been very busy with Prom for DN1, among other things. The last week I have been looking after my father's toy store which has allowed me to finally finish sewing the Incredibly Beautiful Loved Every Minute of It Granny Square Afghan/Blanket. The sewing up was, well you know how I feel about sewing. But it is done and it is adorable. Crochet is really enjoyable and relaxing. You can put it down and pick it up again, easier, I think, than knitting. I will post a picture of it when I get the camera back...don't ask.

I have also aquired a penchant for garage sales, content sales and the like. I am accumulately a huge amount of items that I have gotten amazing deals on. There's aprons, blankets, glasses, planters, and pillowslips (or is it pillowcases?). Shall I go on? The list is actually endless. I guess the time I used for blogging was taken up with buying!

By the way, my Mum and Dad are in England and Mother has bought me something I have been yearning for in previous posts. Any guesses? She's been shopping at Cath Kidston for me. There's your hint, go for it.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

I will post again soon just thought an update was in order for those that so loyally kept me on their bloglines list. For that, I thank you :) xoxo

PS I have been playing with the layout and colour. Does it work for you?

Lusting after Vintage Bedding

I know this is a super crappy picture of "Nanny Mc Phee" but you have to watch this movie and see the vintage quilts, tartan rugs and granny square blankets/afghans that are on these beds. Truly a crafter's movie if there ever was one. I watched it for the first time on Saturday night and the whole family was getting rather peeved at me for pausing during all the bedroom scenes so I could fully absorb the bedding. Especially the granny square blanket. My husband thinks there are different squares involved but I think they are all the basic grannies with different colour combinations. Absolutley delightful. I may just watch it again for the blankets!

And a few blogs I am quickly becoming addicted to:

Kelly's Vintage Lifestyle

Pink Paint and Roses

Jane's Apron

And by 5:00 pm I always wonder where my time has gone.

Is it possible...

To have clothes peg bag envy? If there is such a thing, surely I must have it. Deb at Homespun Living has made me re-think my ugly plastic basket I use for my clothes pegs (or is it pins?). Deb sells them on her site, the problem is I want the one she's using! It is positively fetching. I have been doing quite a bit of thinking about my clothesline lately. I gave it a good wash yesterday and now I need some new clothes pegs and of course, a lovely clothes peg bag to put them in. I do have some interesting clothesline stories. Many times I have had neighbours comment on my items that are hanging on the line. They have commented on my lovely sheets, my ginormous bath sheets and even a bra once. Is that politically correct? Is one allowed to comment on another's unmentionables that are on the clothesline? What is the clothesline etiquette here?

And where the heck can you get some nice, durable clothes pegs btw? I want some of these.

Granny squaring is addicting. I have about 20 done and am very pleased with myself. There is the looming question however, of who exactly is going to sew these babies together? I have tentatively crocheted a couple together and am not happy with the result. You get that ridge thingy. You all may remember one of my famous lines about sewing?

I have also learned in the last couple of weeks how to properly pick up stitches AND the 3 needle bind off which I think is frickin amazing cuz sewing up sucks big time and anything that eliminates the most shitty side to knitting, I want to be a part of.

February 2005

How's that for famous quotes? Feel free to use that one anytime.

I did trying blocking one just to see if it made much of a difference. It didn't. I guess the acrylic content is the reason for that. I am using a Pingouin yarn that is really quite lovely to work with. I am to understand that it is no longer available? Although the yarn store I purchased from had a tonne in stock. The colours are brilliant and very spring-y.

Grannylicious

I have conquered the Granny square. After many, many tries, at last I have satisfaction. It's not really that I couldn't do them, it's just I didn't like them. They just did not look the way I felt they should look. There is a standard you know. The colour combinations out there are just too divine. I love hers. And this one was made out of pure determination (and not wanting to spend the pounds on the overpriced one from you know where). There are just too many to count. But the best has to be Caroline. She had a few set backs at the beginning and persevered. I love the candor. It was her persistence that motivated me. Thank you, Dolliedaydream!

The green, pink and blue ones were my first decent looking ones. I have since gone out and commited more yarn shopping felonies and the ice cream-y colours are the result.

Should I join the Grannyalong? Do you think they are good enough? I really can't say. Do I deserve a medal for trying?

Funny, I felt so great when it all came to me and they came out so well but the rest of the family didn't seem to share in my jubilation. Why is that?