I have been wanting to make a Granny Stripe blanket for ages after seeinng the beautiful blanket made by Lucy of Attic 24 and I have been searching for the right yarn for Ages! Everything seemed out of my price range, and I do admit to being alittle bit of a Wool Snob. I like wool mix, preferably with some cashmere thrown in for good measure! That was never going to be a sound financial choice when making a large blanket though!. Lucy used Stylecraft Special DK that is 100% acrylic and I was weary when ordering, but, it is so lovely and soft and squishy (and was £1.25 a ball!!!). I just know it is going to make a fantastically soft blanket for our sofa!
I consulted Dave when picking colours (its so hard when you cant see them, touch them, rearrange them in person) and i am quite happy with the bundle of blues and greens that arrived! Left to my own devices, there may have been more oranges and reds thrown into the mix, but I just know that these colours are going to look great in our living room, with me snuggled under the Blanket of Loveliness, when winter arrives!
I have been playing about recently – thinking about making some toys for the little people. Things that rattle and jangle, that are a good size to pick up and put down, throw, catch and put in boxes and bags.
I am uncertain if I truely like these enough to make more, but, its a start! (And do they count as some of my 5 a day?)
We are getting there – its all beginning to come together now!
I am making a gift for my sisters baby, who is due on 23rd August. Ah ha!!! Perfect excuse to make……. shhhhhh – its a secret – not telling incase she is reading this.
Here is a sneak preview just to wet your appetite 
I had my bargianious remnants and my lovely friend Anne was celebrating her 30th birthday. She is a fellow knitter, so my challenge was to make my very first bag, and gift it to Anne along with some knitting goodies from other friends. Well, she deserved spoiling alittle!!
I had a pattern from KT that I barely followed (I tend to look a the picture and make it up!) but, all in all, I was very pleased with the results, and alittle sad that my bag was off to pastures new. However, I know it will be much loved and looked after, and now I just have an excuse to make another!!!
So, back in September, there was an Auction. Happens quite alot at my sisters auction house, but before an auction in September, Dave was looking at the catalogue of an upcoming sale and noted interest in an item listed as a Banjolele. (a cross between a Banjo and a Ukulele apparently). Lo and behold, auction finished and Dad had kindly purchased said Banjolele for Dave.
Only trouble was it only had 3 strings.
And its not a Banjolele. After many hours with google we suspect its actually a Banjolene – which is a cross between a Banjo and a Mandolin.
And its not looking its best!!!
So there it is. A poor excuse for a musical instrument. It needs new strings (8 of them!) and a new skin. To put the skin on (apparently its called Lapping), we would have to take the entire instrument apart. And at somepoint we are supposed to do something with Lemon Oil and Brasso – but I cant remember what!!
For now, until life is more settled and we are getting more than 4 hours sleep a night, the poor Banjolene sits in its case – hidden away, trying not to guilt me into attempting the impossible.
One day – I promise. We will rebuild you!!!
I cant help myself – I LOVE a bargain! There are so many lovely fabrics out there – but purse strings only stretch so far (and its really not far enough!).
It turns out that John Lewis remnant bins are full of fantastic fabrics, marked down as they are from displays, so only small amounts are available. However, they seem to come in bags of co-ordinating fabrics – so I didn’t even have to think too much!!
Here is my stash!!!
There is just enough light blue fabric to make a bag (thinking knitting bag) and the circles will probably be appliqued on. At some point!!!
I really don’t have a plan for this fabric – but am happy to take it out of the packet and look at it for a while!!! Am sure that inspiration will come at some point!
3 year old + birthday party can only mean one thing – fancy dress!!!
True to form – I looked at a couple of pictures of outfits on ebay – and thought “really – how difficult can it be!”
And so the idea for the cow outfit was born. Or created. Or maybe just spawned from hell.
There was a large quantity of fake fur, sleepless nights and confusion. Then Kate came over, and together we managed to create some ears and horns, and all of a sudden – it seemed that we weren’t actually attempting the impossible!!
It was at this point that I really needed a small child to measure to get everything fitted correctly – but it was 1am, and everyone, bar me and the cow, were sleeping!
It took longer than it really should have done – but I am really quite pleased with the results! (and, for the record, Joseph loved it too!!!!)
I want to make a quilt at some point. I have an romantic image of handcrafting something that will keep generations of my family warm on cold winters nights.
However, I had NO CLUE where to start! But, I am lucky enough to have a good friend, Kate who is a quilting expert (in my eyes anyway!) – and after some very patient nights explaining, teaching and general hand holding as I wielded a rotary cutter, I was off and running!
After more than a few hours – and some rather choice words aimed at my temperamental sewing machine – a patchwork cushion was born!
Its not perfect – but I think its fab!!! As soon as I have recovered from Alien Applique Trauma- then I will finish the other one!!! Watch this space!!
