Japanese Flower Shawl .......

Hello my lovelies !!!!!!

I really must apologise for my absence but my laptop had a major meltdown & died on me a couple of weeks ago & I have also been up to my eyes with school events. Summer term seems to always be a whirlwind of activities & social gatherings !!

I have been ohhhing & arhhhhing over the beautiful Japanese Flower Shawls on Lucy's ATTIC24 blog & on Ravelry for some time now but I wanted to finish a few WIP first ( I will be sharing these with you very soon. ) My budget wouldn't stretch to the gorgeous ANDES yarn so I down marketed some what & decided on King Cole's Merino Blend DK that comes in wonderful bright colours

It is a very portable project, perfect to take with me on our summer outings to the park and, weather permitting, the seaside !!

A New Project .........


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I have been knitting away on my Clapotis, the end result is wonderful but boy it can be rather hard going making it ! To break the boredom I decided I needed a new hooky project to do along side it.

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So I have indulged myself by buying some Vanna's Choice from Banyan Tree Yarn's online shop.

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The colours are ( left to right )

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Top row :

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Berrylicious #139

Rose #142

Dusty Blue #108

Dusty Purple #146

Eggplant #145

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Bottom row :

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Navy #110

Silver Blue #105

Kelly Green #172

Magenta #144

Sweet Pea # 169

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The pattern I am using is the Sunburst Granny Square ( free on Ravelry ). I have decided not to include the navy as it was rather overbearing, and I am using the Silver blue to finish each square.

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I am loving how it is taking shape & as it is chunky yarn shouldn't be too long in the making !!

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I have now done 12 squares, they seem to be flying off my hook ! I will post more photo's tomorrow if the little men give me 5 minutes to myself.

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Bye for now xx

Look What The Post Man Delivered ! ........

Don't you just love it when a parcel is left on the door step, especially when you know it contains some yummy yarn for a new project !

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I have been very strict with myself and haven't bought any yarn for a long time, as I am trying hard to use up my rather large stash of yarn that lives under my bed. But while cruising through my favorate yarn shops I was stopped in my tracks, I was star struck, it was love at first sight !!!

The gorgeous, wonderful Dream In Color was on offer at First 4 Yarns, and it was my most fav colour, how could I resist !!!!!

MMMMmmm Manos ..........

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I have Clapotis fever at the moment. I have started another one using this gorgeous, wonderful Manos Silk Blend, colour #7325 , that has been sitting waiting in my stash for over a year. I can not describe how truly yummy this yarn is and I have two skeins so there should be enough, oh happy days !!!!!

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Another WIP .......

Yes, yet another WIP !!!

I am making the little men blankets for their beds for next Autumn & Winter. I wanted them to be lovely bright colours & also washable so I am using Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice yarn. This is the first time I have used this yarn & I'm very pleased with how it's turning out ! No, it isn't as squidgy & soft as Rowan's Pure wool or Debbie Bliss but I am hoping it will hold up better as it is 100% acrylic. I'm not a lover of acrylic yarns but this doesn't look synthetic & the colours are wonderfully bright & cheery.

I have bought 2 balls of each colour for the first blanket & hope I will have enough to make a single bed size.

I am still working on my Wendy Bliss blanket, which is coming along nicely, so hopefully it will be finished soon.

New Yarn & A New Project .......

I know, I know, I promised myself not to buy any more yarn until I had used up some of my large stash but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do & in my case it's yarn !!!!!

A new Hobbycraft store has just opened near me so the other day I thought I would go & have a look around. I spied that Wendy has brought out a new yarn called 'Merino Bliss' & it's gorgeously soft so I just had to have some !!!! There isn't a great colour range which is disappointing but I picked out four colour that went well together for yet another granny blanket !!!

I also bought two skeins of 'Rowan Colourscape' as I have seen a great crochet scarf pattern on Ravelry using this yarn. I rushed home to start my new granny & this is my progress so far.

This yarn is wonderful to work with, I'm finding it hard to put down & have even been hooking while cooking dinner !!!!

At this rate this could be my speed record for making a blanket, I can't wait to snuggle under it, watch this space !!!!

Tufty Scarf ......

I made this scarf back in the Autumn & I wore it today for the first time with my new winter coat. It's lovely & warm & long enough to wrap around twice. The pattern was soooo easy & fast, in fact it took all of 3 hours to make !!!

Tufty Scarf

Yarn : 3 balls of Rowan Big Wool Tuft

Needles : 15mm

Pattern : Cast on 12 stitches then Knit 1, YO, K2tog on every row.

Look What's Just Arrived .......

Look what I've just found on my doorstep, yes more yarn !!!

Debbie Bliss is discontinuing her Pure Cotton yarn & I found a yarn shop online that is selling it for £1.99 a ball, that's too good a bargain to pass by. I have the perfect project in mind, just wait & see !

Wool & Cake ......

Look at this lovely skein of Manos Wool Clasica I pulled out of my rather large stash of yarn. The colour is 6422 & I have 3 skeins, enough to make another scarf.

On Wednesday it was my little cousin's 18th Birthday. She is having her party tonight & asked if I would make a cake for her, how could I refuse. I made one of my favorites which I made up a few moths ago for another family celebration.

Tanski's Black Forest Cake

Cake

8oz SR Flour

8oz Caster Sugar

8oz Butter/ Marg

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 oz Cocoa

4 Large Eggs

1 tbsp Camp Coffee

Topping

Double Cream, whipped

1/2 tin of Cherry Filling

Preheat oven to 180 oc.

Mix all the ingredients together & add cold water to make a dropping consistency. Pour mixture into a greased & floured 10" cake tin. Bake for about 45-50 mins.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning out onto a cooling tray. Once completely cold cover with cream & top with cherry filling. Best eaten with a fork !!!

Mmmmm Malabrigo........

Anyone who has knitted with malabrigo will know how wonderfully soft & warm it is & the colours are amazing. I have a passion for it.

I love knitting scarves & hats with it, you only need 2 skeins for a long scarf & 1 skein for a hat. As you can see I have quite a large stash & I have 5 scarves on the go at the moment. If you have never knitted with Malabrigo give it a go, I bet you will be as hooked as I am.

My friend Jo recently asked if I would knit her a hat for her skiing holiday, luckly I had the perfect colour in my stash as she wanted pink to go with her ski jacket. She was over the moon with it & worn it every day.

The little men are out with their daddy today, & I have a list of jobs to do & hopefully some crochet. I hope everyone has a great bank holiday, bye for now xxx

Cake, Yarn, Crochet, & Friends to Play.......

The weather today was perfect, blue skies, warm & a slight breeze. After I picked up the little men from nursery we had a picnic lunch in the garden.

My friend Beckie & her childern H ( who is the boys best buddy ) & baby P ( she is actually 2 but the little men call her that ) came for tea. I sat & worked on yet another new crochet blanket ( I now have 4 blankets on the go!!) chatted, drank tea & ate homemade lemon cake, while the little people played. We ended up eating our tea in the garden as it was still warm at 5pm.

The Little Men chatting to the builder next door

The boys where so tired after all the playing & fresh air that they had a quick bath & were asleep by 7pm, hooray an evening to myself.

"What, not more wool !!!!"
This is the comment that my ex partner used to make, when yet another package can through the post crammed with yarn.

Yes I know that I wasn't going to start another new project, but I have no self control. I am making another granny blanket using Rowan Pure DK Wool. I love working with this yarn, it's sooo soft & the colours are amazing.

Cats & Wool Do Not Mix !!!!!!

My Cascade 220 yarn from Pavi Yarns came to day in the post. I am really happy with the colours as it's hard to tell the true colours on the computer. I am going to make another Ripple blanket for me to snuggle under on the sofa next winter.


I laid them out in the kitchen to take this photo & then put them on the work surface to put away. As soon as I turned my back Saba decided to check the new yarn out. I knew what would happen so I grabbed my camera, sure enough it was too tempting for him......


Mister Innocent & Mountain Of Yarn .......

I'll just have a sniff .......

Just a Squeeze .....

Just can't help myself .......