Hooking holidays

This is Em's blanket that I made a couple of years ago, in my earlier crochet days. It has a narrow bottom end and a wide top! For some time there has been a desire to rectify it and this weekend I started. It is slowly becoming a neat ripple blanket...the frogging is a nightmare. Washes have lead to fibres becoming matted and catching. But it will be worth the effort in the end. Having something to crochet after so long is wonderful. I am changing the colours slightly, but attempting to use only yarn in the original and my stash. I will post a picture of the progress soon.

Other happy news is a new tiny laptop in ocean blue to do my uni work on. Loving it.

Diversion and ramble

Yes, I am at the laptop with an essay to edit, but somehow found myself reading about crochet as tends to happen when one procrastinates...

And I found this and it is fabulous. A Bunting Blanket. Great idea and it could be made in a little version for little people and their prams and car seats etc. Clever lady.

Another thing, many of you read Frugal Queen's brilliant blog on how to live well and happily without spending heaps and with being creative. I wondered how many of you read the one about spring cleaning and did what I did....nip over to Aldi and get some kitchen cleaner? I found myself last night after a 90 minute drive home, being on my feet all day and awake at 5:30am, up on a chair thoroughly cleaning the range hood!! That woman weilds great influence I tell you. All night I had to go back and look at the streamlined bench top, the sparkling tiles and window frames....windows no, too dark to see the smears but they are on the agenda....THEN I managed to fiddle about with academic work and it was such a productive evening. 

If only I could KEEP IT UP. I hate and despise clutter and know that it has a terrible effect on me, but boy do I struggle to streamline. Often it is not that I do not want to let go, but it is what to let go and the where to let it go to that is the problem. First thing is the notion that things could be/should be SOLD to generate some dosh. BUT with life as it is now the whole photographing, measuring, listing etc on ebay is too time consuming. The next thing is the charity shops. Happy to do this. In fact this is happening more and the bottom line is that some things are just tat and need to be tossed. My tat is not the same as another person's tat so this one is a delicate balance. I less than subtly hinted that Han could 'have a big clear out' when she was home for the hols!! There is still a stinky old girafe toy in the corner...

Anyhoo, enough for now. I plan to persevere with the whole streamlining thing. In my head I equate a clutter free life with serenity. At least if one is not surrounded by THINGS that need to be taken care of, then maybe there is more time just to live?

CROCHET at last

Celia B asked me to make her this for Christmas. I have worked various body parts to see how it looks. The ears are not nice, so I will be adapting them as well as the feet.  Today the yarn arrived as did the eyes...mmmm so not my thing, BUT, I am hoping that the bunny that is born is beautiful because Celia B has been such an amazing friend over the years and I want her to be happy. 
It will be nice to have the old crochet hook going again......

Crochet in Belgium

A small chihuahua for a little girl who lives next door to Francoise......

Squirrel bite saga - day three

They starved me this morning so I could go back to theatre under a general anaesthetic. It came as bit of a surprise, having thought all was well. Luckily when the consultant came round (one of my old team), he decided not to operate but to keep me in one more night.....so here I am. A quieter day, Big J and Celia B have been by.  The IV drip has been taken out and meds are now oral. And the tip of my finger can wiggle a bit.....very good progress. I may just crochet a stitch or two tomorrow, just to see how it feels!
If I can keep awake I might watch the World Cup!

Crucial Crochet finger update

More surgery today at lunch time. It seems that the important bits are intact although there will be scars and some sensitivity to cold. Worryingly it is a CRUCIAL CROCHET FINGER and it will be some time before work can recommence on Tom's blanket. I am pretty miserable about that, but would rather take the time to heal well and be able to crochet than to lose the gift.

The time off will give me a chance to focus on getting ready for the trip home.  It will mean less pressure to hit the target number of rows I had been setting myself every day and will probably result in me being less anxious all round.

I am a very lucky woman to have the brilliant care I have had, lots of cheery visitors and a very nice visit from Big J this evening. They have just delivered a sleeping pill, needed to help me through the night. This thing HURTS. Good night folks. May your dreams be squirrel free.

The week that was

It has been quite a week. 

My sister, the one that does not contact me, emailed me about my upcoming trip home asking if I would like to see her. YES I WOULD. VERY MUCH. The dates did not work out, but she said she would probably see me next year - at Dad's 80th birthday event. There was no news exchanged, in fact it was a very economical communication, but it was contact and I was very happy. 

We have walked in Ashdown Forest twice. One walk was with the family (minus Han who is still in Japan) and a new friend on a sunny afternoon. It was lovely.

We did not see the much talked about bird visitor, the short toed eagle, which fortunately eats snakes and not little dogs!

A dear friend is troubled again with her addiction and I know that until someone in that position accepts that there is a problem then nothing can be done, but she risks losing so much. This time there was some tough love. 

I worked for one day and feel the pull less. One more shift before I go off to Australia. 

On Sunday after my last blog post I pulled out Tom's blanket, took a photo of it

and decided to start all over again. This one feels right, the colours are right, the yarn is right and the stitch is too. (I am reusing two of the colours of the first blanket and a heap of green from my stash).  

I did however have some real hiccups with the pattern this time but managed to come up with a way to reduce the tension in the foundation row that prevents a warped fabric later on. I had to do it three times, but I did the foundation row in a 5mm hook even though the rest of the blanket is being done on a four. It gave enough slackness to start off as I kept finding the tension of the actual blanket looser than the first row. 

It was volunteer week at school and Em and her friends had struggled to find work so ended up at lower school for four days. Friday was a day off and they went to Devil's Dyke to draw and walk. Big J and I headed for Brighton. 

We went swimimng at Brighton Beach, a first for me.

Talk about a day beside the sea! It was sunny, there were deck chairs and sea gulls, we had our towels and my hat, we went right in and it was lovely. The sky was bright, bright blue and there was something about it being a Friday in term time that made it feel almost like we were skiving off!  It was also Independence Day and we had a meal at an American restaurant and then found free table tennis tables - with bats and balls for all to use and worked up a sweat and worked off our lunch. 

Machine People launched their new video on 4th as well. Go guys. 

Another farewell for a friend heading to Indonesia on Friday night, but I was worn out by then. Too much fun in the sun! Today I could barely summon the energey to crochet let alone manage chores! But to be fair, after slobbing about most of the day, I did plant out some tomatoes (lots of babies already) and did some weeding and other planting. The grunt work of gardening is something I love. 

Yarndale Mandala

This is my mandala for Yarndale....Australia, the red centre, the oranges and pinks of the desert, the yellows of the wheat crops, the pale greens of suburbia, the dark greens of the rain forest, the white of the surf, the deep blue of the sea and the light bright blue of the sky.
To be glued and stiffened in the morning before being sent off to Yorkshire. 

Man at work

We are having our leaky shower fixed and a new loo put in. The cistern on the old one is hanging by a thread and it is a dodgy old thing. I whizzed over to Homebase this morning and managed to get the loo for half price and tiles for the floor greatly reduced and doubled my nectar points as well - so felt good. 

The banging is a pain but it will be worth it.

Last night was Book Club where we drank talked a lot, even occasionally about the book, which was The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Lovely story. 

Today I am in Limbo a bit. I want to blitz but the stairs and landing are covered in dust sheets and I am keeping away from upstairs completely. 

I have been looking at holidays for Big J and me, some blogs, been doing bursary applications and chasing HR about working some hours as a health care assistant, have planted up some of my lovely new geraniums at the front door, been blood pressured and pee tested (all good), and managed finally to get a photo of Hannah's blanket out on the patio....

Loving the border. This was another clever idea from Lucy at Attic24. 

The colours are still too pale for me but it feels awesome, soft but heavy at the same time. Should keep her warm up north! 
I think some crochet time is called for. I want to make a Mandala for Yarndale and mine is going to be AUSTRALIA inspired, I want it to be called The Red Centre. 

Pussy Cat Ta Dah, two departures and The Band

The post I wrote up last night has gone awol. Annoying because it took time and I was loving the moment of recapturing all that happened yesterday.

Still for any readers it is probably a blessing as this version is likely to be shorter!!

We had two departures yesterday. One in the morning from Heathrow which meant an early start. Hannah flew to Japan for a month. As I leave for Oz before she comes back we will not see each other until August. This is the longest time apart we have had, and they will just keep getting longer. It makes me so sad, but it is all about new steps in her life. 
Big J then flew to South Africa for a week on business. That leaves Em and I at home alone with Juno and Bosley. We plan a healthy eating week with some exercise and in fact I am having a detox tea for breaky instead of my usual fluffy coffee....mmmmm..not quite the same!

After a late gig on Saturday night two of the band camped here as logistics dictated it was more sensible than driving home to have to return for a local gig tomorrow. They did not go to bed all night and sat like two owls in the conservatory - wide eyed and unbeknownst to me, very drunk. They 'found' a bottle of something and drank it. Like you do....refusing all offers of food and coffee at breakfast they did eventually pass out only to be woken later with some loud death metal by the remaining sober band members who turned up to make sure all was well. Lovely. I could not let them leave home in that state so threw together a massive dish of vegetable pasta bake, garlic bread and some jalepeno and cheese ciabatta we had. It worked, they perked up no end. 
I get the band thing, I really do. I have seen them play many times and watched them morph from youths with passion to young men with passion about their music.  But when they are off the stage and at home, it means more to me. They hang out with the dog, talk to the girls and are great fun. One was telling me about a reccent to trip to Oz and I asked him what he was doing out there. He told me his uncle's band was playing in Sydney and Perth so he went along.....his uncle is in Simple Minds....I knew that!! 

In the midst of all this there was ironing done, a trip to a boot fair and some more crochet time.
This is Rosie - my take on the wonderful tutorial by Janette at The Green Dragonfly. The tutorial is excellent and most of Rosie took shape on the trip to Yorkshire. I love to crochet in the car when I it's not my turn to drive on the motorway! 

I do not have Janette's gift for embellishing and my embroidery skills are rubbish so after hacking off the insipid nose I first made, this is the new version which is pretty pleasing. I made a magic ring and did three double crochet into it before pulling it closed then using the starting and finishing yarns for her mouth. I have made (not finished)  three little kittens for Rosie to mother and they are all going with me to Australia for my niece, Ava. Pics to follow. 

A version of this has taken shape too. Herdy. It is a fat blue lamb for Thomas, my nephew. I do feel a bit like it is cheating to make something so similar, is it? You can judge for yourselves when he gets his legs....

Burrito? ripple blanket - semi Ta Dah!

Here is Hannah modelling(?) burrito style her ripple blanket. On the 12th May it looked like this and today, 12th of June it looks like this:

It is done, at least in terms of rows and now comes the sewing in of ends and the border. It strikes me that borders on ripple blankets just make them look so much better, but all the ripples I have known did not have one....

This is the first day of not being at work. The window cleaner has been, I have been deadheading geraniums, (I have gone totally granny McClintock (maternal granny) about geraniums. They are potted up all around the patio and Nancy gave me some lovely dark leaved pink ones to add to the collection). Lots of admin done too and dinner defrosting. 

It was a lovely send off, loads of flowers....and some tears (from me).

Can you see the dresser behind these lovely lillies?...all painted and fresh and FINISHED with some Polish pottery on it. 
Feeling good. x

Admin

On this cold Wednesday I have seen my little Irish friend, who is a bit poorly. We had coffee and then did some therapeutic yarn shopping/squeezing. Love to squeeze new balls of yarn. And to sniff them...weird but that sheepy smell is lovely. This WI appealed and I got some of their acrylic (very soft) in a gorgeous petrol blue for a crochet beret.....

I have done some admin/paperwork and am pleased with it so far. A few more bits and pieces to go.

All the hairy carrots from the bottom of the fridge  have been peeled and are now slowly stewing with some leeks and garlic as a base for a hearty soup. 

I am planning a trip to the gym to continue with my high intensity training on the treadmill, plus squats with kettle bells and some ab crunches...

This evening is haircut evening with the lovely Dawn. 

Hannah's blanket is over the half way mark now and it is literally down hill from here. In TWO weeks I have crocheted miles of yarn.

Raspberry Ripple blanket

Mark II of Hannah's blanket looks like raspberry ripple icecream...gone are the moody blues and sea greens that we talked about. She wanted baby pink....and she got baby pink.
It is aran weight and in a week I am almost half way to it being a square....this is rapid progress for me. But I want to finish it - fast.

The bunting lesson last week was fun, but very few triangles of any form were produced. We even ended up with something that looked like a spider!! There wasn't an opportunity to get photos and in fact the hard working women may have been affronted if their work was put on display. The up side is that they want a re-match to have another go....

I caught up with the lovely JG on Wednesday in Reading. Great day out because the company is so nice. Sadly though I had a sensitive tooth that just got worse. It turned out that it was cracked and after a very uncomfortable night I ended up having the nerve removed yesterday....I am not fazed by dentists, in fact I was so happy to see mine because I knew he would make things better. The relief!

On this long weekend we have a few plans - mine include lots of crochet, painting, some gardening and the odd outing. What fun!

Finally - I have booked to go home to sunny Queensland in July to see my mum and dad. I will also being seeing my wonderful artist sister in Sydney. 

The end of a ripple

For a long time, Princess Hannah's ripple blanket has been in hiding behind the couch. It has been pulled over me and the dog a few times on a chilly night, with all its ends dangling. But work had come to a grinding halt and I was not happy with the thing at all.

To start with, the foundation chain bit went ok but the first row didn't. It was a bumpy, tight, nasty bit of work. It was meant to go on a single bed only it was as wide as a queen sized bed even once all the hills and valleys had been added. And the colours. YUCK. What was I thinking? I thrifted and got bits in charity shops, but the brown, lordy, lordy. At what point does Brown become a feature colour in a young girl's room?

It occured to me to frog it and to discuss with my daughter her idea of a colour palette. Pale colours, toning colours. So over the last three nights the ripple has gone from this:

to this:

and I am not a bit sorry. Some of this yarn will go into the next ripple, a lot won't, including that brown...
In preparation for Mark II, I popped into Attic24 and had a go at Lucy's neat ripple blanket pattern. It is fast. I may use it, but first a definitive plan for the colours. 

Knots - me in

Ok, so someone likes a bit of my bunting and wants to learn how to make it along with a bunch of their friends. I say sure - no probs. But now I am being all silly about it.

I got the above yarn from ebay for everyone to have a play around with at a FRACTION of the cost of buying it locally - this may seem anti-British industry but we are talking about cotton, most of which is made/dyed in Germany or further east in Europe.  I also chose (slightly) calmer shades to the bunting shown here because I find the brilliant colours a bit too bold. I then decided that I should - wait for this - HAND WIND the above into dinky little balls for those in attendance to have a pile each and therefore avoid potential squabbling over 'favourite' colours!  I even crocheted up a couple of triangles with different size hooks, pulled them out and MEASURED with a tape measure the length for the ideal ball. Fortunately at the last minute this did strike me as being way OTT. 

I have a also amassed a veritable fistfull of crochet hooks, wooden beads, some dodgy old buttons, needles and scissors for the occasion. 

What I cannot seem to get into my pom-pom like brain is that this is not a WORK SHOP and they are not buying KITS. Over a few vinos I hope they get to produce a triangle or two and maybe go home feeling they want to embrace crochet... Honestly, talk about making a rod for one's own back.

Get real woman.

But the yarn is lovely, isn't it? That aubergine is gorgeous in the flesh...

The finish(ed) line - beads excluded

The bunting for the crochet class is finished, apart from the beads that will go onto each point. The flower idea came from this fabulous blog. The flower pattern was one with a fiddly little picot bit on the end which I abandoned, just didn't like the finish. I wanted something more simple. One might argue that there is enough going on here as it is, but the beads will help keep the points of the bunting grounded - as in gravity will stop them from curling up. Off to the bead shop on Saturday.

There is no way I could have come up with this colour selection on my own. As you know this Planet Penny's Cotton Club yarn, the original version. Thank goodness for people with colour vision.

Also, I am very aware that there are loads of creative people out there who come up with amazing ideas and it  feels a bit freaky to have come up with something similar - and I just hope that folk don't think I am nicking ideas that are not mine. I have written to Pink Milk Jewels to ask her if I can use her tutorial because, while I can crochet a bit of bunting, I can't write a lesson!!!

I am very proud that I have FINISHED something. 

Languishing

It appears I may have had a migraine. A first. Poor Princess Hannah gets them and they make her very sick.
Self diagnosed, but after coming home with a streaming cold and taking to bed, my headache just got out of proportion. In the wee small hours I was up getting a drink and my vision was odd, things seemed pink! Then it got to the point that I could not move my head and if I did, felt the need to throw up. Hope not to repeat the experience and am putting it down to months of ridiculous amounts of relentless stress at work.

Today there is only a dull ache. No apetite yet, got to be a good thing.

I thought I would do a little crochet in bed and dug out Tom's blanket. The child is nearly a year old and in my typical fashion I have lost interest momentum because there is always someting else to start. It needs to be bigger. A lot bigger, but I got another row added on. I have not blocked it, but think it will work.

Despite being in bed, on a rainy day, perfect for crochet, it is just too much.

Nap time.

The grass is not greener

So, I went away to another blog spot to leave this one behind and start all over again. But I missed Blogger and found the other one harder to manage. I saw less of the blogs I like, and it is nice having updates on the side of the page.

Time to come back - four months since the last entry.

I have handed in my notice at work and will head off to uni in Sept to do adult nursing. Facebook folk and the other blog readers know this. I cannot wait for that gap between work and study and for some time to wind down and get centred. To prepare and just hang out with my lovely family.

Princess Hannah heads off in September too  to do Chinese,  and I am going to miss her so much. It is good to see how much she is looking forward to going though.

Currently I am making bunting - for a tutorial someone asked me to give to her and some friends. So exciting. I have ordered some yarn for the occasion which has not arrived, so I am working with Planet Penny's Cotton Club Yarn and it looks lovely. The pattern is from a heart one in a book, just haven't crocheted the bumps at the top. There will be some small flowers - maybe. Today's attempt at a forget me not looked a bit like a cabbage....

Bendy Carrots

There was a bag of bendy carrots in the bottom of the fridge and it worried me that they had not been used up.  It is a battle, but I have been trying to use all the things in the fridge and reduce the amount we throw away. So, the bendy carrots have been converted into Carrot and Coriander Soup for Sunday lunch. Thanks to BBC Good Food.
It does not really classify as frugal food, but at least it is not a waste.

On a knitty note, I have now finished the 5th cardi for charity and am on to the second hat. We want to get them sent off this week. Em has been crocheting 6 inch granny squares, and it all helps.
I am going to put a pic up when I have sewn the last one together.

Good way to get rid of those bits of wool after a project.

WHERE IS THIS LEADING?

Lovely day in Lewes, pottering at the rather small boot fair, then some charity shops.

At the BF, someone had a big pile of old crochet and knitting patterns. They were fantastic. Great ideas, just some of the colours looked odd - well let's be honest, some of the photos were odd too. What kids had to wear 45 years ago. Poor little mites.....me being one of them!!!!

 I got very excited but ended up restraining myself and buying only ONE. In the back of my mind was the question - where is this leading? Crochet is my thing, and apart from that, FINISHING something off before a new idea takes hold is something I really, seriously need to work on.
So tonight, I have done some rows on the East West cardi  and will do some rounds on the crochet blanket.

Girls squabbling, things are back to normal!!