yarn along - pretty crochet hearts

Sorry I am becoming extremely boring, so please forgive my third grey yarn along post. Blanket ticked off, cushion all done, and now I am busy making lovely little crochet hearts. I've made crochet hearts before but these are a bit bigger and the pattern is lovely and straightforward to follow. The tutorial for the pattern can be found here Sam has kindly shared her lovely heart pattern for us all to have a go.

I'm not sure what the finished project will look like but hopefully I will be able to share it with you next week.

I'm joining in with  Ginny, Tami Amis, Chrissie & Marianne please pop over for some lovely crafty inspiration if you have time

talk soon x

PS don't forget my give away check it out here

grey days.................

I’m still infatuated by grey and loving all the different shades and textures. I spent a few relaxing hours playing on Pinterest over the weekend and found some lovely grey images. I was so smitten with my finds that I’ve set up my own grey mood board. I also found that I wasn’t the only one enamoured with grey you must pop over to just pootling which is a fabulous blog I recently stumbled upon. 

Continuing with my grey theme I’ve finished my granny square cushion and it has worked out just as I imagined. 

The hard bit was deciding where to put it, so the cushion was a bit like Goldilocks having a turn of sitting on every chair, but I think I have found its final resting place. I decided on the dark grey chair with a smaller dark grey cushion as well.

I’ve also made a big cushion for the top of the toy box, in grey of course. I had found an amazing remnant in John Lewis’s sale. The fabric is upholstery weight, over a metre in length and it only cost £10. I was quite excited to set my sewing machine up as it hasn’t been out for ages and I’m always a bit anxious about using it. I’m not a natural machinist and seem to spend half my time threading the needle and winding spools. Things like stitch size and tension always faze me and the thought of sewing such heavy duty fabric was daunting. When I bought the fabric I asked the sales assistant if I needed special needles but she just advised I used a new sharp needle. I changed my needle which was without drama and my sewing machine behaved beautifully. I had enough fabric to make the toy box cushion and also a smaller cushion and I still have a sizeable piece spare. My room is really taking shape with all the finishing touches.

The walls are quite bare and I would love to buy some new art work but for now I have been rearranging what I’ve already got and have just added an inexpensive print or two from IKEA.

I wish my photos were sharper but the light continues to be poor on this murky cold grey day, I'm so looking forward to bright spring days.

I'm so pleased I started to write my blog again after having my few months break, my first post was on the 1st January and I can't believe the number of visitors old and new I've had. I have been thrilled with all the lovely comments you've left me and my followers have also increased. It is so nice to be part of such a warm friendly blogging community, many of the blogs I read are doing special little give aways and I hadn't really planned anything but such a lot of you have fallen in love with my knitted hedgehogs I thought I would knit a new pair and give them away to one lucky visitor.

I'm not very technical so don't think I will use one of those special random thingy me bob calculators, I will use the old fashioned way of names in a hat and ask Mr R to do the draw on Saturday 8th February. If you want to enter you can have up to three chances, just leave me a comment, you will get an extra chance if you are a follower, and another if you like my face book page. 

talk to you soon x

things that make me happy ........

I miss my happy posts as it was fun sharing images of things that made me smile, but I don't want the structure and commitment of a weekly post so I thought instead when the mood takes me I will share some images with you.......

                                beautiful sunny tulips......................

early spring colour with beautiful indoor bulbs....................

rearranging my shelves......adding my new family of hedgehogs ( I've been busy knitting them)

What do you think x

craft room tidy ................

I have continued with my freshening up theme and have now moved onto my spare bedroom which I am calling my craft room, it just happens to have a bed in it! So a very multifunctional room, my grandchildren always refer to it as Nana's blue room. I have sorted and tidied my shelves and arranged them in a more aesthetically pleasing way. I hope they will still be functional and that I won't worry about spoiling my displays. It felt more like creating art than tidying shelves.

Alex helped me put my ever growing magazine collection into magazine files and he filed them all in date or issue order. Each file has been labelled and I even have a miscellaneous box file. My growing collection of buttons, fabric, yarn, washi tape and other craft materials have all been found a home.

I'm so pleased with my bedroom, sorry craft room tidy and I'm having such fun working in it. It's so easy to find things when everything has a place. I am trying to follow the "one minute rule" don't postpone any task that can be done in less than one minute. I'm telling myself to put away that yarn, file away that pattern, put the cotton back into the sewing box - such steps only take me moments, but the cumulative impact is impressive. I wonder how long I will last with my good intentions.

(sorry my photos were a bit blurry, the light is so poor at the moment)

Talk soon x

more lovely crochet projects .............

My grey blanket is finished; it's quite small but just right for draping over an armchair or keeping your knees snug. I'm really pleased with the colour combination and it does look nice with my other pink blankets.

To tone in with my new blanket I have started a granny square cushion and I am using Lucy's join as you go method. One side of the cushion is made up of light grey squares joined with a darker grey yarn and the other side is dark grey squares joined with the lighter grey yarn. I haven't decided how I'm going to join the cushion edges together yet but hopefully I will have a plan before I finish - although all ideas will be much appreciated.

I have been using grey yarn that I've had for quite a while; you might recognise it from a blanket I started last year. The blanket was made up of small granny squares in four different colours, joined as you go with a contrasting yarn. I sort of got a bit fed up with this blanket, it has been sitting in a basket waiting for my attention for quite a while. After much thought I decided to rip it back and use the grey granny squares for my cushion. It was hard to undo all my lovely join along crochet but I don't think I would have finished the blanket and I do like the look of my new cushion.

Although I now have a pile of pink and green granny squares to find a use for - I'm sure I will think of something.

I am joining in with :-

• Ginny
• Marianne and Chrissie
• Tami Amis

Hope you have time to pop over to the crochet and yarn alongs to see all the lovely projects on the go.

Talk soon x

little ones.....................

I had such a lot of lovely family time over Christmas and the New Year and had lots of fun with my grandchildren. I am very lucky to have two of my daughters living very close by which means I see the little ones at least once a week and frequently more. The children often come for sleep over’s, craft days, baking days or just for a quick pop in and catch up.

As you know my eldest daughter Kate lives in London and is Head of Art at a boy’s school, so our visits are mainly in the school holidays. It isn't that bad really as Kate is only a two hour train journey away and I've already booked my train tickets for a visit during February half term but I do miss her and of course I miss lovely little Jake.

I woke up this morning thinking about my grandchildren and my plans for the week. Alex, Finn, Daisy and Zachy are coming for tea tomorrow and Noah will be spending his usual Wednesday morning with me. It made me miss Jake more than usual - so I had a quick look at some recent photos that Kate had sent me.

Just before Christmas I visited Kate and we went out for brunch, Jake had such fun colouring...........

    I had fun decorating gingerbread Christmas trees with Jake .........................

    Jake preferred to eat the gingerbread - it was very yummy..................

    Jake loves Peppa Pig and he went to see a theatre production  - he had great fun, look at that happy face.

      This was taken on Sunday - Jake loves taking his baby for a walk......................

      Do you like Jake's hat  - it's hot off my knitting needles.

Technology is a wonderful thing, Kate uses her iphone all the time and is always sending me snaps and sometimes little videos. Looking at photos keeps them both close to my heart - only about 30 more sleeps (as the children would say) before I can have a big hug.

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last few posts, I am always so grateful for your kind words.

talk soon x 

yarn along - a new granny square blanket.............

I started the month wanting to freshen up my home, my head full of ideas of things to do. First stop was the kitchen, I have been busy sorting out cupboards and like Gillian I seem to stock pile essential items such as cupcake cases – I can’t tell you how many I have! Why do I collect so much stuff - I have been quite ruthless and managed to get rid of lots of things that weren't being used anymore and I’ve recycled as much of it as possible. It feels so lovely to have some extra cupboard and drawer space. I will have to try very hard not to fill it all up again.

Mr R has been helping me put some of my bigger ideas into action and has repainted our open plan kitchen/living room. I had always liked my living room; the walls were a mixture of pale green and pink. The furniture a mix of green and cream with three small armchairs, two of them were covered in pink and pastel striped fabric, which had unfortunately seen better days. I had started to feel as if I was sitting in a shabby Neapolitan ice cream parlour - minus the chocolate!

We have repainted the pink walls green and already it looks much brighter and fresher. The pink chair covers have been replaced with a touch of light grey check and dark grey – thank you IKEA.

The only problem is my lovely pink and pastel coloured granny square blankets don’t seem to fit in with the decor any more. Parting with my precious blankets isn’t an option so after much thought I have decided to add to my collection and crochet a new blanket in shades of grey (not fifty!) and hopefully it will blend in with the pink ones, we will have to see.

It does feel very nice to have my crochet hook busy again as I’ve been doing quite a lot of knitting and had forgotten just how lovely it is just to sit and crochet. Unfortunately I'm a little late with this weeks yarn along post but I'm joining Ginny as usual and I'm also joining in with Marianne and Chrissie's lovely crochet along.

I'm afraid I can't give yarn along followers an update on the novel I started last week as I haven't had much time to read, although whilst I have been crocheting I have been flicking through one of my favourite Debbie Bliss knitting books,"The knitters Year Book" That's the beauty of simple crochet, it's so relaxing and  feels almost therapeutic with the added bonus of being able to flick through books at the same time. I had forgotten all about this lovely book on my shelf but was pleasantly reminded about it when I was catching up with Gilly’s post earlier in the month. It really is well worth having a look at over here

Before I go I have remembered to add a finished photo of the bonnet I started last week. It's all  packaged and ready to go.

Don't forget to catch up with the yarn and crochet alongers..................

talk soon x

yarn along - new baby bonnet......................

For this week’s yarn along post I am sharing my first knitting project of the year. New Year and a new baby, my friend Barbara has commissioned me to knit a little baby bonnet. Barbara is my very best customer she has a very fertile extended family and her cousins kept me very busy during 2013. I love knitting baby hats and I have chosen my favourite Erika Knight pattern, I must have knitted this vintage baby bonnet a dozen times. I never tire of its simplicity, once you have mastered the lacy edge it’s all plain sailing with simple garter stitch. I usually knit it in 4ply cotton; it’s very fine, comfortable to wear and looks so lovely.

I only need to sew the bonnet together and then add a little knitted flower before it's ready to package up for the new little one.

I haven’t done very much reading recently but have just started a novel by Sophie Hannah; I have had it on the shelf for some time and it has been patiently waiting for me to read. I bought it for my mum last year but unfortunately she couldn’t really get to grips with it. The novel is “the carrier” and is described as a chilling novel by the queen of psychological suspense; I will let you know next week how I get on.

I hope if you have time you will pop over to Ginny's blog and catch up with all the other yarn alongers.

Talk soon

cake pops..........................

As you already know I do a lot of baking but apart from my mixer and food processer I don’t really go in for gadgets. But I have just succumbed to a cake pop maker, mainly because it was on sale and it did seem almost churlish not to buy it. The cake pop maker was ordered and I was waiting patiently for it to arrive, I hadn’t told Laura about my purchase as I thought it would be a nice surprise and that we could spend a morning experimenting with it when it arrived.

One day last week I popped into Laura’s for a coffee on my way home from shopping and whilst we chatted in the kitchen I noticed something bright pink and shiny on the work surface – a cake pop maker! She had forgotten to tell me she had got one; it was a surprise Christmas present. Anyway now we will both have cake pop makers to play with.

On Thursday my gadget arrived and Laura came over for the morning and brought hers too. Once you get the hang of them and how much filling to use they are quite amazing. It takes about 3 minutes to cook 12 pops, and they come out of the tray so easily. You have to work really quickly when you put the cake mixture in as the machine is hot and the batter starts to cook straight away, so the first ones are cooking before you have finished filling the rest – if that makes sense. A good tip is to use an icing bag as it makes it much easier to add the filling quickly and evenly.

I don’t think we overcooked many and they tasted yummy when coated in chocolate. The decorating  part is a bit messy and we are still refining our system, I am slightly jealous of Laura’s machine as hers came with a nice stand to hold 12 pops - mine didn’t so I will have to improvise.

 

They do look yummy don't they....................

I have made cake pops before but that involved making sponge cake and then blitzing in the food processor, adding butter cream to it and moulding the mix into balls. The mixture then had to be chilled before coating in chocolate, very tasty but much more work and ten times sweeter because of the butter cream.

I am now thinking of all the occasions when I can make cake pops, birthday parties, Easter, Christmas the possibilities are endless. I can’t wait to have a cake pop making and decorating session with the little ones.

talk soon xxx