Crochet Camp

I am taking part in Crochet Camp! Not quiet the same as getting away into nature but about the same amount of fun. 

http://slugsontherefrigerator.com/

There is loads of info suitable for beginners and also tips for those of us that have been doing it for a little while. Also some mega cute patterns including a fab potholder I made last week. It is completely imperfect but I take great pleasure that I made it!

Baby Blanket Number 2

So this is the blanket I made for a very special Canadian/Libyan/Welsh/Mancunian baby who was born this summer. It is the 2nd ripple blanket I have made and it was much better than my first one. Sorry Baby number 1!

This is it while making. I absolutely loved the process of making this blanket. It took about 30 mins a row and I made it bigger than the 1st too after seeing how quickly babies really grow. I can't give specifics I am afraid as this actually got goven away in the middle of the summer when the baby was born. Sorry!

It is made with Special DK again and has very similar colours that Lucy at Attic24 and Heather at Little Tin Bird use. I am massively inspired by these 2 women who use colour beautifully and create lovely, snuggly things. Looking at it now it could really have done with some kind of border. I learn every time I make something. 

Frivolous fun

So I saw this trim about 6 months ago on Lucy's brilliant Attic 24 blog. I genuinely thought "I'll never be able to make that. It looks so complicated and there are so many different stitches". 


After finishing a baby blanket (yet another ripple, more on that in the next post) I wanted something quick and easy that I could finish in an evening after a stressful day at work.  I remembered the lovely little trim for going round a jar. So I started and it was great! It was hard enough to be able to concentrate all the way through but not too hard to make me feel like I couldn't do it.
So ta da....

I am completely in love with it. I have had it burning with a little, green, fresh smelling tea light. I can see this being Christmas presents for people this year. Just need to start collecting more salsa jars. 

Rocket Garden

So I got a Rocket Garden for Christmas from The Boy's mum. Basically it is a box full of baby plants all ready to go into your garden/pots/planters. It arrived on Thursday and today has been the first chance I have had to get them in. Coincidentally it has also been the first nice day we have had in ages here in rainy Manchester. There were so many plants I have had to put some int random plastic pots from the shed. I have:

• Mizuna, 3 types of lettuce, rocket, spinach and chard in planters.
• Strawberries in hanging baskets.
• Peas, runner beans, french beans and courgettes in the raised bed at the end of my garden.

It doesn't look much typed like that but it has taken me about 3 hours to do it all. I am going to take loads of photos tomorrow when my camera is charged. My back is killing me but I have definitely earned the beer I am now having. 

The gym has been going brilliantly. I have been 3 times and it has gone really well. It has been hard but I come out feeling strong and like I have worked. Plan is to go for a swim tomorrow as I don't think my back is going to let me go to the gym!

Baby blanket number 2 is going great. A ripple bunch of rainbow goodness. 

New year fun and games

So it is now a new year, well for me at least. I turned 29 on the 2nd of May and was spoilt rotten. I got an amazing new food processor and a 4 day trip to London full of musicals, family, amazing hotel views, friends and HARRY POTTER! We went to the new studio tour which was amazing and a complete surprise. I may have been a little emotional at various times. I am such a cry baby when I am happy!


The yarn arrived for the first of the baby blankets which is looking beautiful. The ripples are going well and the edges are almost even! A little wonk is part of the homemade charm I think.


Day off tomorrow with a gym induction. We shall see how my very unfit body copes!

Keep on going

This time of year has so much going on.


Busy at work and only getting busier. Babies on the way and all that goes with that. The Boy's birthday done and mine coming soon.


I have ordered some serious yarn to make a baby blanket inspired (well will be directly copied from to be honest) by this amazing blanket. I am still going with a Granny Squares blanket for our living room but it is taking forever. I have worked out I would like to end up with a blanket of about 100 squares. That is a lot of end to sew in. 

Baby Blanket Completed

I have finished the baby blanket for the baby girl of 2 dear friends of mine. We went to their wedding in Belfast on New Year's Eve 2010. It was an amazing time and The Boy has known them for about 10 years, he was an usher. So I wanted to make them something special and my new love of crochet came out to play.

So this is it! In their homeland's colours. I got so sick of these about halfway through but looking at it

now I love it and am a little bit proud of myself. It is a ripple pattern from Attic24, which is where I got the original inspiration from. And then I have just edged it with 3 rows of treble crochet in the green and white (preferable in my mind to the orange).

The vital statistics:

Size: 72cm x 48cm

Weight: no idea, completely forgot to weigh it before I packed it up.

Time: It took me about 2 months but could have been done a lot quicker if I cracked to it! I wanted to get it done for when she was born. Now going to be a 2 month old present.

Wool: 5 balls (ish) of Patons' Fairytale Dreamtime DK Pure Wool. £3.49/ball of 50g.

Cost: £17.45

Now I am moving on to Valentine's day cross stitch.

Granny Squares on the bus

You know you've hit the ultimate level of cool when you are crocheting Granny Squares on the bus listening to Harry Potter podcasts.

Especially when the podcasts are over a month old, all about the launch of Pottermore. X