Baggaley Cottage Crochet x x

Hi Guys, I hope you've all had a good week so far, I have x

Saturday started out quite nice. I managed to plant 70 Tulip bulbs in between the sunshine and heavy down pours.

And while I was at it I weeded and tidied, picked up fallen apples and harvested pears.
There should be enough bulbs now, I look forward to seeing them bursting with colour in the Spring.

Well, I've managed to complete a couple of projects this week, firstly the lovely Elise shawl...

I am loving that pattern, still not sure about the colour. Would you like to see it on?....... Taaa, daaa

Not bad hey?
I also managed to finish the  cotton blooming flower cushion.....

I much prefer this one to the last, the colours look fab together and as the cotton is an Aran weight yarn the petals are much fuller.

And then I began to search the web for a new project, I searched Ravelry, Lion Brand, Blogs, Blogs of Blogs, Blogs of blogs of blogs!!!!!!!!!
Then the panic set in, how will I manage without a project! I just CAN NOT cope with out a hook in hand. And so for the time being I decided  to use up bits 'n' bobs of cotton to make colourful granny squares.....

I like them, I've not decided what to do with them yet. They might be a blanket, they might be a cushion, who knows!!

I went to bed trying to think of  a project, what could I do? Then it hit me, well it is blanket weather isn't it?
So on the way to K 'n' N , I popped in to see Anita and bought.....

Some lovely cheap 'n' cheerful yarn, £10 for 10 balls, lets see another pic.....

You know me, just couldn't wait to get started.....

And so another ripple blanket has been started, I aim to finish this within a fortnight. It will not end up on the Stig pile x

Before I go, I must tell you something really exciting. On Sunday night I finally set up my Folksy shop. I've been meaning to do it for a while. If you don't already know about Folksy it's a web site set up in the U.K purely for the selling, buying and making of crafts. It's great for quirky one off gifts and original items.Well, I put 22 of my items in my little shop, keep your fingers crossed for me. It's a little nerve racking if I'm honest I hope people like my stuff :) 
If you'd like a peak, log on to Folksy and to find me, type in the search bar in one word..
baggaleycottagecrochet       Happy browsing x

Night night for now and happy crocheting x x x

Busy Bee x x

Hello my loves and good evening.
What an absolutely wonderful day I've had today. I finally made it to Knit 'n' Natter after missing two weeks due to the school hols and grandparents away on holidays.. The group has now moved to the pub next door to the marvelous yarn shop, due to the ever increasing members!!! It was an absolute squash and a squeeze in the yarn shop, so it was for the best. We all still nip in to see Anita before K 'n' N to get our supplies. It was a good day to go back as the ladies decided to stay for a pub lunch, it was yummy. And lovely to catch up with all my pals.

Over the past few days I've been looking for a new project and decided upon a shawl. I found the pattern on Ravelry after much searching for something easy-ish. I nipped in to Anita's for some 4 ply, and decided upon this ......

I'm not sure I made the right decision on colour, only time will tell. The pattern was a bit tricky at first, but soon got the hang of it. It's called the Elise Shawl for those of you who want to give it a bash.x

I have also been busy making cup-cake keyrings...

They are rather cute, don't you think. The idea came from my pal Sally at evening K 'n' N. She been telling us about the cup-cake keyrings she had been making. And that was it, the seed had been sewn and I just had to have a go. This pattern also came from Ravelry.

My mother-in-law came over to see us at the weekend. She asked if I would make her a couple of scarves for her friends for Christmas. Of course I was happy to do so. (Any excuse to nip to the yarn shop!!). So off we went in search of yarn. We bought two balls of yarn, I couldn't remember how much we needed for the scarves I had in mind. I managed to get one scarf out of one ball of yarn, hoorah. And here it is, I made it in an evening ...

The colour is absolutely beautiful. We will take the spare ball of yarn back and exchange it ready for scarf number two.
Lastly this week I have made a cowl. I absolutely hate a cold neck in the Winter. The idea came from Jacey at Coffee and Crochets blog a while back. Jacey is also a pal at K 'n' N. I've been meaning to try the cowl for a while and admit it was trial and error getting the correct size. I think I had to undo it three times, I like a warm neck but don't like to be strangled!!.......

I used the fab Riot chunky, I love it, love it, love it. I took the finished item to K 'n' N today for show and tell as we all do with finished projects. I now need to make cowl number two as I have an order from my pal Jo.
Here's how the finished item looked .....

Side view... I'm loving the peony flower and so easy to do. A pretty little button just adds the finishing touch don't you think. And now for a front view........

I'm chuffed to bits with it.
Well I'm off to crochet a couple more rows of the shawl before an early night, work tomorrow.

Night night for now and Happy Crocheting x x x

Back to school x

Good evening my loves.                                                                                                                        Well, another week has past us by and what a busy week it has been, I could do with a holiday-tee hee!!!
First of all this evening I'd like to show you the shrug I made on the return from France, I forgot about it last week.

Unfortunately I had to take the pic myself and the only long mirror is in the bathroom. Oh dear, I'll wait for Gav to come home next time!! Anyway I'm pleased with it and have worn it a few times.

Here at Baggaley Cottage we are trying to keep up with the gardening before the cold weather hits. This weekend we trimmed the bushes and planted one hundred daffodil bulbs.

Now, I do hope they'll come up. I'm a bit concerned, the dastardley squirrel has been in the garden every morning climbing up and down each branch of the Hazel Nut trees!! I feel a bit guilty after eating the Hazel nuts we harvested. If he can't find the nuts he might go for the bulbs. Look out squirrel I'm watching and waiting!!

At the beginning of the week I had a call from my friend Anita who owns the local yarn shop, knitworking. She has crocheted an 'open' sign and has it hanging from her door. A lady had shown interest and wanted her mums name crocheted. Anita put her in touch with me. What a coincidence after just finishing Charlie's name. It was when Anita said 'You not going to believe what her name is', the panic set in, I was expecting a really long name, it was....

Would you believe it! The scary thing was the lady had the same surname as me too. The patterns for the letters came from the fabulous 'Inside Crochet' magazine.
As a finishing touch to all of the items I make I add a hand made with love heart as you can see on the 'r'..

In between crocheting the name I have been busy with the Japanese blanket..

Its coming on slowly but surely, I only have five and a half balls of yarn to use before it's completed!!

As you may be aware my most favourite yarn to use is creative cotton, I love it and it comes in the most amazing vibrant colours. However something I am not pleased about is they have discontinued my most favourite colour, watermelon pink. Along with three others, how could they. At least replace it with a candy pink could you? Deary me!

After finishing the name I felt I needed a new project so decided to make another Blooming Flower cushion in the lovely creative cotton.....

I'm loving it, the watermelon is the centre colour.

Another project that's been on the go for a while is the Daisy cushion cover..

It's almost complete, but very annoying as each petal has to be crocheted seperatley and then the ends sewn in. I thought by putting it on my blog it might encourage me to complete it!! Well, you never know!!

Well, It's back to school for my children tomorrow. I'm back on Thursday. So, I'm off to prepare sandwiches and polish shoes before continuing with my flower cushion.

Night night and happy crocheting x x

(Spell check isn't working tonight, forgive my spelling mistakes).