Woe is me ! x x

Good evening my loves,

Oh deary me, I do feel sorry for myself. I've not been well you see. Problems with my ears which have left me feeling very dizzy and off balance. So I've spent a lot of time sitting here.....

Oooh, how lovely. It's the nicest, cosiest, comforting thing sitting in front of my open fire. And here I've sat trying to crochet. Yes I did say trying !!!!
Because of my ears I've not been able to crochet very quickly - I know it sounds daft. My hand eye co-ordination has gone bonkers and crocheting quickly is making me feel dizzy too!!!!  How I wish my ears were back to normal.

Anyways, I've been concentrating on an easy project I started back in March. A friend of mine gave me a bit of birthday money and of course I spent it on yarn. Three scrummy 800g balls of Aran....

And this was the start of a lovely blanket for my bed. The idea came from Nicki Trench's Cute and Easy Crochet. I crocheted away and ended up with 49 squares back in March........

And then while sitting in front of the fire Saturday they increased to 81 squares...

And then Sunday/Monday the blanket increased to 100 squares....

Hoorah, I'm getting there.
I decided to measure my bed, who's stupid idea was it to buy a king size!! It's actually a deliciously comfy bed, just not a good size to make a blanket for.
It measures about 60 inches wide so works out at 20 squares a row....

Hmmm, I thought I was doing well, only another 300 squares to make then!!
I will persevere I promise ;)

Gav has been off work the last couple of days with it being half term. Today we decided to drive over to East Midlands Designer Outlet. I really needed fresh air and a stretch of the old legs after feeling so poorly.
And am I glad we went, I popped into The Works book shop and picked up the most gorgeous crochet book I've ever seen. What makes it more special is it was the last one on the shelf just sitting there waiting for me......

It's called Loop-d-Loop Crochet By Teva Durham.
It is full of trendy, funky designs for adults and children. I'll give you a sneak peak.....

The pic on the left is going to be my new project, once I've finished the squares of course!!
I also love the pic on the right, it's called a catherine wheel cape.
I also love this staggered web lacy top....

It looks so delicate and pretty.
And then of course there's the kid stuff, this is my favourite a bright bolero....

And Daisy likes it too.

 Most of the patterns use a chunky yarn which grows quickly, always an added bonus.

I'll share some more with you next time, I was struggling which pages to share this time it's so gorgeous.

Before I go I must share a very important piece of news with you that makes me feel incredibly proud. My gorgeous daughter and partner Gav went off to Bristol a week and a bit ago to attend their black belt grading in Tae kwondo and they passed. They received their black belts during their Sunday class this week, so when they walked back through the door Sunday it bought tears to my eyes.

Would you like to see a pic of my two Ninjas......

Oooh I could squeeze them x x x
All the dedication and hard work they've put in over the last 4 years finally paid off x x

Well off now to sew in ends, how I hate this job!!!
And to crochet more squares.

Night night for now and happy crocheting x x x

Socks Glorious Socks x

Good evening my loves, hope your all well. Another week has passed, where is the time going?

Another extremely busy week here at Baggaley Cottage. I am so full of sock love I can't get them done quick enough!

Before I move on to the socks I'd just like to share with you my final pair of bootees....

I just love the Union Jack buttons, Don't you?

Now on to the socks, yipee for Margaret and her fantastic sock pattern.

The yarn I chose for my socks was.....

This gloriously scrumptious Happy by Wendy which is a sock yarn.. I threw away the ball band by mistake!!!! So I can't tell you the yardage, but it does go an extremely long way. In fact I've made socks out of it for me and I've just about finished some for Daisy.

Well here we go, prepare to be amazed (tee, hee)....



This my loves, is the toe. It's made up of  half trebles, trebles and the lovely shell pattern in trebles. For my size foot I used a 3.5 hook and then for the ankle a size 4.

And this is the heel, made up with trebles. And taa, daa the finished item......

I feel really proud of myself, would you like to see them on?......

Ok, Ok, the colours don't quite match up and one is slightly bigger than the other but for a first attempt, not bad eh. Lets see another pic....

Ahh, very comfortable and cosy on these windy nights.

And before we move on, a close up of the shell pattern....

I havn't taken a pic of Daisy's socks yet, I'll show you next time.

Any excuse to pop into the yarn shop!! I really NEEDED more sock yarn and this is what I chose...

Zig Zag by King Cole. It's a 4ply and says on the ball band suitable for socks, so I'm willing to give it a bash. A friend used it for her socks in crochet class and it  looked fab.

More on socks next week.

Whilst buying the sock yarn I also bought some lovely yarn for snowflakes. I'm selling my wares at an in house craft party on Thursday and thought snowflake bunting would go down a treat. I chose.....

A mother of pearl yarn (sorry can't find this ball band either!). It has a gorgeous sparkle to it ideal for snowflakes...



And some bright white King Cole chunky yarn to make bigger snowflakes...

I'm having trouble  loading pics tonight (perhaps it's because I'm adding so many!!). Here are the larger snowflakes....

I love them. I use both mother and pearl and chunky for these and a size 6 hook. They also look fab using 2 strands of chunky and 1 of mother of pearl and a size 15 hook!! honest, give it a go. I made them last year and they were very popular. I've also added some to Christmas tree bunting....

I hung mine above my fire place last year. Here's the Christmas trees on there own...

Well Christmas is only around the corner!!!

That's my news for this week, who knows what next week will bring. ooh, I've just remembered, half term yippeeeee :)

Well I'd better go and get Daisy's socks finished a few rows to go.

Night, night for now and happy crocheting x x

These boots are made for walking x

Good evening my lovelies.

To be perfectly honest with you I haven't been up to an awful lot this week, Very unlike me! By that I mean I haven't been up to a variety of projects. But I've been extremely busy with the wonderful bootees and Mary Janes......

Eight pairs to be exact. The Mary Janes are a breeze, the bootees take a bit longer. I seem to have made a lot for girls, but not many for boys.

So that's what I'm working on at the mo'. Three more pairs in boyish colours then I'm done...for now.
My favourite so far have to be the Daisy Mary Janes......

I love the green, they may not sell well at this time of the year tho'. They're more for Spring time don't you think?
Here at Baggaley Cottage my bootees have been scrutinised by the family and in their poll for their favourite the green and cream Mary Janes came out on top...

They are cute and different as are the pale blue and cream, I love the buttons they really finish them off nicely...

In my last blog I mentioned that I'd stocked up on the gorgeous creative cotton and promised a pic of the scrummy colourful loveliness.....

Oh how lovely, there looks an awful lot there!!!!!
And here it is squashed and squeezed in my box....

And then it's tucked into my Stig corner out of the way x

oooh, exciting news. Thursday is crochet club, this week we are learning how to crochet socks. I can't wait it's something I've wanted to try for a while now. I'll let you know how it goes next week, if it does go well that's a few Christmas prezzies sorted!!!! Sorry guys x x

Off I go for a nice cuppa coffee before I start another pair of bootees.

Night night for now and happy crocheting x x

Helloooo x x

Hello my lovelies,

I've just sat down to write my blog, the rain is thrashing against the window and there's a chill in the air. It feels so Wintry tonight.

This week I'm only two days late with my blog, I hope I'm forgiven?

Firstly I wanted to show you two more completed cowls.......

They are both crocheted with Riot chunky, I love the grey and have put one by for myself x

Secondly the Granny squares  are coming on nicely. It's not so fun sewing in the ends mind you........

For these I'm using all my odds and ends of creative cotton. Oh, that reminds me I stocked up on more cotton but forgot to take a pic, it all looks so scrummy ;)  I'll take a pic in a mo and show you next time x


The scarf I'm making with the Japanese pattern is growing slowly but surely.....

It really is slow going!!

Oh dear, writing this blog has made me realise just how many projects I have on the go. I've just glanced over to my little corner of stash!!!?!! Deary me, the Stig pile is on the rise. I'd better have a tidy before it's spotted by the boss, tee hee!

And lastly, Ive been making gorgeous bootees......

I just never tire of making these, the buttons finish them off nicely.....

I've added a different coloured sole to a few pairs as a trial, and I really like  them.....

I also tried it with the Mary Jane's. A few more pairs and I'll be taking them to their destination :)

Well, It's been lovely chatting to you. Hopefully I'll be back to routine next week and I'll be back to blogging on Tuesdays, who knows!!!!

Night night for now and happy crocheting x x

Hello my loves x

Hello my loves, I know, I know I'm late!!

Do you know I worked an extra day this week, it well and truly threw me out of routine. And, to top it off I start working full time next week, who  knows where I'll be then!

I must crack on, so much to share ;)
If you remember last blog (almost two weeks ago), I was in abit of a tis without a project. I will never complain again, a few days after my moan I had orders coming out of my ears for cowls, scarves and bootees. Orders are now nearly complete and of course in between I managed to sneak in a few other projects, firstly........

A friend of mine decided to give this a go, so I thought I would too. No I haven't suddenly learnt how to read Japanese, the diagrams are so easy to follow. Here's a sneak preview.....

It's slow going but I like it, I decided to use 4 ply....

I'm lovin' the colour, more of the scarf soon x

Not last week, but the week before it was crochet club, I just love it. A lovely lady called Margaret teaches us all sorts of techniques and stitches. This time we learnt filet crochet. Here's a sample...

You will have seen filet crochet before. It's great for creating crochet pictures or patterns, you very often see baby blankets in filet.

And then joy of joys Margaret invited a few people to her home last Sunday to learn double filet crochet, with her and her friend Mary who is a double filet expert. It was a lovely day spent with lovely people crocheting all day, yes all day. Here's my double filet.....

This is the front......

And this is the back.
It's very tricky as you use two different coloured yarns and crochet the back and front at the same time. Great for double sided blankets.
I'm glad I learnt how to do it, but not sure I'd try it again in a hurry. It takes time and lots of yarn and masses of concentration.

I've also been very busy with a new stitch I've fallen in love with, it's popcorn stitch. I love it, love it love it and have created two new things, a stool cover...

Let's have a closer look......

How absolutely gorgeous is that. It does use a ridiculous amount of yarn though, but it's worth it.
I also made a popcorn stitch cushion......

I'm lovin' this too, the oatmeal and raspberry colours work really well together.
I made them for a craft fair I did yesterday (Saturday), I didn't sell them, but sold lots of other stuff. This was my stall....

I love craft fairs. I love meeting new people, sharing ideas and getting feedback from the stuff I've made, good and bad!

Well I think that's all my news, sorry it took me so long to blog!!!

I'm not sure you've noticed but I've added a comments box at the bottom of my blog I'd love to hear from you.

 I also need a bit of advice if anyone can help, how do I add the Folksy link to my blog? I am just not technical, please help...

I'm off to crochet more bootees.

Night night for now and happy crocheting x x x