London Town x x

Hi my loves,
I feel a bit of a fraud this week, I havn't done any crochet. Well I have a bit ,but not my usual pile of stuff!!
I've been busy busy doing paper work for my college job, and joy of joys I got it all done today so my hook will be on fire tonight. I can't wait ;)

On Saturday we had a very special day. We went to London one of my most favoirite places in the world. We went for Daisy as she wanted to go to Hamley's with her birthday money and we also went to meet up with some great friends of ours, Allz and Annie......

Here we are sitting waiting for our coffee in Covent Garden, it took an age honestly!!
Allz and Annie live near Eastbourne, we decided to meet up half way in London as we've all been too busy to get together properly this year.

It was absolutely great meeting up, we havn't seen each other for ages. However, some of the tubes weren't running (I ask you on a Saturday!!). So it ruined our adventure abit :(

We managed to get from St Pancras to Covent Garden squashed and squeezed in the under ground carriage. The rest of the day was spent walking, And do you know what, my children didn't moan once :)
Talking of St Pancras it's fab since it's been done up I havn't been for a while (there's a Cath shop there, hoorah!) and a wonderful statue of the poet John Betjamin the guy who rescued the place.....

There's also some of his poems dotted around, I thought this was lovely......

Back to Convent Garden - Whilst everyone else was watching the street performers I couldn't help but notice the Christmas decorations.....

I think they could do with being a bit bigger don't you!!
From Covent Garden we walked through Leicester Square and China Town...
                                    

Gavin ignored my advances of a Christmas kiss under the mistletoe on Carnaby Street.....

The row of Christmas trees were cute too....

After lunch we had a walk through soho, Leicester Square and Trafalger Square to the Embankment to see the London Eye and Daisy and Charlie wanted to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.....

Here they are from the Queens Jubilee bridge. It's just starting to get dark, the lights look fabulous.
Do you know I didn't realise just how big the London Eye was, our Nottingham Eye is nothing in comparison...

I'm standing right under it here.
And the same for Big Ben here...

It was a truley great day seeing great friends, we had to cut it short though to get back to St Pancras, tube hopping on those that were in operation!!

It was nice to settle down on the train with a cup of coffee, I could have nodded off after walking for 9hrs!!

Have you spotted Daisys Cath bag? From the Cath shop in St Pancras I asked where a bigger Cath shop was, we found it tucked away in Covent Garden. Daisy bought a bag and matching purse and a phone case.

Sunday was spent catching up on chores, helping with home-work and a well earned crochet in front of the fire......

You'll be pleased to know the Mary Janes are now complete. Five pairs were hand delivered to Anitas yesterday.

Oh hang on...I can hear something!! Must go, the hooks are calling ;) (tee,hee x)

Night night for now and happy crocheting x x x



So Much To Do, So Little Time x x

Hello my loves,
It's going to be a very quick blog tonight I'm afraid. In fact it's a miracle I've made it this far.
So much to do, so little time!

It's the gorgeous Miss Daisy's Birthday tomorrow, she's going to be ten. I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. I was only in labour for 58 hours!! She was worth the wait (and pain!!).
So I have to blitz the house as the family are coming over tomorrow for a Birthday tea.

Back to last weeks blog I mentioned the leaves all over the garden....

Well this is all that's left, the wind has picked them up and drop them into someone elses garden and my borders....

It doesn't look too bad does it, except the lawn needs mowing...

And there are a few leaves on the patio. I could do with one of those garden hoovers.

We're lucky to have a tiny bit of colour left...

The petals are dropping slowly.

On to the crochet stuff. To be honest with you I've not managed a great deal. I've crocheted ten pairs of Mary Janes, five for Anita's lovely shop and five for a gift and craft fair I'm holding at school on the 17th December.

You can see them stacked in my basket, I just have to add the buttons and flowers to a few then they're done.
I also finished Sly...

I love him. I'm going to make another when I have a mo, in more boyish colours.

This weeks project has been an owl. You know how I get sometimes panicking that I don't have a project when really there are a million in my head!! Well I decided to trawl through back issues of inside crochet, my most favourite crochet magazine. And, I found this...

And well, I didn't realise how big it was going to turn out. And perhaps the reason I've not been as productive because I've been going round and round with amigurumi. Here's my half finished attempt...

She's a girl, I think she'll look a bit better with wings and feet!! And a name of course.

My last piece of news. My new crochet hooks have arrived, Hoorah. I ordered them mid October and they came through the letter box today.
I was advised by a crochet expert to get the aluminium hooks as they had more of a point at the end to get through tight pieces of crochet, here they are.....

The colours are fab. The best part was the price £2.50 and free postage and packaging from China. What a complete bargain. I'm going to try them out at crochet club tomorrow night. This week it's Christmas decorations. It doesn't seem like two minutes since last years Christmas decoration class!!

As I'm typing I can see the hoover out of the corner of my eye so know it's time to go.

Night night for now and happy crocheting my loves x x x x

P.S spell check isn't working, forgive the mistakes!!!!!

Cute 'n' Cuddlies x x

Hello my loves.

What a week. I absolutely adore this blustery Autumn  weather, really I do. Well ok, apart from the leaves all over the garden.

Sunday was spent cutting back shrubs and all of the dead flowers. Digging over the veggie patch and pulling up weeds It was lovely spending the day in the garden. It was sunny but chilly, just how I like it at this time of year.
I nearly mowed the lawn but it was beginning to get muddy just walking on it, so I didn't bother.
A bit of devastating news, I think we've lost the Wisteria. Is it suppose to die off completely? I'm not so sure. All of the leaves have gone crispy, oh dear. Any advice will be great x

I'm a little tired this evening, I'm in to my second week of working full time and it's taking it's toll abit, oh I am getting old!!

I've still managed to do a bit of creating tho', would you like to see?

This week has been the week of cuddly toys, not usually my thing I know!!  First I made Robbie....

My children love him. I do worry when there are so many things to sew together. I'm not great at getting things level, but haven't done too bad with this one.

Then came Goldie...

A cute little Goldfish.....

Then mousy......

I think she needs a little pink nose, don't you think?

And then came Sly....

Still a way to go, I know. I just love the shape of his head...

I might just finish him this evening ;)

The pattern for Sly came from a fabulous book I've just bought....

Called Huggable Crochet by Christine Lucas.

The pics are fab and make me want to grab my hook and make every single one of them. I'll give you a sneak peek.....

The sheep has to be one of my favourites....

I think that was more than a sneak peek, don't you??

I'm going to get off for now, my hooks calling me!!! I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms after missing knit 'n' natter today. I'm sure it will have been a little quieter without me? Don't worry knit 'n' natter pals half term will soon come around!! ;) x x

Night night for now and happy crocheting x x x

The Squares Go On x x

Good evening my loves.

What another busy week it has been. I have lots of pics to show you this week.
You might be surprised to hear that I have persevered with the blanket...

Hoorah!!  they're quite quick once I put my mind to it.

I eventually made 200 squares. Only 200 to make hoorah, This blanket is going to look fab on my bed.

And they look scrummy in neat little piles, just a few ends to sew in. Hmm, my favourite job!!
The unfortunate thing is I've ran out of cream Aran, booo. And Anita doesn't have any in at the mo so this project is having to go on hold.

While I wait for the Aran I have decided to get on with more bootees and hat sets for a Christmas Craft Fair I'm organising at school. Would you like to see?...

These have to be my favourite to date. I've used Bamboo cotton for these and I made a cute little hat to match....or three!!

I love the ruffled flower on this one.......

And the simpleness of this....

And then I tried it in a larger size, gorgeous.

I also made a cute new born hat....

This might be the start of a hat fetish!!!!

Then I made a lilac one in good old creative cotton, just a flower to add to finish it off...

This is another favourite of mine, again in creative cotton. This green is my favourite colour and looks delightful with the Daisy.
And then would you believe it, I made  cute little Mary Janes to match...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.

Just the ends to sew in.

Daisy then decided she wanted a new hat and here it is.....

I am now officially addicted to making Mary Janes and hats.

I love trying out different yarns so I'm now making a pair of  Mary Janes using a crepe yarn called Smoothie.

Isn't it pretty?

Here's a close up, the colours are fab...

Ummm, Ummm...

I feel exhausted, so off to finish the Smoothie Mary Janes before an early night. I might  just squeeze a hat in as well!!

Night night my loves and happy crocheting x x x

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