Saturday, March 30, 2013

Chair Love!!!!

Hello! My week has been relaxed (now that I'm on school hols) but both my boys still had school so I found I had a couple of hours each day to myself....a rare treat. I've been getting on with the knitting commission I posted about last week and have added a couple of rows to my blanket but mostly I finished something I've been working on for months. Let me start at the beginning.....

A while ago whilst wandering around a local antique shop, I spotted this


A beautiful wrought-iron rocking chair!
She was a little tired, a little jaded with paint peeling off in places and a few cobwebs here and there but I loved her!
I bought her (despite the fact that we had NO spare money that particular month), and I cleaned her up.
Then I sat back and thought about cushions.
She needed some, no doubt about that, but what kind? Fabric or yarn? Muted tones or a colour blast?
I couldn't decide.
Then suddenly I had a vision and I knew exactly what I was going to do.
And I've done it. And here she is ......

...complete......

....in all her fabulous beauty.......



Is she not gorgeous? Is she not a riot of yummy colour? She sits in our living room at the moment but I know in our next house there will be the most perfect verandah for her to occupy, perfect for her and perfect for me with my coffee and my yarn.......

Happy Easter everyone.
Til soon.
xxx

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Cables, patches and beanies!

Hello! How was your week? Mine was delighfully stress free as we broke up from school on Wednesday for the Easter hols! Three weeks off!!! Yay!!! Have you noticed how happy I am....!

So, aside from winding down for the hols, what else have I been up to? Well, I've currently got two wips (work-in-progress) which are both fairly big projects so they'll be around for a while. Firstly there's this...


It's a cable sweater that a friend of mine has commissioned me to knit for her! Blimey! We had a bit of a tricky time finding the right wool but eventually we got it sorted and I'm using Elle Pure Gold Double Knitting which is knitting up beautifully but tends to 'fluff' a bit which is annoying. I hope that isn't a sign that it's going to bobble very quickly when it's finished! (For those of you who don't knit, 'fluffing' is when bits of yarn fluff off whilst you're knitting and 'bobble' is when you get those little balls of yarn on your garment after a few washes - hope that's clear but you're probably more confused than ever!)

This is the pattern and can be purchased from this link. http://store.vogueknitting.com/p-405-cabled-turtleneck.aspx
What do you think? She liked this particular pattern as it wasn't too baggy. She's quite short and petite and hates loose fitting sweaters as they swamp her! This one seems to be coming up with just the right amount of stretch so I really hope she likes it. Will keep you advised of developments.....

My second wip is something I've wanted to start for a long time. I've always wanted to crochet a blanket for our bed but something that doesn't look too new or too bright. I love bright colours but not in the bedroom where I like everything to be warm, snug and cosy. I decided that this would be year that I made it and seeing as we're going into autumn now, I thought I'd better make a start: Here are the colours.


As soon I pulled these together in my local wool shop, I knew they'd work well. Three shades of blue, three shade of green, three shades of brown, one grey, one cream and one red. I wasn't sure of the red at first but felt it needed a pop and the red is a lovely raspberry red which blends with the others very well.

This is what I've done so far....





It's all rather scrummy and lovely. As you can see, I'd done three rows when I took the pics but I've actually almost finished the fourth row so it's growing really quickly! I'm using Lucy's Patchwork Granny Pattern as well as her join-as-you-go method which makes life so much easier as there's no sewing up - always a win in my opinion!!!! The stats for the blanket are simple: 24 squares wide and 24 rows - 576 squares!!!!!! It does sound rather alot, doesn't it? .When finished, the blanket will be a square which seems strange for a bed but it'll hang to the floor on both sides (mainly to hide the 'space of doom' which exists under our bed!) In England we had a loft for all those items that don't seem to have a home in the house but here we have our 'under the bed' filing system..... Do you have one of those?

I'm also knitting/crochet a few beanies for a charity I support here for homeless children so if you have any patterns that you've tried, please let me know. I get sooooo bored using the same pattern over and over again!

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting regularly with both the above wips so let me know what you think! 
Til soon.
xxx





Saturday, March 16, 2013

I'm back!!!!!

Yes, it's me. It really is. I'm back. I know it's been a while but I am truly back in Blogland once again so I hope you've got time for a sit down and a chat.......
 

This year has been manic so far. Both my boys have moved to schools 40km+ away from our home so between teaching at my preschool, travelling backwards and forwards to collect them and helping my husband with our bookshop there hasn't been much time for anything, least of all blogging. There have been MANY times over the past two months that I've thought 'I must blog about that....' but then it just hasn't happened.


I also got into a rut with my blog. All the articles I've read about blogging talk about a blog having a purpose and I guess I lost sight of what my purpose was. It started out as a record of our days as a family and of my gardening prowess (which sadly hasn't amounted to anything). I also wanted to record my knitting and crochet projects and any other creative moments that come my way. But then I got overwhelmed by other blogs, more beautiful blogs, blogs that seemed to run off posts like raindrops down a pane of glass. I just didn't seem to have that much to say or maybe I thought what I had to say just wasn't very interesting. I just knew I needed a break, so I took one.


I feel more inspired now. I've sat back and thought about what my blog means to me and I realise now that it's not about other people but about myself and my life. If other people find that interesting to read then GREAT but if not, so be it.


So I'm here and I'll be posting regularly - have designated Saturdays to be my blogging day - so please say you'll stay around and walk this funny old road with me.......


I haven't been idle during my break and my needles and hook have been busy as ever. I'll show you next time but for now I'll leave you with my latest 'look' which resulted from a local charity fundraiser for CANSA.....I shaved my hair off!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and it didn't even involve alcohol!)
Til soon.
xxx