All the way to New Zealand

Do you remember this little fella?

 

 

I love him very much, he has sat on my windowsill, looking out, guarding the house.

Doing a very good job.

But, he has to go. He has to go a VERY LONG WAY. All the way to New Zealand in fact.

 

I knitted him as a gift, a 1st Birthday gift.

I packed him safely up in a box today, with this too.

 

Very cute!

 

And this.

 

 

Happy Birthday Cody!

 

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Vintage Stripe baby blanket

I have, at last, finished my vintage stripe blanket. It feels like it has taken AGES but I know (because Ravelry told me) that it actually took less than 3 weeks. This was a special request for my friend, to be given as a gift to her sister, who is expecting a baby boy very soon.

 

It was not a bad blanket to make, the vintage stripe is very easy and was good for in the evenings when I was tired (no brain work required). But... all those ends!! And what to do with them?! I know Heather talked about the ends on her vintage stripe a while ago, but was still unsure what to do! In the end (and after lots of fiddling about on a tester square!) I worked 2 rows of half trebles and then wove all the ends into that. I chose the darkest colour for the edge to try to hide them all! It's a bit bulky because there are SO MANY ends in there, but it looks ok!

 

So here it is, my blue-grey vintage stripe baby blanket.

 

 I hope she likes it!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

P.S. I have been asked for an update on my mixed stitch stripey blanket. I PROMISE I will post pictures very soon. This blanket took priority for a while, but now it is finished so I can get back to my stripes!









 

Guarding Henry's Shed.

A Birthday Present

Good Morning!

It's another hot and sunny day here, so obviously I'm hiding indoors in the shade! Thought I would share a few pictures of the present I made for my Mum's birthday...

 

At this point I was going to thread ribbon through the sides and tie it to keep the lining in place. But then I had another idea...

I used Fiona's fantastic medallion flower tutorial to make this!

But it was a bit too big, and the button looked lost. So I changed to htr - Fiona had made some of her medallions in tr and some in htr.

Much better!

Henry sunning himself in the background of this picture :-)

Finished!

Ta-dah!

I love it. So much so that I may just line my own basket very soon!

 

Have a lovely sunny day!

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zip-tastic!

I have made a fantastic little zippy-bag.

It's supposed to be a make-up bag, but I don't wear make-up, far better things to spend my time and money on.

Like wool :-)

 

I followed this excellent tutorial from the lovely Flossie Teacakes. Step-by-step photos and really clear instructions.

 

This beautiful fabric was a gift from the lovely Julie at button-button, perfectly pretty for a little zippy bag.

 

 

I was SO pleased with how well the zip went in. It's been a few years since I put in a zip and I have never done it this well before!! Very neat!!

 

My sewing machine did NOT like sewing over this big bunch of fabric and zip!!

A quick iron to tidy up the wrinkles...

Yay!

Beautifully lined!!

I know the zip is not quite right. I think it was a bit too long. I have plans for another little bag using a slightly shorter zip that I have.

 

But, perfect or not, I love my little zippy bag. It currently has a pair of scissors, a tape measure and a pencil in it and is living in my knitting basket.

I think it is super.

Zip-tastic!

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mummy Time

Today has been Mummy day. Miss M went back to school (Y8!!) and I still have a few more days holiday. So there has been some Mummy time. Double Mummy time in fact, because I spent the day with my mummy!

 

My mum lives about 30 minutes drive from me, in a lovely village. As the weather was warm and sunny we have spent some of today in her beautiful garden.

 

 

So many big fat bumble bees in the garden today, they were even having to share flowers!

 

 We had some gorgeous views to look at while we were in the garden.

There were a fair few of these...

...and lots of this.

We had some company from one of Mum's cats.

Beautiful Maddie.

Mum made home made pizza for lunch!

Oooooh, sooo yummy!!

Then I hung our crochet on the fence because I am silly. I think it looks quite nice though don't you?

Mine is the vintage stripe on the right, a present for a not-yet-born baby. Mum's is the ripple on the left, getting ready to keep her snuggly warm on the sofa in the winter!

Pretty amazing considering she only learnt to crochet about a month ago!

A very lovely day.

If only I didn't have to go back to work...

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

1 small victory for Mummy!

This may not be the most interesting photo to share with you. But it represents a bit of a miracle in our house.

 

This is washing-up done by Miss M.

A rather ugly battle took place before this washing-up happened.

 

A battle that I won.

 

Yay for Mummy!!!

 

xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

P.S. all hints and tips on how to deal with stroppy 12 year-olds gratefully received :-)