January Blues

This week has plodded along nicely, the weather has been unsurprisingly cold and wet!  A few 'to do' jobs have been ticked off & we got new carpets in the bedrooms, staircases and hallway, oh I do love the smell of new carpets!

The triangle blanket is coming along brilliantly, as I suspected, once I had a few rows under my belt, I no longer had to concentrate intently on what I was doing to make sure I got it right, I can literally let my hands get on with the work while I watch tv or have a conversation!

One thing that I discovered, not so much to my surprise is that attempting to squeeze a spot of crocheting in while trying to entertain my wee girl, who this week has managed to catch a cold & is especially in need of extra cuddles & lots of comforting feeds from mummy is almost impossible! But when she takes a nap & I have managed to rush round the house tidying up like a mad woman, I can sit for a short time and enjoy a moment of crocheting.

This week, because of the awful weather, I took some time out to crochet up a few gifts for a friends daughters birthday. I thought I would first of all make a few hair accessories using butterflies and flowers which I could then attach to hair slides or toggles. 

Because they are so small it takes literally minutes to run up these flowers and butterflies and additionally they are an ideal project to use up all my odds and ends of wool I have left over.

The butterflies were especially easy to make, its simply a 4 petal flower with a length of yarn wrapped in the middle to make the body and voila, a butterfly.

I've been trying to sneak in a little crocheting when ever I can and set up camp on the living room floor

But, it's no easy feat when I have a budding assistant eager to get her hands on all my balls of wool. 

Anyway, I eventually managed to make a small handful of flowers and butterflies and glued them to some hair slides. 

I also managed to quickly make up this dollies blanket as well. It's just a granny square that I just continued on going round and round and round till it reached the desired sized. Should be just the right size for a dolly. 

In a bid to try to inject a spot of colour into life, I have brought some tulips and potted a few primulas. This time of year always feels so glum and bare. I'm longing for the evenings to stay lighter for longer and be able to take off a few layers and expose a bit of flesh!!!

Oh well, mustn't wish my life away. 

Be back soon xx

Back in the Land of Yarn!!

Well I say back in the land, more a fleeting visit, a brief excursion, the smallest of stops back into a place I love and enjoy! Of course the reason for my short visit comes in the shape of daughter number 2, who, like her sister before her is apt at fighting this thing I once called sleep!! Now sleep is something I visit even less frequently than I do an afternoon with hook & yarn but, dare I say it, even whisper it, I think we've turned a corner, shhhhhh!!!

At the tender age of only 7 months, daughter number 2 has scaled down her nightly wake ups from a staggering 6+ to a more manageable 1!!!! This, after only these few short months feels like a mini miracle, I literally skip into her bedroom when she wakes for a feed sometime around 4am, telling myself I feel as fresh as a daisy for having the pleasure of sleeping a whole 5 hours uninterrupted and if I can get her fed & back to sleep in half an hour, I might even get another 2, that's 7 hours in total, like a normal person!

Now because I feel slightly more 'with it' and can manage a conversation with my husband past the hour of 8pm that doesn't include the words 'is it bedtime yet', I have started back enjoying a few hours of crocheting - YAY!!!

I've started a project that can be done a little at a time, a blanket made up of triangles! I got the idea from a blog called Get Hooked on Crochet and I intend to make a least one triangle a day. I am using the join as you go method and until I get a few rows under my belt, following how to do this involves a lot of concentration from me!! 

For a change, I'm using a cotton yarn.

 I like trying different types, my favourite to date has been using the Rooster wool I used for making my first baby blanket but a cheaper alternative that I find easy to use and comes in a great range of colours is Stylecraft DK which I used for my eldest daughter blanket.

Rooster Wool

Stylecraft DK

Fortunately, this cotton yarn was very reasonable, in fact, it was given to me by someone who just couldn't get on with it. It is made up of several strands and it has a tendency to split apart easily so very often the hook doesn't pick it all up and your work can develop loops of missed strands if you are not careful. 

Apart from that, I love the colours and fancied making up this blanket to see how it turns out.

I'm only a couple of rows in but still managing to make more than one triangle a night.  The intention is to make the blanket over the course of a year so I will report back regularly on its progress. 

The beauty of knowing that I can take my time with this project is that I can fit in doing other pieces as well. I've so many ideas in my head right now of things I want to get started on that I don't know where to begin!!! 

I shall be back soon with an update on my blanket & other stuff too.

xx

Welcome 2014!

What a year I've had, I have neglected this blog some what and hope to rectify that this year. In all honesty, 2013 has been a busy one, having my second daughter and moving house all within a short space of time has exhausted me, simple things like crocheting or reading a book have all been put aside in a bid to try and catch up on much needed sleep and trying to get the new house in order.

I thought though, to inspire me to get back some 'me' time, I would take a look at what I have achieved in 2013!

Theres has been a bit of hooky love!

Lots and lots of baking!

And enjoying the great outdoors, whatever the weather!

All in all, it's been an great year, busy, tiring, emotional, daunting and hard work at times, but also it's been wonderful and enjoyable to see my family grow.

Wishing everyone and great 2014 and I promise to be back soon.