Saturday 22 November 2014

Cottage Ripple Blanket


  I have spent the last two weeks suffering firstly from a sore throat and then this week with a horrible cold. It's been a few years since I've had a cold and so it's hit me hard. I think spending years teaching Early Years helped me build up immunity to these sort of bugs and then when I stopped  I have caught them. 

Anyway, although I have managed to keep up some of my church work I have also spent most afternoons on the sofa and skipped any evening meetings. But I still find it hard to just sit and do nothing so as I was looking through blogs that I follow I caught up with Lucy's blog Attic24. If you haven't seen this blog you really must go and visit it


Lucy makes the most amazing crochet blankets and posts tutorials too. I decided that I would make one of her blankets and followed her link to   http://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk to look for the yarn that she uses. The link didn't just take me to the site it took me to the packs of yarn that they sell for Lucy's blankets! So easy with all the colours there in a pretty draw string bag and when the pack arrived it also included a copy of the pattern! 

So I have spent the past few afternoons working on my Cottage Ripple blanket. Instead of making a full size blanket I am going to make two cot blankets using this pattern and  also one of Lucy's other patterns that she shares on her blog

           

                                   
This is how the pack arrived, all the yarn  required together with the pattern in a draw string bag

                      
I've put the yarn into a round basket so I can find which colour I need at a glance

   
I've taken this phot from Lucy's blog to show how she keeps her colours labeled, such a clever idea as the paper bands usually tear after a few uses. So I am copying this idea, I will use two colours per peg when I buy my next pack of yarn for another blanket using different colour.

                             
The pattern is nice and simple to pick up so after reading it a few times I had the hang of it. I hope you are all having a lovely weekend :)



Tuesday 11 November 2014

party time!

Last week was hectic, we had planned to go to Devon on the Thursday for the twins birthday party as we do every year. Then two weeks before, my husbands step father passed away. He had been poorly for years but always picked up again. But since my mother in law passed away three years ago he had gone down hill. 

The funeral was planned for last Thursday so we travelled to Devon a couple of days before, the funeral was to be in Cornwall. 

This gave us extra time with with our family and opportunity to help with party prep and doing more with the grandchildren while mummy baked and made party decorations and crafts for the children to do at the party.

Our daughter does a great job for their parties and so the girls are really getting into the ideas too, they had chosen a Hawaiiian themed party and Maggie designed the cake....dolphins jumping out of water with a sun set :) Primrose wanted a hoola hooping competition....they are both very good at this and certainly don't inherit the skill from their grandma! 


I made the girls a waistcoat and tea bag hat each. They had mentioned they could always do with more pencil cases so I made those too together with one for Gilby ..don't think I will be making those again! My daughter had asked if I would make a baby gift for some friends, so I made these little boots and hat, already for Christmas.


Trips to the SW of England always include a visit to the coast and also Dartmoor, all favourites from when we lived down there. Molly's first visit to the beach was fun, although she wasn't so sure about the water

The Hawaiian theme was a great idea, there was a blowup palm tree, a wonky rainbow painted by grandma, fans as take home gifts together with craft activities to make their own lei to wear and a piece of card board, air dry clay and sea shells for each guest to make their own Hawaiian Island to take home too. I made the sponge cake and cup cakes and took them down for my daughter to decorate. ( she wouldn't let me loose on the cake decorating!!)


Top left are the fondant decorated cup cakes, the children enjoyed pineapple slushies from their own carved out pineapples, bottom left is my great niece and then the beautiful sun set over Dartmoor as we were leaving to drive home. I am so thankful that we are able to make this annual trip down for their birthday parties and can't believe this week they turn seven!