Flowering around

I took part in a book swap recently on the Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns forum & sent to gilraen. I sent her the first of the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel as the series is a real favourite of mine & I return to the books again & again.

I also sent something else with it but had to keep it under £2 which was quite difficult:


Crocheted flower book marks

Hello Mango taught me how to make the flower which is her own design & then I worked a chain & then secured a bead onto the chain with a few double crochets. The parcel was well received & she had to convinced her two year old son that the books marks were for Mummy! If they weren't so unsuitable for such a little tot I'd make him one just to keep the peace.

DD & her friend were with me when I wrapped up both the book & book marks & the pleading just went on & on & on & on....


so I made these the night before we went on holiday (as you do!):


Cream cotton with a black glass bead for DD


Purple cotton with a glass heart bead for DD


Brown cotton with a yellow wooden bead for DD's friend


Lilac cotton with a purple glass bead for DD's friend


Orange cotton with a Fair Trade Wire bead from Africa for my friend who happens to the other childs mother

and finally one for me:


Brown cotton with a cream wooden bead

A few more have been made since these photos were taken but I didn't want anymore photos. Just imagine different coloured cotton yarns with pretty beads & you've got it.

Just popping in to say hi

I'm still around but just stupidly busy. We've being working on the garden today & cutting hedges back etc before winter & yesterday was spent turning two 'Stinkin' 'dales into beautiful fluffy bouncy dogs who are feeling very chuffed with themselves.

I've also been planning what we're doing regarding Christmas presents. As our new mortgage is twice that of our old one & we've had a LOT of expenses with the new house cash is a bit 'tight'. So I've decided to make handmade presents. Some of those due to be gifted read my blog so I'll have to be careful revealing things before December 25th but lets just say an order has been placed here and here but the two aren't to be combined. I'll be using stashed yarns as much as possible but the first order was essential as I have a severe shortage of 6ply sock yarn in autumnal colours.

The project started recently on holiday has now been finished but you'll have to wait again for pics as it's heading to other side of the world in a parcel tomorrow & again I don't want to spoil a surprise.

btw: All projects will be listed in my Ravelry account as none of the people I'm knitting for are members. My user name is blueadt so no surprises there!

Long Overdue

Just over a week ago MissMalice awarded me the Rockin' Girl Blogger award & now it's my time to spread the joy

I nominate the following bloggers in no particular order:

Hello Mango for her wonderful designs & gorgeous handspun hand-dyed yarns

Susoolu for having the patience of a saint (she taught me the Turkish Cast On) & for having such a brilliant sense of humour


Xtreme-Knitting: The first knitting blog that I read regularly & inspired me to take the plunge & start my own blog in April '05.

Library Girl Knits! who is always there to offer advice, good tips & generally for being so lovely

and finally

Wooly Wormhead for her wonderful designs and for being so brave & finding her own way against convention.

So please save the button below to your own server space & wear it with pride


Rockin' Girl Blogger

I'm really sorry that it's taken me so long to reply to all the comments recently. I hate the 'no-reply' feature on blogger & wish that I could hit reply to comments as they come in. However what is worse whilst mobile blogging that I could see the comments in my inbox via my mobile phone but couldn't publish them
So I tried to answer as many as I could in subsequent posts.

Library Girl Knits! wanted to know about the cotton from Lidl that I used to make a shopping bag. It's a DK weight & was a special that was in stock for a week or so earlier in the year. The bag can hold a fair bit but I'm not sure about cat litter especially if you're like me & buy huge sacks of the stuff. I find the handles soft but you can always get the solid plastic handle grip things meant for carrier bags if you don't like them. She also asked about some Angel Yarns Sock Yarn that I have in my stash on Ravelry. It's the same composition as Opal and they've got some really nice colours. I've been looking at the Chocolate Plum for ages but have a lot of sock yarn so am being good & sitting on my hands.

Library Girl Knits!, The Silver Spider & Sereknitity all wanted to know what yarn I'm using for DH's socks shown in the last post:


Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch shade 709

which I bought whilst on holiday last year.

I tried my best to get the socks to match but the yarn wasn't having any of it at all. So DH will have matching purple toes & then the colours run riot. He loves the colours & is calling them his 'Sun Set Socks'. However as each sock has 108 stitches & I'm using 2mm needles they're taking a VERY long time indeed especially as other projects keep joining the queue in demand of my time.

And for Serknittiy a free pattern from Knit Picks. I couldn't find a decent tutorial in the time that I had to look but did find these films on YouTube!

Homeward bound

Knitting on the beach

We went to Port Mulgrave near Whitby & found lots of fossils with a bit of knitting!

Fossiling on the beach

Swatching

for a new project. Any guesses?
Cybele: I have 2 oversized Airedale bitches. Annie (pictured in the last post) + Blue whom this blog is named after.

Walking in the forest

Quick post

We're going away in the morning for a few days. I'm nearly ready but have spent the evening crocheting so now need to get moving & do the last few jobs before I can hit the sack.

I got my Ravelry invite two weeks ago & it's a fantastic site. If you haven't already signed up for it do but you'll have a bit of a wait. DH has been patiently photographing my stash for me but the enthusiasm has dwindled & moaning started as more & more yarn is pulled out of storage boxes. Yes it's time to admit it even to myself that I have a large stash & enough is enough! It's not all up there yet but already I've earmarked yarn for new projects & have been playing with new colour schemes.

My mobile phone pattern which I designed here has been listed on Ravelry as a proper pattern & it's in 6 queues already!

Changing the subject completely as I've got to turn the laptop off, my flock, first introduced here, has grown after another visit to the Farmers Market:


L to R: Rough Fell, South Down, Suffolk, Border Leicester, Masham & Hampshire Down

I just couldn't resist another couple as they're so lovely.


L to R: Suffolk & Border Leicester

I'll be back next week or maybe even blog on the 'fly' as it were from the wilds of North Yorkshire if the knitting warrants it.

P.S.

Bryony I'll have the answers for you next time I promise.

Crochet bag & more

Last month I made my second ever crochet project & I really enjoyed making it:


Crochet shopping bag


Double crochet base

I filled it up with tins from our food cupboards to demonstrate how much this bag 'grows' when full:


Crochet shopping bag full of tins

I'm planning to make a lot more of these to use up some cottons lurking in my stash. However in future will make the base both wider & longer so that the bag can take a large cereal box or similar.

Pattern: From Marie of 'In Stitches' the knitting club that I set up & run. She is a lapsed blogger so has requested that I don't link to her. The pattern consists of a double crocheted base, trebles to give the 'lattice efffect' & then doubles again for the handles.
Yarn: 120g of Colorado Mutti-color from Lidl bought earlier this year.
Hook: 5mmm


Colorado Mutti-color

I'm getting quite bad at making small things & forgetting to put them on here but will do another post soon. The photos are done I just haven't had time to blog about it. Have also made a something else recently but it's a gift so & the person I'm gifting it to reads this so nothing about that yet.

Life has been busy as ever in the blueadt house but perhaps a bit 'quieter' this week as DD is away & doesn't return until tonight. So DH using the second week of his holiday has decorated her bedroom & built a wardrobe to hide an 'awkward' part of her room. So the rest of the day will be taken with removing the dust sheets & cleaning the carpet thereby removing the last visible signs of the mucky people who lived here before us & replacing DD's furniture.

Finally MissMalice has awarded me with this:


Rockin' Girl Blogger

Thank you so much Alice. Now to chose my 5 nominees..........

'Guests'

We've got some guests staying at the moment. Not the sort I'm sure you're imagining as these both have four legs rather than two.

No not more dogs or cats.

Can you guess?

As DH's sister was flooded in the recent floods she has gone away for a month with their children whilst her DH, the builder, repairs their home. That left a couple of homeless animals who decided that our lawn was tastier than theirs at the moment due to the residue of sewage:


Raisin Rabbit

He's a very handsome animal but isn't happy about being couped up in a mere rabbit run as he normally has the run of the garden. I found him in the street two years ago minutes before we went on holiday & luckily SIL had an empty hutch as I couldn't leave him on the street. She advertised but he wasn't claimed so now he is adored & can even be found sat on the sofa watching TV sometimes:


Raisin Rabbit

His partner in crime is quite shy but has a big appetite for someone so small:


Max hiding in his house

I've never looked after a Guinea Pig before & can't believe how much he eats! He is constantly chomping & easily eats twice as much fresh food as Raisin. As DD & I are vegetarians though he's come to the right 'hotel' & tonight after his main meal of lettuce, carrot & red cabbage he had the tasty treat of a fresh cherry & quickly ran off into his pipe with it:


Max in a pipe

In addition to being insanely greedy he's also very shy so proved to be a reluctant model.

Our photoshoot was watched from afar by someone far more willing to being in front of the camera:


Monet in the sunshine

Thank you n

Last week Crafty Threads 'n' Yarns forum n of The Yarn Yard offered two balls of Rowan Linen Print free to a good home in exchange for a charitable donation. I asked if I could have it as the colours (Crush:pink & purple) are perfect for DD's best friend & I'd like to make her something for her hair.

n then asked if I could also rehome some purple sock yarn! So a donation was made to a local Cerebral palsy charity in the supermarket that day & a few days later a parcel arrived:


Gifts from n of The Yarn Yard


100g of Rowan Linen Print


100g of 'The Yarn Yard' blue sock yarn


22g of 'The Yarn Yard 'blue sock yarn


16g of 'The Yarn Yard 'blue sock yarn


37g of 'The Yarn Yard' purple sock yarn


47g of 'The Yarn Yard' purple sock yarn

After DH being ill & the other horrible news I had last week this was just what I needed to cheer me up


Some of the colours are a bit speckled but they'll look great with the right stitch pattern & the yarn is so SOFT!