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