A Couple Of Cushions

Firstly thank you for your kind comments, Sally the rabbit is well on the road to recovery now, has even put on a little weight, and is settling into indoor life.  It's actually been really nice having her about and I think I will be looking at making it permanent.

Ok, after my absence, it's back on track with a couple more Christmas makes to share with you.  Firstly I made a couple of ripple cushions.  One for my brother and his family and one for my sister and her family.  They were both very similar and I actually forgot to get pictures of them before I sent them off.  Luckily my brother lives close by so I got a couple of snaps of it when I popped over for my niece's 1st birthday.  The light was fading and even taking it outside wasn't much help, so the pictures aren't brilliant and the colours are not completely accurate.

I loved these cushions and found it very hard to let them go. 

Details:
Pattern: Stripy Wave Cushion by Nicki Trench from Cute & Easy Crochet
Hook: 4.5mm
Yarn: Patons Smoothie DK
Shades: Gold 1097, Denim 1098, Lilac 1093, Cream 1019, Lime 1010

I also neglected to weigh the cushion cover before sending it off so I can't calculate the cost.  It wouldn't have been much as it's not expensive yarn.  Plus, I already had it, so it was a bonus to get it used for a project.  I do plan on making myself one when I have the time so I will weigh it and calculate costs then.

I had to alter the pattern slightly to account for the different weights of yarn.  The pattern calls for aran weight and the Patons Smoothie is DK weight.  I just added an extra pattern repeat to the width and continued the rows until it came square.  I also added buttons holes and buttons to allow for an opening so the cover can be removed and cleaned.  At regular intervals along one side on round 2 of the edging I chained 2 and missed 2 stitches to create the button holes.

It irked me considerably though, (maybe too much!) that the pattern actually makes a different cushion from the one in the pictures in the book.  The pattern puts more dc rows around the border.  Now I know some people may say it's only a minor difference and that I'm nit picking, but I think if your writing a pattern and accompanying it with pictures, you should at least keep true to the pattern and display a picture of the true finished product.  Or change the pattern.  I preferred the cushion cover in the pictures so pulled back the extra rows to make the slimmer border, and crocheted into the inner loops only on joining to make the decorative edge, something else it also fails to mention in the pattern. 

The second cushion was one I made for Bella Bee's father for his birthday, which is not long after Christmas.  I find it a little difficult to make something that's solely male.  If it's a family gift you can get away with it being slightly feminine.  So I needed to make a cushion 'man up'.  I did actually make him a cushion the year before, but it was sewn, and had a Doctor Who Tardis on it.  So it was pretty safe.  I plan on sharing all my sewn cushions from last year soon, but there are some on my Flickr account if you want to see them before I post about them.  This year I had to man up a crochet cushion.  It's basically going to come down to the colours.

You wouldn't have thought simply picking out more masculine colours would be that hard but for some reason I struggled with it.   Choosing colours is not my forte.  This was the second attempt, after completing the first half of the cover in one colour combination before loosing faith,changing my mind and ripping it all back to start again from scratch with a slightly different combination.

Details
Pattern: Round Striped Cushion by Nicki Trench from Cute & Easy Crochet
Hook: 4.5mm
Yarn: Patons Smoothie DK
Shades: Teal 1058, Cream 1019, Slate 1088

Again I failed to weigh it before joining up the two sides to make up the cushion with the pad inside to calculate a cost.

I had to add 2 extra rounds to account for a 18" cushion pad rather than the 16" one stated in the pattern.  I had also attempted to add a couple extra rounds to include buttons holes and buttons making it possible to remove the cushion pad and therefore making it easier to be able to clean the cushion (I aim to be practical).  However, it didn't look right on the round cushion.  I lost patience and time to try and get it right and just wanted to finish the damn thing by this point.  So that was put to one side for another time, and I joined the cover to fully enclose the cushion pad.

And there we have a couple more of my Christmas makes.  I still have a couple more birthday makes to share, and then I should be up to date. 

Well we're on half term this week.  So they'll be a bit off extra entertaining to do.  Hopefully it won't be too wet so we can get out of the house occasionally.  And Bella Bee has a gymnastic camp a couple of afternoons this week so that should take the edge of some of the energy reserves.  I always enjoy having her home in the holidays.



Peace Out x

More Bunting And Other Pre-Christmas Gifts

Ok, jumping from October onto the next gift makes in December.  I had two birthday's pre-Christmas to make for (It feels a bit wrong to still be mentioning Christmas, ah well, that's what happens when your as organised as me!).  One was Bella Bee's nanny, for which I made bunting.  Not like the last lot though, this was a bit more grown up!  She likes a country cottage kitchen style, so tried to make the bunting to fit this theme.

Please excuse the shocking winter lighting.  It doesn't get any better any time of the day.

I didn't want it too full on, so the colours are quite muted.  The floral is some thrifted fabric I picked up a couple of years ago and the other is just plain calico.  I wanted to jazz it up a little and found some lovely wide lace trim that I bought at the indoor market that had been sat on my desk for ages.  I love it and think it fits in perfectly with this bunting.

The second birthday was my (sort of) sister-in-law (they're not married).  I wanted to make her a chunky yarn scarf and found an excellent pattern in Cute & Easy Crochet.

A very quick snap when caught on the hop after a visit from the recipient.  The colour is a little washed out in the winter light.

I wasn't very confident on which colour to choose, as I'm not the most observant person and had failed to notice which colours she prefers to wear.  I choose a lovely soft green.  She assured me she liked it.  I don't know if she was being polite. 

Details
Pattern: Chunky Seashell Scarf by Nicki Trench from Cute & Easy Crochet
Hook: 7mm
Yarn: King Cole Comfort Chunky
Shade: 428 Dill
Total yarn: 3 x 100g balls
Total price: £2.99/100g = £8.97

I bought the yarn at the city's indoor market.  It was slightly more expensive than I spend on DK weight, especially as you don't get as much yardage.  I tried a cheaper chunky yarn, however it was of a lesser quality, was much stiffer when crocheted up and didn't have the drape or softness I would like in a scarf.  The yarn I finally used made a gorgeous scarf and has been very well received, so was worth the extra cost.

And finally some little presents I made for Bella Bee's teacher, the teaching assistant and her gymnastic coach.

The colours haven't come across acurate, especially the closest, the fuchsia.  Yet more winter lighting trouble.

Another pattern from Cute & Easy Crochet (guess what book I got in the run up to Christmas!) slightly adjusted to be made bigger to fit a larger mug.  The little flower buttons are very cute and a lovely added touch.  Bella Bee made peppermint creams dipped in chocolate to go inside in a little greaseproof packet.  Overall, ideal quick and easy presents to whip up.

Details
Pattern: Mug Warmers by Nicki Trench from Cute & Easy Crochet
Hook: 4.5mm
Yarn: Rico Design Creative Cotton Aran
Shades: 13 Fuchsia, 11 Cardinal, 36 Turquoise
Total yarn: approx. 15g each
Total price: approx 0.45p for yarn, 0.45p for button, 0.59p for mug = £1.49

I don't know how much the peppermint creams were, I didn't work out the cost.  They have minimal ingredients and will be relatively cheap to make.

Will be back with yet more handmade presents to share with you, accompanied by poor quality winter photos.



Peace Out x

A Birthday Bunny and Bunting (for a boy!)

For this we have to go back, way back, to October and my nephew's 3rd birthday.  I had a couple of things planned, and as usual had let time inexplicably get away from me.  After one extremely late night, a few almost tears, that working on crafts that late at night always seems to do to me, and a crippled unusable claw of a hand the next day, I managed to produce some birthday bunting that I really wanted him to have in time for his birthday to hang up. 

I love bunting, but hate taking pictures of it.  They never seem to do it justice. 

The lettering is secured with Bondaweb and kept in place with a running stitch with embroidery thread in a colour matching that of the flag that letter is on, a second triangle is placed on the back and secured with a running stitch in white embroidery thread. You might not think to look at it, and I never thought it would, but that hand stitching took forever.  I never thought doing a simple running stitch would be so time consuming.  And hand stitching through 2, layers of felt is tough going.  I had an unusable 80 year olds, arthritic claw as a hand for a day or two after.  But the results are unique.  And stunning.  I love it (I don't, however, love the machine stitching job connecting them all with the cotton tape across the top.  It's adequate, but not perfect, enough said!  There's a little voice in me simply dying to ask for it back so I can quickly, a-hem, re-do it, but that's my neurosis).  The joy of such a gift is that it will be reusable year after year, for all birthdays, and will hopefully become part of a family birthday tradition, be much used, loved and remembered for years to come.  A practical, reusable gift is my sort of gift. 

The second gift got sent down about a week later.  I had recently received my first brightly coloured bundle of Rico Creative Cotton and had been looking forward to using those coloured cottons on something I hadn't tried out yet, amigurumi.  I wanted to make something suitable for a growing boy but still relatively simple for a beginner, and settled on the Ugly Bunny Pincushion pattern by wayuki that can be found on Ravelry.  As I was using aran weight cotton, I used a 3.5mm hook size, which would be small enough to keep the fabric tight and compact.  It was a great result, but it is hard work.  And needless to say it can all get a bit fiddly and frustrating when you get to the smaller sections.

It is all sewn and crocheted which should make for a safer toy, as there is a younger sister on the scene.  I am very pleased with my first attempt at amigurumi.  They really come alive as you make them, and this dude certainly looks like he's got bags of character.  It really can be quite tough to let them go at the end of the process.  But let him out into the big world I did.  Then I realised that a 3 year old might not quite understand why he was a getting what may look like a reject toy with wonky ears and a missing eye!  (Apparently some questions where raised, but seemingly satisfactorily answered).

Details

Pattern: Ugly Bunny Pincushion by wayuki on Ravelry

Hook: 3.5mm

Yarn: Rico Design Creative Cotton Aran

Shade: 41 Pistachio

Price: approx £2.00

(50g = £1.50, approx 37g used = £1.11, plus filling and embroidery thread)

Lets not mention the cushion cover I am making him that's still sitting in my basket.  They know me well enough by now.

Peace Out x

One A Day Update - Week 9

First I want to share my latest treats.  I had a lovely postie day yesterday.

Something to view, something to make, something to drink.  What could be better?  I have already started a project from the new book as you can see.  It's about time I started a few Christmas presents, and this book is full of potential pressies. 

Anyway, another week, another update.  Is it just me or are these posts starting to feel a little repetitive?  How many photos can I take of the same blanket but just a little bit longer?  I suppose that's my fault for choosing 2 big, long term projects.  To be honest I'm getting a bit bored of them now.  I'm starting to struggle with having to ripple every day.  Luckily, then, the end is in sight.  Well, for the ripple at least.

Taking this photo was more than a little precarious, perched on top of the high sleeper ladder.  With a guest cameo from Floppy Bunny.

Just a bit longer, and then the border.  I want it roughly the same size as a single duvet, but have yet to measure it off against one to see what needs to be done to make it so.  It's needs to be wider for sure, which the border will have to accomplish.

Details:
Name: Bella Bee Ripple Blanket
Pattern: Ripple Pattern from Compendium of Crochet Techniques by Jan Eaton
Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK
Colours: Grape, Pale rose, Meadow, Cream

Join us over at Gingerbread Girl to view all the projects in progress.

One A Day Update - Week 8

Hi all.  I've had a good week, finishing off a knitted gift (which I will share this week), and a lovely weekend celebrating Bonfire night with Bella Bee.  We managed to see the local big firework display for free and in the comfort and warmth of the car by parking in nearby street.  Plus it stopped Bella Bee getting too uncomfortable, as she doesn't like loud noises for a prolonged length of time.  We also attended a private display with family on Sunday.  Bella Bee had a whale of a time running round with her cousins and family friends.  I hardly saw her all evening.  She didn't even seem to mind the fireworks with friends to distract her.

So onto the project update.  This week is the turn of the Summer Garden Granny Blanket.  I discovered last week that I had done one too many blocks while catching up so I've only done one block since the last update 2 weeks ago.  I have since roughly estimated how many blocks I will need to complete the blanket and I think I should have kept to the one block a week and had the extra as a bonus if I'm ever to finish this monster.  I thought I was realistic when starting this project and doing only only square a day was fully expecting not to have a finished blanket to use until next winter.  That, I have since realised, may be unrealistic.

Laying the blocks on the bed this morning and wanting a blanket roughly the same size as the King size quilt I have on the bed I estimated 8 blocks across by 12 blocks down.  That equals a massive 96 blocks.  Ouch.  At 52 weeks in a year, that would take nearly 2 years!  Ha ha ha!  I'm starting to struggle with the long term aspects of these blanket projects as it is.  Maybe I could fit in 2 blocks a week?  Realistically not sure that is feasible as I always have other smaller projects on the go too and completing the one block a week often seems to elude me.

It will be positively gorgeous if I ever finish it though!

Project details
Name : Summer Garden Granny Blanket
Pattern : Summer Garden Granny Square from Lucy at Attic24
Yarn : Stylecraft Special DK
Colours : Grape, Pale Rose, Lemon, Meadow, Cream

Hope your all getting on well with your own projects, and I hope to try and get round you all for a little peek this week through Gingerbread Girl.



Peace Out X

One A Day Update - Week 7 - Take 2 - Eurgh

Take 2.

Bloody computers. 

Don't even want to do the sodding post now.  It was a great post.  An ideal mix of witty, informative, ripply homely goodness.

So now I will sulk.

Here are some photos.

Blah blah blah.

Project details:

Name : Bella Bee Ripple Blanket
Pattern : Neat Ripple Pattern (ish) by Lucy of Attic24
Yarn : Stylecraft Special DK
Colours : Grape, Pale Rose, Meadow and Cream
Size : Single bed size
Measurements : approx 38"/97cm width from a base chain of 183 (12x15)+3

Go over and check out all the other lovely, none sulking One A Day project people at Gingerbread Girl.

Right, now to find something to release this frustration out on.



Peace Out X

One A Day Update

Hope you are all well.  Bella Bee is on Half Term this week and it's lovely to have her at home, but it's sometimes a bit tricky to keep her entertained.  Luckily her gymnastics and swimming classes are still on this week.  So I'm fitting in this post while she's at gymnastics.  Plus her Dad is off work this week and took her to the cinema this morning to watch the new Tintin film and scoff lots of sweets.  Hopefully the gymnastics will work off all the sugar!

So, this week is the turn of the Summer Garden Granny Blanket.  I've got a fair few projects on the go at the moment that need finishing for birthday gifts.  One is already grossly over due and another extremely imminent.  So, as a consequence, the blanket didn't see much attention until the last couple of days.  I cracked on and managed to get back up to date with it, minus some sewing of ends in - bleugh.  I've now also joined them into blocks of 6.  From now on I will be producing one of these completed blocks a week.

They have the same colour combinations in each, as this is the maximum number with the three colours I'm now using for the flowers, and each block is set out in same pattern ensuring even distribution when they are all eventually joined together.

It's good to see them in the completed blocks.  It makes it feel more on the way to becoming a blanket and will give a better idea of how far along I am when laid out.  I even braved a laying out upon the bed it will eventually be used for, but very quickly took them back off again before my brain could do too much calculation.  Yes, this is definitely a long term project!

Project details:
Summer Garden Granny Blanket
Pattern : Summer Garden Granny Square
Size : King size
Yarn : Stylecraft Special DK
Colours : Grape, Pale Rose, Lemon, Meadow, Cream

Feel free to drop by Gingerbread Girl and check out the projects.

Hope you all have a productive week.



Peace Out X

One A Day Update

Some might have noticed I didn't post last week.  I had gotten behind.  I had a nephew's birthday looming and had to abandon current projects for birthday projects.  I'll share the fruits of my labour (up till 3am one night!) soon.  Plus I find that as I'm doing two large projects, the progress doesn't feel as quick as smaller ones and as a result it seems that my photos seem to be very similar from week to week.  So, as I've managed to catch up with the Ripple Blanket, but not yet with the Summer Garden Blanket, from now on I will alternate the blankets each week. 

The Ripple Blanket is now much more substantial, and it's lovely to work on it in the cooler evenings with it across my lap, helping to keep me warm while I try to prolong turning the heating on.

I have now come to the end of my first balls of yarn.  I have completed 17 rows (2 rows per colour stripe) per ball.  I'm thinking I will need another ball and a half to get the required length.  I also need to start thinking about the type of border I want. 

Project details
Name: Bella Bee Ripple Blanket
Pattern: Neat Ripple Pattern (ish)
Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK
Colours: Grape, Pale Rose, Meadow and Cream

I hope next week to have much more progress to show you on the Summer Garden Blanket.

Pop along to Gingerbread Girl and check out the other projects.


Peace Out X

One A Day Update

Hi all One A Day-ers.  Welcome to my update.  I've had a busy week and busier weekend and I'm only just recovering.  Recovering is a word I would like to use in conjunction with a wild weekend, or something similarly fun, alas no, instead I am recovering from a huge dose of cleaning.  Carpet cleaning none less.  I have been meaning to get this particular beauty of a task done for quite awhile now, so with a child away and a sunny weekend on the cards, unfortunately it was an ideal time to get it done!  It was not fun, and it was jolly hard work, and I am sick of the smell of wet carpet, but the carpets are now clean, (the upholstery, however, is not, and a complaint to a certain carpet cleaning company is being made later), and woe betide anyone who dirties them, they will feel my wrath!

I also find myself in the middle of painting the kitchen.  Which is stressful.  For two reasons.  The kitchen is in complete chaos.  I am a complete perfectionist.  The two are profoundly linked.  I think this is something which makes me unique, or perhaps some would say 'special'.  I won't go into deeper psychological reasoning for fear of alienation.  My current painting dilemma, which is tearing my soul in two, is when cutting in, do I go out of the lines on the wood work of doorway/window to cover the magnolia from the previous paint job, or do I stick to the lines?  I'm painting the kitchen white, so it shows.  No answer is correct by the way.  Yes, I am a bit wrong.

But, I've managed to keep up with the One A Day progress.  Although I did the weeks worth of squares last night and this morning, and I've not sewn the ends in for the last two weeks, which I'm now regretting.  The ripple I do every evening, so todays stripe is not done. 

And so to the pictures.

Summer Garden Granny Blanket

Minus the squares I don't like

And the Bella Bee Ripple Blanket

Project details

Summer Garden Granny Blanket

Pattern: Summer Garden Granny Square (ish) from Attic24
Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK
Colours: Cream, Meadow, Lemon, Pale Rose, Grape
I still hope to add a couple more colours, however this has been postponed for now until more funds become available.

Bella Bee Ripple Blanket

Pattern: Neat Ripple Pattern (ish) from Attic24
Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK
Colours: Grape, Pale Rose, Meadow, Cream

Will do my best to pop by and have a nosey at the rest of you taking part in the One A Day Project over at Gingerbread Girl.

Peace Out x

One A Day Update

Hello lovelies, I hope you've all had a productive week and your all getting on well with your projects.  I'll be coming to have a nosey later on.  I want to say a big thank you for all your lovely and encouraging comments so far.  I've not really got any like minded friends, so it's nice to be part of this online community to gee me along. 

I'm still making steady progress and have managed to get the seven blocks and stripes done on both blankets despite feeling a bit rough after catching the obligatory September School Cold that Bella Bee kindly bought home from school.  Lets get straight to the money shots.

The Bella Bee Ripple Blanket

A gorgeous sea of ripples.

And the Summer Garden Granny Blanket

Now, I must dash, I'm currently inhabiting an anti house that requires an inhuman amount of work to make it an actual house again. 

Feel free to check out the other projects at Gingerbread Girl.

Peace Out x

One A Day Update - Week 2

This is week two for the Summer Garden Granny Square Blanket, and week one for the Bella Bee Ripple Blanket.  Steady progress has been made on both.  I had a little catching up to do with the squares so haven't got round to sewing in the ends on the last few.  I feel I still need to work on the colours a bit more on this blanket.  I'm not happy with some of the combinations, and I'm going to stop using the Lavender, it just doesn't seem to be 'gelling' with the others.  The colour palette is a bit too limited.  I'd like a few extra colours to play with so will be looking at getting a few more this week and see how they work out.  Once I'm happy with the colour combinations I can start sewing blocks of squares together so it's not such a big daunting job at the end.  At least with the slow growth it gives me time to work on the colours so I'll be truely happy with it when it's finished.

The ripple though, Oh My, I'm in love!  I'm skippingly happy with it.  I have yet to do today's row as I did initially include yellow, but wasn't satisfied with the result so I ripped it back and it set me back a couple of rows. 

I'm glad I've got both blankets on the go.  The ripple will provide a quicker result and keep me satisfied while I plug away at the other.  And only doing one a day still gives me time to do a little knitting occasionally, because I still need to knit!

I'm off to get rippling.

Please check out the other projects at Gingerbread Girl.

Peace Out x

One A Day Update

Just a brief post to give my update for the One A Day project.  Not the largest of impacts, but I've literally stuck to the one a day since my initial 4 practice squares. I've not yet worked out how many squares I'm going to need for a king size blanket and to be honest I don't think I want to right now.  But being realistic, I don't think I'll be able to use this blanket until next winter!

I'm loving the colour palette I'm using, especially the green!  It's definitely my favourite.  I'm still experimenting with all the different colour combinations and I'm looking at adding a few extra colours.  I had originally picked the majority of the colours for a ripple blanket I plan to make for my daughter for Christmas.  So knowing I need to make a start on that soon if it's going to be anywhere near ready in time I have decided to add it to the One A Day too.  So here's the beginnings of a blanket that will be able to be used this year! 

The pattern I've used is from this Jan Eaton book.  I presume it is very similar to the one Lucy from Attic24 used as inspiration to form her own from this book.  It has the three trebles in between the increases and decreases instead of the four in Lucy's pattern.  I don't think the Jan Eaton one is on Ravelry so I may just put it under the Attic24 pattern anyway.

And finally a thank you for all the lovely comments and compliments on my first One A Day post.  Will make a concerted effort to visit as many of you and your lovely projects this week.

Peace out x

Finally Finished!

I've had these little beauts waiting to be finished off for far too long.  I made my crochet debut in about January and these were pretty much the first things I started to make.  I seem to remember them actually being finished and my wearing them on the school run and being ever so proud and hoping people would notice them, comment on them and me being able to proudly tell them 'I made them myself don't you know' and them being amazed, inspired and simply agog at my creative wonderfullness, well, because I sure was.  Well it didn't quite work out that way, I think what actually happened was after a distinct lack of notice I shoved them under my playground companions noses, forcing them to notice them, whilst informing them I'd made them, which was followed by some polite comments.  But I did receive the best compliment from Bella Bee with a request for a pair of her own, which were dutily made.  Afterwards, for some reason, which at the moment escapes me as to why, my pair were dismantled, and had remained so since.  Well it was jolly time this was remedied.

And so Ta-Dah...

And in background a sneaky peak at my latest knitty project!

Today I sat myself down and made myself finish them.  As many will recognise, they are the Striped Wristlets Pattern from the ever so clever Lucy.  I am very pleased they are Finally Finished.  Again.  Lets hope this time they don't mysteriously disassemble themselves again!  And so on to the next long unfinished crochet project.

Peace Out x

One A Day, A Day Late!

Back to it!  Bella Bee went back to school today.  She was supposed to go back Monday, which I found out Sunday after thinking for 6 weeks she was back on Wednesday!  Panic!  Then Sunday night there was a bit a bleughing and that put paid to any thought of school for a couple of extra days, making her start day Wednesday after all.  I missed not having her around today, but it's also nice as it frees me up a little.  So here I am, back on the blogging train. 

Being as organised as ever and even though Bella Bee went back to school a couple of days later than expected I was too busy ironing uniform and sorting school things to blog last night.  I've decided to join the One A Day CAL/KAL hosted by Gingerbread Girl and Crochet with Raymond over at Ravelry.  So here is my project, just a day late!  I'd been thinking about wanting a large blanket for my bed and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to break such a large project into small manageable chunks.  I've decided to make a Summer Garden Granny Square Blanket.  I've got my colours just about sorted and I spent yesterday making up a few squares to test out slight variations of the pattern to fit my preferences.  So here are my first few squares.

As most of you are probably well aware, the light is absolutely awful for photos at the moment, but it gives you a general idea.  I remade the squares I'd practiced with so they were all uniformally made (yes I am a perfectionist).  The third one across came out ever so slightly bigger than the others for some reason, so I may have to redo that one (yes, I am a perfectionist to the nth degree).  I think I've decided to sew them together rather than join as you go as it is a neater finish and will hopefully not seem as big a job if I join in fours or in rows.  My favourite colour combination so far is this one.

Plan on starting a ripple blanket for Bella Bee in these same colours soon.

Have a fair few more makes completed, so will be back soon to show you those.

Peace out x

Hello! And Welcome To The Beginning!

Well, I'm an extremely late starter aren't I!  I only discovered the wonderful world of blogging 7 months ago (I know! How could I have missed that!) and have been kicking myself at what I've missed out on for so long.  My journey started when I'd finally resolved to tackle crochet, and the simple granny square had been whispering my name.  I'm more of an old fashioned 'look in a book' girl when it comes to things like this, but I threw caution to the wind and tappity tapped away and found myself in Attic24 with the lovely Lucy showing me the delights of the Summer Garden Granny Square.  Now, I went away and did a traditional granny square, a lovely white and pink one which was very naively and unintentionally done in a mix of DK and 4 ply yarn (oh how young and foolish I was back then) but I had done it and was ever so proud!  But as soon as it was done I went back and poured over that lovely blog, wowed at the colours, read the kind words, vowed to make all the projects and quite frankly became a little obsessed.  Now I'm sure Lucy will be very relieved to hear that I soon broadened my horizons and ventured to the Blogs I love list, trying not to feel too disloyal, and found a whole welcoming, lovely, inspiring, wonderful community full of like minded people. It's a community I want to be part of.  So here I am.

Is it a little wrong that I framed that first attempt?