Its Been A Long Time...

Ooo hello,

I just realised life has taken over and I haven't posted anything in a long time (not that I'm actually sure anyone even reads this!). I have been busy keeping the tiddlers happy and contented and have been crocheting away like a little busy bee, but as yet I don't have another finished item to show you.

I'm still plodding along with this blogging lark, even though I'm beginning to lose a little faith in it. So many other people seem to have such lovely photos and stories, and it makes my rambles seem, well, rather mundane!

 

Anyway, on a more positive note, here is a little photo bomb of bits I've been up to since I last blogged...

 

 

 

 

 

1. A potholder I made it a fit of restlessness for a friend. I used the pattern from Color 'n' Cream, but used up old thread.

 

2. Port - Yummy. Don't need to say anymore really!

 

3. Cut myself on a wine glass, but the consolation was I got to use one of my Hello Kitty plasters!

 

4. I bought this fab Stylecraft Special DK shade card from Masons. It means I don't have to try and guess the colours from my computer screen!

 

Back to the present. This week I have mainly been battling with an endless amount of washing and cleaning. I often fail, much to the despair of my husband! (I am not one of lifes naturally tidy people). I have also been working simultaneously on 2 new blankets, one for Mr Bean and one for a friends daughter using up the lilac tones from my Lucy pack that just aren't "me". I will try and take some photos, but currently time is at a premium and my tiddlers win out every time.

 

Toodle Pip! xx

Mr Beans Blanket!

Yay! My first blanket is finished!! Heehee

 

 

Look at Mr Bean's blankety loveliness! He has been snuggled with it in his "Mini Man Chair" to watch Cbeebies for a few days now :-)

To be honest, I can't say I'm totally in love with it, the colour sequence looks lovely on someone elses blanket, but to be honest when I started making it I realised, as lovely as Attic24's colours are, they're just not "me". Anyhoo, more of that another day as I have plenty of ideas brewing... 

On a side note: Any tips on how to work edges on a stripey blanket (in particular the first round)? I fudged the sides a bit by doing 2dc in one row and then 1dc in the next row so they didn't make the blanket go ruffly. Any tips would me much appreciated! (See what I mean in the pic?)

Already pondering my next project as I've promised myself I MUST use up the remaining Lucy Pack before I buy "me" colours.

 

Toodly pip :-)

Weekly Weigh In!

First full week on WW and I have lost 3.5lb!

That is all :-)

The Smallest Things

The thing I love most about my children is their endless ability to find joy in the smallest things. I'm a great believer that kids don't need to be inundated with toys to be happy.

Yesterday was a perfect example:

Mr B has a thing for posting things places, it keeps him busy for hours. Yesterday when tidying up I found this:

It made me smile :-) (And yes, that is toast in a piggy bank)

Mrs snufflebean became completely infatuated with a paper envelope, there were tears and tantrums when we tried to remove it from her. Here she is in action:

I love the smallest things, they make my kids, and in turn me, smile and laugh from ear to ear. It makes the broken nights and temper tantrums fade away into the distance.

Life is good :-)

Mixed fortunes

Hmm.. Supposedly I've just completed my first week of weight watchers. Although, due to a fruit tart / McDonald's situation involving forgetting I was on a diet, I've managed to gain a pound. Not quite the brilliant start I was hoping for :-s

Anyhoo, onwards and upwards! I WILL stick to it next week and point everything! (Hopefully).

On a happier note, I've been crocheting away like a little gremlin and my first blanket keeps growing. It was intended as a pram blanket for Mrs Snufflebottom, however, Mr Bean has laid claim to it for his chair, so she'll have to wait for hers!!

Toodle pip!

P.S - it's quite chilly here today!

Silly for Stripes

I never thought I would say this but.... I am LOVING crocheting with acrylic. I took the plunge and ordered Stylecraft Special DK after hearing so many people rave about its lovely squishiness and easiness to work with. It arrived today, and I can't say I'm disappointed. 17 squidgy balls of loveliness!!

I've got straight to work making Mrs Snufflebottom a pram blanket. She's 7 months old, so past the teeny baby stage (which makes me a bit sad), but she's still small enough to need a blanket for her buggy. Only discovering this new thread and a renewed love of crochet when she's 7 months old has made me feel a bit pants, as we're not having any more babies, so my blanket making possibilities are limited :-( I'll just have to hope that my sister has babies soon! (hehe)

I have stolen a colour combination from The Stitch Sharer as my baby-frazzled brain couldn't organise the colours into an order I liked, and I'm too much of a control freak to pick colours randomly. I am working in stripes rather than granny clusters. I realllly wanted to follow the same pattern as Heather did for her Tiny Tin Bird pram blanket, but I was too scared of the blanket going wonky not to turn my work. So I have decided to do 2 rows of each colour, which still makes each row the same width but means I don't have to worry about the blanket leaning to one side. I am also going to very rudely steal the border pattern from this blanket.

On the recommendation of Scented Sweet Pea I ordered a Tulip Etimo Rose hook, as I was fed up of getting sore fingers and didn't have a 4mm hook. I would totally recommend them to anyone, yes they are pricey, but its so comfy to work with, I'm positively zooming along with my striping!

Heres a little sneaky peak...

Happiness!!

I've know how to crochet since I was about 13, my sister-in-law taught me how on a lazy summer holiday in Finland, and for years I only knew how to make one thing - A simple hat made of DC. After years of making the same thing, the prospect of the arrival of Mr Bean brought crochet back to me. I crocheted a simple granny square blanket, and I've been hooked (no pun intended), ever since.

Somehow I stumbled accross Lucy @ Attic24 & subsequently many others, and I have had an urge to make some of her wonderful squishy, colourful creations ever since.

Anyhoo, for fear of a divorce triggered by yarn overload in our house, a Christmas present Mr Bean received this year inspired me...

...and  I decided I was going to use all my odds and ends of cotton to make him a mini-blanket for his mini-chair. I used a pattern by Heather @ Little Tin Bird, although somehow I ended up working it slightly different to her, but not so different that it constitutes my own pattern. This is the result so far:

 

Its all a bit mish-mash and is annoying my over organised nature, but I am currently trying to be completely random in the colour selection. I'm struggling, I love how some people can be so free with their colour choices, because inevitably it works so well. This blanket isn't going to be a favourite, purely because its only come into existance to get rid of thread I've had hanging around for years & because I am overly excited at my big squidgy pack of Stylecraft Special DK thats coming in the post, along with a shiny new crochet hook. I have decided the first blanket I am going to make is going to be a copy of this pram blanket by Heather, but using the colours from Attic24's Granny Stripe

 

Right, off to wake Mr Bean up from his nap (whoops, left him to sleep a teeeny bit long as I got carried away with this)