Sail Away Crochet Progress

Hello Lovelies, It's been a drippy wet day today. Not good when you have to venture outside but actually rather lovely crafting weather. I've been sat in my conservatory listening to the sound of rain on the roof and playing with all my favorite making bits and bobs.
Last week I was on Flickr when I saw THIS cute make by the lovely Sue. Isn't it great. A sweet little sailing boat.Oooooh.... I immediately wanted to have a go at  making my own version. A seasidey , crochet decoration how lovely :0)
 I picked up my sketch pad first and sketched some ideas. How did I want my version to look ? ummm , maybe I could add a shiny sun, yes that's something I always like to see at the seaside!
What else? I sketched away , trying out ideas as they popped into my mind.Maybe a lighthouse, or a life ring?

Well, as you can see in the end I decided to go with three differently coloured boats and a shiny sun ( I'm particularly pleased with how that turned out ) .........

Ooooh , I couldn't resist making several boats in different colours. It's a very simple pattern and I've taken lots of photos  to make a detailed step by step tutorial for you lovelies in case you too would like a crochet boat or two :0)

Mine are going to hang one above another under the sun. Today I've been doing the really fun bit....adding embellishments. I though they would benefit from just a little more detail so I added buttons to the hull...they are supposed to look like portholes .........

These are buttons salvaged from worn out school shirts. They also appeared here.

Ummmm, looking better I thought but possibly  still a bit plain. I know, felt......I've combined crochet and felt on may occasions . I love working with this fabric , it's so user friendly. On this occasion I simply cut out some hearts and attached them with a running stitch to the sails of my little flotilla........

I did venture out in the rain this afternoon , to get important supplies like this............

Ooooooh , I've really enjoyed playing with these simple plastic beads, mixing them with ones from my stash to add even more prettiness........

 And I have now finished my decoration . I immediately got out a hammer and popped a nail in the wall for it to hang on , I couldn't wait to see what it looked like hanging up . I'm really pleased with this how this  crochet make turned out. It was such fun to design but the light isn't great for a ta- dah so I'll leave that till the tutorial is ready and I can get some better shots ....sorry about that.

Instead would you like a tour of a rather damp garden ? When the rain eased I grabbed my camera and got up close to some of the plants which look even better when wet.........


Here's one that appeared on my blog last year.....what an amazing colour..........

sweet tiny saxifrage

Another bright pink , I only bought this old favourite recently.......hope it thrives.........

Elephant's ears....Bergina

These are also tiny , I love the way the droplets are sitting in this  interesting foliage.......

Oxalis Leaves

This plant continues to thrive . I love its mixed pink and purple blooms that flower for months......

Lungwort....Pulmonaria

Stunning zingy green brightens a shady spot.........

Euphorbia

So glad to see this beauty return..........

Bleeding Heart....Dicentra

Gorgeous raindrops.....

Allium Leaves

Flowers filled with water..........

Euphorbia Fireglow

Another bright green so welcome on a rainy day.........

Oops, can't think at the moment 

Lets hope all this rain helps a bit with the drought we have in most parts of the U.K. at the moment.
Hope the rest of your week goes well.
Jacquie x