Granny Square Blanket Ta Dah !!!!!!!!

Hello Lovelies ,
Well ,on the scorching day that we have had today I finally finished my Granny Square blanket. Those little squares have been at the top of this blog for ages now ( and I'm not planning on changing them yet ) ...indeed I started making them back in January inspired by a vintage blanket owned by my Mum...you can read all about that blanket here .
So , how did my version turn out ? Want to see ?

Then do come out side into the heat of the garden with me , here it is ........

Looking lovely draped over a chair .......

and here is the whole blanket.......

Do you like ? I must say I LOVE it :0)   I could look at this picture for AGES.
Yes I'm very happy with this little blanket. It's 36 inches by 50 inches.A great size for putting over your legs or draping over the back of a chair. My first completed blanket of 2011. Yay !!

Something else I'm loving is my new , old basket . I spied this beauty in a charity shop the other week . I had to have it as it's exactly the same as one I had for school cookery ( home economics ) lessons as a teenager......

And inside is.........

The vintage inspiration blanket :0)  Here they are together.........

Here you can see just how tiny the squares of the original blanket are .Isn't it stunning ...I think the amount of work that must have gone into this is mind boggling.

I'm very happy that the plum colour is so similar to the original.Something that differs is the border.Mine is a wide, colourful affair , of course influenced by the stunning creations of you know who :0) ...

It is made of seven of my favourite colours from the squares then a row of single crochet ( U.K. double ) followed by the same simple edging I made up for my granny stripe. That's simply  sc , sc , then (sc ,chain 3 ,sc) all in the same stitch ,repeat around.
Here are a couple more indoor shots ....just because ......

Thank you all so much for sharing this project with me ,I can't tell you how much it adds to the enjoyment I get from the creative process . Lets face it , crochet blankets are not that interesting to husbands and sons ( though the latter do make kind comments on occasion).Yes , being able to share all this with like minded souls is wonderfully encouraging...so thank you for reading and especially for all the lovely comments you so generously leave me :0) You are the best !

Hope you are coping with this heat if you are in the U.K. My computer is telling me it's warmer here than in Greece at the moment !
Jacquie x

P.S. thanks also to those who highlighted my method for getting a flat border is similar to this great tutorial. Do have a look :0)

Piles of Smiles

Hello Lovelies , hope you've had a good week . I'm so pleased to be able to say I haven't been tempted to stray from my blanket making . I thought the day would never come .....so many little projects so far this year. But I did say this blanket was not a quick one and I did love looking at my little  grannies , they are so cute don't you think?.....

This picture was taken on Monday when I decided to have a bit of a photo shoot for the little squares that were yet to get their plum border . It was great fun scattering them in the lawn......

Aren't they pretty close up .....

They look great scattered randomly...what about a little arranging...

It's not a pair of glasses..... as my youngest thought when he saw this picture :0)

It's the initials of my blog !! .....

I expect the neighbours think I'm completely bonkers if they saw me standing on a chair photographing crochet on my lawn , but hopefully they weren't looking :0)
I even like  all the pretty ends .....

As the week has gone on gradually all of these little fellas has gained a plum edge . I've got quick at this round ...it takes me four and a half minutes to complete one . But then there's the new plum ends. Here's what they looked like at 1pm today .........

Sorry about the fuzzy picture , it was dark and rainy...perfect crochet weather .
It took just over two hours to sew all these ends in securely . I've taken some photos of my method and I'll do a tutorial soon.
This is what they looked like after.....

Ahhh that's better . I've just got to sew them together now .

Did you notice July's Country Living at the top of this post ?I'm fortunate enough to have a subscription ..last years birthday prezzie . Here's a closer look at the cover isn't it lovely....just needs some crochet to be perfect don't you think......

 As it says on the cover , here's to some long lazy days this weekend                       

Jacquie x

My June Commute

Hello Lovelies,
Just though I'd share some pictures I took on my way to work this morning . It was beautiful and sunny first thing and I was sorry I was going to miss the day but the scent of the honeysuckle as I opened the front door at 7.30 was gorgeous .........

Another lovely surprise was a poppy that had opened up overnight .....

I've got loads of these in my front garden this year thanks to the second master BM who collected some seeds from a plant that was growing out of a crack in the pavement , he scattered them randomly and so many have come up I'm amazed  :0)

Once in the car I'm stuck by how beautiful the countryside is at the moment and while in one of the many queues of traffic I grab my camera and manage to take a  shot whilst stationary .......

I think the wild poppies growing in the rape seed fields (which have now lost their yellow flowers ) are the best I've seen ...I'm determined to get a closer look on my day off.

Once I arrived at work I still had a few minutes to spare before I had to say goodbye to the sunshine so I hooked a plum border or two in the car........

I think the day turned out showery so I guess I was lucky to be out and about first thing ...I do love the early morning light .

Right off to crochet more of my blanket ... I can't wait to show you my progress  :0)
Jacquie x

Sunny Sunday Crochet

Hello Lovelies ,

today I've been in a happy crochet place :0)........

Sitting on my bed sewing in a few ends on my latest hexagons, whilst admiring the lovely piles of grannies on my bedside table.
I didn't want to give up on the hexagon pattern as I really like it a lot . So I've made a few using the same yarn as I'm using for my granny squares....the ones you can see in my header and I've posted about here.

Ummmmm , I love these colours ..........

Here is the begining of the next few , I'm making these production line style instead of compleating one before starting on the next, it just seems easier when all the rounds differ....less mistakes ,hopefully !

So , somehow I now have two blankets , using the same colours , on the go at the same time. It'll be interesting to see which one gets finished first !!

Whilst I was working my way through a mountain of clean laundry to put away ( all line dried ..yay) the bright sun shining in on my youngests blanket made me very happy , and distracted me from one of my least favourite jobs :0)....

I made this back in 2009 using colours he chose . Since I posted this picture on Flickr I've altered it by removing the border (which tended to curl up ) and added some more rows so it fits nicely on the end of his bed. It has no border so I can easily make it bigger if I want . I really love this happy , sunny little blanket. There's something I find  brilliantly satisfying about a giant granny square ...........

well I hope you Lovelies liked this burst of colour, I'll leave you with some more  sunny goodness and wish you a happy week :0)

Jacquie x

Crochet Happies :0)

Hello lovelies,
Thank you all for your great comments on my last post. It was lovely to get such friendly , chatty feedback .
Today the sun was shining again and I couldn't resist spending a little time photographing my growing pile of granny square goodness, especially as my Irises were looking stunning too...............

 Flowers and colourful crochet ...is there anything better to take pictures of ( except of course your children when they are little , mine are not so little and not always keen to have their photo taken these days,even though they are still cute to me :0) )......

I'm loving these little squares very much . The yarn is mostly Cygnet , which I get at a ( bet you can guess!).......... local charity shop .It's double knitting weight according to the label but it's finer than most of the other brands I use , which makes it ideal for this project. ....

It's acrylic again. One day I will get to try some luxury wool yarn , but not this year. The colours of this yarn are lovely and it is soft with a nice sheen. so I'm happy to use it ..........

My slow blanket project is proving to be just that , I think I've only made 3 of these this week as I've been playing about with other ideas .......including another jar jacket...... but that's just how I like it :0)
Have a great weekend .
Jacquie x