Todays Photos

Hello, I must say a BIG THANK YOU for all your lovely comments about my bag.It made my day,you lot are so kind!

Today was busy in the BM household,but I managed to sneak a few minutes to capture gorgeous things that caught my eye.
I always carry my little Cannon IXUS with me and I think it's a pretty amazing camera.
It's soooo nice to be able to take great macro shots like these taken in my garden this afternoon...........





My sea holly is a magnet for the bees at the moment,and they are so busy they don't even seem to notice my camera only a couple of inches away...........







Then ,this evening , I managed to capture a beautiful sunset .These images were taken from a moving car at about 9 pm..........





It seems so odd to think less than a decade ago I was using film,to take 24 photos and I then had to wait days to see the results!

Night Night
Jacquie x

Summer Stripe Handbag

Hello,
let's talk handbags.Not your designer type I'm afraid,they're not really me.
This was my winter handbag.......


I found this crochet beauty in a charity shop and I love it's colourful stripes.The gorgeous Russian doll keyring can be found here.

It's not very big ,which is just fine in winter,but come summer and family days out a larger bag is required.It also needs to be sturdy,as it gets a lot of wear and tear,carrying heavy drinks,lotions and miscellaneous junk the boys pick up!
This is the bag I've been using for the past couple of summers....




It's very practical,big enough,lined,it's got an inner pocket and a zip for security.But it must be said it is looking a little shabby and I am bored with it...



So I decided to give it a crochet make over. I made a chain just a little narrower than the width of my bag( because I wanted to make sure the cover wasn't too baggy)......


Then did a half double crochet( U.S.term) in each chain.3 HDC in the last chain,and 1HDC in the opposite side of the chains ,back to the other end.2 further HDC in last chain.Slip stitch to join.This is the base of the cover.



Then its just chain 2 ( counts as first HDC)and HDC in each HDC of previous row.Slip stitch to join at end of row. I made my stripes varying widths to add interest.
Here it is at the park on Sunday....


Once it was deep enough I simply slipped my bag inside the cover and sewed it to the top edge.
And here's the finished result.........



That's better! I know it's a sort of a cheat,making a cover for a ready made bag .But this way I get a sturdy bag which looks pretty. I didn't go out and buy any yarn.I used cotton and some crepe from my stash,and my old bag gets a new lease of life.Here it is being modeled so you can get an idea of size.....




Right,I'm off the the shop with my new bag to test it out... Any excuse !!
See you soon
Jacquie x

Summery Stripes

Hello,
The weather here has been super hot these last few days.Just hope there is some good weather left for the school holidays,which don't start for another 2 weeks.

I do like hot weather ,but it's not ideal for crocheting a big wolly blanket.
My GSB is stalled at 52 stripes as I can't bear to work on it in these temperatures.Here is a picture of it hanging on the washing line at 8.30 this morning ,when my garden thermometer said 33 degrees C.



Don't worry GSB,I still love you !

I can't be without a little project on the go so I've started a this.....



Some pretty,summery,cotton and crepe stripes.
I'm using yarn from my stash and I'm so pleased with how this is coming along....



I'll tell you lovlies more next week,swimming lesson time now .
Jacquie x
Do pop back next week

A day out and some simple crochet

Yesterday was an INSET ( teacher training) day at my boys school so we decided to go to a local Country Park. Do you have these where you live ? I am very fond of this park as it's size means in never feels too crowded and it's a lot more natural than a traditional park.........



As you can see there are well maintained paths for walking and bike riding,as well as plenty of open areas of grass ( like where the boys played football in last weeks post).There is a traditional play park which they loved when they were younger.

I love the wild flowers and areas where the grass is left to grow.....




Isn't summer great !


The lake was also looking especially beautiful on such a perfect summer day,notice the pretty scuddy clouds............



Here comes a family of swans to see if we brought bread.......



The cygnets are growing up fast......



Foolishly I forgot to take any crochet with me on this trip. There's always so much else to remember like Bikes,drinks,hats,suncream,picnic blanket etc.etc.

So while the boys were off riding their bikes ,I took some photos of a little crochet I did last year.....


Can you tell what it is yet ?

It's a case for my sunglasses........



This was so simple to make and so practical.

I used 2 strands of yarn held together and a 6mm hook. This gives a stiffer, more padded result.

All you do is make a chain as wide as you want your case, Then single crochet (U.S. term)in second chain from hook,and each chain . At end of each row chain 1 and turn. repeat rows of s.c. till you have a long enough rectangle for two sides and a flap.
Sew or slip stitch the sides closed .

I lined mine to prevent the glasses catching on the yarn. I also added an oversize button and a chain loop closure.
Mine has already seen lots of use and seems to be holding up really well.

I suppose this would made a great portable crochet project for holidays and days out.
Happy Hooking
Jacquie x

Back to Reality

Hello,
Well after after my brief spot in the limelight on Friday, a quiet weekend was a great way to bring me back down to earth.
I had time to admire the flowers in the garden.My Lillies are stunning at the moment...



I'm loving these pretty yellow flowers that I've forgotten the name of ....



Best of all ,there are enough Sweet peas for a pretty posy........



There was also edible goodness from the garden.Enough strawberries to sprinkle on my cereal.........


Yummy indeed. We also dug up some potatoes to enjoy with Sunday lunch.


My boys spent many hours playing with these..........


It's great when the traditional toys get an outing.


I also managed to finish my cushions. It was such a great time saver to attach my crochet to ready made cushions .I'm liking the finished effect now.
Here's number 2...




Looking pretty with my patchwork and hexagon cushion .Don't forget there's a link to the tutorial for my hexagon motif in my sidebar.


Here are both cushions ............


Thankyou for all your lovely comments about these in my previous post.It's nice to have a summery co-ordinated look for my conservatory sofa.
Have a great week
Jacquie x

An Amazing Day

Hello, well yesterday turned out to be a totally special day .
It did not involve the family.
It did not involve any craft activity.Nor any shopping or travel,but it will stay in my memory for many years.
I wasn't planning to blog about this as there are many areas of our daily lives we never mention here.But it turned out to be such a great day I just had to give it a mention.
Back in January one of our bosses at work announced his plan to stage a concert to raise money for a teenage cancer unit at our local hospital.
This received a mixed response!! However it was such a good cause we couldn't really say no.

Many rehearsals later we had a pretty decent version of this....
( if you're not familiar with this song ,keep watching....it gets better)......





....to add to the line-up of dance routines,comedy ,singing etc.

Well I'm glad to say all went well.I'm not a natural performer but it was not too daunting to be in a big group.The lighting meant you couldn't even see the 600+ audience.

Here's me in my habit,trying not to look nervous.....



I don't think I will be getting up on the stage again any time soon ,but sharing all our nerves made it an an amazing team building event.And a great buzz when it was over.Not to mention the £6,000 raised for such a good cause.
Jacquie x

Crochet Cushion

Hello,
Hope you are enjoying the fabulous long,sunny days we have at the moment.
Here are some pictures taken on Monday evening ,whilst at the park.
It was about 7 o'clock and still blissfully warm.........


The boys enjoyed a kick around in the clover ,and I did a little hooking............


Then the goalie decided to play around with my camera and snap a few close ups of flowers.........



I'm loving the wonky ones with his brothers blurry legs in the background.

Fast forward to today and while the boys are at school I've been trying to finish my cushion. I'm actually making two as I thought a pair would be nice .
To speed things up (and cheat a little ) I picked these cushions up in my local charity shop.........


I'm going to attach my crochet to the front,I'm leaving the original crochet underneath as the edging goes really well with my colours.Here is the first one pinned in place.........



Ummmm, not sure about this now.What do you think?
Jacquie x