Wednesday 13 July 2011

Giant granny progress and thrifty finds

Hello Lovelies,
Thank you for all your great comments about my giant granny. I'm up to 44 rounds now , here it is on the lawn this morning.....



I hope you are not getting fed up with seeing the progress shots . Sharing them here and on Flickr really helps me to maintain my enthusiasm now the rounds are getting looooong ......



Some of you lovelies have commented on ways to crochet over the ends and I have done this in the past but I don't like the way little bits of yarn start to appear after a while so I'm resigned to sewing them in at some stage...either at the end or maybe before if I'm feeling good.
To be honest there aren't really that many compared to a blanket made of small squares so I'm happy to do them at the end .....



While I was out in town today I was surprised and delighted to see these wonderful sheep . ...



Aren't they great . I love the yarny one in the picture above . Such a Bright knitted patchwork with stunning crochet and knitted flowers.
I think my favourite had to be this one made of raw cotton with a colourful knitted" waist coat " ......



I love that it's cheekily eating some flowers and I've just noticed it has a basket of flowers around its neck.
The one made of flowers behind it is gorgeous too. The little details were great . Like these crochet flowers on the fake grass :0).....



Along with admiring sheep and some mundane shopping I popped into a couple of charity shops and I was very happy to find this ....



Maybe these are not in vogue right now but I remember collecting the "lilliput lane " series of these little houses back in the eighties. We had a deep bay window in our little starter home and I loved arranging these on the window sill.......



They were very popular and quite expensive at the time. I used to get them as birthday and Christmas presents....



When we got a cat that liked to sharpen it's teeth on the chimneys (!?! )they began to look a little sorry for themselves and I got rid of them....

These are actually from the slightly smaller " Leonardo Collection" But the detail is  fantastic and I was very happy to find them. Even the backs are pretty....



And look what they cost ...



A bargain and even though they are not exactly the same as the ones I had they still feel very nostalgic . They remind me of  an exciting time in my life when I moved to a new part of the country , started my career and got married.

There were about eight of these ,all in pristine condition in the charity shop today ...I was rather tempted to buy them all but these three are my favourites and they are making me smile....


Hope your week is going well.
Jacquie x

34 comments:

  1. Those are amazing quirkey cute sheep, i love them,
    Love your lil houses too fab
    Karen x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha Jacquie, believe me: you will Never bore me with pictures of your beautiful, colorful, progressing and inspiring crochetprojects!

    Oh and the story of the little houses is wonderful, I love that kind of memories that come with thriftfinds.

    Love, Maaike

    ReplyDelete
  3. those sheep, tiny houses, and your giant blanket are all utterly awesome!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the funky sheep! And really liking the bright colours on your blanket - how big are you going to go?!! x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, have not long discovered your blog and love your crochet. Your blankie is wonderful! When I have tried to do giant grannies they end up all wavy and curly. I must be doing something wrong!
    Janet
    x

    ReplyDelete
  6. I will never tire of the big granny blanket progress shots - the colours are fab, I love it!
    And the houses are too cute - what a lovely find :o)
    Jones x

    ReplyDelete
  7. They are just lovely, and three is a great number to have. Love the blanket, it is looking fantastic.
    Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lordie you were lucky .... our CS has a collection in the window priced from £15 - £30 each!!! Love the sheep too x

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm never tired of seeing crochet progress. It encourages me with mine. :)
    Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your blanket looks lovely laid out on the grass.

    I love the sheep made from flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi my friend, the cover looks very good trinkets into the hands of a great health blog, I'm watching you and loves you to discuss added to your favorites ..

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love your blanket AND your progress shots, think I'll have to start one to use up all my odds and ends. Those houses are so pretty, I remember when I used to buy the Leonardo collection animals that were dressed up, I'll have to get them out and display them again. Thanks for reminding me about them!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nope, I'm not going to get tired of granny-in-progress shots - the bigger she gets the more beautiful she becomes...(feeling for you on the ends business though)...

    ReplyDelete
  14. The rug is so pretty... do you crochet in the car?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your granny square blanket is lookin beautiful...

    ReplyDelete
  16. The sheep are wonderful. I want the knitted one in my room. I've got a couple of the cottages, they are very cute aren't they. xx

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your granny round is so wonderful. How do you choose the colors?
    Those sheep are so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I bags living in the thatched cottage.........they are so sweet Jacquie.

    My mum and sister used to have a couple years ago, they were very popular .....and expensive!!

    Your rug is looking amazing, so cheery........I must get back into mine. Have just bought some more wool, unfortunately the dye lot and colour no. are slightly different, but it was either that or it would remain a UFO for ever after.

    Love the sheep too, what a hoot. I can imagine them having cute little lambs.......

    Claire :}

    ReplyDelete
  19. The blanket it really so pretty. I love the bright colours.
    A x

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi there! I love love love the colors!!!! And will start one of my own soon. In the meantime I have started granny covers for my stools from bits of left over yarn.

    Can't wait to see your completed blanket. :)

    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  21. Beautiful work Jacquie and I love those amazing sheep...their colours and textures are fabulous
    and such great finds there too...I wish I could come shopping with you!
    Hope you have a lovely weekend ahead,
    Susan x

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great sheep and finds! Loving the blanket progress too :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Those sheep are brilliant and I love your giant granny blanket.
    I remember collecting those little cottages years ago too

    ReplyDelete
  24. Those little houses are beyond adorable! I would like to live in one! I'm a sucker for the "cottage look". My last house had a white picket fence and was rather cottage-y and I miss it dearly! And those sheep! Now why doesn't our scavenger hunt have a sheep theme for the month? Wouldn't THOSE be the "bee's knees"?!?!? I love your favorite...beautiful and clever! x&o, Annette

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oops, I "posted" my comment before mentioning your blanket! Wow! That's gorgeous! And I BET the rounds are long now! I'm doing a pillow backing and I'm bored with each side at round 10 or so...can't even imagine what you're experiencing! But good for you for sticking with it because it's GORGEOUS!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your granny is looking fabulous!
    So colourful!
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh WOW, i love those sheep....i would love one to put in my front room...........
    Pixie :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Those sheep are so fun! What a neat thing to come across.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Love your crochet and the sheep, but I adore the little houses. I have a collection of "Dicken's Village" houses made by Dept 56 and I love the detail and how English they look. I actually have the original 7 houses. I need to put them up!
    Hugs, Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  30. I don't think i could ever get fed up of watching your gorgeous blanket grow ;-)) Keep the photo's coming please. Love those sheep how fun are they ;-)) dee x

    ReplyDelete
  31. Jacquie you granny looks so nice. I just want to lay on it on the grass. Keep the photos coming!!!
    xo Susan

    ReplyDelete
  32. Oh Jacquie, your giant granny is gorgeous! (Now there's a phrase I never thought I'd say) And the sheep are fantastic. Was it part of yarn-bombing day, or do you just live in a wonderful yarny town? :)
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  33. Wow that granny has grown! I'm feeling really guilty now that my paltry 20 rounds are sitting on the sofa, neglected, whilst I'm messing around on the computer! I have a Lilliput Lane collection from the 90s, I could never bear to part with them!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Oh, I love those sheep! How colourful and cute! :) And seeing your photos of the house reminded me of the Lilliput Lane houses I used to have many years ago. I'd forgotten just how charming they were!

    ReplyDelete

I always love to hear from you , thank you for taking the time to leave a message.