Yarny Distractions

Hello Lovelies,
Firstly let me say a BIG thank you for all you vintage granny love...you are so kind :0)
I must say I'm totally in love with that blanket...every time I catch a glimpse of it on the back of the chair I have to smile.

As I'm sure you are well aware crocheting and blogging , not to mention reading lots of lovely blogs can become a rather time consuming pastime.Other day to day jobs  ...like the housework ...can tend to slide!
Inspired by Lucy I've been making an effort to tackle some of the clutter and dust that has magically appeared in our home.
Instead of an hour a day (not practical as I'm at work for 3 days a week) I've been spending the whole day , Friday, tackling a specific room. I've worked wonders in the boys bedrooms the last couple of Fridays. Tons of stuff has been donated or binned . My hoover has been working overtime and the boys have been impressed with the results.
This week I had written "dining room" on my calendar. This is a high clutter area as it doubles as a craft space for both the boys and myself.


Things did not go to plan .Sorting through my wips I became rather distracted. I discovered long forgotten experiments and began day dreaming :0)
One thing I did finish was my rag rug...well I just finished off the last ball of t.shirt yarn I had and tucked in the ends. Ta-dah....

This was going to be a lot bigger but it had started to curl up a bit a so I've decided it's a good size to go in front of my sink.One less ufo :0)
Another distraction came when the postman delivered some yarn I had ordered earlier this week .....

Ummm yummy style craft special DK.
I ordered ...top row L-R fondant, turquoise,lipstick. Bottom row L-R pomegranate,plum,meadow and lavender.
I haven't ordered pomegranate or fondant before and I was pleased with my choice. Ordering yarn on line can be a bit of a mine field don't you think ? The colours on your monitor can be very misleading . Style craft does have some rather garish colours as I found out when I ordered bright green earlier this year...

yikes !!

I have quite a collection of stylecraft colours nowadays .It's very soft and lovely to work with so it has quickly become a favourite of mine .
I'm pretty bad at keeping the bands from the balls of yarn so remembering which colours are which to re order is tricky.

I liked Sarah's method of stapling a sample of yarn to the band (see bottom of this post ) but then I thought of attaching all the colors to one piece of card...like I used to do with the embroidery threads in my cross stitch days. This is what I ended up with....

I love it :0) Now I should be able to tell you lovelies which colours I've used with confidence and re ordering on line should be a doddle , that's the plan anyway ........

As you can see I was having a nice time playing with yarn and taking photos rather than tidying up !! ...

Right, must go and do some more jobs now . I just want to tell you lovelies I've decided to a tutorial on how I do granny squares as quite a few of you commented that your squares become twisted as you progress. I've taken the photos ... now I just need to find time to add the words !!

Have a great weekend
Jacquie x

"vintage" giant granny ta-dah

Hello Lovelies ,
today's a ta-dah day...my favourite:0)
I've just finished my second giant granny of 2011 and I'm pretty thrilled with the result. It's quite different to my first one . The colour choices I made were more subdued this time. I was hoping for a "vintage" look and I think I've achieved it....

I suppose it's my interpretation of vintage anyway :0)
There is no bright yellow or orange or pink in this blanket. Instead I've chosen grey and camel and brown  to contrast with the safer blues,pinks and greens. The brightest colour is a rich red which I think lifts the look.......

Most of the colours are stylecraft special double knitting .
For those of you who are interested the stylecraft colours I used are.........

pale rose and meadow (small balls on top)
cloud blue,camel,apricot,aster,soft peach (middle row L-R)
cream,raspberry,?lavender,grape,lemon and teal (bottom row L-R)
The other stylecraft colour I used was lipstick ( rich red )

As I wanted to include some rusty orange /brown and grey I used these from my stash. Sorry unknown origin but stylecraft do have similar colours .........

That's 18 colours in total

I wonder if anyone noticed my blanket now has a different border to this post . I wasn't happy with the pink picot edging so I pulled it back and went with my trusty double V edging in cream ( tutorial in my side bar)

Here it is  on my bed. It's not a bed blanket but I've got one of those :0)
This blanket is 56 rounds plus a border and weighs 800 grams. Which means it took 8 100 gram balls of yarn in total . At £1.50 a ball that's a bargain £12 for all this granny gorgeousness.
I started this blanket on the first of September so you can see it's quite a quick blanket to produce. I'm sure I could have completed it quicker if I hadn't been so busy. As I've said before granny squares are great projects to do when you don't feel like concentrating too much . They are so relaxing. Another bonus is the relatively small number of ends to sew in. Two for each row means 114 for the whole blanket...only takes an hour or so :0)

It measures 48 inches square and is ideal to use as a lap blanket. I love the soft drapeness of this pattern and the stylecraft yarn.
Though the colours are worked in a random order you might have noticed I've sometimes grouped darker or lighter colours and other times I've alternated light and darker shades. This was intentional as I prefer this effect. I've also  used the cream yarn quite a few times to add contrast and tie the "design" together. .....

I'm loving having this blanket draped over the back of a chair...just waiting to be snuggled under this winter :0)

I'm still having trouble commenting . I've noticed some of you lovelies are  having the same problem....lets hope they sort it out soon.
Hope your week has got off to a good start.
Jacquie x

Cozy Thoughts

Hello Lovelies,
this weekend it really feels like Autumn has arrived and I'm embracing the new season .I'm looking forward to all the good things about this time of year like bracing walks outdoors, cozying  up indoors and getting to wear my new boots :0)
Yesterday was wet and cool. Prefect soup weather. I'm afraid I didn't make this one, but it tasted great anyway ..... Baxters red lentil and vegetable ....yummy.........

Whilst I was out with the boys yesterday morning my Country Living magazine had plopped through the letterbox and I enjoyed having a quick read as I ate my soup for lunch.........

Don't you love this cover, look there's even yarn on the tartan chair . All that's missing from this cover is a cozy fire :0).....

Inside I was delighted to find more yarny images . I love this shot ......there's my cozy fire , not to mention more yarn . This is  such a lovely image , don't you think? I had a little day dream that I had a log burner and invited my crafty friends round for a cozy making, chatting session ........

Back in the real world my crafty friends are scattered across the globe and we "meet up" via our little blogs. I do feel very blessed to have found you lovelies with your kind encouraging comments.I love to hear what you have been up to and I'm regularly inspired by your gorgeous makes .

The weather yesterday also seemed perfect for baking . I didn't have much time so some simple biscuits were chosen. Something I could let the boys help with without too much stress. .........

We made Anzac Biscuits and they were scrummy. Here is the recipe I use for these  oaty beauties .

125g plain flour
100g porridge oats
100g light brown sugar
50g  dessicated coconut
100g butter or margarine
1tbsp golden syrup or honey
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp boiling water

pre heat oven to gas3 / 170C
Sift flour into a mixing bowl .Add the oats,sugar and coconut. Mix thoroughly.
Melt the butter and golden syrup or honey. I do this in the microwave.
dissolve the bicarb in the boiling water then add to melted butter mix. It will foam up , this is normal.
Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.
Make balls of the mixture and spread out on the baking tray. I use baking parchment but you could just them put onto the greased tray.
Flatten the balls with the back of a fork.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes depending on your oven...best to check regularly after about 13 minutes to avoid burnt biscuits .
Leave to cool on tray for 10 minutes then cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight tin. The recipe I used says they will keep for up the 3 months...no chance of them lasting that long in our house :0)

Hope you are having a cozy weekend if it's grey outside where you are .
Jacquie x

Sewing in the ends

Hello Lovelies,
I'm back with a crochet post today...Hurray. My third blanket of 2011 is almost finished :0)
 I've been soldiering on in the recent heatwave ,completing the last few rounds of my "vintage" giant granny.
Yesterday was a work day. I didn't get home till 6.30pm and the cooler weather meant it felt so cozy to take my blanket into the bedroom to complete the border. At the end of a stressy day it was wonderful to enjoy a quiet cuppa watching the final of The Great British Bake Off ,snuggled up in bed with my hooky . It's the perfect relaxation for me .

Today the weather has turned so blustery and garden is covered in leaves......

A little thrifting, mingled in with the regular shopping this morning netted this lovely.....

It was reduced to £1.50 and I bought it for the pretty 100% cotton fabric which will be ideal for small sewing projects. It also has 7 cute glass buttons which are a bonus.........

Back home this afternoon I enjoyed sitting chatting with my Mum as the wind whistled in the chimney. I'm sewing in the ends now !! ..........

As you can see it's back to socks weather here and it was  lovely to cozy up under my blanket.......

Back soon with a ta- dah :0)

Thank you all for your continued wonderful comments. I'm still having troubles leaving comments on some blogs .
Also, I'm also still waiting to here back from you, Anne and Claire ,my giveaway winners . I hope you got my e.mail. If not leave a comment here and I'll try again :0)
Hope your week is going well.
Jacquie x

September Nature Notes

Hello lovelies,
here we are at my ninth nature notes post. It's hard to believe we are three quaters of the way through 2011 already!!

As usual I will start by sharing the monthly illustrations from this wonderful book .......

Ediths illustrations are just beautiful .Do click on these images to enlarge..........

I love the golden glow the low sun has cast on these photos of the books pages.There really is something special about the light at this time of year.

I couldn't find any September quotes in the book this month...so here is one I found elsewhere.....

"September, dries up ditches or breaks down bridges "

We have had a dry September this year. This poem is from the book and I thought a few of you lovelies might be interested in this as I think we all know the first line :0)

My own images from this month are mostly landscapes....

I was determined to get a picture of the hay bales this month . These huge round creations are SUCH a contrast to the Ediths illustuation of haymaking in her "September" painting. Modern farming methods have long since replaced the sights she came across 106 years ago.

By the second week of September most of the crops had been gathered in and farmers were out ploughing in readiness for the next crop, turning the landscape brown............

 Rather smelly manure was also spread liberally on these fields !!

The roadside verges were pretty devoid of flowers . Sun bleached tall grass was the most dominant feature.........

Along with thistles..........

By the end of the month the heat of summer had returned and the trees had begun their wonderful Autumn display..........

Some fields  used for grazing were very "blond" and looked amazing with the intensly blue skys we were blessed with........

Crab apples lay on the ground.......

And bees seemed very attracted to the ,as yet unopened, flower heads on the ivy.........

As I sit here in my sandals and sundress at the begining of October I wonder what this month will have in store for us after the record breaking begining to Autumn we have just enjoyed ??

Jacquie x

Indian Summer Colours ...and the WINNERS !

Hello Lovelies ,
Lets start with the winners of my crochet bowl giveaway :0)
One hundred and twelve of you put your names in down for this....WOW
To choose the three winners I got my boys to each pick a number between 1 and 112. They chose numbers 8,97and 105.
Which means Anne, Claire and Petunia pill, I'll be in touch very soon to find out where to send your prizes :0)

I seem to be struggling to squeeze in blogging time at the moment and I'm not really sure why. Five posts in September, that's not much at all for me. Hopefully things will start to quieten down a bit round here soon and I'll get more time to spend in my little corner of cyberspace.

The weather in these parts has indeed turned out to be exceptional this week. In fact yesterday reached 29 degrees Celsius...possibly a little too hot...don't really like to complain about warm weather but I had to hide from the sun yesterday.


Earlier in the week the weather was perfect. On Wednesday I managed to get out and enjoy the beautifully warm day. Perfect picture taking weather :0)
As soon as the boys were at school I went for a little walk and was delighted with all the wonderful colours to be found.......

Chinese Lanterns , what a perfect Autumn colour.
Virginia creeper turning red..........

A glimpse of Shumach at it's best in this cute cottage's front garden....

Falling leaves and looooong shadows :0).......

These wonderful berries I'm not familiar with but I love their colour...

Beech leaves....

and Oak Leaves ...

Later in the day ,whilst out shopping, I loved the colour of the strawberries in the sun....not so Autumnish but so photogenic and yummy :0)...

Plums are more seasonal.......

And at the end of the day , when the sun was really low in the sky, the golden light made the  bricks of this old building look such an AmaZing hot orangy brown....

It was wonderful to have chance to explore on such a lovely day and it's always wonderful to be able to share these images with you lovelies.

I am aware I haven't got round to doing my September nature notes post yet...that will follow very soon....hopefully .


Have a great weekend !
Jacquie x