My 2020 Blankets.... and Wintry Scenes

 Hello Lovelies, today I'm sharing two recently completed blankets....yay  :0)

2020 was the second consecutive year in which I made a temperature blanket. There's lots of info on this sort of project...and my first temperature blanket HERE. 

 This one was a Neat Ripple  which used the weekly high temperature to decide the broad band of colour (two rows)  and the weekly low temperature for the narrow (one row).

During the spring lockdown I ran out of some of the colours, so I supplemented them with colours I had left, so it's a bit off plan ....but I still love it.

The border was just colours I liked and had enough of left over too. It's three rounds of half double crochet and a final round of single crochet.

It's a big blanket so a narrow border was all I felt it needed to create a nice, finished look.

Here it is looking pretty in the winter sunshine.

It is certainly a generously sized blanket, but lovely and soft and not at all heavy. I'm really happy with the way this 2020 temperature blanket turned out.

My second blanket, stared last summer, was this "happy Scrappy" blanket, as I've called it. 

I had quiet a few granny squares in my stash. Projects I had started but which were then abandoned.

To make the blanket I used up odds and ends of yarn (colours I didn't need for my temperature blanket) to make them into bigger squares, which I then joined using the muted purple shade, grape. As always these days, the yarn is Stylecraft special DK.

I did a nice wide border on this blanket as it's not that big and I think this sort of crochet granny square project suits a wide border.

Another very useable, and already in use project complete :0)

 It's great working the final rounds of crochet blankets in winter. Such comforting warmth and soothing rhythms as you hook away on dark evenings.  Not to mention the colour therapy :0)

I also think this sort of project shows you don't have to stress too much over colour combinations. Use enough happy colours and you will get a happy result.

 💗💙💚💛💜

The countryside is looking far from colourful here at the moment. But thankfully it's not grey either. It's covered in a beautiful white blanket of snow. 

This is the most snow we have had in a few years and a joy to behold.

I love the way it's stuck to the trees

And makes everyday views look magical.

I took extra large bird food rations with me on yesterday's walk and the churchyard birds certainly seemed to appreciate it.

My favourite church was Christmas card pretty.

And so were the surrounding fields.

Here a flock of Fieldfare had found some food  where the snow was thin.

And the crab apple tree was providing a tasty meal for this blackbird.

Sheep, unable to reach the covered grass were well looked after by the farmer.

And blue skies made the distant hills glisten.

It was pretty tricky underfoot in parts, especially on tarmac.

So I was sensible and made my way gingerly home after an hour's exploration. Home to Daffodils and a cream tea ...with home made scones:0)

Also at home I've been enjoying making these miniature houses. They are making me smile and proving a great lockdown distraction. They seem to be very popular with my Instagram followers too, so I'm currently working on a photo tutorial.

 I like the idea that you lovelies can distract yourselves with a bit of fun crochet too. I think that's especially needed if you are in a part of the world where you are being encouraged to stay home to reduce the virus cases, as we are. 

Stay safe everybody. I do hope this post has made you smile.....I'll be back with that pattern soon.

Jacquie x

New Year :: New Hope

Hello Lovelies, we are having some properly cold weather here at the moment. The frost has not melted all day today. It is pretty but I do worry chilly temperatures will help the virus to spread.

 Also I'm a bit miffed we didn't get a cold snap like this last January, when I was starting my 2020 temperature blanket. I use lilac and purple colours for negative degrees Celsius and they are so pretty. At least it's seasonal this year...the weather is behaving as it should, even if nothing else is. 

On New Years Eve it was so cold that I wasn't keen to go out in the garden and join Eldest's fire celebration. But in the end it was really lovely and not cold at all, sitting by the heat of the fire. He also cooked some Haloumi on the flames using a battered old frying pan....it tasted soooooo good.

Middle son saw me trying to get a half decent moon photo through the thin cloud. He set up my tripod and managed this, which I was impressed with considering the mist...and smoke :0)

 Four days into the new year it was announced we needed another lockdown here in England....not surprising to me as I'm a little bit data obsessed regarding Covid. It's a morbid fascination and not a helpful habit, but I feel the need to know. I've lived a lockdown type life since I retired in the summer, well 99% of the time. Not been in a shop more than a handful of times, nor in anybody else's house or a pub/restaurant/café.

 It hasn't felt like a hardship...well except mum and I did enjoy our afternoon cafe visits pre pandemic. Last summer she would come and sit in our garden and I'd provide tea and homemade cake. But that's all off at the moment. 

 Day to day I do enjoy my slow days though. I've rediscovered a love of ironing....which I used to manage little of when the boys were growing up and I was working. Simple tasks like this are therapeutic, if you have the time 

And my tea towel drawer looks so nice :0)

Being home all the time it's nice to have different things for lunch, not a packed sandwich at work. This was the last of the posh cheese we had over Christmas, which I have attempted to make more healthy by adding fruit :0)

 Yesterday the kitchen (which has no radiator) was so cold I resorted to baking to warm it up a bit. Nothing healthy about this ginger cake....ooops :0)

But treats are allowed, right. Just look at this mixture. Yummy

I also finished off my homemade mince meat by making one final batch of mince pies. These have almost all gone already...they are so popular. Eldest said they were the best I had made this year. I squeezed in more filling to use it up....that's obviously the secret.

My walking is going really well at the moment...what with a new exciting challenge and all that. I'm somewhere between Penzance and Truro in Cornwall at the moment ( that's 27 miles in ) in my virtual LEJOG walk

It was rather muddy but sunny yesterday, despite the cold. 

A small win of lockdown is that there is no golf balls to dodge as all sport ( except elite) is banned.

So I can wander across the fairways in safety (it is a public footpath).

I've also been making myself some new mittens. They are made with two strands of yarn held together to make them nice and chunky.

And the right hand is specially modified for phone photography :0)

 Looks a bit odd but it's better than taking my glove on and off or just wearing wrist warmers, which make your fingers and thumb cold.

It's all pretty wintry out there right now, but these catkins caught my eye.

And the roads are quiet again, due to our stay at home order.

There's so much light in the woodlands.

It illuminates any remaining greenery.

Testing my balance. Suck in those abdominal muscles Jacquie!

Phew, made it. Time to clean my boots. 

Oh dear a wet foot.

My faithful old wellies had split...sad times.

Back home these pretty violas on my doorstep brought back a smile.

Oh and I see Amazon has been :0)

And indoors I'm on the edge of my temperature blanket. Ta dah to follow shortly...I hope.

Crochet and sticky ginger cake, the perfect reward for a chilly winter walk and a wet foot.

Recipe HERE....it's good!

I'm writing this post while admiring my Devon calendar....I'll be virtually walking there in a bit :0)....and we have dared to book an actual visit in September! It's a "cheap as chips" caravan mini break....but you have got to have something to look forward to I think. Got to have hope.

There's hope for my wellies too, as the husband has cleverly patched up two holes with bits of old inner tube and strong glue. I'm impressed and hope it lasts as they are old friends.

The main hope I wanted to mention in this post though was.....Mum (who's 90) has got a covid vaccination appointment very soon!!.....woo hoo!!

 That's seriously exciting and brings us so much hope for 2021. I know it's not the end of this whole scary saga....but it feels like a huge step in the right direction. Thank goodness.

Jacquie x