Crochet, Gardening and Summer...

I have on my crochet hook a rather large blanket, being made for my eldest son who is 6' 4"...so it needed to be big but as always I may have made it EXTRA BIG!

 14 balls of wool in I'm just waiting for a wooly delivery so I can crack on and get it ready for the Autumn

In the meantime I've started a granny square blanket using up a few of the odds n bods that I've accrued recently...

pretty, bright and girly

In garden news I've finally started on the pallet planting

Sunny summer ahead, plenty of time to sit back and just enjoy it all

Easter Crochet Blanket...

So named as I wanted it finished by the Easter Holidays!

This lovely, bright, totally bonkers little Loopy.

All the colours of the rainbow, thrown randomly into yarn and hooked into a super cute blanket.

I seriously can't think of a better way to spend a super sunny Spring morning than making progress on such a happy blanket...

My Sun Jellies bag also helps keep me motivated, I remember these bags the first time around...I had a white one that I used to take my swim stuff in to the local Lido

*sigh*

Happy Days

Another Epic Crochet 'Not Quite Right' moment...

Will I ever learn?

Not looking likely at this moment in time!

The 'Girly' blanket was coming along very nicely...all the squares where made, then put into cutesy 4x4 squares, which were then put into lovely rows...which in turn were put together {a bit slowly} and it was shaping up to be a super cosy blanket.
All set and ready for Christmas delivery.

But then I had a moment of clarity.
I had been making it an extra long blanket to fit my middle daughter, Lolly, who is almost 6' tall.
But what I hadn't really considered {well not even given a thought about} was that it was shaping up to be a very long thin blanket...not what I had envisaged or wanted.

So after a chat to Lolly we have decided to make it a double bed size, perfect for long legs to curl up with on the sofa!
Another 144 squares are needed to make this a blanket I will be happy to hand over.
68 are done and I am just waiting for Mr Postman to deliver the wool so I can complete the rest.  

Another blanket that has missed it's self imposed deadline.

Have I learnt my lesson?
Nope of course not!

A big bag of colourful yarn is sat waiting for an Easter blanket, for my youngest daughter Loopy.
Am I planning this one?  Well yes in a manner of speaking...
I plan to whack the stitches on the hook till it looks the right size, get hooking and just wing it!

***
edit to add
wool arrived and my hooky fingers are going bonkers!!
Show n Tell soon

Crochet Blanket almost there...

All the individual granny squares are almost done!

Finally the end is in sight...

Soon to be 200 pretty squares will soon {I hope} become a pretty blanket.

No pictures of them/it till it's all done and been gifted.

Sorry just in case my daughter {Lolly} passes by, unlikely but not impossible.

As we enter December I get distracted, thoughts of my youngest daughters birthday and Christmas are popping into my head.

Fighting for a place in the single cell that still seems to spark!

Birthday Bunting goes up on the night of the 1st ready for Loopy's birthday on the 2nd...

that marks the start of Christmas decorating and then I'm dreaming of pretty decorations

What seems like miles of paper chains are on the list, 

I've left it too late {again} to make them from felt...perhaps next year?!

But first the blanket!  

And a name for the blanket, I cannot give a blanket away without giving it a name!

***

I have an awful feeling I need to order more white to complete it, ack who am I kidding?  

Looking at it I KNOW I need to order more white...off to the Wool Warehouse I go.

Retro Caravan Craft Space...

I've made no secret that I would Love A Craft Space all of my own!

I have a lovely large family, but we have a regular sized house and there simply isn't enough room for all my bits and bobs.

I thought about a new shed down the garden but in my heart of hearts I knew what I really wanted was a little caravan!

As always I had no budget.  So I knew it would be a waiting game for the right little van to come along....

and along it came!

It was terribly expensive

a whole £10 was handed over in exchange for this

A 1992 {I think} Sprite

It was and still is in a right old state!

I've said it before but the 'I could do that' attitude has taken me on many a crafty/DIY venture.  

From papering the walls, ripping the tiles off the kitchen and re-tiling, endless painting, furniture restoration, crochet, baking, tiara making, sewing... 

the list is literally endless.

It had been used by a young lad working away from home and was full of fag ash, butts, filthy clothes and vile bedding.  The real cherry on the cake was the HUGE bottle of pee he had left in it.

Filthy after months on a building site...in all honesty it was tempting to leave it behind, cut my losses and run to the hills

But I didn't.

I set about clearing the piles of crap and in the process found £1.83 in change, 2 PS3 controllers and a pile of DVD's with a 2nd hand value of around £20!! Oh and a nice pair of Wrangler jeans that my son can wear for work.

Inside was, on the surface, ok-ish.  

Filthy dirty but loked quite sound...

oh how wrong could I be!

With a screwdriver, a hammer and a dream I've set about gutting the van out.  

Bonkett seating has gone, the sink and hob ripped out.  If it didn't unscrew the hammer took care of it.

I've left one seat to store the awning 

{haven't checked it yet but hopeful it will be ok}

and the washroom wall has been left so I can create a bit of a storage space for the ugly bits.

The carpet had it's own eco-system and also went to the dump.

So whats left to do?...

Deepest of Deep Breaths

It has damp, lots of damp and that will be the biggest challenge. 

This is taking me way, way, beyond my comfort zone or ability

again

You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet...

and looks like you have to almost destroy an old caravan to bring it back to glory

4 days into the project that's where I'm at.

The work will be slow, done when I can afford it.

The aim is to have it in the garden for Summer 2015...but we'll wait and see!

Progress on the blanket...

I like to name my makes, call me quirky but it makes them more a part of the family.

So far, touch wood, this blanket is moving along nicely the pile of squares is growing at a surprising pace...

but it has no name and that simply wont do.

It is taking up my spare moments.

I don't like to crochet outside the house, I've tried it a couple of times and people seem to assume I know what I'm doing...which in all honesty I don't feel I do.  

That or I feel they think I'm simply showing off...which I'm definitely NOT

Back to the blanket.

I am this time weaving the ends in as I go, I make 20 or so squares and weave those ends in.  I'm hoping it will make the final making up process more enjoyable.  

It makes the actual square making a tiny tad slower but it's also nice to take a break from the nifty crochet of making them!

Each square is measuring 4" x 4" so to make it a nice BIG comfy size I'm thinking I'll need between 180/200 in total..
90 down...90 to go!

Hello my luvvy's...

Oh how my nieces blanket has been a labour of 

LOVE

My first and nearly almost my last granny sqaure blanket...all those ends to sew in!!

150 squares each with 4 colours...

But it has all been worth the effort

for the finished blanket is hopefully going to be well loved and much used by my niece L's.

It has been a project on the go for almost a year, despite several pokes I struggled to get the mojo to keep on after I put what I had together December 13 and realised it wasn't as big as I wanted it to be.

 

So more wool was ordered and when I found out that L's was off to UNI then it was the push I needed!!

So I finished it just in time for her to take with her on her BIG adventure to UNI.
Big enough to snuggle under on the sofa and just right to lay over a single size bed!

But what's that I hear you say?
*has she gone mad there's no photo?*
No you're tight I didn't get a photo of it finished!
I know, I know, I totally suck at before and after photos...
I wish I didn't but I do so lets not say too much more about it and move on...
please!

Onwards and upwards then
I have been busy.

Baskets have been sprayed, furniture painted, a cloth doll or two has been made and I have started another blanket!

Slowly I need to work my way through my requests list for blankets, with 6 kiddos it may take some time though.

The new blanket is for my #3 Lolly.
Colour choice is hers

 to tie in with the colours in her room
the Ercol chair

standard lamp/shade

 pretty shelf

Inspiration for the squares from an amazing new to me blog 
Color and Cream

This time I will learn to sew the ends in as I go!

I think it may just be my new blog crush...

Raspberry Ripples Crochet...

Behind my front door my little fingers spent March busily crocheting away in a blurry fury to finish off the pink stripe blanket!
{now known to me as the Raspberry Ripple}

And finish it in time for the birthday I did!!

It is once again just so much nicer than I had hoped...

I was still busy on the morning of the birthday, adding the finishing touches of pom pom trim to the sides.

I didn't follow a pattern in the end for the pom poms just used my brain

(and surprisingly it all came out very nicely in the end).

What else, what else?

That has been it for March, most, no all my time was spent with the pink blanket which grew and grew!

I must, must, must finish the Christmas blanket though, once that is upon the lap of its recipient then I can concentrate on other little follies!

This week I will mostly be

 ...making blankets,

Hooky fun

This one is new on the hook...

for my eldest Abba

Stylecraft Value yarn from The Wool Warehouse
I ordered 12 balls but as usual it's turning out bigger than I initially planned in my head and I don't think it can be done in 12...but we'll see

I'm hoping I've still got the fabric on the tin stashed away somewhere, I think  it would make a few nice cushion covers for her?

The other blanket I'm working on is the one for my niece, L's,

it was meant to be a Crimbo present but it simply wasn't big enough...

She might have been happy with a lap blanket but I wanted it big enough for her to snuggle under when she goes away to uni.

And that's it, this is what I have been up to and what I will be up to this weekend!

**Happy Weekending**

Happy Post...

Don't you just love it when Mr Posty knocks on your door with a parcel or two?

I do...especially when he knocks on more than one day!!

My pattern for Loopy's dress has arrived, quick delivery from France...

But let me show you the envelope it came in...

pretty cool right?

Made from a recycled map of Germany.

But that wasn't all...

Another really quick delivery, this time cotton yarn...

I'm looking to make a few make up/toner pads and possibly a wash cloth or two depending on how much yarn the pads eat up.

Then joy of joy extra, super fast delivery from The Wool Warehouse {literally free overnight delivery!} to finish off one of the blankets that I have on the go and also another that may just have slipped its way onto my hook.

*insert Happy Dance*

Oh what a week, Mollies Makes, Yarn deliveries, sewing plans coming to fruition and pom pom making...

*sigh*

Oh and I may have baked cakes as well...

I may also have eaten one before the kiddos came home...

*Fat Cat Sigh*

WIP or Simply Unfinished?...

Tell me what do you see?

When you spot unfinished 'things' loitering around.

Are they works in progress?  

How do you class your works in progress?  If it carries over into a new year does it still count as a WIP?  Can WIP last for years!?

Or

Are they unfinished projects, unfinished business?  

Do you shut them away from your eyes or do you brazen it out ignoring their half naked state?

When does the time come to cut your losses?

Does there come a time to admit defeat?

I have two blankets on the go from last year.  One was is a Crimbo gift the other a house warming gift...BOTH are way overdue.

Both will be gratefully/happily received and I'm sure loved. 

Both will be completed because I have promised them to be so. 

I am just curious as to how others see those inevitable piles of yarn or fabric 

{or whatever your crafting weakness may be}

***