Finishing Old Projects

Hello folks, it's been such a long time since I last blogged I thought I'd start again with the finished projects I had on the go at the start of the year.


I actually started this back in autumn last year, hooking the odd few rows here and there through the winter. I have shown this yarn before but as it was destined to be a gift for a friend in the southern hemisphere, as it took shape I could no longer show it to ensure it was a surprise. I had to wait impatiently until it reached it's destination in the now wintry southern hemisphere.

It's a Tunisian cowl, I've posted about the yarn and stitch before here. The stitch is a lace stitch and the pure merino yarn was so soft and squishy it was a real pleasure to make. As Tunisian crochet uses a long hook similar to a knitting needle it was made as a scarf and then joined before I finished it with a picot edging. This was my first attempt at Tunisian crochet and I was pleased with how it turned out, I hope it will help keep my friend cosy over the winter.

Back in February I showed the start of these cotton socks. I didn't know then that I wouldn't be crafting for so long or that I was overly optimistic about getting back to crochet and blogging at Easter. The pattern is Lemon Drops from Garn Studio and the socks are made using a cotton sock yarn from my stash and a 2mm hook.

The yarn makes the finished socks look quite different to the photo on the pattern as the pattern used a solid main colour and a contrast but I think I like it. Even though they don't look very summery they should be cool.

I found this pattern hard to follow to begin with and had to resort to the online video on the Garn Studio site, I'm still not sure if it was the pattern which was difficult to understand or my brain not working properly. I made the feet a little shorter to ensure a good fit for a small foot and I was really pleased when I finally finished them. They are now ready to be used inside a pair of wellies by my sister for dog walking through soggy fields and muddy woods. I finished them just as we got wonderfully hot sunny weather so they weren't needed until now. 


I'm now playing about with some lacy thread crochet and Paisley motifs again and hope to show you some soon.


Til next time.

Hx

Happy Easter

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a lovely long weekend. There hasn't been much crochet going on around here lately as I've been unwell for some weeks however last night I picked my hook up again and made some of these little egg cosies for breakfast time. They are from the book Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench and are so simple they were ideal while I don't feel up to anything more difficult. They are also perfect for using up odds and ends of leftover yarn in your stash, you know the ones, too small to really do anything with but you don't want to throw them away.

Easter is a very quiet affair for us this year as I haven't been able to do our usual activities and can't entertain, I hope to return to normal soon. In the meantime I wanted to with you all a Happy Easter and in these troubled times, a peaceful one too.

Happy Easter!

Hx

Half Term Treats

Hello there,

Isn't is lovely to feel Spring on it's way? Cold, frosty nights followed by bright, clear days, I love them. This week has been half term here so today I'd like to share some half term treats with you. It's been a little strange this year as the schools are off at different times so it was unusually quiet around here as the kids in this area have just started their half term today.

My first treat was hooking up some of these sweet little hearts for no other reason than they are so pretty, though I can use them to decorate the house as a nod to Valentine's Day too.

This is from a pattern in one of my favourite crochet books, 75 Lace Crochet Motifs and I used size 10 crochet cotton with a 2mm hook. If you fancy making some hearts too there are lots of gorgeous patterns about. I like this one which I think would be pretty worked in pink instead of red.


My second treat was this magazine, I couldn't resist the cheerful cover of primroses and the article on the gorgeous crocheted blankets by Amanda Perkins "Capturing a rainbow in wool".

I love the bright colours and Spring beauty running through the pages. If you haven't seen this magazine before it has articles about nature, the British countryside and crafts as well as food, just about everything I love. I enjoyed flicking through it while enjoying my next treat with a mug of tea.
 

Stem ginger biscuits. I used a shortbread recipe and added finely chopped preserved stem ginger. Making these little biscuits is almost too easy. We really like ginger so I used quite a bit in the biscuits. This is my recipe if you would like to try them.

175g plain flour
115g butter
60g caster sugar
2 pieces stem ginger, finely chopped
Extra sugar to sprinkle

Sieve flour into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Cube the butter and rub it into the flour and sugar to form a dough. Add in the chopped ginger., roll it out and then cut out rounds. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake until firm and lightly coloured, about 30 mins. Transfer to a cooling rack, sprinkle with sugar and store in an air tight tin, if they don't all disappear before they are cold that is!
 
Unfortunately our planned half term trip to Perthshire was cancelled when N came home with a nasty virus last weekend. After a couple of days of staying in bed (for him) and lots of exercise running up and down the stairs fetching drinks etc (for me), he was better in time for the sun coming out so we managed some time pottering in the garden in the sunshine which was lovely, I really appreciate the happiness in these moments of simple pleasure. The garden is really too waterlogged to do much so we contented ourselves with a tidy up before it got too cold again. There have been more bright days this week which have made it a joy to potter about and spend time crafting in good light. I've done more of my cross-stitch project and sticking to a theme of small projects here is a little peek of my newest project. Can you guess what I'm making from this small piece?

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while might recognise this yarn, it's the same one I used for the tunic I was making last year. I got all the way to the end then decided I didn't like it on me and unravelled it, making for hours of frogging. Do you ever finish something then change your mind and rip it all out again or it that just me?

I hope there are lovely Spring/Autumn days and holidays to enjoy where you are too.

Til next time,

Hx