I Love Cardigans

When I see a woman sashaying down the street wearing a beautiful jacket, I always think how elegant she looks. Why do I not look like that when I wear a jacket? I've tried wearing them, even casual, unstructured jackets, but I always feel restricted in some way. Of course, I have to wear a jacket on certain occasions but, for me, a cardigan is much more comfortable.

Here's a dress I bought in the summer (what summer?) and, because we didn't have much of a summer, I decided to make a cardigan to go with it. 

I love the little splash of coral at the back of the neck. It's on the inside so not visible when the dress is worn. It gave me an idea though! I compared the colour to yarn left over from my sister-in-law's bag and, joy abounding, it matched the deep coral perfectly.

There was about 50g of the deep coral cotton left from making the bag. I convinced myself that I was just using up some of my stash by making a cardigan but, needless to say, I had to buy another two skeins. It was worth it though!

The pattern is from Garnstudio (DROPS Design) with a few minor tweaks from me. Mine is shorter, for a start, and with only one button at the neck.

A close-up of the pattern. It was easy enough to make, starting from the top and working down.

I really enjoyed crocheting this, especially as it didn't take very long. I've worn it several times and it has been admired. In fact, one friend admired it so much that I made her one as well. For her's I used a very pale shade called white peach. Sorry, but I never thought to take a picture before I gave it to her.

You'll never guess what. Actually, you probably will guess. There's about 50g of the white peach cotton left over!

So, are you a jacket person or a cardigan person? As the title says, I love cardigans.

A Lap Blanket

Here's a little lap blanket I made recently. I used some left over Aran weight yarn and a 5mm hook to make this. The pink is 50% wool and 50% acrylic and the yellow is a Stylecraft 100% acrylic. The pattern for the motif was in a Simply Crochet magazine a few months ago.

Can you see where I ran out the yellow yarn and had to use pink?

Each motif was started with a yellow circle and then the pink flower part was done. So that's two motifs that just about cross the middle of the picture below. I joined the motifs as I made them. There was a hole left where four motifs were joined. Yes, the blanket is full of holes, but this was a considerably big hole! So I made the yellow flower/star to fill in the gaps.

I'm really pleased with the results and hope that whichever elderly resident of the Manor Nursing Home gets to use it will also be happy with it.

Thank you so much for the very encouraging comments about my St. Petersburg blanket. Well, I'd better hurry on as this is just a quick post to let you see what I've been crocheting. Bye for now.

St. Petersburg Blanket - Finito

The St. Petersburg blanket was started last May when we were on our Baltic cruise, which included a two day visit to St. Petersburg. There have been many breaks from crocheting this blanket but I've always loved to get back to it and do a bit more. Now, finally, it is finished. Ready to put on our king sized bed just in time for the cooler weather.

The first mention of my cotton blanket was in my very first post. The yarn I chose was Sirdar Cotton DK and used two balls of each of the colours Vanilla, Seersucker, Light Taupe, Toasted, Sundance, Honeysuckle, Tranquil, Bluebird, Sailor Blue, French Navy, Darling Bud, Hot Pink, Black Violet, Larkin and Cottonfield. The plan was to make 144 different 6" squares from the 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans book by Jan Eaton. I worked it all out in advance and drew up a chart with the number of each block and where it was to be placed. However, once I started crocheting, I quickly realised that I didn't like the mix of blocks worked round and round with blocks worked back and forth. So I changed to make all the blocks of the round and round type. Now there were also some of the blocks in the book that I just didn't like the look of so, in the end, I had to repeat some of the blocks but using different colours. I suppose it's a sort of sampler blanket.

Another thing that I changed in my plan was that I made the blanket with eleven rows of twelve squares rather than twelve by twelve.

The square below is called St. Petersburg. Well, I had to include it, didn't I? In fact, I crocheted it while we were docked in St. Petersburg! You can just spot a little bit of the border below the St. Petersburg square. I did eight rows of griddle stitch in different colours. Look at this post for an explanation of how to work griddle stitch.

Not all the colours were what I would call 'my colour' but, by using with other colours that I do like, each square really pleased me when it was finished.

The squares were all joined as-you-go which meant that, once the blanket got to about a third of it's final size, it was very heavy and hard to work with. By the time I was working on the last row I could hardly manage the joining! I'm not likely to do this again, but if I did, I would leave the joining to the end and crochet the squares together.

Please let me know what you think of my blanket; I hope you like it!

Here's a picture of our pet dog called Nonem. I tried to find one for my last post but couldn't. Then today, when I was looking for something else, I found this picture.

She looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but she's crazy.

Thanks, as always, for your lovely comments.
(For new readers, if you want to see why I say finito, have a look at this post).

Crocheted Bag Finito

First of all, thanks for the great comments on the garden and the wind chimes. I passed them on to the husband and he is well chuffed!

A while ago my brother asked me to crochet a bag for my sister-in-law's birthday, just like a bag I'd crocheted for myself. The details about the yarn I used are in my post about this commission, and also on winding the yarn and progress on making the bag here and here and here.

Well, the bag is finito. You can check back to read about why I say finito.

Here it is with the edges done and the handles attached. Also a wee tab for the button.

The colours of the bag really look well against the copper beech hedge!

The lining fabric matches so well, I think.

So this is the bag before being lined.

The lining fabric was cut to the right size and I added three pockets.

The bag sits better after being lined; you can barely notice any difference but it's just more substantial looking.

A bit more refined!

Open up to show the lining; two small pockets on one side ...

... and one bigger pocket on the other side.

It was my sister-in-law's birthday yesterday. She was really delighted with her new bag and especially with the colour scheme (which was chosen by my brother, not me).

I'm well pleased! I'm pleased to have been asked to make the bag, I enjoyed the making and I'm pleased that it was well received.

What do you think of it? I'd love to hear your comments.

Sow and Sew

Things have been so busy here but I did manage to see the solar eclipse last week. Sometimes the view was obscured by clouds; most of the time I was able to see it perfectly. It was a bit eerie when the sun was partially hidden!

Spring is the time for planting. We have sowed potatoes, beans, peas, carrots, parsnips, parsley, celery and onions. This year's garlic is growing well as it was planted at the end of last year. That's just for starters; there will be more planted as time goes on.

It's a sad thing to admit but I'm rather sew-averse. I'd much rather knit or crochet though I do love sewing by hand. Tapestry, cross-stitch and embroidery are fine - even hand quilting - but I don't really like sewing using a machine. In an attempt to motivate myself in the sewing department, I joined a patchwork quilt class. It was fun and I managed to make quite a few things, including two quilts. Unfortunately the class has now been closed and I find that the sewing apathy has returned. Before the end of the class I had started some quilted table mats. Last weekend I finally finished them! There are six of them, not all with the binding finished in this picture.

The arrangement of the blocks is different on each of the table mats and they each have a different variation of heart shaped quilting. You can just about see the hearts on this table mat.

The backing is the same on them all; a denim and cream gingham.

There is enough fabric left to make a bag but I'm not sure if I'll ever get round to it. I'm just so happy to have got these finished!

I hope you are all enjoying the Spring or Autumn, depending on where you are. All the best for now and thanks for all your lovely comments.

Shall We Dance?

Let me just say, right away, that I can't dance. I'm totally useless. But this isn't really about dancing as you'll see when you read on.

All you knitters and crocheters will know that it's inevitable that, no matter how hard you try, you eventually amass a bit of a yarn stash. In an attempt to use up some of my stash I decided to crochet a blanket. This was also something that I wanted to be able to work on in the car (as a passenger!) even when the journey was done during the hours of darkness. 

It had to be something simple so I settled on doing a Granny stripe. Since I was just using up scraps of yarn, although for some of the colours I had almost a full 100g ball, I didn't make the stripes any particular number of rows. In fact, some of the rows have a colour change at some point along it.

The crocheting was therapeutic. Row after row of three treble groups. I always counted; one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three ... My mind wandered and I thought how the counting was like the timing for a waltz. Then it wandered further; to one of my favourite musicals; The King and I. It has to be the one with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr, of course. Then I was singing to myself 'Shall we Dance?' and the blanket was henceforth known as the 'Shall we Dance?' blanket. When I started crocheting it, I had no intention of giving it a name!

Right, I'd better stop talking about it and let you see it. This is it spread over the mattress on a double bed. It gives you an idea of the size.

This is slightly better colour though not quite the full size.

The rest of the photos were taken outside to try and get the colours to show up well. First, draped over the sweet pea frame.

Now spread out a bit over the sweet pea frame. I'm sure by this stage the neighbours were  well and truly convinced of my insanity.

Here's a close up of the border.

Spread over the summer seat.

Same again but from a different angle. Well, you know what it's like! You just keep taking photos.

Folded and sitting on the summer seat.

Then flipped over to show the other colours.

For something that was done just to use up left over yarn, and done mostly in the dark, I think it has turned out very well. In fact, I'm delighted with it. Really, really love it. Every time I catch a glimpse of it, it makes me smile.

The facts:

The blanket weighs 1.45 kg. That means it took fourteen and a half 100g balls. I actually had to buy six of those in order to have enough.

The yarn is mainly Stylecraft Special DK with some Robin DK so it is entirely made from acrylic yarn.

And look! This is all I had left. 

Let me hasten to add that this is not all that is left in my stash. It's all that is left of the yarn that was suitable for this blanket.

The blanket will soon be going to my son. That is who I crocheted it for because he wants to make his house more homely. He doesn't know yet that he's getting it; it will be a surprise. I hope he'll be pleased with it. After all, there's nothing more homely than a Granny striped blanket, is there?

Thanks for all the lovely comments you leave. Please let me know what you think of the blanket. Bye for now.

Simply Crochet-ed Socks Giveaway

Hello again. How are you all keeping? I hope you are all well. Thank you for your great comments that I have really enjoyed reading. I'd also like to welcome a few more followers.

Remember I crocheted the socks from Simply Crochet issue 26? I loved making them and I have loved wearing them. I made a pair for my sister too but that still hadn't got the sock making bug out of my system. Who could I crochet socks for? Who else would want a pair? Ah! I could crochet some socks for a giveaway. And that is what I did. I had some yarn left over from my own socks but I needed more. Not a problem as I just needed to visit my lovely local yarn shop. The problem was resisting buying lots of other yarn too!

Anyway, I set to crocheting three pairs of socks, one in each of the sizes given in the pattern.They are all done using the same colours but in different combinations. I tried to work out a way of knowing the size by the colour of the heels and toes. This is what I came up with:

• Strawberry red - small
• Mid brown - medium
• Lime green - large

Do you see what I did? S for strawberry and S for small. M for mid and M for medium (I know - not great but couldn't think of anything else!). L for lime and L for large. The yarn is roughly 50% wool and 50% acrylic. Most of the colours are Jarol Heritage and the rest are Stylecarft Luxury.

Would you like to see all the socks? Well here you are.

Small

Medium

Large

And here they are all together. A triumvirate of Simply Crochet-ed pairs of socks.

Now I mentioned a giveaway, didn't I? If you would like to win a pair of the socks then please leave a comment stating the size you'd like to win. Make sure you also leave a way for me to contact you should you be a winner. The names will be put in a hat and a winner drawn. Actually there will be three hats; a small socks hat, a medium socks hat and a large socks hat. So that means there will be three winners.

Here they are again in all their colourfulness.

By the way, here are the approximate measurements in case you aren't sure what size you would need. This is the length of the foot from heel to toe though they are quite stretchy.

• Small              8.5" or 21cm
• Medium          9"    or 22.5cm
• Large             9.5" or 24cm

The draw will be on Saturday the 28th of February 2015 so get commenting.

The Wild Atlantic Way

Thank you all for the very lovely, encouraging comments you have been leaving. I'm really pleased that so many of you like the way my coat is looking so far. I can't wait to get it finished but it is definitely a project that requires my full attention and therefore doesn't get worked on as often as I would like. A big welcome to some more new followers too. I hope you will continue to enjoy this little blog.

Are you wondering about the title of this post? Well, the husband and I recently headed off for a two night (good deal) break in a hotel near Sligo. And Sligo is on the coast of Ireland known as The Wild Atlantic Way.

This was what greeted us on the morning we were to leave. We were worried that we wouldn't be able to go at all but were determined to give it a go. The husband was driving so that made it a lot easier for me! I worked away at my blanket to try and take my mind off the awful conditions. Thankfully, once we had reached the main roads, driving wasn't too bad. The closer we got to Sligo the less snow there was to contend with.

The hotel we were staying in is between Sligo and Rosses Point so, before checking in, we drove out towards Rosses Point to see what it is like. Wild Atlantic could not be a more apt description. The wind was howling, making the waves crash against the shore. We parked in a car park overlooking the beach (well, that's what it said on the sign!) and watched, mesmerised by the force of the wind; it was making the car rock so I didn't even get out to take any photos; they're all taken from inside the car.

There's something I don't understand. The waves look very feeble in these photos! Maybe I just missed the worst of them.

There wasn't much snow apart from the little there was on the higher ground.

We retraced our journey back to the hotel and checked in. This was our room.

The bed was huge! That's my Country Living magazines left out for me to read. I managed to finish December's issue. I'm really behind with my reading.

Our main objective for this wee break was to chill out. Relax. Unwind. Do as little as possible. So we made our way to the rather excellent leisure facilities and availed of the pool, sauna and steam room. These were probably the best I've ever used in any hotel.

The stormy weather was getting worse. The wind was blowing the rain horizontally. There was even lightning. We were so glad that our deal included free dinner in the hotel! For starters, the husband had Assiette of Claire Island Salmon and Crayfish Tails ... 

... and I had Spiced Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup. Both were delectable.

Usually when we eat out, the husband and I don't pick the same main course. On this occasion, though, we both chose the Smoked Rack & Shoulder of Ballinasloe Lamb.

We were both very impressed with this dish. Here's how it is described on the menu: Heather and turf smoked rack of lamb paired with polenta and herb crusted pressed lamb shoulder, smoked garlic and potato puree, minted lamb jus and a sheep dip whiskey jelly. The smoked rack of lamb really tasted of heather and turf. Totally amazing. The only bit neither of us liked was the sheep dip whiskey jelly!

The most important part of any meal is the dessert. Well, isn't it? My choice was calorie free* coconut panna cotta served with caramelised pineapple, lime syrup and spiced biscuit crumb. It was exquisite.

The husband had White Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse. As you can see, he couldn't even wait long enough for me to take a picture before tucking in.

We wrapped it all up with a coffee and then went to do a spot more relaxing. The husband loves the pool so he went for another swim. I was happy enough to sit in the viewing area and crochet. Still listening to the wind rattling anything it was possible to rattle. At one point the power went off, leaving us all in darkness for a short time until the generator kicked in. 

The next day wasn't quite as stormy but it was bitterly cold. We spent some time in Sligo town, finishing with coffee in a Costa Coffee shop. Then we went for a bit of a scenic drive round the coast, stopping to take a few photos. The scenery is spectacular.

Rather than driving about all afternoon we went back to the hotel for more relaxing at the hotel spa followed by another lovely meal (not free this time). Of course I brought way too much yarn with me to do some crocheting. I managed to make a pair of fingerless gloves and another pair of the Simply Crochet socks. No pictures to prove it as they've already been given away.

Bye for now. Hopefully I'll have some more crafty progress to show you next time. I must apologise for never seeming to be able to keep up with all your lovely blogs. There never is enough time to read and comment on all your posts. But I'm trying.

* you guessed it - wishful thinking on my part.