Sun Breaks in the Clouds

Hello folks!  As you can see above we are in the thick of winter.  This photo was taken this morning as I wended my weary flu ridden body to the dairy (local corner store) to get milk and bread.  There were some breaks in the clouds and we had a short burst of sun.  Since then the weather has even got colder!  No snow here yet, that only happens once every 20 years or so.  But we have had some big hail storms.  Luckily, no damage.

I think I have broken the back of the flu and it will be better every day.  Sorry if I haven’t got around to you and visited, I have tried but my head was so foggy, I have given up for the time being, sometimes I looked, but my head couldn't cope with finding the words for comments.  Also I said that I would post a blog hop that Anna of Number Elva  passed on to me.  Sorry Anna I will try and do it next week.

Enough of the excuses and moans, I am feeling a lot better and have actually started to crochet again!  I suddenly realized that I have to get cracking on the baby blanket I am doing for a friends first granddaughter, It is due in a month and I want it to be well finished by then.  

So yesterday I got to and started to sew the squares together, I think it is going to be lovely.

This morning I started a doily – a simple one I found on Ravelry called appropriately enough Simple Pineapple Doily.  The link is http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sylvia-landman

I hope to have the doily finished by middle of the week.

I decided to use the colour yellow to make me think of sunny days to come and I thought it would be great to have on the bench where I keep my bowl of fruit, which at the moment is full of lemons from my lemon tree, great for my flu!  I have heaps enough for lemon curd and Preserved Moroccan Lemon. 

On my wander around the garden during one of the sun breaks, I spotted my first daffodils in flower, I normally try and leave them in the garden to give a lovely display and only pick when I have a surplus.  However I needed a bit of sunshine inside so I picked and these have had me smiling all afternoon despite the gloom and doom!

Anyway these pot marigolds are enough to keep the outside smiling and they can take whatever the weather throws at them!  

Thanks for visiting and have a smiley week.

Blanket WIP

This week I have been working on my (Japanese) flower garden blanket, it started out as a shawl, but I decided that it would make an awesome blanket.  It took me ages to work out the pattern as there are several variations of it on the web; in the end I used Lucy of Attic24’s photo.  I was a bit concerned that my petals were too full, and tried a smaller hook, as I am a loose crocheter.  However it still puckered!  Curious I tried different wool and it worked out flat.

(The light colours are really pale greens and lilac, I had to use a flash as the light is bad today.)

So it is the type of wool.  I prefer the raised 3D effect as it gives the blanket texture.   The wool is King Cole Riot Double Knitting, there is an amazing range and so far I am using 4 colour ways.  I might do some blue and teal and purple colours on the outer edges.  Leaves floating along in a stream!

It is such fun to make and very fast as I don’t have to decide what colours and so on for each motif.  Being a ‘join as you go’ project there has to be some thought to placement, but that’s not hard.

The colours make me think of the colours of autumn/winter and I found some photos of my garden I took a few weeks back.

Along the boundary, they really are next door’s trees, don’t you love borrowed landscapes!

Under the plum tree, I think I will have to move the cotoneaster as it will take over if given half a chance.

I also did some doilies this week but will leave that for another post.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful week everyone.

WIP an d Part 2 of Liebster Award

It has been a busy week, catching up on chores and such like.  But two things I have been working on is a bag made with some squares that I was going to use for a cotton blanket.  I changed my mind about that project for the time being as I don’t think I have enough of the ecru vintage cotton and the ivory is very expensive.  So here’s what I am going to do with the squares I have made. 

 I am trying to decide whether to have a gusset in ecru and have the strap carry on from it.  I am going to line it with the linen and back the strap with it as well.

The other two are traditional doilies for the door curtain I talked about last week.

Now for the second part of the Liebster Award.  Thank you Amanda of

http://amjaylou.blogspot.co.nz

Amanda’s 11 question:-
1. How many WIP's do you have at the moment?

Er……I started to list them but stopped when I needed a new page!!!

2. What are they?

I admit to 2 baby blankets, a mood blanket and a flower garden blanket.  2 scarfs, 1 shawl, 2 bags, numerous doilies, 3 mandalas, a hexagon quilt (I admit some haven’t been touched for months, I have a scatterbrain mind, I see something and want to do it and then abandon the project I am working on, especially the big ones.)  They will get done, as I made myself a new rule, not to start anything new until I have finished a project. Says she who just started a new doily this morning!!!

3. Regarding days out what would be your idea of heaven?

Going to Castlepoint beach on a blustery day and watching the waves, drinking tea from a Thermos (or soup if it is winter.)  I love waves crashing in.  Also the idea, that the sea links all the continents, and I wonder if it has touched a place where I have loved ones.

4. What would be your idea of hell?

Not being able to garden

5. What book are you reading at the moment?

The Secret Life of Bees  by Sue Monk Kidd (rereading)

6. What is your favourite tipple? ( can include non-alcoholic!)

In summer a ice cold freshly squeezed Lemon drink, winter, a Jarrah coffee (Vienna flavour)

7. What's been the best holiday you've been on so far?

A Summer Holiday in Switzerland a few years back, 3 weeks of walking in the mountains in and around Davos.

8. What is your dream destination?

Home, I had 20 years of travelling and I am happy to stay at home now, in fact I would be miserable away from it.

9. What would you put into Room 101?

Room 101? Amanda tells me it’s from George Orwell's 1984 and there is a program where celebrities take what they hate into it.  I would put people who criticize needlessly and gossip.  They could have fun together!!!

10. Do you have a favourite TV chef?

Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater, we don’t really have celebrity chefs here in NZ. Although, we do have our own version of Masterchef.

11. What is your all-time favourite cake?

Any cake that has apples in it, or I could be retro and say a decent Black Forest Cake preferably from Tubingen (Germany).

Now I should nominate some blogs, however I am going to break the rules here; as I did that with the award I received a couple of months back.  So, if any of my followers want to do the award I nominate you!!!  I know it is a lot of work, but feel free.  However I am going to point you in the direction of some lovely blogs that I have bookmarked and love to gaze on their goodies, there are some enormously talented people out there.

http://crocheterie.blogspot.co.nz/   - crochet free patterns that are different from the norm.

http://de-la-maison-au-jardin.over-blog.com/ doilies and suchlike, even though it is in French, she gives charts of her designs.

http://mijardinderetales.blogspot.co.nz/  she has some amazing crochet and a recipe or two.

http://crochet-plaisir.over-blog.com/  some amazing crochet patterns

http://thelittletreasures.blogspot.co.nz/ dressmaking, crochet and crafts

http://olavas.blogspot.co.nz  lots of lovely crochet embellishments

http://marie-lostbirdstudio.b logspot.de/ amazing vintage craft made with lace doilies and the suchlike

http://vintagegreyhandmade.blogspot.co.nz/ quilting with vintage feel.

http://nasturelul-fermecat.blogspot.co.nz/ toys and other crafts

http://crochetmillan.bloggplatsen.se/  crochet generous with patterns even though it is in Swedish she produces charts.

http://www.maidoll-melodie.blogspot.co.uk/  knitted art dolls

I will leave you with a few pictures of my garden.

One of the vegetable beds, that’s purple sprouting broccoli in front and Tuscan kale at the back, and I think there are some cabbages.

I am really proud of my fennel this winter it is bulbing up nicely.

The primulas are putting on a nice display.

The jonquils are out, a promise of the spring!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you all have a great week.