Wednesday WIP: Beachy Ripple

I've just got back from stroking lots of lovely yarn, Woodbine Wools, a local based company had an open evening with discounted yarn.  I was restrained, and am thus very proud of myself, but I have bought a little something ;)

Anyway, hayfever is driving me mad and giving me a pounding head and blurry irritated eyes, so I'm off to bed but first I want to share my current WIP.

My man was watching me work on my granny stripe blanket in bed and requested that I make a blanket as a gift for his friend's baby who has a Baptism coming up.  Now this is the guy who rarely cares what I am making, so of course I went out and got some suitable yarn to start crocheting up a storm.  I chose another of Attic24's patterns - her neat ripple, and this is it so far.

The colours I ended up selecting remind me of a beach, the little boy's parents didn't find out what gender he was before he was born so I went with the fact that a lot of his bedding etc is (hopefully) neutral colours, and then added some blues into the mix.  It's very restful I think.  I just hope his parents like it.

W for weekend catch up - in photos!

[this is a scheduled post, as I figured I might as well do one whilst I am actually on the PC fixing the blogger app's mistakes ;)]

My weekend was fairly emotional, my Gramps got rushed into hospital again, and so I spent a lot of the time worrying.  I did take the boys for a walk, and tried to relax with some mindless crochet, I took plenty of pics (blame instagram!) and I even edited them using PhotoShop Express for Android, so here are just a few.  I'm still learning how to get the best out of my phone camera.

My next update will hopefully be soon, but with Gramps being ill (hopefully discharged Thursday), my friend's birthday and a hospital appointment of my own, worrying about a pregnant friend too, I just can't guarantee it.  Here's hoping everything works out...

Wednesday WIP: Bloomin' Lovely!

Forever inspired by all of the awesome blogs around me, I thought I'd share this WIP (work in progress) with you as the beautiful Evelyn does regularly on her blog.

This is my bloomin' lovely cushion, using Attic24's Blooming Flower cushion pattern and my giant bag of Stylecraft yarn.  I am absolutely in love with it already, I cannot help but fondle the colourful petals, I'm not done yet, got a couple more rounds to do and then I start working the back side of the cushion up... I can't crochet fast enough, and I have my round cushion pad all ready and waiting.  I shall be taking it with me to knitting group tonight to carry on with it.

 Isn't it glorious?  I fully intend to make another (I bought 4 different sized and shaped pads, might as well if I was paying postage right?) but a bit bigger, I think next time I'll use a hook slightly smaller as I can see the holes and it's bugging me somewhat.

I actually misplaced the hook I was using for bloomin' lovely earlier, so quickly worked up this little jar hugger to keep my hooks safe and looking pretty, and then I'd found my 4mm by the time I had finished it.  I've lost so many hooks it's not funny, I used to have 3x 4mm hooks at one point, a beautiful Surina hook, a couple more Clovers etc.  I think my yarn must eat them...

Not looking forward to weaving in all of these ends...

Friday Four 17/02/2012

As I started the 'four things Friday' posts I've decided to stick with it, this week's is a list of things that have been happening lately.

1.  Embroidery!  I was inspired by a blog I discovered a few days ago, particularly this post, I just love the doodle style heart.  So I dug out my embroidery threads and aida from when I used to cross stitch, and using a book I bought before Christmas I began practising stitches.  Excuse the appalling phone snap, I will get a better photo when I complete it.  I added on another coloured section yesterday and hope to make some more progress today.  I can definitely see me embroidering a bit more, even if just to use up some of this floss that has been sitting around unloved for about 7 years *blush*  I have embroidered small things in that time and always planned on stitching truly pretty items (hence buying the stitch dictionary) but it's just not happened yet.

2.  I am feeling somewhat at a crossroads in my life right now.  I'm having major life changes thrown in my direction and I am just not sure which way to go, after an initial stress out over the thought, those same changes are now looking more appealing.  It would change everything however, and I'm just not sure I am brave enough for that yet.

3.  Sadness.  I can't really explain why at this moment in time, but I am certain it shall be explained in due time.

4.  Half term.  My boys are currently off school for the week and we have done nothing exciting at all.  We've hidden in the house because my health hasn't been great, and a lack of funds means I can't just throw money at them to entertain them.  Instead we've been playing games, watching films, and being silly.  I am planning a treat for them at the end of the month though, they're really quite well behaved children and I'm very fortunate.  It feels a little bit like a waste of a week but at least they will be going back fully rested up which my youngest definitely needed.

I'm now trying to think of other week day alliterations I could do as they are quite interesting :D