Being Organised...

I've been organising the yarn I'm using for my Waterlily Blanket.

Making sure that I can remember what each colour is called, for future reference.  The make, thickness (e.g DK), colour and washing instructions are recorded on little cards, along with a few strands of the yarn.

I plan to do this for every yarn I use in various projects from now on - so that if I ever am wondering what colours to use for new projects, I will have some reference points!  Especially if ordering online, when it is sometimes difficult to know what the colour will look like in reality.

I'll keep them all in some kind of little box or something - I haven't got that far yet!

And here is the project these colours are from - a few more squares of the Waterlily Blanket...

I've been a bit distracted from it recently, but I need to get back into it!  I plan to do 81 squares - I've done 20 so far, so a way to go!  (2 aren't in the above picture)

Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post - much appreciated!  :o)

Fabric Basket

Thanks for all the comments on my last post!  I really enjoyed reading them, as always!


What have I been making now...?  Well, ages ago I spotted a gorgeous fabric basket, that I knew I had to make!  The tutorial is here on the Pink Penguin Blog.  She makes such gorgeous things and there are lots of lovely tutorials that are very tempting.


The fabric basket really called to me, though... and here is what I made...

I love the bright pretty colours!  It's a dinky little thing - about 4 inches x 6 inches and 3.5 inches tall.  This will be my July Monthly Make #2.

Not sure what to put in it yet - at the moment it sits on the side looking cheerful!  I'm thinking that next Easter it will be rather delightful filled with some Cadbury Creme Eggs!  Although I've got a while to wait for that...


I finished that last week, and have since been having yarn urges!  At Christmas I ended up with two copies of 'Cute and Easy Crochet' - I took one of them back to Hobby Craft and swapped it for some yarn in the sale.  I made a cowl out of one of the balls - which I wore all the time when it was cold - such lovely soft wool.


I also got some Rowan by Amy Butler Belly Organic Aran yarn - 50% wool and 50% cotton.  It is such gorgeous yarn, so very soft and delicious!  But I've had it waiting for a good project all this time...

I know the weather is unbelievably hot here now (so shocked - thought the rain would never end!) - but I am still feeling some knitting or crochet coming on... watch this space!

Laptop Sleeve - July Monthly Make

I decided I needed a laptop sleeve for my work laptop, for when I work from home so need to transport it.


It's for work... so let's make it look professional and corporate...


Or.... how about pretty and girlie?!

Yeah, that's more fun!  Pink cherry fabric on the outside, with pink buttons and elastic to fasten it...

... and brushed cotton heart fabric on the inside!  The brushed cotton is lovely and soft.


That heart fabric is actually from an XL pair of pyjama bottoms I found in the discount bin in Primark!  £1 - and there is soooo much fabric!  They are so big that I can fit both my legs into one of the pyjama legs!  Want to see a picture???


Of course you do......!!

The lighting is bad, but you get the idea - those two little blue things are my feet poking out of one leg - the other leg is empty!  Yes... this is the sort of thing I do when I'm alone in my flat................!!!!


:o)

Mini Heart Bunting

Another long-awaited WIP has been finished - and really there was no excuse for taking so long with this one!  These little hearts are so quick to make - then it's simply stringing them together with a crochet chain.

The pattern is from Julia Crossland's blog.  She's got some great free patterns and tutorials here.  If you open the Free Crochet Pattern E-Book you will find the instructions for 'Teeny Tiny Heart Bunting'.  They are really fun to make, and so pretty!

I've strung them across my living room window.  A bit difficult to photograph with the light coming from outside - but I've tried!

You could be mistaken in thinking I live in the middle of woodland with all this greenery outside the window!  In reality I'm in a one bed flat, in a town, with a bunch of trees and bushes out the back, blocking most of the light - hence my often dingy photos!  Although, there are worse views than green leaves.  (I shouldn't be mentioning this, because once the Lumberjack reads this it'll set him off on his usual rant that these bushes/trees aren't being managed and maintained properly.  Then he'll start threatening to get out there with his chainsaw and tidy the whole lot up!!!)


I also forgot to mention the other day that I finally got a frame from Ikea for the Caroline Rose print I ordered quite a while back:

Love it!  (Propped up on my pretty pink spotty sewing box!)  It's now hung on the wall and looking lovely.  Makes me smile whenever I look at it!  :o)


Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Random Unconnected Makes, and Fabric!

Well, I've got a few different things to show you today!  First is a felt heart hanger I've made for a new baby girl, whose name begins with E:

Excuse the bad lighting.

I'd previously made the same thing for her big sister, in a different colourway, which I've blogged about before, so now they've got one each:

The Lumberjack and I went to Somerset on Saturday, and popped to Bristol Ikea on the way back, where I bought some fabric!  I'd seen some lovely Rosali fabric on Sew Ray Me's blog, and was keen to have some myself.  I wanted it in both the blue and the white, but they only had the white.  Then... would you believe it... the Lumberjack persuaded me to get the polka-dot fabric too!  I was ready to leave with just my bit of Rosali.  (What a man!)

I think they both go well with the green fabric I bought fairly recently:

Not actually sure what to make with them - I really should start using up some of my stash!

Not only that - but I've been struggling to find an outfit for a wedding I'm going to.  Well, as we were passing Cribbs Causeway (big shopping mall in Bristol) on our way to Somerset, the Lumberjack suggested we pop into John Lewis and have a look for a dress for me - who is this man?!  (I was given a strict one hour time slot, as we needed to get to his Gran's house.  Not to mention that the thought of spending any longer in a shopping mall is his idea of hell!).  We found a lovely royal blue dress, ivory fascinator, and this bag reduced from £22 to £6.50 - bargain!!

It's meant to look gathered and scrunched!

It matches the dress perfectly, and I've already got ivory shoes and an ivory wrap which match the ivory fascinator.  I thought I'd add a little something handmade to the bag to bring the ivory into play...

It's a brooch which can be pinned to the front of the bag, made with royal blue satiny material, ivory voiley type material (not sure what you call it!) and little pearly beads that I clustered together.

I had everything I needed to make the brooch, so it cost me nothing other than my time.  I can't believe how well the blue fabric matches the bag - a stroke of luck!

The back (obviously)

This has been a rather unconnected post - perhaps I should have split it into different posts, but I thought I'd throw it all into one, with gay abandon!