Jumping with excitement!

Oh, I'm SO excited I can barely contain myself!!! Why? Well, I have just completed what I think is my most satisfying project so far, I am about to go to a craft event that I have been waiting a whole year for, I've got two new hooky projects on the go AND I may be exhibiting and selling my creations through craft fairs very soon which I have wanted to do for ages! Let me tell you more........

Firstly, I have just finished my Flower Garden Blanket so called for reasons that will soon become very obvious!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am with it! Those of you who have been following my projects will remember me first creating my flowers whilst lounging on the beach in the Caribbean which I wrote about here. As usual, I got distracted from this project by new yarns and stitches and have completed lots of other projects before getting back to this one. But this week I came across it again in the bottom of one of my craft baskets (which are now empty of old unfinished projects -Yippee!!!) and determined to finish it. So, here it is!

Voila!!!

I think you can see why I have called it my Flower Garden Blanket! It not only has hexagon flowers in the centre but it also has green 'grass' and flower borders! I must say I just LOVE it!

Because it is a pram/ crib/ cot blanket I have deliberately not decorated the top edge and the small flowers in the border were securely crocheted in place as I went along, not sewn on afterwards.

The 'grass' fringes are also very securely attached to the bottom border.

I am so pleased with the way the 'grassy' areas and flower borders have turned out. I love the shape of the border and also the colours. I'd love to know what you think?

Although I'm always pleased when I complete a project, I honestly don't think any other project has thrilled me as much!

Still, I must move on to other things!

The second thing that I'm all excited about is this weekend's Yarndale event taking place in lovely Skipton, which is one of my very favourite places anyway. Organised by a team of local yarn-crafters, including the inspiring Lucy of Attic 24, ( you really must check out her blog if you don't already know it!)  the Yarndale event is a cornucopia of all things to do with yarn! I just cannot wait to feast on all of the wonderful, colourful creations, and the supplies to make them, that I know will be there! I will have my camera with me of course so watch out for a full report soon!

So, what else? Oh yes, two new projects! Another hexagon themed one which I was inspired to start last night, having just put the finishing touches to my Flower Garden.

I'm still experimenting with this as yet and so it all may change! These hexes are completely different from my flower ones. I like the idea of  a shape within a shape and, since all of my creations are usually so full of colour I thought I would try a neutral edging while keeping colourful centres....
Mmmmm...........

The other project is another Blackberry Bobble stitch one, like this one which hooky friends will have read about in previous posts.

I like to have a project where I can get into a flow of continuous happy hooking without having to break off, change colours, join bits together etc and this fits the bill perfectly! I love doing this stitch and the multi-coloured yarn does the rest!

And the final thing that has got me all excited is the possibility of doing Craft Fairs! I have been thinking about this for ages and it looks like it might actually happen quite soon! And in two of my very favourite places - Skipton as I mentioned before and Saltaire where I used to live! Skipton is a lovely market town on the edge of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales here in England, whilst Saltaire, now a World Heritage Site, is the prettiest Victorian Industrial Village, with the most amazing architecture steeped in history. Preparations and discussions are underway, dates are being considered etc so we'll see!

Well, I think that's far too much excitement for one day! I need to go lie down in a darkened room to calm down!! Look forward to hearing from you! Bye for now, Tricia xxx

On A Roll!

I really am on a roll as far as finishing projects are concerned, with another one finished while watching TV last night! My two project baskets, usually full to overflowing, are looking very tidy and manageable now - quite satisfying but also a little disturbing! I now have only one on-going project - my Flower Garden Blanket - and I can once again see all of the colours of the balls of yarn that still fill my baskets!

So, here is the latest! Voila!

 I have called this one my Turquoise Blush Baby Blanket because of the combination of turquoise and soft pink which I think is very unusual and beautiful.

The blanket began as a collection of small traditional Granny Squares in pink and turquoise, as seen above and below

I alternated the colour-ways for variety before joining them together and surrounding with a simple border of turquoise trebles followed by a few more rows of pink

and finally a few more rows of turquoise trebles before finishing it off with a final row of Puff Stitch in turquoise.

I must confess that I would have liked to have done a final row of Puff Stitch in pink but I didn't have enough of exactly that same pink yarn left!



So, there you have it! The Turquoise Blush Baby Blanket is pram/ stroller or small crib size and you can find full details here and here if you are interested.

Well, what next? Now that I can properly see all of those delicious coloured yarns in my baskets I can't wait to choose for my next project! And I have some new yarns too which I would not let myself begin with until I had completed all of those unfinished projects. So, whoopeee! I can now try out some of those new yarns too! I'm SO excited! And that idea of combining rippling with bobbling, which I mentioned in my last post, is still very appealing - I might just have to try that out!

Bye for now, and Happy Hooking!! Tricia xxx

Blackberry Bobble Baby Blanket Finished!

Hi again! A little while since I have been here but it's been a happily busy time during which several projects have been completed and new ones begun!

First, I can show you my Blackberry Bobble Baby Blanket. Voila!

I just LOVE making all these rows of Blackberry-like bobbles! I think an older baby or toddler will love feeling at these as much as I do! There is just something very pleasing about their beautiful bobbliness!

I love these soft pastel shades too. All in all I'm very pleased with how this turned out, especially as I had no idea how it would look when I started and I just made it up as I went along.

But that's not all! I sold my Rainbow Ripple Cot Blanket this week but finished a smaller pram/ stroller sized one! 

I cannot tell you how much pleasure I get from rippling and bobbling and watching a blanket grow as I'm doing it! 

Maybe I can combine rippling and bobbling into one fabulous creation! Now there's a thought!!! Watch this space!

But hold that thought because I have still not finished revealing! 

Last, but not least, I have also finished the only blanket I have ever made using a new-to-me chunky yarn appropriately called Baby Chunky. It's really thick and soft and incorporates a range of lovely soft pastel shades twisted with white. Which is why I have called it my Candy Twist Chunky Baby Blanket - it's the blanket that's chunky of course not the baby!! 

Anyway, here it is......

After all that rippling and bobbling and because of the extra thick yarn I was using, I decided this time to do giant Granny Squares with a very simple trebles border

Unfortunately, the pictures cannot convey that velvety thickness nor how lovely these subtle, soft pastel shades are.

This is why I love hooking SO much - because there is so much variety in the colours and textures of the yarns and also there are so many stitches to choose from. So every project is a completely new and unique experience and each time I complete one I can't wait to begin another! And in fact, as many of you know, I usually DON'T wait to begin another! Which is why I always have several projects on the go at once!

Well, that's three more down - off to the craft basket to see what I fancy doing next! Mmmmm, that ripply-bobbly idea is calling to me...! Catch ya later, Tricia xxx