Projects, Pinks and Pups!

But not the kind of pups you might think! More of that later........

I just can't believe how fast this summer is flying by! Since I took early retirement a few years ago I hardly ever really notice the date unless I need to, for birthdays etc and was so surprised to realise that July is almost over when it seems it's only just begun!

There are so many reasons to be outside as much as possible, enjoying the warm, and often downright HOT, sunny days. Hot, sticky nights are not so great but hey, I'm not complaining!! Tending the garden, going for long country walks, any excuse really to get the sun on my skin but not TOO much, of course. And the evenings are so long and beautiful too.... So any crafting really has to be done out-of-doors as it's just too lovely to be inside. Having said that, today is overcast and we're having sprinklings of drizzly rain so I am indoors - and the result is Pineapple and Cherry Upside Down Sponge for tea!

A nice surprise for P when he gets home!

I have been working on some crafty projects too. My second cushion is now finished! I'm really pleased with how these have turned out......

And I enjoyed doing them so much that I am now debating whether to do a matching lap blanket/ throw to go with them. I'll think about that one......

Meanwhile, I have also finished a mini version of my Rainbow Ripple Cot Blanket. This one is a generous pram/ stroller/ crib size.

 Just the ends to weave in, my least favourite bit, and then it's done!

Another one I can cross off as finished! 

I still have several Oh-So-Nearly-Finished projects, like my little Carnival Hoodie which is still waiting for its teddy bear buttons to be sewn on! 

The matching blanket does have all its ends sewn in now tho'. Just the buttons and then I'll be ready to list it on Etsy with my other things.

Despite saying I wouldn't, I have also started a new project. I know I shouldn't but hey-ho, there ya' go! I made the mistake of going with my friend J, to a craft shop that I hadn't visited before and as soon as we walked in there, right in front of us, were the cutest knitted dungarees! Well, we both loved them so much we bought yarn and patterns there and then! I think I have done VERY well to resist this long before starting on them, especially as J, who won't mind me saying is a fairly novice knitter, has actually finished hers - and a matching cardy and bootees and a little teddy too! And she has done a fine job 'cos they look lovely. Here is mine so far.....

It's too early to tell yet maybe, but they really look lovely when finished and pressed etc. I'll show you when they're done. I think I'll be doing my trademark hoodie to match mine. 

Well that's it for this update craft-wise, but before I go I thought you might like to see my orchid which has been flowering almost continuously for about three or more years now!

 Just GORGEOUS isn't it?

And I'm SO excited because my bromeliad with the amazing huge pink flower, which you can see here,

is having pups!! Yes, that's what they are called! At the moment she has two which are about ready to be 'delivered' and two more very small ones just starting to show!! And if I can raise them, which is apparently fairly easy, in 2 or 3 years time they will produce beautiful flowers like this too. How exciting is that! And on that very happy note I'll say BFN, catch ya' later! T xx

Summer days

Why is it that time seems to fly by so fast in the summer? Another week has gone already and I can hardly say where it went! Even tho' the days are longer and SO very enjoyable - everything seems so much better in the glow of summer sunshine - they just seem to wizz by!

Lots of time being spent outside, of course. Even just hanging the washing out is a pleasure on these beautiful sunny days, as is tending the garden and looking after my pots!

 These ones are beside the front door, with a matching pair the other side.

And these are in the corner of the patio area at the back. 

And this is the latest addition to my garden, courtesy of the lovely E..., my future daughter-in-law and good pal. 

 Is there anything more cute for critters than this!

There's nothing living in there as yet but then it is early days because I've only just put it up. I shall be watching it with great interest!

Because of the lovely weather, crafty time has been largely confined to evenings when the sun has gone down and I'm watching a bit of TV, although I must confess that there has occasionally been an hour or two now and then, either in the garden or in the conservatory, in the sunshine of a lazy summer afternoon! Projects are slowly but surely getting completed - and I have so far kept my word and not started any new ones!

The latest to be completed is my Country Cottage Cushion, now complete with little pearly, almost translucent buttons to fasten the open edge.

 I think the little buttons work really well and I'm very pleased with the end result.

This is the first of two, and the second is well underway too!

I just love choosing the colours for each individual square and then deciding on the colour combinations for each side of the cushion. A few more squares to do for the final side of the second cushion before I join the two sides together using a UK double crochet stitch.

I like these so much I may even decide to make more than two - or to make a matching blanket or throw......
Now that would be a very big project to keep me going right through those winter evenings when they finally return! But for now, it's summer days and sunshine all the way - and back to all those unfinished projects before I start on another new one, big or small!!

BFN, Tricia xxx

Country Cottage Cushion revealed!

Where does the time go? I cannot believe it is so long since I was here last! And what an exciting time it has been! Beautiful long, sunny, summer days, most of the time anyway, filled with colour! Days spent in the garden, working or just enjoying the summer plants and flowers in the glorious sunshine! Lovely fresh British strawberries every day if I choose- and I DO choose most days while I can! Even hanging the washing out to dry in the fresh air is a real pleasure on these bright, sunny days!

And then there has been all of the sporting excitement! World Cup football, Wimbledon and then the Tour de France, right here in good old Yorkshire! The disappointment of our performances in the first two of these events was completely erased by the overwhelming success of Le Tour de Yorkshire!! What a great Yorkshire welcome we gave them! I knew that people would get right behind the event with bunting and yellow bicycles everywhere but I NEVER expected to see the huge crowds that turned out to cheer the riders on - even in the remote rural areas! There was barely a foot of road anywhere that was not lined with excited spectators! And in some places there were so many thousands of people that the Peloton literally could not get through without slowing down almost to a stop! Great - but a bit mad too! After all, these guys are racing, fast!! The television coverage certainly showed off this beautiful county and it's spectacular scenery to best advantage. 

Needless to say that watching all of this sport from the comfort of my armchair gave plenty of opportunity for some happy hooking! I must say that my tendency to work on numerous projects at the same time is backfiring on me a bit right now! I just have too many things on the go and they are filling my craft baskets literally to overflowing, as you can see! 

I really need to finish some off so that I can move them into my storage cases until homes are found for them! I know where some of them are going, at some point in the future and others have yet to find a home. If you might be interested in giving a home to these or any of my other projects listed here just let me know or click on each individual listing to take you to that item in my Etsy shop.

Anyway, back to overflowing craft baskets! At the moment I'm struggling to get to my yarns, especially when I'm using multiple colours like in my Rainbow Ripple and Flower Garden projects! There are so many projects which are oh-so-nearly finished! Just needing ends weaving in, buttons sewing on etc. 

So, I am making a concerted effort to finish projects before starting anything new - and here is the first one!! My Country Cottage Cushion! Voila!

I just love these multi-coloured squares which are different on each side of the cushion. Many thanks to Kirsten for sharing her free pattern.

I edged my coloured squares with this very pale cream, joining my squares as I went along. There are a couple of good tutorials on how to do this, one from Lucy at Attic 24 and another here, at My Rose Valley. It really is very quick and easy to do once you get the hang of it, it looks neat - and you don't have an ever-growing pile of squares to store, which in my case is a real bonus!!! It's great to be able to really see the project coming together too!

I then finished off each side with three rows of double crochet which you can see in these last two pics. Finally I put the two sides together, wrong sides facing each other and with the right side facing me I joined them with a little seam of more double crochets along three edges, leaving the fourth edge open for getting the cushion in and out. I haven't settled on a means of fastening this open edge yet so that's my next task! And tidying up all those little loose ends! That's my least favourite bit......

I am really quite pleased with the end result - and it feels so good to be getting something finished!!

Eventually there will be two of these - and they do have a home to go to a bit later, but they and their future owner don't know it yet! Hmmmm.........

Almost finished!

Just thought I would give you a quick project update since I am tantalizingly close to finishing another project - my bright and joyous Carnival hoodie and blanket. Here's the hoodie, which I am so pleased with!

I just love these colours! And the crochet border, which I have definitely decided I will do again on some of my knitted projects. I love the square shape of the hood on this little coat too! 

I just have to sew on the buttons - I decided on these cute little teddies this time - and then I need to crochet the loops which will fasten them together.

So, Carnival Hoodie & Blanket Set nearly finished - and another one already started and well underway! 

I love the softness and pastel shades of this yarn manufactured by Coats under the brand name Red Heart Bella. This particular shade combo is called Candy. In my yarn box of goodies I have got some DK in lavender and I also found a matching pink which I have tried out for the borders. I like both and think they both match equally well - so I may just carry on using both! Pink borders for the hoodie and both pink and lavender borders in the blanket maybe? We'll see how it evolves........

While posting these pics I noticed that you can just see a tiny, tantalizing little glimpse of my beautiful oriental-design case for my hooks in the top right hand corner, so I thought you might like a better look!

LOVELY isn't it?

I have about three of these in different colours, one for hooks and two bigger ones for my knitting needles. I've had them for some time now. I found them on ebay. They are not only beautiful but they were also quite inexpensive - I just had to wait a little while for them to come in from China. I just love them. Beautiful cases for my precious hooks and needles.

Well,  I'd better go. After a very long, busy and messy day decorating yesterday, with NO crafting at all!, I have a quieter day today but a supermarket shop is needed now - and then later there may be time for a bit of crafting, buttons to be sewn on, knitting and crochet to do ..... there's always something to look forward to. 

Bye For Now, Tricia xx

Brazil, Football, Carnival and all that Jazz!

Well, we may not have got the World Cup result we wanted but many evenings of football on the TV produced this very pleasing result for me!

My little hoodie is nearly finished! I must have been too caught up in the football at some point tho' because my Moss Stitch went wrong on just half of one row on one of the fronts - but I didn't see it until I had finished it, crocheted all along the top and front edges and attached the hood to that side!!!!! Oh my!! And, although it was really difficult to see (P couldn't see it at all), once I'd noticed it that was that - it just had to be put right! So VERY CAREFULLY I unattached the hood, undid the crochet edging, unroved the knitting back to the mistake - and did it all again! It actually didn't take that long but still....... that's something else to lay at the door of our poor England team, eh?

Just have the shaping of one sleeve left to do now and then the wooden buttons to sew on and the fastening loops to crochet. There are a few buttons to choose from

Cute little teddies, rocking horses, penguins or puppies! I've got lots of other buttons too, clowns, laughing Santas, hearts etc but the size and colours are not right for mulit-coloured hoodies like this one. I think I'll probably choose puppies this time.......

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out: I'm especially pleased with the Puff Stitch border which ties the hoodie in very nicely with the pram blanket I think.

 As you may know from my previous post, the border originally had two rows of Puff Stitch like the blanket but I decided this was too much for such a little hoodie - the single Puff Stitch row, with rows of half trebles each side of it works much better. I also made smaller Puff stitches than on the blanket. I think the crochet borders add that little extra to the hoodie, and the lemon provides a nice contrast to the very vibrant colours.

I've not added crochet borders to my knitted projects before but I like this and so it may well become a regular feature from now on, especially if I am matching hoodies with blankets. 

I like to name my projects and since this one was inspired by and created during the World Cup I have a few possible names, like Rio for instance, but I think I will probably call it Carnival, which reflects the exuberance of the colours and the joy of life - and has nothing whatsoever to do with football!!!!

Well, wherever you are, whichever team you shout for - or not - I wish you many long, happy days filled with the positive spirit and exuberance of Carnival and nations coming together in peace.........

Bye for now, Tricia xx

Puff Stitch Border

Ta-dah! Another project finished yesterday - and a new one started an hour later!!! But, in my defense, I can say that the new project is an extension of the finished one because it is a knitted hoodie to match the pram blanket that I finished.

 After some tinkering with different stitches, I finally decided on a Puff Stitch border which consists of two foundation rows of half trebles, followed by two rows of Puff Stitch, two more half treble rows, two more Puff Stitch rows and then a final row of half trebles, as you can see below.

The foundation colour is not true in the left-hand photo for some reason! It is actually lemon as in the right hand pic and the one above. But the close-ups show you the stitches clearly.

I LOVE doing Puff Stitches! But then I say that about every stitch! Whatever I am doing at the time seems to become my favourite - until the next one!! Anyway, originally I did a picot edge in lemon after the last row of random rainbow coloured half trebles - but then I decided it detracted from the Puff Stitch and was unnecessary so I undid it.




Then I decided to knit a matching hooded coat.







This time, unlike my  Rainbow Ripple blankets which are made from my own selection of single-coloured Stylecraft DK yarns, I used a multi-coloured wool, which I also used for the squares and some rows in the border of the pram blanket. It is a random self-striping yarn by ICE called Dancing Baby and comes in a wide variety of colours. I also often use another called ICE Magic. They are machine washable and lovely to work with - the only problem is I have only ever found it online and the manufacturer is in Turkey, so the postage costs a bit but I think it's worth it.

So, yesterday evening while watching TV with P, I started knitting the back, in Moss Stitch to add texture. I wanted to make the coat match the blanket even more and was going to knit a border around the bottom edge, the border of the hood and the ends of the sleeves, in the matching lemon. But then I thought why not crochet a Puff Stitch border the same as on the blanket? I have never crocheted borders on my knitted projects before but, if this works, and it looks like it will, it could become a regular thing!

For the coat border I used a smaller hook (3mm) than on the blanket, where I used a 4mm, and I made a smaller Puff Stitch (only 3 loop repeats instead of 4). So this border is two foundation rows of half trebles, two rows of Puff Stitch and a final row of half trebles.

 I am quite pleased with it and it should work for the hood border too, hopefully.....


Just a note here on terminology: I use UK crochet terms and of course realize, (mostly as a result of starting off on a US pattern without realizing it!) that terms used in the US and many other places are different from ours. So, just as a clarification guide, generally UK terms are 'one step up' from US ones e.g the stitch US and other crocheters call 'single crochet (sc) we in the UK call 'double crochet, (dc)'. 

            US Term                                       UK Term

            Slip stitch                                      Single Crochet  

            Single Crochet                               Double Crochet

            Half Double Crochet                     Half Treble Crochet

            Double Crochet                             Treble Crochet

            Double Treble Crochet                  Triple Treble Crochet

Other stitches, like Puff Stitch are the same.

To make a Puff Stitch:

Yarn over, insert hook into stitch and pull up a loop, (yarn over, put hook into same stitch and pull up a loop) 3 more times, yarn over and pull through all 9 loops on the hook.

Pulling up the loops and pulling the hook back through all 9 loops is a bit tricky at first but gets much easier when you've practised a few times. I found it much easier with a slightly bigger hook (I switched to a 5mm for the Puff Stitches) and the more I relaxed and let my hands and yarn go loose the easier it was to create nice loose but even loops that were easier to pull back through! I hope the pictures below help you to see clearly how it works....

So, when you have pulled the yarn through all 9 loops on the hook, as in the pics above, you have this............







You then ch1, through the stitch on the hook - which is over the Puff stitch you just made.


like this............

My Puff Stitch Border

Begin with a foundation row of double crochet or half trebles. (I used half trebles for my border) You need multiples of 2, +1 + corner stitches on each side to be worked.

Begin 2sts to the left of the corner stitch.

Round 1: Ch 3, Puff Stitch in the same stitch, ch1, skip 1 stitch & *(Puff stitch into the next, ch1, skip 1stitch) along the side to the corner. (Puff Stitch, ch1, Puff stitch, ch1, Puff Stitch) into the corner stitch. Then ch1, skip 1stitch and repeat from * all the way around border, finishing with slip stitch to first Puff Stitch.

Round 2: Complete another round of Puff Stitches as above but this time work each Puff stitch in the chain spaces between the ones on the first round.

Rounds 3: Work a row of half trebles by making a half treble into each chain stitch between the Puff Stitches, like so.......

and into the chain at the top of each Puff Stitch, like this.....

I hope this makes sense because I'm not used to writing down or explaining how I do things!

I then did another row of half trebles, followed by two more rows of Puff Stitch and a final row of half trebles. But you can work a different combination, as you wish, once you have got the hang of the stitches and how each round works. You can also do double crochets instead of half trebles, although I found the space a bit tight for all those loops when I tried double crochets which is why I switched to half trebles! 

Finally, this last pic shows how the finished corners look.

For written instructions and stitch diagrams of Puff Stitch borders and many more, you may like Edie Eckman's Around The Corner Crochet Borders.

Bye for now. And Happy Hooking! 

Tricia xxx