Souvenirs and Other Stuff.

While on holiday I finished the shawl made with the chunky Noro yarn I was given by my SIL. Not only was it not quite the colours I had anticipated but I'd also requested sock yarn when she'd asked what I'd like. Still, it was very nice of her to go to the trouble of getting the yarn and posting it to me. I sewed in the ends sitting on a bench in the garden once back home. It's a very simple triangular shawl, the pattern is "Morning Has Broken" and it's available (free) on Ravelry.

Also while on holiday I bought more yarn. Not only does Pittenweem have pretty cottages, a harbour, a beach, an ice-cream shop, a chippy, a chocolate cafe and great weather, but it also hasa very nice wool shop! I bought three balls of lovely soft Amitola 80% wool, 20% silk for yet another shawl though without a specific pattern in mind.

Beautiful texture and gorgeous colours. I decided it deserved a new pattern rather than one of the ones I've done before. I spent a pleasant hour or so seeing what other people had used the yarn for on Ravelry and decided I would attempt to make one of these. The pattern is 16 pages long, gulp! I started it at a craft night - not a good idea, plenty of chat and cake is not conducive to figuring out a new pattern, however I had another bash this morning and it's coming on much better now...

My only other holiday souvenir was this little pot on the left which was from Crail Pottery. I've been having a massive clear out of pots and vases so it's only ones I really like which I have kept. Having said that, the one in the background with the little flowers is another new purchase, but hey, I really liked it (Asda, £4)

 Nice to be home, especially when the sun is shining.

Some baking for craft night...

Chocolate brownies (absolutely loaded with sugar)

Iced biscuits.

I liked the rabbits.

Our shattered rear windscreen.

The cat is always desperate to get in the car - not sure what she thought of this. Anyway, it's now fixed, thankfully.

The garden is bursting into bloom. We've had some beautiful sunny weather recently and we've all been needing it - people, pets and plants!

Well, it's been lovely to catch up with the blog. School starts back next week so spare time will be much restricted again but it won't be long till the summer holidays (eek!).

Happy weekend...

It Had To Be Done Sometime...

...my very own pile of crocheted blankets:-

Carrying them outside in a bundle made me realise just how much yarn I've knotted together over the last few years since learning to crochet.

Most satisfying.

Making, Baking, Skies, a Walk & Bunting...

 Making...

 ... snowflakes! Lots of. This was just a small selection. The spiky six-pointed ones are mine (it's very important to have six sides/points for a snowflake I think!), the round eight-pointed ones were made by another volunteer (less afflicted by the need for accuracy)

Also, painted panels...

...here shown completed. It took me ages to paint the words, I'm such a fusspot for neatness in these matters.

If you have young children you'll probably know where the words are from...

The reason why, to decorate the nursery float for the village's annual gala day. Our theme: We're Going On  Bear Hunt. The panels refer to the hazards encountered - long wavy grass (Swishy swashy), deep cold river (Splash splosh), etc. The Hooo woooo refers to a snowstorm, hence the snowflakes. However, I was disappointed to see we had a trailer with a pale roof which meant the snowflakes didn't stand out very well. I checked and in previous years we have indeed had a dark roof, grrr! Anyway, it's shown above almost finished, and we came third, out of three! The nursery has won the previous three years so I expect it was time for a change...

Now to some random May baking. Blogging has made me take regular photos of my baking, something I rather enjoy doing, and it's nice to have some kind of record of the made items because of course they don't last very long!

Scones. Still the best recipe I've tried (from this book). I'm going to attempt to make these again for this year's agricultural show, I heard a rumour that it's most important to use a ridged cutter, as I've done for the ones above. For last year's show I didn't have such a cutter and just used a glass which gave a smooth edge, surely that's the only explanation for my scones being unplaced!

 With ginger & rhubarb jam. Yum!

 

Another jar gone...

Chocolate cake, a favourite standby baking recipe. From this book (slightly modified - I mix in 3 tablespoons or so of milk at the end just before putting the mixture in the tin and use butter icing to top it once baked and cooled.)  

Now, two pretty sky and bird photos...

Then N and I are off on a walk to admire the cow parsley while A is at Brownies...

Moo.

Our walk companions.

And lastly, the granny bunting. This is for Lucy@attic24 who is trying to make miles of the stuff for Yarndale. As Lucy's blog was instrumental in helping me learn how to crochet I'm glad to be able to help. I made my first pennant while we were camping in Kirkcudbright.

Here's the second one.

And here are a few more while I use up lots of wee odds and ends of wool and N plays with the sandpit. Only after completing three did I bother to measure them, and discovered they were too big. I removed the seventh round and they're now fine. I've made ten altogether...

And that'll need to do for now - I've invited the parents to visit on Sat and the house is in dire need of a good clean and tidy...

The Big Granny Squares Crochet Blanket...

...is finished!

I started it last May and first posted about it in June 2012.

Later that month I did a little tutorial explaining how I joined the squares as I went along.

Another update in July, it had already reached 12 x 12 squares!

And another one in Oct where I'd almost finished adding the squares but mentioned I'd yet to sew in a single end. That's the way I like to work on my blankets. I like to zoom ahead with crocheting the squares and joining them as I go (though I do work with just over a row's worth of completed squares ready to join so I can select colour placement). I feel I need to get this stage done lest I forget how to do it all! Then things slow down a little as I then work on the ends. Yes, they are tedious, but I don't do them all at once, it's also the perfect project for craft nights as no concentration at all is required so much chatting can be accomplished.

The ends were mentioned again here along with photographic evidence.

A last update in April. I left the border till last, and decided on just a simple granny square border, not too wide.

So, here it is. First I took it outside to photograph.

 Photographing outside here often has the effect of making the blues seem unnaturally dominant.

Nice when rumpled.

Stained glass window effect.

 Tada! It's 14 x 16 squares (one row of squares is hidden over the back of the line), each square is made up of 5 rounds.

 A lovely sunny day. Though the strong light does make the colours seem a little washed out.

Now to inside...

It fits! I didn't want it coming up over the pillows so it's wider than it is long. We have a king size bed to give an idea of the final size.

We don't need it at the moment as the weather has finally warmed up. I'm looking forward to being able to use it come Autumn though, something nice for the end of Summer I suppose!

In the meantime it looks very at home folded on top of the blanket box at the window.

Yarn Details...

Like I mentioned when I started the blanket it's the first one I've made using "proper" yarn (as opposed to random balls from charity shops/pound shops & ebay bundles). This means I can share the colours I used, incase anyone is interested. One ball of each other than where indicated...

Stylecraft Life: Mixtures Charcoal, Fern (2), Mixtures Cranberry (2), Mixtures Bracken (2), Gorse Nepp, Mixtures Blue Haze, Rose, Heather, Denim Nepp, Cobalt, Pebble Nepp.
Stylecraft Special: Claret, Mocha (2), Sherbet (2), Parchment (2), Cream (2), Raspberry.