A stitch and a scarf

Yup, that's a pretty accurate description of my brain when I'm crocheting 😄

You know how it is when you're idly surfing the 'net ~ you start off browsing through one blog, then move onto another and before you know it half the morning has gone!  Anyhoo, that's what I was doing the other day when I came across some new-to-me stitches on HeartHookHome, one of which was this one ~ the lemon peel stitch.  It's a very simple stitch, a combination of alternate double and treble (US single and double) stitches worked over an odd number of starting chains. 

I made a swatch big enough to use as a dishcloth.  Each row is a similar height to a half-treble (US half double) crochet.  As I was just trying a new stitch out of idle curiosity I didn't bother edging my "dishcloth swatch" nor did I block it, so it's a little wavy at the edges.  I really like the stitch and at some point will try it out on something larger.

And talking of making something larger, I've used some of that gorgeous Stylecraft Dream Catcher yarn that I couldn't resist to crochet a scarf ~ this is the Tree of Life shade.  I used the corner-to-corner technique, making a long and narrow rectangle.  I did have to do some jiggery-pokery with joining in a new skein of the yarn as the end of one does not necessarily marry up with the beginning of another!  

 Still, I don't think I did too bad a job of it in the end 😉 One of these days I'm going to make a corner-to-corner blanket as it creates such a lovely squishy effect.  In the meantime, though, this scarf destined to be a Christmas gift 😊

Little words of wisdom

 

A blanket for Ellie

Beverly stayed with us on Saturday night and when I showed her my lovely new yarns ~ and pointed out how diligently I was using up what I already had 😉~ she declared that I had a "problem" like I was some sort of addict!  What a bloody cheek.....especially since she's always more than happy to get yet another crocheted blanket or dishcloth courtesy of my "yarn addiction" 😂

 

Anyhoo, the stash-busting continues with using up those odd balls of Stylecraft and Scheepjes yarns ~ here's the finished blanket for Arthur's big sister, Ellie.  I used the Cosy Stripe Blanket pattern from Lucy at Attic 24.  It's a simple but effective pattern of two rows of plain treble alternated with two rows of granny stripes.  It worked up satisfyingly quickly and I soon had the perfect little-girl sized snuggle blanket.

I used Lucy's Cosy Blanket Edging to finish it off which I confess I'm not entirely happy with to be honest, although it does look pretty.  The pattern calls for two treble crochets (US double crochet) to be made around the posts of each stitch at the end of the rows, i.e. the sides of the blanket.  I found that when I used the same size hook as I did to make the body of the blanket (I used a 5mm) the sides were looking decidedly "wavy", so in order to follow the pattern as it was written I changed to a 4mm hook to see if that tightened things up at all.  It didn't really make a tremendous amount of difference, and when I worked across the top and bottom of the blanket the smaller size hook pulled those stitches in somewhat.  What I should have done was to go with my first instinct and do what I usually do when edging blankets with treble stitches, which is to alternate one with two around the posts of the side stitches.  I don't know if it's just the way I crochet but I find that this does tend to keep my sides straight.

Hopefully when the blanket has been washed a couple of times those pesky sides will settle down a tad! 

Peace...

 

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)         

Little words of wisdom

 

Peace...

 

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)         

Sadder than I thought...

 To be honest I've never really thought too deeply about our monarchy, although I do think that it's possibly somewhat more politically neutral than having an elected head of state may be ~ that is just my personal opinion, folks, I'm not looking to have arguments over it!  So I was rather surprised that I have felt so much sadder than I ever thought I would.  Perhaps it's because the Queen has always just been there, sort of like one of the fixtures and fittings of the nation?  It's also been heart-breaking seeing the members of the royal family having to grieve so publicly, especially for King Charles as he takes up the role of monarch with all that it entails.  I'm glad that he has Camilla at his side to help provide him with love and support during this new era for both of them.

As I watched the journey of the Queen's coffin from Balmoral to Edinburgh, I felt a great deal of pride in the way that the people of Scotland showed such respect and love for her.  It seems very fitting that she spent the final days of her life in the home and country that she loved so much.  On Tuesday I watched as The Princess Royal accompanied her mother from St Giles Cathedral to Buckingham Palace; the grief etched on her face throughout the whole of what must be such a terrible ordeal is something that will stay with me for a long time.

Yesterday I watched the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the Queen now lies in state until her funeral next Monday.  Thousands of people are expected to file past to pay their last respects to a monarch who for so many of us is the only one we have ever known.

I'm not a die-hard Royalist and I certainly don't believe that they are more important human beings than anyone else on this planet.  And whilst I understand the Monarch's position as head of the Church of England, I don't believe that any "leader" of any religion is closer to God than anyone else.  I will raise my head above the parapet, as it were, and put it out there to say that despite having my own spiritual beliefs I have many problems with "organised" religion.  Now, however, is not the time or place to shake that particular hornet's nest!

I was born in 1961, so my formative teenage years were in the 1970s.  Thinking back to that time, I really don't think that there were that many female role models who were given equal status to the men who seemed to rule the world.  Whilst things were starting to change, very slowly, women were still largely seen as the "little woman".  Even if she worked outside the home, she was still expected to look after the house and children to a far greater extent than the "head of the household", and her place in the workforce was not considered as important as the men around her.

But despite this, and despite the era in which she herself grew up, there was Queen Elizabeth: a woman on the throne.  And all those men who didn't look at the women in their life as equals had to look up at the Queen, a woman, as the head of our nation.  So with the benefit of hindsight and maturity, I am thankful that we had her in our lives for so long.

Little words of wisdom

 

Peace...

 

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)         

The end of an era...

 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

21st April 1926 - 8th September 2022

A Make-A-Month 2022: August

Shopping from my stash!

 

Shopping from my stash!

I suppose I should be embarrassed to confess that my latest yarn temptation didn't stop at those gorgeous Stylecraft Dream Catcher yarns ~ I should be, but I'm afraid that I'm not in the least 😄 

Whilst I didn't actually purchase more yarn, I have found myself with more to add to my stash.....'cos I've re-subscribed to Simply Crochet magazine which came with this yummy Stylecraft yarn bundle 😏

As I've mentioned many times before I tend to use Stylecraft Special DK for my blankets, and will most likely continue to do so as it's such good value, washes well and comes in a huge variety of colours.  I have to say, though, that both the Bellisima and Bambino in this bundle are wonderfully soft, and despite there being a much more limited choice of colours for both, a blanket or garment made with either would be lovely.  They are both more expensive than the Special DK, £2.99 against £2.19 for a 100g ball.  They also don't contain so many metres: 268 against 295.

I am looking forward to using these yarns simply because they are so soft and cosy.  They also came with a blanket pattern but I don't care for it to be honest.  I'm sure I'll be able to find something suitable, though, in my stash of patterns and books!

So, of course, I've had to make some space in my rather full-to-capacity stash store so out came the bag of single balls of yarn.  I'm not too sure, actually, why I have quite so many of these single balls; a fair few of them haven't even been started, so they can't be left over from any previous projects.

Anyhoo, I've had it in mind for quite some time to make a blanket each for Beverly's best friend Kat's two children.  The finished blanket in the photo above, for Arthur, is from Jane Brocket's book The Gentle Art of Knitting.  It's one of my favourite chevron-stripe patterns and I have made a number of blankets using it over the years, with various colour combinations.  They always seems to turn out nicely, and once the foundation rows are in place it's a simple pattern to follow.  The yarns are a combination of Stylecraft Special DK and Scheepjes Colour Crafter.  I also had about 300g of King Cole Pricewise DK in Pewter, so decided to use that to alternate with all the different colours.  Unfortunately I didn't have quite enough of the King Cole but luckily had some Stylecraft Special DK in Silver, which was a close-enough colour to not be too noticeable with it being separated by the other colours!

I'm now working on a blanket for Ellie ~
 hopefully it won't take me too long to finish it so watch this space for the end result😊 

Little words of wisdom

 

Who can resist temptation?

Not yours truly, it would seem 😄

Wool Warehouse, my favourite yarn supplier, often  have something on special offer but I've been really good at resisting temptation for months now.  Alas, that "being good" streak was shattered when this scrumptious Stylecraft Dream Catcher yarn came up in one of their recent newsletters ~ I just couldn't resist those gorgeous gradual colour change shades, especially at £5.99 per 150g ball instead of the usual £7.99!  I could have quite happily bought some of each of the nine different shades but managed to contain myself to just five 😉 

Arapaho

Tree of Life

Chinook

Comanche

Ocean Deep

I was a little hesitant about the yarn as the fibre content is 10% wool and 90% acrylic; I find most pure wool yarns irritate my skin, which is why I usually go for the acrylics.  However, this is beautifully soft and I'm really looking forward to making something for myself for a change 😊

A snippet of nature...

...in the garden.

I often wonder what the different species of birds think of each other.  Apart from the occasional squabble, they all just seem to stick with their own kind.

All the buddleia in the garden have been attracting lots of butterflies, especially red admirals.

This one ~ Lochinch ~ in the hedge border has been especially popular.

I think I read somewhere that red admirals go into a dormant state over winter...

...so perhaps they are busy feeding themselves up 😊

 

This fella was lounging about in the new bird bath.  I hadn't seen him/her in there before but when I was topping the bath up, he/she suddenly appeared from beneath the pebbles!  It's not the frog that hangs out in the hedge border ~ the markings on it's back are different.

It certainly seemed to enjoy the water being poured into the bird bath 😄

Peace...

  

www.allposters.co.uk

Father, Mother, God,

Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days.

For then we have you to lean upon.

Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days.

For then we can share that which we have with those who have less.

And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days.

For then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends

For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak.

For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness.

For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing.

For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company.

For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most.....PEACE.

Maya Angelou

(4th April 1928 - 28th May 2014)        

Froggie!

Well yes, you're quite right ~ this isn't actually a frog LOL  I just thought the droplets of water on the alchemilla looked so lovely, like little diamonds glinting in the sunlight 😊 

This, however, is a frog 😉

I was just kneeling there weeding away and minding my own business, when the bloody thing frightened the life out of me by leaping out of the gypsophila to the left of the photo! 

To be fair, I don't know who was more surprised, me or the frog LOL

Anyhoo, it was obliging enough to stay put whilst I ran (well, I say "ran" but it was more like walking fast 😄) into the house to get my camera.  It posed very nicely for a few minutes for me to take some photos, then it hopped off into the next section of the hedge border and squeezed itself into the boundary wall.  I'm now beginning to wonder how many more frogs are living in and around that wall!

Not much to show...

My enthusiasm for the garden has waned a tad whilst I've been feeling under par and I just couldn't drum up the energy to be bothered with taking photos.  I'm feeling more "engaged" with the garden again now, though, and I found these that I took a few weeks back and hadn't yet shared. 

The osteospermums have been lovely.  I shall definitely try overwintering them and will make a note on the pots of what colour each plant is.  They are all pretty but I particularly like the darker pink ones.

 

I can't even begin to explain how thrilled I've been with the dahlias!

Each plant has been produced (and indeed still are producing) so many beautiful flowers.

They have done well in these pots but I think next year I will finish potting them on into the next size up. 

I've had these massed together in the back garden but if I manage to overwinter them successfully, my plan is to pop them (still in their pots) in the borders in the front garden next year. 

I thought I'd see how I get on with growing potatoes in tubs with these autumn-harvest tubers.  These are Nicola and Charlotte...

  and these are Maris Peer.  I planted them on 26th July...

and a couple of weeks later the shoots were coming through!

I completely covered them with a layer of compost but it didn't take long for the shoots to come through again.  I have now filled the tubs with compost and hopefully we will start to harvest potatoes at the end of October 😊 

The onions have all now been pulled.

We've started harvesting tomatoes ~ this is Paruche.  I've had mixed results with them as some of the fruits have split which I think is due to me not getting the watering right.  Still, the ones that we've been able to pick have been very tasty and hopefully next year I will do better.

The blackcurrants have lots of fruit despite not being netted!  I shall be relocating these in the autumn as the bed they are currently in is not so easily accessible.  I will most likely replace them here with rhubarb, which has been very disappointing out in the back garden.

And here's the little minx from a few doors down, in what now seems to be one of her favourite spots to hang out in the garden!