The old-fashioned way

image from Clipart Library

Before we our trip south, I had absolutely reached the end of my tether with the duvet on our bed 😒  The bloody thing just would not stay put in the cover, instead it would migrate down every night leaving a flap of empty cover at the top.  Consequently every morning, instead of simply pulling up the duvet and smoothing things out, I had to wrestle with the damn thing to shake it back into place!  It was almost like remaking the flippin' bed every day, no easy task as our wool-filled duvet is not exactly a light-as-a-feather thing to wrestle with each time I changed the bed 😳  In the end, I asked Adrian if he minded us going back to sheets, blankets and a bedspread.  He said he didn't mind either way, and was happy to go along with whatever I wanted to do ~ probably, I rather suspect, because he was fed up with listening to me moaning about the bed every day 😄

A bonus to changing over was that I didn't actually have to buy any blankets and new sets of sheets, as we already had some from when we lived in Hitchin.  I had put the blankets aside to see if I could sell them on Orkney Merkitplace but luckily hadn't got round to putting them online.  I retrieved the bag so I could give the blankets a quick wash to freshen them up, and was pleasantly surprised to find two sets of sheets and pillowcases in with them ~ which I had completely forgotten about 😏  We had some lovely dry and sunny days before we went south so I was able to get it all washed, line-dried, and changed over before we left.

I now have two spare sets of duvet covers along with matching pillowcases and sheets ~ plus a duvet, of course!  I've decided to use them all on the bed in the guest bedroom; I'll decide what to do with all the now-redundant bedding from that room at some point in the future, no doubt.

I'm still working on joining all the squares together for the blanket for the guest bedroom, by the way. Hopefully I'll get it finished before the cold weather comes round again, so if we do find that we need another layer we can make use of it!  There are also a couple of lightweight cellular blankets that are kept in the guest bedroom, so there's plenty of layers available should we need them.  And confession time: I recently came across another WIP when I was sorting out the craft room ~ a blanket that I was intending for our bedroom 😯  So that's another little project to get finished.....hopefully sooner rather than never later 😄

Bonus blanket #3

I'm not very good at just having one project on the go at a time so ~ full disclosure ~ even before I'd finished the baby blanket, my restless little butterfly brain wanted another project to work on alongside the guest bedroom blanket.  The latter is coming along nicely by the way ~ I've crocheted all the squares together in one direction and am now on the fourth row working in the opposite direction.  It's a big 'ole thing so I find it easier to sit on the sofa to work on it!

As you know, I still had lots of yarn left over from making Olive's blanket despite attempting to use it up with bonus blankets #1 and #2.  So I decided to make yet another attempt to use it up.  I thought I'd have a bit of a rummage in my stash to weed out the odd balls of yarn stuffed in there to add to the pile, too.  

This is what I ended up with😲 I've chosen to concentrate on the more autumnal shades, which are leftover from Olive's blanket, along with one of the balls of black and one of white.  I also dug out a turquoise shade which I've included in the new blanket, which for some reason isn't in the photo 😕  I haven't put the other shades back in the stash as I'm determined to get them used up as well once the latest blanket is done 😉

Most of the yarn is my go-to Stylecraft Special double knit, but there are a few oddments from other brands.  I found one ball of Patons Fab! in the bundle of black yarns which works up a little thicker and "stiffer" than the Stylecraft, despite also being an acrylic double knit.  It's not really noticeable, though, and I just wanted to use it up.  I also found a couple of thinner yarns but they are working out okay just being doubled-up.

And this is what I'm trying to use it up in: a "log cabin" patterned granny square.  It's really not the most attractive thing I've ever made but it'll do to replace my own somewhat elderly lap blanket, which has definitely seen better days ~ I certainly don't think anyone else would want it gracing their home 😄

Finally finished!

image from Clipart Library

Those oh-so-tedious ruffles are finally finished and at last there is a completed baby blanket:

I can hardly believe just how bloody long this little blanket took to make!  Well, to be fair to myself, the main body crocheted up pretty quickly as it's not a large blanket.  But those ruffles 😲 It's such a simple pattern and really shouldn't have caused me all the angst that it did, but I really did not enjoy adding those ruffles!  Still it's done now and as the baby arrived yesterday, I got it finished in time 😄

On an entirely different note, my sister found these photos that our Mum had kept ~ I thought I'd share them with you for a little giggle 😉

Dad and I outside the church

They are from my first wedding, back in June 1980; I had just turned 19 and my ex-husband was coming up to his 21st birthday.  The marriage didn't last long ~ looking back with the benefit of hindsight I can see that we just weren't right for each other.  I left in 1982 and moved in with Adrian, so we've lived together for almost 43 years now, and have been married for over 40.  I think I managed to get it right second-time-around 😊

So tedious

image from Clipart Library

I'm still plugging away at the baby blanket that Beverly asked me to make for her friend.  The main body of the blanket crocheted up pretty quickly but omg, the ruffles are taking forever and are so bloody tedious 😒 And, just to put the icing on the cake, I didn't order enough of the Oyster shade that I'm using for said ruffles ~ but did order way too much of the Sage 😕  I really will have to try to get to grips with how much extra yarn to order if I make a pattern larger!  Still, as I said in a previous post, at least this cotton yarn will be useful for future dishcloths 😉

I ordered a couple more balls of the Oyster last week and they arrived yesterday.  I made a start on sewing in the ends on the ruffles ~ another tedious task, my lovelies.  I'm about 3/4 of the way through the actual ruffles themselves, and have got about 2/3 of those ends sewn in.  I found myself getting really cheesed off with the task ~ and should have done what I usually do, i.e. sew in the ends as I go along 😏  

So I decided to have a break from the baby blanket ~ thankfully the baby isn't due until the end of February ~ and make a start on putting together the squares for the guest bedroom blanket.

I laid out all the squares to see how I was going to arrange them.  The photo, by the way, doesn't show the colours of the squares very accurately as the Pistachio shade looks a tad orange-y.  Mind you, it was very late afternoon when I took the photo so the light wasn't so good by then!  In the end I decided to just join them together in the order in which they were made.  I'm crocheting the squares together and it's actually going more quickly than I thought it would.  I've got six rows joined horizontally, so am halfway through the first part of the exercise.  Once I've got the remaining six rows attached, I'll turn it so that I can join the rows in the other direction.  Before I get that far, though, I think I'd better get that baby blanket finished!

Cast aside...

I should clarify here that I haven't been cast aside 😏 Nope, what's actually been chucked to one side in disgust is the Christmas gift blanket *sigh*  You have no idea, my lovelies, how much the bloody thing was getting on my nerves.  I have done half the envelope border but just got so fed up with it that I couldn't be bothered to continue.  I've decided that the intended recipient will have to have something different for Christmas this year, and I will make a fresh start on a new blanket for next Christmas.

I will finish the blanket at some point, because I have decided that it will be useful after all as a lap blanket when I am sitting at the computer in our rather draughty hallway 😊 

Once I'd made the decision to put the gift blanket to one side for the time being, I got stuck into the baby blanket that I'm making for Beverly.  Well, not for her personally ~ it's a gift for her friend 😄 I've finished the body of the blanket now and have just made a start on the ruffles.  It is lovely yarn (King Cole Cottonsoft DK) to work with, very soft, and would make a lovely jumper or cardigan.  As I predicted I ordered way too much yarn, so I shall have a look through my little collection of crochet baby clothes books to see if there is anything in them that I fancy making.  I shall probably leave it until the baby has arrived, though, so that I know if I'm making something for a girl or a boy ~ and will also make it in at least the next size up as I'm sure the new parents will have lots of first-sized  baby clothes!

And whilst I have been very good and not added any more to my yarn stash, I'm afraid I did succumb to temptation and bought myself another tapestry kit 😳  This one really caught my eye but it was out of stock at the time I bought the cactus one.  I filled in the "notify me when back in stock" option and just couldn't resist when Wool Warehouse let me know that they had it in again.  I know, I'm very naughty 😏 

Stacking up

After a few hours working in the garden I really don't feel up to doing anything that could possibly turn out to be even a teensy wee bit strenuous ~ so as you can imagine my decidedly patchy housework routine has gone completely out the window yet again 😄

That's not to say, though, that I've just been vegetating in front of the TV of an evening 😉 I have in fact been plugging away at the Christmas gift blanket I started back in August.  I estimate that I'm about two-thirds of the way through the body of the blanket but I confess that the making of it does seem to be crawling along somewhat *sigh*  It's also not as wide as the bonus blanket, and I don't really know why.  I can only surmise that I made a longer starting chain for the BB and/or used a slightly larger hook perhaps?  This is, of course, a good lesson on why I should keep proper records of the things I make for future reference!  To bring it up more to the dimensions of the BB, I guess I'll just have to make a wider border.

It is a very pretty blanket, though, and I am pleased with how the colour combination has turned out, but I rather think it will be quite some time before I tackle another interlocking block stitch pattern 😄

To make matters worse, my butterfly mind keeps flitting over to the latest blanket Beverly has asked me to make: a baby blanket for her friend.  Said baby is due in February, I believe, so provided I get a wiggle on with the Christmas gift blanket I should be able to leave myself enough time to make this one.

pattern from Dada's Place

This is the pattern that Beverly has chosen, the Rainbow Ruffle Blanket by Dada's Place.  Dragana has lots of lovely, free, patterns on her blog as well as many more in her shop.  I came across this particular pattern quite some time ago and it's been sitting in my stash of patterns waiting to be made since then.

Beverly decided to keep the colour palette very simple and neutral rather than the rainbow colours used in the pattern, and also to have the blanket made a little larger.  I got the yarn from my usual go-to supplier, Wool Warehouse.  It's King Cole Cottonsoft DK which, as the name suggests, is a 100% cotton yarn and comes in 100g balls.  The main body of the blanket will be in the lovely pale green shade, Sage, with the ruffles in Oyster.  I'm not very good at estimating how much yarn I'm going to need if I alter the size of a project from what is stated in the pattern ~ hence all that leftover yarn from Olive's blanket that I still haven't used up, despite making the bonus blanket 😲  At least anything that may be leftover from this ruffle blanket can be put to good use for making more dishcloths as and when I need them😉

So as you can see, the projects are starting to stack up a tad.....goodness knows when I'll get the guest bedroom blanket finished!  

Whilst I was very good and didn't let myself be tempted to add to my decidedly not-insubstantial yarn stash, I did succumb to the allure of a tapestry kit that I'd had in my WW wish list for a while.  After all, how could I be expected to resist the rather pleasing 15% discount 😏   

I had been planning to repot the houseplants in the living room on the days I can't get out in the garden, but I guess I won't now be disturbing my schlumbergera any time soon!  It seemed to just suddenly be full of buds although I should, of course, have been expecting them to be putting in an appearance now that we're into October.  The flowers are a very pretty pale pink, and really add a cheerful note to the long, dark, days of autumn and winter.  Oh well, Miss Schlumbergera will just have to wait until she's finished blooming for her repotting ~ I've still got plenty of her companions to keep me occupied in the meantime 😊 

A new project

I bet I can guess what you're all thinking, my lovelies: "omg, Sharon, why are you starting yet another bloody project when you still haven't finished the guest bedroom blanket??"  Well, to be fair to myself, I did actually buy this yarn with a specific project in mind ~ namely a blanket to be gifted for Christmas😄  And as I'd actually like to gift it this Christmas, I thought I'd best put the guest bedroom blanket temporarily to one side and get on with this one!

I'm using Stylecraft Special Double Knit and as usual I purchased it from Wool Warehouse.  I chose a limited colour palette for this blanket: cream, petrol, duck egg, storm blue, and sage.  I'm using a 4mm crochet hook.

I went through my rather large (would you really expect me to only have a piddly amount 😏) collection of patterns and considered a number of them, but kept coming back to the interlocking block stitch that I learnt when I made the bonus blanket #1.  I really love this pattern and now have loads of ideas for different colour combinations swirling around in my head!

Same pattern, very different look!

The autumnal-hued blanket did take me quite some time to complete, which is why I've chosen to start this second interlocking block stitch blanket sooner rather than later.  I'm again going to finish off with an envelope border, but this time might try the instructions from Rosina Crochets as I struggled somewhat with those from Wool Thread Paint.  Of course, I still might find it difficult but it's worth a try methinks 😉

You'll be pleased to know, though, that I have finished all 144 squares needed for the guest bedroom blanket ~ 12 squares x 12 squares.  Originally I was going to make it 11 wide x 12 long but by the time I'd got to 132 squares, I decided it would look nicer if the blanket was square rather than rectangular.  Once I've got the new project finished, I'll be back to finish this one off.

There is still a lot of yarn left from that humungous amount I purchased for Olive's blanket, despite the bonus blankets I've made, and I'm pretty sure there will be a goodly amount left from both of the above blankets too.  So I'm planning to have a good 'ole rummage through my stash for any more odds 'n' sods tucked away in there and put the whole lot together, as I've already got yet another blanket in mind to try to get it used up ~ more to come on that little project in due course, though 😃   

And in my spare time...

It must seem, my lovelies, like all we've done recently is slog away in the garden.  It's true that we do seem to be spending hour-upon-hour out there at the moment, but I have been making an effort to do other stuff as well.....namely crochet, of course!  What, don't tell me that you thought for a minute there that I'd turned myself into a Housework Goddess?  Nope, I'm still the "housework slut" that you all know and love 😁

Nothing to do with this post, really, but I kept forgetting to show you the fab Frida Kahlo mug Sam and Beverly got me (along with a matching trinket dish that I forgot to photograph) for my birthday.  When I came across the photo yet again, I thought I'd best shove it into this post whilst I remembered 😉 

Anyhoo, back to the crochet!  I made some more very simple dishcloths last month.  This one is rows of half-trebles (US half double crochet).

Corner-to-corner, with a scalloped edge that I must have come across somewhere but can't recall where at the moment.  I find that the cotton yarn seems to pull out of shape more than the acrylic, but as these are only dishcloths for my own use I don't bother blocking them.

A simple granny square, with an equally simple edging.

I do like to have a good supply of dishcloths ~ bet you would never have guessed that, eh 😏

I wonder if you even remember this project.....from early 2022 😳

I really didn't get any further than the planning stage back then, but when I knew I was going to be spending a few weeks with my Dad earlier this year I decided to dig the yarn out and take it with me to work on.  I took this photo last month when the pile of squares had increased to 56.  I've been working away each evening whilst watching TV and the pile is now up to 129!  I'm fast approaching my goal of 144, so will report back once I get there 😊 

Bonus blanket #2

image from Clipart Library

More confessions: the humungous amount of yarn yarn I ordered for Olive's blanket not only made a bonus blanket to be gifted in due course, there was also enough to make a third gift blanket 😮

Beverly decided to "help" my excess yarn dilemma by suggesting that I might like to make yet another blanket for her to add to her ever-growing collection 😄 Being the devoted mother that I am (!) I duly obliged.

I used Lucy's (Attic 24) Cosy Stripe Blanket tutorial, although I did change it up a little.  Lucy's blanket has each set of two rows in different colours, which looks lovely.  However, I thought these shades might be a little too "zingy" for Beverly's tastes, so I did all the granny rows in different colours with the plain treble (US double crochet) rows in the same colour all the way through.  As luck would have it, I had a rather large amount of Stylecraft Special DK in Mocha in my stash ~ no idea what I had intended to use it for 😕 ~ and it helped to damp down the zinginess somewhat, especially those almost fluorescent orange and green shades!

 I also didn't use the edging that she made for her blanket.  Instead I used three rounds of half-trebles (US half double crochet), finished with a scallop edging.  I'm pretty sure this was from Lucy's Linen Stitch Tutorial edging but I can't swear to it to be honest!  I really must get into the habit of using my record books.

Even after making Beverly's blanket, I still have all this yarn left😲  I've put it to one side for now.  I already have the yarn to make another gift blanket, so I was thinking that once that one is done I might combine all the leftovers to make either something for myself or as another gift.  I thought that I might crochet something like a "flower garden" design, perhaps.  I have different shades of green that could be the leaves, and plenty of other shades (especially once that other gift blanket has been made) for the petals and flower centres ~ plus, of course, there is still LOTS of yarn in my stash (including oddments) that I could perhaps incorporate.  I'll have to see what suitable pattern/s I can find in due course 😊

I also still have over 400g of the Mocha left, too.

Also back in April I made myself some more dishcloths.  Some of the old ones are starting to look a little tatty and stained, so they have been relegated to the bucket under the sink to be used as cleaning cloths.

This time I made simple granny squares, with different edgings.  I know that they are "just" dishcloths, but it's still nice to have pretty ones 😊

Bonus blanket #1

image from Clipart Library

Quite apart from the excitement of the porch last year, other stuff was also going on and I have a confession to make: I ordered way too much yarn when I made Olive's blanket last year.  I don't quite know what I was thinking, other than I decided that as I was making the blanket half as wide again as the pattern, I would need twice the amount of yarn called for in said pattern.  Nope, now that I've had a proper think about it, it doesn't make sense to me either 😳

Ignore the 2024 watermarks, by the way, I did actually finish this blanket last year LOL

So I had all that zingy leftover yarn and I had fallen in love with a gorgeous pattern by Marion of Wool Thread Paint: The Blair Atholl Blanket.  This was made using the interlocking block stitch, which I hadn't come across before.  Marion's blanket is full of lovely soft colours and mine looks very different.  Nevertheless, I am very pleased with how it turned out.

With all the colour changes there are a humungous amount of ends which normally would have to be sewn in.

So...many...ends 😖

But fear not, my lovelies, Marion has thought of the perfect solution in the form of an envelope border; all you have to do is snip those ends to a reasonable length and those pesky little buggers can simply be tucked away!  

I felt that the border needed a little something extra, so finished if off with Lucy's (Attic 24) Bobble-shell Edging, one of my go-to favourites.

Now, full disclosure here in that I did struggle somewhat with making the envelope border.  I got there in the end, but the other day I came across what seems to perhaps be a simpler way of working it by a lady called Rosina Plane: https://www.rosinacrochets.uk/.

I really like the envelope border so will try out Rosina's method next time.

Despite my difficulties with the border, I am very pleased with the end result.  The blanket has now been safely tucked away as it is destined to be a gift in due course ~ I hope they like it 😊

Happy New Year...

image from Clipart Library

 ...albeit a day late!  I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and here's to a fab 2024 for us all 😊

I don't usually go in for new year resolutions as I'm so crap at keeping them, but this year I'm going to try very much harder to blog regularly.  Mind you I couldn't really blog much less than I did last year, so hopefully I'll be a tad more successful in my endeavours!  I also have "good intentions" to be more creative, so I will be attempting A Make-A-Month again this year.  I've got crochet projects to finish plus a long list of new things I'd like to make, both crochet and other crafts.  And, of course, I have all those dolls' house projects waiting for me to get to them 😏

In particular, I really want to finish renovating Augusta Lodge in the next couple of months or so, not least because I will soon have the ideal space available in which to display it ~ more on that in due course 😉  I haven't touched it since the end of last August, mainly because I really got myself bogged down with the issues with the stairs.  Bottom line is I could easily have simply got rid of the bloody thing last year (not sure how I'd explain that to Lady Constance and Christopher, though!), or get on with what I actually decided to do: get stuck in and work through the issues.  Just to warn you in advance, though, be prepared for upcoming Augusta Lodge posts to be filled with whinging, grumbling and angst!

If you too have things you'd like to make, please do join in with me; I'd love to hear about what you are creating and wouldn't feel quite so lonely in my self-imposed crafting challenges 😊

For the next couple of weeks I don't expect to be blogging much, if at all, as I'll be a bit busy with some upcoming "family stuff".  However, I'll be back later this month bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.....well, perhaps not exactly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed but I'll be back nevertheless, and that's the main thing, eh 😉   

Why've you gorn so quiet.....

image from Clipart Library

...do I hear you asking???  Well, Adrian and I have been busy in the garden and to tell you the truth I've been a tad too tired to work on Augusta Lodge.  I made a mistake the other day by cutting out a bit I didn't mean to when I got distracted by a wasp, so I decided to be sensible and not work on the house when I've had a full-on day in the garden 😉

The front borders have become very overgrown these past few months and I lost a fair bit of gardening time when I was having the leg cramp problems, so there's a lot of catching-up to do before the winter weather arrives.  Our first task was to clear out the wider of the two front path borders as I made a terrible boo-boo by planting one dwarf elder (sambucus ebulus) plant.....which then took over!  By 'eck, it's a rampant plant 😲  It's a shame as it is an attractive plant but it definitely needs a LOT of space to itself!  Anyhoo, lesson learned and after all that's what gardening is all about, eh 😏  The soil level in the border had dropped somewhat so we were able to use up some more of the soil mountain to top it up.  It looked very bare by the time all the elder had been dug out which of course was an open invitation to the local cat population to use it as their new favourite litter tray 😒 And although I say "all the elder" we still keep coming across new shoots so I think it's going to be an ongoing process for some time yet!

As we work our way around the garden I'm having a bit of a reorganisation of what I've planted, so that first border we tackled isn't quite so empty now. 

I'd got round to the "hedge border" and as I moved my kneeling pillow (yes, it really is a pillow 😄) this chap leapt out from behind it ~ I don't know which one of us was the most startled LOL

We have quite a few frogs in our garden, of differing sizes.  This one was very obliging and posed long enough for me to take a couple of photos.  A smaller of its brethren leapt out in front of me from the front wall border later!

And in other news I've actually done a bit of crochet recently.  Beverly asked me if I could make a tissue-box cover for her to give as a gift to one of her friends.  I think we were both astonished to find that I didn't have the right shade of grey in my yarn stash, so she had to actually buy a ball.  Naturally I pointed her in the direction of Wool Warehouse, my favourite supplier of my little yarn addiction 😄  The pattern, which I've made a number of times, is from The Royal Sisters.