Cosy Stripe Blanket

Started way back in June 2018, the Cosy Stripe blanket was finally finished before Christmas, just in time to give it to my Mum. Not that a blanket is needed here during summer, ha ha. My Mum was absolutely thrilled with it, she couldn't believe that I'd made it for her.  

This is the third crochet blanket I've made by Lucy from Attic 24, and once again, I totally enjoyed this. The colours are so pretty, made me very happy every time I worked on it.

 

I asked Hannah to pick out the border colours, and we also picked out the Meadow green for the edging as it's one of my Mum's favourite colours.  

 I purchased the Stylecraft yarn kit from the Wool Warehouse in the UK, the yarn is so soft and squishy.

See you soon xx

On the Go & new stash

It's the end of another month so it's time for a round up of some of the projects I have on the go -

first up, Merrily Merrily We Welcome Spring by Blackbird Designs, I'm using the recommended fabric, 36 count Oaken by Picture this Plus and threads. I've reached the bottom left hand corner so its back to the top to continue along the top rows.

Kringles by Little House Needleworks, this has been quite neglected as ornament stitching has taken over but I pull this out every now and then.

The Last Ripe Berries by Blackbird Designs, this was my birthday start back in April, so a stitch here and there.

Lizzie Kate Christmas ornaments for family and friends

Jolly St Nick and Rudolph was a Jolly July start and I'm using a mix of DMC and Classic Colourworks threads on chalkboard linen.

The one project I forgot to take a progress photo of was Oh Joyous Day by Blackbird Designs.

This week my crochet mojo returned and I pulled out the Cosy Stripe blanket, pattern by Attic 24.  It's over half way so I'll try and get this finished by the end of the year. 

A parcel from 123 Stitch arrived recently - two new charts and this year's JCS ornaments magazine.

 

I had a very productive time at my sewing machine over the recent long weekend and made quite a dent in the pile of this year's stitched finishes so I'll share some of these next time. 

See you soon x

Cosy Stripes

This week I've been enjoying a bit of crochet on the Cosy Stripe blanket by Attic 24. I've been working on this for quite some time! I'm now up to row 32 of 90, each colour is a double "row". 

For this blanket I'm using the Stylecraft yarn pack I purchased from the Wool Warehouse in the UK. It was great value for money and the delivery time was just under a week here to New Zealand.
The yarn is so soft and squishy.

Have a lovely weekend friends! See you soon xx

A finch bucket for some more new projects

I like to keep any small leftover scraps of fabric from my sewing projects just in case I might be able use them for something else like the backing of an ornament, etc.  I recently started watching videos by Jade from Stitch Mischief and I really liked her pattern for the Finch Bucket.

It's a lot larger than my normal knitting project bags but absolutely the perfect size for projects using several skeins of yarn. I thought this would be a great size to load up with projects for taking away on holiday too.  There is also a smaller size too, Little Finch Bucket, which is included with the pattern.

I decided to make a patchwork panel for my bag out of some of the fabrics I've used recently.  There is an option to use one fabric for this panel. I also used some natural linen left over from the stocky sock bags that I made awhile ago.

The only cord I had in my stash was this thick one but I'm going to replace it with a more natural looking one next time I visit Spotlight. 

So what is in my new Finch Bucket?  A new shawl is underway - I've started the Washed Out Shawl by Joji Jocatelli using the gorgeous Bleating Art yarn I bought recently. This could be on the needles for quite some time!



Another blogger that I enjoy watching videos by is Sandra from Cherry Heart Designs.  Sandra recently released a new sock pattern, which I had to start straight away, lol.

This yarn is Fig bird by Circus Tonic Handmade.  So pretty.

I haven't picked up my Cosy Stripe crochet blanket project for ages but I had a day off work last week with Hannah, who was feeling a bit under the weather, and decided to get a few rows done.

The colours are so pretty and make me feel so happy every time I get this out.  Many, many rows to go!

See you soon x

Current Projects

I was so pleased to see another chart in this series has just been released and it will now be on its way in the post. I started stitching this chart, number 4,  last month when I was home from work on sick leave but only managed a small start. 

The linen for this design is 36 count Oaken by Picture this Plus.

This week I finished another ornament from Hands on Design's Chalkboard ornament series. I had planned to stitch one of these a month over the year but so far I've only done two!

My Cosy stripe blanket is underway  too:

A few rows each week and it might be done by summer, ha ha.

See you soon xx

More Project Pouches & Crochet

Gosh, the weather here today is terrible, lots of heavy rain and wind. It would have been the perfect day to stay home by the warmth of the fire but it's off to work and school we go.

Last week I finished a few more zippered vinyl pouches, I so enjoy making these. The red Christmas one is for me and the others will go into the gift box. 

Ever since I started learning how to crochet, I've just loved Lucy from Attic 24's blog with all the colourful photos and gorgeous creations.

I've now made two of her blankets, the Morland Blanket and also, the Cupcake Stripe blanket. I've had the yarn kit for a Cosy Stripe blanket for ages now so on the weekend I decided it was time to get it out and make a start.

Like the other blankets, it will probably take me a few months but I'm looking forward to using these delicious, happy colours over our winter months.

See you soon xx

Moorland Blanket

A few weeks ago I finally finished the Moorland Blanket. The pattern for this is by Lucy from Attic 24, which she popped up on her blog over several weeks earlier in the year.

I purchased the yarn pack, 15 shades of Stylecraft yarn, from the Wool Warehouse in the UK and it was started in early April.

It was a lot of fun zipping along the rows of the Neat Wave pattern, and for the edging I asked Hannah to pick out four of the colours, finishing with three border rows of double crochet and the very last row was slip stitches.

Once again, I found the Stylecraft yarn a pleasure to crochet with, so soft and squishy. I have another of Lucy's yarn packs, the Cosy Stripe blanket, which I'm very tempted to get underway, but I have too many stitching projects calling my name at the moment!

See you soon x

All Sorts of Things

Some new sock yarn arrived from the Wool Warehouse in the UK recently, mostly Opal but I also purchased two balls of the Stylecraft sock yarn to try out sometime.

Just as well I've been having a major sort through my craft cupboards lately to make way for all this lovely yarn. I've donated quite a few bags of all sorts of crafty goodies to our local op shop - magazines, bits and pieces that I'll never use or not use because my tastes, and interests have changed. Sure feels good!

Yay, one sock down, one to go. I've put these aside for now to start on a pair of socks for my lovely mother in law. They definitely won't be finished in time for Mother's Day, which is this coming Sunday in New Zealand, but maybe in time for her June birthday.

This is Part 2 of the Moorland Blanket, which I finished last week. Part 3 is almost done now. I think I've mentioned this is going to be a gift for my cousin Donna's 40th birthday in a few weeks time. It might not be finished in time but it won't be far off, so I thought I'd print one of these off to give to her :)

A new variety of chocolate arrived at our local supermarket last week, Toffee Milk Bar. Whittakers chocolate, any sort, lol, is a particular favourite in our house so we tried it out - a big thumbs up from all of us.

In other news, two busy weekends coming up for us - Glenn and I are flying to Auckland this Friday with friends for a couple of days. Then next weekend we'll be helping my parents move house, and the cool thing, they are actually moving in to our street!

See you soon x

All the Projects Update

As always, I have have several projects on the go. You may have seen these photos if you follow me on Instagram.

I'm so enjoying this gorgeous design, the first in the latest Blackbird Designs series. Now I've seen a pic of the second design I can't wait to get that one on the mail!

My sock knitting is progressing well:

But it's been put to the side for now as I have been focusing on the Moorland Blanket, these waves are so addictive!

This is Part 1 all done, and I have even sewn in all the ends.

Until next time xx

Easter Exchange & Crafting

Every year for quite some time now, Kath and I have exchange a little stitched gift at Easter. 

Some years it takes me ages to decide what to stitch for Kath but this time I knew straight away, as I had the pattern ready and waiting since last year, Spring Greetings Bouquet by With Thy Needle & Thread. You can see it here. 

This is the sweet little pillow Kath gave me, Peep by the Prairie Schooler.

I just love how Kath has finished it, and the green fabric is just perfect!

Over the Easter break I finished this new Lizzie Kate design:

Basket by Lizzie Kate

stitched on mocha 32 count belfast linen with recommended threads.

I also got a few rows done on a new crochet blanket I have underway, the Moorland Blanket by Lucy, Attic 24.  This is going to be gift for my cousin Donna's 40th birthday. I purchased the yarn pack from the Wool Warehouse in the UK.

Part one is nearly finished and once again, I'm really enjoying crocheting with the lovely Stylecraft yarn.

See you soon x

Cupcake Blanket

Back in early May I purchased an Attic 24 Cupcake blanket yarn pack from the Wool Warehouse in the UK. This was the first time I'd purchased any wool from there and I was very impressed with how quickly it arrived here to New Zealand. Cost wise, the Stylecraft wool worked out to be less than $4 NZ per 100 gram ball so it was very economical for the 15 balls.

I just loved all the colours and the yarn was so lovely and soft to work with.

I worked on the blanket on and off again over the winter months, a couple of rows each week. I didn't complete the whole entire 90 "rows" suggested in the patterns, that's two rows of each colour, as I could see by "row" 75 I was getting a bit low in most of the colours. I think it was row 78 I stopped at to begin the five border rows.




As you can see, it's a single bed size and looks wonderful in Hannah's bedroom.

She just loves it, and thinks it's super soft and squishy!

Now I'm very tempted to order another one of the Attic 24 yarn packs, but perhaps for next winter since our summer is on its way.

Cupcake Blanket Update

I am now over half way on Hannah's Cupcake blanket - averaging a couple of rows per week, it should be done by spring!

Hannah carried out a "snuggle" test - it got a big thumbs up!

I've so enjoyed working on this blanket over the past few weeks I've decided to order another couple of the blanket kits from the Wool Warehouse sometime, with the exchange rate it works out really good value.

See you soon x

Cupcake Blanket

It's now officially winter here in New Zealand and this week has seen the return of winter flannlette PJs, hot water bottles, thermals, merino socks, winter coats and boots, and umbrellas at our house. I think I might even make some hearty winter vegetable soup over the long weekend coming up!

As soon as I spotted the new Cupcake blanket colours on Lucy's blog, I knew it would be a perfect winter project to work on.

This is the first time I've crocheted with Stylecraft yarn and it so lovely and soft to work with I'll definitely have to order some more sometime.

I ordered my pack of the colours, 15 in total, from the Wool Warehouse in the UK, which took just under a week to arrive at my door step.

The pattern for this blanket is very straight forward, Lucy's Cosy Stripe pattern, using one crochet stitch, Treble Stitch, or Double Crochet in the US. There's 90 "rows" in total, so it might possibly take me all winter to make!  We'll see!

Crochet & Knitting

As I mentioned in a recent post, I have made my very first purchase of Stylecraft Special DK wool. This bundle of gorgeous colours turned up from the UK only a week after placing the order and as it works out to be under $4.00 NZ per 100 gram ball that's super value if you ask me. 

This particular pack is to make Lucy from Attic 24's Cupcake blanket for Hannah and even though I plenty of other projects on the go, I couldn't resist getting this started on Sunday evening. Progress pics to come soon!

A recent crochet finish is this granny square blanket, which I started during Easter weekend back in March.

Using a 100% pure New Zealand merino wool, I have made this for a family member expecting a little girl in July.

A friend of my Mum's has a new granddaughter due later this month so I knitted my favourite baby cardigan in this lovely shade of pink and made a matching hat.

Pattern for the hat can be found here.

Pattern for the cardigan can be found here.


See you soon xx