A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Welcome back and a special welcome to some new followers. It's been a bit of a hectic week. Problems with broadband and problems with drains. All sorted now, thankfully.

I forgot to show you my second dishcloth that I made recently (pattern here). Here it is with our new, very miniature, rose. More about roses later.


Our neighbour does a bit of farming and for the past few weeks the field beside us has become the 'maternity field'. This was the first calf to be born. The picture was taken the day after it was born.

Mummy cow kept a close watch on her new baby.

In another field close by is the boy I would be pretty sure is the daddy!

Anyway, back to the garden now. The husband made this willow construction months ago (see here) for growing sweet pea. We've had such awful weather this summer with so much wind and rain. In fact, it is now official that we've had the coldest July in twenty years. The result is a slightly skewed willow frame and sweet peas that haven't quite reached their full potential. But they're not bad!

This is inside the frame where there are poppies growing as well.

This rose was planted last year and isn't doing too badly. A lot of the roses in the garden haven't done well at all this year.

This rose seems to do very well every year.

The first of the tomatoes this year. There is going to be a really big crop but that's because they're in the greenhouse. They are very slow to ripen so I pick them as soon as they show signs of starting to ripen and bring them into the house. For some reason they then ripen almost overnight.

Some of the blackcurrants that have been picked. I have washed and frozen over twenty two pounds so far and there's more to come! Later in the year I'll make blackcurrant cordial and probably some jelly too.

The strawberries weren't as good as we'd hoped because of the bad weather. We managed to get plenty to eat with ice-cream but not enough to freeze any.

I've finished crocheting the king sized blanket and have started sewing in the ends. It's therapeutic!

Did any of you spot my deliberate mistake in my last post about the sea glass shawl? I said the shawl is made up of three rows of motifs but it is actually constructed using four rows. The first has ten motifs, then nine, eight and finally seven, making a total of thirty four motifs. Also, I mentioned in the comments that I am using a 3.5 mm hook. Well, yes, I am. When I checked the pattern again (after having made fourteen motifs) I discovered that I should have been using a 3.25 mm hook. To be honest, I think the 3.5 mm hook is perfect so I'm glad I made that mistake! I've now finished the first two rows and am really loving it. Thanks for your lovely comments about the shawl, by the way.

Well, that's it for now. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I have some news about giveaways that I've won but that will wait for another time.

Dishcloth Pattern and Framed Quaker Tapestry

A big welcome to my new followers and thank you all very much for the lovely comments on my blanket and dishcloth. Here's the pattern for making the dishcloth. It could be used for a washcloth too. I'm sure it could be used for many types of items. The fabric this stitch produces is solid but lovely and drapey. I think it would be good for a cardigan or jumper.

So, anyway, let's get on with the pattern. I used King Cole Bamboo Cotton yarn and a 50g ball made a good big dishcloth. The second one I made a little smaller than the first so I had a bit left over; just enough to do a final round on a washcloth or something like that.

Also, I used a 4 mm hook. You can use whatever yarn you like best and a hook size that is suitable for that yarn.

Make a chain with an odd number of stitches. To use most of a 50g ball of yarn and make a good-sized cloth, make the chain about 55 stitches. It will depend on your tension, of course. So you might prefer 53 or 57. It doesn't matter so long as it is an odd number.

I'm writing this using UK terminology. For US readers, where it says double crochet (dc) use a single crochet (sc) and where is says treble (tr) use a double crochet (dc).

Foundation Row:

Work a double crochet into the 3rd chain from the hook.

* Work a treble into the next chain.

Work a double crochet into the next chain. **

Repeat from * to ** until you reach the end.

Pattern Row:

Make 2 chain and turn.

* Work a double crochet into the next treble.

Work a treble into the next double crochet. **

Repeat from * to ** until you work the treble into the last double crochet.

Now work a double crochet into the top of the starting chain-2 of the previous row.

Repeat the pattern row until you have made a square. Then fasten off and sew in the ends.

It's extremely easy!

Do you remember me showing you my Quaker tapestry a while ago? Well, I am very pleased to say that it has now been framed.

Oh dear, it was impossible to get a picture without the reflection.

No reflection this time though it's a bit far away to see any detail.

Not only has the tapestry finally been finished and finally been framed, it has finally been hung on the living room wall. I'm very pleased with it!

Crochet Progress and Using Wool Warehouse Bags

It's hard to believe, but it's over a year since I started my king size crocheted cotton blanket. In fact, details about the yarn I'm using were in my very first post. There have been some updates on the progress since then, from the first squares at the end of this post, a whole row done at the end of this post, some more here (at the end) and great progress made here.

Of course, I've taken breaks from my blanket since it was started. Many breaks! To make lots of other things. Some big some small. Now, at last, the blanket end is in sight. It has never been a project that made me feel under pressure to get it finished. I have enjoyed working on it and then putting it away while I did something else. Now that is is nearing completion I'm really feeling the impetus to get it finished. How do you think it is looking?

More has been done since this picture was taken. I have nine more squares to crochet and that will make a total of 132 squares! Now, if you crochet (or knit), you will know that finishing the last square is not finishing the blanket. There are hundreds of ends to be sewn in. In fact, it's likely there are more than a thousand ends to sew in! There's also a border to be done; something which I still haven't decided on.

Do any of you order yarn from Wool Warehouse? If you do then you are bound to have noticed the way they now package the yarn in these lovely bags. I thought they were bound to be useful for something once the yarn had been used. So, I removed the Wool Warehouse ribbons and substituted some of my own for pulling the bag closed. You could use very colourful ribbons or ribbons with a message printed on them (like Happy Birthday or Hand Made with Love; you know the sort of thing). A very useful bag for all sorts of things. I have used some already to pack items I've made to give to someone else.

I might as well let you see one of the little makes that has kept me from blanket. This is a dishcloth made using King Cole Bamboo Cotton yarn. It's lovely to work with; very soft although a little bit splitty. It's 50% bamboo and 50% cotton so ideal for using to make washcloths and dishcloths. I used the full 50g ball for this dishcloth so it's a good, generous size. My dad was impressed with it! 

If anyone would like to know how the dishcloth is made I can write it up for you; there's not much to it. It's so easy I've made another one in blue.

Best wishes to all of you for now. I'm sorry that I haven't had much time for reading other blogs this week and for leaving comments. I've had technology problems but really it's just a case of not enough time.