Sweet little Hedgehogs

After finding that sweet little hedgehog in my garden the other day I've got the urge to make some.  I have made them before and even though they might look prickly they are really lovely soft, cuddly and so quick to make and I must warn you they are addictive too.
I used eyelash yarn to make these, some of the ladies on loving hands made them in all colours, who says a hedgehog should be brown. 
Kids love them and they are specially good for the shoe box appeal.

 Here are my little blonde Hedgies 

These were made by one of the lovely ladies from loving hands

Now compare them to Hubert....yes he has a name now haha,  I think they look very realistic :)

If I have put you in the mood for making hedgies the pattern I used can be found here and if you get addicted but want a variation here are some more cuties.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-crochet-hedgehog

http://onemancrochet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/free-crochet-hedgehog-pattern.html

Pottering and Ponderings

A big thank you to Shari and Beck for giving me' this award, it's very much appreciated and I'm honored to receive it.
Please take a look at their lovely blogs if you haven't already they are well worth a visit.

While pottering in the garden today, I have been pondering about how to do this.  I can tell you one thing about myself and that is I talk to myself, even argue sometimes especially while I’m pottering in the garden.  There hasn’t been much of that going on just lately because of the weather so I had a longer than usual potter and ponder and chat to myself this morning to make up for lost time haha.

Now I’m bending the rules and I hope by doing that I’m not offending anyone, but the way I see it these awards are just for fun anyway.  My take on the situation is this,  I think there are so many beautiful blogs out there that every one of them should have one of each award that is going.  Writing a blog and trying to inspire and keep people interested is hard work sometimes, not to say very time consuming.  I know we do it because we enjoy it and it’s great to inspire and have feedback from other bloggers as well as visiting their blogs and seeing what they have been up too, I like to think of us all as friends who love to visit one another.

 Now for this award I’m not going to pass it on just yet, the reason being most of you have it already and probably those that don’t, prefer not to accept awards anyway. So if anyone would like this award or would like to receive it again please leave me a comment and I will announce who it is I’m awarding it to, remember I can award it to up to 15 bloggers so please don’t be shy, there may be new bloggers out there who I haven’t met yet, or some I've missed,please speak up leave a comment so that I can visit your blog and let others know about you.

To finish off a glimpse of my end of July garden, enjoy the sunshine everyone (while it lasts)

Luv ya x

Look who I had to rescue from Broc, sooo cute he was hiding under a bush.

Naughty Broc !!!

Why do the birds always go for the fat balls? hey you lot the seed is more nutritious! do they listen ? no way.

A Collection Of Unusual Shapes

I bet that you all thought that I had given up on the Beyond The Square Challenge because it's so long since I have posted any motifs but no not at all I am still beavering away in the background turning out these little beauties and still enjoying the making of them.  I may be a little behind some of you but I will catch up eventually.
I always like trying something different so the unusual shapes found in the last chapter of the book I found, are mostly fun to do.
I used King Cole Smooth DK for these motifs, I love this yarn because it has the appearance of cotton and it also has a nice sheen, however it does split easily so it is a bit of a pain to crochet with.

Motif #126

I kept my eyes on the chart for this one concentrating on the pattern and didn't really notice how the motif was developing until it was finished and it was a nice surprise because I love it. This type of yarn gives a firm but soft finish it's lovely.  I think you could join this shape but you would have to combine it with small squares.

Motif 128

A five sided motif, lovely but I haven't a clue how you would join these, I suppose you could make a few of them and try putting them together to see what shape you would get, a motif puzzle... mmm

Motif #131

Easy to do and very pretty, I think these could be joined to make a blanket or shawl.


Motif #132

Another five sided motif, this was quite interesting to make, it's made up of six individual motifs, each one is attached to the center one as you go, a bit fiddly but I like the finished result.

Motif #133

Sometimes there's nothing you can say, you just have to look and enjoy.

Motif #134

I love this heart and I just wish you could pick it up and feel the texture and weight of this yarn it's just perfect for this motif soft and sensuous, it's a heart to be given to a lover. 

Motif #138

You know you can make these motifs and sometimes there's not a lot you can say about them but...I can say a lot about this one, it took ages to make there's eight rounds!  I have to admit the reason it took me so long was the puff stitch.  I am useless at doing this stitch.  I know some of you make whole blankets with this stitch and I take my hat off to you and gaze upon you with awe.  I can never remember how many times I've pulled up a loop or put the yarn over so I have to count as I go then when I have the required number of loops on my hook...can I pull the yarn through...no way! it gets stuck halfway through, I try coaxing it through, pulling it gently, then pulling it hard, I try making the loops looser, but nine times out of ten I end up taking it all off the hook and trying again and again and again.. you get the picture.  I think now you can understand why it took me a whole evening to complete this..BUT complete it I did and was it worth it? well I certainly think so because I think it's one of the most beautiful motifs in the book.  I intend to frame this one not just because it's lovely but because it was the 50th motif I made!! YES! I'm  half way through the challenge.



Motif #141

Nice and easy using Sc and Dc, this one just flows. Each side measures the same too so you could easily join it to make a bigger project.

So there you have it my collection of unusual shapes, I hope you enjoyed looking at them and that you have been inspired to make some yourself.  I love looking at all the motifs everyone has been making in this challenge it's amazing just how many different variations there are by just using different yarns and hook sizes.  It's also interesting to have your feed back, suggestions and idea's on what can be made with these motifs so please leave me plenty of comments.  
I'm not sure what my next collection will be but there is a little seed growing so watch this space. 


Progress 50 out of 100

My First TUSAL

So here we are folks the time has come for my first reveal of the TUSAL scrap jar.  Lots of scraps in there because I'm working on a few things that have lots of ends at the moment and I like to finish off as I go.  

 I'm calling this my gathering jar  

and this is where my lovely bits of this and that will end up

I'm loving it already, I think it will look really pretty once it's all filled up.  Did you know there are 389 of us participating in this TUSAL and I thought I was crazy it's good to know there are other scrap lovers out there.
Next New Moon August 17th

A Gift For A Friend

As soon as I saw this little kokeshi girl I wanted to make her and although I new I wouldn't be able to do the pattern justice I wanted to try and make her for a friend of mine who's home was partially destroyed by fire.  Most of her mementos and treasured possessions were ruined in the fire so I wanted to give her little bit of something to start her collection going again.
I love amigurumi but I find it very tedious to do, all the counting of stitches and then the sewing up and then trying to get all the different parts placed just right.  The bit I find hardest is making features, I can never get them right and I end up pulling them out and starting again and again. I have great respect for all of you clever crocheters who turn out neat and perfect amigurumi time and time again.

I didn't get her quite right but my friend loved her just the same

If you would like to try making this little Kokeshi girl you can buy the  pattern here

I Wasn't Dreaming After All

Thank you once again to everyone who tried to find the scrap link; I did manage to find it in the end, I went back into my internet History where I eventually found it on my old laptop, then it took me ages to bring it up as my old laptop it so slow, hence the new one, anyway I am talking of course about 'totally useless stitch a long' or TUSAL The website in question is daffycat   

 You need to join to be in on this and I have applied but have not received an answer as yet but I’m still going to do it anyway.  I’m sure it doesn’t matter if its threads or yarn that you put into your container as Sharon of daffy- cat says anything goes.

I have decided to have a smaller container to collect my scraps in and then empty them into a larger one every month, I haven’t yet decided whether I should just let it fill up naturally or give it a stir to mix all the colours.  Then of course one has to decide whether or not to keep squashing them down until you can’t possibly get another piece of yarn in there or let them lie naturally and loosely as they fall mmm… decisions, decisions.  I think the container will look quite pretty no matter how I decide to fill it, and once it's full I will be able to cast my eyes upon it with pride knowing how much work I have achieved to produce such a wonderful display.  Then maybe a pretty crochet lid to decorate for the final touch. 

Come on and join me let’s have a beautiful scrap container display, it doesn’t matter how long it takes or how many you have,  I know it’s silly but it’s fun or maybe I’m just nuts you decide haha

The next New moon is on the 19^th July when I will reveal my scrap jar and the one in which I have chosen to display my beautiful end products of productivity, and hopefully I will have heard from Sharon by then and will be able to add the TUSAL button for a direct link to her website.

Granny Afghan Sampler progress.

First let me begin by thanking you all for the great response I got from the previous scraps post and thank you all so much for trying to find the link for me.  I am happy to say I HAVE FOUND IT! yey!!  More about that soon I promise all will be revealed and I have to say it is as mad as I thought it was.

Week eight of the Afghan granny square sampler crochet-a-long  starts today and I can't wait to see what Blair has in store for us this week.  I am really enjoying this cal, in fact I have to say I do love cals in general so if I have missed one please draw my attention to it.  This one is so perfect because you make different types of squares each week you can't get bored with it, also there are only a few to do each time which leaves you with plenty of time to get on with other projects and of course it's fun to see how others are getting on with their squares too.   

So to recap the first couple of weeks I showed you here

Week three
Variation granny square

Week Four

 "The V"

Week Five
Circle within a square granny's

Week six
Sunburst Variation Square

Week Seven
Granny Square African Somalia Flower

If I have to pick a favorite I have to say it's the Somalia Flower which is a variation on the African flower motif. I do love them all though and I think they are gong to make a great blanket.  There is still time to catch up if you want to join in. just click on the little afghan picture on the right or the link at the beginning of this post and it will take you straight to the instructions.

Perhaps I was dreaming

I know some of you will think me crazy but others will empathise completely, I'm talking here about scraps.  I mean scraps of yarn or fabric that we usually throw into the bin.  I have always had a special kind of affection for these scraps, when I look into my waste basket and see them all nestling in there I think it's a shame I can't do something with those pretty little bits and pieces. Now last week while I was browsing blog land I came upon a blog that shares my weird fascination, I felt an imediate empathy and was greatly reasurred to know that I wasn't alone in this, then when I scrolled down her blog I was delighted to find that there were hundreds of us out there all loving these little leftover bits of this n that.  They even took it a step further and they reveal their collection at each full moon.  I really want to join them but it was late at night and I was tired and forgot to bookmark this blog and now I can't find it, so I'm appealing to you dear readers if you know what I am talking about, perhaps you are one of the scrap savers yourselves please leave me a linky, if you don't maybe I did dream it up after all.