Stash-Buster Link Party Four

Welcome to the Fourth Stash link party of 2016 and thank you for linking all your beautiful creations to the last link up 

These were your favourites...

Cheerful Child Blanket Made by Libby from Loving Hands.

Sunburst Cushion made by Ninu from My experiments with needle and thread

Fruit slices by Liz from Howling at he Moon

Stash-busting makes by Janet from Yellow Pink and Sparkly 

congratulations ladies and thank you for linking :) 

Now it's time to Party! remember all crafts are included not just your yarny makes.

                                             Stash-Buster Link Party 4

Rules

• Please grab the stash-buster link party button
• All crafts are welcome either complete or works in progress.
• Link the picture from your actual post and not your blog address.
• Be polite and click on at least 2 links and leave some nice comments
• Please mention the link party in your post or display the party button in your sidebar if you want to be featured.
An InLinkz Link-up

Any LH pictures are projects made by ladies who are members of Loving Hands, clicking on the picture will show you an enlarged version, if you would like any information about any of the projects shown please just ask in the comments section. 

Five On Friday

This past week has gone so fast I didn't even realise it was Friday until it was nearly on top of me. My whole week has been taken up with decorating and now I remember why I don't do it very often..

One
I hate having to move all the furniture and cover everything with sheets including the carpet but you can bet there's a tiny bit you miss and that's the very place that will be splashed with paint.

Two
Does anyone really enjoy painting ceilings! they must be the worst thing to do ever, after two coats of paint a crick in the neck and aching shoulders you tentatively take the courage to look up and see if there any blotchy bits you have missed and yes! there are, my ceilings are artext in the worst possible way trying to get the brush into the swirls and blobs is almost impossible, but they are done! just please don't look up and inspect I'm certainly not going to.

Three
Running out of paint! there you are in your paint splashed gear when you realise you haven't quite got enough for those missed bits so you have to peel off the painting gear wash the paint off your arms, hands and face luckily the hair was ok I wore a shower cap then nip to the shop for another tin of paint and while I'm on the subject isn't paint so expensive!

Four
Having to use masking tape to do the dado rails and skirting boards, you take the patience to go round and apply it to all necessary area's then when you are done and come to take it off it takes half of the paper or paint off with it and you then have to touch up the bit that was covered with tape being careful not to touch newly painted skirting boards.

Five
Realising that the room you have painted shows up the rest of the house and really now that you have started you might as well go on and paint the blinkin hall stairs and landing!

Do you love it or hate it and what are your pet peeves about decorating? 

Now rushing off to work already 5 minutes late ahhh! 

Have a great weekend!

Joining in with Amy's Five on Friday.

Cheerful Child Blanket Finish.

I finished this last week but have been waiting for some decent lighting so that I could get some photo's taken, in the end I gave up and just took them with what I had anyway so I apologize for the poor quality of the photo's...

The Cheerful Child Blanket

I think this is one of the nicest crochet alongs I have taken part in, probably because it was easy, set at a comfortable pace and everyone of the squares are lovely...

The yarn I used for his blanket was donated to me by Judy one of the ladies that periodically attend the Day Unit for treatment.  She had sent her husband to buy the yarn because she's not as ambulant as she used to be.  She was quite worried when she saw what he had bought because it was chunky yarn and she knows that I prefer the finer yarns for baby things.  I reassured her of course and told her I would put it to good use, she will be back for treatment in April and I can't wait to show her what I've made with it, I'm sure she will be pleased.

I only worked three rows of the border because I prefered it that way.

I made it larger than the pattern stated because I wanted it to be big enough for it to be used as an incubation cover, it's just the right size to place over the incubator and filter the light so it's not too bright for baby's eyes.  Once the baby is big enough to come out of the incubator the blanket will be used as a cot cover and then given to the baby's parents to be used at home.

You can find the patterns for the blanket here and I would like to thank Carolyn for hosting such a fantastic CAL.

Linking with...



Snickerdoodle Sunday
Hookin on hump day
Cooking and crafting with J&J
Handmade Monday
Lunamon Design
Scrapability Saturday

Link and Share Wednesdays

Five on Friday

Another Friday already I can't believe it, I hope you have all had a great week, I'm taking five minutes to have a little catch up...

So last Monday in preparation for the upcoming decorating of lounge I cleared the room of all its ornaments and  pictures, took curtains down removed picture hooks, dusted the walls and ceiling then gave them a wash down, I'm painting over a textured paper so a few repairs had to be made here and there.  All the bit's and pieces were taken upstairs and dumped into son number three's bedroom because he's away at Uni, every bit of free space including the bed was covered.  

When evening came I was shattered plonked myself down onto soon to be banished sofa when there was a knock on the door and in walks son number two. To say I was surprised is an understatement because I see him usually only at Christmas and one or two occasions during the year, to cut a long story short he's having a few problems so he wanted to use mother as a sounding board.  I didn't mind at all in fact it was so lovely to see him despite being dead on my feet he was well fed and watered and generally waited on hand on foot.  He then asked if he could stay over, yes you've guessed it I had to go back into son number three's room and clear it of all the lounge stuff just so that son number two could actually see the bed never mind sleep in it. I even supplied him with new tooth brush and you should have seen the lovely breakfast I prepared for him the next morning.  Why are we mothers such a walkover when it comes to our sons, or is it just me?

I've been making .....

These squares are for Jill from Emerald cottage, she is asking for squares for the Autism project do pop over if you haven't already and see if you can help out, you can read all about it here.

I'm loving the fitbit just look at this....

mind you I have only managed it twice I didn't realise just how difficult it is to walk 10.000 steps everyday but today I received my marathon badge apparently I have walked 42 kilometers in the past week yay!

I'm going to shut up now so that you can pop round and see what everyone else has been up to this week it's Amy's Five on Friday first anniversary today so do join in. :)

Have a great weekend. xx

February Sweater

I have challenged myself to make a monthly sweater for the boys, this is what I have made this month...

 I was e-mailed by the charity concerned and asked if I could make a sweater for a five year old boy who was living in squalid living conditions here in England, it's hard to think that there are people living almost on your doorstep who can't even afford to cloth their children in warm clothing.

 I was told that he was small for his age because he was recovering from cancer bless him it breaks your heart.  I have never reached so quickly for hook and yarn and I had this little sweater made and sent off in a matter of days, I added a little T shirt for added warmth.

I hope that it will help to keep him just that little bit Warmer this winter.

STATS
Made with Dk yarn from my stash using a 4 mm sized hook.
It took 184 grams.
The pattern was easy to follow and worked up very quickly and can be found here

I hope that you are all having a great week so far, it's absolutely freezing here and snow is forecast it's a perfect day for staying cosy and warm inside and working on the border of my Cheerful Child Blanket.  What was that? did I hear you say something about the decorating, yes well I have washed the walls down and everything is ready I just need to buy the paint and I THINK I have decided on the colour too so soon very soon. :) 


Linking with...



Snickerdoodle Sunday
Hookin on hump day
Cooking and crafting with J&J
Handmade Monday
Lunamon Design
Scrapability Saturday
Link and Share Wednesdays

Stash-Buster Link Party Three

Welcome to the third Stash link party of 2016, thank you for linking all your lovely stash-busting makes to stash-buster party two! there were a record number of link ups this time so thank you so much for joining in.  

Can I please remind you to click on at least two links, leave each other some nice comments and grab some idea's and inspiration into the bargain. 

These were your favourites...

Knit Poncho Made By Ana a great Stash-buster!

Crochet Flowers on canvas by Ninu

A Scarf made by Terrra

Crochet Doily made by Preeti with free pattern link.

Congratulations ladies and thank you for linking :) 

Now it's time to Party! remember all crafts are included not just your yarny makes.

                                             Stash-Buster Link Party 3

Rules

• Please grab the stash-buster link party button
• All crafts are welcome either complete or works in progress.
• Link the picture from your actual post and not your blog address.
• Be polite and click on at least 2 links and leave some nice comments
• Please mention the link party in your post or display the party button in your sidebar if you want to be featured.
An InLinkz Link-up

Any LH pictures are projects made by ladies who are members of Loving Hands, clicking on the picture will show you an enlarged version, if you would like any information about any of the projects shown please just ask in the comments section. 

Five on Friday

Decisions have been made!

But not all I hasten to add, thank you for all your suggestions and idea's last week I really enjoyed reading them and I considered each and every one of them very seriously indeed.

One
It's funny how when you decide to do something it quickly escalates, believe you me just because I'm getting new sofa's the entire living room has been under scrutiny, I considered new carpeting, then perhaps a new door from the hallway to the lounge because the present door is quite shabby but that would mean buying two because I would have to change the kitchen one to match.  Then should I get new curtains? so...

I have decided to paint the walls in a shade of white at the moment Jasmine white is out front, I have dado rails and have yet to decide on their colour should they be the same as the walls, pure white, green, a coffee type colour?
I have decided to keep the door and am just going to paint it, but what colour?  pure white or whatever I decide for the dado rails??

I have decided I am keeping the carpet if I do stay in this house I will change it later but I will buy a rug in a colour/colours to tie the whole colour scheme together whatever colour that may turn out to be.
I want new curtains in a neutral colour along with a fleck of the same colour as the dado rails whatever colour they turn out to be.
As always all your idea's and suggestions gratefully received the decisions need to be made pretty quickly because everything needs to be done before the arrival of new sofa's in approximately 3-4 weeks.
So far I have taken the pictures down from the walls haha well it's a start!

Two
After lots of research and careful consideration about the tracker bracelets I have decided not to go for a bracelet at all I wouldn't be able to wear it for work anyway but a fob type device which can be placed in your pocket or pinned about your person somewhere. The winner was the fit-bit one, I like the look of it and it has great reviews.  I had an Amazon gift voucher so it has only cost me £10 so I can't wait for it to arrive.

Three
I have finished my mittens or Split mittens, they were designed by Christine (Winwick Mum) 

They fit great, are lovely and warm and of course are very practical too. I made them over two evenings super quick to make in chunky yarn I used Style-craft special chunky and Bonus chunky out of my chunky stash left over from my mini rings of change last year. You can find the pattern here

Four
I decided to go into town last Sunday to look at curtains and things and on the way my car began to wobble alarmingly, bear in mind I was driving at about 45 mph at the time, there were cars in front and behind me and no where to stop. I slowed right down to 20 mph my heart was thumping  because I could hardly control the car, I managed to drive around the next roundabout and pull into a side road and as the car came to a halt my tyre flew off.....

Have you ever seen anything like it! Anyway I called out the RAC and they put my temporary tyre on and I had  all my tyres changed the next day. I'm still shaking when I think about it! from now on I will check my tyres everyday before I get into the car.

Car now resplendent with new tyres, has had a good check up and now has a clean bill of health.


Five
When I went to visit my boyfriend the other night he told me that he has started reading Shakespeare loves it and has just bought the complete works, he spends nearly all his spare time reading and his spare room is like a library, it's shelved from floor to ceiling and every conceivable place is filled with books which spill over into his living room and bedroom too.  The next day when my car had been newly tyred I made that journey into town and while I was browsing came across this picture..

I couldn't believe it what a coincidence, I though that's just the thing for Kevin to put on his wall if he can find any wall space between the books that is, it's his birthday at the end of the month so I will give it to him then along with the socks I made him for Christmas but weren't gifted then because I decided to give him them for his birthday instead.


Have a great weekend!

Joining Amy for her Five on Friday 

Linking with...

Yarn Along.

I have a feeling that there won't be a lot of finishes this month because most of the projects I'm working on are long term works in progress or new starts, however I'm sure I will complete these quite quickly...

Mittens for me made in lovely thick chunky yarn so they are working up quite quickly.  I find it quite hard to work with thicker yarns there seems to be more wear and tear on your hands. I'm hoping they will be ready soon my poor hands are freezing!

I had another trip to the library last week and borrowed these..

There are some really sweet projects in this book and a couple I wouldn't mind making.

Delicious socks I love those on the front cover but I fear they are way beyond me, well put it this way I know I could make them if I really put my mind to it but it would take me forever and I mean months! I'm quite happy to make plain socks and let the yarn do the talking, but it's lovely just to browse through this book and see all the sock possibilities.

Now this is more like it you can see how deep my reading goes, I'm really enjoying this book, it's about two married women who are looking for something different in their lives, they are thinking there has to be more to life than this and they leave home for a week to attend a  tai chi course. As you can imagine there is temptation aplenty when they arrive and I'm now wondering will they or won't they added to which one of them has left a very beautiful au pair at home to look after her husband and children and the usually straight laced steeped in routine hubby is finding it very hard to resist the very beautiful fun loving au pair so will he or won't he.??? I think he will myself. :)

Joining in with Ginny's Yarn Along