Resurrecting an Old Friend.

When trying to decide which of the crochet a longs to follow I decided to make some of the squares from the 2018 Granny Square Cal when I realised that some of them seemed familiar and little bell tinkled in the far recesses of my brain oh yes! The Granny Square Afghan Sampler! back in 2012 I followed a crochet along for this, the blog is sadly no longer in existence so I can't link you back there but it was hosted by Blair Stocker and after doing just a little bit of research I have found her on Ravelry and her new blog Wise craft can be found here along with links to this project, I remember I enjoyed making the actual squares but not the joining up because they were all different sizes, what a challenge! first we were advised to make the center of the Afghan, it took me ages to figure it out...

and then join them together...

we then had to join the rest of the squares to the blanket..

I did try, in fact I tried for ages until I got fed up with it, I wasn't convinced that it would be worth all the work it would take to put it together or big enough to make a decent sized Afghan so it got stuffed into a bag and pushed out of sight, UNTIL NOW! yes six years later I have dug it out and have looked back and traced the project, I was so pleased to find that the whole project is there along with links to all the squares.  I'm also quite ashamed to see that lots of people followed this CAL and managed to complete this Afghan with no difficulty at all and there are some lovely examples on Ravelry.

I have decided to try to put it together however, I know that it's no use me trying to put it together as it is, it would be too small to be practical and it would be so fiddly to fit this jigsaw together, so I'm going to enlarge each square to six inches and then include some of the squares from 2018 Granny Square CAL until it's the size I want, well that's the plan wish me luck.😊

You can find the project here with links to all the patterns 

Something for the Weekend.

I hope that all you lovely people have had a great week! it's time to choose my weekend project again and this time it's something I need and not something for charity.  Back in September a lady from Loving Hands asked for help with a pattern, fortunately I was able to help her by making the item myself and going through it bit by bit with her and I loved how it turned out....

I loved the colours of the yarn and I really enjoyed knitting it too.  Now this particular hat was sent to a charity but I want to make another one for myself.  If I don't suit it then it will go to charity too and to be honest it may end up in the charity box because I don't usually suit hats but I'll give it a try. 

It took 132 grams of Aran yarn and you can find the free pattern here

I will also be trying a new cake recipe which has just come to my attention, Daphne's Olive Oil Cake, I know what you're are thinking, olive oil in a cake! well Daphne says it's yummy and that's good enough for me because I have tried lots of her recipe's and have enjoyed everything I've made so far.
You can find the recipe here 

What have you planned for this weekend? whatever it is I hope that you have a good one.😊

A Bit Of Confusion.

Regular readers of my blog will know that I love following CALs, the confusion lies in which one to follow because there are so many happening right now. Those that I'm interested in are

1. The Woodland Blanket CAL

I love Lucy's blankets because they are always nice and easy to make and this one is no exception. Of course there is no way that I would be buying the woodland blanket pack because as you all know I need to use my stash, I was thinking about using my coned yarn for this using three strands which should make it Aran weight. In these colours maybe..

I think I would probably have to add more colours to the mix because there may not be enough, it's fun pondering and trying to decide, it's also a bit of a challenge when you have just teeny amounts of some colours and more of others, they will all have to be used somehow or the blanket won't be big enough.

    2. The Harmony Blanket Knit-Along

Now this is a bit of a change, a knit along rather than crochet it's been a while since I knit a blanket and this one consists of six inch squares, one a week  I'm sure that I could manage that don't you? I already have some yarn in mind....

I would just make squares until the yarn runs out.

    3. 2018 Granny Squares CAL

I only found this one last week on Facebook and they have over 3000 members already, they are quite a way into it, it's a granny square a day so I would have some catching up to do.  If I did do this one I would only make the squares that appeal to me anyway. I was thinking of using random Dk stash yarn for this maybe multicoloured squares alternated with a plain square. 

All of these are a couple of weeks in already so if I want to join in with them I need to start now.  the question is do you think I could do all three if not which do I choose? 

Has anyone else joined in with any of these I would love to see your progress if you have.😊

Something For The Weekend.

I always find it's a good idea to make a few small things in between a bigger project, once the excitement of starting a new project wears off I soon get bored with it and sometimes find it a chore to actually finish it. That's where the making of small projects is such a big hit for me, I put my larger project to one side at the weekend and make something small and easy, I get quite excited at the thought of starting this teeny project knowing I'll have a finish quite soon. It could be anything that catches my eye during the week or something that I've had on my to do list for a while. 

Hats feature quite strongly on my teeny project list because they are quick to make and are always useful. A couple of weeks ago Marianna from Lazy Daisy Days had a mystery knit and I joined in, such fun to knit something and not know what it is you are knitting of course you do guess as you go along but you don't know what it's going to turn out like until it's completely done. It was this cute little hat...

Marianna has since named this the Marty hat and has also added a cute little mitten pattern too.  So that's what I'll be making this weekend another of these little hats with a matching pair of mittens.
You can find the pattern for both here

I also fancy making this stir fry I think it sounds yummy.

What will you be up to this weekend? whatever it is I hope that it's a good one.😊

Sorting The Stash

When I moved home I gathered all my yarn from all it's various hiding places and just pushed it into black bags there seemed to be so much! I just dumped all the bags into the garage along with everything else, now with Christmas and New Year over I knew that I had to tackle the black bag stash mountain. 
Wading amongst all the garage mess was not an easy job I still have so much sorting to do but my number one priority was the yarn. It took me two days to bring it all indoors and sort it, I'm quite embarrassed to show you this lot but I'm going to be brave so here goes....

I also found five unfinished projects, they are quite challenging that's why I never finished them. I'm sure that apart from one I will get them completed one day.

It's all been separated into various yarn weights and put back into the garage but in the loft space, I have kept partial balls in the house and I'll try and use them up first along with the cones.  I sorted yarn for my next two projects but I'll show you those another time.  So do you want to know how much it all weighed in at?  ....

36,200 grams that's 79.807339 pounds😮

Last year I managed to bust 13,970 grams so that lot should last me three years at least. I won't be buying any yarn this year that's for sure, I didn't buy much last year but our group did get lots of lovely yarn donations that's why there is so much. It goes without saying that I will be stash-busting yet again this year.

How much yarn have you got in your stash? go on weigh it all and share, be brave I dare you.😊

A Great Start to the New Year.

Or should I say finish!

this was supposed to be my winter project but it's finished already...  

I know all things granny are fun but I have to say I think that this particular square is my absolute favourite to make, that's why I managed to finish the blanket so quickly. Starting off with an easy circle and then squaring it off is very satisfying indeed.

I began this blankets journey here and at this point I realised that I wouldn't have enough  grey but with your encouragement I added in the cream and I think it looks great don't you? Find the circle in a square pattern here

A very satisfying stash-bust, the blanket used 1,237 grams of yarn and it will fit a single bed..

This will be the first item to place into a box to be sent to Operation Orphan, I wonder how long it will take to fill the box.😉

A big thank you for staying with me even though I've been noticeably absent of late and for all the lovely comments I received throughout 2017.  It was a very difficult year for me and although I am settling into my lovely new home, I received yet another set back regarding my old house just before Christmas, my fourth lot of buyers had to pull out because of problems with their own house sale. I have taken the house off the market because I need a break from the stress of it all. I will put it back on in a few weeks and hopefully 2018 will be a better year for me.😊

Thank you for the lovely comments about my header, it's a Church situated not too far from where I live and the photograph was taken by my brother he takes amazing photo's.

I hope your first weekend of the New Year is a good one, what will you all be up to? I'm going to sort my stash so wish me luck! see you soon. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Just popping in to wish everyone all the very best for the New Year. I hope to see more of you you all in 2018.😊