Slow Progress and a CAL

I'm really enjoying making this blanket and watching the various patterns unfold..

Althought the actual stitches are simple enough you need to concentrate to get the pattern right so it does take me a while to finish a row.  I love how the patterns develop and the names the designer has given for for each of them.  

Crosses (back version)

Greek Meander

Hearts

Waves

Crosses (Front Version)

I have mixed it up a bit, and I wanted the dominant colour to be pink whereas in the pattern the dominant colour is white that is sometimes hard for my poor brain to grasp when reading the chart because I have to remember the white bits are pink and visa vera.  I'm hoping it's giving my brain a much needed work out. 😆

Queen CAL

I mentioned this back in my Mosaic Crochet post and promised to give you more information nearer the time.  The start date is September 18th and there is more information on Tinna's Ravelry page here

She has put together some colour packs with information on where to buy them, of course you can use your own colours and choice of yarn but those that she has put together are lovely.

The pattern is a paid one but will be discounted during the duration of the CAL .

I'm really excited to get started, the finished blanket is going to be gifted to someone, I won't say who just in case she reads ths post.  I haven't chosen my colours yet but I am leaning towards the Ruby Queen colourway.



If you want to give Mosaic crochet a try, joining in with this CAL would be an ideal oppourtuinty, the pattern isn't difficult and there will be lots of others doing the CAL along with you to give support and advice.

Remember me telling you about the woodland distruction a couple of post ago, well I had a walk there to see it for myself the other day....

from this....




To this....

It's hard to show the extent of the damage in the photo but it covers a huge area and was exactly where I thought it was. The first time I came uopn it it took my breath way, I turned a corner and there right in front of my eyes was this beautiful vista, a meadow of beautiful flowers borderd by ancient trees, now you turn the corner and see a huge ugly scar.  I haven't heard anymore about why or who has done this and I have a feeling we never will.

With a feeling of sadness and anger I left the woodland, turned right and walked down to the beach and let the beauty and the gentle lapping of the waves calm and restore my  soul. 

It's my to go to place for whenever I'm feeling sad or down.



Have a great weekend and stay safe.😘

Click here to see some of the great parties I will be linking with.

Potholders/Dishcloths and Baby Hats

A bit of a mix I must admit but sometimes you just want to make small easy things, quick finishes that give you a sense of achievement when you're feeling under the weather or your brain can't cope with anything else. 

I was inspired to make these last week

Mitered Dishcloth//Pot Holders

Astri from Apple Blossom Dreams had a 25% off sale and I just went for it, a nice easy pattern that I didn't even have to think about to satisfy my crochet cravings .  I have a rather large bag of cotton stash, most of the labels have gone but I actually know what I used for these, They both took 32 grams of yarn.  The pink one is made with Rico Aran creative cotton and the green one with Sirdar Simply Recycled cotton rich Aran. Both are great to crochet with and this is an addictive pattern I can see many more of these in my future so watch out all friends and family you are about to be in undated.😀
Thank you Astri for the inspiration and for a great pattern which you can buy here


Jeannie Hat



Marianna from Lazy Daisy Days published this free pattern last week, it's another lovely easy pattern this time to satisfy my knitting cravings, just the thing to make while watching TV. I have quite a large stash of baby knitting yarn and I haven't a clue what type this is, but this cute little hat only uses 13 grams so it's great for using up those little bits.  This pattern is also a very addictive and I will be making lots more, there is always a need for baby hats so I can make these to my hearts content.
Thank you Marianna for the inspiration and another great pattern.

Thank you for all your sweet comments last week, I'm pleased to say I'm feeling much better but it's took a while before I felt confident enough to go for a short walk just to post a letter, any illness really tales it out of you when you get older and I don't like being incapacitated one little bit I really don't have the time for it.😣😄

Lifestyle changes have got to happen whether I like it or not, when I had my Gall bladder removed in 2015 I was determined to eat healthily and carefully and I did for a lot of years but I've been slipping back and now I'm paying for it. It's a very boring bland diet you have to follow which is quite sad really.  Have you noticed that when you go out for a meal anywhere it's very hard to find something that is healthy, most things are covered in rich sauces or fried or both.  I'm so sorry for those of you who say you have this too, I hope that one day they will figure out an easy safe and effective way to fix it.

The spots on my face were diagnosed by my daughter she said they looked like cold sores and when she said that I realised yes of course that's what they are, I have had them on my mouth and nose before but never on my brow and at the side of my eye and on my scalp! They are still very much in evidence and quite sore, I have four of them and I'm hoping that I'll get no more.

I have yet to go see the damage inflicted on the Woodland as soon as I'm feeling a bit stronger I'll have a walk and see for myself just what has been done.

Right that's it I promise no more moaning at least for now.😀

leaving you with..

A beautiful Pom Pom Dahlia the star of the show in my garden this week.

I hope you all have a lovely safe weekend. 


Click here to see some of the great parties I will be linking to this week.

It's Been One Of Those Weeks!

It hasn't been a great week for me, on Sunday I woke with a blinding headache, I felt sick and dizzy and it felt as if I had a ball of fire in my chest which radiated though to my back.  I have a hiatus hernia with all the horrible side effects which sometimes comes with one. Some people have a hiatus hernia and don't even know about it but I certainly do, I have real bad gastric reflux and have to be so careful about what I eat.

On Wednesday I felt soreness on my face looked in the mirror and saw two huge red spots one of which is right next to my eye, the only thing I can think of is I must have been bitten, it's throbbing now as I write this.  I'm glad to say the GERD is a little better but it was Thursday before the headaches began to subside.  I think this must be the worst flare up I have ever had I am planning on asking for a referral so I can get some investigations to see how much worse this has got and see if anything can be done about it. I'm waiting for a GP phone consultation as I write this.

The GP has just phoned me, she told me it's the wrong time for referrals because of Covid -19 they will only take emergencies but I can have a blood test for Liver function if I like next Friday! You know if there was something seriously wrong you wouldn't stand a chance.
   
Then something happened which really saddened and angered me.  We have woodland near me and I only really discovered it during lockdown, what a beautiful place walking through there would bring peace to your soul.....

These photo's were taken during the lockdown period

I read a post on Facebook where someone had discovered a huge area of it had been cleared practically overnight.  This has triggered a huge local outcry the story made it to the local paper  please read it to get the full picture it's just a short piece, It seems the culprits are not known, the council are saying that they haven't given permission, it's known that the Beauty Spa want to build holiday lodges so they were blamed but they are denying it and say the land doesn't belong to them.

Seaham Hall Beauty Spa

Something doesn't ring true and the police are supposedly investigating  time will tell but nothing will restore the area and how much wildlife was killed or displaced doesn't bear thinking about.

Now I have to tell you about my phone fiasco, I decided to switch mobile deals online, after filling in the numerous forms I finally pressed the next button only to have the same page load up again with red letters saying enter a valid postcode, of course I already had done but did so again and filled in the various bit's where my information had disappeared only for the same thing to happen again and again and again, I spoke to online chat who seemed to think it was my fault and carefully explained how I should be entering the postcode which of course was exactly the same way as I had been doing.  I gave up on my laptop and tried with my iPad same problem, my phone same problem.

Today I phoned customer services now, as well as having a hiatus hernia and everything that goes with it  I'm also deaf so any phone call is a huge challenge for me but after what seemed like hours we managed it (why do they insist on reading out all the terms and conditions!!) and I have my new contract, I'm now waiting for my new Sim to arrive in the post.

I'm sure there was something else to moan about but I'll stop there if you have even managed to reach there haha.

Have a lovely trouble free weekend. 😘😘

A Circle a Rectangle and a Couple of Squares

The circle 

Is another embroidery finish! I really enjoyed making this, when my interest in embroidery was recently revived  I began to visit several sewing blogs and in doing so got so much inspiration. I was directed to a Facebook group group called Love and Hugs from Australia.  During lockdown a number of designers had got together to design free blocks to be embroidered and then made into a quilt.  As my sewing skills aren't good enough to make a quilt I decided to embroider those which appealed to me and then use them as wall hangings.  You can use the simplest of embroidery stitches and they still look charming.  This is the first one I have completed.....

and the second one is well under way....

The Rectangle

Corner2Corner  must be the one of the most versatile crochet techniques there is.  It's so easy to work the exact size that you need,  in this case I needed a rectangle, a rather large rectangle measuring  20"x 60" to be used as a bed runner, these are placed on the end of dementia patients beds so that it helps them to recognise which bed is theirs.  What a simple but great idea.

I thought that this would be an ideal way to use up some of my Aran stash, I was so happy with the colours I found.  I had nearly two balls of the multicolored yarn and found all these smaller balls which I thought matched exactly...

then I got started on the stripes, 

I really enjoyed making this because working c2c is so quick you don't even have to look at it.  


The only drawback I suppose is all the ends but I try to weave these in as I go along so that I don't have that many at the end.  I love how it turned out I think these colours go so well together and I was left with practically no yarn at all which all in all is a very satisfying 540 grams of yarn busted.  




I hope that this bed runner will do the job for which it's intended.

The Squares

I used c2c again with yarn from my stash, these needed to be 12"x 12" 

Memory squares, two identical squares to be put with others to make two identical blankets, one to be given and buried with a terminally ill patient when they pass and one to be given to the family as a keepsake.  So very sad but hopefully these blankets will offer a little comfort for those who have lost a love one.


Have a lovely weekend! the temperatures are going to be high in the UK over the next few days and people will be flocking to the beaches, this virus is still very much out there so please be cautious and stay safe! 😘😘

Click here to see the great parties I will be linking to this week.