A Mosaic Crochet Cushion and a Loveliness of Ladybirds

 Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post, it's good to know that it's ok to have a lazy day now and then, I did get dressed by the way but I have to admit crochet was still pretty much the order of the day, I didn't manage to finish the ladybirds that day but I have now and here they are ta daa....

The Ladybirds..

 Aren't they cute! 😊  I know that I'm always saying mosaic crochet is easy and it is, however if you try to work with more than two colours at a time it can be more tricky, but I was determined that the ladybirds would look like ladybirds making a whole lot of extra work for myself. Never mind I'm happy with the result and I won't be as pedantic with the rest of the blanket or I'll try not to be.

Did you know that A group of ladybirds is called a Loveliness - I didn't but how perfect!

The Cushion..

Here it is the long awaited cushion. It didn't take me long at all to crochet the tiles, the beauty of this pattern is it's in one piece so no sewing of squares. Although there are 72 tiles to choose from I only selected two for this cushion and I'm happy with how it turned out.

The blanket at the back is this one here

I used fabric for the back which I found in my linen cupboard, I cut it from the back of a cushion cover which  I'd bought years ago and had never used because it was too big. 

I had intended to insert a zip, but the zip I ordered from Amazon arrived broken, I didn't want to delay so I just used good old fashioned press studs for the closure

I used just over 200 grams of Hayfield Sundance Dk in shades Cherry pop and Whitesands which I had left over from making the blanket above.

The Pattern Is Azul and you can find it here.

My garden at dusk

I just love this beautiful climber, I took a cutting from my garden in my previous home and I'm so glad it took. It blooms practically all summer

and the beautiful David Austin Charlotte Rose another cutting from my previous garden,  this year is the first one it has done so well😊

I hope you are all having a great Sunday, I will be going for a long walk with my friend Barrie and there will be a Sunday Lunch at the end of it, I'm watching the weather and hoping that it doesn't decide to rain.  When I get back my son, DIL and little grandson Mikey are coming to visit, then this evening I'm hoping to continue with Mikey's blanket, this week is part two of the CAL and I have already started

can you see the snails starting to emerge?

Take care care until next time.😘😘

Linking with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday

A Lazy Sunday - Three things

 Can you believe it's 11 am and I'm still not dressed. I have been up since 7 30 but I picked up my crochet hook whilst watching the news and got quite carried away.

One

The new CAL Flora's Fauna began on Friday and I couldn't get started on it till late last night. I get so excited when starting a new piece of work don't you? 

The little creatures in the first part of the blanket are ladybirds and I just love to see the picture develop row by row.

I must admit there's not much to see so far but if I just sit here in my sunny conservatory and do nothing else but crochet I could have a row of little ladybirds before the end of the day.

I have no idea how this little Mikey blanket will turn out because I have to be led by the yarn I have in my stash, the little creatures could turn out to be any colour and that's part of the fun of it.

Two

I have progressed a little on the Bohemian blanket I showed you last week, I have now tried all the shapes that are needed to complete the blanket, they need blocking but you get the idea.

I'm thinking about making it into a bed runner to send to NHAP for someone with dementia but I'm in no hurry, this is an easy pick it up and put it down project that I can do between other things.

Three

As if that wasn't enough I have something else I'm itching to start, NHAP, have asked for bright happy cardigans or sweaters for children aged one to teens, it's ages since I made a cardigan and I've found a fabulous pattern which I will share once I get started. I have the colours all ready although they could change depending on my mood, lots of stash yarn fighting to come forward and be part of the design 😂

Now I think I had better get dressed and do something other than crochet for a while, they say it's not good for you to sit for long periods, something about exercise is good for you, what a drag🤦🏻‍♀️

As always we have blustery winds and intermittent sunshine so my exercise will be out in the garden with brief periods of rest with crochet hook in hand. (View from Summerhouse)

What are your plans today? Whatever they are have a lovely Sunday and a very happy Father's Day to all those Dad's that are celebrating 😊

Linking with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday

Something a Bit Different

 It's still crochet but a different technique ..

I saw this on Instagram ages ago and really wanted to try it but haven't had the time, now I'm between projects I thought this was a good time to give it a try.

I wasn't sure at first it's very much like the c2c technique but it forms a diamond, you have to make half diamonds to get the square shape which I haven't tried yet.  It's very much in it's initial stages and I have no idea how this is going to turn out but it's a great stash buster and I'm enjoying the process thus far. 

It's called the Modern Bohemian blanket and you can find tutorials on YouTube none of which are in English but the videos are easy enough to follow they can be found here and here the pattern can be bought on Ravelry here

Have any of you tried it?

I say I'm between projects because I'm looking forward to starting a new CAL it's called Flora's Fauna and it's hosted by the designer Rosina Pane....

Ladybirds, snails, hedgehogs, acorns, squirrels, leaves and butterflies, what's not to love 😊 

It's made in Mosaic Crochet of which I am a great fan, did I mention that before haha, I'm trying to use stash yarn for this but I will have to probably buy the odd ball here and there and it starts on the 17th June, the pattern is discounted now so it's a great time to buy it if you don't have the time to make it now but intend to later.

All details can be found here

I hope that Summer is going well for all of you and although you must be sick of me going on about the weather it has not been great here, I'm not a great fan of  blustery winds and showers that appear from nowhere it makes it hard to plan anything constructive.

The predominant flower in my garden is the foxglove at the moment, they have self seeded around my garden, I'm amazed that they can remain upright in the winds. I love foxgloves, they can scatter their seeds all over my garden and I will be delighted as will the bees they love them.

My Cordyline has sent out two more flower spikes this year the scent is filling the garden, the flowers soon fade, I find them very strange but quite beautiful and the bees love these too.  The Cordyline always looks very tired after flowering I think it must put most of it's energy into producing these flower spikes and I'm always afraid that it won't recover but this must be the third year that it has flowered so hopefully it will build up enough strength to recover and go on to produce more next year. I always cut the spikes down once they have flowered so that the tree doesn't put even more energy into producing seeds.

I have finished my cushion which I'm delighted with and will show you soon and I intend to do some embroidery this afternoon I'm trying a stitch I haven't tried before the bullion stitch so that should keep me busy.

I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday, take care until next time.😘😘

A Quick Chat

 Hello all you lovely people, I thought I would just pop in and have a quick chat.

I have been trying to do some gardening but the weather continues to disappoint. I'm pleased to report that I managed to paint my fence posts yesterday morning. The weather was beautiful and then dark clouds moved in and we had torrential rainfall for most of the afternoon, it still needs a second coat which I hope to do just as soon as I have finished writing this.

I bought a raised flower bed and have filled it with, celery, purple sprouting broccoli and I've planted beetroot, spinach and rocket seeds, I'm going to leave a portion to plant some flowers to pick for the house, probably cosmos.

I assembled it in the pouring rain a couple of days ago, wearing boots and a raincoat, there was mud everywhere but at least it's done.😊

We put up the bunting at our railway station to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, the wind was blowing a gale and it was difficult to get any decent photos but it did look nice when we had finished, we could have done with a lot more but there's only so much bunting one can make without getting terribly bored with it.

There's lots of celebrations going on in our little town for the jubilee but the weather does spoil it, a lot of things had to be cancelled because of the rain yesterday afternoon.

Our u3a organised an afternoon tea on Wednesday, if you remember I have been following a sugar free diet for the whole of May and I thought I would be able to indulge at the tea party because it was the 1st June. I have been very good throughout May and I can tell a difference, my clothes aren't nearly as tight and I feel much better for it.

I even wore a dress for the occasion, I'm usually a jeans or black trousers and a top kind of gal so for me to wear a dress was a big thing.

So there I was all dressed up and ready to eat a huge tea and cake for the first time in a month, well what a disappointment you can see what was offered below ...

I could have eaten three times as much and still had room for more😂 everyone was disappointed with the food but a good time was still had, it was a lovely atmosphere and a good bit of dancing went on.

A quick photo of my May embroidery Lily of the valley

The flowers for June are honeysuckle and rose so I think it may be rose for me as it's my favourite flower, I'm hunting out a pattern as we speak but I may just make my own.

I'm still making my mosaic cushion using the AZUL pattern and it's nearly finished but apart from that there's not much crafting going on, I like to be outside between the showers making the most of this very fickle British weather, there are clouds a gathering as I speak.😒

I hope you are all doing well and if you are celebrating having a lovely jubilee weekend. 😊

Take care until next time. 😘😘