String Tote Round up, another great CAL and a givaway!

Thank you for all the lovely comments about Odoh's Story and the Fantasy blanket, I'm so glad you enjoyed the story and liked the blanket.

I have also been overwhelmed and touched by all the lovely comments and emails I have received about my string tote tutorial, thank you so much! it's lovely to hear all your comments and the reasons why you want to make these bags.  
Here are some more that I have made for birthday gifts.

Made for Susan

  Embellished with Astri's granny Rose and made for AnneMarie.

Embellished with a granny rose and made for Dianne.

Remember these bags are great stash busters! 

Stats
Cream bag 42 grams, patons 4ply cotton
Pink Bag 55 grams. 2 strands of 4ply cone cotton
Green bag 56 grams. DK cotton/acrylic blend 
All weights include flowers.
It's interesting to note that the cream bag takes the least yarn, is the smallest looking bag, in fact you hardly know it's  in your handbag but when opened it stretches more than the others and therefore holds more. 

I thought it only right to round up some of the lovely bags you have been making and display them here.

Hindusanka

Astri

Casey

Loving Hands

I think that they are all fantastic! every time I find one I will add it here and link it to the tutorial to show all the lovely colours and variations so please let me know if I have missed yours.

A Crochet Along
As you all must know by now I love a crochet a long and I have just spied yet another I really want to do.  I'm not really sure that my finished result will look anything like it's supposed to but I'm going to give it a try anyway.  I'm talking about the Nesting Dolls CAL with Kara at Petals and Picots

Arn't they cute! 

A Giveaway
Amanda at Crafty in the Med wants to celebrate her 2nd blogaversary by having a mystery giveaway, so if you haven't done so already there is still time to join in as it's open until August the 24th! 

Hope you are all having a great week! :)

Dream Fantasy

Odoh's Story.

Odoh the owl woke up one Summer morning and opened his eyes.

Odoh was amazed by what he saw lying before him, there stretching as far as the eye could see was a magical land, one that filled him with awe and wonder.  He set out to explore wishing that he had a friend with which he could share his adventure but unable to resist, he trepidly stepped across the stepping stones that led him to areas of lovely golden sand and broad green strips of meadow.

He jumped and played in the sand feeling the silky grains beneath his feet, running through he meadow of tall grass he didn't see them until he was almost upon them! a row of beautiful flowers filling the air with the most heavenly scent .

Odoh leaned on the picket fence and gazed up at the fluffy clouds in the sky above, they were tinged with a hint of dawn and reflected the green of the meadows below.

Looking far into the distance he could see a rippling steam flanked by a bridge on either side, Odoh was too scared to cross the bridge because he could see the water running below and he was afraid of falling...hang on! I can hear you saying, he's an owl he has wings he could fly.... but remember Odoh wanted to savour this adventure step by step and not miss a bit of it, everything goes past in a blur when you are flying and anyway this is his story so please stop interrupting.  Where was I? oh yes, because he didn't want to cross the bridge, Odoh took the path up the side and was mesmerised by the clear blue water rippling by, he sat on the side of the stream and let his feet trail into the cool water and had lots of fun splashing and scaring the little fish that swam beneath.

He got to his feet and stood on his tip toes,there just over the bridge on the other side Odoh spied something that set him off trotting as fast as his legs could carry him, I know I haven't seen an owl trotting either but that's what he said so I believe him.  Before he even realised  he had actually crossed the dreaded bridge and had ran down the pathway. Guess what he found? beautiful shells as far as the eye could see, in shades of pink and lilac, they had been thrown up by the rippling stream which after all did flow directly from the sea. he scooped some of them up to add to his shell collection (don't ask!) In his excitement he flew up into the air and gazed down below him.

He could see that this magic land stretched out a whole day before him changing only with the shades of time, he flew down and set off to enjoy the rest of his magical day.

Guess what Odoh found at the end of his fantasy? 
(Revealed below)

Fantasy Blanket 

I have really enjoyed making this blanket, it's a great stash buster, my completed blanket measures 43''x31'' and it took 400 grams of yarn

I want to make one for each of my four children so if/when they have kids of their own they can share the magic too. I can imagine this as a pretty cot cover, with a little baby lying snugly beneath having sweet magical dreams.

Thank you Ana for the great Pattern and tutorial you can find it here
Thank you Lorene for the great owl pattern you can find it here

It's the end of the month again! I can see by the Summer Link Party you are all doing so well with your stash-busting even in the heat of Summer, so keep linking and visiting and have a lovely Summer!

For those of you who are counting please leave your totals here

My total for this month are 750 grams.

So here is what Odoh found at the end of his fantasy.

A new friend! her name is Odah and she is for real :)

They hope to share many adventures together, after all they are woven by the same yarn, so I think they might. :)

Felix the cat sits on the roof and looks on.....he is not convinced! are you?

Yes I've gone and done it again!

Fantasy Blanket Progress

I have just gone and done what I always do! jumped in with both feet and started another project when I already have about another six on the go.  Yes you may well have guessed  Ana's has done it again with her Fantasy blanket when I saw it I really couldn't resist, it's such a beautiful whimsical blanket how could I?

So first it was the selection of the yarn, most of it came out of my baby stash because I want this to be a blanket in pastel shades with splashes of deeper colour here and there.

Then out I went into the garden into the beautiful sunshine feeling so happy, because the sun was shinning and because I couldn't wait to get started.  It seemed so right to be hooking this blanket amongst my flowers.

Here is my progress so far, I love all the different stitches in this blanket and it really is a fantasy blanket because you can weave your own story into it with each different stitch you use.

I can see flowers, grass, sea, sand and sky, all the magic of summer.

 It blends well with my roses.

A touch of Summer romance.

 Thank you Ana for designing this lovely blanket I think I will be making more than one.

Hope you are all having a great weekend!