Christmas Decoupage, A Blanket And A Bit Of Sewing

It's been a week of dull, cold shivery weather with the sun hiding behind grey dark clouds making only the briefest of appearances, it's been hard to force myself  to go outdoors, so much nicer to stay warm inside and play with crafting things.

This week I thought I would give my hands a bit of a break from  knitting and crochet and devote my time to decoupaging pebbles and anything else that decided to put in an appearance, be prepared for visual overload.....

This little jam jar looks lovely when lit from within with a tea candle

This bottle looks nice in daylight.

But even better lit up at night I love the reflection in the window, two for the price of one.

They all look so festive lined up along the windowsill in my conservatory but I will gift lots of them to friends, just a little token to show them I care, but then thoughts turn to now how will I do that and I hit upon the idea of little gift bags. I had a search about and gathered some supplies,  I should have done this months ago but honestly there just isn't enough hours 

It didn't take that long but I have lots more to make this weekend and then I will make the rounds, lots of doorstop socially distanced visits to friends to drop off these little tokens of  Christmas cheer.

Just before I go I finished the Baby Blanket ...

It's soft and squishy and has been sent to the Sun appeal for Preemie babies which I spoke about here. (Pattern below) This is a nice easy pattern perfect for knitting while watching TV. The socks are nearly finished too I'm right up to the toe shaping, it looks like I'll have another pair of cosy socks to wear really soon.

Have a lovely weekend 😘

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

Blanket Pattern as Requested

PATTERN TO MAKE A 24 X 30 INCH (61 X 76 CM) BABY BLANKET kindly devised for BLISS by Marilyn Marsh 

YOU NEED: 250grams Double Knit yarn and 4mm needles (size '8') 

Cast on 128 stitches and knit 17 rows. At beginning and end of next and each following pattern rows you will knit 9 stitches for the border to prevent it curling up. 

1 st row: knit 9 (knit 10, purl 10) repeat to last 9 sts, knit 

2 nd row: knit 9 (purl 10, knit 10) repeat to last 19 sts, purl 10, knit 9 

Repeat these rows 6 times 

15 th row as 2 nd row. 

16 th row as 1 st row 

Repeat 15 th and 16 th rows 6 times to form the pattern (28 rows). 

Repeat the above 28 rows of the pattern a further 6 times, the blanket should now measure approx. 28 inches. Knit 17 rows then cast off. B

Knit A Lot To Save A Tot

 The Knitting Needles Are Out Big Time!

My needles have been in hibernation for quite a while until recently. My first love was knitting until crochet came along and nudged it to one side, but I always go back to it given the smallest excuse and this is one of those times.

The Sun Newspaper published this last weekend Do Your Knit Asking for knitted baby blankets

Without even really thinking about it I dove into my yarn stash and found some appropriate yarn, do you know I can't even remember where or when I bought this, I do remember it was on sale and I bought four 100 grams balls I have a feeling it's discontinued now but it's lovely yarn and I like the fact that it has both pink and blue shades so can be used for a boy or a girl.

It's coming on slowly, because although I'm enjoying it I have to be careful with knitting as it hurts my joints now which isn't really surprising since I have been knitting on and off for 60 years. 

I'm only going to make one blanket because when an appeal goes up like this I know that they will be inundated with donations because everyone wants to help. 

The Socks 

I'm at a crucial stage right now turning the heel so they aren't at the nice  pick up and do a few rows stage this is the bit that needs a bit of time and total concentration on my part...

I'm quite pleased with myself actually I think I've matched the yarn almost perfectly. 

What something else!!

Yes indeed and it's another charity project....

See if you can guess what it's going to be, the colours could give it away but then again.🤔

Look what came in the post I was amazed because I hadn't ordered anything, I have discovered I have to be very careful what I say around my family, I did just happen to mention that I had never had one of those posh looking food mixers handheld yes but never hands free. I was watching Bake Off At the time are you watching? who is your favourite to win?  Anyway I digress....

My lovely daughter ordered it for my birthday, it came a couple of days ago but I refused to take it out of it's box until it was my birthday day which is today yay! I can't wait to use it healthy things only of course.😉

Have a lovely weekend.😘😘

Parties I will be linking to.

Baby Blankets and Camera Frustration

Sometimes you make something that is so pretty you want to show the whole world, it's maybe nothing ground breaking or particularly spectacular, but something that fills you with warmth when you see it touch it and feel it. 

Trying to share what you see in real life can be so frustrating, trying to get the perfect shot that encapsulates the whole package is practically impossible at least it is for me.

I now that these are just simple baby blankets but I want you to see the colours as I see them and feel the softness of the yarn as I feel it.

 I have taken photo's in the shade and in the sunlight, with my camera, my phone and my iPad but none of them tells the true story, I have edited changed hues and fiddled with all of the controls until I could quite literally scream.  

 Each picture is a different shade but it's the same yarn, take my word for it it's very pretty.  Taken out of my stash I bought this yarn from Aldi several years ago, I wish I had bought more because I haven't seen it since then. 

The crochet blanket above is the Little Treasure Baby Blanket it took 200 grams of yarn and you can find the pattern here

This Blanket is just a simple garter stitch C2C easily knit up in a couple of nights. 

Both are preemie blankets measuring 24"x 24" and will be sent to N.H.A.P 

On anther note I was so pleased to see some rainfall yesterday because my poor garden needed it, when I moved house three years ago I managed to rescue a couple of my roses, it really saddens to think of all the beauties I left behind, I did take some cuttings but sadly they didn't take.  This is one I managed to rescue.....

Princess of Wales, the first rose of the Season 😍

Have a great weekend 😘😘

See all the great parties I will be linking with in my right side bar.

Finished at Last!

It has been just over a year in the making but my my Knit a Block a Week Blanket is finished at last.... 

You must forgive me for the picture overload but I'm trying to get a photo of each angle

I can't tell you just how pleased I am with this blanket.  I had no idea if it would work or not.  My original plan was to place a plain cream block between each patterned one, but I got bored making the plain blocks and decided to make a sampler blanket instead.

Some of the blocks didn't turn out six inches square some were bigger and some smaller, knitted blocks don't sew up as well as crochet ones either so I thought there was no way the blanket would look good when it was sewn up but it does!

It's so interesting to look at too, of course I had to take it to the Day Unit to show the ladies because they have seen me knitting the various blocks throughout last year and have been asking me to bring it in to show them, they loved it so much I had to leave it with them for a while just so they could admire it.

and stroke it because I lined it with fleece which is great idea for hiding all those ends it means as long as they are tied off securely you don't have to be quite as meticulous and neat with the weaving in or really you don't have to bother because the fleece hides them all and...

It feels so cosy and warm

I cut the fleece to size and then zig zagged around the edge with my sewing machine, folded it over one cm all around and then crocheted sc around the edge of the fleece through the two layers using a thin metal hook, tricky but entirely doable.  

I added a sc border around the blanket then I crocheted them both together with three rounds of sc.  For the final round I used crab stitch or reversed sc.

So there you have it...

My two favourite living room throws, both lined with fleece and super warm to throw over your lap on a chilly winter evening.  I need to make one more because my daughter and daughter in law grab one each when they come to visit and I need one for me :) 

You can find the tunisian crochet throw how to here

Materials
I used Marriner DK yarn which I had in my stash in shades of cream - emerald - mint - saxe - sky - turquoise

Pattern 
Made with blocks from the book 200 knitted blocks by Jan Eaton you can see details of all the blocks I used here. If anyone would like to know the exact blocks I used and the layout please let me know.

I hope you like it as much as I do, has it inspired you to make one too? If you can't knit it's a great way to learn or perhaps you would like to join in with the 200 crochet blocks challenge which I'm hosting this year.

Hope your week is a good one :)

Linking with

So did I do it?

Thank you for all your lovely words of encouragement. :)

Yes!! I'm pleased to say that I did manage to get the blanket sewn up, although I didn't actually sew it, I crocheted it together with dc/sc

I find this to be much the quickest way of joining for me.

I also managed to find all those dropped stitches and weave them back to stop them from running again and all holes were darned in.

All ends were weaved in...these are going in my scrap jar.

However I'm not completely satisfied because if I'd had a little more time, each square would have been edged in dc/sc and then either crocheted together or sewn which would have given a much stronger finish.

I would have also edged the blanket with a few rows of crochet but it needs to be packed up and on it's way very soon and there are so many other things that need my attention.  Why aren't there more hours in the day so much to do so so little time!

If you want to see a really neat way of joining a blanket visit Una and see how she has done hers it really is a work of art. Una is having a great giveaway too so do pop along.

Thank you to Hilda, Judy and Caroline for knitting all the squares

The way I see it is..these poor people need help right now they will be cold very soon as winter is fast approaching I don't think they will really mind what the blanket looks like as long as it keeps them warm and I have to say this is a very warm blanket, I know because I had it over my knees the whole weekend. :)

This was a stash-buster blanket all made with donated scrap yarn to the Day Unit so I think it deserves a place in the November link party.