The Granny Rose and Hello April

 I love April it's my favourite month of the year, longer nights and warmer weather but as I'm writing this there is snow falling outside, amazing really when you think that the temperatures were more than 10° higher last week, looking back to last year we had snow in April then too. At least I know that there won't be much more of it and it will get warmer. 

Looking back on March  I am happy to say that I did manage to complete everything that I said I would and a little bit extra too.  The last thing I made was another 24" square for the comfort blankets.

The Granny Rose 

I love this rose and have used it quite extensively in the past if you want to take a quick peek you can see more of my granny rose projects below. Back then, I thought it would be a lovely idea to make a blanket for my bed using this design and I set about making dozens of these roses and then crocheting them into granny squares, then other things took over and they got put to one side.  I have resurrected  these and joined them into a larger square, I think that they look really pretty and would make a lovely centrepiece for a larger blanket.

More of the Granny rose...

A Poncho For Joanie

My Family Think I've Lost The Plot

When Two CALS Meet

Granny Rose Cushion

The Granny rose pattern can be found on the lovely Astri's blog Apple Blossom Dreams.

Other Things

The trees just beyond my garden border have worried me since I moved in here over four years ago, I do love trees but when they plant them they do so without any thought of which type of tree would suit the space.

Taken yesterday as you can see a dull wet day with the odd snowfall.

These will grow over 20 feet high if left unchecked, already their roots have grown half way down my garden towards the house, I can't dig the soil because of the roots and the decking is buckled in places because of them. My garden is South facing but these trees completely block the sun when they are in full leaf.  A few years ago I asked the council if they would trim them and they refused so my neighbour and myself  took matters into our own hands and got someone to trim them for us.

Taken through my bedroom window, my heart was in my mouth watching him and he stayed up there in the midst of falling snow and sleet showers too working for over four hour on my side alone.

I've just snapped this photo below while the sun is shining you can see the difference, they don't look very pretty now but I'm sure that they will, as soon as they put on new branches and leaves in the Summer.

As I was driving home along the sea front this morning I saw this rainbow and I quickly parked the car and took a picture of it.

You can hardly see it in the photo, it looked so much nicer in real life . 

My March 

To do in April

• Give you my thoughts about waterfall crochet.
• Make at least one baby blanket.
• Embroider the birth month flower daisy x2
• Make an Easter display
• Continue with my Spring garland.

I'm sure that lots more inspiration will come a knocking.  What are you planning for April?

Well I think it's time for a little bit of Italian study, I have learnt a few words which is better than nothing at least a few things have sunk into my brain, a few random words that on their own don't mean very much at all, ah well at least I'm trying 😀

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, take care until next time.😘😘

Crochet, Embroidery and a Fall!

 This week has gone past in a blur! so much to do and so little time..

I have been busy on the craft front and have managed to make another 24" square, it consists of four twelve inch squares, two of which I made last May for the Patchwork CAL.  This was another project of mine which never got completed, I had intended to make a full blanket but I found that it was difficult to get the squares the same size and there were so many ends to weave in I got fed up with it and only managed to make these two...

They are joined by two c2c squares which is my absolute favourite method of crochet at the moment it's so quick and easy.

Making these large squares for the Remember me with love blankets is a great way to make use of unfinished projects, I have found yet another batch of squares which I'm hoping to to use for this purpose too.😊

 

A remember me with love blanket is made up of six 24 inch squares making a blanket of  48"x72", these are then given to end of life patients and then handed over to relatives once the person has passed away.

I have completed that stitchery at last!

The Potting Shed

I have been working on this on and off since the beginning of the year, it's by no means perfect but I do like it now that it's finished which is a relief as I was falling out of love with it half way through. Mine looks nowhere near as good as the one in the magazine where I got the pattern from but I have come to the conclusion that it really doesn't matter, never strive for perfection and then you won't be disappointed. 

This is the magazine ..

 On to other things....

I had a fall this week. thankfully it wasn't serious but it did hurt when I crashed to the floor after tripping over the door ledge, I was lay there for a good five minutes until I could actually move myself, I think it was because of the shock and the impact. I wasn't sure at first if I had broken anything but thankfully I hadn't.  

Now why did I fall? because I'm always rushing too and fro with things on my mind, thinking about what I'm going to do next and then what I'm going to do after that. In this case I was thinking about my next crochet project and I had been into the garage to collect the yarn that I needed for it, at the same time I was thinking about whether I had enough fabric to make a pair of curtains for my bedroom with the fabric I made the pentagon bowl with below..

Picture the scene, I stride out of the garage with armfuls of yarn and fabric when I went to step into the house I couldn't see the door ledge because of all the stuff I was carrying and misjudged the height and over I went arms outstretched trying to break the fall, everything scattering to the floor, I crashed into a bamboo chair which shot across the floor crashing into another chair and it banged up against the wall, I lay stunned with all this mess around me.

Lesson to self, Slow down, carry small loads and think about what you are doing! I have told myself this many times but in the heat of the moment I forget.  I think as we get older we have to try to discipline ourselves to really think about what we are doing. 

I always make sure that my stairs are always well lit and I say to myself take it slow and hold onto the banister, I have never fallen down the stairs however I have fallen up them, I didn't apply the same rule when I was going up as to when I was going down and so I tripped over the top stair and crash landed onto the landing a few weeks ago, luckily I missed crashing into the radiator and just landed on the carpet and although I was stunned I didn't hurt myself .  I have been lucky twice! 

Please let it be a lesson to all of us who are getting on in years, it's so easy to fall and break a bone as we get older, be mindful.

As always thank you for all the lovely comments and suggestions I got from my last post I do appreciate them all and all your suggestions are always taken onboard.

 What are your plans this weekend? It was my grandson Mikey's fourth birthday earlier in the week and so my DIL is planning a little party for him this weekend so I'm looking forward to that.😊

Leaving you with beautiful crocuses in full bloom in my front lawn..

Take care until next time. 😘😘

Linking with

Slow Stitching Sunday 

Handmade Monday

Oombawkadesigncrochet

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Running Late

 Another new month and a promise of Spring but before I step into March I need to tie up my February loose ends, I always seem to need an extra few days to do that but to be fair February was a short month.

The Monthly Birth Flower

Violet

I have to be honest I just finished this yesterday, I did enjoy sewing it but the leaves are sewn in chain stitch which is a first for me I have never embroidered leaves in chain stitch before and honestly I don't think I will again I'm not sure I like the finish, I found it quite hard to get the stitches even and neat, it will have to do, I won't be redoing it that's for sure.

You can find the free templates for the Birth Month Flowers here

Another thing I did manage to do thank goodness was to give my embroidery threads a bit of a tidy.  I couldn't for the life of me decide on a proper system of how to store them, there are just too many, this was them before stuffed into a bag and thoroughly tangled.

Yes I was ashamed and I don't know how I dare show you that photo! 

In the end I sorted them into piles of each colour 

and then just put each colour into a plastic bag and those were were then placed into a drawer.

not perfect but better than the way they were before and, they can all be found in one place.

Learning Italian seems to be taking up an awful lot of my time without me seeming to get anywhere. It is obvious that my ability to  retain knowledge has gone right out of the window. We were given a list of about 20 words to learn, I applied all the methods I used to use when studying in my younger days even going so far as as writing each one down several times, by the end of the week I had managed to remember just one! I kid you not, it's like banging ones head off a brick wall.  I have decided not to try so hard and who knows one day l may wake up fluent in Italian haha, perhaps I should just give it up as a bad job.

My February

   

1. A Little herd of miscarriage elephants.
2. Another Pentagon bowl, that's two and I may make one more.
3. My valentines day treat, it's cherry flavour but I wasn't impressed, it will be the original Turkish Delight from now on.
4. Violet February birth flower.
5. Tidy embroidery threads at last!
6. New fridge freezer. 
7. Memory box for my DIL
8. Fridge magnets waiting to be placed onto new fridge freezer.
9. The attempt at learning Italian continues.
10. End of life blanket square.
11. My attempt at needle felting below.

 Thoughts for March

• Sew the March birth flower (daffodil)
• Try and finish an embroidery work in progress.(yes it's still not finished)
• Make at least two end of life blanket squares.
• There has been a call out for knitted and crochet Teds (I'm thinking about it)
• Prayer squares.

There are several other things buzzing around in my head, this is the problem too many ideas and not enough time, added to which I'm hoping that the weather improves and if it does there may be a bit of gardening going on which means there may be very limited time left for crafting and for Italian come to think. 

What are your March thoughts, have you made any plans?

Take care until next time. 😘😘

Linking with 

Slow Stitch Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts

It's Got To Be Hearts!

 Once again thank you for the kind comments on my last post, I did enjoy putting that round up together and yes Babs I may do one at the end of each month, it's like a photo journal really and it would be good to look back and see what happened at a glance.  Why don't you all join me.😊

Valentines day is just around the corner and although I don't celebrate it, I love hearts and always use this time of year as an excuse to make some in some shape or form, I have a heart theme going on in my home and you can find hearts in every room.

This year I decided to kill two birds with one stone, produce a heart in a c2c square and by doing that I was learning how to follow a c2c chart something which I have been wanting to learn to do for a while, especially after seeing the lovely blanket Amanda made back here. 

Sarah has some adorable free designs on her blog however I followed this pattern here for the heart square.

It was easy enough to follow the chart but those ends at the back and sometimes even at the front were a challenge, but once they were woven in you can't even tell they were there. It hasn't put me off, I will make something else using this technique, like everything else the more you practice the easier it becomes.

 I enlarged the square to 12 inches using groups of two half trebles, then I made another in the same way.

Then I made two simple c2c square's ..

then the four squares were sewn together to make another 24 inch square to be added to a memory blanket.  So it was three birds with one stone really.😄

And that's not all! 

Remember I said that I would like to try needle felting well like you Jo I have a needle felting kit, I can't remember where I bought it from or why, I have been wanting to try needle felting for a while and must have bought it on a whim but the fact that I can't remember doing that is quite scary really.

This is as far as I've got I'm afraid and yes it had to be hearts for the simple reason there was a heart template in the kit and I love hearts and it's the season of love 😍

It was easy enough but wanting to develop my skills I joined a Facebook page for beginners and when I saw what they have produced it put me off! how can they be beginners? the intricate little creatures they have created wow! I then looked at some YouTube tutorials on how to make needle felt pictures, they make it look so easy but believe you me it isn't.  So I have put it to one side for now making simple shapes is easy enough and it is very satisfying to stab the needle through the wool over and over again, I'm thinking maybe stars for next Christmas but you never know watch this space. 

Health

I did one of those online NHS consultations last week because I was getting no better, a couple of days later the receptionist at my GP surgery rang me and said that the Doctor had read my consultation and he wanted her to give me an appointment. I was quite stunned I was actually going to see a GP in person face to face for the first time since the start of the pandemic.  Well I needn't have got so excited as it was the practice nurse I saw, I'm wondering where the GPs are hiding.  Anyway she was lovely and listened to my chest and prescribed some antibiotics for me, I started taking them in the morning by late evening I could actually slightly taste the camomile tea I was drinking and now four days later feel much better, I'm still coughing and congested but not nearly as much, I can tell that this thing whatever it is will take it's time but as long as I feel well enough to go out and about that's all that matters. 

Spring is just around the corner..

Have a lovely Valentines Day if you are celebrating, take care and see you next time. 😘😘

A New Month

 Hello all you lovely people and a big thank you for all the get well wishes I do hate to go on about my health but this awful chest infection is still with me and I'm now feeling congested with a blocked nose and sinus's so I'm just really popping in to say hi to let you know I'm still around even if I am feeling decidedly yucky.  I'm thinking positive it's now been 21 days so things have got to take a turn for the better pretty soon. 

I thought that because it's the start of February I would do a quick round up of what I produced in January just to reassure myself really that even though  I was ill for half of it, it hasn't been a complete waste of time. 

Memory Blanket Squares 

I have made lots of these in the past but now we are asked to make four twelve inch squares and sew them together, then that large 24 inch square will be sewn to others to make a bigger 48 x 72 inch blanket. These will be sent to critical care units for end of life patients and then to be passed onto the patients families.

This is the first four I have made and sewn together simple c2c squares using yarn from my stash.

I have just started the next four, again c2c, it's the first time I have used a graph for c2c and it's quite fiddly with all the changing of colours but I am determined to succeed and all will be revealed later.

My January

1. Throw, completed for sitting room
2. New houseplants bought to cheer myself up.
3. New Lamp
4. January birth flower snowdrops embroidery.
5. Memory squares (see above)
6. Brothers wheelchair cushion cover yet to be fitted to cushion.
7. Hexagons (explanation to come later )
8. I'm ill please don't judge 😏

Thoughts for February

• Complete embroidery project (not yet revealed and won't ever be if it doesn't turn out right😂)
• Complete another four memory squares
• Crochet elephants (explanation later)
• Embroider February birth flower
• Patchwork baskets (explanation later)
• Needle felting. 
• Punch needle embroidery.

The last two are things I would like to try but haven't as yet, have any of you? I have to remember that February is a short month and it's already nearly one week in, so my targets are probably unrealistic but I like to have a few things to think about even if they don't go much further than thought. What are your plans for February?

Take care until next time. 😘😘

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.

Memory Blanket Squares

Once again the Loving Hands Members have been asked to make squares for a memory blanket. So sad that these blankets have to be made but if it can give comfort to the bereaved then every stitch is worth it.  
I decided to knit them this time, I used dish cloth patterns which I found were very easy to adapt into eight inch squares.

Angel Square

I loved this one and thought it was lovely for a memory blanket especially as it is for parents who have lost a little child.
You can find the pattern here








Heart Square

The pattern for this one can be found here there are lots of lovely patterns to be found at both of these links, do have a look they are very much worth a visit.

Squares for memory blankets

Meadow 
Block 46 from 200 crochet blocks by Jan Eaton. 
These squares are made for Memory blankets for members of Loving Hands who have sadly lost a loved one.  One of the blankets is made up of 6 inch squares and the other with 12 inch.  
This one was very easy to make into a 12 inch square just by adding more rounds. 

Granny Stripes
Block 76 from 200 crochet blocks by Jan Eaton
This one is very easy and nice to do we all love granny squares in any shape or form.

forget-me-not square
201 crochet motifs, blocks, projects and ideas by Melody Griffiths
I just love this one it's beautiful and so apt for a memory square but it took ages to make, it's not difficult but you do need loads of patience joining the little flowers as you go. 

Love and Honour
Then I found this pattern at One Crochet Day at a Time such a lovely blog so full of inspiration and ideas
Six little hearts meeting together in the centre so beautiful.