I've Been Busy

 Thank you so much for all the lovely comments about my kitchen and bathroom, I have to say I am loving them both I can't quite believe the transformation I keep stroking my kitchen cupboards and opening the doors and then watching them close all by themselves, I gaze down at my new flooring and give a sigh of contentment.  As for the new shower in my bathroom it's causing problems I'm afraid because once I get under it I really don't want to get out and energy prices being what they are that is not a good thing haha.

Once the mess was cleared and thing's settled down I had to get over the 70th birthday, thank you for all your birthday wishes😘😘 I did have lovely day and week, I was quite spoilt it has to be said and got some lovely gifts....

This is one of the gifts my lovely daughter got me to use for my embroidery and it has been used many times already, it makes it much easier having two hands free.

My eldest son and DIL gifted those lovely flowers still looking fresh after two weeks and the terracotta rug you can see on the floor, I have to be very careful what I say around my kids, I did mention that I needed a new rug for the conservatory and so they got me one haha.  

I was complaining to my youngest son about not being able to find a NHS dentist and on the morning of my birthday he said I have put a bit of something in your bank account Mother so you can go and get some private dental work done 😲 I really couldn't believe it, as a consequence I have a dental appointment tomorrow and at last I can get some much needed treatment, it's over three years since I was able to visit a dentist.  I am very lucky I know there are so many who can't afford private dental care and are in agony because of dental problems. 

My brother has MS but was able to make this lovely barrow for me it has pride of place outside my front door

I could go on I got some fabulous gifts from family and friends alike and I would like to thank them all for their generosity. 

So What am I up to? 

 I am still working away at the Festive Forrest CAL although I 'm way behind and the CAL is finished already. I wasn't able to keep up because of the disheaval in the house and we don't have much natural light at this time of year so I find it difficult to see to sew the tiny details. I aim to finish it in time for Christmas, fingers crossed that I'll succeed.

Now while I was wading through my cluttered home a new CAL was being released and I was dying to take part, it was impossible at that time and so just as soon as I was able I bought the yarn and I started to make the Whoopa cardigan, by then the CAL was finished and I was able to see all the lovely Whoopa's that had been made.  

The Whoopa CAL was a ten day CAL hosted by Tinna Thórudóttir Thorvaldsdóttir. Tinna has a video tutorial for each day which made it super simple and very quick it took me ten days and look.....

She has introduced us to slouchy blocking which gives the cardigan a lovely drape. I think mine grew five inches after blocking.

I love this stitch it looks like knitted rib, I have used it before as you can see here

I used James Brett Masquerade Chunky and it only took six 100 gram balls to make it I have a feeling that I will be making more.

Another thing I have finished is this

This was an experiment for me, I used Rico Essentials Crochet Cotton which is a 2ply. I Lined the back to enclose the ends and it's the perfect size for a pot holder. I tried this because I'm toying with the idea of making one of the mosaic blanket patterns into a wall hanging, it would be far too large and bulky if I used anything other than the 2ply which I have used here. Cotton yarn doesn't have that much give and you have to be more careful to ensure that your stitches are neat and even but it hasn't put me off so watch this space.

You can find the pattern for this cute penguin here

At the moment I am working on this can you guess what the picture is going to be...

and this is the start of a simple sweater for me..

Time will tell if it ever gets completed.

I hope that you are all well and enjoying your Christmas preparations, I have have done nothing so far and am still looking for some small gifts to hook up for my friends, talk about leaving things to tha last minute.  I have come across these cute decorations here but I have a feeling that they will be super fiddly, although I do like those teeny sweaters, we shall see.

Have a great Sunday 😘😘

Linking with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday

Hand Made Monday

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.

Hats In The Round.

 Although life has been a little crazy I have continued with my knitting and crochet it was the only thing that has kept me sane I can tell you, what would we do without it, there's something so familiar and comforting about picking up a crochet hook or a pair of knitting needles and creating something new,  I have to be honest though it has had to be simple my poor overtired brain would not cope with anything complicated.  

I don't know how many hats I've made over the past few months but making each one has been a pleasure so easy and so quick. I have made hats for all age groups male and female and I have sourced and found some great hat patterns along the way, all free and available for us all to use and I want to show and share.

I loved this pattern because it makes a great hat, the possibilities are endless and it's a good way to use up scrap yarn, trying to work out the different stripe combinations is fun too.

It's knitted in the round and I used the magic loop which is still quite a new technique for me, here in the UK we tend to use straight needles for almost everything.  

Earlier in the year I joined an already established knitting group in my new town to be, I find joining new groups quite daunting especially when everyone knows each other almost from childhood and strong bonds of friendship have already been formed.  So there I sat amongst these women with my circulars, they were all without exception knitting with straight needles, I got some very curious glances I could see them staring at the needles wondering why I was using these strange contraptions, some of them made remarks like oh I couldn't be bothered with those give me straight needles any day while another started laughing and said all that tugging and pulling whats the point.  

It saddened me really I thought what a shame that these women aren't open to new idea's and maybe even learning a new technique, but when I offered to show them how to do the magic loop no one was interested.  Perhaps it was a case of who does she think she is the new girl trying to teach us new tricks 😄 who knows maybe once they get to know me better it will be different.

Knitting in the round still poses some challenges for me especially when changing colour and avoiding the step effect, I found some great tutorials online here is the one which I found most helpful.

This was my first effort

My second attempt was better

I will be using this pattern again and I can highly recommend it.  I made the second size and it took 35 grams of Dk yarn you can find the pattern here.

These hats will be going to Muddy Footprint.

See the great parties I will be linking up with over in my right side-bar

Have a great week. 😊

A Huge Donation and Lots of Inspiration.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a lady who wanted to donate some yarn to our Loving Hands group.  She had found it while clearing out her parents home, one of the members collected it and passed it on to me last week, I wish I had taken a photo of it when it was stashed into my car, it filled the boot and the passenger seat, here is just some of it placed on my window sill...

I gave up counting after I got to 100 hundred cones. There is a mix of 1 ply and 4 ply in cotton, acrylic, wool and wool mix.  A few members of  the NELH group met at my home on Tuesday and took some and I'm sure more will shared when the rest of the group can get to see it.

Of course working with such fine yarn is a pain for me, as you all know I like quick and easy which means I will have to use several strands at once when I'm working with it and to do that a lot of winding action will need to take place.  The obvious conclusion was of course I needed to buy a wool winder ...

I'm having so much fun using this I love the lovely neat little yarn cakes it makes.....

As you can imagine coming into so much yarny goodness is like winning the yarn lottery for a stashaholic like me and idea's of how to use it spin around my head like crazy, I can picture a lot of lovely blankets, hats, scarves and other yummy makes spinning off my hook in the future and now everything I'm seeing online is a distinct possibility.  This is what has inspired me today...

A lovely Lapghan made by Olga from Lacy Crochet the new pattern is now available for purchase.

Pom Pom hat a free pattern from  Yarnspirations

Crossing Paths scarf a free pattern from the crochet crowd

I'm thinking that anything is possible with this yarn all I need to do is use as many strands I need to get the correct tension, it will be a bit hit and miss but the beauty of making things for charity is whatever the size, there will be a home for it somewhere. 

Before I move onto something new I must finish what I'm working on now it's a blanket and I'm using these colours...

It's a riot of colour, sunglasses will definitely be needed at the big reveal.

You can see the all great projects the NELH group have made here

Have a great weekend. 😊

Tarting Up The Sideboard.

Hello all you lovely people, I can't believe it's two weeks since I last posted! lots of busy and quite stressful things going on here at the moment and not a second to spare but I always try to make time to crochet every single day it's such a great stress buster don't you think? it's usually not until the evening I can sit with my my favourite hook and just crochet away and let all the stresses of the day melt away while creating something lovely. This time it's doilies.....

I needed something for the top of my sideboard, it has just been repaired after the workman had damaged it when doing the work in my house after the burst pipe.  There was a huge scratch almost from one end to the other, I complained and they took it away and made it look like new again even though they had it for almost two months! I think they had forgotten about it. Anyways I was pleased with the result and decide it deserved not one but three new doilies to sit atop...

I really enjoyed making these thank you Pradeepa from the Lazy Hobbyhopper for the lovely free pattern 

 The first doily is made up of 24 squares, I've had these pretty squares  pinned on my pinterest  for ages and was just waiting for the right project to try them, they were perfect for this you can find the free pattern here

I used King Cole Dk smooth which I have had in my stash for ages, this is an acrylic yarn but looks like cotton, it splits easily but not so much that it's impossible to use.  I love the colour choices and the lovely sheen it gives to finished projects.  I chose colours to match the flowers and owls that I had previously made for the metal art,  Raspberry, Olive, Rose and Damson.

The flower pattern was taken from the book 100 Hundred Flowers to Knit and Crochet by Lesley Stanfield. 

You can find the pattern for Odele and Oyah the owls here

Have a great weekend 😊

My Favourite Cowl Pattern

Many of you have made this cowl before and I have too, many times but I always keep coming back to it. 

Please be prepared for picture overload, not one of the pictures really shows the beauty of these cowls or round scarf as it's named in the tutorial....

Cowl One

Made with Dk yarn which was gifted to me by my daughter this Christmas, she knows these are my favourite colours.  This is the ten rounds version.

Cowl Two

 I think that this is the closest to the true colour

 I so desperately needed a model 

but Mr Bear was the only one that volunteered
This particular cowl was made with Poundstretcher Fireside Chunky and I love it, I love the colour and the softness of the yarn and it doesn't irritate my neck which is great, I wear it a lot.

Cowl Three
Twenty rounds version

 Again no model but when Dudley doggy saw me resorting to using the chair

he agreed to model it for me (and I think he was a little jealous of Mr Bear)

This is made with King Cole twist Aran in shade Raspberry.

I had this particular yarn in my stash for years just waiting for the right project and this fitted the bill perfectly.  The twenty round version is so cosy and it can be lifted up at the back onto your head for extra warmth. I do love it but this larger version is too bulky for my taste but many of the people I have made it for love it.

So why do I like this particular cowl?
It's easy to make, it works with any type of yarn, it works up really quickly honestly I have made some in a couple of hours, it's a great portable project, I love the texture of the stitch and it looks great.

You can find the tutorial here, I love this lady she is so bubbly and she explains how to make it really well.

If you want to see more of them Ana loves them too.

A Birthday Gift

It's my friends 70th birthday today and so here is the first washcloth gift I have made so far, using some of the cotton I bought at the weekend.

My friend is a really girly lady if you know what I mean and loves things soft and feminine so I thought pink shells would be just the thing.  (Pattern here)

I love this colour and I'm sure she will too, I enjoyed making this the worst bit is the sc edging trying to get your hook in the tiny spaces but it's worth it in the end.

I also made a little basket in white cotton

and then filled it with sweet scented goodies 

I hope she'll like it.  

                  Happy Birthday Doreen xxx