Pretty Chevron Dress

This is classed as a vintage pattern but our love of chevrons are very much in vogue right now so I would say that it's bang up to date.

The pattern is for a dress and jacket I have made both but I haven't taken a photo of the jacket yet so I will show you that later. 

Front and back views

I found the instructions in the pattern very long and detailed, it's one of those patterns where you have to follow each line carefully but then halfway through you realise it's really easy and you didn't need all those instructions anyway. 

Made in DK yarn it took 100 grams of yarn.

If you would like the pattern please send me an email.

Another stash-buster
linking with

Thank you for all your comments about my battle with the hebe.  My bother saw this plant growing wild as a hedge and took a few cutting and passed some on to me, it's amazing just how quickly they take and grow, I would love to send you all a cutting if I could, anyway I think it's a Hebe salicifolia, it's flowers are white and it does look very pretty when it's in bloom.  

A Battle with the Hebe

 Many years ago I planted four very small cuttings in a bare piece of earth, just in front of my front door. Well they grew and they grew and this is what I'm met with as I leave the house.

I need to cut this bush back several times during the growing season because it grows so quickly.

 It had grown so large it was in danger of actually entering the house, my visitors have to fight to get past it, but because the weather has been so bad I haven't had the opportunity to cut it back.  

Today at last we had sunshine! so armed with my trusty clippers the battle began,

It stands over six foot tall so reaching those uppermost branches is a pain, ladders are a must, I'm sure all the neighbours must have a laugh at me perched on the top step, stretching forward trying to reach!

But I won in the end, the bush has been tamed

for now at least, now I'm off to mow the lawns.

What have you been up to today ?

The Disappearance of Mr Swordtail

The Monday Smile

I hope that all you Mums who were celebrating Mothers Day this weekend had a fabulous day! 

When it was mothers day here in the UK, my son treated me to some new tropical fish.
I have kept tropical fish for many years now and have enjoyed it on the whole however it does have it's downside, especially when things go wrong.  

I chose the fish I wanted and asked the owner of the shop if it was wise to add fifteen new fish all at once, he reassured me and said given the size of my tank and the number of fish in there it would be fine.

The fish were added to the tank and for a few days everything was fine, until I realised that the fish seemed to be diminishing in quantity, I never found any dead fish in the tank they just seemed to disappear, obviously they were dying and the other fish were eating them. 

Over the space of two weeks I lost thirteen fish and two of the remaining scissor tail fish had half of their tails chewed off. As you can imagine I was saddened and really angry with myself for being so silly as to put that many new fish in the tank in the first place. I lost most of the new ones but what saddened me most was the disappearance of Mr Swordtail. 

I love swordtail's  and I could tell that Mr swordtail's wife was  very sad at his disappearance too, there was a certain lacklustre to the swish of her tail, the swordtail family had lived in my tank for nearly a year and had been happy healthy fish, I couldn't understand how he could just disappear like that. 

It was at this point that Mrs swordtail began acting very strangely, she kept disappearing and hiding herself away, of course the penny dropped... she was pregnant! Under the circumstances I felt that it was only right that we carry on Mr Swordtail's legacy and I must say that it felt good to know that he had at least had his fun before going to fishy heaven. 

Mrs Swordtail

So here we are, Mrs Swordtail delivered her babies sometime in the early hours of May 5th I'm hoping that many of them will survive, they are a week old on this photo. 

I'm sure that Mr swordtail is looking down with a big smile on his face in the knowledge that his legacy lives on.

Mr Scissor tail in the background

I am also happy to announce that the scissor tails tails have almost grown back to normal...I didn't even know they could do that, so everything in the tank for now at least is rosy. :)

Sorry about these but it seemed appropriate 

• A vet goes to a ladies house to treat her pet dog. After treatment he admires her aquarium with six goldfish of different varieties in it. 

The lady says, "yes they are lovely but I don't know what sex they are" 
Vet "They are all females" 
Lady "How do you know that?" 
Vet "Because they all have their mouths opening and shutting continuously!" 

• A man walks into a fish and chip shop with a fish under his arm and says 

"Do you serve fish cakes in here?" 
The owner replies no 
The man says "that's a shame it's his birthday today" 

• What's the difference between a fish and a piano? - You can't tuna fish! 

• What is the best way to communicate with a fish? - Drop it a line! 

Have a great Week!