My Month in Makes... March

March has been a busy little month of making, here are my finished bits and bobs, as well as the "still in progress" things...

Row four and five of my 2015 blanket are finished and attached, my granny square blanket is at the edging stage, and I have two pairs of socks on the go, as well as a second sock that needs casting on... I finished the knitting bit of a Miss Marple bow scarf but it needs fancifying, and I knitted a Ravenclaw scarf for my special adventure to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I also had a go at the Mollie Makes cross stitch jewellery free-gift, although I adapted the patterns a bit and played with the colours. I also made myself a bunch of laser-cut brooches, ready for something special I have planned (I will share more about that soon!), so all in all I've been a busy bee. 

Have you made anything nice lately? Please share some links, I'd love to see!

My Week...

This week has been delightful, full of happy moments and time spent wisely enjoying the first bits of spring. Sunday was a day of gardening, taking time to have a little look at the plants peeping out, breathing in the fresh Spring air, and having a chat with the Chickens. They are quite rightly fed up of the grotty winter weather, and were very happily trotting around munching on the weeds that flew over the fence to them. 

There was a lovely little jaunt to the big city on Monday - my sister and I had an adventure in Liverpool, where we shopped, and had lots of tea and delicious cake. It was absolutely delightful. I had a couple of thrifty-finds in local shops, I picked up a peachy little vintage tin from the market, and some fabulous floral fabric from a charity shop - two of my favourite things. The week was topped off nicely with a train journey to another city, this time Birmingham, to spend the evening with the charismatic Morrissey. "Every Day is Like Sunday" was the encore, and I was so happy I could have burst. 

Taking Stock...

Joining in with lovely Pip at Meet Me at Mike's for this month's Taking Stock. How time flies by...

Making : Blankets and socks and a striped scarf
Cooking : lovely veggies
Drinking : tea , lots and lots of tea
Reading: lots of books this month!
Wanting: to be in the garden enjoying the sunshine
Looking: at my sketchbook
Playing: Placebo, almost constantly for the last month
Deciding: to be happy and let the sad stuff go
Wishing: it was lunch-time...
Enjoying: the longer days
Waiting: for lots of adventures
Liking: my new polka-dot frock
Wondering: if I should start a new blanket
Loving: spending time with my favourite people 
Pondering: days out
Considering: a change of hair colour, as I so often do...
Buying: pretty socks and a new frock
Watching: "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", and "Third Rock from the Sun"
Hoping: for sunshine for Easter
Marvelling: at the world starting to wake up again
Cringing: at Jon Ronson's new book "So You've been Publicly Shamed"
Needing: yet another haircut...
Questioning: options for the future
Smelling: Beautiful Hyacinths in my stall and daffodils at home
Wearing: pretty dresses and brooches
Following: lots of pretty accounts on Instagram
Noticing: the little things
Knowing: that I need to make the most of my adventures
Thinking: about knitting and crochet patterns that I want to try
Admiring: friends, who keep going through the hardest of times
Sorting: the kitchen. Not terribly exciting but absolutely necessaryGetting: another cup of tea
Bookmarking: patterns to try
Coveting: pretty shoes and vintage brooches
Disliking: reaching the end of a series that I've binge-watched
Opening: my sketchbook and getting to work on new stuff
Giggling: on my lovely girlie day out with my sister
Feeling: happy
Snacking: all the time - bread and cake are my downfalls
Helping: as much as I can...
Hearing: snoring kittens

My Week

My week was full of adventures - there were lots of lovely moments, and some of the highlights were ones that I can't share - for example, my dear friend trying on beautiful wedding dresses, or the eclipse, which I watched with friends at the market but didn't take a single photograph. The moments that will remain as happy memories. 

These moments however, I can share - the afternoon tea with a friend, my beautiful 'cheer-up' Hyacinths open and smelling heavenly, the Continental Market that visited our sweet town and the delightful Spring Lamb day where lots of fabulous crafty folks shared their love of yarny goodness. 

It was a splendid week, and I cannot accurately describe my joy at the arrival of Spring. I plan to spend these lovely long days outside, breathing in the fresh air and watching the world begin to wake up again. 

In My Tool Bag...

Every so often, in my many and varied wanderings around the internet, I come across blog posts and photos and facebook bits talking about "tools of the trade", or "have a look in my handbag" and I always rather enjoy them, so I thought I might take a moment to share what is in my essential carry-around crafty kit.

This is my little zippy bag, made some time ago in a "learning to put in zips" adventure. The fabric is from a Laura Ashley sample book, and it never fails to makes me smile.

On first look, it's rather a messy, bursting at the seams sort of affair. I must confess that I hadn't realised how much was crammed in until I emptied it out. 

I have a bit of a bad habit - hoarding crochet hooks. These are just my carry around ones, there are many many more at home... Anyway, my essentials are all here, and it would seem that four (!) 2.5mm hooks are essential. I might need to thin them out a bit...

I have a little selection of Bamboo and plastic hooks in there, although I'm not a regular user of either. I also have some of the tiniest hooks in existence, so small that they are hard to see, and I use them mostly for crocheting sewing cotton.

I have some knitting bits and bobs too, my most favourite being my Yummy stitch markers, they're supposed to be for zippers, but they're perfect for knitting.

These are my random carry-arounds - two pairs of scissors, tweezers, sewing needles, tape measure and pompom maker. I would be lost on a day to day basis without these things!

I have a little tiny zippy bag inside my main zippy bag, also made as part of the big zip adventure. I keep bodkin needles in there, and lots of stitch markers that I made with vintage buttons. 

So there we go, the contents of my crafty bag. 

My Week...

Well, another week has flown by, and suddenly we're mid-way through March! The highlight of the week was a trip to Liverpool - we visited a rather lovely Moroccan restaurant and then spent the evening with Placebo, one of the bands I have loved since I was a teenager and of the utmost importance in the story of "us". 

The rest of the week was spent quietly crocheting and reading, spending rainy days at home with our feline friends, who found cosy places to curl up. As of this morning I have a new plant to take care of, a blue Hyacinth, from my lovely husband - it will live in my shop, and bring me good cheer as I go about my crafty makings. It's the little moments of happiness after all. 

A Crochet Notebook

Yesterday I was handed a lovely gift by a very thoughtful lady. She had been given it, the author having passed away, and wanted someone who would appreciate it to have it, for it to go to a good home. I have spent lots of time admiring it already, looking through the pages and reading the hand-written notes. This was, essentially, somebody's notebook on crochet, with all of the samples carefully attached and each stage meticulously annotated. It starts with the basics, and works it's way along to full patterns. 

I wouldn't be able to guess at the age of it, and despite the loose pages and dog-eared corners, it is a precious thing. 

My Month in Makes...February

It took me by surprise to find that suddenly it was time to turn the page of the calender and welcome in March. February's makes were seasonally appropriate - scarves, socks and blankets, lots of cosiness. 

In February I finished one pair of socks, and two bow scarves, and I'm still working on my granny square blanket and need to make a second sock to finish two pairs. My 2015 blanket has passed the sixty-square point now and it's ever so pretty. 

The pattern I used for the bow scarf is over here and my trusty sock pattern is here.

Reeadings... February

February was a month of whimsical tales and fantastical adventures. 

I read...

• David Shrigley - "The Red Book"
• P.L Travers - "Mary Poppins"
• Esther Freud - "Mr Mac and Me"
• P.L Travers - "Mary Poppins Comes Back"
• Philip Pullman - "Grimm Tales"