centre parks

Hi everyone

Well I had a great time at Center Parks thanks to Catherine and John for inviting us, that's the two grandma's.  Lots of swimming and eating and just chilling out, bliss,  Here's a couple of photos, a truly winter landscape of the frozen lake, very inviting for ice skating but also very dangerous. We actually saw some people stepping onto the ice for a photo, and they had children watching, such a bad example to set. Apart from the cold the weather was dry so we were able to get out and about, just finding your bearings, then its time to go home.
A brilliant time was had by all.

Didn't do much crocheting while I was there, finished off a dolls blanket, just the border to add on ,
I love this variegated yarn ,

This is my Ripple Blanket in process , I've still got a love / hate relationship with it ,  managed to persevere  with it though after pulling over half of it out,  because I wasn't happy with the colour

Its not as wide as I thought it would be, even though its got over 200 chains, I'll carry on with it now and maybe it will grow on me ,  If not I suppose I could always give it away, which I have done with all my past projects, at least its a good stash buster

I started a new book while I was away, just for a change.  Back in 22nd October 2010 I posted about a book I had read and what  pleasure I found in it,
I finally plucked up the courage to read the sequel and how disappointed I am with it.  Usually with a book, I can't put it down and must sit up all night reading but not this one,  I started it last Monday and its not finished yet,  definitely not as riveting as the first book, and to think its been everywhere in the caravan with me waiting for me to start reading,  I will persevere (my second persevere)with it though , I never give up on a book.












My last book was very compelling and highly recommended.  A book I could not put down



It was an impulsive buy, from Doncaster Market,  new only £1.00 a bargain,  its now passed on to my Daughter to read.



I know i said I was on a bit of a crochet lull at the moment, I couldn't resist whipping these two up,  Excuse the pyjamas,  totally lazy,, Took the photo while updating this post.
The Cheeky Monkey , faceless at the moment, only took couple of days to make and is from a pattern off Ravelry, I joined Amigurami Of the Month group and this is where I got the pattern from, He just needs a banana and a smiling face.
The tiny turtle I made in a night and again needs finishing

I,m also doing a swap on The Flower Bed Blog,,  Thank goodness its been put back till the end of the month, giving me a bit more time to make some flowers.

I better get on with that now

Thanks again to all comments on my last post, they definitely cheered me up

Hey I've got an award 
Didn't expect it, very surprised to have it , maybe I should keep on with blogging after all.

This was given to me by Kashi, A very delightfull blog , full of crochet goodness, Kashi has been asked to be a moderator on Ravelry for a swap, and what a good job she's making of it.

these are the rules

1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention 7 random things about yourself.
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 15 bloggers.
6, Inform each one of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.


The hardest thing to do here is list 15 blogs,  there's loads of good blogs that I enjoy reading , better than posting on my own blog.

Anyway I'll start with 7 random things about myself

I want to take my laptop in my coffin, so I can continue reading everybody's blogs
I'm going to Centre Parks next week with my Daughter and Grandson
I'm on a crochet lull at the moment
Wish I didn't have to go to work
Going to France for Three weeks in our caravan in May
I get withdrawal symptons if I don't buy any wool for a while
I could spend all day in my pyjamas, if I could get away with it

Now to list !5 of my favourite blogs
1.  Kashi
2.  Stocki
3.  Pen and Paper
4.  Lucy in the Sky
4.  Yellow, Pink and Sparkly
5.  Cute Crocheted Creations
6.  Urban Tortoise
7.  Grandma Rita's Crochet
8.  Meme Rose
9.  Esshaych
10. Le monde du Sucrette
11. Hippywitch
12. Dawn Raymond
13. Heather
14. Cosy Corner
15. A Time To Create
16. Men Can Knit too

Okay okay I know thats 16 got a bit carried away with myself there.
I apologise If I've missed anyone off this list, I did say this is the hardest part
Also i know I should have provided links to all the above blogs, but that would have took me an age to do, sorry, but I am going to Centre Parks next week,
oh I think I've already told you that.

Now I have to visit all my favourite blogs to let them know I've given them an award, that is going to be hard lol.

See you all when I get back, unless I end up bored and use my phone to update this.

swap parcel

Just had to share these photos of my latest swap parcel I've just received from Laura at Cute Crocheted Creations, you can find her blog  here

So cute,, little puppy and turtle
And loads and loads of other crafting goodies,
As well as crochet Laura does lots of other crafts ,  including beautiful cross stitch,  I wonder how she finds the time to do it all. visit Laura's blog if you haven't already done so , you will be amazed.

These are what I made for Laura

I've been wanting to make the armadillo for ages, so this swap gave me a good excuse. I'm pleased with how he turned out and you can roll him up into his shell, quick and easy to do , I might make more
Love the little dog, again pleased at how cute he has turned out, gave him a collar and lead so he's ready to go walkies.

I called this my Alien Rock Chick, I had loads of fun making her and adorning her with lots  of bling , hope Laura loves her , she has posted all these pictures on her blog , so if you want to see more of what I sent hop over there .


These are what I received in the Christmas ornament swap

A cute little snowman who looked so at home on the Christmas tree, along with other goodies

I've loved doing these swaps , they are fun, but I'm giving them a rest for the time being, going to be selfish, and build up my Ami's again, what with giving them away my collection is slightly depleted.

I made these for a Christmas present for a friend's little girls,  meant to take better pictures but forgot

 took the pictures at night that's why they are so dark

Finally, finally started my ripple blanket,  I've had the wool bought and sorted for ages , but the thought of doing such a long chain,  kept putting me off and then , all of a sudden I got an overwhelming urge to begin, and so the ripple blanket has been born, am I happy with it ?  now that's a different story/ post.


I've won another free book, yeah,, wish my luck would pass over to the lottery lol.  I had entered a few free draws from the mag Lets Get Crafting and to my joy a book arrived in the post. Just shows that its worth entering these, you never know your luck. 
This is the book I got.

Its a book i wouldn't have bought, but its nice to win something,

I've started this post couple of weeks ago and just been adding to it as i go along, which is what I will do in future .
Speak to you all soon

oh dear

Oh dear,, Santa's come early and look what's happened ,, he's got stuck up the chimney

long time no blog

Well ,   I have finally got round to updating my blog,,  shame on me.
I've been thinking of letting this blog go,  lost a bit of interest in it,  I'd rather spend time crocheting than blogging, and reading other , more interesting blogs,  hey ho

Just to show you what I've been upto,  doing a few crochet swaps on Ravelry has kept me busy,  also a friend held a fund raising for a school, so I helped her out ,  thats my excuse anyway.

A whole month, plus,  has gone by since my last post.

The two swaps I've just done on Ravelry, ormament swaps were great fun, putting together a package for like minded crafters.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures before sending them off,
Apart from this one

I love this crocheted monkey



This is what I've received from Leah, all the way from Australia, on  Ravelry's ornament swap

I love the Candy Cane each in their own cozy, they are going on the Christmas tree. Also a Teeny lovebug,  with a tag attached,  to make my day a little bit brighter,  and it certainly did that. Thanks Leah. Leah also thoughfully sent me the pattern for the Candy Cane Cozies , so I can make my own.


This is what I sent to  Dylan in New York,    and for a short while I thought it had gone missing, it took that long to arrive.

my parcel from Dylan can be seen in a previous blog

These are the tigers I donated to Sophie for her fund raising,  I loved making these, very simple and quick to make up

Against my better judgement, I got involved in Sock Monkeys, again for Sophie's fund raising ,  so as well as my yarn stash I've also got a sock stash.

I was surprised how quick these are to make and so effective,  just from a pair of socks,

Just a few photos and words to show I'm still in the blogging world,,

I've signed up to be a giver for next years World Book Day , here's hoping that I will get accepted

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all who reads this

ripple along

Much against my better judgement, I've joined in with a ripple along (got enough wips to last me a lifetime)

It is being hosted by Attic24 & Little Tin Bird Ripple-along over on flickr,
fortunately you don't have any time limits and just to post photos, there's some great ripples over there,

I haven't attempted a large blanket before, wanted to get a feel for the stitches first, hence my dilemma, do I go for ripple no1 or ripple no2
what do you think ?

Ripple no1 is Tr3 tog  and ripple no2 is Tr2 tog

Ripple no1 is from  here  ripple no2 is from here

Both are great crochet related blogs well worth a visit

And here is a ta ta drumroll moment, it is finally finished

my giant pinwheel cushion, which has been on the go for ages and these photos does make it look giant

I decided to put a button in the middle and give it a bit of shape,

all in all i'm very pleased with how it has turned out .

I also like the colour, the variegated yarn with a block border (which was my hubbys idea)

I've wanted to make these for a while now, and the opportunity came up when a friend got married. I loved doing these, and my Daughter has asked me if I would make another for my grandson's teacher, so my wip no 34

free books yes free

You may (or may not) recall an earlier post where I won some vouchers for hobbycraft from Lets Get Crafting Mag, Well they finally arrived and these are what i got

 Because my wool stash is so hugh I decided to get these books which i have been coveting (is that the right word ) for some time now, normally it would have meant a win on the lottery or premium bonds for me to go and  buy all three books at once, so to say i loved putting them in a shopping basket is an understatement. I did succumb and got two balls of yarn, some darning needles, two handcrafted buttons and only had to pay £ 2.00 in cash, it was great.


I also had a £15 voucher for Amazon thanks to a free trial of Lovefilms, so what else did I spend them on but books.

Hooked For Life,  adventures of a Crochet Zealot is the first humorous essay collection available for crocheters. It also contains three fun crochet patterns and tons of hilarious truths about our much loved craft.
Here are a few quotes from the book which i wanted to share and i can so relate to them
                             xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gauge;   for tight crocheters Just add water Fermented water that is--  a glass of wine or three is bound to loosen up a too tight gauge Just make sure you knock back a few each time you crochet or your gauge will be inconsistent throughout

Sometimes just knowing i could crochet if i wanted to is enough to get me through an event. I'll tuck the hook and yarn in my purse purely in case of emergency . i keep a fifth of good vodka in the freezer for much the same reason

If only i could crochet through a root canal, there are some hours that i wish would flash by at the speed of light.

Just the other day I uttered a phrase that stopped traffic, a phrase i never in a million years thought i would utter  " I have too much yarn"
Was i sick with a fever?
                                      xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I highly recommend this book, a really good, enjoyable read for all you crocheters out there

off to ogle my books for the millionth time and to try and choose my next crochet projects

yeah

swap again

Aren't I lucky ? These are what i received for my latest swap

 All beautifully wrapped up, it was like Christmas, In fact i don't get as many presents as this at Christmas.

I so love these, so so apt.

ravelry swap

These are the parcels from my first Ravelry Swap
Look at the difference in sizes
The first one is what came from Ashley in such a hugh box
The second one is what I sent all fitted into a padded bag, but they do say size doesn't count.


These are what I sent over to America, I had so much fun putting it all together

This is another Panda but this time I made the arms and legs moveable.

Ashley's got a baby daughter, so it was easy to include some things for the baby.
The swap theme was  something to wear so i sent the shawl which i had previously made as I doubt that i  will never get the chance to wear it.


These are my goodies I received, all nicely boxed up and look at how they've been tied up.What a good idea.

The cowl is a lovely colour I will feel proud to wear it knowing that is has come all the way from America.
Attached was a card with the make of the yarn and washing instructions another clever idea.
 

I have signed up for an october swap, in fact , I've just received a message to say that my parcel has been posted .  Wow that is so early, i better get on with mine instead of wasting time on blogger