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

long overdue

I am ashamed with myself. Its took me too long to post these photos. I should make more of an effort with updating this more often .

These are the gifts I received from Laura over at http://cutecrochetedcreations.blogspot.com/  Laura has recently been married,been on honeymoon and back, and she has still managed to update her blog and posted photos of a giveaway she won. Which put me to shame.

oops

that's what happens when i rush things you will just have to lay down to see him properly

look at his "created for you" badge

I love these so much , went onto Internet and bought some but mine has got "hand made"

thank you Laura I love everything.

We were in our caravan for the bank holiday weekend and stayed at Oliver's Mount Scarborough.  Thankfully the weather was kind to us after all the rain we had.

what a view, I just love Scarborough, I remember coming up here years ago with a family friend who lived in Scarborough and she wanted to share the view with us , my mother and father, memories.

Down on the harbour, hard to believe you're not in some exotic country abroad.

And here is Bridlington Harbour with the Pirate boat, this photo is for my grandson who is into Pirates at the moment.

This is my package ready to be posted over to America, Its the first swap I am doing over on ravelry. I don't want to post photos of what I've sent just in case my swap partner will read this but photos to follow

wow

I've just previewed this post and noticed that over at Urban Tortoise there has been hatching's so I am hopping over there now to see the babies

speak to you soon