The Love Affair Continues

Oh dear me, I'm having great difficulty putting down the crocheting.

Following on from my last post, I've now completed part four of the Sophie's Universe CAL.

The circle is now a square.  I just love it so much.

Part twelve of the pattern was issued on Sunday.  I was working on part five.

And part six!

Six parts that were originally scheduled over five weeks, I've now completed in less than a week.

I really really need to put the crocheting down and get on with other things, like eating and sleeping!

But it's all so lovely, and part seven has cute little flowers and leaves!!!  I think I need help.

A Major Distraction

So what am I working on?

• There's the squares for my bag - oops,  they haven't increased in number.
• Then there's the shawl - only managing to get two or three rows knitted.
• And of course, there's the block-a-month crochet-a-long - but I can't do anything more on that until the new patterns are released for April.

So what am I working on?  A MAJOR distraction, that's what.

I spotted the crochet-a-long for Sophie's Universe back in February.  The CAL started back in January and the pattern is released on a weekly basis and is set to run for 20 weeks.  The end result will be a lovely colourful blanket.

Here's the pattern picture for the blanket up to week 11, that's 84 completed rounds.

Isn't it gorgeous.  The CAL is being run by the extremely talented Dedri Uys and you can find details of the CAL here.

I thought I would join in at some point but just do each part on a weekly basis.  I thought wrong.  This week I decided, why not start it right now, I'll just do one week's pattern and see how I get on.

So this is the first part of the pattern I have completed.

A lovely flower - great fun.  I'm using up old bits and bobs of acrylic DK yarn, as a way of de-stashing.  There'll be no colour planning, I'll just work each week as it comes and work my way through the stash.

All sounds great, no problem...

But yes, there is a problem.  This CAL is highly addictive.

Try as I might, I couldn't stop after week 1.  So I crocheted week 2 as well, just to see what it looked like.

Wow, so much fun.

Then, of course, week 3 had to be started - and finished.

I love the way the overall effect changes with each part added.

So that's three parts done that I had intended to work on over three weeks but actually got done in three days!

Needless to say, I'm well on the way with part 4 and I expect part 5 to beckon shortly.

I should work on my other projects, but I'm weak, I'm so in love with this CAL, I'm just going to have to give in to it until I catch up.

So, sorry, but I'm going to have to leave you.  I have a love affair with a blanket to continue.

Not Knitting Cardigans

Because I'm not knitting any cardigans at the moment, I seem to be getting through my works-in-progress nice and quickly.  What a good feeling!

This week I have cast on for another shawl.  I so loved knitting the ones for my Mum and for Eve that I thought I would make one for myself.

I'm about a quarter of the way through and it's going well.

The pattern is called Ashton Shawlette and it's by Dee O'Keefe - a lovely freebie, my favourite kind of pattern.

The pattern is made up of little leaflets - it'll look a whole lot better when it's blocked!

Here's the pattern picture so you can see what I'm aiming for - isn't it gorgeous.

The photos make my shawl look blue, but it is a dark grey yarn with bits of black in it.  The colourway is anthracite.

I'll try and get a truer colour picture when it's finished. Hopefully it won't be long.  See you next time.

Rosie Posie Granny Bag

As you know, I spend a lot of time over on Pinterest, being inspired and drooling over the lovely pictures of crafty makes.  So much to make, so little time.

Crochet bags have been an attraction for some time - a nice big roomy bag, that will hold everything. I really need one.

In my head I have made several bags and they have all been gorgeous!  But I think it's about time I actually took up the crochet hook and yarn and made a proper start.

I have a rough idea of what I want - it'll be something like a tote bag, with a zip closing.  Other than that, I'll just have to see what happens in terms of size.

I'm crocheting squares, all identical.  I did think about varying the colours but at the moment they're all the same colour.

The pattern I'm using is Sandra Paul's Rosie Posie Grannie Square.

The pattern is beautifully explained and a delight to crochet.  So far I have 7 complete squares, there's a long way to go, but so far so good.

March Socks

So here we go, the plan is to knit a pair of socks each month for the next twelve months.  And here are the first pair.

These are actually the sixth pair of socks I have ever knitted, and the fourth different pattern used.  They are however, the first pair I have knitted with 4 ply weight yarn.

I thought they would be quite slow to knit but they grew surprisingly fast.  I knitted the two socks simultaneously, no danger of second sock syndrome for me.

I had intended to try and match the stripes so that the socks would be identical but I got my pinky/purple stripes confused so they are out of sequence.  Still, I think it makes them more personal.

The yarn I used is West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply in the Wood Pigeon colourway.  The colours are lovely and the yarn is so soft.  I would love to knit more socks with this yarn.

The pattern I used was Vanilla Latte.  It's a freebie.  The pattern was well explained in some places but not others, so I was glad I had made other socks previously.  Full details of this project can be found on my Ravelry project page.

I'm hoping now to build on my sock knitting expertise and try new techniques.  There are so many gorgeous patterns out there, I can't wait to cast on for my April socks.

Eve's Birthday Makes

Celebrations are still continuing for Eve's birthday, well you're only 21 once!  Today I thought I'd share with you the things I made for her.

Firstly, because she can't have a birthday without me knitting her something, I made her a shawl.

It was a delight to knit.  I loved the lace pattern.  The colours range from a purple/blue to a rich brown.

The pattern is called Kuura.  You can see full details of the pattern and the lovely yarn I used on my Ravelry page, here.

I also made this mini suitcase from a matchbox for Eve's dolls house.

It's really cute, I might make one for my dolls house next.  The inspiration for this came from Pinterest.

To celebrate her 21 years, I made a booklet with a photo for each of the 21 years.

Finally, you can't have a celebration without some bunting, so I spent a happy afternoon cutting out hearts to decorate the dining room for her birthday.

It was good fun making these presents, and even more enjoyable to give.

And just in case Grace might feel left out, I knitted her some fingerless mittens to match some socks she made herself.  Details on Ravelry, here.

Now that the birthdays are out of the way, I can sit down and plan some "me" knitting.  The sun is shining, the daffodils in the garden are in full bloom and I've got an afternoon of knitting to look forward to. I hope you're having a lovely weekend where ever you are.

Did You See It?

We were lucky to have some breaks in the clouds this morning.  And there it was the partial eclipse.  Oh so beautiful.

I'm so glad we managed to see it (and to capture the images).

Oh Me Oh My

What a wonderful day we all had yesterday with Eve celebrating her birthday.  It's a lovely feeling at the end of the day, to sit back and be able to say, it was all just so perfect.

As I mentioned, Eve and I had booked to go for afternoon tea in Liverpool.  Eve had chosen an independent teashop called Oh Me Oh My, which we hadn't visited before.  Tucked away in West Africa House, opposite the Liver Building, it didn't look very exciting from the outside.

But inside it was charming, retaining some of the grandeur of a bygone era, with a lovely bright and fresh modern twist.

There was unlimited tea, with six special varieties to choose from.  We started with Champagne and Cassis white tea - and a glass of Prosecco.

The sandwiches and cakes were heavenly.  We were like excitable children, full of wide eyed pleasure.

After our leisurely tea, completed with a refreshing cup of peppermint tea, we wandered down to the water front before returning home.

In the evening, Grace came to stay, lovely to have all the family together for the occasion.

A lovely, memorable, fun day.  Cheers to Eve...

...may your days be filled with many, many lovely memorable and fun moments.

21

What a happy day, my lovely Eve is 21 today.

Where have all the years gone?  We've enjoyed them all along the way.

Today we are off the have a fabulous afternoon high tea.  Can't wait.  See you soon.