Purples and blues

We house sitted at the weekend and I went crazy. Living in a flat, we really miss not having a garden, and as a result, I tend to go a little mad when I see a beautiful one, especially at this time of year when everything is in bloom. So you will have to forgive me, but I've sorted out some flower posts for you. Today, we're starting with the purples and blues. Thsoe colours are so relaxing, some are delicate, others bright and 'in-your-face'. I think I love them all equally. Or maybe those little purple ones, they might be my favourites. You know the ones, one of the photos taken in that same garden last year is up as my banner. Yep yep yep :-)

Come back tomorrow to see some of my favourites, the reds!

Because it's not all about crochet still

Indeed, this little guy is coming along, slowly but surely. He was actually started over two weeks ago (when I was meant to be doing some cleaning before my mum arrived! Priorities you see!), but has been put to the side temporarily. That is, until I give myself a thumb injury from too much crochet-ing.

ps thanks Jill for this lovely pattern! It's superb and I hope I do it justice!

The start of my crochet mania

Yes, I think it might deserve that name I'm afraid. I'm going crochet mad. Honest. Even though it feels a little odd making a blanket at this time of year, it's getting warmer every day! But I don't care, I love love love love it!

The best thing I've found about crochet so far is the fact that you can stop and pick up anywhere - no need to finish a line like with knitting. So it's suited my life a lot better, in the sense that I can do a little bit here and there, and haven't had to sit down for official crochet sessions. So there, I love it. I hope you love it too! Well, all 22 squares for the moment!

As for the name of this blanket, well I'd like to thank those of you who came up with suggestions! And I think I've got to go with the first one, Go Caerphilly, because it was too funny, especially Jill's joke about the hedgehogs - that just did it for me!!

Last knitting action for some time...

I have indeed started my crocheted blanket. But before I tell you any more about it, or rather show you what I've done so far, I wanted to show you the last two knitted things I did. Nothing too big, nothing mind-blowing, just some simple easy knitting. It certainly made me happy and was done in no time (I was super eager to start on the crochet you see). But things had to be done in order, and those two little knitted projects appeared in my brain first. Want to see? Well here we go, two little cloths!

Made in 100% cotton. I'm in love with that colour (funny that, we call that type of colour a "non couleur" in France...). Can't say I've used them yet, I'm not in any hurry to do more cleaning after the cleaning marathon I went on before my mum arrived!

Details will follow on my Ravelry project page soon!! (one of them is a project which is up there already, the other I found the pattern in a little book I have)

Random thoughts

No rambling though. It's about pregnant woman. Now, don't get any funny ideas, I'm not pregnant!! But something happened to me at the weekend and I've just read this article on the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8730106.stm) and I thought I'd mentioned what happened. The article is all about people being unsure about giving up their seat on the tube/ bus/ train for a pregnant lady, in case she just happens to be fat. Now, I'd always give up my seat if I saw someone who was obviously pregnant, no doubt about it. The article also mentions that perhaps men should just give up their seats for women, pregnant or not. I remember one of the first times my mum came back home with me on my evening commute and she was really surprised men  weren't giving up their seats to the very few ladies who were indeed standing. Now, this may seem rather old fashioned, but what do you think about it? We've fought for equality, so should we still expect men to behave as gentlemen?

Anyway, back to the pregnant thing. Let me tell you about what happened on Saturday night. We went to see Frankie Boyle in London and were waiting inside the venue for the doors to open. We were sat in a little two person booth and Boyfriend had just gone to the loo. This brash woman arrives and in the rudest voice ever, asks if she can sit down. She was wearing a black floaty dress (the 'fashionable' maxi dress type) and was probably generally plump to start with. I said that no, sorry, but my boyfriend would be coming back. She then went on to basically shout at me that she was pregnant. My reaction? I just looked at her and shrugged. She then went on to ask the person who was sat in the booth next to us if she could sit because she was pregnant (see the different approach here? she told them she was pregnant right at the start) and the person promptly gave up their seat. She then went on moaning at her friends who'd just arrived and called me various names. Not being in the mood for having an argument, I just took my stuff and left. Now, what do you make of this? I know a lot of bloggy ladies out there have children of their own, so they must have quite a different perspective, but honestly, is it any harder to ask politely? And was I meant to guess she was pregnant?! So there, I might have felt different if I'd been through a pregnancy myself, but I don't feel bad at all not having given up my seat for that stupid rude woman. She obviously was well enough to go to a busy gig in central London.

ps Frankie Boyle was brilliant. That is, if you have a sense of humour, get that he is indeed joking, and don't get offended easily - it was hilarious - and I'm so glad we weren't sat in the front row, those people got totally destroyed!

Normal posting...

... will resume shortly!!! Sorry about this little absence, but you know how it is, life just gets in the way!! Well actually on this occasion, you can blame my mum really! She's been staying over for the last week or so and I just haven't had the time to post as a result. Or to be more exact, I haven't had the time to download photos on the main computer, which just happens to be in the guest bedroom/ computer room/ craft room/ library (who hasn't dreamt of having a room used solely as a library?!)/ dump basically. So there. But guess what, I have LOADS to tell you about. I've been keeping those little fingers of mine rather busy, with some bits and pieces of knitting and of course some crochet. I started my blanket!! Guess I've got to give it a name so that you know what I'm talking about when I start rambling on about it. Since it's being made with Welsh wool, any ideas? Maybe I could just call it my welsh blanket ;-)

Anyway, got quite a bit of work to get on with so must dash!! Hope you've all had a nice week so far xx

Mid-season present

My mum arrived yesterday for a week. What perfect timing with the amazing weather we are having! I think her plan for today is to enjoy the outdoor pool we have in our little town. Wish I could join her, but unfortunately work has got in the way!!

It was her birthday last month and I decided to make her something that she'd asked me for a while back. Back in the day when I'd just started this little blog, I told you about this scarf I'd made for myself (if you go to that super old post of mine, do click on the photo to see it in its full glory - back in those days I didn't know how to make the photos look bigger!). It's done on size 15 needles, which gives it a nice lacy look without the hassle of dealing with a difficult pattern. Actually it's dead simple! Only I found it in a book from my local library and I've lent the pattern to a lady from my knitting group, so no pattern just yet! If anyone's interested, I'll post it here when I get the pattern back. Anyway, here it is!

She loved it so I'm really pleased! I got the little beads at a market stool and I think it finishes it off nicely. What's nice about this scarf is that it can be really quite warm if you wrap it tight around your neck, but it can also be more relaxed and less about keeping you warm if you put it on loosely. Rather nifty don't you think?! Anyway, it's always nice when someone appreciates a little knitted gift, makes me very happy indeed!

Hope you have a lovely Friday wherever you are - and fingers crossed the nice weather carries on during the weekend!! xx

Finito!

The table runner is finished!! Hooray!!! And I think I like it very much indeed!! Worth those crippled fingers and the feeling that my left hand had morphed into a claw. Anyway, here it is, in all its glory!!

I'm so pleased with it, it looks so pretty, and it was actually super easy. Easy in the sense that it was a pattern that had to be repeated over 20 rows. Not so easy in the sense that I couldn't quite remember it all off by heart but that was ok. And if you can knit, purl, yarn over and knit two together, then this pattern is for you!!! Easy peasy my dears, but oh so very effective!

And the beauty of it is, it used up two balls of cotton, 100% unbleached English cotton at £2.20 a ball. Bargainous me thinks.

For those interested, I found the pattern here on Ravelry (or here as well).

Better late

Than never.

Now, you might not really care about these photos, but since they remind me of my wonderful holiday in the Brecon Beacons, I'd like to round it off nicely and have a final peek at these lovely flowers I spotted while out and about. And flowers make me smile, I hope you like them too :-)

Happy June to all of you! xx

A weekend in L

Lost - spent quite a bit of time watching (pretty much starting and finishing) the final series. Can you really blame me, the weather was rather poor to be honest. But to be fair, I wouldn't bother if I were you, totally disappointing, such a cop out. Not impressed to say the least.

Lots of ironing. Not exactly my idea of fun either, but what can you do. My mum is coming over later this week and the pile of clothes to iron was as tall as me. Not jocking. I like to pretend that I live in a perfect house where there is no such thing as an ironing pile when she's around ;-)

Lush food at a posh restaurant on Saturday due to various family birthdays. Spent a fortune (well not me personally thank goodness!) but it was delicious. Not usually a great fan of lamb, but that 7 hour lamb was to die for. Yum.

Little bit of snooping around. There was an open garden day in a nearby village and my oh my, the gardens were superb and the houses even more stunning. Was quite shocked and totally envious!

Lack of photos I'm afraid because spending so much time watching Lost on the computer meant there was simply no time to download any photos!!