WATERLOO SUNSET AND OLYMPIC DREAMS

Golly, I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted on my blog and I have missed it so much!  Not only have I neglected my own blog, I haven't been visiting all my favourite blogs.   I have so much catching up to do!

We didn't go on holiday this summer, so I can't blame it on the usual weeks of holiday preparation and  the two weeks of lovely relaxation that follows.  It has, nevertheless, been a very busy summer indeed don't you think?  Looking back, we seem to have had one event after the other such as the Queen's Jubilee, the Olympic torch relay, the Olympics and the Paralympics.  And I think to myself "there is nothing like having non-stop Olympic games coverage, to ensure that you become a 'couch potato' yourself."  But I think that the majority of the nation of Great Britain feel very proud of what has been achieved and of the fantastic courage, ability and determination displayed by all, especially our paralympians.  It has been brilliant to watch.  I would like to say a personal "thank you" to them all for keeping me entertained this summer.

I didn't have to think very hard for the song related title of this post.  It was so lovely to see Ray Davies singing this in the closing ceremony.  When I heard his dulcet voice I was immediately transported back to the days when I was a child, it was lovely.  And you could hear the "sha la las" ringing out all around the stadium.  I know that many felt the closing ceremony was very strange, but I totally enjoyed it with a glass or two of wine.  I like to think of it as 'unique' like most art, fashion and design usually is in this country.

We did manage to get out for the day in Wales for a walk, which was lovely.  Thankfully, the end of the summer has produced some dry and sometimes hot weather (at last), so it hasn't been a total wash out.

I have managed to clear most of stash mountain (and the unorganised chaos) and have sorted and organized some of the stuff, which is great because it means I can now find things!  And DH is delighted as he doesn't have to break his neck every time he tries to get to the computer printer!  There is now a 1ft x 1ft piece of clear floor space to stand in.

Also, remember this .........

it has become this ...........

and I am very pleased with it indeed.  There has been a positive outcome to being a couch potato all summer.  I have finally finished the crochet granny throw yay!  I do love the way it turned out, but oh boy..... did I find the sewing in of all those ends so tedious.  All I can say is that I am very glad that I decided to make a throw and not a king size blanket. 

And it looks very at home on the couch (just like me ha, ha).

Have fun until next time!

Daisy x 

Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

Ha Ha Ha........ if only!


Sorry about that, its just that this song popped into my head yesterday and it got me thinking about long hot summers in my childhood, when we would spend endless hours out at the park and the only thing that interrupted our games was tea time (or dinner to some people).  Sometimes you would get so hot playing in the sun it would make you crazily thirsty and then you had to join the queue of what seemed like hundreds of other children, to wait your turn at the water fountain.  Every summer we had games and activities organized at our local park - it was bliss!


We also went camping every year on holiday, usually to Cornwall and again, we spent the whole time outside!  I can remember only the odd downpour or thunderstorm, usually at night time - nothing much to dampen holiday spirits.  Maybe we just didn't notice it as kids?  


I hope that the weather will make a change for the better during the coming summer holidays, so that we can all enjoy a bit of sunshine and warmth!

I have been trying to keep going with the granny squares and the stacks are growing bit by bit, slowly!  At first I could not make my mind up on how many of each to do.  Would there be a uniform pattern?  Or would I place them randomly?  I decided in the end, that I should have a set sequence, so I have settled for two rows of twelve different colour combo's and when I join them all together I will move each two rows down by one line at a time.  These two rows above are the colours that I have set, so I am now making another five of each square.  (Hope this is all making sense, if you are still reading)!

In an attempt to try and keep organized in all of this, I have been putting the completed stacks into Zip-Seal food and freezer bags.  I am so glad that I did this as I can clearly see what is in each bag and also whether or not I have sewn all the ends in (a job I am trying to do regularly as I don't fancy doing it all at the end).  Also once done, I can put them away until I need to join them together.

I have also been doing this with my patchwork hexagons.  I have a bag containing cut up papers and a bag containing cut up squares of fabric.  

I just wish I could work faster as both projects seem to be taking sooooooooooooooooooo long!  I will make sure that I do a few smaller projects after these to keep my mojo going.  :o)

Hopefully the sun will shine on us all during the school holidays. X

BOOGIE KNITS

Or Boogie Crochet to be precise, but first .......

How lovely is this?  This is a picture of the beautiful blue sky over our house at 8.00am this morning.  Not one single rain cloud.  When we woke up this morning the sun was streaming in through the cracks in the bedroom curtains, I can't remember the last time that happened!!!!  I had to go out in my dressing gown and take this picture for you.  Can you imagine - me in the middle of the garden in my nightwear taking pictures of the sky......... bet the neighbours know think that I have finally lost the plot!!!

Anyway, back to my other bit of important news ........ my ta da ......

I have enjoyed this project so much!!!  It has been satisfying on so many levels

1.  It has got rid of so many balls of acrylic yarn that was taking up room in a cupboard in our house (and I have a halo above my head because I didn't need to buy any extra yarn - a real stash bash indeed!!!!!).

2.  I had so much fun working with the colours and came up with some interesting combinations because I had to work with the yarn I had.  I am sure I would not have picked such a bad bold colour combination if I had gone out and purchased the yarn for this project, but I feel that I have learned so much about taking chances with colours now.  It was a great chance to experiment.


3.  It was so quick to make, it has only taken two weeks of pleasant evening hooking and I could watch tv at the same time!!!  Very relaxing.

4.  I have a great feeling of satisfaction every time I look at it - it just reminds me so much of the  things that were around when I was a child in the 70's, lovely bold stripes of bright colour, it makes me feel like pulling on some hotpants and platforms and going for ankle breaking wobble boogie on down (ha ha if DD heard me saying that, she would be replying in disgust "mum that's sooo weird, please don't say that again" sigh, she just doesn't know what fun it was in the 70's.

5.  It makes me very happy that DD loves her new bed cover and she loves the fact that it's so colourful.

I decided to do a simple shell edging on the blanket to finish it off.  I got the instructions for this from The Crochet Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden.  I think it's quite a basic one called Shell Edging.

Have fun until next time X

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!

A Hooky Kind of Love

That's better.........

I have something to show you today......  it's another WIP..... and it's all because of the lovely Lucy from the Attic24 blog.   I have been following her blog lately and like many others, have fallen under the hooky spell.  One minute i'm knitting a jumper and then, before I know what's happening, I have a crochet hook in my hand!

Well actually, it is a good thing (this is my excuse) because I have finally found a use for the TWO big bags of wool which have been stuffed in DD's wardrobe for ............ 19 years!!!! No I cannot believe that it has been there soooo long, but I know it has because it contains, amongst other yarns, odd amounts of yarn that were left over from garments that I knitted for DS and DD when they were babies.  It is a big fitted wardrobe which DD uses, but still contains some of my stuff (well quite a lot of my stuff actually), but as she is getting older she is gathering more clothes etc and running out room.  Hence the reason why it might be a good thing, this sudden crochet addiction of mine.

I have done some crochet in the past, but not much really, a few practice granny squares and a scarf to be precise.  When I was little, I used to sit with my nan and watch her crochet blankets.  I used to love helping her choose the colours for the different stripes and she used to flick her hook in and out so quickly, working around and around.  She used to make blankets for everybody in the family, but sadly I don't have any of them today.   I have got quite a few crochet books in my collection, with the intention of one day making a start on a project.   I do love delicate crocheted tops in white or black.  

When I saw Lucy's Attic24 blog, I just completely fell in love with her blankets and cushions and the lush, lush colours she uses.  I liked the look of the ripple blanket, I would definitely like to make one of these, but I think I need a bit more practice yet.  The sample piece I made didn't look like it had enough ripple, not as nice a Lucy's and so I will try some more samples of that before I start a full size project.  Then I liked the look of the granny stripe blanket,  but didn't fancy making the long chain  to start off with.  So I decided, what if I made a basic afghan square and just kept going around and around? (i'm sure this must have been done by so many people before).   I thought that it would be both easy and unfussy for my first project.  Because I am trying to use up what's in the stash, it's turning out to be a mix of outrageous, psychedelic, acrylic crazyness ...... but I love it, to me it looks retro and sort of from the 1970's.  Just like Lucy describes, when I'm not working on it, I drape it over the settee and lovingly gaze at it every time I walk into the room.  

I'm finding that at every spare moment, I want to pick it up and add another row.  The only downside to this construction is that the rows are getting longer and longer and because of this my colour choice is getting smaller because I need more of each colour to go around the four sides.  Mmmm may need a small purchase of a few extra balls (Shhh don't tell DH).


The granny blanket isn't even finished yet, but already it has a home - yes you might have guessed.......  DD is insisting it will look so good on her bed and how can I resist?  She has the same crazy colour taste as her mum.  I will let you know how it looks when it is finished.  Bye for now (just off to do some more rows, the washing up will have to do itself!!). X