New crochet book

Today oi ha' mostly bin makin' flowers...

I think they're lovely and absolutely perfect for a spot of instant gratification (which, as you know, I'm a big fan of).  

I'm also thinking hair clips, brooches and, of course, bunting:

These (which are called hellebores in my new crochet book - don't look that much like hellebores to me, but anyhoooo) are my favourites:

And this one is my favourite of the favourites:

These are made from my new book (soz for the slightly dodgy pictures):

I was very excited about this book arriving (I've had it on back-order for ages; it's only just been published) and just couldn't wait to get started when it finally came.  The first thing I realised, which I stupidly hadn't cottoned on to before, is that it's American.  This in itself isn't a problem, but my crochet head speaks English and so when I've been making these flowers, I've been translating as I go.  This is all well and good when I actually remember that I'm supposed to be translating... (I'll say no more about that other than that there have been a couple of slightly irritable unpicking incidents)  Humph.  And while I'm in a slightly niggly mood: it doesn't tell you when to change colours.  Sometimes it's obvious, but sometimes it's not.  And that's just a bit irritating.

That said, it's got some lovely looking things in it and I know I will return to it again and again when I want to add a little bit of something to a project.  It's laid out in a clear, logical way and has both written and drawn patterns, which is good.  It has taken its rightful place on the bookshelf with all my other inspiration/source books, and I would recommend it, but just make sure you've got your American crochet head on!

I'll finish this post with a 'blossom' (colour combo chosen by my lovely friend Bookworm) isn't it pretty? x

Crocheting my way to survival

Today has been great.  There's not been much going on, but nevertheless, it's been a good day.  It's rare that we have a day with all of us at home and nothing on the calendar, so it was good just to be able to potter for once.  I managed to get a bit of cleaning done (thank god, it needed doing so badly.  It'd got to the point where you couldn't stay still for too long or you'd stick.  Nice)  I also managed to sneak in a bit of furtive crocheting.  I'm rather exicted about my new crochet book (which I will share with you in the next day or two, promise) and I got a bit carried away making some rather lovely little things from it.
It's been Father's Day here in England and so the day started with a family breakfast; croissants being the breakfast of choice for Mr N:

How spooky that the children should choose this as a present, it will be simply perfect for our forthcoming festival trip...

 

We had one of those hilarious family conversations at breakfast that makes you realise your children are, despite the odds, turning out to be quite brilliant human beings.  I was telling the boys about Desert Island Discs (as you do), which got us talking about what our luxury item would be if we were stranded on a desert island.  After a bit of a ponder, Mr N and I both said we'd have a dog (rather freaky I think, given the number of possible things we could have said).  Then Mr N had a bit more of a ponder and decided that, on balance, he'd actually prefer to have Bear Grylls as he'd be at least as useful as Ray Mears, but probably more fun to be stuck on an island with (and easier on the eye, I think).  The boys decided they'd have a year's supply of chocolate and an iPod (hmmmm, could be a bit of an issue with re-charging your mp3 there, big nut!)  Then, in a moment of inspiration, middle nut said 'no, no, mummy.  You'd have to have all your crochet things, then you could crochet your way to survival.'  Me: 'Really?  I think that's a great idea, it would certainly keep me sane'.  MN: 'No.  I mean, you could crochet an aeroplane and fly off the island.'  Now that's pure genius. x

Elderflower cordial recipe and a tent-related make

Just to let you know that I've posted the recipe for elderflower cordial on my 'cake' tab at the top of my blog (here you go, Nelly!)  I hope you like it - let me know how you get on if you do make it!  Good luck getting the citric acid - it can be a bit tricky to get hold of as it's used to make bombs too, apparently.  I got it from my local chemist - I think they made a snap decision based on appearances alone and decided that, on balance, I'm probably wasn't a terrorist.  Phew.  I'm sitting here with a glass of it by my side - it's especially yum with sparkling water. 
I also mentioned a tent-related make in my last post....and.....ta-daaaaaahhhh:

I give you: tent bunting (and a splat of bird poo, which I didn't spot when I took the photo - nice).  What do you think?  

I also made some bunting for my shed while I was at it (is that normal?)

I love that fact that every other flag has upside-down dogs on it; it adds a certain je ne sais quoi, don't you think? x

Just a little bit mad

Just look at these beauties.  Big nut and I are big fans of elderflower cordial, so I've been slaving over a hot jam pan the past couple of days making as much as I can before the flowers are over.  Well, 'slaving' is a bit of an exaggeration perhaps, cordial is one of the easiest things ever to make - it would be fairer to say that I've been using cordial-making as an excuse to avoid doing the housework.
Anyway, it's been a productive old session and eight bottles are now lined up in my larder in a rather pleasing fashion.  There's something very satisfying about having stores of homemade food squirrelled away, dontcha think?

It probably seems as though things on the making front have gone a bit quiet round here lately, but I have been quite a busy bee really.  I finished my springtime throw.  I draped it decoratively over the back of the sofa.  The boys used it to snuggle under while watching tv at the weekend.  Baby nut dragged it around the house a bit.  I put it back on the sofa.  I looked at it with my head on one side.  I rubbed my chin.  And then I decided it needed an edge.  So I've been making it an edge.  I just hope I'm not making a mistake and over-egging the pudding, I've seen Vanessa's springtime throw looking absolutely stunning in its edgelessness, and I do have to ask myself why I think mine would look better with rows of granny stitch round it, but there you go - it's having an edge and fingers crossed it looks okay! 

One way or another, this baby will be finished by next Saturday, when Mr N and I are taking the boys to see an outdoor theatre company perform Fantastic Mr Fox (crocheted blankets are a must...)  We're all pretty excited about this outing, which is part of Mr N's fortieth bday present:

We're also going to need lots of crocheted blankets in the summer, when we're going to.....(drum roll please).....a festival.  With the children.  I am soooo ridiculously excited about this, but I also think we might be just a little bit mad.  Three children.  In a tent.  For two nights.  Lunacy.
It's called the Just So Festival and it's for families - check out the link and let me know how highly we score on the madness scale.  I showed the boys the website when I got back from work on Saturday and middle nut's head almost exploded with excitement.  They didn't go to sleep until nine o'clock, they were so busy planning their itinerary, which mainly involved joining Robin Hood bootcamp, the midnight feast and the bushcraft skills workshop - I'm more excited about the family yoga sessions and the knitted art installation (everyone can knit a leaf or a flower and they're all joined together to create one enormous piece in the woods - what's not to love about that??)
I'm so looking forward to this that I have already indulged in a bit of pre-emptive, camping-related shopping:

I'm also halfway through a little tent-related make, but I'll show you that another day, my granny stripe edging is calling me x

Feet, a lizard and a 'how to'

In my mosaic-related excitement, I forgot to include these photos in my last post.  Dunno why, but I ended up taking lots of photos of the little nuts' feet while we were away - got to make the most of the boys' feet looking cute while they're little, because they sure as hell aren't going to look cute once they get hairy!

Big nut, who's looking a bit like he needs a bit of a going-over with the nail scissors.

Middle nut, who doesn't need a going-over with the nail scissors because he bites his toe nails.  

(I love him beyond all reason, but even I think that that's completely gross).

And baby nut, who's only just getting to grips with how brilliant feet are for things like running away from your naughty older brothers.

While we were in Wales, big nut, my nature boy, had an amazing encounter with a lizard:

We were all completely amazed as this fearless little chap came slowly up to big nut's hand and actually seemed to be checking it out.  I can't believe it didn't high-tail it off the rock and into a crevice, as there were five enormous humans looming over him stifling squeaks of amazement, but really he just seemed to be curious about the big pink thing that had arrived on his patch.  (Ah, I bet there are people reading this who are really blase about things like close encounters with reptiles, but we were all thrilled by it - suburbanites that we are).

Now, the main purpose of my post to day is to say..........................

check out my crochet tab...I have finally done the treat scarf 'how to'.

I'm sorry this has taken so long and I would like to point out that this isn't a tutorial, sorry.  I just hadn't planned on anyone else being interested in my little stripy creation and so I didn't take any pics as I was going along.  This is more of a 'how I did it'/pattern.  I really hope you find it useful and clear, but please just contact me if you are trying to make at and there's anything that you're not sure about - I'm really happy to help.  Edit:  I've just published the crochet page with the pattern on and now I'm really nervous! 

Oooh, brilliant, Mr N's just got home from the supermarket with chocolate - happy days x

Five go on holiday...

...with lashings of lemonade and ice cream...

As promised, here is a round up of our half term high jinks.  We did have a lovely time, firstly in north Wales, where we've been every Whit for the last five years - never let it be said that we're not creatures of habit - and then at my dad's in Herefordshire, which is one of my absolute favourite parts of the country - it's just gawjussss.
And with a little drum roll, here is my first ever mosaic-in-a-blog-post moment.  I present you with...Wales...ta dah!!!

(I've just looked at this post in preview - I am very excited about my mosaic! - and it actually appears that you need a microscope to see the individual pics.  Hmmmm.  I'm going to leave it as it is for today and then fiddle with my margins at a later date, so you'll just have to press your noses to the screen for today, sorry).  The slightly blurry image middle left is of bubbling water in the amazing waterfall that you can see bottom left.  This is in a place called Cwm Nantcol and I highly recommend it for a bit of a yomp and a paddle; there's a campsite at the foot of the hill nearby and, as if that wasn't enough, there's a lovely pub down the road with a great play area for kids (happy days for all the family...)
And my second mosaic (I know, I know, I'm getting carried away now) is of the lovely beach at Harlech:

(Now I've noticed how the mosaic maker thing crops the photos, so they don't look quite as good as they do un-mosaiced; but there are so many of them that if I did them individually this post would be about half a mile long, so cropped it is).
It was just lovely - lots of rock pooling, paddling, eating sand (strictly for the under-twos) and dune jumping.  The only thing I'll say that's remotely negative about a sandy beach is...blooming heck, doesn't sand get everywhere?  We got out of the car after we'd been to the beach to find two little piles of sand either side of where each bottom had been on the seats - it had just emptied out of our pockets while we were sitting there.
(Mind you, neither Mr N nor I is the most enthusiastic of car cleaners, so piles of sand was really the tip of the iceberg in terms of general crud in the car.  It's now looking all nice and shiny on the drive after I made Mr N take it to be valeted - a once-in-a-while treat - I know how to live).
After we left Harlech we drove across Wales, in all its glory, to Herefordshire.  Beautiful as it was, this journey didn't take two and a half hours, as promised by Google Maps, but instead lasted four and a half, so the mood in the car wasn't entirely chipper when we finally arrived, but my dad's is so lovely and peaceful that we soon had our holiday heads on again.

And the good news is that after four days of near-continuous washing, I've nearly found the bottom of the laundry basket x

Crochet update - May

Well hellooooo!  It feels like I've been gone for ages and, do you know what, it's great to be back!  I had had every intention of doing my monthly crochet update before we left for our hols last weekend, but I was ill for a couple of days and then ended up in a mad frenzy trying to pack everything for a family of five, for a week, in just one night....  All fun and games.  We had the best time away, doing lots of things together as a family, and I've got a load of photos to show you, but I'll do that in a separate post.  Anyway, we're back now and I've found my way round the laundry pile to the computer, where I've been trying to catch up on all your beautiful blogs and see what you've all been up to over the past week and a bit.  I have to say, it's almost like finding the world of crafty blogs all over again - you really are an amazingly inspiring and creative bunch and it's been lovely just sitting down and catching up on what you're all up to in crafty-blog-land.
So...my month in crochet terms has felt busy, but looking at my photos, it doesn't seem especially productive.  Hmmmm (or maybe I just need to be a bit more realistic about what it's actually possible to achieve when you have three children and a job...)  The first thing I did in May, was my treat scarf.  I love this project and I'm so pleased I did it.  I promise that I will be doing a 'how to' for this as I know (rather thrillingly) that a couple of people thought about making one too.  It is next on my 'to do' list, once I have posted my springtime throw ta dah (coming very soon!!!).

And the second thing, and the thing that's really been taking up all of my hooky time, is my springtime throw.  I have soooo nearly finished this blanket, I cannot wait to do my ta-dah post for it.  My first ever blanket...sigh...I feel like a fully-fledged crocheter (ha ha, was going to say 'hooker' then, but not sure that sounds quite right).

I spent a slightly silly amount of time on our week away, working on this beastie - Mr N kept finding me hiding in the bathroom/car/cupboard under the stairs feverishly joining squares together (he just doesn't understand, you know).
I really do feel that having made a blanket is some sort of rite-of-passage for me as a crocheter/hooker and I love having a big project like this to work on over a long period of time - something that I can come back to when those smaller, instant gratification-type projects dry up temporarily.  I have already decided what I'm going to do for my next blanket, which will be for our kitchen sofa, and I'm also planning a post on that in the very near future.  That's just five-hundred posts in the pipeline, then. x