Reasons to be Cheerful

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's the start of my work days so my brain tends to feel pre-emptively exhausted and shattered plus there are some tensions at work at the moment.  It's not the nicest work environment at its best but currently I'm finding it tough not to snap and yell at people!

So here are some positive things to counterbalance my stress :-)


I'm working on a couple of ideas for Mother's Day gifts (March 30th this year) and I'm experimenting with Tunisian Crochet.  I used this technique a while back when I was making this blanket here and really enjoyed it although I didn't own a proper extending hook which made it tricky-the stitches kept trying to slip off the edge!  I still don't have the right hook (I attempted to modify a knitting needle but it hasn't worked too well) but I'm a more confident crocheter now so that helps.

I mentioned before that Myf was working on her very own crochet project?  She was busily working at it for a couple of days and subtly asked if I like scarves more than neck warmers...
A few hours later, she presented me with this!  Her first ever crochet piece and it's for me!  It's delightful-such gorgeous colours and it fits me perfectly.  Isn't she clever?

We have an old friend coming to stay over the weekend-Myf and I are very excited!  Hoping we'll have nice weather as well :-)

I've enjoyed the 'Game of Thrones' series immensely so far and I got hold of a copy of one of the author's earlier books 'Voyaging Tuf' which is a great read.

Despite the weather being warmer here, it's typically quite chilly in the mornings when Myf and I are up so the newest blanket has been getting lots of use keeping us snug.  Thank you all for your lovely comments about this blanket-it's been a joy sharing it with you and the wonderful feedback I've had has really made my day :-)

And finally, there's this.  Cracked fits well with my warped sense of humour but this article is unusually all about the positive and worth a look!

I proudly present...the 'Sleeping Forest' Blanket!

I know you know it was finished a few days ago but I wanted to take a few photos of it laid out.

It's been such a lovely process, taking photos along the way.  It all started here, when I finally decided it was high time I made myself another blanket.  You've seen all the photos as I made 126 squares and put them all together.  I've agonised over the border and taken AGES finishing it as either my daughter or my cats keep nicking it for cuddles.  But now, after 2 and a half months, it's finally finished!  I can't wait to have it on my bed :-)


This isn't my bed, it's in the spare room-but the light is so much better...

...The blanket is MASSIVE-I can't even get all the squares into one shot!

So what do you think?  Isn't it lovely?

Reasons to be Cheerful (slightly late)

My work hours have changed a bit-we're now open until 7pm so on Wednesdays, I'm at work from 10am until 7pm and today I start at 8am until 7pm!  So by the time I get home, usually around 7.45pm, collect Myf from the childminder and get home, I'm usually pretty wiped out.  Having to get up at 5.30am does not agree with me!

We're having beautiful weather at the moment-gorgeous sunshine and clear blue skies and all the plants are getting ready to burst out with all their glorious colours :-)

Yesterday was a pretty good day though.  I got caught up at work and managed to get the stock room sorted out ready for the delivery today.  I was in a positive mood all day!  This is what happens when I am so spoiled by my gorgeous girl-she brought me a cup of tea at 6am yesterday morning :-)

I've been working on the border for the blanket-I was improvising something that was going to involve building it up over a few rounds but after I finished the foundation round and starting improvising the next section, I couldn't make it do what my brain wanted and it looked awful!  And Myf and I really like how the foundation row looks.  So the blanket is finished!  I haven't taken a proper photo of it yet-hopefully I will over the weekend if the weather stays nice but I have taken one of the border...

The border is made up of a round of hdc granny clusters in dark brown (to match the joining), a round of dc granny clusters and a round of sc in cream and then the final round in green which comprises of (sc, ch 5, sc) in the corners and slst, *sc, hdc, dc, htr, ch 5, picot into top of htr, htr, dc, hdc, sc, slst and repeat from * around.

It's currently on the sofa waiting for its photo op and keeping Myf warm :-)  She's making her own crochet project-a scarf in dc that looks fab!

I'm still having loads of fun with the camera as well...

(Artemis doesn't usually go on Myf's lap but the blanket was irresistible!)

Long walks and lots more photos...

We've had such lovely weather this weekend!  It finally feels properly like Spring and it's been perfect for taking long walks and photos :-)
We walked up to Pontypridd Common yesterday-it's a beautiful area complete with a Stone Circle and a War Memorial (I posted distance shots of it yesterday) and we spent a happy few hours walking and chatting and playing with the new camera...

This camera takes such a gorgeous photo-I really enjoyed playing with the black and white and I think I got some lovely shots :-)  I may have a new obsession!


In crochet news, I still haven't found a border I'd like to try on the blanket.  Well, that's not exactly true, I'd found quite a few in the new book I want to try but they all need a specific stitch count as a base and 1) this blanket is SO BIG 2) Due to the special squares, some squares have an odd stitch count which means that although they look the same length, they're not!  Which makes it really difficult to work from a border pattern :-(  Plus, I can't say any of them REALLY leapt out and grabbed me.
So, I'll try some border patterns on the next small lap blanket/baby blanket and see what I can improvise for this one.  I'm desperate to have it properly finished-the cats keep nicking it and Myf has no qualms about wrapping up in it as well!

Reasons to be Cheerful!

I completely forgot to post on Wednesday!  Myf had another bout of sickness on Tuesday which I didn't think was a tummy bug but then yesterday, I was really sick all day-despite having to be at work (I did end up having to close early and dealing with the fallout from that with my boss wasn't fun).

When I finally got home yesterday and picked Myf up, I was so ill, I could hardly stand.  Myf ran around bringing me a bucket, water, tissues, her duvet, wet flannel and at about 8 o'clock, she got herself ready for bed and got my bed ready for me as well!  I collapsed in bed right after tucking her in and thankfully managed a night with being sick but I do feel very shaky today (I was supposed to be working again today but thankfully managed to get cover as I shouldn't be working around food at all!)

I know I go on and on about my daughter but I don't think I could have gotten through last night without her!  She's definitely the number one reason to be cheerful :-)

Myf also had World Book Day at school this week and wanted to go as Mildred from the Worst Witch (yes, Mildred has long dark hair in plaits but she could have had a haircut too!)

Doesn't she look fab?

In other news, I STILL haven't finished the border on the Sleeping Forest blanket!  This is because every time I make a start, this happens...

I may have to come up with a new strategy...

Half Term :-)

Half term this week and Myf is spending the first half of the week with me before she goes to her Dad on Wednesday.  We took a trip to Techniquest on Saturday that was a lot of fun

We went swimming today and are going to Cardiff Castle tomorrow and then a quiet day before she goes :-(

In other news, the blanket is almost finished!  I'm working on the border now which may take a few days as I want to try one from the crochet border book.  Myf very kindly has done some blanket modelling :-) apologies for the poor photo quality, I couldn't wait till daytime for better picture quality!

I HAD to lay it out after doing the first border round (hdc clusters in dark brown)

A rare photo of me actually crocheting!  I'm going with a cream for the second round-Myf suggests going with a shade of blue for the bulk of the border (not sure yet whether I want to stick with the Autumn palette)

I used single crochet to join the squares-I like the ridged effect as well how sturdy it is.  Someday, I may use it on the right side of the squares so I get to enjoy that ridged effect as well as all the colours!


Hopefully won't be long now!

Lots of photos...

I have a poorly daughter at the moment-she's been up and down with a nasty viral bug and has spent most of the morning being sick :-(  She's currently tucked up in bed and hopefully she'll be feeling better when she wakes up.

We spent some time this weekend laying out the squares for the Sleeping Forest Blanket-Myf has taken some photos for your enjoyment ;-)

I played around with the arrangement for the next day until it felt like the colours were flowing properly then I pile them up into groups of 14 (vertical strips) and used a little piece of wire to mark the end square so that I crochet the squares together in the order I want!

Over the last couple of days, I've been busy getting some of them crocheted in strips (I crochet the strips together as soon as I finish them) and so far, we have a four-strip wide blanket!

Doesn't it look beautiful already?  Only five more strips to do then it's on to the border!