2011 A Year in Pictures

December

November
I didn't post at all in November!!! How can that be?

October

September

August

July

June

May

April

March

February

January

A Year in Pictures.
Looking forward to 2012.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

New Project

Here is my new project, which I am loving!!!!!

I'm calling it my "Stones & Pebbles" Japanese Flower Blanket.
I was inspired by the colours of stones & pebbles which I love.

4 rows

5 rows

Blankets An Update

I've been working on my ripple blanket a lot in the evenings this past week.
It's coming a long nicely.

The colours are looking great.

 And no sooner had I posted my last post or I changed my mind about my Sunburst Blanket.

I was using two cream colours, one for the third round and the other for the last round.

Well I found it all too cream, so because I've got loads of bits and bobs of yarn I decided to do the third rounds coloured.

So far so good!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

My New Project!!!

I know, I know.
I still have to finish my Ripple Blanket.

And my Granny Log Cabin Blanket.

It's a lot bigger than this now by the way.

But still I have started on a new project!!
I saw this blanket online and just loved it.
Look here. (This is a French blog but it's got how to pictures!!!)
It's a Granny Sunburst Blanket!!
And here are a couple of my square so far.

What really got me started on this project was not only the fact that I love the blanket I saw online, but also the weather (yeah right blame it on the weather lol).
The other two are getting so big and are so warm to be working on right now.
This Granny Sunburst is ideal because I can just make all the centre bits.
I'm thinking along the lines of making this blanket 15 squares long and 14 squares wide.
So that means I will need 210 all together.
Well I've already made 120 little centres.
So it is coming along nicely.
What I want to do is this, not make any two squares the same, apart from the cream colour of course.
I'm using 30 different colours all together.
They are all bits and bobs that I have hanging around.
And they are not all the same yarn, I mean not even within the colours themselves.
Like I am using light grey, and that light grey can be one of three different bits of light grey I have hanging around.
It's a great way to use up yarn.
And what will I do with this blanket when it's finished?
Well, I don't know yet, maybe it will be a gift for someone.

October

Just An Update

Oh well, didn't September just fly!!!
I finished Katies blanket, remember that was the last of the three Big Granny blankets I was making.
We took all three blankets with us when we went to visit, that was on the 10th of September.
However, I forgot to take photos of them on their beds.

I haven't been working on my Ripple at all this month.
I've been playing around, something I love to do from time to time.
Just trying stuff out.

But I have now started a new project, I'll take some photos of that tomorrow.

September

My Vintage Crochet Book Find

We have a local charity shop in the town where we live here in Holland.
Now, we visit this shop at least once a month just to have a look around.
And I must say I have often found the odd thing or two there.
The first thing I do when we get to the shop is to look at the books, which all cost just 1 euro.
What I'm really hoping to find is a crochet book, but there never seem to be any.
Until yesterday that is.
And here it is, a real vintage crochet book from the 70's!!

The book is in Dutch of course, but it was translated from English it says on the inside cover, in 1972.
Anyway there are some great patterns in it, 77 altogether.
The colours are somewhat dated in most of them, but I'm trying to think beyond that.

I love this baby pram cover.                                         And this cute little dress.

And this could look lovely made up in todays colours.

These pot holders in todays colours would look great. And this rag mat and pillows would too.

And what about these then. A simple square patterned blanket, and on the right a wall covering.
The wall covering is like a small crochted blanket and the crocheted flowers are added to it.
Very colourful, and very 70's, I for one had never thought of crocheting something to put on the wall.

I love the simple patterns of these mats.

And all of these, get the nice chunky looking ripple in the right hand corner.

Now isn't this cute, just a three round granny square using bright colours for the middles and black for the last round.
I always wanted to make a blanket like this, it's a classic!!! so may be now I will.
It's a great way of using up stash yarn.

And now do you want to have a laugh!!!!
Well I had to laugh when I first saw this nexted picture.
Even back then I can't imagine a man wearing these.
Poor, poor man, did he ever live it down!!!!!

Now, with a few adjustments to colour and style they might work.
But not for men, at least not my type of man.
Be honest could you really see Colin Firth or Jude Law wearing these?
The mind boggles!!!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!!!
Love Chris

Getting into Zinc

I have been visiting a lot of Scandinavian blog online lately.
And I must say I love their style.
What I am really getting into is Zinc, they seem to have loads of it in their homes and gardens.
Well I've had this set of zinc flower pots on a zinc tray for ages.

They were in a corner of the garden, so I got them out and gave them a clean.
I now want to get some little plants to put in them.
I'm not sure anymore just how long I've had these, but it's well over 15 years.
And then I was in a shop a couple of days ago and I came acrossed these.

Well I fell in love with them at once, and was really pleased when I saw they were half price.
They cost me just under 2 euros 50.
I now have a whole wish list of zinc stuff I want.
But the no 1 thing I want in time for Christmas is a zinc house that you can put candles in.
Take a look at these ones here.

Both Coming a Long Nicely

I'm working on Katie's Blanket again.

I want it finished in the first week of September.

I love the colours so far.

I'm very pleased with it.
And my ripple is coming a long nicely too.

Old Project New Project

I stopped working on my last big granny square blanket for my granddaughter Katie.
When I say stopped I mean for a while then, just for the hoildays.
I want all three of the blankets finished so that I can give them to them in September.
Two are already finished and Katie's one is bigger now than it was in this photo.
So in a couple of weeks time I'll pull myself together and finish it.

Mean while I have started a new project.
A wonderfully colourful ripple blanket.
I love it!!!!

Wildflowers

August

July

And a June Granny Goodness mosaic.

And lots more Granny Goodness to come in July!!!!!!

More (alot more) Granny Goodness

I've finished two of my three Big Granny Square Blankets!!!!!!

I went a bit mad taking photos!!!

This blue and cream one is for my granddaughter Megan

And this pink and cream one is for my Granddaughter Emily!!!!

On both of them I did a simple picot edging to finish them off.

What I did with the edging was this, I used up all the bits and bobs of wool I had over from the blanket.
I made them into a ball of wool that just change colour on my way around.

The pink middle looks darker in these photos.

So two down one to go.

I started on the 1st of June, so two blanket in a month!!!! Not bad at all.

The last one is coming a long nicely and I can spend all my time on that one now.