No way! (+ another giveaway)

No Way!!!!!!

How can it be a month (two now, I started this draft a month ago ((edit: add another fortnight on to that since this laptop is being naughty and I don't know how to sort it out))) since I announced the giveaway winner of the Greengate tea towel? That's mental.

I said I had some coasters to giveaway, didn't I? Al the tea towel man sent me two coasters too. Such lovely robust coasters.

It's taken me a while to get around to blogging about these as I never seemed to have a cuppa in a complimentary mug when it is a good time to snap a few pics. Anyway the pics are done and the giveaway is open. Pop over to All Tea Towels to browse the loveliest of tea towels.

The rules are simple. You don't have to be a follower, you just need to leave a comment below, express your coaster preference and make sure I have some way of contacting you. If you blog, instagram, pin, tweet, facebook, let off a balloon, sky write about this then let me know and I'll add your name to the hat again for each shout out (yes, I'll draw names out of a hat this time because I think I'll enjoy that...little things that amuse....)

♥

I'll just quickly show you my skirt. I made it using a quick and easy pattern by New Look (no.6843). It's a bit big so I'll have to doctor it at some point. The pocket was made using a doily Sandi sent me at Christmas time and the lace edging is from a 70's wedding dress my Mum was given that was moth eaten. She salvaged the good bits. The fabric is by Amy Butler and is a dream to work with. Very well behaved.

Need to blog about my granny rectangle blanket in the background

We have been busy bees here in Cuckoo Land. It's been a joyous whirl of boys and friends and family and knitting and crochet and sewing and less housework that ought. I have a gazillion photos to share, most are already on IG (cuckoob) so pop over there for a nosey if you fancy. I don't know why I have fallen out of the habit of frequent blogging since I do enjoy it so much. Life has become very busy. I lose a significant amount of time each week on the school run now my boys are both at different schools that aren't local. Mini Cuckoo has turned into the sweetest little chap but boy o boy does he make a big old mess and need lots of cuddles and tickles. The mess  annoys me. The cuddles and tickles make me so happy. I guess that's why I'm not blogging so much lately. I'm tickling a small boy who has the cutest giggle. I'm making the most of him.

Also I have started running. I'm still surprised. I don't even enjoy walking yet here I am 6 weeks in and running 5k every other day. I wish I could say it's made a positive difference to my life but I'm flipping pooped. I still weigh more than I'd like. My knee twinges and my ankles hurt. I also have the mortification of knowing I look like a fat toddler when I run. Add to that the fact that I cannot help spontaneously bellowing out the good bits of any given song I'm listening to. I freaked a sheep out last night. I burst into song more loudly than even I expected "I DON"T WANT YOUR MONEY HONEY, I WANT YOUR LURVEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Then sometimes a little dance routine flies through my arms. Thriller comes on and my arms go all Zombie. I am 37 years old now and I cannot control myself it seems. Never mind, good job I see very few people on my runs.

The Winner Is...........

♥

The Polka Dot Petticoat

I'm popping over to your blog now to let you know

Congratulations.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter. You lovely lot.

xxx

Roll up! Roll up!

Ladies and Gentleman we have a GIVE AWAY. Oh yes we do! Or rather I do.

A little while ago I was approached by Al from All Tea Towels who asked if I'd like to review some tea towels on my blog.

So I went and had a look at his site and then very quickly got back to him saying nah, no thanks. JOKE! I couldn't wait to get my hands on a tea towel or two.  I say two because I thought if I got two I could share with you guys.

 

Al kindly sent me three tea towels. So I get to keep the adorable little cottage towel and the red one. I'm thinking the red one would look awesome made into a pinny (add that to my to do list then shall I? That very long To Do, To Make list)

 

What's the giveaway tea towel then?

This is it

Noyce huh?

All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me which tea towel on Al's site is your favourite. If you blog about this giveaway then come back and leave another comment, same for twitter, instagram etc... but do leave me your profile thingy so I can come and visit you there if the random generator whatsit picks out your comment. You needn't be a follower of mine to enter. You can be an anonymous commenter but do leave your name so I can let you know in my next post it was you.

I'll pick a winner next Wednesday evening (13th March)

In my next post I'll be giving away the coasters Al sent too. This one and this one.

I loves a wrist warmer, I do

(said in a broad Somerset accent)

Two years ago, when I was new to Knit Club at The Wool Sanctuary (though truly I do not remember a time when Suzie wasn't my dear friend, I feel I have known her for a very long time) I met a pair of wrist warmers that captured my heart and ramped up my desire to learn to knit properly.

"Suzie" I said, "Soooooooooooooozie! Are these for very advanced knitters, when do you think I might be able to have a bash at making these Alice Caterpillar's?"

"Can you do the knit stitch?" she questioned,

"Yes"

"Can you do the purl stitch?"

"Yes"

"Can you cast on and off?

"Yes"

"Can you increase and pick up stitches?"

"No" I said in a small dismayed voice.

"Sit here, I will show you how and you can start them in about five minutes"

I will admit I didn't really believe her, I couldn't see how such fabulous wrist warmers could be knitted by someone who was a knitting novice. She was dead right though. 

Even now, as I write this blog post and look at the photographs I cannot get my head to understand how easy they were to knit, even though I, me (V proud), knitted them with no help at all. The last bit surprises me the most.

No I would like to draw your attention to my nice nails here. I'd had them shellac'd. I vowed I would have them done regularly as I loved how sprightly they looked. It's so nice having pretty nails as one can see one's hands all day long. Since these photo's were taken I have had my nails done a whopping, big fat zero times. Hopeless. I used to be so groomed, now I feel presentable after cleaning my teeth. Standards have slipped (just like my chest, ha ha haaaa!).

I could have twirled my knickers around my head in delight once I had finished them. I was delighted and very proud (even though they are not hard to do, they just look it as they are cleverly designed, still proud).

Pattern here.

 Next up are another design of Suzie's. This pair of warmers are also super simple to make yet totally fancy looking. If you can knit, purl, make a stitch and knit two together then you can make these. They are called Edwin Creams.  No no idea why. Suzie has funny names for everything. It's part of her charm. Though one day she will name something after me. WON'T YOU SOOOOOOOOOZIE???! Yes, she will. Or I'll chop her in the wind pipe and kick her in the shins.

I think the pattern calls for a bigger needle than the 2.75 I used, but I prefer a tight warmer. I also made the cuff longer because I like my forearms covered when I am pushing the buggy. Other than that I did exactly what the pattern said to do. 

Ah, smashing, I wear these almost every day. I must make more. Many, many more. In lots of different colours.

Oh look at that lovely red polishy stuff.

Those jeans are too tight for me now. I must get a grip. I put on a stone and three pounds over Christmas. Granted my Christmas started in mid November and ended in mid January, and I've been skiing, but that is quite a lot of weight to gain. A personal best, in fact. I feel someone ought to give me a trophy.

Ninja Knitta

Now for a gratuitous sock pic. I found this pic when I was looking for photo's for this post. I forgot to point out in my last post that I made my Mr two pairs of socks for his 40th. Now don't say I'm not generous ;o)

Give away coming up in my next post. A gorgeous Greengate tea towel. Click here to have a sneaky peek. I've not had a giveaway before. I feel a bit bubbly about it!

xxx

The Husbando had a birthday

The chap turned 40 way back in July and I still haven't shared what I made him. Yeah I know, it was ages ago.



I made him socks and hankies and an eye mask. For his 40th. Hmmmmm. Yes, rubbish wife. What does one buy or make a man who literally has everything he has ever wanted? Aside from the helicopter, yacht etc... which I couldn't ever stretch to, not on this weeks pocket money.

I don't earn my own salary. Every penny I have available to spend comes out of his pocket so it didn't seem right to buy him a heap of gifts and anything more elaborate, like a weekend away would have to be pre-authorised by financial control and subject to work commitments.

I felt, and I know for certain you'll all be with me on this, that me spending my limited free time on making something for him would be better. The fact that I love crafting didn't enter my head. Noooooooo, it was ALL for him. If he was into shaven headed ladies with abs like a washboard and DIY tats then I'd have done what was necessary to morph into that and gift wrap myself up. Sounding a bit pervy now. Where has my odd head taken me now? But luckily for me he likes me as I am (No comments about sit ups not going amiss, Mr C) so I knitted and stitched him gifts. I poured hours of time into his gifts. I poured love into each and every stitch. Because I really do love that Husbando of mine, even though he leaves his coffee cup in The Most Annoying Place (right next to the dish dosh) every morning. Yes I do love that chap very much. I shall say no more here, for he will get a big head.

First up, socks. He loves crazy socks. so I bought some self striping sock yarn from Twisted Limone (I've been trying to find her on Etsy but drawing a blank...grrrrr) thinking I could make a more professional looking pair if I didn't need to carry the yarn up like I did with my heart socks. What I hadn't thought about, and only realised when I got to it, was that I'd need to chop out big chunks of colour and rejoin the yarn in order to have the heels and toes in a block colour. Man! I had no end of ends to weave in. What a daft sentence, "no end of ends".

They aren't as garish as they appear here.

Since having the Childerbeasts neither Mr C or I sleep very well very easily (another daft sentence). I am like Princess and the Pea and have to sleep on a pillow of puffiness, I need to wear ear plugs because the slightest sound wakes me and Mr C snorts all night long. Mr C isn't as precious and pathetic as me but he needs a dark room. He took to wearing a lovely big pink velvet and satin eye mask of mine. He wore it to death. It fell to pieces. Shame, he did look so masculine in it. So I set about making him a new one. One that was big and soft and just right. Also I wanted to keep it less butch than, say, a camouflage print, therefore Liberty Lawn in a gorgeous deep purple was the best option.

When I first met Mr C I was astonished when he pulled a clean hanky out of his pocket. I forget why. Maybe beer had got on his fag packet (these were our wild days of smoking, drinking, dancing on board room tables whilst consuming a kebab), whatever the reason I loved that he carried a hanky, for a gentleman is not properly dressed unless they have a handkerchief about them.  I'd never met a gentleman before. I found this little hanky beguiling. There was this super cool bachelor with his fancy mansion house flat and sports car standing at the bar in The Place To Be Seen In wielding an old fashioned bit of cloth and not giving a hoot who saw. It was the hanky that made him stand out for me straight away.

These hankies are also made from Liberty Lawn and are embroidered with his initials. I had to fathom how to work the embroidery bit of my sewing machine, I've had it a few years now and I still haven't played around with it properly. I had to figure out how to get the embroidery gizmo attached and then work out how to use the special sticky sheeting stuff so I could set the machine to embroider near an edge. I don't know why I was so reticent to give it a go. It was logical and user friendly. I was delighted anew with Brother Brian, my name for my machine.

I hand rolled the hems because I wanted a very fine finish. I do have a rolled hem foot for my machine but I could not get it to do a neat finish. I think a bit of practise is needed. I found the hand hemming very therapeutic, no need to have a furrowed brow or tense shoulders. I sat and peacefully sewed while letting my mind wander and ponder over our marriage. I wish that my memories could transfer into the fabric and then, upon using the hankies be transferred into my husbands head. How wondrous that would be.


xxx

Half Granny Square Pattern

Hello again!

Just a quickie tonight. When I was at Knit Club on Saturday a lady there, Christine, asked me if I had a pattern for a half granny square, but not halved from corner to corner like a triangle. She wanted it like a rectangle so she could adapt a jumper pattern into a cardigan. I felt sure I must have what she was looking for in a book, or failing that I just knew I'd easily find one for free online. Well, my books drew a blank as did the t'interweb. So I sat with yarn and hook and worked it out.

It's not a wonderful photo and I should have blocked the rectangle but you get the jist.

I use UK terms and I assume if you are ready to do a half granny then you already know our way around a full granny so I am just sharing the pattern and not a full blown picture tutorial.

Here you go:

Ch4 and ss into ring.

Rnd 1:

Ch3, 1tr, ch3, 3tr, ch3, 2tr into ring.

Rnd 2:

Join yarn to top of first ch3

Ch4, 3tr into chain space, ch3, 3tr into the same chain space as before, ch1, 

3tr into next chain space, ch3, 3tr into same chain space, ch1, 1 treble into top of 2tr.

Rnd 3:

Join yarn into the 3rd chain of the ch4 in the previous round, ch3, 1tr, ch1, 3tr into next chain space, 3ch, 3tr into same chain space.

ch1, 3tr into nest chain space, ch1, 3tr into next ch sp, ch3, 3tr into same ch sp, ch1, 2tr into the top of the last tr on the previous round.

Rnd 4:

Join yarn to top of first ch3, Ch4, 3tr into chain space, ch1, 3tr into next chain space, ch3, 3tr into the same chain space 

ch1, 3tr into next chain space, ch1, 3tr into next ch sp, ch1, 3tr into next ch sp, 3 ch, 3tr into same ch sp, ch 1, 3tr into next chsp, ch1, 1tr in between the two treble below.

Hope this makes sense! If it doesn't please let me know.

So Christine, I hope you find this since the email address I have for you isn't correct. I've tried lots of different variants but it's still pinging back undelivered. Hope you're well and that your flat is drying out.

I got my lovely (and I mean LOVERLY) friend Erin to check the pattern. She has a shiny new blog and a recently published book she has contributed to. Take a look! It's a gorgeous crochet book.

Thank you for such a warm response on my last post. It was lovely and generous of each of you. I'll be replying to you if you're not a No-Reply blogger soon.

xxx

It's been so long...

....I don't know how to get back into blogging. So what I am going to do is fling out a post in ten minutes flat. At this point, I have no clue what I am going to post about. 

I'll just go and have a rootle about in my photo files (though I've not uploaded in an age)......................... Oh my word, there is a lot of stuff I could blog about. Took me a while to decide which pics to go for.

This is something I made for my friend Princess (ere, if you're reading this, Princess, then hurry up and get your blog up and running so I can link to you) for her birthday back in September.

It's a little pinny. It's not for craft stuff. I mean, one would get a rude injury bending over with knitting needles in a pinny pocket. It's a gardening pinny. We both agree pockets are needed when gardening. They are absolutely a necessity when cleaning too. It's rare you'll ever find the pair of us at home without a pinny hanging off our necks. Trouble is when gardening, a regular pinny can chaff about the neck, so a half pinny is perfect.

Once again I got the pattern from Cath Kidston's SEW! book. I've since made one for Granny, which I forgot to take pics of.

See? I said this would be a rushed, random post (it's taken me longer than ten mins so far so I'm rushing now) The boys and I had fun with tattoos. I loved my little ladybird one.

Did I ever blog about my "Fifteen Minute Targeted Attack"? This is where I have to focus on a job I don't really want to do for fifteen minutes. I go at it flat out. No distractions. Full concentration. Sometimes I don't get the task completed in fifteen minutes but I often just carry on till it's done. It's a great way for me to get my stuff in order. I always try to choose a job that wont take much more than the time allotted. I only do it a couple of times a day. Tomorrow I will clean out the cutlery drawer and wipe down the kitchen cupboards or iron four shirts, or something like that.

Wow. I did a post. It's a bit poo but I had to start somewhere!