The Friday Feeling: Cross Stitch, Crochet and a little bit of Julie Andrews

Definitely feeling the Friday feeling today! It's so hard to concentrate, the weathers yukky and all I want to do is snuggle up by the fire with a mug of tea and a well trusted film. We've just booked our honeymoon to Austria so am dying to watch The Sound of Music again, and envisage myself running down mountains ala Julie Andrews (albeit with less grace and far less musical talent!) If I'm productive this morning I may treat myself this afternoon.....

Original image found randomly (good ole Google) here

I've finally dug out some cross stitch again, I'm becoming an Aunty (in-law) in April for the first time and wanted to make something for the new arrival. The parents-to-be have found out that it's a girl, and I've decided to stitch an old nursery scene from a past edition of Cross Stitcher, adding the name and date of birth somewhere. It's going to be quite fiddly I think, as there are several very similar shades for detailing but I'm looking forward to it.

It's difficult to make it out so far, but I love the way cross stitch projects really take shape as you add more shades and detailing. It's always so rewarding!

After my previous Knitting fail I've decided that I will be crocheting a scarf for C, much to his amusement. I found this beautiful wool and am just using treble stitches, to practice, but the colours are coming through wonderfully. I'm enjoying it so much I'm neglecting my wedding crochet so will try and get back on that over the weekend.

I had a lovely film night in PJs and dressing gown last night (hence the attire) and just crocheted and stitched. Bliss. Things are getting hectic over the next few weeks so I'm enjoying moments of calm now where I can.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend,

Helen x

Hooked!

After a peaceful (and surprisingly sunny) weekend at home I've finally taken the teeny tiny steps away from my crochet hearts and flowers to making something practically useful ;) Inspired initially by this pattern at Lion Brand Yarns and then the lovely version on the Bunny Mummy blog I finally decided to just get on with it and practice my double crochet. It grew so much quicker than my previous attempt at knitting!

And I was so pleased with the final results:

I used a Sirdar click yarn and it was lovely to work with, and very forgiving in terms of covering up any mistakes ;) Now to think about adding a little flower or something to decorate :) I am oh so definitely hooked...

My mother-in-law to be came to visit us for the weekend and between us we crocheted a mountain of hearts and flowers for wedding decorations which I have just started to sew in to finish off (definitely not my favourite job!)

Next task is to think about assembling them! We had a lovely day shopping as well, and I have a fantastic jug from a thrifty market stall (only £4.99) and some bright and cheerful daffodils to remember the weekend...

Working from home

Today I find myself working from home, a frequent occurrence as I'm a postgrad student but one that I never stop relishing. I love being in the office surrounded by people but I also love being snuggled up at home with my books. I live quite a long way from where I study so I tend to divide the week up a bit to save on the commute.

The continuous grey skies are far from spring-like so this week I tried to brighten up the house with some flowers. I love these Chrysanthemums (only £2 from Lidl!)

I also succumbed to some lovely pink tulips from the market. I don't normally buy many flowers but at the moment they really seem to brighten up the house, and especially when I'm working here quite a lot I think it's worth it :)

I've been quite studious so far, I'm re-reading a novel for my next chapter so have adopted the 'coloured sticky note' approach which always looks pretty, but I tend to forget my 'clever' colour code at some point so ends up not making much notice! The mug in the pic is from my favourite flea market in Berlin at Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain. I use the mug all the time to remind me of relaxing Sunday brunches and flea market searching.

Of course, being at home does have its temptations: most of the time I want to be lazy cat-style, for which there is much inspiration in this house. I present to you my fat cat who has being lazy down to an art form:

And back I go to my reading!

Helen x

Confessions of a Novice Knitter I

So I finally finished my first knitting project! Mixed results, the fact that I finished it was fairly wondrous, but there is oh so certainly space for improvement...

For my first project I'd decided to knit a scarf, very simple (in theory): garter stitch and just one colour. I found some beautiful wool in my local wool shop, sadly I threw away the labels so no idea what it is but it's a beautiful chunky deep purple colour (my phone camera doesn't do it justice at all!)

For some reason I am having real problems with tension: when my Mum saw me knitting she was horrified! (why are you holding it like that, why are you pulling it so tight etc etc) and I've managed to drop stitches on the way without even realising it, so it's rather a wonky scarf (I've decided it has character and shall love it regardless!)

Well I'm going to attempt one for Mr Woolly next, so will try and pull it less tight, as well as try to notice if I drop stitches ;) Onwards and upwards and all that!

My crochet hearts are still progressing nicely and offer me moments of calm amid a hectic week

I am going to make them in lots of colours and make them into heart garlands as shown here

Has anyone else had projects not quite work out? Or does anyone have any tension tips?!

Helen x

Taking the plunge....

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Welcome to my first blog :) I've been meaning to start one for a while and have finally taken the plunge! Baby steps for now, as technology is not my forte...

2014 looks set to be an amazing year, and I want to use my blog to focus on all the things that make me happy in life. I'm taking up knitting and crochet, having cross stitched since I was a little girl, and want to use my blog to chart my progress, share any inspirations and hopefully gain hints and tips from the wider community :) I'm getting married in May and started doing little bits of crochet for that so that's been the motivation to get going with crafty delights a bit more often, nothing too complicated but some cute hearts and flowers to incorporate into the decorations

The hearts are from the wonderful Fiber Flux blog, which is giving me so much aspiration

Crochet Heart Tutorial

And I got the simple flower patter from The Making Spot before it shut down (:(). All very simple but I am hoping to build my confidence and attack some bigger projects soon!

Alongside crafts the other project in my life is our campervan, Bonnie. She's a lovely T2 Bay Window bus, and has just had a massive facelift. She's a blank canvas now and we're working on the interior, I managed to make the curtains last summer on a second hand sewing maching (having never used one before) They're not perfect but look the part! 

My ultimate aim is to crochet a nice warm blanket to leave in her, so I will be building up to that I hope (once I master the art of granny squares!)

Well that's enough for now, Happy Weekend!

Helen  x