A Blanket for Laura

Laura is my friend I went to Venice with. She's one of my best friends and has been a key part of my life for years now, bridesmaid when I got married and one of the few people I know that if I ever needed her she would help me, no matter what. I hope she knows that is entirely reciprocated.

So for a special birthday I wanted to make her something special. In my books a crochet blanket is pretty special, this is only the third one I've ever actually completed! I chose the colours before I chose the pattern, I just went crazy for bright and bold colours and once I looked at what I'd chosen I thought solid block granny squares would be the best option.

I love the final result, and she seemed to too, which made me super happy. Giving gifts is one of the best feelings. Although, I have to confess, at one point I realllllly wanted to keep it ;) I may make a similar one for myself ;) Once I've finished some other blankets I've started and abandoned that is....

My First Cushion Ta Dah

I finished my first cushion! A simple granny square affair using 'join as you go' I used the yarn I bought in Berlin last July, so it's a nice souvenir.

Sadly C isn't convinced still, but it's found its way onto the sofa and he doesn't seem to object too much ;) My next goal is to keep it away from cat claws...

The only thing I'm not happy with is the button arrangement. I just used an assortment of odd buttons and as you can see they're not very evenly spaced. My only excuse is that I was exhausted and couldn't be bothered to rectify the situation! Maybe one day in the future.

So I feel some cushion mania coming on, it's a very satisfying project! They might have to be gifts for now though...

Catching up again

After the last week we are now fully back into the realm of reality and day to day life. It's been lovely coming back and enjoying our nice decluttered home, full of new things. I'm back into the swing of PhD life, reading away and I've even managed to start writing again which is nice. All in all a nice week getting back to normal and catching up. Catching up with friends, family, work, all the usual :) I changed my name after the wedding (although keeping the maiden one professionally) so am getting used to that, it's really rather odd!

Normally we are quite green fingered but what with one thing and another this year we have had to let our garden do its own thing. Nevertheless we have still being enjoying some of the results (the weeds, thistles and bolting herbs are not on that list!).

We have some champion strawberry plants which seem to just grow no matter what, so we have been gobbling up some lovely homegrown strawberries. I haven't quite managed to make meringue yet, but will have to before long - it's C's absolute favourite!

We also have two large Lavender bushes, which I love but C hates (a bit of an ongoing argument there). I've recycled some of the jars I made for the wedding (see here) and am using them to put some flowers from the garden in, I think they look quite pretty, and hope C will forgive me for the lavender smell ;)

Without having to make lots of decorations any more I am enjoying being able to crochet whatever I like. I am making progress with the granny blanket, which is now a quarter of the way there (excluding the edging)

I'm loving all the colour, and whilst some of them don't completely match I love the bright happy vibe. I'm also getting some ideas of colour combos for future projects :)

It is however time to step away from the granny (sigh). C is hankering for the camper blanket which I promised him, more on that next time, and I want to make some coasters for birthday and Fathers' Day gifts.

Have a lovely weekend! (I shall be watching footie and crocheting, come on England ;) although, I actually tend to support Germany which makes me terribly unpopular!)

Wednesday WIPs - Projects I technically shouldn't really be doing

I've been following the Link Parties for the WIP Wednesdays for a while now, and really enjoy reading new blogs and getting inspiration from the lovely projects. I've plucked up the courage to link up for the first time with this post :)

With a wedding to prepare and a thesis to write I've tried to be really 'good' and stick to wedding crochet for the month of May, but, well, that didn't end up happening :)

I have two 'naughty' WIPs that I'm currently sneakily crocheting away (and enjoying), firstly another cowl project. I love my Spring Cowl (see here) and have worn it constantly, so I wanted to create something similar again. I'm using a simple version of the fan stitch and a nice cream yarn. It's a lot slower to crochet than the original cowl but I'm pleased with how it's shaping up.

I think it's going to be another wardrobe staple - again using up wool I ordered for another project that wasn't quite right! I love a bit of stash busting :)

My other WIP I featured here in my last post, a granny blanket that started as a distraction and is now becoming an obsession. I constantly think about colour combos! I am still undecided as to whether to make it big enough for 2 to snuggle under or make it big enough for just one. I'm going to get to 10 squares and then decide I think.

Definitely the most fun I've had crocheting thus far...

Anywho: I'm going to check out all of the other WIPs and pray I don't get so inspired I start another naughty project!

Linking up to Tami's Amis

Helen xx

Bank Holiday with Bonnie

C has been working very hard this bank holiday on Bonnie, our camper. I am hopefully arriving at the wedding in her, and she's still in the middle of an internal makeover, so he took the chance of bank holiday to progress even further. Her seats now have covers!

Our wonderful friend Noelle made the box cushion covers with me (she is an amazing sewer and masterminded the whole operation, I did some cutting and handed her pins!) We've had them a few weeks but C has only just put the bed in, so we put the covers on today and got them into place. We are so pleased with the fabric!

Izzy supervised C, making sure he was doing it right, and was sure to inspect his work. Once she was happy all was under control she had a nap in the drivers' seat...

Bonnie is nearly ready now! We just need to get the floor down and I think we're good to go! All other wedding preparations are firmly in hand, so feeling marginally in control for once!

I was very naughty this weekend and started a new crochet project, it's one I've been eyeing up for a while - I knew I'd need something to use up wool remaining from the wedding you see.... (methinks the lady dost protest too much) and well I got a bit bored of hearts you see.... and welll....

My first granny squares! I wanted to try out the join as you go method, and needed to have granny squares to do so... so many excuses :) I love the colours and think this will end up being a blanket just for me, when I'm snuggled up this Autumn. So that's two blanket WIPs... oops!