A weekend in the Lakes

I don't usually get the chance to put up lovely photos of the countryside like a lot of other blogs I read because I live in the centre of Manchester, but lucky lucky me went on a hen-do this weekend to the Lake District and I had a very lovely time indeed.

Now I'll spare you all of the photos I took, some are probably not best put on a nice safe blog about crocheting!!! However, the little enormous cottage we stayed in was absolutely gorgeous and I can't believe the owners don't want to live there all the time :-o



This was Fell Gate Farm where we stayed, unfortunately we never made it to the Fell but I'm sure it was lovely, the views we had certainly were!







So, in through this beautiful wooden door...



Into the cosy sitting room with this amazing fireplace, and look!! Heart bunting. Ooooooooh :-)



Through to the kitchen with it's lovely Aga!



The owner had even put some pretty tulips in a vase!



Bulbs in the garden were just starting to come out



And we found a little pond with a duck house!



We visited Lake Windemere on Saturday and even though I took several photos, I think this one is my favourite (even though it's also out of focus!)



We had a very posh afternoon tea with champagne which was verrrrrrrrrrrrrry nice, and spent a lot of time enjoying our lovely house and having a very silly time!



Now I'm very very tired but looking forward to sharing some crochet updates soon :-)

Baby Granny Stripe Progress

Ahhh now time for a little update. I'm not too much further on yet but we're 28 and a bit rows in now! Looking good isn't it? I'm liking it very much, I can see why so many others have also made Granny Stripes using Styleraft (see here!)

I tell you this yarn is so lovely to work with, it's so soft for an acrylic! Much better than any of the yarns I used in my Granny Squares (a project which is finished by the way, despite the lack of a tah-dah post which I only just noticed I never wrote...)

Here's a little close up. Mmmmm stripy goodness!

Have a lovely weekend! x

Granny Squares Tah-Dah!

Anyone who knows me reading this will be wondering "what on Earth is all this about?" The truth is I realised it my last post that I never wrote anything about finishing my Granny Squares blanket. You know, the mammouth year and a half project, 324 squares, two person effort that consumed me during '09 and '10!

Well yes it's finished! Poor thing, it's not that I wasn't pleased to finish it, relieved might be a good word to use! I think it was really too big to embark on as a first project and I lost heart in the middle of making all the squares, then putting them together felt like walking Route 66 (no end in sight?)

Here is a little reminder...






And here (finally) Tah-Dah!!!






A big thankyou has to be said to my friend J.J who helped with a lot of these little buggers and who without, I doubt I would ever have finished!

Baby Granny Stripe Blanket

I'm really very excited about starting this next project as it's the first big thing I will have made to give away. Shocking I know! I read about all these generous people whipping up blankets for friends and loved ones and here's me surrounded by my own creations, hoarding them for myself! That's probably why I like reading Lucy's blog because she has no problem making herself lovely things and keeping them - and so she should!

I made a granny stripe (see here!) before using Drops Paris, and although I'm happy with the result now I wasn't at the time and admittedly I hated the yarn! It was too splitty and my fingers hurt the whole time I was making it, BUT! It has lovely colours and my friend thought so too because she's creating a child in her womb and has asked me to make her a granny stripe! I was thrilled, chuffed to bits; someone liked something I made enough to wrap their own child in it? Amazing!!

I've dropped the Drops though (haha) and instead opted to use the Stylecraft I've been making my (abandoned) hexagons* out of because it's going to be a lot softer and snugglier for a small person. I also love using it!
*Hexagons not abandoned, just postponed!

So here we go!

I hadn't planned to start so soon but got a little carried away, and the light wasn't good (and still isn't here) so I'd already finished 11 rows before getting my first picture. I hope you like it, I hope they like it and I hope they don't see it before its finished! I also hope that annoying little blue stripe between the green and yellow doesn't annoy anyone else as much as it annoys me!

Bye bye bye x