pleasure in crafting and colour...

This is the long awaited 'crafty' post!

I gave up waiting for a nice bright day to take photos - the only days that have been decent have been the ones I've been at work (Grrr...) and work has still demanded dawn to dusk hours of late so no chance of even a hint of sunshine (would love to know what my vitamin D levels are like! my skin is barely seeing the light of day at all, no wonder the brain is in winter blues mode...). This weekend has been grey, wet and windy - impossible in my dark little house to take photos in natural light so there is a bit of variation in colours and none look exactly true to life but I needed to share my latest makes!

So here goes...

Remember the yummy bargain Rowan yarn I found (well when I say 'found', it has to be said an undisclosed amount of cash had to be parted with...) - after an aborted attempt at the first pattern I tried, I kept my fingers crossed that the tension was somewhere near where it should be and ploughed on with the second pattern...

This looks a bit lop sided on the hanger but its ok on. I did make a few tweaks to the pattern - I made it slightly longer (can't bear draughty gaps up my back!) and added a second button. I can't remember exactly what this yarn is made up of (oops, seem to have thrown all the labels away...) but I know there was some silk and merino in there. It has a lovely sheen and is soooo soft and warm.

I did attempt an 'off the hanger' pic...

Yes...rubbish! Blurry, on the skew and lord only knows what was going on with the thumb in the pocket... Do I do that?!!! But maybe you can get a bit of an idea of what it looks like on.

I took a risk with the buttons at a little shop in Derbyshire when I didn't have the yarn with me so had to hope they were the right colour...

It's difficult to see here, because the yarn colour is a bit bleached out but they are just the right colour. They are a kind of ceramic-like finish and I really like them!

The button loops are crocheted on at the end...

This was a really easy pattern, just has a 4 row lacy pattern on the edges which gives it a bit of a wavy look...

I have the arms of an ape (truly!) and I really like that the sleeves are long - just have to decide what to do with this little lot now...

I think there's just a bit over 150gms here...any ideas?!! 

When I went up to Derbyshire I had taken a few odd bits of Stylecraft DK and a crochet hook (you know, just in case...!) and when I needed a change from the knitting I had a play...

I've had a bit of a hankering after hexagons for a while - mainly because I've never tried them before - and some time ago I'd seen something a little like this on a blog. I cannot for the life of me remember where and I can't find it again - so if it was you, thanks for the inspiration and sorry I can't link to you!

Anyway, I wanted to do fairly solid colours and join with white, so I just had a play around with the number of stitches until it felt about right then set to and hooked up this little pile (mostly on the train on the way back!).

I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet and need to more to get a better balance of colours, but for now I'm quite enjoying them just for the sake of them!

Another blanket maybe?!!

In the meantime, I've got a bit sidetracked with another project. I picked these up on freecycle...

Ok, I know they look pretty grotty! And even after a shampoo of the seats, they didn't look much better! But I think they have Potential!

I have in mind a bit of a brighten up! I thought I'd paint the wooden bits (white? cream? what do you think?) and make new covers for the tops. I have so little space that there is nowhere to store spare chairs so I thought these would be perfect for those occasional times when an additional seat is required! And they stack, so minimal storage space needed! And they were freebies! I'm very easily pleased...

This is where I'm up to so far...

I've deliberately used a smaller than usual hook and just dc so that it makes quite a tight fabric (to cover that awful brown tweedy stuff!) but it seems to have a bit of a twisty thing going on so have blocked it out in the hope it'll straighten out a bit! Can't quite decide whether to do stripes or little squares for the second one... Either way, got to be an improvement!!!

And finally, not a make but something that has been cheering me up on a daily basis...

When I moved out on my own, I decided I would have fresh flowers - every week if I could manage it. And actually, I have found there is always a cheap or reduced bunch of something either on the market or at the supermarket. Plus the one plus of a draughty Victorian terrace is the flowers seem to survive longer! Generally they hang on for about 2 weeks, so I feel I get my money's worth. This week - bright yellow tulips are bringing sunshine into the gloom. And one bunch gave me some on the living room mantelpiece...

Some on the dining room table...

...and one for the kitchen windowsill...

(that looks like a horrible mouldy wall in the background! its not, I promise!!)

These bits of colour and crafting are keeping me going at the moment - positively therapeutic!

Til next time then...

Sx