With Mother’s Day just over a week away and the sun having come out I have been in the mood to put the needles and hooks down for a bit and get out the papercrafting materials.

I had a real root through my stash and brought out some Papermania capsule collection papers and flowers.  I wanted to do something a little bit different to those cards I have made before, and I found a collection of coloured skeleton leaves to use.  Out came the button box as well.

Yellow Leaves Mother’s Day

I love the black and white collection of big flowers, and the yellow leaves look so fresh.

I also used some of the pink collection too.

Pink Flower Mother’s Day

I thought that I’d put the cards with my rose knitted brooches.  I think they go together very well and would make a lovely little gift for any Mum.  I know what my Mum is getting from me this year!

Happy Mother’s Day crafting
x

A few weeks ago I bought my first pom pom maker.  I saw them being used on Kirstie Allsopp’s tv show before Christmas and was completely sold on the idea of making pom poms in all sizes, quickly and without the need to have a regular supply of cardboard circles!

My first attempts are adorning my phone case and I love them, so I am now trying to find uses for them every time I make anything!!

I love the thickness of the pom poms and how uniform they are. So having bought the small ones I had to invest further in a larger set. I am thinking about adding some to my current work-in-progress, a crochet blanket. Then I could add them to the end of some new scarves. I am also thinking about using the smaller ones to make little flowers, but that is going to take some thought and practice.

In the meantime I have been adding the smaller pom poms to my little Easter bunnies for tails.

I have now just taken delivery of a pom pom heart maker! I have no idea how this will work but I think it will be fun. It will make a change from circular ones for the Christmas tree!

I shall post pictures when I have made some.

Happy crafting
x

I’m always struggling with my little one asking for a snack after school. I seem to have got into a routine with a couple of other parents to bring something to school at pick up time for the kids, and it’s usually chocolate or sweets. But I’m starting to experiment with other ideas.

Over the half term we made some little sponge buns using up leftover blueberries and banana, so I thought I’d have another go. This time I made larger buns, but I didn’t mix the banana slices and blueberries into the mix. I put a teaspoon of mix in each case, then added 3 slices of banana and 5 blueberries to each one, and topped it with another teaspoon of cake mix. That way each cake had the same amount of fresh fruit added.

They went down very well with the kids (and the Mums). I shall have to try some other fruit combinations. I wonder what we’ll get in our veg box this week?

I’ve also tried some vanilla and raisin buns. This time mixing the raisins into the cake mix.

These are delicious and I thank Delia for her all-in-one sponge recipe.

I think it’s a change from the packet crisps, sweets and chocolate. And it must be better for them, having some fruit in there. Plus is definitely more satisfying knowing what they’ve had, making it yourself and costing less.

Happy baking
x

I felt like a change from knitting ducklings and decided that little bunnies would make a welcome addition to my knitted range.  They are so cute and work so well for Easter as well as for new babies or small children.  My daughter loves them and wants a whole family full!

They knit up quite quickly as they are plain stocking stitch with a little shaping and the added twisted cord bow hides the gathering for the neck. It’s quite simple to do the cord, but it does look funny when I have a piece of yarn tied around a knitting needle held under my foot and am twisting it round using my finger! It works though. Instead of adding a knitted tail I’ve added a tiny pom pom, which looks so cute at the back.

As the bunny is stuffed with tested stuffing it can be washed (gently) and there are no parts to injure little mouths or fingers. The face is hand stitched in place so each one is different, and the bow cord is stitched in place too so no chance of a little mouth swallowing it. An ideal little gift for a first Easter.

I’m working on a pale blue one next and then I think I might add a bow to the end beneath the ear. Any colour suggestions?

Happy crafting
x

Last year I had some shocking news about a friend and former work colleague. She is just a few weeks younger than me and has had a terrible illness which has left her unable to speak or move. So, one of her very close friends has organised a party night to help pay for extra physio sessions. She has been overwhelmed with the donations to her raffle and I wanted to do something too.

I thought having a go at an owl would be a good idea.

It’s a pattern I found in an old Woman’s Weekly knitting special. I decided to use some aran yarn for the body and wings and I used double knit for the beak and feet. I had no idea how big he would actually be though!

The original pattern used felt for the eyes, but I wanted to do something a bit different and thought it was a good opportunity to practice some crochet! So I think I’ve done 2 circles of double crochet! Whatever stitch I did I think it looks quite effective. I added a couple of chain stitches for each pupil in the body colour yarn.

He stands approximately 25cm tall and with a weight inside would make a pretty good doorstop! But as he is he’s very cuddly and is currently looking handsome sat on my sideboard in the living room.

I hope everyone likes him and that he helps to raise some much needed money for the physio sessions. I’m hoping to have a go at a pussy-cat to go with him, so watch this space.

Happy charity crafting
x

Over the last year I have continued to practice my crochet in the form of treble crochet granny squares.  It’s been fun using different yarns and sizes of hooks.

I’ve made some little granny square bags and have a lovely stack of squares sat in a bag.  So I’ve decided to embark on my first blanket!  I’ve made 30 squares in 3 different colours, white, pale pink and a dusky pink.  I think they look really good together, but my problem now is how to join them together so they lie flat?

I’ve seen blankets where the squares are joined directly together, I presume they have been sewn together somehow. I’ve also seen them with a crochet border between them. I like the thought of having a border in white but I’m not sure how to go about it. Any help would be gratefully received.

I think I’ll be hunting round Youtube for some ideas and tutorials!!

In the meantime I’ve embarked on another blanket (or is it an afghan?) as I discovered a lovely ball of cream double knit yarn in a drawer in the spare room. I don’t know what I had been saving it for but it’s now on it’s way to being a blanket!

I’ll keep you posted on how I get on.

Happy crafting
x

Last week was a full-on half term for me and little one!  I didn’t realise quite how much I’d got used to the peace and quiet of term time.  Anyway, we had lots planned as well as a few free days to wind down, do homework and generally mooch about together.

I tried to do something constructive or crafty every day.  This would range from me crafting for myself or doing some kids craft.  I managed to fit n quite a lot really.  Mainly because I’ve been crocheting granny squares – to practice my treble crochet a bit more – and I can do that more-or-less anywhere.  Crochet really is the most portable of crafts.  Great to do in the car (as long as you’re the passenger that is).

Our kids craft was predominantly drawing dinosaurs (her not me) and practicing writing.  But I did manage to get the Hama beads and some shrink plastic out.

We both had great fun sorting through the huge jar of beads.  Dinosaurs are the main focus of everything in our house at the moment, so it was no surprise that she made a dinosaur.  But we managed to have a go at a skating Poppet and a blue seahorse too.  It’s great to see her following patterns, but even better when she decides to have a go at making it up herself (dinosaur).  I made the heart and I think I might use it on a card for Mother’s Day!

The shrink plastic was a brilliant idea.  She spent ages making sure she had coloured in all the fairies and toadstools etc and then we watched them all shrink in the oven.  This is a fabulous craft with kids.  It’s so exciting and satisfying watching the pieces curl up and shrink through the oven door.  The next plan is to use them to make some jewellery.  So watch this space for that.

Our only other day of crafting was to make some buns using some over-ripe banana and a few left-over blueberries.  I used an all-in-one sponge recipe from Delia Smith and my daughter added the bits of banana and blueberries.  She loves this and the best bit, they only take 15 minutes in the oven so we were able to sample our baking just as we’d finished the washing up!!

We had a lovely time baking and making over the holidays, but it’s back to school now and time for me to get back to some grown-up crafting!

Happy crafting holidays
x

I decided to have 2 winners of the knitted hearts, and I am delighted to announce that

Gary Brunt and Kerry Seymour are the winners.

Please get in touch with the details of which colour hearts you would like.

Happy Valentine’s Day
x

Over the last few days I’ve been putting the finishing touches to my knitted hearts. I’ve raided my button stash and found some little flower ones to add to a heart for my Daughter. She loves it and is putting it on her dancing backpack!

The other I’ve done for my Mum as it’s her birthday on Friday and I wanted to give her something different along with the creams she bought for herself for me to wrap up!! I hope she likes it.

I’ve really enjoyed making these hearts. They’ve given me a lovely focus while I’ve been off my feet. I’m going to work on some for Christmas, maybe try some smaller ones as well as these larger hearts. But I think I shall park that idea in my file for later in the year, as I feel more like working on some Spring-like items now.

Happy crafting
x

While I’ve been recovering from my foot operation, I’ve had some time to look through my yarn stash and I’ve used my newly arrived Clover pom-pom maker.

Wondering what on earth I could make to use my new equipment, I decided that a cover for my new phone would be an ideal project. I can never find the phone in my handbag so a nice brightly coloured knitted cover would be perfect. It’s a simple double rib knit design and is greatly improved by the added pom-poms don’t you agree?!

My husband also asked for a cover for his phone to stop it being damaged when it’s in his bicycle bag when hes riding to work and back. I restrained myself from making it bright pink and he didn’t want pom-poms either!

I think they’ve worked well and I’ve decided that I will take orders for anyone, just message me the dimensions of your phone (or other device) and any colour preference/ design and I can give you a price. Starting at £3 for a mobile phone.

Happy crafting
x