And Relax....

Having an easy afternoon today.  On my own at home this afternoon having some me time so of course I've been enjoying the sun and enjoying some crochet :0) Happy me! Unfortunately it has now started to look very dark again with rumbles of thunder in the distance...

Yesterday was spent in the garden continuing to paint the Summerhouse or I should say, soon to be, my new studio!!  Even happier me! :0)

I have chosen to paint it in Seagrass by Cuprinol Graden Shades with Pale Jasmine accents for the doors and trims. Photos to come with a big studio ta dah blog post very soon! It is all feeling quite beachy in our back yard at the moment. I even found some pebbles in a bag collected on our last holiday to Wales, a year ago now, and these reminded me that I also collected a whole bag full of driftwood sticks and bits... now where did they go?

So today I set about making a beach inspired mandala for my new studio. I found the pattern in issue 12 of Simply Crochet magazine, a Christmas issue. It is actually titled Winter Mandala. I've changed the colours and reinvented it as a beach themed mandala instead! It think it will look a treat on the white washed walls of my new studio very soon...

It is amazing how quickly you can whizz one of these up in between the usual chaos of family life. A round here and there. I managed 4 rounds before they all cleared off and left me to enjoy sitting in the garden with my bare feet in the sun, a coffee on the go, a magazine to read... Bliss!
 

You might notice I'm showing off my latest charity shop and junk shop finds too. I found this lovely stripy jug in my favourite charity shop a week or so ago for £3 and the Emma Bridgewater mug on the same day for £9 new at the antique shop nearby. I don't often visit the antique shops especially if I have little people in tow, bull in a china shop and all that plus I've often over spend in the charity shop as it is. Really pleased I had a look that day although I did see rather a lot of other lovely things too... the other reason I avoid these places. 

I also have my eye on some snowflake bunting pictured on the front page... perhaps in the same beachy colours. For this mandala I have used Drops Love You 5 and aran weight yarn with a 4.5mm hook. One more round to go and I'm done with this little lovely!

Thank you for visiting and sharing a bit of me time with me. I hope you enjoyed your stay.

Better go now and get the washing in quick...

Love Sarah xxx



 

I Love Crochet

I love Crochet! I love Love LOVE the therapy it gives me. I love the repetitiveness, the rhythm of the stitches, the challenge of following patterns, learning new stitches, making new things. The easiness of slipping into my crochet world, hooking away while I watch the little people play or with the TV on in the background while I zone out. I have noticed I don't often join in the conversations I hear about what was on TV last night and it's because is wasn't paying attention, I was busy with my crochet!

In my world I need a creative outlet. Yes, I'm an art teacher, I do art all day and love it. But that is my job. This is my therapy. This is my time and I crave it. I would love to be getting my hands dirty every day making all manner of things using the textiles that I love and have done since I was a child. And I will get there one day but right now I don't have the time or the space in my life for that... well not very often anyway.

I haven't been crocheting for long either. A little over two years now. It feels like longer. When I look at some of the things I have made, the things that I made first, I made them for my little baby girl before she was born in those long months waiting for her to arrive. Before that I had wanted to crochet and had tried really really hard, got really frustrated, gave up and then eventually tried again and again until I got it. Crochet, I decided, was not easy and even now I still think it's not easy. I can crochet but my crochet is not perfect. Perfection is hard to achieve and I am not a perfectionist. I love a handmade feel and I'm happy with things that have a rag tag look to them.  Especially if they are homegrown in my home. They are more than just handmade things, they have a story, a purpose, a reason for being made and that is more important than perfection to me.

My blanket is not perfect but it won't matter. My little family have already christened it the way they do when they decided something is worth noticing, using and having around the place. It has been sat on, snuggled under, hidden in, slept with and kept us warm when we needed it to. It has been dragged around here, there and everywhere including the garden and the beach. This blanket has a home for good in our house.

You might remember some weeks ago I posted here about an arrival of some lovely Drops Nepal yarn and here about my dreams of creating a lovely chunky blanket. I did have some fun playing with colours and planning, researching, starting to make, undoing and starting again until I made my decision about the type of blanket I was going to make.

I am so pleased I decided to go with Granny Squares. There is something very appealing about a Granny Squares blanket. I love playing with the colour combinations, making rainbows and clashing contrasting colours together. They are so quick to make too.

Joining the squares together was a very exciting and satisfying process. This took me most of a day, in between doing the Mummy thing.

The discovery of this blanket by the Little People was a funny one. They sometimes watch me crocheting, steal my hook, find a ball of yarn and quickly scruff it up in 5 seconds flat in an attempt to play pretend crochet. This time, as I was joining the squares, they watched the blanket coming together giving their opinion as always about which square should be next and why, 'this ones a Lightning McQueen Square', and sharing their observations about the colour combinations and the ones they liked best. Little Lady generally just walking off with them.  Little Man decided to make a game out of all the squares by placing a toy to match the colours of the square. Love my creative little bunch! 

And here it is on the bench in my back garden. Oh how I wish I could crochet some life into my little back yard. It's on the to do list...

So thank you, my little Bloggy Blog! This blanket is not only finished but finished in double quick time too. One of the reasons I started a blog was as a way of creating motivation to make and do and finish things. I am terrible for jumping from one project to the next, not keeping my focus and getting distracted by new ideas... sooooo many ideas. The other great thing about my blog is that I am now taking photos all the time and hundreds of snaps of the little people. No more guilty feelings about not taking enough photos and recording the memories. So, the blog works!! Yay!

If anyone is out there in cyberspace reading my ramblings then I hope you enjoyed your visit! Come back soon :0) 

Sarah x
 

Mothers Day Treats... Feeling Loved!

Warning: Mothers Day treats and cuteness ahead...

Here is my Little Miss Lovely being the perfect Mummy to her dolly. And Oh how she loves her dollies. They get more kisses than me!

The Little People did me proud this year. I was woken on Mothers Day morning by the sound of Little Man's latest noisy toy in my ear and a big grin as he presented me with a cute card. Little Lady was there ready to give me a wonderfully dribbly kiss. Then there was the compulsory 321 jumps on Mummy from a great height several times. Although I should point out this happens every morning. No need for an alarm clock in our house. At breakfast more treats were given including chocolate (no photo available for obvious reasons), the offer to help me eat the chocolates there and then, lovely flowers...

 

(Please excuse the rust stained table, I will explain soon. 

A new table might have been a good present too!)

 

... and even more beautiful homemade cards from the Little People. Love these most of all.

This was Little Man's handy work.  Like looking in the mirror!

And Little Lady also created a masterpiece... Such a lucky Mummy!!

I was treated to a bracing stroll along the Felixstowe Promenade and as usual Little Man was zooming along on his scooter while Little Lady enjoyed the shelter of her pushchair. Throughout the day Little Man made a fuss of me making me treats and being extra diligent. Here is a hammer and pin tack picture he made for me. He was understandably very proud of it. Clearly a description here is not necessary but for those of you who have trouble identifying anatomy this is a face with legs.

We did the rounds and visited the Grannies. Both were very happy with a visit from their Grandchildren and receiving cards, gifts and flowers.  It was a lovely quiet day. A chance to spend time with family and enjoying the little things including the arrival of more yarn for finishing projects and starting new ones. 

I now have all the yarn I need to complete my Drops Nepal Granny Squares blanket.  It has changed shape and is not as big as I had first thought but I am really please with it so far. Loving the colours too. I have made quite a bit of progress since this photo by joining the squares and starting the border. 

Shouldn't be long now until it's finishes! Yay! Just the matter of finishing the border and sorting out millions of little thread... not looking forward to that bit!

Thank you for popping by, hope you enjoyed your stay xxx

Lovely Things

Today has been quite busy but full of lovely things and full of colour. We haven't really done anything out of the ordinary, just a very regular day for us but with little surprises and treats to make us smile. I thought I would share them with you. As I write this we are snuggled up on the sofa watching films. Little lady is playing with her toys and some of little man's toys too while he is busy not noticing. 

Today, after the school run, little lady and I visited the local library for Baby Bounce, a group for babies, singing, stories and play. We met friends there and had a lovely time. Then we popped home visiting the charity shop on the way where we found these Beatrix Potter books. I think are just wonderful. Eight little books, beautifully illustrated and full of imagination. Little man will love reading these at bedtime.

The postman also popped by to deliver this months issue of Simply Crochet. Yay! Love getting nice post! I like this magazine. I treat it a bit like a puzzle book. Some people like crosswords. I like crochet patterns, trying new stitches, reading patterns and making little things. I don't think it'll be long until I am trying this lovely Easter mandala pattern. Mandalas are a great way of learning a variety of stitches. One day I would love to learn how to create my own patterns in this way.

The Postie also delivered my Valentines present to myself... more Drops Nepal yarn. These colours are fab. So vibrant. I was planning to make another ripple blanket. Haven't actually finished the last one yet. I have run out of steam with that one so will return to it another time. Looking through my magazine there are several blankets I quite fancy making so perhaps a granny square blanket instead. Hmmmm. Perhaps another look through my Pinterest board for ideas might be in order. 

 

Little man decorated my yarn circle with even more colour for me. 

This afternoon I took the little people to a play group where they made these marvellous caterpillars. Even though I teach art and get messy everyday at school seeing my 16 month old with a loaded paintbrush still raises the blood pressure slightly. She loved it and, of course, was covered from head to toe by the end. She tried really hard and made lots of little delicate painterly marks and copied little man by sprinkling glitter too. Little man needed no help. He was focused and, with his cute concentration face on, he added colour and glitter with precision. We then read Eric Carl's The Hungry Caterpillar again and little man discussed at length the time we had 5 pet caterpillars that grew into butterflies. These little lovelies have found a new home, in pride of place, on a shelf in little man's bedroom.

The yellow caterpillar is by little lady and the green glitter sparkle caterpillar is by little man. 

Thank you for popping by, now it's time for tea xx