Wednesday 28 September 2011

Feel GOOOOD WEEKEND

a VIEW on a walk from Croft Castle somewhere in the vicinity of Leominster...
Had a fabulous weekend away with the Towersey Folk dance group- a whole weekend of walking and dancing with excellent company and lovely food and a bit of singing thrown in too, BLISS.
This is some of us still coming up the hill. A long slow climb it was. And all 22 of us made it.
Getting ready and waiting for ladies who'd gone to the WC.... again.....
Before that I was in York for a few days- working but this was at the end when I had an hour off.
A new shop for me: NESS, thought my eldest would like the satchels in the window?
This time we walked along the top of the Walls to the University- from the IBIS this was an hours walk but so very enjoyable!



At home- yes this is in rewind mode- Miss Y was playing the cello before I left for York.


These were some crocheted scarves I saw in York, so much fine work for far too little !
And back to Boofle- this is his ''body''. I have since finished all the pieces but have to photograph them, sew and stuff them and then there'll be a ''TA DAH '' moment soon I promise...
Life will recommence after October 6th when the last assignment for OU K311 will be safely handed IN!

Saturday 10 September 2011

B,C,D:Boofle, Crochet and Dogs!

This is the ''ta dah!!!'' moment for ''Salice'' the crochet jacket pattern from Kim Hargreaves in the ''Whisper'' knitting book. I finished the buttons this morning while watching a film...
And yes it fits!!! Though the neckline is a bit ''square'' and deep, but quite nice all the same?
Ignore my expression, Miss Y was talking to me and I wasn't quite ready when she took it?
Emulating the poses in the book proved too hard! This is as close as it gets, the side view was far too depressing for me so that's not being blogged!
For details : I followed the pattern more or less, adjusting it where my gauge was slightly looser.
In rows not in stitches, though. I used Patons pure cotton DK and it took 622 g or just over 6 of the 100g balls. I started it in Mid-July 2011 and finished today.
Lucy wanted in on the action when we were taking the photos so here she is.
Was that a pigeon in that tree? Grrrrrrr
So are you going to give me a treat then?
Oh, PLEASE?


And all this time Pippa was dreaming and ''sunbathing'' in her basket....
No, I won't look up for you!
Woof woof!
And although I only ordered it yesterday morning my BOOFLE crochet kit arrived today!
Boofle has been very popular in our household for 2 years now.....You can buy knitted ones and I had been thinking- as you do- ''I must design a crochet one instead! Or in fact a stripey dachshund called Sam or Susie or Sasha, Simone, Simon, Shirley, Stephen, Stephanie, sssssssss?
A stripey sausage -dog with his/her own product range and cartoons? So the thinking went on and on and not a lot was DONE about it. Meanwhile we continued to collect Boofle memorabilia.
Wrapping paper covers my early 2011 diary book...
Miss E was given the knitted ones and gifts featured here....
Yummeeeee cupcake one with a yummy b'day message...
Super COOL dude Boofle. Dig the glasses. Doggie raybans.
Picture frame.
And a bag ful of sewing repairs awaiting my attention.... Did you know there's a Boofle cartoon and a website?!!!
So here He and I say bye bye, I will start crocheting him from this kit- I only really wanted the pattern- so He's what I'll be crocheting NEXT. I found the kit courtesy of Inside Crochet magazine- it's a DMC one. 3mm hook so it's gonna be a slow slog....And to MY way of thinking the beige provided thread is NOT quite pinky-beige enough to be absolutely correctomundo.
And the kit was missing a hook so I popped into town to buy one. Hopefully there's be a BOOFLE TA DAH really soon....

Thursday 1 September 2011

Summer outings

It seems a long time ago that week in Llandudno, we have had relatively little sunshine since, lots of ''white cloud'' days and have been beset by illnesses, but a sense of contentment settled on me today as I walked the dogs in the sunshine we DID have for a while today.
OOOOOH yes and then there's my new baby: my new cabriolet- isn't she a beauty?
We haven't had much chance to drive about with the top down yet and more photos of such are needed, good news is the dogs LOVE it with the top down and Pippa stays put, Lucy sits strapped into a seatbelt with a harness on in the back seat.
She's my black panther prrrrrr but needs a nice colourful crochet throw for the lovely leather seats, to protect them and to add a bit of cheery colourfulness!
The kids have been playing nicely too, see Miss Y teaching Miss E some new pat-a cake- type songs.
I've done loads of crochet- some of it tres boooring as it was that Salice jacket of endlessly the same stitch in one colour, but I have finished all pieces now, sewn it together and it just needs the finishing crab stitch edges and buttons now. And surprise surprise: IT FITS!!!!
Since finishing the main parts I've been playing with a floral scarf in smiley stripes: bamboo and wool.
And most of the Bank Holiday Monday was spent in the car to Brighton and Lewes and back so I crocheted some lace with dreamy buttery soft pure 100% cashmere yarn I bought more than 3 years ago! (Jan 2008).....This is what one 50 g ball makes....
We went to LEWES after Brighton, but here a re a few photos I took...
Lovely lane by the ancient booshop where I found some Georgette Heyers and chatted to the chap who'd lost a 6 week old kitten somewhere in his bookshop...
Miss A in a topshop aviator jacket strolling past the castle gate.

We found some white cliffs ( of Dover said JJ) but they were just outside Brighton...?
Had a lovely walk there in the late afternoon/early evening sunshine- with both dogs too.
JJ loved it, he really misses the sea.
Ok so this one didn't upload properly?
And the sky-scapes were just amaaaazing.....




Bye then, lots more to catch up on soon. For now that dreamy cashmere is calling me. It's bliss to crochet with and incredibly smoochy soft. Can I feel a dreamy cardi-jacket coming on????