TA DAH! Vintage Stripe Blanket

 Oh my goodness.



I never thought this day would come. But I am pleased to announce that my Vintage Vertical Stripe Blanket is now finished.

The blanker started its journey way back in May and after realising that the pattern was in US and not UK I quickly swapped from doing doubles to trebles. This meant I had a stiffer bottom and have had to add 30 long rows of doubles at the top. Still you live and learn .... and now everything I make - I always check if its US or UK first.

I really enjoyed the power of colour combinations in the blanket and used 30 shades. Occasionally a random selection would create the most amazing surprise of colours together. Ahhhh.

 

I have experience Hookers Block and New Leases of Hooky Life in this blanket and it has been on an emotional journey with me .... that's for sure.

I started it just after loosing a baby and loosing my dear grandad (who's birthday it is today). Tears have been cried and landed in the yarn ... but it has also healed. It has given me precious moments where I can think clearly while adding row upon row of lovely colour.

110 days .... 100 rows ..... 4 rounds of borders ..... 30 colours .... 1500g of wool ...... want to see it?

Here it is .............. :)

 

 Oh its so big. It is larger than a double bed!

What do you think?

I just can't believe how much I love it. Its so thick and warm and I almost want the winter to come so I can really get a chance to snuggle under it!

The colours take my breath away and are so random its hard to not keep looking for a new favourite combination!

And what about the border? Don't you just love the Turquoise, Pomegranate and Bright Green combination. They are a perfect marriage of colours.  


This kind of satisfaction is hard to beat, right? Thank you for coming on the journey with me.

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Here's one last one of me feeling happy.

Keeping a tally ... it is Tuesday!

Hey!

This week as you knowhas been bank holiday and has resulted in the most productive crochetting week of my life!!!

I calculated I have done over 21 hours work!!!! I can't belive it.

I have done 33 rows on my VVS blanket and am now adding the border.

 

I have also done three more sqaures for my sample picnic blanket - which I am still loving doing. I have now done all the level ones in the book and am ready to start to level two sqaures when I go away to Wales next week for my holiday.

 

 

 

I know I've alreay told you about my rug .... but here is a picture again! Eeeeeeeek ... I really love it!

This week will hopefully be equally as productive but with my birthday and wedding anniversary at the end of it I think I may be a little preoccupied.

Anyway - link in here to tell us all what you have been up to!

Kate xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beach Inspired Rug Ta Dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been making a rug.

With a huge crochet hook (22mm to be precise).

I purchased three 200g balls of luscious James C Brett marble chunky and rewound them into six balls of 100gs.

This created the most scrumptious mix of coastal colours which would match my duck egg blue and sandy colours bedroom (and hopefully cover a stain that was driving me mad on the carpet!).

I crocheted all the way with six strands of chunky which wasn't easy. It was far more of a "whole arm action coming from the shoulder" rather than the usual delicate wrist action required for crocheting with a 4mm hook and a strand of DK.

The result though was a bouncy thick and surprisingly lovely foot massaging rug that was relatively quick to hook up.

The size of the hook, combined with the yarn made it grow at an alarming rate and I made it in one sitting on Friday night.

 

























I then added a lovely fringe to it which completely finished it off and once I lay it on the bedroom floor I grinned from ear to ear with satisfaction

So ...... I guess you would like to see it!?

Here it is .......................................

 

An another .... this time without a blurry egde!

Not bad for a total of four hours work and £15!

I love it! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My perfect holiday

So here are the best photos from my holiday. I've tied it in with my Reason's To Be Cheerful. If you would also like to join in with this then please feel free - you can read all about it here. If you do join in then let me know so I can read yours too :)

Spey Bay

A long expanse of rocky beach and wildlife enriched estuary. We saw Osprey and six dolphins. I felt spoilt. We spent hours and hours here walking, sitting, talking, looking and enjoying.

The drift wood was in abundance as were the amazing textures of rocks and smooth pebbles. I was in my snappy element as you will soon find out.

At tea time we found a suitable spot to make a fire (which the men constructed while I drank wine). We ate beautiful food, told tales and spoke to passers by. My contribution to the meal was vegetable skewers and "smurfs" (four toasted marsh mellows and a couple of blocks of chocolate sandwiched between two digestive biscuits) which were wonderfully messy and wonderfully delicious.

This was the first day to our holiday. And boy what a precious day. Here are the photos.....

 

 

 

 
A long drive and a long walk

The second day we drove well up into the national park. We drove right into the clouds and saw the bleak, wet landscape which was spiritually reassuring. I couldn't honestly gaze for hours - this was what I learnt about myself. I have reached that age when a view becomes stained on your soul and it heals while you look.

Following the "gazing" we pulled up to a lock ( a lake to me and you!) and took a long walk around the fields and countryside surrounding it. I saw beauty every second but recorded only snippets of it ... the rest of it is imprinted in my memory.

Rainy Days

The rain came down but it was okay - we had a rainy day plan! A Whiskey Distillery Tour followed by an afternoon of crochet and cards and an evening of good wine, chatter and food. Sometimes rain isn't that bad!

Sitting in a Hide

Not far from where we were staying was a Perergrine Falcon Hide. We were so lucky to see a male and female, but not only that ... four red squirrels and lots and lots of different birds. We meant to only stay for 20 minutes but sat there for three hours talking to the bird watches and socking up all their knowledge.

This was another highlight! And the views once we reached the hide were awesome!

 
On the final day we stayed local

Another long and energising walk in the valley. Oh my oh my. We were refreshed by the spring water which ran down from the mountains and filled up our bottles for the long journey ahead of us, to Edinburgh.

I would never take this kind of place for granted.

Edinburgh

So the second part of the holiday was upon us in a flash. This time it was about me, my husband, food, comedy and drink. A good old knees up afair. And we were in need of some quality, laughable time together.

We started off walking up the stairs of the National Scotish Museaum where we could see panoramic views of the lansacpe and historic roof tops of the city. It took my breath away.

The Royal Mile and The Witchery

The second day was spent strolling up the Royal Mile which leads to the castle. At the top before you reach the castle is a famous and very well regarded restaurant. It is pretty and magical inside and was so romantic my heart almost burst. The food wasn't bad either!

 

The Fringe Festival

We saw eight comedians in total and I couldn't possible tell you how many units of alcohol we had. But let me tell you - we had such a fab time. It all seems like months ago, even though it was only last year.

 



So before I link in with my Reason's to be Cheerful I'd just like to say it's been a pleasure sharing my holiday with you and thank you for allowing me to reminisce. Cheers to all my fellow Bloggers! xxxx

I'll leave it to you to guess which bit I'm referring too ...... x mwah! x