I'm back!

We had a great week in France, the weather wasn't that great, so I did manage quite a bit of crochet! I have now completed 20 squares. Only 28 I think, to go!! Getting there slowly but surely. This is where I was...



It's part of a chateau in the Dordogne and it's set in the middle of 12 acres, so you don't see anyone other that who you're there with. I did manage some shopping as well, and of course some swimming and laying in the sun...dodging the clouds and rain.

My friend loved her bag and we spent some time shopping for red accessories and clothes to coordinate with it! She is as major a sun worshipper as I am and so we were great company cloud watching and dashing out when there was something worth laying in!

In the meantime, I have joined a swap, my first ever and the links are on the right of my blog. I need to find some lovely green yarn to sen this month and I look forward to receiving some from Celia in Tenerife who is sending to me. It's soooo exciting, I can't wait to choose and send and to get a parcel. I am intending to get on with the swing jacket this week, in amongst all the washing and ironing from holiday of course!

Needless to say I didn't get anywhere with the ripple project. I stared and stared at quite a good tutorial I found on You Tube on single and double ripple crochet, but I just don't get it and it could drive me mad if I let it. If anyone out there knows of an easy way for me to learn, let me know please!!!

Shopping Trip Swag.....

I went to Sunflower fabrics in Bedford, which is my local fabric shop. I can ALWAYS manage to spend a reasonable amount of money...so imagine my delight to find a lady in there who is shutting her yarn shop and selling all her stock off to Maggie from the fabric shop!!!! What a great result. I bought her entire stock of Rowan wool cotton and some cashsoft baby, all for £2 each. I could have bought more, but I resisted (a bit). I got some lovely fabric for a new quilt I have planned, and my daughter bought some lining for her felting project..which has since gone horribly wrong. It was going to be a washbag, and is now a small pencil pot...enough said I think!

The project I have in mind for these delicious balls is the Mason Dixon log cabin blanket. I'm collecting from now on!...

Well, my mother in law who is here for a few days, and my daughter are knitting in the sun in the garden, and I am crocheting. The squares are coming along nicely but I am about to run out of the green so I shall be back to the swing jacket while I await new supplies!

Still knitting!

Just a quick update! On the crochet front, I have done 7 big squares and 4 small ones. I still haven't blocked them, but I love them still. It's hard to find time to do them though because with knitting, you can watch tv and knit...with crochet, I have to look at the square the whole time!!! When I do look up, it takes me a while to zone back into reality!!! I am hoping this is because I'm a novice crocheter. Thank god for films like Night at the Museum which you can watch without having to see! On the swing jacket front, I am getting there! The sleeve is nearly done and I just then have the left front and the other sleeve and all the small pieces left to do. I have given myself until the end of May as a target.....
In the meantime, I am off to my favourite fabric shop today to spend some money!!
Just an aside, I have aClustrmap on the side of my blog which shows where you guys all click in from...I can't believe how far and wide everyone is! I love to look on it.....I hope you are having such nice weather as we are here in the UK at the moment. Long may it last!

Tada!!!!!!!

Now you know I've been desperately trying to master a granny square over the last few weeks. My house has been littered with small incidents like this...

Well, yesterday my 15 year old daughter recommended that I find a tutorial on youtube. I thought it was called utube, and I have thought of going on it before, as my very weird next door neighbour likes to take videos of my comings and goings and keep them (I blame her extremely dull and boring life). Anyway, I explained to my daughter that I had in fact read crochet for beginners, been shown twice and looked at loads of online picturesand was still managing to make mutant rather than granny squares. She was persistent and in the end I did a search and there was a great video clip of a woman with a loud radio in the background showing me how to make a granny square. You'll never guess what......

THE PENNY HAS FINALLY DROPPED!!!!!!!!!!

Check out my successes......

Proud close up.....

I am truly addicted and have joined a grannyalong! I shall put the button on the right hand bar when I can work out how!
However, there is a down side that I hadn't thought of to crochet......

ps. let me know if you are having the same problems as me and I will let you have the link to the crochet lady's video clip.

Been busy! aka crochet progress

I haven't posted for a couple of days, due to a few reasons. My swing jacket was, I decided, too small. I knew in the long run I would end up never wearing it, and so I decided to unravel the whole lot (the back and some of the right front) ans start all over again. :( It did break my heart, but it's done now and I am half way up the (biggger) back again...hooray.
Here is a pic of the progress (ignore the feeling of deja vu)....



I have also been busy trying to finish a quilt I started a while ago. I love it, but I am terrible at finishing things off, here is a little sample of it, I'll show you the whole thing when it gets finally finished, hopefully over the weekend.



Finally....crochet news! I went to my friend Maggie Wise's shop over the weekend, Sunflower Fabrics in Bedford. She is a multi talented lady, who designed the quilt above. She has been patiently trying to teach me crochet. Here is a picture of my progress so far...



As you can see, there is something funny and a bit skewiff happening on the middle four, however, I am keeping it as I fear if I unpick it, I'll never get the hang again. My DH said he didn't really like it as it reminded him of old ladies...I did have to explain that they were called GRANNY squares, and anyway, it has taken me so long to get the hang of them, I am not to be put off by anyone!

This is my effort next to the one that Maggie started off. If you don't look too closely, you can't tell the difference!