Fragrant Cushions- the Big Picture(s)

Do you remember that in past weeks, I kept on babbling about my fragrant cushions? Well, I forgot to show you their photos in previous weeks, didn't I? So, shall we take a peek? Shall we?

My apologies that it is not perfect, folks, but I have another one here:

I love the gorgeous button on top. They smell so good. I really do adore them. I must make some more. but I already have so much else to do, what with needing to start on making those Christmas decs, and all my other hooky stuff. So, bye, I am hoping to get back soon. I have not forgotten about the Barn Dance, its just that I don't have my camera at the moment- its a long story, and rather complicated, but I am hoping to reclaim it some time in the near future. For now, however, I'm afraid you will  have to do with little notes and titbits until the Big One. 

Saturday Rush

Yo!

Well, it has been frrrrreeeeezing today.

However, there were many good things about that:

There was a lovely view with a blue sky from my window............

............. and there was a fire. I am afraid that I couldn't get a picture of it in its full glory, but it still was very beautiful even in the embers................

....................I even stayed in slippers, pyjamas and dressing gown all morning..............

........................ I also got down to some baking.....................

 Mmmm! I love muffins..............

..........................................I did the ironing for the clothes I am going to wear tonight to the Barn Dance.

Have I told you about the Barn Dance? No? I thought not. Some friends are having a Silver Wedding Anniversary Celebration. I will take my camera, and bring the whole experience back to you. This is going to be fun. I love barn dancing. At Camp, we have a gigantic Barn Dance on the last night. It is brilliant, especially if you have a good partner. 

Yesterday was even colder than today. I had to put on three pairs of socks and my slippers.

I was looking through my old photos, and found some really sweet pics of Macavity, the cat.

The 1st picture is of when he broke his leg. Being an adventurous cat, I suppose this had to be inevitable.

I must go, now. Good bye, my friends 

Top Secret

I have a secret project I am working on. I must really not tell you. But-Oh, all right, its something to do with my balls of wall. But no more.
Good bye

My Crochet Cushion is Now Finished!

I am so pleased! I have finally finished one of my crochet creations. It is a pillow. It began with the first granny square I made, and grew so big, that I decided to make a cushion cover. It is far from perfect, but it has a kind of old-fashioned, vintage style which speaks of  how ' Granny made this thirty years of '. It is soft, and cuddly, and warm.

I made it from a single giant granny square, and joined the corners together to form the back. It is so warm and colourful.
I have really enjoyed weaving the different wools together to make a whole, flowing stream of colour. It goes well with the sofa, don't you think? Well now, fellow bloggers and crafters, I must leave you now....

Extra! Extra!

Hello
I'd just like to give out some photos of the scones we had for lunch today. They were with soup, and delicious!

Also, these are the lavender, rose and larkspur buds that I put in some little gauze bags.

My Photos Are Now Out!

Hi there again
Ooooo! What a treat I have in store for you! I have finally found my camera charger, charged it, and uploaded all the photos. Soooooooooo. First of all.

This is as far I have got with my granny square blanket. Some of the squares are not sown on, as you might be able see and one of them is yet to small ( the corner one ).

 This is the humble beginnings of my granny stripe blanket as seen on Attic 24.

These are some little flowers I crocheted. I am going to put them on hair grips for a friend. I think that my favourite one is probably the red one. Which is yours?

 These to soaps I made. They are lavender ( yahoo ) with, as you can see, lavender buds. The buds were supposed to be distributed throughout, but they kind of- floated. Still I think I rather like it that way. 

Mum and I have been making soaps for quite a while now. We do soap-making every year on Craft Day  at our camp. 

Lately, we got some food from a fruit and veg market, so we have been having some lovely, fresh food: Sliced tomatoes with mozzarella cheese, a basil leaf and salt, pepper, oil and spring onion on top; Roast peppers stuffed with onion, tomato and mushrooms. Oh, it really is delicious. 

I have some other food photos to show you, but I have to upload them, because they are on a different camera. 

Here is my hat and scarf I have ( almost! ) finished. 

And now, I have been saving this till last: MY OWN, HOME-MADE RIPPLE BLANKET PATTERN!

I am so excited! I tried to do ripple using another persons pattern, but it didn't work, so I decided to make my own.

1. Basically, to start off, you need to chain a multiple of 16, then add 3 to it ( the extra 3 is for turning ). 

2. So, finished all those chains? Right, now do a treble into the 4th chain from the hook. Do three more trebles into the next 3 chains. 

3. Now you are going to do the valley of the ripple.You need to do 3 2tog stitches ( wool round, in to stitch, wool round, out of stitch, 2 middle stitches over ( 2 stitches left on hook ), wool round, into next stitch, wool round, out of stitch, wool round, all stitches  ( 4 ) over. 

4. To do the other half of your valley, do 4 more trebles into the next 4 stitches.

5. To do the hill, do a treble into the stitch, chain 1, treble in to the same stitch. 

6. treble 4 more trebles in to the next 4 stitches ( again ). 

7. Carry on to the end in this way. Once you get there, chain 3 and turn. This time, you will of course be doing in between stitches. Be careful on those 2togs! Make sure you go in between them, otherwise you will end up having too few stitches.

I will try and get back to you sometime soon, my friends, but: That's all for now, folks!

Short Post

Hello there once again
Harking back to those fragrant cushions I made, I have finished them and wrapped them in ribbon, with a button. I have quite a bit to show you and tell you, but for now, you must wait.............................................

Winter's coming- so time to get ready

AAhh. Winter is on the doorstep. The cold is stretching its icy fingers over Britain. The only way to tackle this, when you are going outside into the freezing outdoors, is of course, to wrap up warm. So I have begun making hats and scarves. The first one is a hat and scarf, made in stripes from two colours of wools- olive green and deep purple- the scarf is still in the making, but the hat is finished. I am actually really happy about it! It has earflaps and fits me perfectly. I have actually got a petition from a lady at church to make one for her. She will buy some wools, and I do the crochet.
Well, as to the scarf. It is long, and I am hoping to make it nice and wide too. Mmm. A lovely, wooly, soft, cosy, warm, comfortable, thick scarf around my neck on those cold winter mornings is just what I need.
I have also taught my Mum to crochet, and she loves it.
Well, so long. I need to get back to making that nice scarf.
xxxxx

The Best In Life........

Hello there again
Ah! Life is good. At the moment, Macavity, the ginger tom, and overall Hidden Paw ( see T.S   Eliot's poem ) is stretching, yawning and purring beside me.
That cat has quite a personality! He has different mews for different occasions. He even has his own expressions. He can look nonchalant, pitiful and ferocious. This is mostly accomplished with careful positioning of the ears. He masterfully manipulates us in this manner. My grand-mother dotes on him, as she loves cats, but our grand-father calls him a ' mangy old flea-bag '. I am not sure if this is tongue-in-cheek or not, but he still doesn't like the cat sitting next him.
As to the other furry members of the household, there is Ursa, our 4-year-old Leonberger. She is a German breed, a large dog. Her ancestors were used to guard flocks in the mountains, and so is very protective and loving. She sheds her winter and summer coats each year, which results in the house being littered in soft colourless fluff. It gets everywhere, including food.
However, having finished moulting, she is a very beautiful dog. The back half of her body is reddish brown, and the front half is in different shades ranging from pale beige to brown to black. This fur is more of a mane. Her face is black, as are her ears, but the ears have long golden fur hanging down. Her paws and legs are also golden.
As for crochet, my double blanket is still growing. I have been teaching one of the ladies at the church to crochet. She is very enthusiastic learner.
Using a pattern from www.thestitchsharer.com, which is, by the way, a lovely website, I have attempted to do the crochet hat there shown, but have failed miserably, not I am sure, through any fault of thestitchsharer, but that I am still learning. I wrote to her, and she suggested a solution.