One A Day Tuesday Tallies (22 November 2011)

Had a busy and sort of topsy turvy week as I had to change my none working day which is always Friday to Wednesday.  However, I was still determined to go to Knit and Chat in Birmingham on Thursday afternoon (weekly) and Sticks and String in Stourbridge on Friday (every other week).  


I worked my usual 7 hours from Wednesday on Thursday and had a late lunch meaning all I did in my lunch break was go to Knit and Chat for an hour but an enjoyable hour it was, even considering I missed lunch.  Much better than sat eating my lunch during a half hour lunch break but still having to answer the phone, being asked work related things etc etc.  Sometimes I wish I could magically produce a little soundproof pod for me to sit in and have a break.  But sadly I can't and I put up with being interrupted day after day and not really getting a break apart from each bite of my sandwich!  


Friday morning I worked my 4 hours from Thursday and left just after 11.30, went to the warfarin clinic (less than 3 weeks to go now until I stop the DVT treatment yay!) and then went straight to Sticks & String with a second day of missing lunch!  I should be like a stick insect with the missed meals and all the running here there and every where I am doing at the moment.  But in reality we all know that is not going to happen.  For me, the mere thought of food makes me put weight on.


As usual I digress and must get back to the purpose of this post.....I have got a little bored with the repetitive crocheting of my Heather and Lucy Ripple Along and the pram blanket that I seemed to have worked on none stop for the past few weeks.  I like to mix things up as I lose interest in projects if I am constantly working on the same item all the time.  This goes some way to explain why I always have so many WIP's.  There is also the fact I like to hoard stash and am too impatient to not use some of it!  


I started the real work on Freya's Rowan Pure Wool 4ply Ripple.  It's made using a 3mm hook and at single bed size is taking considerable work to see any progress but as I explained at Sticks and String on Friday it is seeing more progress than the turquoise/gold version I am making for my king sized bed.  Now that project really is slow to increase in size!  I had done the chain for Freya's blanket about 6 weeks ago and then put it away with my other WIPs.  


This is how it looked on Sunday evening:

Seven stripes completed this week; 3 raspberry (that's what the pink is called but its a very muted, maybe even 'dirty' pink), 1 white and 3 framboise (purple). I am now starting the repeat of colour choices with three rows of the raspberry and framboise colours to give some impact which are separated by only 1 porcelain as it is a very slight off white and Freya and white just really don't mix.  I did start just using the framboise and raspberry but frogged the half row of framboise and added the porcelain.  It looks much better with the third colour.   Admittedly I have not crocheted one row a day but an average of one a day over the week.

I am happy with my progress on all crochet projects since I started joining in with the one a day group.  There are some days when I haven't completed a full square or whole stripe but I have crocheted everyday working on projects that need to get moving instead of just sitting there.

I am known for getting bored with the same project which is why I do have a large number on the go at once but I really do want to finish some, well get the WIPs down to single figures before I start anything else.  I have yarn put aside for another ripple, the exact yarn (Rowan Cashmerino DK) that Heather is using for her Ripple along.  I love the yarn Lucy is using just as much but this requires a 3mm hook and it really does make a difference in stitch size when you change from a 4mm to 3mm hook.  Using a 1mm smaller hook does make a huge difference in the size of a treble stitch which most of my projects are.  It really is quite more than you would image.  I have Lucy's yarn on my wish list but the final decision as to whether I purchase it will be made in the New Year when I get the final bill from Santa.  You know that Santa is a funny old chap promising kids all this lovely gifts then sending the bill to their parents.  He really does get in the way of my stash buying!


Then there is all the other yarn that I have purchased that does not have a specific project allocated to it.  I also inherited a huge pile of yarn when my Mom passed away nearly 5 years ago which has laid untouched apart from the few balls I knew I wouldn't use which were donated to school, brownies and some went to the charity shop.  I really didn't need 42 balls of bottle green which I had my primary school jumpers knitted from!

If you look at the top of this blog I have set the target of 30 stripes or squares this month i.e. one a day.  On the 22nd of the month I have completed 21 rows which I am really happy with.  I would like to say a big thank you to Heather, Lucy and Carole who have all got my crocheting again on a regular basis and I hope to get some of these projects finished in the next few months.  


I also state here that no more projects will be started before I get the WIPs down to under 10 and I'm not stashing any more yarn either.  I know you all believe me, don't you? lol

Pop on over to Gingerbread Girl's Blog to see lots more one a day projects all of which I am totally jealous off and want to copy and would do if I didn't have a new project/stash buying self imposed ban!

Secret Crochet Project

I mentioned a few weeks ago I had a new crochet project in mind.   I have made good progress over the last few weeks as well as trying to keep on top of my one a day ripple along blanket.

Well scans etc have happened and I can now reveal the purpose of all these little blankets.  I am going to be an Aunty next year.  

FINALLY!!!  

I honestly thought it would never happen but the honeymoon baby is well and healthy and will be putting in an appearance early May.

The cot blanket looked like this on Sunday evening:

And the new pram blanket I have been working on looks like this:

At half the size of the cot blanket it is crocheting up really quick and I can see progress on a daily basis.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

I haven't taken part in Julia's WOYWW for quite sometime basically because I am unable to link up until late on Wednesday and more importantly I just don't have the time to look at others desks.  I feel really guilty when people take the time to visit me and I don't do the same.  Today I have swopped my day off and am at home today.  To be honest I have done no scrapping at my desk since I broke my leg in June.  Although I can now get up the stairs I go up at night and down in the day as it still causes discomfort when bending my knee, which can't be avoided on stairs!  Therefore, what scrapping I have done has been done in the kitchen and has to be packed away.  However, crochet can be done anywhere!

This is what I have been working on the last few days:

It's a ripple blanket using Rowan 4ply pure wool.  It is for a single bed and is made using a 3mm hook so its taking a while to see some progress.

Hope to visit as many of you as I can but with over 100 participants I will not manage to visit you all.  If you would like to join in or see other crafty workspaces go on over to Julia's Blog where you can follow Mr Linky.

One A Day Tuesday Tallies (15 November 2011)

Another week has gone and my one a day ripple along blanket is 5 rows bigger with the addition of 2 rows of purple, 2 rows of grass green and 1 & 2 mountain rows of red:  

I was hoping to get the red and the petrol done by Sunday evening but it just did not happen.  Having said that I am really happy with the progress I am making on this project.  Carole has certainly got me motivated to crochet every day and I am hoping to have some finished projects in the New Year.

In addition to this project I am actively working on another blanket.  Pop back Thursday when I make the big reveal!

Hope that you can pop on over to Gingerbread Girl to see some really pretty one a day makes that are progressing nicely thanks to this wonderful challenge.

Shimelle's Scrapbook Wake Up Call Challenge

Shimelle is holding a Christmas Craft weekend over on her blog.  Her first early challenge today was to show a Christmas make that had been made previously.  I have hunted for my Journal Your Christmas 2010 and can I find it? Nope, nowhere to be seen lol.  So I will show you this page instead which is a picture from last Christmas but was made in May this year using Sarah's Cards April 2011 kit:

Yes I am that far behind scrapping my Christmas photos that I am scrapping them in May and there are still a huge pile from last year and in a few weeks it's Christmas again.  Where has this year gone?

10 Things (November 2011)

Can't believe the 10th of the month has rolled round again so quickly!  Really is not long to a brand new sparkly year begins....scary how time flies as you get older, a quick blink and its gone.  This month I am going to be  unashamed and show you 10 crochet WIP's, but I am not going to admit the total number of WIP's!  How on earth I can have so many projects on the go at once I really don't know, but here goes:

#1 - Red, White and Blue Granny Square Blanket.

This is for Liam.  Project came to a halt as my LYS had run out of the blue yarn and I then went in to panic mode when they said they thought it was discontinued.  Luckily they managed to get some and I brought an extra two balls just in case I have miscalculated.  The thought of having to frog the last 2 rounds on the squares I had made to date really did not appeal.  I now have 12 squares and should start sewing in ends and attaching them together.  That's on my crochet to do list:

# 2 - Attic24 Granny Strike

This one came to a halt a long time ago.  Its for a large 3 seater sofa and I got a little bored of seeing no progress as the blanket is so wide.  Really must get it out and get working on it.  I have considered frogging and then starting again much smaller as I am concerned I don't have enough yarn (Kool Kotton) to complete the project and I know one of the chosen colours has been discontinued.  But at this stage I could always do random stripes when I have used all the colours:

#3 - Vintage Stripe Snuggle Blanket

Just big enough for the kids to snuggle under without being swamped.  About 2/3's finished and if I wasn't concentrating on my Heather and Lucy Ripple along (#10) I would get this completed in no time.  Perhaps I may see if I can squeeze 1 or 2 stripes in a week and get this finished.  So close.....yet so far:

#4 - Rowan Granny Squares

This is the most lovely suggley yarn and to be honest was not on the cheap side either but I found packs of 10 reduced to half price in House Of Frazer in their Christmas sale 2 years ago and at £4 a ball it just felt so rude to say no.  I only purchased the 3 'square' colours in bulk then the dark turquoise/petrol colour after when I wanted an extra colour to tie it all in.  But I'm not sure if I like that colour which is why it has come to a halt.  It's one of those projects that needs a little love and attention to get it kick started again. 

#5 - Baby Rico Bright Giant Granny Squares

Another snuggle blanket, just big enough to pop on your lap in the car on a cold night or early morning or wrap round you in front of the tv.  I am making 6 of these big squares for this.  I have lots of little squares made at various points, ie first round, second round.  Its was a nice project to work on the train as I just took 1 ball of wool and worked on lots of squares at the same time.  Is likely to get more of an outing as my current one a day project gets too  big to carry to work.

#6 - Rowan Giant 4ply Ripple

This fits a king size bed and again you can sit for some considerable amount of time and see little progress but I am plodding on slowly.  Going to make this my stitch group project.  Three hours every other week will see this coming along nicely and I love the colours.  Can't wait to snuggle under this on a cold winter's night.  But most likely to be Winter 2012/13!

#7 - Rowan Little 4ply Ripple

This just consists of a single bed sized chain.  Nothing special to look at so I'll show you the chosen colours.  Super soft but using a 3.5 mm hook will take some time.  Again another Winter 2012/13 finish.  Not sure yet if I want to add the porcelain colour in (very off white) especially as it is for Freya and she really does not mix with whites.  Follows her Mother on that one!

#8 - Baby Rico Treble Stitch Scarf

A little cheeky project to list here as this is actually what Freya is making but at 8 she can do a treble stitch no problem but needs me to do the first few stitches of each row.  She can chain no problem in one straight line but just can't do the chain 3 at the start of each row and then its 'Mommy can you do the first 2 trebles as well please?' 

It is about 4 times longer than this picture now but I couldn't find where she had put it to take an up to date photo.  I will point out that this is one of the balls of yarn I brought to make her a blanket out of and she helped herself and did the slip knot and chain all by herself without me knowing and I didn't have the heart to say she couldn't have the yarn by this stage.  Luckily LYS came to the rescue and had a ball of the same shade in stock, so no harm done.  But I think as she gets older the more expensive yarns may be 'borrowed' just like my scrapping stash is now! lol  

All I can say is I am one proud Mommy of this 8 year old's work:

#9 'New Project' Little Sneak

I hope to reveal this 'new proect' to you all next week but for now you can only get a sneek.  Like I needed a 'new project'!!!!!  But loving this yet another ripple and its working up so quick:

#10 Lucy And Heather Ripple Along Project

This is my current one a day project.  Think perhaps it is about 1 mountain too wide.  Just so so close to getting all the way to the end of the stripe done on the train journey to and from work.  Two rows a day would be fantastic especially when I would normally be sitting there doing nothing.  Those 28 fewer stitches would have made all the difference.  Hindsight eh?  But loving it just the same.  

As you can see it has grown another 2 stripes since my One A Day weekly post on Tuesday.  I count stripes, squares, ripples etc from Monday to Sunday evening as I find it easier that way to get photos in what we are currently referring to as daylight!

Hope to get the red and petrol stripes finished by Sunday night but will be seeing the recipients this weekend and its a surprise gift.  They don't read my blog, so you can all see without fear of the surprised being spoiled.

Well that is my 10 things for this month.  Already have December's list firmly sorted in my head.  Pop on over to Shimelle for lots of other 10 things on the 10th posts.  The diversity of projects, loves, hates and facts etc is great and I find it a great inspiration and insight into people lives; their loves, their hates; their obsession, well just them.  Well we all love people watching don't we.

One A Day Tuesday Tallies (8 November 2011)

Quick short and sweet post tonight I am afraid as I have tons of stuff do catch up on after my weekend away in Warrington at Sarah's Cards retreat.

I did take my ripple with me and apart from the Thursday night did not get as much done as I would have liked and I then worked on my 'new project' the other evenings.  As if I need another 'new project' before all the others are completed.

Well this is what my one a day ripple along looks like now:

No further on that it did Friday morning.  If you fancy looking at some other one a day projects pop on over to Gingerbread Girl's blog and follow Mr Linky.

Day Three Of The Crafty Spa Weekend (Sunday)

Another 2 classes today.  First up was Through The Window by Natalie Grant:

I just loved this LO so much that I made a boy version this evening:

The final class was Flying The Flag by Rachel Ward:

In total I produced 9 LO's, a decorative peg and two sweetie boxes:

All with thanks to these lovely talented ladies:

Day Two Of The Crafty Spa Weekend (Saturday)

Well yesterday started with another great nights sleep until my neighbours had a little tiff in the corridor at 2.30am which lasted over an hour.  By the end I think everybody in our corridor had come to conclusion that a young lady's room card key didn't work and her slightly jolly (alcohol added) friends might like to go to reception to tell someone. Why it took them over an hour I don't know!  Anyway, I am really thinking now that I NEED a new bed or I move in to a hotel full time.

Sorry for the poor photos of Fridays LO's but that was down to the mobile.  I took my DSLR today and managed to get a few more but sadly with no daylight.


I am LOVING this retreat and have met some lovely lovely ladies.  How Sarah and Lianne managed to match up 4 strangers and sit them on a table and find they just click is truly amazing!  Thanks ladies, this has made for a fantastic funny weekend.  I really have not laughed so much for such a long time and considering we were strangers 36 hours ago it is unbelievable how well we have got on.  I really hope I can have the experience of other retreats in the future.


These were yesterday's LO's:

The first LO just needs a zipper rosette added which I will try to have a go at finishing today.  I also need to photo my sketch challenge as it had been handed in for judging, not that I stand a chance when I looked at all the other lovely LO's made by the other attendees.

There was also a little make and take tag from Friday evening:

Now on to Saturday's activities which consisted of 3 classes. First up was Against The Grain which was taught by Vanessa Stokoe.

After lunch was Fancy Flora by Jen Naulls:

Followed quickly by Krafty Adventures by Lou Stevenson:

After dinner it was time to collect my card making class supplies from Tracy Gough.  It was now 8.30 and to be honest I couldn't face another class.  However, a couple more take and makes filled the evening:

A lovely little magnetic peg and two sweet filled packages....wonder if these will make two little ones happy when I get home!

After a team quiz (sadly we didn't win but a 12/20 was quite impressive in our books) the next challenge was set by Sarah.  An altered canvas made using your scraps from the retreat classes.  This is Cherry's entry.....words are not really needed but oh did we laugh!

Finished off with a little hooky in bed.  Fantastic day all round x

Day One Of The Crafty Spa Weekend (Friday)

I have now had a lovely evening last night in front of the tv with some peace and quiet for hooky & me time.  


I love my kids to bits but the last few years have been hell for us as a family.  Their Father has not been part of their lives for the past 18 months and as sad as it is to say, it is for the best and even at 8 & 9 they both can clearly see that.  My health has not been good, too many ops, too many complications with on going health issues, too much of everything that is not nice.  

I sit here waiting to see later this month hospital specialists for Freya to see if she has rheumatoid arthritis, that last thing I would wish her to have at 8 years old.  But family history may take over and if we have to deal with it we will. Liam has not had an easy ride health wise either.

Sadly the stress of all that has gone on has taken its toll on all three of us.  However, I have today woken up so refreshed words just cannot describe how I feel.  I needed me time, time without Mom, Mom, Mom 20 hours a day (Liam only sleeps 3 to 4 hours a night, every night), time without work, stress, household chores.

Time for me.


This is my hooky progress from last night; 2 new stripes and 4 new rows completed.

After a little coffee break I went off to the Spa.

  

Well the two spa treatments have also worked wonders, I managed to fall asleep for over an hour after the massage(!) and I registered for Sarah's Cards Retreat around 4pm and restricted myself to a few minutes look round the shop.  Ok, about 30 but who is counting.  Been very restrained and not made many purchases yet but the fact I have 1 crutch and 1 suitcase is going to have a huge bearing on what I can buy as I need to get it home on the train.

Dinner was fantastic and soon after the first class began which for me was Tactile Memories by Claire Wheatley made using My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 2, Blush collection and a range of unusual items and textures to create this tactile page:

I just need to add a zipper flower and some pins when I get home as I left my cotton and needle at home and the zipper flower was a little tricky and felt it was best to leave until I got home and not stress out over it.

Sorry the pictures are really small but they were taken on my mobile as I had left my camera in my room and there is ALOT of very wet PVA on this LO and needs to be left over night to dry.

I also completed a LO for the sketch challenge where I used some of my new purchases:

Plus a make and take LO:

I'll photograph the LO's properly tomorrow and put bigger pics up on this post. I'll also introduce you to three lovely ladies who I am sharing a crop table with.

Its now gone midnight and my happy relaxed head is hitting the pillow.

Let the Crafty Spa Weekend Begin!

I left home at 6am and boarded a train here:

Stourbridge Junction Train Station

Got off the train here:

I then went to work (boo!!!)

I then went here to board a train:

and got off the train here:

I got in a taxi to here:

The spa treatments are booked, in fact one has already happened.  Another two booked for tomorrow and one for Monday.

Tonight is tv and hooky time after a little dinner.

Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday is scrappy time!!!!

Let the rest and relaxation begin.....