Lilley Stitches

Rowan finds ::

2012-02-24T02:00:00.000-08:00

I was so lucky to discover these beauties in the charity shop last week.

Dating from 1992 and 2000, they are full of some real treasures. In all honestly I can't see myself making any of the garments from eleven, but they are a fabulous part of modern fashion history. So much colour work and lots of oversizing, goodness me I can't imagine how long some of these pieces would take to knit up!

But twenty seven, though obviously dated, has quite a few pieces I would still love to knit and wear, in the 8 years that passed between the two publications simplicity really took over, there's lots of ribbing, moss stitch and a few tummies on display under the cropped tops!

The thing that is really apparent to me is the quality you expect from Rowan, the gorgeous styling, fabulous photography and stylish garments is forever present.

my boy the knitter ::

2012-02-23T02:00:00.001-08:00

seriously my heart nearly exploded when one morning last week, not long after breakfast, my little boy asked "shall we do knitting mum?", oh go on then if you insist!

Now it happens all the time, at least once a day he stumbles away from his current playtime toys and declares "I just want to do some knitting", throughout my own knitting/crochet I am asked, "what you making mum, is a present for me?" and he will sit quietly and for long stretches of time with ball of yarn and needles in hand, he loves to browse through my stash carefully choosing which colours to use today and his imagination is endless, he has so far declared to be knitting, a fairy godmother, an imaginex toy and noddy, to name just a few. He sure is a talented one my boy.

Of course he's not yet 3, he can't actually knit, he has no interest in learning, if I try and guide him or dare to cast some stitches on for him, he gets frustrated, he just sits there with his ball of yarn, his needles and carefully weaves one needle in and out of the yarn ball (leaving said yarn ball in quite a knotty state if I'm honest), but nothing gives me as much pleasure these days as sitting on the sofa, knitting/crochet in hand, boy beside me, 'knitting' a present for one of his friends.

Inside crochet 27 ::

2012-02-22T02:00:00.000-08:00

My third pattern to be published by inside crochet is in this months issue and is this super quick and easy child's raglan sweater.

I made a version up for Milo in the summer time as a sample, I used paton's shetland beehive, that I found in a charity shop, unfortunately this yarn is now discontinued, so for the inside crochet sample I used Wendy mode, which was lovely, so soft and snugly.

It's a great project for a beginner or an expert looking for a quick make.

happy pancake day to you ::

2012-02-21T03:13:00.002-08:00

We're going all out today, strawberry and blueberry pancakes for breakfast, Milo's making pancakes at nursery this morning and more pancakes this evening with the stuffed nonsense ladies...yum!

Finding inspiration :: allotments

2012-02-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot about the plans for my allotment recently. There is a lot of work to do (two thirds of it is grass that is heavily compacted due to my neighbours using it as a car park) fortunately my mum has sad that she will come down to help me dig it all up.

But for now, whist it's still dark in the evenings and most days too cold to keep Milo happy there for long, I am planning and dreaming.

Here are some beautiful garden's I've been ogling on the internets ::

Source: realmama.org via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: theinnovationdiaries.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: postroadvintage.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: thisoldhouse.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: beautiful-portals.tumblr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

January pullover :: now available to purchase ::

2012-02-18T12:05:00.000-08:00

You can download it on ravelry on craftsy. x

finding inspiration :: of the love variety ::

2012-02-13T02:12:00.001-08:00

well it is valentines tomorrow, some lovely crafty lovey themed finds from around the internets ::

Source: aestheticoutburst.blogspot.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: evilmadscientist.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: pm-betweenthelines.blogspot.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: abitofpillipilli.blogspot.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

My day in photos ::

2012-01-31T12:39:00.001-08:00

Inspired by a photo I spotted in fat mum slim's instagram stream over the weekend, yesterday I took a photo of my day, every hour throughout the day. Below is a little snapshot of my Monday ::

You can see the rest of my day over on Flickr.

A new obsession :: bread ::

2012-01-30T06:28:00.001-08:00

For Christmas my lovely man added to my growing collection of river cottage handbooks, with 'vol 3 : bread'. When Milo first starting eating real food, and I was being a precious first time mother all concerned about what I gave him, I started making my own bread, I got ok at it but never brilliant, and it took up a lot of my day, so we purchased a bread machine. I've never regretted it, there isn't much better than waking up to the smell of fresh bread, especially when all you've had to do is measure out some ingredients pop them in a tin and press some buttons.

But with the addition of this book to my library I thought I'd have a go at doing it by hand again. The introduction to this book is fabulous, it's amazing to learn so much of the science behind bread, it's crazy how much goes in to making something we so often take for granted and which consists of so few ingredients.

I had a shot at making my own sourdough starter and consequently sourdough bread. But it was a bit hit and miss, the starter seemed pretty active to me (not that I know a lot about such things) but the bread never seemed to rise very much, I still quite enjoyed it, but Johnny wasn't a big fan of the taste.

I turned my attentions to using reliable, shop purchased yeast and regular bread. I was so surprised at how well the first few loaves came out. All white to begin with, using yoghurt as the recipe suggested, and they were all amazing! Great crust, lovely light middle's and incredibly moreish, seriously this bread baking business is not good for my health (well my waistline at least!).

I'm becoming obsessed now, I literally had to stop myself making more this morning, when I already have some left over from yesterday and no one home to feed!

If you've never tried I encourage you to give it a go, it's so rewarding doing it all yourself, and truly there is something quite magical about turning 3 simple ingredients (plus a few yummy extras if you want them) in to something wonderful.

This moment ::

2012-01-27T04:34:00.000-08:00

Inspired by SouleMama

In her words...
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

yet another blanket ::

2012-01-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

as I mentioned on Monday, despite already having 3 crochet blankets in progress at the moment, I decided to take on yet another!

Hexagons this time, as requested by the mr.

I'm afraid I don't have a pattern link for this, as I sort of made it up myself from a photo provided to me by said mr.

I'm using a variety of acrylic yarns I already had, in some fantastically bright colours!

I initially thought I'd run this alongside my leap year blanket, doing a square for each everyday, but to be honest, I'm starting to think that the leap year blanket is going to be huge! As much I love the idea of a huge granny blanket, I expect realistically I only really have room for one of these in my life, so I'm thinking the hexagon will be more ideally suited as a lap blanket or maybe a single blanket for the boy's bedroom. This is assuming of course it doesn't just find it's way to the pile of incomplete projects!

Allotmenting:: And so it begins ::

2012-01-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

The seeds arrived a couple of weeks ago now, but with the arrival of some of the live plants this week, I really started to get going on this years growing season. Oh my, it is awfully exciting, so much hope and expectation in each tiny little seed.

I purchased the majority of my seeds from these guys this year, and they certainly look fabulous (obviously I can't vouch for the seeds themselves yet, having only just sown a few of them). The packaging is really nice, simple, but comes with great information, and even instructions on how to save next years seed from this years crop, brilliant.

I purchased too many to list here, but some of my favourites are the atomic red carrots, black plum tomatoes and squashes, but there really are lots I'm looking forward to growing.

This week I've sown, a windowsill full of herbs, (I've been slack with fresh herbs recently and really there is no excuse not to have a least a pot of basil in the kitchen) cauliflower, perpetual spinach, alpine strawberries, aubergines (3 varieties, this is surely a little ambitious as none of mine worked last year!) asparagus and leeks.

The plants that arrived this week came from Thompson Morgan, they include, black currant, white currant and red currant canes, honeyberry plugs and a variety of potatoes, I've also got some Jerusalem artichoke tubers arriving from these guys.

It's only January and I'm already feeling a little overwhelmed, I best get myself down that allotment and digging!

finding inspiration :: hexagon love ::

2012-01-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

OK so I'm already working on much too many projects, but alongside the leap year blanket, I've decided to make a hexagon crochet blanket too. So here are a few of the favorites inspiring me from around the interwebs ::

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

January pullover ::

2012-01-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

So at the start of the year I decided I was going to start writing and publishing my crochet patterns myself (as well as in magazines). My goal was to write and publish one pattern a month. At first I thought I would be starting in February, but the yarn for my first project arrived much quicker than I expected and the piece itself crocheted together in less than 2 days! So here is the first of my finished pieces. The pattern is still in the works, but I'm hoping to have it ready sell soon (if you would like to test if for me, drop me an email, lovelylilley@hotmail.co.uk)

It's a loose fitting pullover, worked in the round, in one piece, with just the underarms to sew up at the end. I worked it like this because personally I hate getting to the end of all that lovely crochet only to have to sew up loads of seams (this is apparent when you look through my unfinished project pile!). I used Rowan pure wool 4ply, in the beautifully named 'gerbera'. I choose wool as it's January and I wanted something warm, I choose the colour because it's January and I needed something sunny in my life! You certainly wouldn't need to use wool, in fact the weight of the sweater and the 3/4 length sleeves would make it a great summer jumper worked in cotton on linen.

Though the yarn required is 4ply, the striped effect is created by doubling up the yarn for the darker sections and using a big hook for the lighter stripes, so if, like me, you usually avoid projects with slim yarn, through fear they'll take too long, don't worry, I promise this is a quick project (like I say mine took me 2 days).

I may of course my be a little biased but I love this pattern! It was a joy to make and I've worn my sunny sweater everyday since it's completion (in fact it really is due a wash now!).

My ravelry notes on this project here.

Edited::: The pattern is now available for purchase on Ravelry and Craftsy xx

the leap year blanket ::

2012-01-17T04:45:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the year (not that it isn't still the beginning of the year really), Jodi of pollyorange shared a link on twitter to this facebook group. The idea is a simple one, 1 crochet (or knit) square, a day everyday for 366 days (as it's a leap year and all). Now don't get me wrong, I already have about a billion knitting and crochet projects in progress (including 2 blankets no less) but I just couldn't resist.

And so far it's working out pretty well. Most days after collecting the toddler from nursery we sit down and relax for a bit, Milo watches whichever film it is he insists on watching every single day that month, and I have a cup of coffee and a breather, except now I have a cup of coffee and work up a crochet granny square. I am a couple of days behind at the moment in all honesty, but I hope to catch up later today.

The other great thing about this project is at the moment I am using my little jar of yarn balls too small for anything (except of course they are not too small for granny squares). It means not only am I using up otherwise wasted yarn, the blanket will also be quite an eclectic one. Mostly I am using double knit yarn but there is a bit of aran and a bit of 4ply thrown in too, it will also be a huge array of fibres (which granted will make washing it interesting) it's lovely though because there is a little bit of every project I've made with hook or needles over the last few years in there.

Here's hoping this one will actually get completed!

Of course there is still time to join in if you fancy, the facebook group is here.

Ravelry page for this project :: here.

Finding inspiration :: dresses/skirts::

2012-01-16T03:28:00.000-08:00

I've been looking at a lot of dresses/skirts recently, we're going to a wedding in march and I'm on the hunt for a fabulous new outfit for the occasion.I may even try my hand at making my own, though I'm not sure my skills are really up to it yet.Here are a few pieces I'm particularly taken with ::

Source: tarastarlet.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: marieclaire.co.uk via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: topshop.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

inside crochet 25 ::

2012-01-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

After the excitement of my first published pattern, came the even more exciting moment of seeing my very first garment pattern in print!

This was the first time I had written an actual garment pattern, it took a lot of maths and concentrating and maybe a bit of swearing, but I got there in the end and am so proud of it. And it's awesome to see the garment I made in professional photos, on a beautiful model.

Yesterday I finished my third adult garment pattern, and so far I can't say it's getting much easier, but I'm still loving it!

Finding inspiration :: garden markers ::

2012-01-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

With the allotment now coming to life again, with lots of digging and a little planting, it seems necessary to have a few markers revealing to me (reminding me) where exactly it was I buried those bulbs or planted those seeds. Especially so at this time of year where little of it is actually above ground yet and I am plodding around in my boots digging ground up left right and centre.I plan to make some this week, but take a look at this little lot I found in my hunt for inspiration, I think I love them all!

Source: craftjr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: designsponge.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: heavypetal.ca via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: jar-of-elixir.tumblr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: witandwhistle.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: mychiclife.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

My first published pattern ::

2012-01-05T03:15:00.000-08:00

Back in the summer I sent my first few submissions in to inside crochet, with little hope I'd hear much back, but as it turned out all of the patterns I submitted were commissioned! I was so unbelievably excited, and as I heard back the day before my birthday, this news served as a fabulous per birthday treat.

The first of my patterns to be published was this heart bunting.

It's a fairly simple pattern, but seeing my name in print like that was such a proud moment, and has given me so much encouragement, I'm now brimming with ideas and designs!

Dreaming of spring ::

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's only just January I know, but there's oh so much to plan and dream about in the coming season.The seed catalogues arrived the day we got back from our Christmas holidays, giving me the green light to dive in and start drawing up lists, researching varieties and well, purchasing all those all so promising little packets! I won't lie, I did spend quite a hefty amount, but I have quite a few long lasting items on their way (including 3 currants, some honeyberry plugs and Jerusalem artichoke tubers). With the seed choices I've mostly opted for heritage varieties so that I can save the seed each year. I'm growing lots of things that are new to me and a few of my favourites, but mostly everything is new to me as I've only been doing this gardening business a few years, but this the year I hope to become completely self sufficient in our vegetable consumption, with my fruit monster toddler, I doubt it would ever be possible to do the same with fruit, but with all the berries we'll be growing this year, hopefully we'll be quite well stocked through the summer months at least.

Most of the growing will be taking place at the allotment this year, but I expect we'll keep a few favourites in the garden too. Namely some herbs, a few tomatoes, blueberries and the raspberries we potted up last year before I got the allotment and a few flowers no doubt.I'm really looking forward to this growing season, though I know I have a huge amount of work to do, I'm really hoping I'm more successful than I was last year.

Finding inspiration :: crochet cables ::

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

I've been working a lot with crochet cables recently, though it's something that is fairly new to me, both a pattern I'm currently writing for inside crochet and a pattern I have in my head for a wintry skirt include cables. So I've been searching out some inspiration, here's a few os the fabulous cable crochet pieces I've found around the internets.

Source: blog.lescomposantes.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: ravelry.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Hello 2012 ::

2011-12-31T13:15:00.001-08:00

Ahhhh a new year, it always feels so good, so fresh, a great excuse to make new plans, set new goals and achieve new dreams.

Last year I decided I was ready to start writing and hopefully publishing my own crochet patterns, and it was a pretty good success, I had my first pattern commissioned the day before my birthday back in August, 'inside crochet' have now published two of my patterns, have two more waiting to go and one more due at the end of this month. This has been a great introduction for me, but this year I have more grand crochet pattern ideas, including a book proposal and a plan to write a pattern a month to sell as a downloadable PDF both on etsy and through ravelry. I have lots of other hopes and dreams and improvements to make, but I always think it's better to try and concentrate on one achievable goal at a time rather than going crazy trying to change everything about yourself just because of date change!Wishing you a a very very happy and prosperous 2012.

work in progress :: navy afghan ::

2011-11-03T00:27:00.000-07:00

I've recently been going through my huge stash of yarn and in the process coming across all sorts of uncompleted projects. I don't think this is any great surprise to fellow crafters, it's something I think we're all pretty good at (there was a woman at the craft night I used to attend who had a cardigan she had been knitting for 20 years, when she came in wearing the finished garment, the whole group burst in to applause) but I do think I'm probably particularly good at abandoning projects somewhere just past the middle. So in an effort to inspire me to finish them, I thought it a good idea to put them in my ravelry notebook (a lot of these were started long before I joined ravelry!) and blog about them here, therefore making them more obvious to me than when they are hidden inside a big old box of yarn!

So here goes, here is the first!

The first ever granny blanket I started making, possibly the first ever granny square I made, and certainly the first project I purposely went out to choose yarn for. The original pattern and idea came from Erika Knights 'Simple Crochet', which was also the first crochet book I owned.

It's not even like there is an awful lot left to do on this poor neglected blanket! All I need to do is edge a few of the squares in the navy and then put them all together. At some point I've even weaved in all of the ends.

Really there is no excuse for this pure neglect! I now even have a little boy who's bed will be perfect for a snuggly blue granny blanket like this, it's very strange to think how much my life has changed since I started it!

norfolk ganseys ::

2011-11-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinteres t

Last time Milo and I were up at my Mum's, we took a walk around the local museums, which include the RNLI Henry Blogg Museum and the Cromer Museum. Both were great and Milo loved them. But the thing that must struck me from both was the fisherman's ganseys, I noticed them instantly in the portraits hung around the lifeboat museum and both places had displays devoted to the craft and history of the beautiful yet practical hand knits.

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

There's something so romantic in my mind about this art. I know from my own knitting experiences how lovely it is to knit/crochet for someone else. Every time I've made a gift, whether it be a blanket for a wedding, a pair of socks for a not yet born newborn or a sweater for a niece, I tend to spend a huge amount of the time I'm working on the item thinking of it's recipient. So just imagine knitting up such an time consuming piece, that will become a real staple in your loved ones wardrobe, a hugely important garment to keep him warm out at sea. To me that is such a fabulous thought.

Ganseys were traditionally knit in 3ply wool, in the round on 5 or more needles. They are cast on with doubled up yarn, to give them a bit more strength, then a rib is worked, followed by stocking stitch, up to the armpits, incorporating a column of purls on either side to create a false seam, at the armpits 3 rows of 'welts' or ridges are created with rows of purl stitches, after this the pattern begins. Apparently different seaside towns had their own patterns, but I've read various things that have said many patterns have been discovered in single towns so I expect the knitters just got a bit creative and made up their own. The sleeves are picked up from the body of the jumper and worked down, so they can easily be unpicked and repaired.

As soon as I got back from learning all about these fabulous knits I started knitting up some samples of the chest patterns. They looked good enough to inspire me to knit up a full sized version, only problem being I don't have a fisherman to clothe, or even a man who would have any interest in wearing a gansey. However I do have a little man in my life, who would love to be a lifeboat man and still lets me dress him in whatever I want to, most of the time anyway. So I've cast on all those tiny stitches (I've never knit a garment in 4ply before, it does seem like so much knitting, even for a toddler sized sweater), I've worked the rib and am about half way up the bottom section, I can't wait to get started on the chest pattern, but I've still got quite a way to go yet before I can think about that! I've also not yet decided which one I'm going to go for, there are so many great patterns in the information I've picked up, but I'm considering the possibility of making one up myself. I have thoughts of robots maybe! I shall keep you updated!

we'll eat you up, we love you so ::

2011-11-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

A very happy (belated) halloween. I hope everyone was super spooked and treated.

Milo and I had a fabulous time. I had thought about throwing a party, but the reality of all that planning was just too much! However I did make Milo his very first costume, we decided together to make a costume of Max, from 'Where the Wild Things Are', which is favourite book of everyone in this house.

In all honesty it wasn't too difficult to make and I'm quite impressed with the finished piece. I simply traced around one of Milo's sleepsuits to make the main piece, added a hood, with ears, after reading a few tutorials on the subject, sewed in some whiskers (made from pipe cleaners). Then I bought some furry yarn to crochet the tail and the fur trim on the crown, it almost certainly would have been easier to use furry fabric for this task, but the craft shop didn't have any in a suitable colour. For the crown we very simply used an A4 piece of gold card, cut in a zig zag and stuck together. There was going to be feet and hands and scepter, but you know sometimes life gets in the way of all these wonderful plans!

Either way Milo loves it and had a great time trick or treating with the other boys in the street. We did have a last minute realisation that we had left Milo's crown on the postman pat van at the supermarket! Literally 10 minutes before we left the house, fortunatley I had some left over gold card, so we whipped up another one and stuck a few strands of the furry yarn around the edge! Not as good as the original but better than nothing (the pictures are with the original crown).

little pumpkins :: a pattern

2011-10-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

I made these little ones up on a lazy saturday morning, with a toddler 'helping', they're pretty easy and super quick, so I thought I'd share my pattern with you here.

I quite like them simple and plain but you can embroider a face on them too if you like.

ingredients ::

orange double knit cotton (I used rowan milk cotton in 'fruit salad')
green double knit cotton (I used debbie bliss organic cotton)
stuffing
black embroidery thread (if you want to put a face on)

4mm hook

embroidery needle

method ::

for the stork ::

leaving a long end and using the green cotton, chain 7

row 1 ::
work 1 1dc in to the second chain from hook, then 1dc in to each of next 5 chains.

row 2 ::
working in to both the top of the stitch you just made and the bottom chain, work 1dc, do this all the way along the row, making a tube of sorts.

fasten off, leave a long end, thread the end on to a needle and bring it through the stork to the bottom, so both end s are at the same end.

for the pumpkin ::

using the orange cotton, chain 2

round 1 ::
work 6 double crochet in to second chain from hook, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 2 ::
1 chain, *2dc in to each stitch, repeat from * to end.

round 3 ::
1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of dc below, 1dc, repeat from * to end, make sure you are working in to the top of each stitch with the double crochets you are working and around the post of each treble crochet below, so that you are increasing the amount of stitches you have to 18, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 4 ::
1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of tr below, 2dc, repeat from * to end, make sure you are working in to the top of each stitch with the double crochets you are working and around the post of each treble crochet below, so that you are increasing the amount of stitches you have to 24, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 5 ::
1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of tr below, 3dc, repeat from * to end, make sure you are working in to the top of each stitch with the double crochets you are working and around the post of each treble crochet below, so that you are increasing the amount of stitches you have to 30, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 6 ::
1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of tr below, 3dc, repeat from * to end, this time you are working straight and not increasing stitches, so don't work in to the top of the treble stitch, 30 stitches, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 7 ::

1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of tr below, 3dc, repeat from * to end, this time you are working straight and not increasing stitches, so don't work in to the top of the treble stitch, 30 stitches, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 8 ::

1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of tr below, miss 1dc, 2dc, repeat from * to end, you are decreasing stitches this round, so you should finish with 24 stitches, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 9 ::

1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of tr below, miss 1dc, 1dc, repeat from * to end, you are decreasing stitches this round, so you should finish with 18 stitches, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

round 10 ::

1 chain, *1dc, 1 treble round post of tr below, miss 1dc, repeat from * to end, you are decreasing stitches this round, so you should finish with 12 stitches, join to top of first chain with slip stitch.

Thread one end of the stork you made earlier, through the centre hole at the top of pumpkin and the other through one of the gaps between the stitches on the row of crochet below, tie the two threads together really tightly so the stork won't come loose.

Stuff the pumpkin nice and plumply!

round 11 ::

1 chain, *1dc, miss 1dc, repeat from * to end, you should now have 6 stitches.

Fasten off, leaving a long end. Thread the needle on the long end and stitch together the gap at the bottom.

Granny Cowl :: A Pattern

2011-10-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

ingredients ::

I used ::

rico cotton essentials DK

1 x 50g ball white
1 x 50g ball green
1 x 50g ball banana
1 x 50g ball purple
1 x 50g ball tangerine
1 x 50g ball grass green
1 x 50g ball red
1 x 50g ball light teal
1 x 50g ball orange
1 x 50g ball fuschia
1 x 50g ball navy

any double knit cotton (or indeed any other type of yarn) in various colours would work too.

4 mm crochet hook

Abbreviations ::

ch        -   chain

ss       -   slip stitch

dc - double crochet

tr -   treble

method ::

Make 8 granny squares in different colour ways.
The colour combinations I made were :
orange/navy
grass green/red
green/purple
red/yellow
fuschia/light teal
fuschia/tangerine
light teal/banana
green/tangerine

each with a white edge.

to make a granny square ::

Leave a long end, make 4 chain and join to first chain with slip stitch.

Round 1:

3ch, 2tr in to ring *2ch, 3tr into ring, repeat from * twice more, 2ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Fasten off yarn.

Round 2:

Join new yarn at any 2 chain corner space, 3ch, 2tr,2ch,3tr in same 2 chain corner space, *1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in to next 2 chain space, repeat from * twice more, 1ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Fasten off yarn.

Round 3:

Join new yarn at any 2 chain corner space, 3 ch, 2tr, 2ch, 3tr in same 2 chain corner space *1 ch, 3tr into next one chain space, 1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in to next 2 chain space, repeat from * twice more, 1 ch, 3tr into next one chain space, 1ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Fasten off yarn.

Round 4:

Join new yarn at any 2 chain corner space, 3 ch, 2tr, 2ch, 3tr in same 2 chain corner space *1 ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space, 1 ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space 1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in to next 2 chain space, repeat from * twice more, 1 ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space, 1ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space 1ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Fasten off yarn.

Round 5:

Join white yarn at any 2 chain corner space, 3 ch, 2tr, 2ch, 3tr in same 2 chain corner space *1ch, 3tr into next 3, 1 chain spaces, 1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in to next 2 chain space, repeat from * twice more, 1 ch, 3tr into next 3, 1 chain spaces, 1ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Fasten off yarn.

Joining the Squares ::

using the white yarn, join to the corner of two squares, 1chain, 1dc in to the top of each stitch of both squares, joining them together as you go, when you reach the end of the side, break off yarn.

Join another to the opposite end of one of these two in the same way as above, continue to do this until you have a strip of 4 squares. Then do the same again, so you have 2 strips of 4 squares.

Join these two strips together using double crochet again in the same way as above, but joining all the squares together so you have a block of 8 squares in a 2 x 4 formation. Join this block together down the side, using double crochet again, to form a circle.

Weave in any loose ends.

Granny Cowl ::

2011-10-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

I actually made this cowl a while ago now, but have finally got round to taking some photos of it! I also had the privilege of taking some studio photos for stuffed nonsense over the weekend, which I used as opportunity to grab myself a model in the shape of the glamourous Bex ( though as you'll see I also had myself a slightly smaller model too).

Inspired by the House of Holland's amazing granny scarfs in the autumn/winter 2011 collection, I made this along with a big scarf and some similar versions in black trim.

The pattern is now available here, plus when I get round to it I shall also be adding some to my lilley stitches shop.

finding inspiration :: on the catwalk ::

2011-10-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a bit slow at posting this, but there was some amazing knitwear and crochet on the catwalks at London Fashion Week last month. Here are a few of my favourites.

Meadham Kirchhoff

Source: londonfashionweek.co.uk via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Mark Fast

Source: dailymail.co.uk via VickiBrown on Pinterest

House of Holland

Source: londonfashionweek.co.uk via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Cooperative Designs

Source: londonfashionweek.co.uk via VickiBrown on Pinterest

on our holidays ::

2011-09-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

We've actually been back over a week now, but catching up on what you missed whilst you were on holiday always seems to make the holiday itself a little pointless! However we finally seem to be getting back in to our old routine and on top of all that work we didn't do whilst we were up in North Norfolk.

Here's a fairly picture heavy tale of what we got up to whilst we were away ::

this moment ::

2011-08-26T01:26:00.000-07:00

this moment ::

2011-08-19T01:28:00.000-07:00

in the garden :: in the house ::

2011-08-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

The last couple of days lots of lovely, beautiful and delicious things have been making their way from my little garden in to the house.

The tomatoes are really going crazy now, we are eating fresh ones every day and even managed a passata last night! By far my favourite thing to grow as they are such a staple in this house.

The fruit isn't over abundant, but enough for a handful of berries everyday, unfortunately most days those berries go to the toddler of the house, but next year I shall hopefully have an allotment full of fruit to feed us all.

These are the first of the blueberries and likely there will only be one other serving of them, my bushes are new this year so I'm hoping that next year they will be more fruitful, to be honest I am a little disappointed with them so far.

The borlotti beans too were a bit of a disappointment, but that is mainly due to the slug/snail problem I am facing, the little monsters are munching away at most of my dahlia heads and sweetcorn too, it is time to wage war on them, I have yet to decide the best course of action.

I did however rescue 3 beautiful dahlias this morning and put them safely in a vase inside the house. I love love love the colours! I'm also loving these sunflowers, they have gone absolutely crazy, from around 8 original plants I have so many flower heads it's unbelievable. The seeds were a gift from my step-brother at christmas and they were almost certainly the best gift I received, plus I figure if I save the seeds well, I can have gorgeous sunflowers to admire every year.

this moment ::

2011-08-12T04:30:00.001-07:00

birthday ::

2011-08-12T03:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday, I was 29, which at the moment seems scarier than 30, but I may change my opinion on that next year. This is it, this is the last year of my 20's, and then I'll be in my 30's, a proper grown up, so I need to make this year super fantastically awesome. Well that's the plan anyway.

My birthday was unexpectedly lovely. Low key, but with great friends, fantastic food and thoughtful gifts.

:: I received some much desired books (here, here, here). Johnny denies it, but I suspect this purchase was inspired by my amazon wish list.

:: Amazing handmade bunting from the super talented Bex of Stuffed Nonsense.

:: Ate here.

:: Treated myself to the time to start knitting this.

:: And consumed much much cake (am still consuming said cake as I type in fact).

All in all a splendid 29th celebration (there will be more less wholesome/sober celebration with girlies on Saturday too!).

wildlife by hot tea ::

2011-07-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

etsy's facebook page brought this awesome video, of street art made using yarn and stencils, to my attention this morning, it's so fabulous I thought I'd share it with you ::

WILDLIFE from Hot Tea on Vimeo.

It certainly brightened my, very early, very grey, morning.

this moment ::

2011-07-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

granny square cookies ::

2011-07-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

aren't these are amazing?!

You can see the tutorial on the sugar and meringue blog.

crochet: granny bunting (a pattern) ::

2011-07-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on my typepad blog last summer.

As promised here is my granny bunting pattern. I'm quite excited but also a little nervous posting the pattern as I've never done this before!

My sister successfully completed her bunting in 2 and a half hours and didn't ring me once, she normally rings me for pattern reading advice regularly but was under strict instructions to try and work it all out for herself this time!! I'm afraid I don't have a photo of hers to share with you, but I will attempt to get hold of one soon.

For the pink bunting I used four different shades of pink and alternated them throughout the pattern so each triangle is different, of course you could simply have each triangle the same or even just use one, two or three different colours. For the brightly coloured bunting, which was my first attempt, I used 8 different colours alternating them throughout, really you could use a little or as many as you like!

If you already know how to do a granny square this should be a breeze but if you don't I hope I've written the instructions clear enough that it won't matter.

If you do attempt your own granny bunting I would love to know how you got on and please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

The pattern, in all it's glory, is below.

Granny Square Bunting:

This is written in british crochet terms, you can see a good table for stitch conversions from british to american terms here.

What you need:

4 x 50g balls of double knit weight yarn in 4 different colours.

1 x 50g ball of double knit weight yarn in white.

4mm crochet hook.

Foundation Chain:

Leave a long end, make 3 chains and join to first chain with slip stitch.

Round 1:

3ch, 2tr in to ring *2ch, 3tr into ring, repeat from * once more, 2ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Break off yarn.

Round 2:

Join new yarn at any 2 chain corner space, 3ch, 2tr,2ch,3tr in same 2 chain corner space, *1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in to next 2 chain space, repeat from * once more, 1ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Break off yarn.

Round 3:

Join new yarn at any 2 chain corner space, 3 ch, 2tr, 2ch, 3tr in same 2 chain corner space *1 ch, 3tr into next one chain space, 1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in to next 2 chain space, repeat from * once more, 1 ch, 3tr into next one chain space, 1ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Break off yarn.

Round 4:

Join new yarn at any 2 chain corner space, 3 ch, 2tr, 2ch, 3tr in same 2 chain corner space *1 ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space, 1 ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space 1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in to next 2 chain space, repeat from * once more, 1 ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space, 1ch, 3tr into next 1 chain space 1ch, join with slip stitch to 3^rd chain of first 3 chain.

Break off yarn.

Make 6 triangles, or more or less depending on the size of bunting you wish to make, you could also add extra rounds if you wanted bigger traingles. Using 6 triangles and the edging method detailed below creates a bunting length of 65 inches(which fits perfectly over my fireplace as a quick reference for you!).

Edging:

I used white for the edging but you can use which ever colour you like! Note that you only edge two sides of each triangle on the first trip across them and then edge the tops on your return. You could, of course, add more or less chains between triangles if you wanted them further spread or closer together.

Chain 41

3tr in corner space of first triangle, * 1ch, 3tr in next one chain space repeat from * until you reach the next 2 chain corner space.

1ch, 3tr, 2ch, 3tr in 2 chain corner space, * 1ch, 3tr in next one chain space repeat from * until you reach the next 2 chain corner space.

3tr in 2 chain corner space.

Chain 22.

Repeat for all triangles.

After going around edge of last triangle chain 41 instead of 22.

Turn, slip stitch across 40 of the chains, 1ch, 3tr into corner space of triangle, * 1ch, 3tr into next chain space, repeat from * to end of triangle.

Chain 1 miss first chain the slip stitch across next 20 chains, leaving one chain at the end unworked.

Work across the top of each triangle as above.

Slip stitch across final 40 chains at end, break off yarn and weave in ends.

in the garden ::

2011-07-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

sunflowers (brightening the view from the kitchen sink and adding joy to washing up time!)
new flushes of strawberry blooms
a dragonfly (please excuse the washing in the background, this was the closest I could get to it)
basil, lots and lots of basil filling the greenhouse with an intoxicatingly glorious scent
kale, succeding in not being devoured by pigeons, hurah!
the first tomato (a good week earlier than last year!)

allotmenting ::

2011-07-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I have not been a very good allotmenter of late. Before we headed off on holiday, I went down with my mum, who helped with a little weeding and planting some potatoes. Then I didn't make it back down there again until this week, nearly 4 weeks had passed!

Fortunately everything (surprisingly) was still growing, along with a whole lot of weeds, of course.

So this week I have been mostly weeding and dreaming of how wonderful it can all be if I just manage to make it down every other day at least. I want it to work I really really do, I just need to find the motivation to get myself there and digging and planning.

So far growing I have ::

peas
borlotti beans
runner beans
french beans
chard
beetroot
radishes
purple sprouting broccoli (really this is just the bedraggled stems left by the pigeons)
potatoes
nasturtiums

I have dug and planted less than a quarter of the plot, so there is so much more to do and more to grow.

Mostly now I'm just going to concentrate on getting beds ready for next year, but I do plan to fit in a few more autumn/winter crops. I have a few seeds sown at home for transplanting including ::

cauliflower (3 varieties)
leeks (2 varieties)
cabbages
kale
sweet william

and I hope to sow a few root crops in the next couple of weeks.

I'm finding the toughest hurdle the distance from my house, it's a 30 minute walk to the allotment, although now I have a lovely bike to take me there which should help a lot, I don't yet have a helmet for Milo so until then I'll need to walk whenever I have Milo with me. Also not being able to drive means that getting important things down there, such as compost and bits to build beds with is virtually impossible.

Fingers crossed that from now on though I shall be better and more committed and this time next year will have a fabulous vegetable plot bursting with goodies!

hello flower ::

2011-07-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

the first of my sunflowers opened up this morning, a fabulously bright start to an otherwise dreary grey day.

this weekend ::

2011-07-04T01:02:00.000-07:00

we headed over to Oxford for Cowley Road Carnival and Fiesta in the Park.

It was lots and lots of fun, though I dropped a fairly tired toddler off at nursery this morning, he had an awesome time and was so incredibly well behaved despite such a lack of sleep.

There was lots of music and dancing for this little boy, plus huge ice creams and great people to hang out with.

This amazing wicker man is the design of an 8 year old and will go up in flames on bonfire night. It's truly magnificent. You can read more about it here.

Another fabulous structure on show was this button tree, I can't find any information on it, which is fairly frustrating, but it is super amazing!

The procession was great, everyone taking part had so much effort in. Milo loved the giants and especially one big 'dancing bird', which he followed around for hours after the procession had finished.

It was a very very happy weekend indeed.

this moment ::

2011-07-01T04:10:00.000-07:00

Inspired by SouleMama

In her words...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

in the garden ::

2011-06-24T00:17:00.000-07:00

After a week away and lots of sunny/rainy days, the garden was looking dramatically different when we returned.

The emergence of some lovely flowers and the harvesting of lots of food have been this weeks main activities.

We've been eating ::

courgettes (lots!)
cucumbers
potatoes
spring onion
onion
peas (those that haven't been munched away by whatever invisible nuisance it is that's destroying my pea plants)
raspberries
strawberries

The potatoes and the cucumber are the big exciting ones for me this week, I failed miserably with both last year. Particularly the cucumbers which all died, despite my over zealous seed sowing. As the first few plants I moved outside and to the greenhouse experienced the same fate as last years, I decided just to keep a couple in the house growing up the patio doors. This has worked so well. The vines are lovely and almost the height of the door now, plus they are full of little cucumbers! We've harvested 2 fairly small ones so far, but they were so deliciously sweet, almost like melon.

As for potatoes, last year my plants looked so good and then died off quite suddenly, I assumed therefore they were ready, but was super disappointed to discover only a handful of too small to do anything with potatoes under the compost. I guess, as is quite often the case with me, I was just too impatient. This year I planted masses of different kinds of potatoes in a variety of large buckets and old compost bags, most of them have grown huge foliage which is taking up a large corner of my garden, I had a fairly promising feeling about them, even if I was a little worried I may have put too many seeds in each pot, after reading one of my favourite bloggers post on her own potato planting. But before I headed off on holiday 2 of my plants were looking positively dead, I gave them a really good watering before I left and crossed my fingers, hoping for a miracle when I returned. However both plants remained dead a week later, so without expecting much I decided to turn them out and see what, if anything was there. Well I was beyond thrilled with what I discovered! Each bag provided enough for one meal, OK so perhaps not brilliant, but given the circumstances I was super pleased. Not only that they tasted fabulous! The others are all flowering now and I am trying my best to have a little patience, I know it will be worth it.

I also lifted the onions and garlic this week, they are all drying outside under cover. I'm pretty pleased with these too. The garlic was fairly small, but the onions are great and considering they were all grown in smallish troughs I think they've done quite well.

this moment ::

2011-06-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Inspired by SouleMama

on our holidays ::

2011-06-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

A photo heavy post of our holidaying adventures ::

We had a fabulous time on the north norfolk coast.

Highlights included

:: a ride on the poppy line steam train, particularly wonderful for my train obsessed boy.

:: a visit to holt country park.

:: much beachy fun.

:: the novelty of sharing bedrooms with cousins (yes there were many late nights and early mornings and a couple of fairly tired mummy's most days)

:: night time walks on the beach

:: lots and lots of knitting!

summer holidays ::

2011-06-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

we're off on our summer holidays! To lovely sunny (hopefully) Cromer we go!

in the garden ::

2011-06-09T02:51:00.000-07:00

this week we are starting to reap the rewards of all our work.

There is lots to harvest (even if mostly they are small harvests of small fruits/vegetables).

This week we've enjoyed ::

peas
courgettes
spring onions
raspberries
strawberries
carrots
salad leaves

Milo planted the carrots just like Miffy in one of his favourite books. They are only meant to be little round baby ones (I thought quick growing best for a little boy). It's only been 9 weeks since we sowed the seeds and today he harvested lots of little round sweet smelling carrots to enjoy for our lunch.

The raspberries are really starting to fruit now, which is amazing, it feels like a true true treat to eat those beautiful little jewels. However I'm a little disappointed that both the strawberries and the blueberries seem to have stopped flowering, I hoping that the strawberries will have another little flourish later in the year. The blueberries are new this year so I guess I should be pleased to have any fruit and hopefully next year will be better.

book group ::

2011-06-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Source: en.wikipedia.org via VickiBrown on Pinterest

a friend of mine brought the 1book140 twitter book club to my attention last week. Mainly, I expect, because the first book on the reading list is by my all time favourite author, Margaret Atwood. The book itself is 'The Blind Assassin' which won the booker prize in 2000.

I first read it back when I was at university, not long after it was published, I loved it. It's such a clever book, I cannot wait to give it another reading.

I just hope I actually find the time to get through it, since having Milo I've managed to read a grand total of 2 books. I used to read continually, constantly and with so much joy, I really hope I can rediscover that.

finding inspiration :: handknits ::

2011-06-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

We're off on our holidays next week (horay!) and whilst away I wanted to get to work on knitting a new jumper for Milo. I've been designing a pattern and am almost there with it all written up, except for the details and colours, so I've been scouring the internet for some inspiration.

Source: ravelry.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Lots of lovely turquoise and cosy hoods. I haven't done any knitting for what seems like ages, can't wait to get started!

cat turn ups ::

2011-06-05T01:02:00.000-07:00

:: for milo.

Milo is pretty short of trousers at the moment, due to potty training, the lack of a big ol' nappy means he's a lot slimmer than he used to be, plus we do a few more daily trouser changes now, add in there a bit of a growth spurt and it became apparent it was time for some sewing!

I've been using the basic 'trace round a pair of trousers' technique for pajamas for a while. This works out great for simple trousers and also great for easy up and down (brilliant for potty training), but ideally wanted to make something with a bit more detail.

I saw this tutorial on pinterest a while ago and have been eager to give it a go ever since. As the pattern itself is for a 3 year old, I copied down the basic idea and drew out my own pattern pieces.

It all worked out OK, but I definitely made a few foolish mistakes. The legs are too tapered, when in fact they should probably have been straight, plus a little too long (not a big problem when they are intended to be turned up anyway). But they do the job and Milo seems to like them, plus as with most of my sewing adventures I learnt a lot and next time they will be better.

It is super tricky to get a 2 year to model nicely for you in said trousers, hence the rather blurry pictures and I didn't get any of the trousers sans baby prior to the below episode of supper on trouser activity! So apologies for the lack of pictorial evidence.

pattern :: from i kat bag
fabric :: a mixture of charity shop finds and scraps I had stashed away.

this moment ::

2011-06-03T01:42:00.000-07:00

Inspired by SouleMama
In her words...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

in the garden ::

2011-06-02T00:51:00.000-07:00

:: lots of cornflowers and nasturtiums. I love the nasturtium flowers so much, my favourite salad addition, though they are also one of the few flowers in the garden at the moment, so I'm torn between picking them and leaving them!

:: a few strawberries (enough for a toddler sized portion daily now) and one ripening raspberry (I've had to carefully ply said toddlers fingers off this red beauty many many times the last few days)

:: the first tomato!

:: gorgeous clematis creeping over the wall from a neighbour's garden, complimenting the lovely purple little purple flowers growing out of the wall perfectly.

:: discovering that the caterpillars and the snails and the green fly seem particularly keen on my flowers. Though this is good for my vegetables who seem to be escaping much damage, my calendula, dahlias, poppies and sunflowers and being munched away.

finding inspiration :: bokeh ::

2011-05-30T01:04:00.000-07:00

I've had this bokeh idea on my pinterest board for a really long time now, last night I decided to give it a go. Turns out I don't have the right kind of lens, I neglected to check this before rushing straight in and was super disappointed when I couldn't get it to work.

So cheer myself up I've been seeking out others lovely bokeh pictures, here are a few of my favourites ::

Source: flickr.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

Source: kevinandamanda.com via VickiBrown on Pinterest

elderflower cordial ::

2011-05-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

Inspired by lovely friend Melody, I set out last weekend to find some elderflowers to make a cordial, I actually failed. I think I must have been looking in the wrong places, however I did notice some down at the allotment. So on Tuesday when Bex and I were done with digging for the day we went to collect some elderflowers.

We found lots and lots, when we picked them they hardly smelt at all, but by the time we got them home there was a very strong scent of elderflower pouring out of carrier bag.

We set about counting them and knocking the bugs out of them as soon as we got back, and well there certainly were a lot of bugs, so much so that both Bex and I ended up itching all over at the thought of them.

I ended up with 3 different recipes, one from Melly, one from the river cottage preserving handbook and one from the river cottage hedgerow handbook. So I decided to mix it up and make up my own. This is what I did.

Ingredients ::

30 or so elderflower heads

1 kg of golden caster sugar

1.5 litres of water

the juice and zest of 3 lemons

the juice and zest of 1 orange

1 teaspoon citric acid

As I already mentioned we knocked the heads lightly to remove the bugs and dust and then popped them in a big bowl.

Then I added the water and the sugar to my preserving pan and slowly heated through to dissolve the sugar, once dissolved I brought it up to a boil.

I then poured the sugar water mix over the elderflower heads, added the juice and zest of the lemons and orange, plus the citric acid, gave it a stir, covered and left for 24 hours.

After 24 hours I strained the mixture through a piece of sterilised muslin, I let it drip for a couple of hours, then using a funnel (sterilised of course) I de-cantered it in to (sterilised) jars. I used jars because I didn't have any bottles, I'm not sure if this OK? I see no reason why not, just not perfect for pouring, but so far I haven't spilt any!

It tastes pretty good, I'm very pleased, only had it with water so far, but very much looking forward to mixing it with some sparkling wine this weekend.

this moment ::

2011-05-27T01:23:00.000-07:00

strawberry picking and jam making ::

2011-05-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

a fairly perfect weekend

I used the basic jam recipe that I used last year, however mid way through I took a peek at Pam Corbin's recipe in the River Cottage, Preserving Handbook, to discover her's is quite different. It was too late this time, so I guess there will have to be more strawberry picking and jam making later in the year! Along with a whole lot of scones and victoria sponges and homemade jammy dodgers and jam tarts to use it all up!

this moment ::

2011-05-20T00:56:00.000-07:00

allotment ::

2011-05-17T02:39:00.001-07:00

it must be about 6 weeks now I've had my allotment, all in honesty I haven't been there for 2 weeks. This does not bode well. However my Mum has very kindly purchased me an amazing bike, so once that arrives I'm really hoping I will be a better allotmenter.

For the time being I can share with you some of the photos we have of the experience so far ::

So far we've done little else but dig! And there is still a lot of digging to do. Eventually it will be a no dig allotment I hope, but there are quite a few weeds (it could be worse though) so we're digging it this year, but hopefully not again!

The main grass area I will build beds on to rather than dig, but certainly not this year! The main bed area at the back is big enough for now.

So far there is very little planted, we were gifted some raspberry suckers from a neighbouring allotment and there is already some fairly poorly looking rhubarb there. We've sown some chard and beet seeds, but so far that is all!

Tonight I'm taking up some bean, pea and sweet pea plants to put in though!

real nappy week ::

2011-05-17T01:52:00.000-07:00

this week is real nappy week. We've been using cloth nappies on Milo since he was about 3 months old and we love them!

With the help of go real I've been sharing the secret of cloth with my little sister and her baby, Aston, for the last week. You can see how we've been getting on over on the real nappy challenge blog.

There are so many nappy companies doing fantastic discounts this week, you can see a lot of them on the go real page, plus go real are doing a huge competition and a big nappy giveaway where real nappy users can nominate non-cloth users to receive a real nappy try!

a new (blog) home ::

2011-05-17T00:52:00.000-07:00

Oh my so I've moved again, but this time I really hope it will be for good!

I've come over from typepad, where I had 3 blogs, none of which I was really looking after very well at all!

I decided it was probably about time to set up a proper website for my little business, somewhere to direct people, instead of the list of online shops I have on various venues, don't get me wrong I have no intention of leaving any of these places, but I was paying for typepad, not much less than I am now paying for my own website, so all in all it seemed the best thing to do.

I have a blog on the new website which will be for all businessy type bits and bobs, but this one here will be for me, my knitting, my gardening, my allotment and of course my boy!

I have managed to import most of my old blog posts from typepad, working on the others, so you should be able to see them below.

Enjoy :)

exciting times...

2011-03-31T04:41:00.000-07:00

...I have been a fairly absent blogger, but I most certainly have not been an absent gardener the last couple of months. There are seedlings on every available windowsill in my house, weighing down the shelves of my little green house and even a few outside (though some naughty snail/slug has devoured two of my baby marigolds).

Here is a little list of what is currently growing in some form or another in my garden/greenhouse/house:

Fruit ::

strawberries : some from last year and some newly purchased runners, some of these are already flowering which seems crazy!

blueberries : 3 newly purchased little plants

raspberries : again a new addition, I have 3 varieties and 3 canes of each. Planted in big containers and currently covered with some plastic sheeting in an attempt at a little polytunnel for them!

gooseberries : this is a bit of an experiment, I took some cuttings from a huge gooseberry bush just over my fence (which is currently a building site, I imagine they will remove the bush in due course) and have just popped them a pot of compost, I have no idea if this will work, apparently it's fine to take cuttings like this but it should be done in the autumn, these are already flowering so we'll see how it goes!

watermelon : from seeds, I know this is probably a massive long shot but thought I'd give it a go anyway!

Vegetables ::

aubergines

borlotti beans

carrots

courgette

cucumber

french beans

garlic

globe artichokes

kale

leeks

onions

peas

potatoes : 6 different varieties

purple sprouting broccoli : some forming florets from last year and some new seedlings for next year

runner beans

salad leaves : various kinds

spinach

spring onions

sweetcorn

tomatoes : 7 different types this year!

Herbs ::

basil : regular, purple and thai

dill

mint

oregano

parsley

sage

rosemary

tarragon

Plus a whole lot of flowers, including ::

calendula

dahlias

marigolds

nasturtiums

poppies

sunflowers

It's such an exciting time and seeing it all listed like that makes it seem even more promising!

All of this was already going on and growing away destined to become potted plants in my entirely decked little garden, when on Sunday I received a fabulously exciting email telling me an allotment had become available if I was still interested and wanted to make an appointment to view it! I had a couple of reservations (namely time and that's it a bit of a distance away, about 30mins on foot) but the thought of having a proper proper space to grow food was just too tempting! So I am going to view my little space this afternoon, I cannot tell you how much time I have spent day dreaming allotment plans since Sunday!

I am throughly daunted don't get me wrong, I really have no idea what I am doing, I have had 2 years experience growing in pots, I have read a fair few books and I did attend a weekend permaculture course back in October, but as for proper practical work I am very inexperienced. I have no doubt the old time allotmenters will be watching me with raised eyebrows and little smirks, but at least I am not to be sniggered at alone as the lovely Bex of stuffed nonsense has vowed to help me out.

So back to dreaming of spiral herb gardens and little ponds full of wildlife, beds bursting with lovelies, necessary new purchases such as tools and wellies and a bike (with a basket of course), whilst I twiddle my thumbs waiting for 2 o'clock to arrive when I can go and view my little plot. In my head this little plot is covered in weeds and throughly neglected a little smaller than I'd like without a shed and in the furthest spot imaginable from the entrance and water. I figure if I picture the worse, I can only be pleased with what I get!

**I actually took these pictures from the garden about 10 days it's amazing how much has changed in that time, the raspberries are full of leaves now and the broccoli is huge, ready to cut any day I think!**

D ::

2011-03-08T03:12:00.000-08:00

I did it! I stitched together my first garment from a pattern and in Japanese at that.

I am so proud of myself, I mean the shirt itself is no where near perfect, but it is wearable, just about!

I decided that I should start with something reasonably simple looking and that wouldn't require too much fabric and I only used an old sheet. That way if it did go terribly wrong I wouldn't have ruined some beautiful, expensive fabric.

I am so glad now that I decided to just get stuck in and have a go, because I learnt so so much by actually doing it and it wasn't until I started putting all those techniques in to practice that they started to make much more sense, some a little too late for this garment unfortunately, but that is of course what practice runs are for!

I really struggled a lot with the binding on the neck and the sleeves, it just didn't seem possible! I actually ended up making some larger binding for the neck piece and handstitching the sleeves. I'm not sure how to prevent this from being such a disaster next time, but I'm sure with a little more book reading and internet searching I'll get there.

I also didn't even consider raw edges until I'd finished! For this garment it's not the end of the world, but next time I will definitely consider how to finish the edges.

I used Built by Wendy's sew u book for a lot of the technical stuff, I've had this book for ages and ages, but I've hardly even flicked through it before (I think I may have read a bad review of it just after purchase and it just got neglected after that) however it was actually really really helpful and I had it next to my sewing machine for constant reference throughout.

So next up....a dress! Well maybe anyway. I really want to make a dress to wear for my cousins wedding in April, but I'm not entirely sure I'm brave enough to make that big step of cutting up beautiful, carefully purchased fabric just yet! Maybe another practice run first would be best.

pattern D from stylish dress book 1 available here

burdastyle notes here

mustard hearts for me ::

2011-02-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

my newest short sleeved sweater is finished! It still needs blocking (which I'm really hoping will give it a bit more length as it's a teeny bit short) but otherwise it's all finished and I'm quite in love with it.

I made a few silly mistakes with the fair isle pattern, but for a first attempt I think I did pretty well.

I have to be honest I didn't knit it all in continental style as I had intended, in order to get some practice, it was too easy and quicker to slip back in to my old habits, but I did do enough to just about justify knitting myself yet another sweater!

owls pattern available to download as pdf for £3.50 :: here (although this is fairly modified)

my ravelry notes :: here

finding inspiration :: london fashion week ::

2011-02-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

there was some lovely knitwear appearing on the catwalks last week, here are some of my favourites.

Super cosy oversized stripey cardigan by Betty Jackson.

Betty Jackson had lots of fabulous knits mostly in gorgeous reds, here's another of my favourites.

Margaret Howell had very chic and simple knitwear.

Though I'm not sure I really like Christopher Kane's pieces all that much, it's nice to see the granny square making an appearance.

But my absolutely favourite items have to be the amazing granny style crochet pieces from House of Holland.

I mean granny square print tights...amazing!

japanese pattern book sew along ::

2011-02-18T08:05:00.000-08:00

I received an email from Kate at M is for make this morning, inviting me to take part in this...

As I am a complete novice, I'm thinking this will probably be a fantastic opportunity to get a bit of help from some more experienced sewers along the way! Plus it may give the boost I need to get that sewing machine off for the service it so desperately needs before any dress sewing takes place!

Now to decide which dress to make and the task I'm most looking forward to, choosing some fabric!

another short sleeved sweater for me ::

2011-02-11T04:24:00.000-08:00

so as I said, new knitting skills require practice and well, what perfect excuse to knit myself a new sweater.

I saw this beautiful Katia Peru yarn in my local yarn store a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. It's super chunky and soft and I imagine it will be oh so warm too.

I found a fabulous book of fair isle in the charity shop this week, it has some really interesting history of the technique along with some patterns. I'm using Kate Davis' Owls pattern for the main body of the sweater, though I'm going to try and amend the bulge that appeared on the back of the last one I made. I am going to be omitting the owls this time and instead working in some fair isle hearts (I think anyway), where the owls would be.

I'm really pleased with my colour choices and it just so happens they match the crocus's, that appeared on my window ledge this morning perfectly!

continental style ::

2011-02-10T05:37:00.000-08:00

last week I attended my first neighbourhood 'knit and natter' gathering, it was lovely and there were fabulous cakes!

Whilst I was there I was taught to knit continental style (essentially holding the yarn in your left hand rather the right). So far, so good, I'm not quite as fast as I am english style yet, but getting close. I'd love to be one of those super speedy knitters, you know where the needles are a blur of motion. I guess it just takes a whole lot of practice. But I'm fairly convinced that I can be a lot quicker with the continental knitting than I am currently. I just need a bit of practice, which is the perfect excuse to knit myself another sweater I feel!

stylish dress book ::

2011-02-08T01:42:00.000-08:00

this arrived in the post for me yesterday. I'm hoping to make myself a dress to wear to my cousins wedding in April. Inspired by this lady's beautiful creations, I feel in love with this book.

It's truly beautiful and I can't wait to get started, however I can't help but feel I was perhaps a little too ambitious, seeing as I have never made a dress before and can't read japanese!

Before I even start to think about fabrics I really really must get my sewing machine serviced, but I have been adding some inspiration for the dress to a pinterest board here.

crochet jar cover ::

2011-01-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I had my first attempt at making marmalade, for a first attempt it came out pretty well, but I made a huge quantity and well as my mr hates the stuff, and try as we might it seemed unlikely that Milo and I would manage the whole 7 jars we have, I figured most of them would become gifts. Of course in order for this to happen those assorted, recycled, jars would need a little bit of prettifying.

I considered making some hapa-zome tops for them like I made for my jam last summer, or maybe embroidering some covers for them. But then I remembered all the lovely orange milk cotton I had stashed away and decided crochet jar covers was the only way to go.

These are also a great idea because the crochet circles can become coasters of washcloths once the marmalade is in use.

If you fancy having a go at making some little hats for you own marmalade/jam jars then you are in luck because I have written out my pattern for you here!

I also made up one up in browns for a jar of chocolates I made for my Mum's birthday.

crochet jar cover :: a pattern ::

2011-01-27T00:21:00.000-08:00

Please note this pattern is written here in english crochet terms, which differ from american crochet terms, there is a fabulous table here which gives translations of all the stitches I've used.

ingredients ::

1 x ball of double knit weight yarn

(I used rowan milk cotton in fruit salad, simply because I have lots in my stash!)

small quantity of contrasting yarn for tie

(I used rowan milk cotton in snow)

4mm crochet hook

Abbreviations ::

ch - chain

ss - slip stitch

tr - treble

method ::

chain 5 join with ss

round 1 ::

ch3 (counts as first treble) work 12 tr in to ring, join to top of first treble with ss

round 2 ::

ch3 (counts as first treble) 1 tr into same space as first treble, 2 tr in to top of each treble from previous round (26 stitches), join to top of first treble with ss

round 3 ::

ch 3 (counts as first treble) 1 tr in to top of each treble from previous round (26 stitches), join to top of first treble with ss

round 4 ::

ch3 (counts as first treble) 1 tr into same space as first treble, 2 tr in to top of each treble from previous round (52 stitches), join to top of first treble with ss

round 5 ::

ch 3 (counts as first treble) 1 tr in to top of each treble from previous round (52 stitches), join to top of first treble with ss

round 6 ::

ch3 (counts as first treble) 1 tr into same space as first treble, 2 tr in to top of each treble from previous round (104 stitches), join to top of first treble with ss

fasten off

weave in loose ends.

for the tie ::

with contrasting yarn, chain 10, fasten off.

weave tie through the spaces on round 5 of the cover.

This pattern will make a circle around 5 inches in diameter, which fit all of my jar lids. However you can of course make yours bigger, just keep repeating the last two rounds until you reach your desired size.

finding inspiration :: blankets ::

2011-01-26T23:58:00.000-08:00

I was up crazy early this morning and I found myself snuggled up on the sofa, browsing flickr and dreaming of hooking up some lovely blankets.

Click on the photo's to find yourself at the flickr page of the creators of these beauties.

crochet a rainbow ::

2011-01-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

I came across Sarah London's blog and this post in particular whilst reading meet me at mikes, she is calling for donations of crocheted granny squares, which will become fabulous handmade blankets to be gifted to those who have been affected by the Australian floods.

In her words ::

I’m asking for donations of granny squares which I will then make up into blankets to be distributed to those affected throughout Queensland and Victoria, providing comfort and colour and as a reminder that there is always a rainbow after a storm.

I think this is such a fabulous idea and very good excuse to hook up some colourful granny squares and a perfect project for craft night in this coming wednesday.

heart granny square ::

2011-01-18T07:51:00.000-08:00

With valentines on my mind the last few weeks, I have been working on lots of hearts. After searching about a bit, I couldn't see any granny squares which incorporated a heart that I liked. After a few failed attempts and a bit of patience, I came up with my own.

I have been working lots of these lovey squares in order to make a cushion, which I hope to share with you soon, but whilst I continue to work away on that, I thought I would share with you the pattern for the granny square alone.

This is only the second pattern/tutorial for crochet (the other being my granny bunting) that I have ever shared, so if you do have a go at making some for yourself, I would love to hear any feedback you may have.

The pattern in all it's glory is here, have fun! xx

heart granny square :: a pattern ::

2011-01-18T06:03:00.000-08:00

Please note this pattern is written here in english crochet terms, which differ from american crochet terms, there is a fabulous table here which gives translations of all the stitches I've use here.

ingredients ::

3 x contrasting balls of double knit weight yarn.

    I used stylecraft special double knit 100% acrylic in cream (A) pale rose (B) and raspberry (C)

4 mm crochet hook

Abbreviations ::

ch        -   chain

ss       -   slip stitch

dc        -   double crochet

htr      -   half treble

tr -   treble

dtr      -   double treble

method ::

using yarn A chain 4 join with ss

round 1 ::

chain 3 (counts as first treble) 2 tr in to middle of ring, *2ch 3 tr, repeat from * 3 times, 2 chain, join to top of first chain with a ss.

round 2 ::

ss across 2 trebles and ss in to next 2 chain space, chain 3, counts as first treble, 4 tr in to 2 chain space, 1 ch, 3 tr 2ch 3tr in to next 2 chain space (this will be the bottom tip of the heart), 1 ch, 5 tr in to next 2 chain space, 4 ch, 5 tr in to next 3 chain space, 4 chain, join to top of first treble with ss.

round 3 ::

chain 1, dc in top of next 4 trebles, dc in to 1 chain space, dc in top of next 3 trebles, 3dc 2ch 3dc in to 2 chain space (this is the bottom tip of the heart) dc in top of next 3 trebles, dc in 1 chain space, dc in top of next 5 trebles, 2 htr 2 tr 2 dtr 2 tr 2 htr in next 4 chain space, ss in top of third treble, 2 htr 2 tr 2 dtr 2 tr 2 htr in next 4 chain space, join to first double with ss.

Fasten off.

round 4 ::

join yarn B between the 2 double trebles at top right of heart, chain 3 (counts as first treble) 2tr 2ch 3tr in to space between 2 double trebles, 1ch, 3tr in to third space along, 1ch, 3dtr in to third space along, 1ch, 3tr in to third space along, 1ch, 3tr 2ch 3tr in to space between 2dtr from previous round, 1ch, 3dc in to third space along, 1ch, 3htr in to third space along, 1ch, 3tr in to third space along, 1ch, 3dtr 2ch 3dtr in to third space along, 1ch, 3tr in to third space along, 1ch, 3dc in to 2 chain space at bottom of heart, 1ch, 3tr in to third space along, 1ch, 3dtr 2ch 3dtr in to third space along, 1ch, 3tr in to third space along, 1ch, 3htr in to third space along, 1ch, 3dc in to third chain along, 1ch, join with ss to first treble.

round 5 ::

4 ch (counts as first treble and 1 chain space), *3tr 2ch 3tr in to 2 chain space, 1ch, 3tr 1ch in to each of next 1 chain spaces, of which there should be 4, repeat from * twice more, 3tr 2ch 3tr in to 2 chain space, 1ch 3tr in to next three 1 chain spaces, 1ch, 2tr in to next 1 chain space join to third chain of original 4 chain.

Fasten off.

round 6 ::

Join yarn C in to 2 chain corner space, 3ch (counts as first treble) 2tr 2ch 3tr in to 2 chain corner space, 1ch 3tr in to each of next 1 chain spaces, of which there should be 5, * 1ch 3tr 2ch 3tr in to 2 chain space, 1ch 3tr in to each of next 1 chain spaces, of which there should be 5, repeat from * twice more, 1ch, join to top of first treble with a ss.

Fasten off.

Weave in any loose ends and admire your handy work!

a blanket for the rug ::

2011-01-17T08:14:00.000-08:00

well a blanket version of the rug at least.

Ever since we got this rug I've intended to crochet a blanket which matched in some way. Originally I was just going to use the colours and do a traditional granny square blanket. But the more I've admired the rug and thought about the blanket to accompany it, the more I thought an exact replica might be the way to go.

I finally purchased the yarn on Saturday. I decided to use the fabulously cheap stylecraft 100% acrylic double knit. Yes I would love to make it a beautiful organic cotton, but realistically I just can't justify spending that much on yarn at the moment. After hearing about Lucy of Attic 24's love for this yarn, in this post here, I thought I'd give it a go and actually it really is OK. Plus it comes in so many colours!

After many different attempts (I even considered knitting it) I decided to work each block in straight trebles, working each colour as I came to it, rather than working from the middle out. This way I can join each block as I go.

So I've only done 3 blocks so far, but so far so good! Though I do get in a fairly massive tangle, trying to use all those colours at once! My aim is to complete 7 blocks a week, if I stick to this, I should be done in a month and a half! I won't be holding my breath! But I shall keep updated.

vermicomposting...

2011-01-17T04:23:00.000-08:00

...I have wanted a wormery for such a long time and now we finally have one! I wanted to make one, but we were lucky enough to be given one of these lovelies for christmas.

I'm a little anxious about the worms though, I'm really worried we going to over/under feed them! But I can't wait to have all that fabulous compost and plant feed, if all does go well! They are living under the kitchen sink at the moment, but once the worst of the cold weather seems firmly behind us, they will be going in the garden.

new necklaces ::

2011-01-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

well maybe not so new, I've been making a squirreling these away for months now! I finally got round to photograhphing them all today.

Hopefully they will be in my shop sometime over the next few days.

owls for me ::

2011-01-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

I was asked to knit something for a twitter friend. I've never been asked to knit something for someone before (normally I just inflict my creations on others) so I was hugely flattered.

The pattern in question was owls by Kate Davies. I had never heard of Kate Davies and her blog needled before, but my am I glad I now have, she has some beautiful patterns! I completely adore these gorgeous paper dolls.

So anyways...as I have never knitted anything on request before, I thought it a good idea to make one for myself first (just as a practice run of course!). Off I went in to town on saturday morning (sans baby, bliss) and headed straight for the yarn shop!

Since my last visit they have had delivery of some utterly delicious new chunky yarns, which I was oh so very nearly tempted by, but having promised the Mr I wouldn't spend too many pennies and after a quick calculation, 14 balls of beautiful teal tweed at £3.10 each just wasn't going to make its way in to my basket on this occasion when compared to 7 balls of the 100% acrylic, fairly soft, a lovely colour and a snip at £1.99 each.

I cast on Saturday afternoon and I knit and knit and knit, quite solidly, breaking only for a little sleep and to occasionally tend to the toddler. At around midnight on Sunday I was so close to finishing, as I started on the neck ribbing I decided although I was eager to get it completed, I would be furious at myself for making a foolish mistake because I was tired, so I put it aside and headed to bed. I finished off the neckline and stitched the the underarms, plus weaved all the ends in, whilst watching Milo play on Monday afternoon and put it on straight away!

I don't think the pattern is perfect, there appears to be some flaws in the shaping on the back as I have a bit of a back bulge! But otherwise I really love it! The pattern suggests buttons for eyes on the owls them selves, but I have yet to decide whether or not to add these. I'm thinking I may just put them on one?

I'm afraid the photos of the finished item aren't fabulous, I'm rubbish at trying to take photos of myself!

pattern available to download as pdf for £3.50 :: here

my ravelry notes :: here

my boy the chef ::

2011-01-10T03:11:00.000-08:00

one of Milo's main christmas gifts was a little kitchen unit. It's super special because it was handmade by one of our friends for his son and it's perfect for my boy who loves to help in the kitchen.

To accompany the kitchen we got Milo some of these lovely wooden slicing fruits and just 2 days before christmas I decided to stitch him up an apron, hat and oven mitt!

I used (though really I should say that I glanced at for inspiration) these patterns for the hat and the apron. I really must reiterate that I didn't actually use this pattern, if I had I'm sure it would have turned out a whole lot better, the hat at least I'm sure, I only used it for inspiration. I wouldn't want you thinking badly of the pattern, because of my bad workmanship!

The oven mitt I made all from my head! I might try and post a small tutorial here at some point in the future if I make any more.

Most of the fabric I already had stashed away, the lovely kawaii fabric came from mine and my Mum's etsy shop, and the blue ribbon actually came from my step brothers wedding cake. I suddenly realised this in the midst of stitching it in to the apron!

I wasn't sure at first whether he would actually like dressing up in these bits, but I'm pleased to say he loves it! Watching put his little had in the mitt, declare 'hot' and then open his play oven, makes my heart swell!

another placket neck ::

2011-01-09T22:25:00.000-08:00

I made Joelle Hoverson's placket neck sweater for Milo back in the summer and I loved it! The pattern was so easy and quick to knit (it does come from last minute knitted gifts after all). It also introduced me to some new techniques, including knitting on circular needles, which is now by far my favourite way to knit.

So at when time was running out for all the holiday handknits I had promised myself I would make, I figured I'd revisit this for my youngest (and only) nephew.

I used sublime organic cotton, as he has fairly sensitive skin, I thought this would be the best bet and added stripes to the pattern. Adding the stripes meant a whole lot of weaving in at the end, which was fairly painful, but other wise all was well!

I'm afraid, it was so last minute that I didn't have time to photograph it properly, but I did get this one snap of him with my mum, whilst wearing it!

pattern available to download as a pdf on ravelry for free :: here

my ravelry notes :: here

magic yarn ball ::

2011-01-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

I learnt about magic yarn balls, somewhere on the internets back in November and imeadiately wanted to make one for someone. It seemed fairly fruitless to make one for yourself, so I figured my sister would be the perfect receiver of something so awesome.

I started planning straight away!

If you haven't heard of magic yarn balls before, they are basically balls of yarn, full of goodies! I included, chocolates, magnets, buttons, sewing needle book, earrings and right in the middle a crocheted pin cushion. I made most of the items, I included, myself. I used the pin cushion to start and then rewound the yarn around this, adding other items as I went. Therefore when my sister came to use the yarn she would uncover little prizes as she crocheted away!

I was really pleased with the way it turned out, especially as you couldn't see any of the hidden treasures peeking through. My sister had never heard of magic yarn balls before either so the whole thing was a huge surprise to her when she started using it! Making it all the better!

loveheart pixie ::

2011-01-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

I have been admiring Meg's lovely version of the stella pixie hat on her boy for a while now. But somehow it didn't seem right for Milo, plus I think that boy has quite enough hand knits for his head for the time being! But when my step sister went in to labour a little earlier than expected with her baby girl, I knew that this would be the perfect little hat for her.

In retrospect I should have tried to alter the pattern to make it smaller than the 3-12 month size, but at least it will last her a bit (though of course she probably won't fit in to it until the spring!).

I used some beautiful hand-dyed merino from snowberry and lime, I already had. I love the colours and the way it knitted up, plus I still have some left over.

I used one of my own loveheart buttons for the fastener.

pattern available to download as a pdf on ravelry for free :: here.

my ravelry notes :: here

hello ::

2011-01-07T02:40:00.000-08:00

welcome to my little (new) creative space. I have been blogging in various places for a few years now, but I wanted to set up a new place to write about and share my knitting, crochet and sewing adventures.

You can mostly find me over here. I've been making beads, buttons and ninjas from polymer clay for about 3 years now and selling them over on etsy, but I have been knitting and crocheting for a whole lot longer than that. As the ninjas started to become my business and main source of income, my knitting and crochet and stitching became more and more part of my leisure time, with the birth of my little boy 2 years ago in April I was drawn further in to knitting. Having the ability to produce soft warm garments to cover that little body is a fabulous feeling!

I set up a shop to sell some of these creations almost two years ago now, though I've never really dedicated much time to it. I feel that with the dawning of this new year it's time to put a bit more in to it all, I don't want to consider it a business as such because I fear I will begin to lose my passion for all that stitching if it started to become a necessity rather than a pleasure, but I would like to spend more of my time, developing my skills, sharing my patterns and if I can make a little pocket money for more yarn in the process then that will be a wonderful bonus!

Welcome! I hope this will be the start of a fabulous creative adventure!

January 05 2011 ::

2011-01-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

So I've been a little rubbish at keeping this blog updated, but I haven't really been doing a lot of gardening, so I guess that makes it sort of OK?!

There isn't much happening yet either it must be said, but will a haul of new gardening books from christmas and the promise of spring, very slowly, approaching, I will gradually be sowing some seeds and tidying up my new out door space ready for growing.

I can't wait to get started again and when I do I promise myself I will keep a better record of it all here!

Trusses and violas!

2010-05-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

I have some of my first trusses appearing on my tomato plants!

So exciting!

I also bought myself a few violas today.

I am completely in love with the black molly sanderson's.

Johnny feels growing flowers is wasted time and space (which is of course nonsense) so I am restricting myself to only edible flowers!

April 26th 2010...

2010-04-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

...today I have...

Planted some new potatoes and earthed up the old ones which, from above the soil at least, look like their doing really well.

And discovered a little yellow flower on one of my cucumber plants!

This is very exciting indeed, especially as two of my cucumber plants were moved outside when we literally ran out of room inside and unfortunately have not survived.

tomatoes...

2010-04-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

...so when I did all my research on growing tomatoes there were a couple of things I forgot to investigate. Mainly, how big will my plants grow, how successful will my seeds be, how many plants can I really look after/fit in our small terraced house and very small outside space??

The answer to the final question would probably have been, 4, maybe 6 at a push. How many do actually have? Hmmmm about 30.

I guess those little seeds just looked so, well little-I had no idea how well they would grow.

So currently I have set up a little space for them in the utility room where I have housed 18 of them. 6 are remaining on the most sun filled windowsills in the house and the rest have gone outside. A little early I know but there simply is no room left indoors for them.

I'm dreaming of making lots of sauces and ketchup and chutneys come the end of the summer!

a very busy month...

2010-04-24T03:46:00.000-07:00

...so I have been fairly terrible at keeping this up to date! In fact completely useless and it has been well over a month since I have blogged!

I have however been super busy planting seeds and tending to the seedlings and my terrace is beginning to look lovely indeed.

I currently have growing...

tomatoes (a LOT of them)

cucumber

spinach

carrots

onions

garlic

strawberries

various lettuce leaves

beetroot

cauliflower

cabbage

chilli peppers

yellow bell peppers

sweet peppers

basil (green and purple)

oregano

thyme

coriander

parsley

mint

potatoes

Wow it looks like a lot when you write the list out like that. As you can imagine my windowsills are looking very full at the moment. I have set up a little table in the utility room in order to free up a little space but have still had to relocate some of the cucumbers, tomatoes and pepper plants outside-some are doing surprisingly well, others are suffering horribly.

I've also spent a small fortune on pots and compost-which has led me to look into vermicomposting. As we certainly don't have room for a proper composter I think this will be a good compromise until I move in to a dream house with a huge garden. If anyone has any experience of this I would love to hear about it.

I really want to keep a better track of my seedlings so promise I will be a more regular blogger from now on!

March 4th 2010...

2010-03-04T06:44:00.000-08:00

...today I have...

planted some strawberry runners (with a little help and advice from some lovely twitter peeps)

purchased some seed potatoes and also a bag to grow them in, however the bag is way too big, not too tall but too wide, it won't fit where I want it to without causing a massive obstruction!

sown some spinach seeds

I also have another little sprout! This time it's the green basil-which looks fairly massive compared to the little purple basil sprouts!

Despite then fact majority of my pots are still inside on sunny window sills looking after little seeds, the terrace is starting to look fairly good! I can't wait for that whole space to be full up with pots and plants!

Sprouts!

2010-03-03T07:26:00.000-08:00

OK so only some very small ones and only purple basil and mustard, but it's still very exciting!

I've also taken a few pictures of the terrace in the midst of it's gardening make over.

This is the end that is all lovely and tidy and clear...

and this is the other end where all the pots and rubbish have been moved to!

Eventually of course it will all be lovely and tidy and clear and full of wonderful healthy plants!

These are the bulbs that are popping up, I'm not sure what they are yet-can't wait for them to flower.

And this funny looking mini palm tree is actually the remnants of a parsley plant I rescued from a pot that had been up on the terrace since last summer. It had such a big thick trunk I thought it might be worth trying to revive it. I've repotted it and taken off all the dead and dying leaves and I have my fingers crossed for it's progress.

what I sowed on march 1st...

2010-03-03T05:10:00.000-08:00

...yesterday I sowed a few more seeds....

chives

red pear tomatoes

orange berry tomatoes

costoluto florentino tomatoes

tigerella tomatoes

ildi tomatoes

san marzano tomatoes

cucumber

hot chilli

thyme

mustard

I put the cucumber, thyme and chilli under a propagator and put some cling film on top of the chive pot but the rest are open and all are currently sitting on various window sills around the house. Milo and I go round every morning after breakfast watering those that need it and looking out for sprouts-so far there are none at all, even the mustard seeds don't seem to be doing anything yet. Of course it's still very early to be hoping to see anything I'm sure.

Today, whilst Milo had a super long nap (due to being up most of the night!), I started work on clearing the roof terrace. It still had the very sad remnants of last years failed gardening up there. I now have a lot of pots ready for new plants and quite a lot more space than I remembered there being. I also have a few bulbs starting to emerge from pots that were left up there by the previous owners, which I'm looking forward to.

new seeds and pots...

2010-03-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

Milo and I headed out in the beautiful spring sunshine today to get ourselves some more seeds and pots. After a lot of time spent picking up various seed packets and after a lot of old ladies had come to admire Milo we finally headed off with our new investments.

I now have...

6 types of tomato

thyme

chive

spring onion

cucumber

mustard

rocket

spinach

...seeds to sow.

Hopefully they will find themselves in pots/seed trays by the end of today-as long as the little one has a nice long nap!

I was oh so close to buying some seed potatoes but was under the impression they needed very very deep pots to live in, however my sister tells me they don't need to be as deep as I imagined, so they are very much top of my list next time I find myself down the garden centre.

sowing seeds...

2010-02-27T04:53:00.000-08:00

I've had a couple fairly disastrous attempts at gardening over the past couple of years, but despite that I'm going to give it another go! As I'm actually on time for starting this year (something that may have been biggest problem in the past) and as I'm at home most of everyday now, I figure this year should be much more successful than the years gone by!

This blog is mostly an opportunity to keep a track of my progress, to keep a record of what I planted when and how well it is doing! But please feel free to add your own comments and follow me on my gardening adventure! I don't actually have a garden as such, but I'm not going to let that stand in my way! I have a very small patio area, a (dangerous for a crawling baby) roof terrace, a few window sills and quite a lot of pots, I'm hoping that will be enough for now!

Yesterday I sowed the following...

coriander

basil

purple basil

parsley

oregano

sweet pepper

I also watered the much neglected little chilli seedling (that seems to have been a seedling for quite a few months now, probably caused by the neglect) and an aloe vera plant I picked up somewhere, and placed them all on the lovely sunny windowsill in my lounge where hopefully there everyday presence will remind me to keep them watered and healthy!

I've covered each of the pots with seeds in it, with clingfilm, I read somewhere that would work as a little green house. It's worked well for me in the past when planting seeds.

Wish me (and them) luck! x