Beginnings :: and the end of maternity leave ::

Last Monday my blog reader and social media feeds came alive with bloggers joining in with A Playful Day's love your blog challenge. At the time I thought 'what a fabulous idea' and loved reading everyone's stories of community and interaction, as was the theme. What with birthdays to celebrate and school holidays to contend with, my desire to take part was thwarted by a lack of time, but when I saw this weeks theme, 'beginnings', it seemed so apt I knew I should join in.

Yesterday I went back to work. I've been on maternity leave since the end of July. I decided to start my leave almost 2 months before Effie was due because it gave me the chance to take the summer holidays off and spend some time concentrating on Milo before his world was changed significantly. As it stands Milo is unbelievably laid back about these things and has allowed his new sister to slip seamlessly into his life without any upheaval. But having that summer break was such a lovely thing.

My time, however, is now up and it's time to get back to it. I know how lucky I am to be self employed. Going back to work for me is simply changing the location I spend most the day within my own home, which as it stands is still in the same room even. I still get to see my little girl throughout the day, I'm there when she's hungry, I can watch her play and develop and I'm there to settle her to sleep at nap times. I worked hard through Milo's early years to be lucky enough to be in this position. Now I have two to tend though I wonder how much more difficult balancing work and childcare is going to be.

If you don't know I have two main streams of income, my Etsy shop, selling handmade items from polymer clay and knit and crochet design. Both are pretty time consuming endeavours in different ways, but as they're such varied jobs it's quite easy to fit different aspects of work in around my everyday.

I thought a lot about starting a new venture when I was on leave, but for now, with everything else going on in my life I think sticking to what I know best is the best option for me.
So with that in mind yesterday pulled out all my existing etsy stock and started getting ready to open up again. Today I'm planning on working on the crochet part of my business and getting some patterns ready for republishing. Fingers crossed for long nap times and a baby who remains immobile just a little bit longer!

Win :: £15 to spend at Lilley.etsy.com

As you are probably aware by now, I shall soon be going on my maternity leave.  I have officially decided to shut up my shop when the summer holidays begin, so the closing date will be Sunday 20th July.  I figured this would give me time to spend with Milo over the holidays before the baby arrives (plus I am no where near to being ready to have a new baby join us!).

So until then I'm offering 30% off across my shop with the coupon code HELLOBABY I probably won't be reopening the shop until 2015 so if there's anything you want to get your hands on now is a great time to do so.

If you don't already have an etsy account, you can sign up using this link to get yourself a fabulous £5 credit to spend in any etsy store that accepts gift vouchers!

I'm also offering 1 lucky reader a chance to win £15 to spend in my shop, all you need to do is enter using the rafflecopter form below.  The competition will close next Sunday to allow the winner a week to spend their prize.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Planning Maternity Leave and a Sale ::

I'm starting to plan my maternity leave, though I have no date officially set in stone yet, I'm thinking probably end of July beginning of August to coincide with Milo's summer holidays.  We're going to be away a far bit during the holidays and I really wanted to have plenty of time to spend with Milo, enjoying each others company.  As any parent who works from home knows, I'm sure, trying to work when you have little ones around, never really goes as well as you might have hoped.

So I shall be closing up my little etsy shop in around 5-6 weeks, until then I'm offering 30% off across the store with coupon code HELLOBABY.  I'll most likely be away until well into 2015 so if you want to stock up on ninjas for christmas, lovehearts for valentines or buttons for your own crafty needs now's the time to do it!
Also if you're not already an etsy member, sign up using this link to get a £5 gift voucher!

I'll still be blogging and around social medias during that time, but I won't be doing any 'proper' work. My maternity leave allowance will take me up until May 2015, but I don't know how I'll feel about not working all that time, it's possible I'll come back early and my sister has mentioned minding my shop for a bit for me, maybe over the christmas season, but at the moment that all seems too far away in the future to think much about, especially whilst the important task of delivering a baby into the world awaits.

FO Friday :: Little Flowers ::

So I haven't quite finished the cardigan yet, there was little unknitting to do following a couple of silly mistakes, but I do have a finished object(s) to share today, hooray!

Namely a collection of little flowers, made for the lovely Bex of Stuffed Nonsense, who requested them to attach to a lampshade.

These are super fun and easy to make, such a satisfying little project.

I shall try and get the pattern written up in the next day or so and ready to download if anyone fancies hooking up a little extra springtime sunshine.

For more FO Fridays check out Tami Amis' blog.

Edited to say the pattern is now available for free download on ravelry here.

yet another blanket ::

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!

japanese pattern book sew along ::

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!

continental style ::

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 ::

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 ::

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 ::

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 100, 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 ::

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.

heart granny square ::

 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 ::

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 * a further 2 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!