Birthday Treats

I celebrated my birthday this last week. I am now 38 and nearing that great crossroads of the big 4 0. It's a bit of a strange feeling. My mum was pregnant with me at this age. How times have changed. Part of me feels like my life hasn't even begun yet and there's so much to do and yet time is ebbing away, year by year. It makes me think a bit, you know. Anyways, it was a nice day considering I had to work and husband was away. The kids surprised me in the morning with some sweet gifts which made it a nice start to the day. One of the pupils at school made me a huge chocolate cake which was delicious! Wonderful friends bought me some lovely items including the Bavarian crochet book from Tracy. I've made a start on it which I will show you further down the post.

One treat was a getaway to Wales in the half term break. We had a mixture of weather but some glorious, sunshiny days. For those that read about it, yes we were right in the epicentre of the earthquake that happened there. Our apartment shook in the middle of the night and woke us up but no damage was done. Just a nice bit of drama to talk about the following day.

Kids did loads of activities including: target shooting, archery, sword fighting, roller blading and when the weather was nice we took ourselves off to the beach, or to Criccieth castle or to Mount Snowdon which looked spectacular. I have been up this mountain twice and can't wait for the youngest to get a bit bigger so we can all go up as a family.

Husband's gift to me is a night away in a lovely spa hotel which I have been to before. He has even managed to lend out our cuties for the night as well so we will be kid free. This is welcomed indeed as I really do need a break. So this is something to look forward to when he returns home.

So..... Crochet??? I have been doing bits and bobs since the finish of my Bumbleberry pie afghan. One thing that caught my eye was the Jan Eaton Willow pattern done in white and made into a cushion on Pinterest. So I had a little go at it on the car journey to Wales - which surprised me as I normally get travel sickness if I look down for too long in the car. This is the result. I think it would look amazing in cotton. Another idea to add to the never ending list of to dos.

And being the serial starter I am, I couldn't help but start the Bavarian crochet that Tracy bought me the pattern book for. Here is the pattern book:

This was my first attempt.

But... I couldn't help hankering after that gorgeous one I'd seen on Pinterest- yes that Pinterest is at it again! The only problem was that this lady used yarn from the US and also didn't provide a colour code. I loved this soft rainbow blend so much that I started to wonder if I could replicate it using my trusty stylecraft. I played around with some colours I had turning away the "too brights" for softer shades and this is the result. I created a colour wheel!!!

I am so impressed with myself because , as you know, I am not very confident with my colour choices. But I think I have actually cracked it! Yes! Like I have decoded some mystery or something. Ha ha. It makes me so happy. Here are the colours in sequential order:

All are Stylecraft Special Dk

Lemon

SaffronM

Shrimp

Pomegranate

Fondant

Clematis

Wisteria

Sherbet

Cloud blue

Bluebell

Aspen

Spring green

And here is my start.......

This was taken last evening. I took this one today so it shows the colours differently as they are in daylight. Ooooh I have also added another round as well.

Oh I love this sooooooo much. I am truly enjoying every little stitch. Now, about the stitches. In US terms there are some tricksy ones in there, like the back post, treble clusters but once you get the hang of them, you're away. The pattern is worked in rounds - two rounds of every colour and so once you get the hang of the pattern, you will find it is worked in just two rounds. Simples. It is also known as the Yarn/Wool eater blanket and I can vouch for this. It is definitely a yarn eater which is another great reason to do it in a cheaper yarn. There are some You Tube tutorials for the pattern although I am not sure they will be the exact same pattern as I am doing. There is one here. So, if anyone fancies joining me in this let me know and we can crochet along together.

So that's me for now. Thought I would leave you with a pic of Misty as I very rarely get a good shot of her and husband took this one and sent it to me. Have a good week all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx