Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Oooh another crochet blanket of gorgeousness!!

Don't mind if I do!! Here is my latest finish. I am soooo happy to have another finish under my belt before I go "back". Back to work that is. Now if I could just get Ann Taylor done as well....... oh and A Most Noble Pursuit and A Quaker Christmas and Helen Bell's Multiplication Sampler.... and ..... and.... oh you know.... all those ones I started way back in January....
But this will do for starters. I started it way back here.I was inspired by Lucy's blanket here although mine has two rounds in the centre not one. It is crocheted in Sublime Cashmerino Silk DK mmmmmm.... utter loveliness. Sublime indeed. Now I am manking a cushion to match withe the remnants. :)




I'll be back with an Ann update soon... very soon.
Muchas Lovas xxxxx

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Summer 2012

I can hardly believe that this summer is nearly over! I have to say that this has been the best summer yet. Last year was a total washout. Weather wise it wasn't great. Kids were bored. Nobody was around. Holiday was, well, hard to endure. But this year has been great! Kids have played out lots and lots although there has been buckets of rain here and there. We have visited tons of people and been on several mini trips which has worked out brilliantly.



One day we headed up to Formby for a trip to the seaside and it was lovely. Golden, sandy beach. Hot sun. Buckets and spades. Warm sea. We could have been abroad.



One weekend we headed up to the Lake District for a mini trip and, once again, the weather proved glorious. We stayed in this lovely place in Eskdale. The food was great and staff were helpful and friendly.





We walked the kids up Irton Pike (one of the smaller mountains) and went to the beach and just crammed so much into 2 short days. It was wonderful. Just being together as a family and doing family things was refreshing and did everyone the world of good.

Wastwater views




View from the top of Irton Pike



A little spot of fishing in the river



Husband has been away a lot again and during one of his latest trips to Japan, I decided to do the four hour drive to South Wales to go and stay with some friends I haven't seen in a few years. It was just like visiting old relatives. They made us feel warm and welcome and it was a relaxed and restful time.

Llandovery in the evening


It is a beautiful part of the country and as our host's Uncle owns a lot of land and farm land down there we took ourselves off for a little visit.

There were plenty of dogs and puppies to go around and the children enjoyed the Quad bike rides and tractors!








Goodbye folks. Thanks for a lovely time. See you soon.



In between all the holidaying, we have visited Lyme Hall park, Staircase House (oldest house, now museum, in Stockport - well worth a visit) and Larkhill Place (victorian street and museum in Salford - free and definitely worth a visit). So, all in all, we have had a fun filled holiday and I am looking forward to getting us all back in to a routine.

Going back to work is going to be a major change for all of us this year. Daughter is moving to my school and son is just starting school as well so we will all be travelling together in the mornings. I am so looking forward to starting back to teaching. I have loved every minute of being a stay at home mum for the last eight years but I have a definite need to be doing something that takes me out of the home environment. I have developed a lack of confidence and insecurity and dependence on staying at home all the time. I became almost reclusive or was verging on it. This job opportunity has definitely come at the right time and has given me the kick up the butt I needed to move out and move forward in life. It is honestly God given and I feel well and truly blessed. It is a Christian school, which reflects all the values I want my kids to be taught, the staff are so supportive and it feels so very exciting. Am I prepared? No, not quite but getting there. Am I kitted up with uniform, children and myself? No, that'll be next week's job. Am I nervous? Oh yeah. Am I happy? Most definitely. A lot has happened to me this year but I can honestly say things are on the up and up.

So, it's onto pastures new and although I will do my very very best to keep up with stitchy and crochet projects, I think my posts will not be as many as they have previously been. I do hope though, that you will join me in my new ventures as I let you all know how it goes. I'll be back very soon with some crafty finishes. Thanks for the friendship and all the smiles.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Saturday, August 04, 2012

1st August Wipocalypse

It's been a while since I posted. Sorry peeps. Just been incredibly busy with children and summer hols and preparing to return to work - that sort of thing. I am okay though and enjoying the summer. So far we have picknicked, visited museums, baked, made friendship bracelets, decorated journals, watched "Spiderman 1, 2 and 3" several times over amongst other dvds during rainy days, visited the cinema, visited friends.... and were only in the second week!!!

In fact, I got so busy, I almost forgot that this month has TWO Wipocalypse posts!!! So I figured I better get my progress in pretty quick before the next one comes up.

I have been working steadily on Ann Taylor by Heartstring Samplery. I think I am just desperate to get at least one thing finished before I go back to work because I just don't know what sort of state motivation and energy wise I will be in once I go back. So here she is up to now:



A reasonable amount of progress I think.

And onto other crafty makes..... I learned to do the continental method of knitting! Quite by accident but seriously, this method makes me knit quickly!! I can knit fast. Well, faster than I was anyway. I don't feel like I am a knitter even though I have knitted longer than I have been crocheting, but this method is very much like crocheting and so cometh a lot easier for me. I learnt it whilst also learning how to do the log cabin knitted blanket which I was first inspired by Kirsten at Cozy Things who also provided a link to here which totally blew me away!!! So, although this little piece doesn't look like anything much now, I am hoping that it will do soon - very soon.



Crochet has had a little look in as well. I have been busy crocheting up some really simple squares that I want to make into a scarf with a nice edge along it. I was originally going to edge all the squares in cream but now I am not sure if a darker border might look better. Any ideas??



So that's me folks! Short but, hopefully, sweet. Thanks for all the lovely comments and bits of encouragement you send my way. See you all soon.
☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻♥☻