Verb: pootle
poo-t(u)l To move in a leisurely unhurried way,
with no real purpose


Thursday 28 November 2013

Christmas decoration swap...

 
 Big excitement today ... a parcel from Gilly at Gilly Makes has arrived.
Its Christmas decoration swap time !


Ridiculously excited about opening it to see what's inside...
it's so beautifully wrapped up.

 
Big 'ooooohhh' ,
 look, look, look...
 

...there's three tiny patchwork stockings, the most beautiful button bauble,
a reel of ribbon and a little packet of pegs

 
I love it all, the colours are gorgeous.




The bauble is covered with tiny little buttons, all pinned in place,
and finished with a piece of velvet ribbon.
Its so delicate.
 
 Thank you Gilly so much, such a special, special package to receive through the post.
 
And now that I know that Gilly has received her parcel from me I can reveal what was inside my three little boxes...
 

 
 

...three little crochet decorations,
a robin,
 

a reindeer,
 

and a Christmas pudding.


 
A little trio of Christmas treats.

 
I had so much fun making these for Gilly,

 
packaging them all up and sending them on their way.
 
 
I'm so glad I was able to take part in this Christmas decoration Swap,
thank you Marianne from Ladybird Diaries for organising it all.

Monday 25 November 2013

Whoosh, there goes another week...

There was a very big and resounding sigh of relief at the end of the day on Friday as the weekend finally arrived.
Another busy week had just whooshed by.

I found myself crocheting in a waiting room on Thursday afternoon and it got me wondering where the strangest place is that anyone has ever crocheted ... would love to know !


Even though the weekend wasn't much less manic than the week it was a change, different things to do, different places to be, different things to get done, ...


...presents that needed to be wrapped and dispatched to New York...


...presents that needed to be finished off...


and, big tingle of excitement ....
 Christmas decorations that needed to be packed up and sent on their way to Gilly at Gilly Makes as my little contribution to Ladybird Diaries Christmas decoration swap.


This project has been so much fun to be involved in. 
I have absolutely loved thinking what to make, spending time making it and all the time 
enjoying being part of the lovely blogging network.

 

 I'm afraid you'll just have to wait a couple more days to see whats inside the boxes as I don't want to spoil the surprise for Gilly, but I did remember to takes lots of photo's before they were posted.

Strangely though in all the busyness I found myself ordering another little batch of wool. because I really haven't enough to do right now clearly!


Some lovely Rico soft merino aran in the colour pebble,


to make this....... 


I just couldn't hold it off any longer, I LOVE it !

It was in last months copy of Simply Crochet and every now and again I've taken a little peek at it, but I can no longer resist, it has to be made.



Monday 18 November 2013

For the love of blogging....

This weekend my middle daughter sent me this picture...
it made me giggle a lot.
Am I obsessed with my blog - nooooo !
 
 
Am I a little distracted at times, ummm maybe, do I sometimes miss bits of conversation here and there, well yes, quite possibly...
but as to the very serious allegations of child neglect, not too concerned about these as little Beth is actually ... 21!
However I do have to admit that I do love my blog, ALOT..

 
I can honestly say that pretty much right up to the day that I started my blog I really
 hadn't ever thought it would be something that I would do.
I wasn't even really aware of the whole world of blogs.
But when my best friend moved away I really missed our little daily crafty updates,
and suddenly there it was ... out of nothing came Just Pootling.
 
 
She blogs, The Chronicles of Emily Bronte , and I blog and all is good in the world.
Wherever she goes on her boat we can see what each other is up to.
Perfect.
It was our little going away present to each other.
 
 
I began dipping in to a few crochet blogs that people recommended, Attic 24 and Little Tin Bird being two that really taught me so much when I was learning to crochet.
One blog led to another blog and another and another and before long there was just no going back... I was hooked.
 
 
There are so many things that I love about blogging from the creativity it brings, the little circle of blog friends that I now have, the opportunity to see all the other amazingly inspirational things that others are doing, the things that I have learnt to do on my computer that I never would have learnt without my blog, to catching up with all the blogs that I follow and the little tingle of excitement when I see that one of them has a new post.
I love discovering new blogs and adding them to my list of Favourite Blogs.
 
 
So HOORAY for blogs, in all their wonderful different shapes and sizes, from here , there and everywhere.
 
Sometimes I worry that my blog may come across as me putting out there about all that I have done, and its all a bit yay, look at me and in these moments of doubt I sometimes call it my Smug, but these moments don't last long because maybe we should all sing our own praises a little from time to time.
My blog is just my little bit of me time in amongst all the hustle and bustle and madness that each day brings at home and at work, and I love it just for that reason.
What do you think ?
I'd love to know.
On a crafty front, nothing much to report today other than a piccy of the finished puppy jumper and a quick whizz round the kitchen whipping up some cakes for a charity day at work tomorrow.

 
 
Happy blogging everyone.

Thursday 14 November 2013

A tweet or a blog post ?

 
My post today quite possibly should actually be a tweet - tee hee, sorry couldn't resist that one... because it's all about some little Christmas robins that I made a couple of Christmas' ago and gave to friends and family instead of Christmas cards.
They were all sent through the post wrapped up in brown paper, and inside each little red box...
 
 
there was one of these.
 

Before they were all sent on their way ... or flew the nest, sorry, sorry, can't help myself today ...
I lined them all up for a little photoshoot.

 
They looked like a little Christmas choir,


all ready to burst in to a bit of carol singing.


They really were a lot of fun to do.

 
I can't remember exactly where I found the pattern but I managed to track it down again this year through Flickr as I wanted to make some more. Not robins this time but little coloured songbirds to match the facecloths I've made as Christmas presents.
 
 
The pattern is soooo simple to follow.
I used DK wool and a size 4 hook.
DC 6 into a circle.
DC2 into each st (12sts)
DC1, DC2 into next st*around (18sts)
 

DC2,DC2 into next st*around (24sts)
DC around
 



DC3,DC2 into next st* around (30sts)
DC around for 10 rounds.


DC3,DC2 tog* around (24sts)
DC2, DC2 tog* around (18sts)
DC1, DC2 tog* around (12sts)
I tend to stop here to leave a hole big enough for stuffing but allow a long tail of wool for the last row.


DC2 tog around (6sts)

 
To make the wings:
DC 6 into a circle
DC2 into each st (12sts)
DC3, DC2 into next st* around (15sts)
DC around for 3 rounds


And that's the crochet bit done.
Next add two safety eyes,

 
a loop of ribbon if you want the bird to hang,
 
 
stuff with soft toy filling and sew up.
 As soon as you add the beak and wings - it stops looking like a blob with eyes and becomes a little bird !
( For the robins I sewed on a little red breast made from red felt.)

 
I have added my birds to two face cloths and a little jar of body scrub and they will soon be winging ( promise I'll stop now ) their way to my three nieces in America, hopefully arriving in time for Christmas.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Anyway, must fly ... truly the last one ... as I have to get started on my Christmas decoration swap so brilliantly organised by Marianne at Ladybird Diaries.
I am more than a little excited to be involved in this and I have been paired up with Gilly from
Busy, busy, busy...