Lots going on ...

  ♥

There's been so much going on down Pootle Alley this week that I hardly know where to begin!

Well, no, I do actually -

I have to start by saying the most enormous thank you for all of your wonderful

comments on my Spring garland. Thank you so much -

I totally love this big old bloggy world and all the encouragement and

positivity that is out there.

Thank you xx

 

 

  Busy number one this week has been a little commission that came my way

when I was asked to hook up some more spring flowers,

 

 

and within a couple of evenings another miniature garden was
springing up all around me.

 

 

  This weekend it has been carefully packed into a little cardboard box and will

be sent on its way to the Big Smoke tomorrow -

 

 

  

a bit like The Chelsea Flower Show really,

 but on a teeny, tiny scale !

 

Busy 3 has been me catching up with some very long overdue Spring

cleaning in the dusty corners of my Blog space ...

I have finally, finally got around to getting my Tutorial and Pattern Sidebar

up to date, and at long last several more blankets have been added to the list,

as well as all the details of my Daisy, Autumn and Spring Garlands -

ooh and there's an updated piccy of me to boot.

 

Busy 4, 5 and 6 have all involved some fun things that I have been working

on for  Loveknitting's exciting new venture that is coming very soon ...

 

 

No words I'm afraid,
 just a few pictures
 - as my lips are sealed for a tinsy bit longer !

All in all the week seems to have sped by while all around everything seems
to be shooting up and growing,

from my pile of Wedding hearts
 

 

to the flower beds in the garden,



 

 to a suddenly very lanky and leggy Otto.

 

Have great week everyone.

♥

 

 

Let the hibernating begin ...

♥

Yup, I'm ready !

I enjoyed soaking up the last few warm sunny rays last week

whilst sitting drinking tea in the garden,

 

and thinking how many leaves there will be fluttering down from our huge

horse chestnut tree

( husband not at all happy about this )

 

 

but I am ready now to snuggle up inside and hibernate for a bit.

My sun levels are full after such a lovely, long lasting summer

and I am looking forward to the change that will come with the winter months ahead.

 

Life will gravitate from outdoorsy to indoorsy

and that's absolutely fine by me.

After all there's so much fun to be had inside....

 

.... teeny pumpkins have been made

thank you Emma @ My Red Wellies for the pattern

 

... and have decorated our table across the Halloween weekend

 

 

... with a candle lit in the evenings.

 Toffee apples have been made
 

... Halloween tights have been put on

and the day itself was well and truly celebrated

way in to the small hours.

 

♥

 

Last bits of garden tidying have been done,

with a lot of help from Otto,

 

 

... Homemade bread has been eaten with hot bowls of vegetable soup

 

and the Autumn blanket has grown so much it

 

no longer fits in the basket it is being stored in.

 

 

The kitchen has been a hive of activity with Beth and Matt 

making THE most delicious chicken pie

and the weekend was finished off in pretty much the best possible way.

♥

 

Yes, there may have been coughs and colds and chest infections  :(

but it doesn't matter,

I am indoors and staying indoors.

 

Happy Hibernating Everyone.

♥

 

Teething problems !

♥ 

So ... further to last weeks post I can now say quite definitely that puppies and crochet do not mix.

I'm not sure if it's that the blanket I'm working on is Weimeraner colour and that Otto therefore thinks its a mass of puppies waiting for a giant bundle - but that certainly seems to me to be his thought process as he just kind of leaps at me whenever I try and sneak on to the sofa,

 blanket and hook in hand.

There then follows quite a bit of tussling with me hanging on dearly to the last stitch so as not to see my work unravelling before my eyes whilst a fair amount of yelling follows to attract the attention of anyone near enough to unlock one small puppy jaw from the wool

- so much easier said than done !

 

 

I am tantalisingly close to finishing it now so it's all a little frustrating really.

I have to admit to having sneaked upstairs a couple of times this weekend when no one was looking, taking my crochet with me, and very quietly closing the bedroom door behind me.

 

 

I even have the wool for the border all ready and waiting.

I decided to go with Sirdar's Snuggly Baby Bamboo, as I think this will add a good contrast in

 texture to the slightly fluffy grey wool.

Its a really lovely yarn, smooth to work with and giving a very slight sheen to the end product.

I have linked the wool to Blacksheep Wools as that is where I bought it from with a very lovely £25.00 voucher sent to me for being their July Blogger of The Month !

 

 

I was so happy to have been chosen - a bit of a squeal moment really.

If you get a chance pop over and take a peek.

♥

In light of the fact that  sitting down activities have pretty much gone out of the window for

 the time being I have had no excuse but to get some much needed jobs done instead.

 

 

I'm sure I'm not alone in this ... but we have soooo many apples this year !

And as the birds have been merrily knocking them off the tree and pecking away

 at them it would seem they are ripe and good to pick already.

 

 

We don't have many trees,

just a sort of trellis of 2 or 3 outside our back door, but the boughs are full to bursting,

so Saturday morning was spent peeling, chopping and slicing.

 

 

I decided to freeze the slices uncooked as I figured this way I can still use them for

lots of different things.

I read a top tip about spreading them on a tray and freezing the slices for a couple of

 hours before putting them in bags as this allows the slices to all stay separate and

 not clump together in a great big solid mass.

 

Needless to say not all of the apples made it to the freezer - as having had the help of my

other half in all of the peeling, chopping and slicing work a very nasty crime may

have been committed had I not delivered an apple crumble at the end of the day.

♥ 

Obviously it has been quite essential that in between all boring jobs lots of time is spent puppy hugging, and as this little spot outside the kitchen seems to be one of his favourite places a fair amount of time has been spent here.

 

 

 

Its certainly been very interesting to see the house from lots of down on the floor angles,

and I have to say I'm really quite liking my kitchen from here !

 



 

♥ 

I'm thinking that my next little crafty make might just be a crate cover.

Lilou absolutely loved her crate when she was little and seemed to love it being

enclosed and a bit hidden away.

We are working with Otto to get him to love his crate as much ( least said on that the better ! )

and as his is a little open and exposed maybe a cover is just what's needed.

 

I made this one for Megs dog Minky a few months ago,

and now I'm wishing I'd taken the trouble to write down what I did !

Oh well, I shall just have to go and sit and think about it for a bit ...

 

 

... whilst puppy cuddling at the same time of course !

 

♥ 

It's a wrap !

♥

 I'm not quite sure how I did it, more mind over matter and a stubbornness not to be beaten than anything else I think,

but I have actually managed to work my way through the 5 pages of pattern and it is finished...

my Juju Loops wrappy shawl is completed !

I have really, really, really enjoyed my brief journey back to the land of knitting and whilst I have missed the crochet simplicity of just hook and one stitch it has been good to have had the challenge of working on something entirely different.

Yes, there were times when the language was more than a little fruity and yes, I did undo it 3 times before I eventually knew what I was doing... 

but I'm so glad I kept at it because I keep looking at it now and thinking "I did that ! "

I love all the tiny bobbles, and the loopy pattern that just magically materialised as I worked my way through, and I particularly like the curved shape around the back.

My poor husband definitely breathed a sigh of relief when I had completed the last row as every time he tried to say something when I was working on it he was met with.. " Shhhh, I'm in the middle of a row.. "

and he's even said since how glad he is to see the crochet back !

The pattern gives two variations so that it can be made in either laceweight yarn or 4 ply and mine was made with Rowan Pure Wool, 4 ply, an absolute dream to work with.

And so , there it is ..... and I love it !

 BUT,  

and I hardly dare admit this after all the hard work and you can quite definitely call me perverse,

I'm still not sure if I'm a wrappy shawl type of person .. I know, I know !

I love them on other people, and I love the idea of them - but will I use it, I don't know !

And even more perversely I have even bought some absolutely scrumptious spring green wool to make another one .... I am beyond help.

And, worse than that, I have since also knitted another pattern up from the same book, 

more of a wrap this time, 

just to try that too.

I've yet to take pictures of that one but I'll put them up soon.

♥

Aaannnyyyway .. wraps aside, how lovely is this sun ?

I know I'm not the only one making the most of it as all of your lovely blogs are so full of it too.

Long may it continue for months to come.

We have the most gorgeous flower bed in the garden at the moment, underneath the apple trees, and every time I look at it it just fills me with me glee.....

 

I'd love to be able to take the credit for it and say that I lovingly worked out a planting design, but it would be completely untrue as that's just how it was when we moved in !

I think the birds must really be loving our garden too at the moment as we have some new neighbours moving in - he literally looked right at me when I took this picture.

 

I was so surprised when I first saw him because look how close the birdhouse is to our kitchen window, I had only really put it there for decoration.

Its quite a time waster watching the happy couple making their little home comfy, they're backwards and forwards all day.

Its a lovely sight to see.

 

♥

 

With this weekends sun calling me out into the garden I have started a mini makeover on a little forgotten corner, tucked away at the back of the house.

As you can see the before photo's are really nothing to write home about,

 

 

but with a bit of weeding, and 'borrowing' of pots from around the rest of the garden,

 

 

its already looking a lot better.

 

 

My plan is that it will be my little tucked away crochet corner as its in quite a nice sheltered area, as well as being beautifully hidden away so that no-one can find me !

I have managed to find this not too expensive all weather lounge set from Wilko's that's hopefully winging its way to me right now,

and I'm hoping it will be just right when it arrives.

♥

 

In the meantime normal crochet has been resumed as I embark on Immi's Uni blanket,

 

and for those who asked I have managed to put pen to paper this weekend and

 write up the pattern for my Stripy Perpetual blanket.

Its just up on the sidebar to the left.

 

♥