Granny Bunting at Attic24!

I LOVE attic24 blog page!  I have few blogs that I discovered without pilfering from my sister's finds and this one is completely up my street!  This lovely lady has my taste in colour and design and she is a generous sharer of designs and ideas which she in turn has borrowed from others!  I wanted to share her page with my sisters as a find of my own- this didn't work, of course sister J has her already!!  Sister L will love her too as she the Granny Square queen, I'll explain....
Lucy from Attic24 has designed a fab Granny- Triangle to use for bunting.  Aren't they beautiful? 

She has posted a free pattern and photo tutorial and has asked if anyone wants to make triangles for Yarndale which is a craft festival being held on the Yorkshire Dales on the 28th-29th September (I wish it were nearer).  She is making these into a huge bunting with a deadline of end of July (ish).  I am definately going to make some as a thankyou for some of the inspiration she has given me already- Who fancies chipping in? 
http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2013/05/granny-bunting-love.html
 By the way here are some of her ideas that got me crocheting again after a mini draught!

Her beautiful Granny's flower cushion was just what I was looking for as a cushion project!  I've worked up all the squares now- and used a cushion to check  rough sizing.  She has a stunning tutorial for a flower petal cushion too that I want to make.

Her cute little dk cotton circles were perfect for the hair clips I was making for my school fete!

  These are going to be in "The Lucky Clip Dip". Children can plunge a hand in to pull out two random clips!

Batch One is in dk cotton and batch Two is currently being made from my wool scrap bag.  I hate to use a cliche- but it's a serious great stash busting scrap buster!  Hannah, of course, chose pink girly ones...

Thank you Lucy- You are a rainbow of colour on this dreary day!

Happy Belated Easter!

Easter is officially turning into a middle-aged woman’s dream!  I’m sorry but it’s true!  Everything cute and lovely is being marketed in pastel shades and displayed in gorgeous Easter windows to temp my poor, weak willed mind.  A walk in John Lewis at Easter time causes hubbie to groan and find somewhere to take the girls for a few minutes (normally giving in and buying them a little treat along the way.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those crazy buyers who leaves weighed down with precious parcels and a whopping overdraft.  I am a browser and pilfer many little ideas on the way.  This time, I did shock my husband by actually BUYING a few bits and, desperate for a bit of Easter weather, made my own little corner of sunshine.  I fell in love with the felt baskets for my girl’s Easter hunt and thankfully, they let me “borrow” to pop some of their eggs and bunnies into.  I bought a little box of trinkets as well but my favourite were the paper egg shades!  I must admit, that they were actually meant for someone else but…..I just couldn’t give them up!  I followed a friend’s example of taking blossoming twigs from the garden and had the girls decorate a vase each.  Now, with a plan for a few felt creations, I will quickly amass my own Easter box and fill it with trinkets and some of my lovely sisters crochet cuties (the bunny is MINE and not for my girls- honest).

I have come to the conclusion that Easter is now the new Christmas.  With the sunshine, colours, flowers and desire to be outside, crafty folk are all having a fresh kick of creative impulses and now have another event to lavish their time on.  So, happy belated Easter everyone and may your Easter box be full of gorgeous things!

The jean genie lives on his back!

Yup.  We have a Jean Genie  in the house (although in my mind, it's a girl).  She is talked to each morning as we come down the stairs, makes various journeys around the house by one or both tiny tikes and settles down for the night after the cat goes out.  I was going to add eyes and a nose but she frankly doesn't need 'em!
This quick fix was to help the draft but ended up really helping to deal with the upstairs window condensation issue we always have when it gets chilly.  Thinking about it, it makes sense that the drafty door was sucking in cold air to condense upstairs so this little gem is a great help!  It's so easy to do- I got the idea from "Super Scrimpers" tv show on channel 4.

1. Cut the legs off an old pair of jeans (I needed both legs to make a super size one).
2. If using both legs, you will need to re-stitch along the seam to make the legs straight.
3. Turn inside out and stitch legs together.
4. Turn back and press.
5. Gather up some old towels and roll tightly.
6. Stuff the tube (this takes longer than the rest of the project).
7. Tie ends ribbon!

This took under an hour with the sewing machine and the ribbons mean that the towels can be reused!

"Our daughter's daughters will adore us!" Suffragette Rosette

Hello Peeps!  I'm back from a week on the Isle of Wight and have Internet again!  This holiday jolt always does me good as it reminds me of my little blog and how I have missed it!  When I started this a few years back, I was posting every spare minute.  But, as time has worn on, spare moments have become harder to find.  This year sees a little let up (I hope) as my girls start to spend longer periods playing without Mummy on her hands and knees.  Work- which is always crazy is starting to settle and with this year seeing my little blue-eyed baby starting playgroup, well, I may have a bit of time to breathe again!

As I said, back from hols and feeling pretty chilled.  Three loads of laundry..check, Hoovering..check, Easter decs up.. check and Girls playing for a spell..checkity-check-check!  By the way- Snow, hail, ice and gale winds made an out-and-about holiday a real "treat".

Okay, the next few posts will be catch up- kind of a "Crafty Spring Clean".  There's a few little lovelies to share before I allow myself to move on and start anew.  This one has been waiting patiently as I tried to save a newspaper image (these things do take me a while, you know).  Hero day was my brain child and was such a hit last year that we went for it again this year (See previous post for me dressed as Mother Teresa!).  Everything conspired against me, from the snow, school closures, Ambulance man for class visits getting lost and a child from Nursery stealing my handcuffs!  It was a week of events with speakers from H4H and all the emergency services!  We had the fire brigade, Ambulance and Police and everyone dressed up.  I knew I wouldn't have the time to make up the costumes from scratch as I did last year so, I allowed myself a little cheat.  Katie's was shop bought and was, of course, far too huge.  I had fun finally using my dressmakers pin cushion for some quick-fix alterations for her to go as a young Queen Elizabeth I.  She was picked by her class to go for the "Awards ceremony" and we were all photographed by the local newspaper (who were also, very late...)

I know it's vain but....I look fab!  In the paper and I actually like the ruddy picture!  All that practising for the wedding photos paid off as the photographer only had time to snap a couple.  My costume cost £5 after hitting the charity shops hard and adding from my wardrobe.  The hat was a real find for £2 and the hand cuffs received the usual jokes (I bought them for the day, I swear). 

But the rosette- Oh the rosette...

It really made me proud that I was able to sit down, google an image of an original and make up such a lovely copy.  The only error (which was so frustrating) was that I stuck the ribbons the wrong way round.  As usual, I was finishing it up late one night and was having an excuse to use my new glue gun!  In my haste to attach them, I put them on wrong and the sodding glue was too good- darn it!  It is beautiful though, I even traced the text from the screen and used as a guide to embroider the letters.  I love it and it is carefully nestled in my dressing table drawer to see each morning.  I wonder when I'll get to wear it again?



Happy Hats ( in time for the snow!)

It' s snowing!  Ok, well, maybe not right now.  But it was when we left the house this morning!  It was that perfect, slow, feathery flakes like the ones that "stay on your nose and eyelashes" which makes us all sigh and long to play outside.
So, I am happy that for once I have made a hat just when I need it.  A funny project as this was supposed to be a relaxing treat for myself ( I never get round to making things for myself).  My hat was a loving mix of wool that I had used for my berry baby hats and booties . Debbie Bliss cashmarino which is super soft and such a treat to use.  I found a pattern from one of my earliest crochet books and tried to match the look of my mother' s day flower brooch .  It was a simple pattern worked on a chained base, slipstitched into a ring with reducing rows of triple crochet.  This was great for a simple project and made it very easy to tweak for a perfect fit.  This proved to be very handy as I ended up making four in five days!
My tiny little treasure decided- quite forcibly- that I was to make her one next and her colour choice could not be changed....I did manage to tone down the lurid pink much to her disgruntled opinion but she has forgiven me now!
Just when the pattern book was going away, tiny miss trouble insisted that big sister needed one too!  This was accompanied by much begging and hugging by both girls as I tried to get out of a third hat- she had just got one for Christmas so I wasn't really being mean....  We decided to make a cool school version as a compromise after her last school hat was "lost" at school one week.  As that was a handmade hat, I am still surprised that it hasn't turned up.  This one is going to be hard to mistake as anyone's but Katie' s!  You may have noticed that Katie is also holding one.  Silly me tried to rush the last one and made it too small ( but next doors little girl who goes to the same school loved it!)
So, four great hats in five days.  On their own, they look fab. All together, we look a bit....um.....matching (strange but sweet)

Santa' s Mince Pies.

This Christmas has been less crafty than I would like but I managed to get a few last minutes done and wrapped just before the big day!  I'm just so out of practice with my little blog that I forgot to take pictures of some of them.  There was a pretty little brooch from a free Mollie makes pattern for my niece, a collection of felt Fa La La decorations, fudge, biscuits and some great wrapping- never mind eh! I make it my New Years promise to be more Bloggy this year!
These tasty morsels stitched up a treat, I especially liked the cardboard base for weight and holding the shape.  These pies were happily received by my two baby nephews to add to their crochet lunch bags made earlier this year.

Christmas Feltie- Trees (in bulk)

Here's to Christmas and making decorations in bulk!  I really must get a wriggle on and create my own Felties designs as I always enjoy working in multiples.  My inspirational sisters encourage me to start my own little business.  And now that I have found a specific taste and a bit of a personal style, I think that 2013 Is the year to get the business ball rolling! So watch this space!

These darlings come from that lovely Fa La La favourite- Definately an all round classic!