Having A Go At Embroidery

Morning all, I hope you're all well and enjoying the sunshine today. A few complained about the rain over the weekend but it was gratefully received in our garden. We've had a pretty good summer so far which has meant hardly any rain, so a chance for the water butts to refill is always nice.


I recently had a go at some embroidery having bought a little beginners kit recently off of Etsy, which I'm yet to start. In between all the crochet it's nice to do some sewing and I'm in the process of making a hanging wall organiser, decorated with a bit of embroidery. I'm quite pleased how this has come out anyway for my first attempt - something you have to be patient with!

I should have more photos of the finished product to show you soon.

Jo, I'm conscious I haven't yet posted the chocolate cake recipe yet, promise to try and get round to it before I go on holiday! I can't deny Mike and the boys chocolate cake! :-)

Have a great week everyone!

Em x

My First Commissioned Piece Of Crochet!

Morning everyone, I hope you're all well! I'm going to start by saying that I personally won't be talking about anything to do with the EU referendum as I'm quite sick of it now. Yes I did vote, but all the negativity I'm hearing this morning is really starting to bring me down, I try very hard to always be a positive person. I believe that now votes have been made and after this initial phase (Where we're all a bit uneasy, the markets will jump around etc.), I think we need to be positive and move forward. There, that's all I'm going to say! :-)

Happy Lobelia in my new pot outside the front door

Moving onto my 'put your brave girl pants on' news; I finally plucked up the courage to believe in my crocheting abilities a little more and when my friend approached me and asked me to make some baby booties as part of a hamper she was putting together for her friend who's expecting in August I finally agreed and have been busy making them since the weekend. I'm not very good at believing in what I'm capable of and most of the time I use the excuse of "I'm just practicing" but I've finally been brave and I'm quite pleased with the results of these little shoes. I just need to steam them and set them a bit - they're equal sizes but I pulled on them quite a bit as I sewed the buttons on so they're a bit out of shape.

The finished item

I had good fun making these anyway; I had a pattern to follow but in the end I adapted it quite a bit as I wasn't pleased with the overall look of them. I call them mini loafers anyway and as the baby's sex isn't known I've tried to keep them quite neutral in colours. The yarn I used was a Katia brand, a beautiful soft merino and it's machine washable too which is great. I chose to do a cream sole and the remainder of the shoe is grey. I've finished off the shoes with a little button on the front and they should hopefully fit the new-born baby (they're 0-3 months in size).

Lovely soft yarn

I found these surprisingly easy to make, if a little fiddly because they're so small and dainty. My friend is very pleased with them anyway so that's a big relief!

Work in progress...

I've got a few other crochet and sewing projects on the go at the moment anyway with the view to selling them through an Etsy shop. I just need to be brave enough and believe in myself that I can do it! So watch this space (if I keep those big girl pants on)!


Em x

Having A Go At Amigurumi

I've had a nice quiet weekend at home getting on with various jobs while Jack is away. He's not back until Wednesday so it's just me and the Dog. I had a lovely long catch up with my best friend (Jess) on Friday afternoon; she had a wonderful honeymoon and we chatted about life in general for ages (the ups and the downs - you can always rely on your best friend to listen to your troubles and help in any way she can). I got lots of housework done on Saturday which included sorting 'that corner' and 'that drawer' out, surely everyone understands me when I say that - we all have a corner and a drawer where things get dumped for sorting at a later date! I then spent the rest of the weekend either taking Barry for walks or doing some crochet and have a go at Amigurumi.

One of Jess' friends is having her first baby at the beginning of August and Jess is putting together a hamper for her of various baby gifts. Jess has asked me to crochet some baby booties and I'm quite excited by my first official project, rather than using the excuse that I'm 'just practicing' all the time! I've been doing a lot of practicing to make sure I get my stitches and tension right and have discovered that they're actually not too difficult to make. I popped to the local wool shop a few villages away, called YarnFest and bought some gorgeous yarn to make booties with. Progress photos to come soon (I forgot to take any photos - a first for me!). Please do have a look at YarnFest's website and if you are this way then do visit their shop. It's in an old telephone exchange building in a village not far from me and they have a fantastic choice of yarn and other knitting and crochet accessories. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful too which I really appreciate when I still feel like I have so much to learn and the prices were very fair for good quality yarn.

I've also been practicing my Amigurumi recently and it's really good fun, if a little fiddly. I'm determined to make a teddy bear and other animals but my first bear attempt looks more like an alien! Oh well, practice makes perfect. I am however very pleased with how my cute little donut turned out (complete with sprinkles!) and a cute little whale too. I love whales; I intend to make another one out of a nice blue yarn that I have. Have any of you had a go at Amigurumi or (what I call) 3D crochet? I'd love to see what you've made and if you have any useful websites, books etc. that you can recommend then that would be great.

Little Whale in progress...

And the finished item, so cute!

And I love my little donut, looks so cute and tasty! I want to make some bigger versions now!

I bought these lovely stitch markers too from a shop on Etsy; they're handmade here in England and I like to do my part at supporting small businesses.

I'll hopefully have more projects to show you soon!

Em x

Handmade Gift; Scrabble Artwork

Just a quick post about a recent project I worked on, making this simple but fun piece of artwork for my brother and his girlfriend as a moving in present. It was very cheap to make and quite easy too, though it was fiddly making sure my angles were nice and as straight as can be. The scrabble pieces I bought from eBay a while ago as I was going to make something similar for our home.


It caused a few light hearted arguments on Saturday over who's name totals the most scrabble points!

Em xx

Latest Project: Making a Terrarium

I've taken up yet another hobby (before completing outstanding projects... story of my life!) and I had such good fun with this one. I'm an avid Pinterest user and kept stumbling across Terrariums and became quite fascinated by them, so decided to give it a go myself.

I went to Homesense on Saturday while Jenna was here and it's a great shop. Lots of beautiful things at very good prices; they're in partnership with TK Maxx I believe. One of the items I found was a beautiful glass terrarium in the shape of a lightbulb. It has a nice flat bottom so can be sat on the side somewhere or it can also be hung.

Once Jenna had gone home yesterday (after a lovely girly weekend together), I popped to the Garden Centre to buy supplies for my terrarium. They have cute miniature succulents there, I bought some small grit/stones to help retain moisture and a small bag of compost specifically for cacti and succulents (they're sometimes called Air plants too, or is that an American term?).


Once home I set about following some instructions I found on the internet to build my terrarium and I'm pleased to say it was fairly easy, though a tad fiddly and I'm really pleased with the finished result. They'd definitely make wonderful gifts for people and I'm already considering making one for a couple of friends who've said they like them.

It is currently sitting on the dresser until I decide where to put it but ideally I'd like to hang it in the conservatory (where Jack won't bump his head on it!), but I currently have a hanging basket I've planted growing in there - I always keep them indoors for as long as possible to let the plants establish in the nice warm room before hanging it outside our front door.




I definitely have the terrarium bug now and want to have a go at a few more; I love the moss-filled ones that people create and turn into miniature fairy gardens and other scenes. I've got a teeny tiny horse figurine somewhere that would look perfect on a little moss hill! Jack is a typical bloke and when I chatted to him about it on the phone last night he feigned interest when really he's thinking I've lost the plot! Perhaps I have, but it was very therapeutic.




Have a good week everyone! I'm off to read your blogs and see your latest projects!


Em x

Chocolate Easter Cake

Hi All,


Yesterday I spent forever hours baking a rich chocolate cake which I then decorated with an Easter theme (called an Easter basket cake). I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I think that's only because I did actually take my time for once rather than rushing the decorating part.

So it's a very moist and rich chocolate cake, with fresh whipped cream sandwiched in between, then covered with a thick chocolate frosting, with green sugar sprinkles to represent the grass. Then, mini eggs and little chicks to finish the Easter decorations.

Jack wanted a slice of it last night but I slapped his hand away and put it safely into its container and in the fridge ready for Jack's parents who are due to arrive with us this evening. They have a sweet tooth like Jack so despite it being a rather large cake, I don't think it will take long for us all to polish it off, I might even treat myself to a small slice if I can manage how sickly sweet it will all be (give me savoury any day)! I think I upset my new work colleagues when they got wind of the fact I like to bake but didn't bring anything in for them, oh well it will be their turn next!

While busy baking up a storm in the kitchen yesterday (or making a big mess as Jack says), I also tried a new recipe following on from one of the New Years Resolutions I set myself this year and cooked something new at least once per month; I did a simple but very tasty Chicken and bacon potato pie. It was creamy and lovely and I served it with some tenderstem broccoli. It was so easy to put together and pop in the oven once the cake had come out and made for hardly any washing up either - the perfect kind of meal!

Thanks for all your love for Barry, he's feeling much better and just about his normal self again, so he sends big wet kisses to you. He's back on his normal food (much to his dismay as I think he prefers boiled chicken and rice to his usual biscuits), back to normal walks and just his usually happy chappy self, so a big relief for us. The illness cause still remains a mystery; we're waiting for biopsy results but they think the likelihood is that these will only show up inflammation and obviously we'd rather they came back clear anyway. The vet seems to think he might just be the kind of dog that has a bad flare up (kind of like IBS) every so often and it will result in a stay at the vets for him each time in order to get fluids into him because he gets so dehydrated from the days of constant sickness. Hopefully he doesn't have too many cases of it because he's a fit and healthy dog apart from that and doesn't have too many disgusting habits, though he can't say no to a little taste of a rabbit poo or two on a walk...!

Sleepy yesterday evening after a long walk and monitoring my baking progress - he refuses to go and have a lie down while I'm cooking and instead stands in the kitchen doorway the whole time watching me. Jack says one day Barry will take himself off for a lie down but I highly doubt it, he doesn't ever stop!

Right, I had better get on with tidying the house and making up the guest bed before Jack's parents arrive. Jack is on hoover duty and I'm on bed making duty (because for the life of him he's useless at putting a duvet cover on!), then we're rewarding ourselves with a very rare Dominos pizza treat seeing as it's the long weekend and pay day today.

Have a lovely Easter everyone, hot cross buns in the morning!

(Apologies for talking non-stop about food...)

Em x

Valentines Weekend & Crochet

Hi All, hope everyone had a lovely weekend and a belated Happy Valentines to you all! I know lots of people differ with their views on Valentines Day; we met up with our friends at the local garden centre café for a catch up and they're completely against it, whereas Jack and I have always celebrated it, mainly because I'm a hopeless romantic! Always have been and always will be - love a happy ending, love a chick flick, love a good Jane Austen book, I just love LOVE!

Jack and I went to Bristol for a trip out on Saturday; it was our first visit here and we had a wander around but mainly kept near the shops as the weather was abysmal. We had a nice lunch out though at Brasserie Blanc before heading home again. It was a nice day anyway and nice to spend time together and the first weekend Jack's not had to work in a long long time. I surprised Jack with a weekend away that I've booked in a lovely B&B pub in the Wye Valley. We go in April, take Barry with us and can't wait to explore somewhere new! I'll tell you more about it nearer to the time.

I did manage to make some time for some crochet this weekend and had fun having a go at some crochet flowers. I successfully managed to make a daffodil and a rose, photos of the daffodil below. I also made a cute 3D red heart following Just Pootling's instructions, which can be found on her lovely blog here. I'm quite impressed at my first attempt, there were no tears or tantrums and other than the fact one side of the heart looks bigger than the other it's turned out quite well for a first attempt!

 

I'm now going to try and make a whole series of daffodils in different yellow/white shades if I can, watch this space!

 

I also bought some lovely coloured threads from eBay a while ago as I wanted to have a go at thread crochet; I made a few initial attempts and did huff and tut a lot because it's mighty fiddly! Oh well, practice makes perfect yes? I hope to have some photos to show you soon...

 

 

I was a busy girl yesterday giving the house a tidy and spruce up. I made Jack a tasty lunch for work this week; Italian style beef meatballs in a red pepper and Bolognese sauce, with fusilli pasta, which should keep him going on these long days he's working at the moment. I made some soft white bread rolls; the dough of which went crazy in our warm kitchen while I was cooking our roast dinner. I dusted them with semolina before they went into the oven; I like the slight crunch it gives the bread.

The weather was beautiful here yesterday so we went for a lovely Valentines walk up the gallops and onto The Ridgeway. It was so nice walking along in the sunshine and Barry enjoyed chasing crows and running along at 100 mph!

 

A short while after returning from our walk a delivery driver knocked on our door with a beautiful bunch of red roses for me and Jack stood behind me with a proud grin on his face for managing to surprise me. They're beautiful and came with a lovely jug too and are now sitting on the living room windowsill next to my Gerbera which is beginning to flower again. I'm a lucky girl :-)

 

 

 

We also managed to collect my glazed pottery first thing on Sunday morning and I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out. It looks slightly like a child has painted it and proved to me that I must take more care next time but I'm happy nonetheless and Barry loves his new water bowl... not that he's told me that, I'm just assuming he does!

 

Excuse my spotty socks in the photo! Barry's Water Bowl

 

Pencil Pot for my craft room

 

Flower Pot

 

 

Lastly, while waiting for above mentioned bread to rise and while catching up on some paperwork I came across a bag of plant labels, so I decided to decorate a few in anticipation of getting started on some seed planting in the coming weeks. I'm determined to be organised this year and see how successful we can be at growing some of our dinners. The flowers I grew last year were mostly successful too so I hope the ones I plan on planting this year will be. I love Gaillardia and they come up every year full of beautiful orange/red/yellow flowers. I plan to put them in the front border below our kitchen window to add some contrast to the cream colour of our house walls.

 



 

It's my last week at work this week, it's certainly come around fast. Lots to try and get done before I leave, but we've planned a nice lunch out on my final day with my work colleagues so I'm looking forward to that. Then I've got a long weekend before starting my new job. I'm excited about getting started at my new job but I'm also super nervous about it :( I hope it goes ok...

Have a lovely week everyone, wrap up warm!

Em x

Pottery Painting

I had been looking forward to yesterday for a number of weeks as it finally meant a girls day out. I don't have many of these, I'm a home bird and I like my own independence, but there's times where you do need the company of your friends and I've got some lovely friends so it was great to have a girly day! The girls were all very impressed with my idea of visiting a local pottery painting studio and it was something different to do (I'm not a fan of clothes shopping, I actually hate traipsing around clothes shops, though home décor shops are another matter!). We went to Leapfrog Ceramics in Thatcham, which isn't too far away from where I live or where my friends live either so it was a good meeting point for us all.

It was lovely and sunny yesterday (before Storm Imogen arrived - hope you're all safe and no-one has been too badly affected by the strong winds and torrential downpours) and we all took quite a while at first to decide what to paint as there was so much to choose from. Pieces ranged in price but were quite reasonable and the studio fee was £1.95 each. They also did a 3 for 2 on all pottery so I decided on a dog bowl for Barry, a flower pot for the kitchen windowsill (for some sort of herb growing) and a pencil pot for my craft desk.

My finished pieces, ready to be fired and glazed! I get to pick them up later this week.

 

It was lovely nattering away while painting; I have come to the conclusion that my 'art' looks quite child-like and I need to do more practicing before going back again! I am however happy with my pieces and I'm looking forward to seeing what they look like once they've been glazed. The girls also enjoyed themselves and the photo below shows our pieces once painted, awaiting glazing.

 

 

I'll do a blog post in the next few days to hopefully show you the finished pieces once they have bee glazed, the colours should then look much bolder which is good! In all, a really good fun day out and we spent quite a few hours in there. I'd definitely like to go back again and would happily while away and hour or two in here on my own. They do a ladies night where a free buffet is provided, no studio fee and you can bring your own wine, so we may try and attend that if we can as it sounds like good fun!

 

Em x

21st December: Crochet Christmas Decorations

Hi all, hope you had a lovely weekend, last few days and then it's Christmas!!

Here's a few photos of some festive crochet pieces I've made recently and I've included links under the photos to where you can find free patterns to make them too. Most took about half an hour each to make and can be strung together to create a garland or hung individually on your tree!

Christmas Wreath

 

Holly Leaf

 

Christmas Tree

 

Em x

17th December: Handmade Gifts No.4 - Crochet Infinity Scarf - Free Crochet Pattern!

I'm usually very shy about showing off my creations, worrying about what others will think (worrying is my middle name!), but I'm so over the moon with how this crochet infinity scarf turned out that I want to show it off! I only taught myself how to crochet a few months ago and became a bit crochet-obsessed in the process. This was the second scarf I made having made myself a mesh-style scarf first. This scarf I've made for my best friend, Jess, as part of her Christmas present and I do hope she likes it.

 

I've made it in a lovely light pink colour with a soft aran & alpaca yarn. Jess loves this kind of colour so I think I've chosen well. I decided to do this scarf as an infinity scarf as they're my favourite and I didn't really follow a pattern for this but instead chose my favourite crochet stitches to put together to make a nice scarf with a pretty shell pattern in the middle. It took me a LONG time to make the scarf and at one stage I had to back track quite a lot as I changed my mind halfway through (as you do!). I'm hoping I'll get quicker at making this type of thing as time goes on and by the end I was speeding through the stitches. There's certainly something very therapeutic about sitting down with a crochet hook and yarn and creating something. Some might add that a cup of tea goes down well at the same time but I'm one of those strange people that doesn't like any hot drinks so I'll stick with a glass of water or lactose free milk (lactose intolerant too!).

 

Here are instructions on how to crochet this scarf. I've used abbreviations and I'm afraid there aren't any instructions on the different stitches but if anyone gets stuck please please ask me and I'll be happy to help. This is my first ever time at writing out my own crochet pattern and I've checked it numerous times! It was fun to be able to make up my own based on what I learned when making my last infinity crochet scarf and choosing an array of stitches (which was also good practice).

 

You Will Need:

7mm Crochet Hook

2x 100g balls of 4" Aran Yarn

Scissors

 

Abbreviations:

ss - Slip Stitch

dc - Double Crochet

tr - Treble Crochet

dtr - Double Treble Crochet

 

Important Notes:

I've used UK crochet terms, please see below for a conversion chart for reference. I've split my instructions into the three different sections of this scarf to make things easier. I also used 2 balls of yarn (as outline above) simultaneously to add extra thickness to this scarf.

 

 

 

Instructions:

 

Section 1:

• Chain 180. ss to first to create a ring, but make sure you check that the chain hasn't become twisted before doing the ss.
• Chain 1, then dc around and ss to first.
• Chain 3, then tr around and ss to first.
• Chain 4, then dtr around and ss to first.

 

Section 2:

• Row 1:
• Chain 1, 1 dc in 2nd chain from hook. *Chain 1, 1 dc in each of the next 4 stitches. Chain 2, 1 dc in each of the next 4 chains. Repeat from * until the last 2 chains. 1 dc in each of these last 2 stitches. Ss to first.
• Row 2:
• Chain 1, *1 tr, chain 2, 1 tr in 1-chain space (created in previous row). 2 tr, chain 1, 2 tr in 2-chain space (created in previous row). Repeat from * until round is finished. Chain 2 and then ss to first.
• Row 3:
• Chain 1, *2 tr, chain 1, 22 tr in the 2-chain space. 1 tr, chain 2, 1 tr in the 1-chain space (so kind of the opposite of what you were doing in row 2). Repeat from * until the round is finished, chain 2 and ss to first.

 

Section 3:

• Chain 4, dtr around and ss to first.
• Chain 3, tr around and ss to first.
• Chain 1, dc around and ss to first.
• Fasten off and thread in any loose ends.

 

Hopefully that all makes sense! I've done it nice and simple I think and the scarf was good fun to make. The trickiest part is making sure you don't get the ring twisted at the start. If anyone would like the pdf document of the crochet pattern to print then please let me know and I'll send it to you.

 

I'm really pleased at how the scarf turned out; it's quite weighty but lovely and soft so hopefully won't be scratchy around the neck. I really hope Jess likes it!

 

If anyone else would like me to make them one, for themselves or as a gift, please do let me know!

 

Here I am modelling said scarf, this one was too nice to model on the dog, not to mention too big!

 

And here it is all wrapped up, ready to give to Jess!

 

Em x

14th December: Handmade Gifts No.3 - Mini Fruit Loaves, Cushions and Ipad Cases!

Just a few more handmade gift ideas for anyone who may be struggling for ideas. All of these were easy to make/bake/sew.

Mini Fruit Loaves
Jack bought me a lovely mini loaf pan from Lakeland a few years ago and I love it! It's heavy and they usefully have loose-bottoms. So far I've only done simple mini fruit loaves using the tray but I think some mini lemon drizzle loaves would be very good, that's going on one of my lists for a rainy day!

Please let me know if you'd like the recipe I use for making my boozy fruit loaves

 

I used some cellophane and ribbon to keep my mini fruit loaves fresh

 

 

Cushions
I made some cushions for my parents' house in France a few years ago. I opted for feather-filled cushions from John Lewis, but Dunelm also have a great range with lots of different shapes and sizes. I bought some fabric from Ebay in two varying colours and I sewed a nice piping around the edge of the cushions too. This was a cheap gift idea and I loved spending the evenings doing some sewing - this year crochet has definitely replaced my sewing obsession, who knows what it will be next year!

 

 

Ipad Sleeve/Case

I made this for my Mum's friend and was so pleased with how it turned out that I also made myself one. It doesn't require a lot of fabric - I made this with a fat quarter, some wadding, a few beads and some ribbon for edging. Again, this was a very simple sewing project; I used my sewing machine to make the main sleeve and then everything else was hand-sewn. I used a bit of elastic and a button to stop the ipad sliding back out.

 

 

 

 

Have a good day!

 

Em x

9th December: Christmas Wreath Making

Last night I had a great time attending a Christmas wreath making evening at Shaw House, Berkshire. The event was organised by the local St Marks School in Cold Ash to help raise money for the school and everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, I know I did. The location made it extra special in the beautiful historic Shaw House and the atmosphere was great. We all chatted away (it was lovely to meet people) and the Christmas music in the background made it feel really festive, I'm certainly in the Christmas spirit now!

Beautiful Shaw House (Google Image)

 

Holly and Kylie hosted the evening and were friendly and helpful as they wandered around, while Lynn showed us how to make a wreath and gave us some very useful tips. I really wanted to have a go at making a wreath but honestly wasn't sure how to start! There was plenty of different foliage to choose from as well as other colourful accessories. I decided I didn't want too much colour on my wreath and instead wanted lots of texture, especially using the holly leaves which are one of my favourites despite the fact my hands are now shredded (I'll remember gloves next time).

 

Choosing our foliage and other accessories

 

Lynn demonstrated how to start the wreath, using evergreen foliage around the very edge of the oasis to hide it. The oasis had been soaked for hours and the first thing I did was pour the excess water straight into my lap haha! I found going around the edge with the initial foliage layer quite easy, but after that I felt a bit like "where do I go next?!".

 

 

Some of my chosen foliage

 

Here goes...

 

Made a start...

 

Filling in the top...

 

Having a minced pie and mulled wine break!

 

Pretty foliage

 

Getting there...

 

I decided I just wanted some white and red on my wreath to add a bit of colour; Lynn told us working in odd numbers is best when it comes to wreaths or any flower arranging for that matter. I loved the dainty little white flowers contrasting with the festive red berries. Lots of people used lovely Ivy to trail down from the bottom of their wreaths, another lady I saw had used lovely little fairy lights in her wreath; it was so lovely looking at everyone's handiwork.

 

Finally I finished my wreath off with a few dried orange slices; they smell amazing and added just a little more colour to my wreath. At that point I think stopped because it's oh so tempting to keep sticking bits of foliage into the wreath!

 

Ready to put on my wreath...

 

Ta-Da!

 

I'm really pleased with the end result; lots of texture, different shades of green with a bit of Christmas colour! For my first attempt at wreath making I'm rather impressed with my efforts and now look forward to making more in the future! I think some little coloured wooden Christmas toys would also look great on a wreath (little nutcracker soldiers, little trains and presents), as would bows and ribbons - so many ideas now!

 

Here's the finished wreath, Jack held it up for me last night so I could take a proper photo. I just need a wreath hook for the door now so it can have pride of place on our front door!

 

I had such a great evening, I love doing crafty things and it was nice to try something new. I can't wait to make one again next year and would definitely go to the evening again next year if they arrange it :-)

 

Em x