So Long Ago!

Its been a long time since I updated, I know!  You know when you keep meaning too, and then you keep putting it off and before you know it the whole of summer has flown by (plus some of spring) and you're into Autumn!

Well I have been busy at least.  I've just finished the above quilt for my youngest daughter, using the farmyard panels which were in a cot runner which was due to become redundant.  It's a first for me, complete with wonky lines but I'm proud of it.

I also made this Anya blanket (found on Ravelry) over the summer holidays.  I'd like to re-do it in one colour or perhaps a subtle variegated yarn.

I was treated to some fabric - an early birthday pressie and I'm still deciding what to make although I've already incorporated some of the cupcake material into my eldest daughters blanket (still being made).

I also bought a kit from The Sewing Shed and made this lovely bag which is great for carting my crochet out and about.

 I embellished a plain cardigan with some crochet flowers for my eldest daughter....

 And made quite a few cushions for our caravan :-)

And finally I hooked up Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.  Love the film and just had to have my own Toothless!  I bought the pattern from Etsy - here's the link.

That's not all I've been up to but a snap shot.  Hopefully it won't be so long before I update my blog again!

Amineko Cats

I bought a wonderful book called Hello My name is Amineko by Nekoyama.  It's a very delightful book full of Amineko's adventures and of course there is a pattern to make the cat plus accessories.

 Below is a bag of body parts all ready for stuffing and sewing up!  The pattern is very simple to follow.  I used a 3mm hook with DK weight yarn so the stitches would be nice and tight.  I didn't want any stuffing to show through.

The first cat I made was for my fella who requested a rainbow coloured cat so I gave this kitty a stripey effect t-shirt.

Once I made the first one I had to work on two at the same time as both my girls wanted a cat too.  The eldest is all pink and the youngest loves blue so they chose the colours themselves.

I had a lot of fun making these and then putting them into poses afterwards.  The book is full of ideas for different poses too.  I am currently working on a red coloured Amineko for my sister :-)

March so far....

So far March has been another busy month in the TMC household and the weather has been so changeable too!  Lashings of rain, sleet and snow, the occasional frost and even sunshine!

I've made more squares for the Let's Knit charity blanket the forum members are taking part in.  The deadline for sending in the squares is this Friday and then they will all be made up into blankets and auctioned off for two different charities.

For Mother's Day on 10th of March I made a daffodil brooch for my mother-in-law from a wonderful tutorial by Lucy at Attic24.

This heart also came from a link on her website.  I made this for my own mum, adding a frilly edge.

Below is a snapshot of the St Patrick's day parade through town in which we took part.  Eldest daughter marched with her Irish dancing school and we joined in too.  Its such a lovely atmosphere with everyone lining the route waving and cheering.

I made this bunny rabbit for my sister who wants to give it as a present to a little baby girl due in May.  I started off with a basic pattern then changed it quite a lot to fit in with what I wanted.  The dress I made up as I went along.

This is the lovely 'house' built by my 2 year old daughter with a little help from me.  She loves building towers and buildings out of her Duplo Lego!

And finally an experimental lower in sugar and fat flapjack mixture.  Looks tasty but I wasn't overly impressed with it.  Mind you it was soon wolfed down by everyone :-)

Full On February

Life has been rather hectic here since the end of January.  Mr TMC has had a lot of upheaval at work meaning we've hardly seen him for the past 3 weeks.  Of course when he was away life sent a few little annoyances like the car breaking down and the baby monitor breaking too!  Oh and sick children, mustn't forget the sick children.  There are so many illnesses going around at school right now and they're finding their way to our house...

Anyway I've certainly kept myself busy during this time and in no particular order (because I still haven't figured out how to put my pictures in a particular order) this is what I've been doing...

First up is a dolls/teddy blanket, complete with a little 2 year old arm creeping into the shot for scale.

While Mr TMC was away I decided to surprise him by building the flat pack chest of drawers which had been sitting around in its box for a while.  I knew he wouldn't have time to build them.  I felt faint when I saw the sheer number of parts and the very tiny picture only construction leaflet!  The build needless to say wasn't without its problems...

Here is the 2nd dolls/teddy blanket I made.  It's just slightly smaller than the first.  I made one each for my girls who have an abundance of baby dolls and teddies.

This was my attempt at working out where to put the squares.  I thought if I took a picture it would help with the placement once I started hooking them together.

I hooked up this little chick last night.  My eldest daughter came out of school with her normal 11th hour request of making something to take into school tomorrow.  The pattern is by Heather Casavant at snoodlestudio.etsy.com.

I've also been experimenting with mug hugs and mug rugs.  This one I made for my own mug although it is a bit high as my lips touch the wool!

I made another 4 squares for the charity blanket for Crafts Beautiful/Lets Knit.  The response from the forum members has been fantastic with loads of squares already made and sent off to be hooked together :-)

This set of mug hug and mug rug (complete with spotty mug) went to my eldest daughter's teacher who was leaving due to the usual teacher returning from maternity leave.  She was such a lovely teacher and I was sorry to see her go.

Yet another mug hug, this time for Mr TMC for Valentine's Day for his very tall mug. 

And I finally finished the shamrocks and thistles for my friend's wedding.  This is a small selection of those made as there were 32 of each.

And finally a very tiny blanket.  I was inspired by the mini granny squares on Attic24's blog but my sewing together skills were, well quite frankly awful!  I managed to put 12 together before I decided to call it a day and made it into a very tiny blanket, probably suitable for Barbie.

Hopefully I won't leave it so long before I next update my blog and hopefully I will find my misplaced camera too as I had to take a lot of these pictures on my iPad.  I have quite a few WIP's I need to finish and projects I either want to continue with or start.  Oh and of course 2 extra chicks for my girls :-)

How Time Flies!

I can't believe how quickly the past few months have gone, what with the rush of Christmas (with accompanying illness!) and January zooming up!  My smallest child turned 2 at the beginning of January too - it doesn't feel like it's been 2 years since we brought her home from hospital I can tell you!

Anyway during this time I've been busy crafting away and trying to come to grips with my new camera.  Seriously, I need to work out how to take better pictures although the light here has been awful as it's normally overcast and raining...

First up are some granny squares I've made for a charity blanket.  I've done a few more but not taken any pictures yet.  Two lovely women on the Crafts Beautiful forum are organising this and will both turn our squares into blankets.

The next is a picture of my (very small) Nativity.  One of my forum friends (Linda) sent me a pattern book she wasn't using but I only had time to make Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.  Hopefully by this Christmas I will have a few more characters to add.

I was also commissioned by my 6 year old daughter to make her a Santa hat for her school Nativity.  She came out of school one afternoon and asked if I could make it for the following morning!  I was very pleased not only to have the supplies to hand but to actually hook it up in one evening!

Now this is where bad lighting comes in and my lack of ability with a camera.  The above hat is actually purple!!!  I also made one in black for my sister but forgot to take a photo.

The granny triangle is also a gift for my sister (she really like my crochet).  I was attempting to send messages to her whilst doing a square and ended up with a triangle which she quickly suggested I make into a mug rug for her for work.  Once again the colours are not true as the mustard colour is actually green...

And finally here is Tyria the Twilight fairy, knit from patterns in a wonderful book my two boys and their girlfriends bought as part of my Christmas Gift.  It's called Knitted Fairies to Cherish and Charm by Fiona McDonald.  They are so lovely!

Fibre Friends Christmas Party

Fibre Friends (the knitting/crochet/stitching/crafting group I attend) had their Christmas Party last night.  One of our members suggested we go to a candle making party hosted by Fleur at Bluebell Eco Candles and what an absolutely fabulous night we had!

We began by dressing up in lovely hats and feather boas then got down to the first task of painting designs on our candle glasses.

Here are some of the lovely wax shapes, glitters and paints covering our table!  The wax is soy wax which is non-toxic and environmentally friendly.

We also had a sumptuous feast of sandwiches, scones and a variety of cakes all washed down with tea and coffee.  The three glasses sitting upon the 2nd striped box up are what we're attempting to make.

The glass on the right is my candle filled with the lovely shapes then topped up with hot wax infused with gorgeous Christmassy smelling essential oils.  The one on the left is a candle we all had a hand in making as a present for a friend who was too ill to attend.

Once the wax set we topped our candles with a soft, fluffy wax to look like whipped cream then decorated with glitter and tiny baubles.

This is mine complete within its cellophane wrapper.  I totally forgot to take a picture of it before I wrapped it up!

And finally here is our lovely group of Fibre Friends with our finished whipped "cream" topped fruit trifles, all ready to take home.

Oh and mustn't forget our lovely creations ready for their photo shoot!  :-)

Hats & a Scarf - Yes it's that time of year again!

Well the weather has been getting a little chilly around here and we've had some very blustery weather too so naturally my mind turned to making a few snuggly things to wear outdoors.

First up is this very bright Granny Hat I made for my 22 month old toddler (above) - which she promptly dumped over the side of her buggy while we were shopping and lost...

So then came Mark 2, this one with earflaps and ties in an attempt to keep it on her head!  I made up the pattern myself and ended up having to look at the photos of the first to try and figure out exactly what I did...

The pattern for this hat was in the latest edition of Inside Crochet (I bought a digital edition) and I loved the geometric design created by the post stitches.  I did do the brim of it a little different to the pattern though.

For myself I made a scarf from some lovely King Cole Riot wool my sister bought me for my birthday.  This was another pattern I made up as I went along.  I just chained until I felt the scarf was long enough then did each row in the back loop only to make the ribbed effect.

Finally I got out my loom and made this hat for my 6 year old daughter on one of my looms.  She absolutely loves the big floppy pompom on top.  My loom skills aren't fantastic though, a lot more practice is needed!

So there we are, we've all got something a little cozy for the end of Autumn and the beginning of Winter :-)