Change is good but so is rest!

I'm quite proud of myself! I actually managed to find time to sit down, gather up my recent photos and put together a proper blog post this week! Some of them are going on 2 weeks old but better late than never. It's been a bit quieter lately. My dad has been on rest for 2 weeks because of foot pain. Policeman's heel to be exact. Very painful! But it's back to the usual full schedule this week, starting with 4am mornings from tomorrow!

 Not sure how but I managed to pack a fair bit of crochet into the last fortnight so I have a few things to share. Even during the heatwave I found myself crocheting away, sitting on the kitchen floor or in the lounge in front of our huge (18 inch) fan, trying to deal with the zillion ideas floating around in my head. Thankfully, I had a lovely coffee milkshake (camp coffee, ice-cream & milk mixed together = YUM!) & some muffins to help me through it. 

The top photo is the little scrap stash project I mentioned here. I plan on adding to it whenever I have any small bits of yarn to use up. I think it's a great idea for all those tiny scraps & will look perfect in the bathroom once it's done. 

The patchwork granny square blanket is a little project I started a few weeks ago. More on that further down. 

I've also been working on colour ideas for a project I planned & bought yarn for at the beginning of the year. I'm having an issue with a few of my choices & that's lead to me making numerous swatches. You know when you really want a certain colour in your project but it just doesn't seem to gel? Yeah, that's the problem I'm having.

And lastly, the red & brown squares. This is an idea that just recently popped into my head & so far I am loving it. I started it yesterday & should be done by Tuesday....hopefully. I'll be sharing it with you next time.

I've not forgotten about my other unfinished projects. My plan is to get some of them done this week but the big one won't be. I won't be meeting my August deadline for it sadly but it will be done before Christmas!

The heatwave really messed with our eating habits. We often have salad dinners (as shown above) but we were having them way more than usual and sometimes we weren't even having that! I also made melktert (milk tart) last weekend because it's such a refreshing pudding. I did mine without the pastry to avoid using the oven. It's always my go to dessert when it's too hot for baking because it's so easy. 

And with the heat came big changes for my wonderful fiance. We decided it was time for him to get a haircut. He's had long hair for a good few years now but it was just getting to be too much. I got the hair clippers out and an hour later he felt happier and refreshed! Look at that pile of hair! I think the new haircut really suits him! ☺

Parcels! Parcels! Parcels! Yes, I took full advantage of the Drops cotton sale! I've got a lot of new yarn to show you. I've been buying it all throughout July because some of it wasn't in stock when I placed the first few orders. I'm just waiting on one more colour before I show you the other lots. I also bought some new clover soft touch hooks to join my collection. They are very tiny & are for the yarn mentioned in this post. These hooks are great & so comfy! I did have some cheaper small ones but they were lacking in the handle department which makes crochet a little uncomfortable. Oh & I also purchased some yarn for a project that I won't be able to show you until after Christmas.

New yarn! This is Drops Muskat (100% Egyptian Mercerized Cotton). The colours are gorgeous & the yarn is lovely. I spent Monday making shadecards for all the different colours (48 in total). I only wish that there was a better yellow. My plan is to keep this yarn for little projects which is why I needed the shadecards.

Charity granny square blanket! I decided to use some (most) of my scrap stash for making a few charity goodies. I volunteer at our local Volunteer Centre and teach crochet on Thursdays as well as helping out with general duties like sales & admin. I've gained a lot from volunteering & wanted to do my bit in giving back. It's nothing special but every little helps. I've got a few more ideas up my sleeve.....we'll see what else I can add! I'd be grateful for some stash busting ideas? ☺

A bag and a potholder perhaps? Firsty the potholder! What do you think? On Thursday, the manager of the charity I volunteer for handed me a loom to try out. We grabbed some scrap yarn from the pile & sat fiddling around with it for a few hours & honestly didn't have a clue! Then I found this video & it all became clear! It's a great little idea don't you think? Easy to make & quick. I've not figured out some of the more complicated ones but I'm keen to give it a go. It's missing the doodah that goes through to tie the bits so I'll have to make one or something but otherwise it's awesome! Apparently you can even make blankets out of them! If anyone has any other info please share! ☺

Ok, the little bag. I was messing about with tiny squares. Didn't know what I was making but then this idea popped into my head. I'm sure it's been done before but I love that I hadn't seen it anywhere! It's also a donation for my local charity. I hope someone likes it enough to buy it.

So, that's the start of my charity stash busting collection! 

Bella's got the best bed in the world! I've had my scrap stash in the lounge most of the week and no cat can resist sleeping on a bed made of yarn! It must be super comfy! She certainly looks happy. I don't think I even need to tell you that Moe's already been in there! He can't resist balls of yarn! He loves peddling & snuggling up to them. 

My little burrowing Moe man has been at it again. I had our blanket on the floor, ready to be thrown in the washing machine and then he decided that it was the perfect opportunity to burrow & snuggle. Believe it or not but this was on the hottest day of the heatwave! The hottest day & he decides to snuggle in a HUGE blanket!

That's the blogging done for the week, the house cleaned and my dad's doing dinner so I think I'll go put my feet up for a bit. I won't be doing much crochet today as I've strained my neck. I have a bad habit of leaning my neck to the one side when I crochet and I'm paying for it now!

Hope you are all well & that your weeks have been enjoyable! Best wishes for the week ahead! Hopefully I'll be doing my regular blog post on Sunday so hope to see you again then! Thanks for visiting.

Take care!

♥

The Big Stash Reveal!

Do you remember seeing this photo a few months ago? Do you remember how I kept planning to sort out my stash but never got round to it? Well, with the help of my dad & my fiance it's finally sorted! It was an ever growing pile and needless to say, it was getting out of hand! Before I show you how neat & tidy it now looks, let me take you on a tour of my stash....

Let's start with my scrap stash. The top photo is mostly leftover Stylecraft Special DK. Yeah, this pile has been growing since I started crocheting in 2008. I am trying to use it up but it just isn't happening fast enough. I gave up on the squares I was making but I've got big plans for my scrap stash, don't you worry!

Under that and to the left, we have a photo of the colours I am using for my dad's blanket. Again, it is all Stylecraft Special DK, 32 balls (8 of each colour) in total. I need to make a total of 775 squares! This project is currently taking up all my time as it has a deadline (that I don't think I am going to meet). So, I apologise for the lack of completed projects but that is the reason why!

And lastly, bottom right is Patons Fab Big Super Chunky. I was a bit lazy with this one. I recycled the photo I took when the yarn arrived. There isn't much left of it now as a lot of it was used to make cat bed 1, cat bed 2 an cat bed 3 but there is enough to make at least another 2 beds!

Top left is some plastic yarn/twine I purchased from a charity shop. I might make a basket out of it but it's not easy to crochet with. I've got an idea in my head of what I want so we'll see.

Top middle is 2 balls of Drops Delight (Rainbow print & red, orange, grey print). I'm not a big fan of this yarn. It's a bit too scratchy for my liking but the colours are lovely. I don't know what I'm going to use it for yet as I don't plan on buying anymore balls.

In that same photo, right in front of the Drops Delight, is some lovely yarn from Ice Yarns (more on them in a bit). This yarn is Veline Paper Blue Shades, it's 55% paper and surprisingly soft! I mainly purchased it out of curiosity and because it was sooooo cheap!

Top right is more yarn purchased from a charity shop. Anyone have any ideas what I can make with it? I honestly haven't got a clue! I just liked the colours!

Ok, bottom left is King Cole Gentle Touch DK. It's another one I just wanted to try. It was cheap and the orange is gorgeous!

Bottom middle is Magnum Multi Chunky. Lovely colour and I actually have a project in mind for it, it's just not as important as all my other ones. ☺

Lastly, bottom right is Louisa Harding Nautical Cotton. It was on sale, that's all I'm saying! ☺

Ah, we've arrived at the expensive stuff! These were little luxuries I treated myself to. The first one is Manos Maxima Merino and the colour is Passion Flower. Here is a link to their facebook page if you want to know more about them. The yarn is beautiful. 

The one on the right is obvious! It is Debbie Bliss Andes which appears to have been discontinued? It is so lovely and soft. I'm almost too scared to use this yarn because of how much it cost me. For now I am happy to look at it and occasionally stroke it. Hopefully when the right project comes along I will have enough! A lot of it is on sale now but I have no idea what colour would go with the 3 I already have.

We've reached the yarn from my current favourite yarn shop! Ice Yarns! They deliver all over the world, their prices are shockingly low and the yarn is gorgeous! Only problem is you have to buy it in packs but that's not really a problem now is it? ;) A dear friend of mine told me about them. The top left photo is an example of how they are packed. I was really impressed with their service! So far I have purchased: 

Velina Paper Blue Shades (as mentioned above).

Angora Design (20% Angora) (Yellow, purple, pink blue) which is very fine, lighter than it appears in their picture (as you can tell from mine) and lovely! I've been browsing the beautiful projects made from it on Ravelry. I have a strong feeling this is going to be a shawl!

Magic Light (100% Acrylic) (White Maroon Black) is lovely. It's not as soft as the Stylecraft yarn but the colours are so lush! I'm planning to buy some of the rainbow ones one day!

Magic Mohair (70% Mohair) (Yellow Orange Black) bought mainly to make a scarf for my fiance. He loves flame colours.

And lastly....Cotton Perle 12! (100% Mercerised Cotton). I bought 10 different colours. It was extremely cheap! Don't know what I am going to do with it as it's really thin but I'll think of something! I'm open to suggestions!☺

I won't bother mentioning the small balls of black & purple wool as they no longer sell them.

These are all my cotton yarns! Ok, top left is Rico Creative Cotton Aran. The colours are beautiful and so vibrant! It's a bit splitty but the colours make it all worth it. Top right and the middle photo is the Cotton Perle 12 again from Ice Yarns. I just love staring at those colours!

And lastly is my stash of Drops Paris! I don't remember where I purchased this yarn from as it was so long ago. They have the old black labels on them and I've noticed that the newer stock has white labels. So, seeing as Drops are having a sale all through July on all their cotton yarns, I decided to use some of my saved up birthday money and buy some! I got a few other ones to try as well! ☺

If you would like to buy some, here are some helpful links that will give you an idea of the prices and shops near you that sell Drops:

US - 35% Sale on Cotton Yarns (It's worth checking Nordic Mart)

UK - 35% Sale on Cotton Yarns (Highly recommend Wool Warehouse)

Europe - It depends on your country but this link will take you to the main page to start from.

*Australia etc, it's worth looking at which shops ship worldwide. I know that Crochet Chain does so it's worth checking them out.

Hopefully that info will be helpful to someone! ☺

Phew! We're getting there! Ok, top photo is Drops Merino. It's ok yarn, not great. The colours could be better. Honestly, I still prefer Stylecraft! It was pretty cheap when I bought it. I'm planning on it being a winter lounge blanket as it's Merino so should be lovely and warm.

Middle photo is Hoooked Zpagetti that is currently being used to make my rainbow rug! Um, this yarn is great for making rugs but it's very inconsistent. It'll be lovely and thick and then suddenly you will get a metre or so that is too thin to be of use!

And lastly is more Stylecraft Special DK (I bet you're getting tired of reading that name). Rainbow colours for many rainbow ideas! I know, I'm obsessed! (Oh and one ball of Patons Fab).

Ok, we have reached the end! If you've stuck around till the end then well done! If not, I don't blame you! So this is Stylecraft Special DK but it's for a special project. I planned the colours out at the beginning of the year and have since changed a few things and come up with a very different (though not unusual) idea. More on that later in the year. 

The scary thing is that I have a bit more yarn coming and another box in the upstairs office which is for a planned quilt style blanket. I think that will be it though! I'm going on a yarn diet! (Yeah, right!)

So, the above images show you how my yarn used to be stored. In bags, in laundry style bags, in boxes and some just piled up but now............

Ah! It brings such a MASSIVE smile to my face! It might not be a craft room or a studio and it might not be a huge space or beautifully decorated but it's my own personal little piece of heaven! I am so grateful to my amazingly awesome fiance and equally amazingly awesome dad for helping me sort this all out and for letting me have that space to store all my yarn (and for not complaining when more yarn gets delivered). It's the little things in life that make all the difference. I love them both so much! ♥

So, I hope you enjoyed your tour of my yarn stash. I won't be posting again this week like I had hoped (my Sunday post will just have to be a Saturday post this week). I will try (but I'm not making any promises) to post sometime in the middle of next week. If not then, then sometime over the weekend. Things have been a bit chaotic and I know I keep saying that but honestly, they have. 

I hope you are all well and please take care! Hopefully, I'll see you all back here again next week! Thanks again for visiting and for all the comments!

♥

Catching up time!

Hello all! The last few weeks have been pretty hectic for us. Sadly my blog has suffered a little bit but today I'm going to catch you up on everything that I've been up to.

First, there was Father's Day! I usually try to get my dad something but this year I decided to be different. I cooked him dinner. My first curry (his awesome recipe though). He had to work Saturday night so it was nice for him to come home to his favourite meal after a tough night. 

Sunday morning I cooked up a big breakfast of tomato, onion, scrambled eggs & bacon and then later in the day I made a Lemon cake (in the microwave) with lemon syrup drizzled over the top. It was a lovely relaxed Sunday and I think he enjoyed the rest. I've also finally got him drinking & enjoying green tea ☺ very good for you!

I made a bag a little over a week ago. I found this page on facebook and she has some awesome patterns. My favourite has been the cluster stitch bag. I saw an alternative version that someone had made. A larger version of the cluster stitch bag but using the handles from this bag. It's so easy to make. I went digging through my scrap stash, found a few nice colours and started making a bag! 

The double strands make it a lot stronger than most bags. It works up really fast & took about 2 days. I loved making it and plan on doing a few more. This one I decided to give to a lovely friend of mine. She's always helping us out and never asks for anything in return so I gave it to her as a thank you.

We've been finding it really hard to think of things to eat for dinner lately. I don't if it's the warm weather or the busy weeks but no one is overly fussed about eating. It's all about quick meals and one of the best ones is gnocchi with chicken, onion and a lovely cheese sauce. It was rather yummy! Today my dad is cooking a pork roast so I'm looking forward to a bit a crackling!

I've been doing a lot of shopping lately. I spotted these colourful plant holders. They were so cheap and the colours were so nice I just had to buy them! I don't know what I'm going to do with them. They might look great somewhere amongst my craft supplies once I sort them out! Their has also been a lot of new yarn coming into the house. I will tell you all about that next week when I take you on a tour of my yarn stash! I've got one last delivery arriving on Monday (hopefully).

Apart from the bag & the shopping, I've also been testing some colours out for a big project I hope to start before winter (once I finish my dad's massive blanket). I'm testing the colour sequence out on a scarf first, using scraps from my stash. I bought the yarn last year but when I went to catalogue it all, I realised I wasn't happy with some of my choices. My idea has changed & I'll have to buy more for that reason but I want to be sure before I do and so I decided it was best to do the tester scarf. I get a scarf out of it so it's not that bad! My dad's blanket is coming along nicely but I am way behind schedule. They are being stored in these self sealing bags temporarily. I'm also finding that my tension is all over the place with these squares. I just hope it all works out in the end! 133 done 642 to go! Oh & I'm making another scarf. It's for my fiance. It's my own pattern and so far so good. More on that soon!

Cats! The weather is confusing them! It was so hot for a while that they were sleeping on the floor or in any cool spots they could find but the last 2 weeks have had a few chilly days and so they've been seeking out the warm & cozy spots once again. Tabby & Vinnie actually slept next to each other which is extremely strange because usually they are attacking each other. Moe managed to squeeze himself into Munchkin's bed but only briefly because shortly after that he heard my OH coming down and that meant food time! He also decided that my scrap yarn stash would be the perfect place for a nap! 

Tabby, my beautiful boy! I love it when he poses for me because he's such a beautiful cat! This photo is in the collage below but I just thought it deserved to be on it's own too! As naughty as he is (and believe me he is really naughty) I still love him.

These fluffy little monsters have been a little bit spoilt this week. Lots of playtime, plenty of treats & catnip and a new toy! The new toy no longer has its feathers. Vinnie removed them within about 5 minutes! They've all been happy. We've been up at 4am everyday and they've been up with us (more for the treats than anything else). At least they get to go back to bed though!

I had to include this one! It's so funny! This is Moe and his big sister Soetie. He jumped up to see what was on the windowsill and got a slap. The photo makes you feel really sorry for him because he looks all sweet & innocent but believe me he's not. He can be really cute when he wants to but he can also be super naughty! The kittens have definitely taught us just how naughty & adventurous cats can be!

So that was a bit of catching up! It's been really busy but those were the only things really worth mentioning on the blog! I've also been doing a lot of reading. I've got plenty to share about books & things! So far I've read 33 books this year but there have been a few worth mentioning that lead me to an amazing band & a singer called Jimmy Gnecco but I think I'll save that for another time & another post.

One last thing I forgot to mention, I was teaching crochet again this week! A lady stopped in at our volunteer centre wanting to learn and after the 2 hr lesson she was able to make a granny square. She was chuffed with her square & will be back next week! It's all voluntary but still enjoyable for me!

I hope that you've all been well and I wish you all the best for the week ahead! Hope you drop by later in the week for my yarn stash tour! I'll try to make it as colourful as possible!
Thank you for reading my blog and for those that comment, thank you for taking the time! I appreciate it, even a quick glance means the world to me!

Take care!
♥

Scrappy Rainbow Ripple!

I started this back in February. Do you remember? At last! It's finished! Done! Complete! As I got near the finish line I encountered a few tiny issues. One was straightening the ripple top & bottom and the other was the border. I ran out of yarn! I honestly didn't expect that to happen seeing as how it's meant to be a ripple from 'scraps' but somehow even scrap projects always seem to result in the purchase of more yarn!

I honestly didn't know how this would turn out. I always keep stocked up on all Stylecraft Special DK yarn so I had a great selection of colours available. There were a lot of leftovers from previous projects but this was also about using colours I'd never tried before.

There were only 3 or 4 colours that I'd never used. Pale Rose, Pomegranate, Denim and Raspberry (I've used it once but never liked it). All the others are frequently in my stash. I also went for a different & maybe slightly unusual colour sequence and because of the inter-locking it worked. The border is pretty basic but it works nicely. I used a 3.5mm hook because I wanted the stitches to be tighter and my tension tends to be very loose.

Moe (who has had his eye on it since I started the ripple) didn't take long to claim it! He's very happy with his blanket. As mentioned in my previous post, he has been a little unwell and this week he's had a bit of a cold so the blanket has brought him a lot of comfort. He loves to snuggle into any/all of the crochet blankets (we have at least 8 out in various places regularly).

He wasn't overly happy about sharing it with Tabby (who has also had his eye on it)! There was a bit of a slapping match. Even though there are so many blankets in the house, a recently finished one is always the most popular. Even his brother, Vinnie, has tried the blanket out a few times!

We were so lucky to have a beautiful sunny day when I photographed the blanket. The sun added so much warmth to every photo which made me so happy. It's not a very big blanket. It's about 1.7m long and 1m wide but it's perfect for it's new home.

And here it is, in it's new home! It really adds so much colour, warmth & happiness to the lounge and to the chair that it will be covering. My rainbow granny square is on the sofa opposite it & together I know they'll bring me so much joy in winter! I've not listed all the colours I used but if anyone would like me to just let me know. ☺

Hope you've enjoyed my colourful post! I'll be posting my regular, weekly blog post tomorrow so hopefully I'll see you back here then!

Thank you for reading!
♥

*The pattern I used for my scrappy rainbow ripple can be found on the lovely Attic24 blog.

Life, always keeping us on our toes!

This little boy hasn't been very well this week. Yes, poor Moe had a (very expensive but he's worth it) trip to the vets on Tuesday. He gave us a rather nasty fright when we woke up and so our morning started with a mad panic. We were rushing around trying to sort out a cage and find out if the vet was even open (thank goodness it was). I'll spare you the gory details and just tell you that he is ok now. He's back to his usual naughty self. He has colitis (he's always had some issues) so we'll have to be careful what he eats in future otherwise it will be another expensive trip. ♥

These are a few things that made me happy this week. 

1. Blue skies! We had a few of them for a change. It was lovely and when it started to rain towards the end of the week, it was actually more relaxing than annoying. I love the smell of rain, especially after a week of warm weather.
2. The jewelry type thing on the right is an angel. I was given it last week by a lovely lady that stopped in where I volunteer. She said that all of life's heroes need an angel to watch over them. I was having a tough day & it really made me smile. ♥
3. I found some leaves in our garden in the shape of hearts. They are from our little rose bush that was grown from the stem of a shop bought rose that was given to me by my fiance a few years ago. We get about 2 or 3 roses a year from it. I'm keeping a close eye on it!
4. And lastly...I sneakily took a photo of my fiance. He was having some much needed rest. It's been a tough week (more so for my dad who worked two 14hr shifts with only 5hrs of sleep in between) but we've struggled through & there have been many happy moments to help. Our weeks are busy and sometimes it feels like our weekends are even busier. We're trying to find the balance but it's an uphill battle.

Drops Extra Fine Merino

Say hello to my new yarn stash! I couldn't resist. My order even arrived with a free gift from the lovely people at Wool Warehouse. I've been buying yarn from them for nearly a year now & they've never let me down. I honestly can't recommend them enough! I've had a lovely stash of DROPS Paris for a few years (bought when the label was black) but never used it because at the time it wasn't easy to purchase in the UK so I was waiting for the right project. I love DROPS yarn. They have a lovely range of yarns and at a decent price so I was overjoyed when I realised that my favourite shop (Wool Warehouse) were selling it. I've had my eye on the DROPS Extra Fine Merino for a long time so when it went on sale I knew I was going to purchase some as soon as I'd saved up enough money. I ordered one of every colour late Wednesday night, order arrived Friday afternoon, checked to see how they go together & then quickly ordered a second lot (with a few extras that I'll photograph next week) which arrived Saturday morning! See how fast they are? It's all going to be used to make a warm, snugly winter blanket.

(The blur on the left is Moe about to burrow into the blanket while I'm trying to photograph it)

The rainbow scrappy ripple is finally done! It would've been finished on Thursday if I hadn't run out of yarn halfway through the border. Thank goodness Wool Warehouse are so reliable otherwise I'd still be sitting here with an unfinished ripple! The colour I needed arrived with my DROPS order on Saturday morning. Isn't it funny how we almost always end up buying new yarn when making something from leftover scraps? 

I had planned on doing a separate post for the ripple earlier in the week but hit a few road blocks along the way (straightening a ripple is not easy & running out of yarn is not helpful either) so now it's going to have to be sometime this week. Maybe Monday?

Have you seen the neck warmer pattern over at Attic24? I've been itching to try it! Sunday was a lovely relaxed day so I sat down and gave it a go. It really is an easy pattern and keeps you lovely and warm but I think I'll put it away till winter. I'm planning to make another one with chunky yarn, using a different pattern I found. It can also be used as a hood. I will provide a link to the pattern when I post about it.

Friday was the best day of this week. I baked, relaxed, read a bit, had a cappuccino & started a new project. I am totally in love with this pattern at the moment! It's very popular right now & has been tempting me for a while. I found some King Cole Riot yarn in my stash and decided that this would be the perfect project for it!

At first it seemed really hard & I've never made anything like this before so a bit scary but once I got going it was easy! If I can do it, anyone can! I think I'll be spending my week working on this. Not sure how I'm going to block it but I'll figure that out when I get to that stage!

The birds are still very busy in our garden! Currently we have crows, the occasional ring-necked dove & a magpie visiting us. There are a few little birds as well but I can't remember what they're called. They've been enjoying bits of bread & seeded crackers. Can you see how close they are? I got some great photos this week. They sit right on the shed roof which is outside the kitchen window. The magpie likes to taunt me. He/she will sit on the shed roof and just stare so I'll grab my camera and as I go to take a photo, it flies off! If it had happened once I'd think it just got scared by movement but this happens regularly! Cheeky bird!

Moe & Vinnie....members of Bird Watchers Anonymous! Moe spends most of the day talking to them and Vinnie just watches. Can you see the photo of Vinnie scowling? I'm not sure why he was in such a bad mood! It couldn't possible be because of my camera ;) 

I'm not to sure why Moe's tongue is out....maybe he was thinking about having bird for dinner?

And because they all need their 5 minutes of fame...here is a collage of all of them & what they've been up to this week! The only one I didn't get a photo of this week was Bella so I'll have to make up for it next time.

So, this has been a very long blog post but thank you for reading (or just looking at the photos). I hope you've had a lovely week and I wish you all the best for the week ahead. Please stop by again in the week to see my Scrappy Rainbow Ripple post!

Take care

♥

Sunshine & Rainbows!

Ok, so I think I achieved most of my goals this week...most! The thing is, I sort of forgot about a few other tasks that had to be done.  Sadly the rainbow ripple is still sitting on the unfinished pile. I don't know why I keep putting it to the side but hopefully this week it will be done! The rainbow runner is coming along nicely but it will definitely need blocking! As for the granny CAL, I've not given up on it but I've not had the time to catch up. Once I do then I will! Ok, so.......

I did manage to fit in some cappuccino time in between all my various tasks. Healthy cappuccinos of course! No sugar and lactofree milk but still yummy! We are still eating very healthy here in our happy home. Lots of fruit & salads. We tried something different this week. Pita bread stuffed with chicken and salad. Yum!

I just wanted to include this picture on my blog. It's an example of how I plan nearly all my crochet projects. I usually use Paint or Excel to plan them out and play with colours. I then go and play with my jar of swatches to see what works. I love playing with colours. My thing at the moment is rainbows. I'm playing with different colour orders.

Circles, circles, circles! They have been driving me crazy all week! I still can't get my circle to stay flat. I tried a slightly bigger hook and it was a small improvement but I might have to go one more size up. I honestly thought my tension was too lose but according to my little crochet bible it's because my tension is too tight...that can't be right can it? The one in the photo above is having other issues. It's ruffling. I have the right number of stitches but it's just not working out. I've also come across a new issue...octagons! The bigger the circle gets, the more octagon shaped it becomes. I won't give up! I will conquer circles!!!

Especially because I purchased all this beautiful  Hoooked Zpagetti yarn this week! Isn't it lovely? It did make a very large dent in my piggy bank but hopefully it will all be worth it. I can't wait to get started on my  rainbow rug! I'm super duper excited about it! Can you sense a rainbow theme going on? Oh & yes, I know! I went and bought more yarn and I've still not sorted out my stash! It's just growing everyday! I can't help it...I'm a yarnaholic! 

I didn't get round to showing you my lovely new pens, notebook and shopping list pad that I bought last week. The shopping list pad has a magnet on the back & can actually stay on the fridge. It's awesome! The pen is part of a set of 3 & has a lovely pattern all over it and the notebook is just gorgeous. It was the birds and flowers on the front that caught my eye. I also bought a friendship bracelet maker. I used to love making these but always used a safety pin to keep everything in place. These days they have these cool 'makers' that do it for you! I can't wait to try it out!

The waistcoat is done. I know it wasn't one of my goals of the week but that's only because I had forgotten about it. This was for a friend's granddaughter. It's the same pattern I used before, Sirdar Lacy Cardigans & Hat.......but this time I used the yarn that she gave me in the colour they wanted/needed it in. She was happy with it and I was happy that it was done and out of the way. It took me a few hours to make but I spread it out over a few days. The second time was much easier than the first but I don't plan on making another.

More cat beds were on the agenda this week! I saw this pattern mentioned on my favourite facebook page (The Creative Crochet Crew) and had to make one. I made a lot of adjustments to it but got the general idea from there. It has been claimed many times over the past few days so I can tell that I'll be spending next week making a few more. Good thing I had all that yarn leftover! I made it for Bella (she's the one in the pic) because she is so tiny and needs a little warm place but her daughter (who is much larger) keeps stealing it from her. Like I said, it's constantly being claimed by a different cat.

I baked! At last! I finally managed to squeeze in some baking. I made nutty muffins with a surprise chocolate centre. They were yum & the perfect Saturday afternoon treat! My father and fiance were greeted with a cup of a tea & a muffin when they returned from doing the shopping. Big smiles all around. I ♥ these two special men so much. I am so lucky to have them in my life. We'll enjoy the last few muffins tomorrow while watching the Motogp! ☺

Yay for sunny weather! We had a few lovely warm days this week. Look at that beautiful blue sky!

Yay for flowers, leaves and lots of colours! Total awesomeness!

My fiance and I decided to go for a picnic down by the river. We spent half an hour walking and enjoying the scenery. It was so nice to be able to leave the house without our winter coats!

We then walked back to the little park/playground to have our picnic. We were there for well over an hour. We spent most of it laughing and talking and just enjoying each other's company. It was a lovely day. ♥

And of course we can't forget the cats. They've been busy misbehaving, relaxing, playing and just being way too cute and entertaining. The kittens will be 2 years old next week! I can't believe we've had them in our lives for that long. They have brought so much life into our home ♥

Ok, so once again, that was my week! It's been busy and I did get a lot done but not all of my goals unfortunately. I did read though! I finished 2 books this week. Neither were worth mentioning but I'm hoping my current one will be. 

My goals for the week ahead:

• Complete the rainbow ripple!
• Sort my yarn stash!
• Conquer circles!
• Read two books!

Let's see if I can get all those done!

It's a bank holiday here on Monday but my poor dad has to work. I'll be getting up at 4am everyday to get his breakfast made & his lunch ready. Hopefully this means that I'll fit lots into my days! 

I hope you've all had an enjoyable week and I wish you all the best for the week ahead. See you next Sunday! x