Summer Dress

The sun has finally got his hat on! and after seeing all the beautiful dresses on other peoples blogs and facebook i decided to try one for my self. I keep a bag full of old clothes that either have lots of fabric in them or have a nice pattern, its ideal for just trying ideas out without having to spend lots of money till i know its something that's going to work. Often these originals are better than the subsequent ones.

So this is the top i selected, which was actually quite an easy one to use as all i had to do was slice the top off.

 The yarn that i choose was one that has tiny flecks of color in it you can barely see them on the photos but they match the skirt brilliantly.

The pattern i used for the top is just a basic increasing circle. I chained until i thought it was long enough, joined with a slip stitch, then placed it over her head to check. Then i hdc around increase as i went. I placed it on her again to see where the arms should be, and finished it with a shell stitch around the edge.

I love how it looks and i think there will be lots more of these dresses this summer.

bye for now x

Mosaic Mirror family day

It has finally been done! our mosaic mirror for the bathroom. On one very gloomy day when the kids and the hubby was off and we were all really fed up, i remembered about the mirror i had been keeping and the tiles and rest of the things we needed, that i had brought months ago and never started. So we got it all out and got cracking.

I bought the tiles from e-bay and i imagined them to be a lot bigger than they were, as usual i had not read the listing details and just looked at the picture, which is something i have a habit of doing so its not the first time i have been disappointed by a purchase. But they looked colorful so we gave it a go.

We did a side each, and i have to say they both did really well

We all managed to keep them spaced out the same, and it only took about an hour to finish. Thats because like me the kids love crafting or "makey makey" as we call it. There was quiet concentration going on (with tongue sticking out from Ewan which is what he does when he is concentrating).
It was quite sad when we had finished, but after letting it dry they left it to dad to grout and hang in the bathroom.

When they came home from school the next day they were really excited to see that it had pride of place in our newly painted bathroom. We also decided to put the crochet t-shirt rug in there as well. Its still a bit bare so we will have to think of other things to make for in there but for now the kids love that they have helped.

After all that work they still wanted to make something so i opted for them to make tea!
So we made the bases and i let them loose in the fridge to top there pizza with whatever they wanted.

Add some curly fries and a homemade pineapple upside down cake!

I love making homemade takeaways it a lot of fun for a rainy day and a lot cheaper than the real thing, also a lot nicer. This is a McDonalds i made last year.

Hungry now so off for tea
bye for now x

New baby!

I have a really good reason for not posting for a while .. Baby Alexander finally arrived a week late and in only 36 minutes but defiantly worth the wait! I can't believe that he is now 4 weeks old, the time had flown. Just like his mummy and Daddy his 2 brothers and 1 sister are completely in love with him.

So here he is Alexander

Of course he is wearing one of my new creations the Easter Bunny Set, which i made specially for him after he was born as he has inspired me to make quite a few of these Newborn outfits ( watch out for Frog and lion)

In the last couple of weeks before he was born i spent a lot of time knitting a few last minute bits and bobs and i came across this set> It was a very basic pattern but i had a variegated ball of wool that i was desperate to try and the effect was really good, just what i had wanted, i had to get rid of a bit of wool every time i started a new piece so the colored stripes were not perfect but not completely different. I was so please with it l have been and brought some more as Alex has nearly grown out of this one already.

It really is amazing how fast the time goes as i know Alex is my last baby i have been making the most of him and can barely put him down, he is going to be spoilt just like the others. x

Its a Gruffalo (HAT!)

Its a bit late but a few weeks ago i decided to make a gruffalo hat for Fred and since he wore it i have made several for others.

The older kids have also been fighting over this hat so i might have to make some more!

Family time

These last few weeks have been lovely. Although i have been waiting for baby to come (and he still hasn't, i was due yesterday!) we have had some of the  few full weekends we have ever been able to spend as a family, having the shop was a 7 day a week job so the odd day off was as goo as it got, then his new job is really a job where he needs to work weekends to get sales, but at least he can take holiday days. We decided to go the the Ribble Steam Railway ans Ewan has always wanted to go on a steam train however when we got there it was closed and would not be open for another two weeks (i should really read the website before we set off on these jolly's!). So we went to the next place on the list The museum of Lancashire in Preston. Well it was fantastic for the kids, well all of us really. They had activity's for the kids in every room. The first was a little archaeology dig site that the kids had to dress up in fluorescent waistcoats and hard hats and excavate various things from a pit of rubber chips and then sort them into glass, pottery, tile etc., They also dressed as children from a Victorian school, a little drummer during the boar war,a judge and dug veg's up from the home front during the second world war. They learn't so much and we all had a really good time. I would recommend it to anyone and best of all its completely free. Wish i had taken my camera!

More nesting less making!

I haven't posted for a few weeks, the reason is that the madhouse has been more mad than usual. As well as clearing up from Christmas and putting  the house back in order, my dad has been building a big new wardrobe and storge space in our bedroom. This has been followed by moving everything up stairs around then around, then around again. I have been able to have a big clear out though and sort out all the children s clothes. and with less than 4 weeks till baby number 4 arrives i have only just got round to the task of bringing out all the baby things and setting it all up. I have now finally been through everything and brought the very few bits and pieces that i needed. All to do now is finish the mammoth loads of washing and ironing that this has created.

With all this goig on i havn't had that much time for making. I have started a stripy blanket that was a crochet along from last year, but the website that did it have now put full instructions together, so its now my main at home project and is alot bigger than it should be as it will adorn my bed next winter ( hopefully!)

This is the start of it, If anybody else wanted to start it as well, you can find the instructions on http://notyouraveragecrochet.com/as-we-go-stripey-blanket/

There are a few other websites that have links as well and its also on Ravelry.

I have also started a challenge for myself, now that i have started selling my hats, i am going to do a hat a week. People keep asking me if i can do this or that so by making up a hat a week i should have a good selection for people to see and choose from, also it will double as stock as i plan to start attending fairs this year. 

So my first hat is .....

The hungry caterpillar!!

I did nearly finish a new little jumper for Fred but unfortunately it will now be way to small as i started it months ago (oops!) but i will stitch it together and i am sure next winter it will fit the newbie!

Best be off now xxx

Baby Star Afghan Ta-dah!

This week the tree came down and i decided that i needed to get ready for baby number four,s arrival in just six weeks (hopefully unless i go overdue!) So i made the most of the chaos of packing away the decorations to bring down the baby things. It was really nice actually to have something so near to look forward to. usually when the decorations come down everything feels i little miserable and depressing, i miss the twinkly lights, bright colors and clutter that come with Christmas. This year though i have thrown myself into washing baby clothes and putting up the crib and generally getting everything together.

With no big projects on the go i decided to start a blanket for baby, i have more blankets than i will ever need , but i wanted him to have a special one just for him, like i have done with the others so i decided on the Baby Star Blanket http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/beths-little-star-afghan that i got from this address. Its been a really cosy, easy project that's been really comforting to do as my part of the world has been hit by storms for the last week, so with the kids still at home and nothing better to do than let them play with there new toys and we all ate more chocolate than we probably should, i could get comfy on the couch and get to work on it.

I love the colors it really brightened things up after taking the tree down and the fact that this is what i was looking out on most days

Even the kids were imerced in crafting with there new makey makey box full of craft supplies from Father Christmas

Yes they took over most of my kitchen, so it was just as well i stayed in the lounge so i didn't end up stressing at the mess they made, but i have to say they did do a great job of tiding up after themselves.

And so Ta-dah!  the blanket got finished

One little mistake, i used some yarn that i had in my box and they were not full balls, but i thought its ok i am only doing 4 rows in each color and didn't take into account that the outside rows are bigger than the inside rows....duh so i had to do a 3 and 2 row, but it still looks good and its plenty big enough.

off to work on a row for my stripy CAL blanket

Bye xxx