Autumn and Winter Crochet Plans

Thank you all for your comments on my cardigan. I was very pleased to read that almost all of you concur that cardigans are great.

I wonder do you remember me telling you about knitting an Aran coat? I think this was the last of the pictures I posted about it because when it was finished I discovered that it was huge; so huge that there was no way to correct it without ripping out and starting again.

Since then I've been looking at patterns, on and off, to try and decide what to make. Eventually I've decided to make a poncho. On a recent visit to the Avoca Mill in Wicklow (I hope to post about that soon) I saw one that I really like. Coincidentally, I had also seen an item in a recent Inside Crochet magazine giving details about a poncho kit that is to be available soon.

This is it. It looks quite easy to make so I've decided to just try and work out a pattern myself.

Well, sort of. In the same Inside Crochet magazine there's a pattern for this lovely jumper. I'm going to use the cable section in my poncho design. I've already made a start on it! It took a few attempts at understanding how the pattern was worded and should be executed but I've got it sussed now.

It is easier on my hands to make the cables in crochet rather than knitting. Hopefully it works out as I don't want to end up with another disaster!

That's one of the projects I'll be working on this Autumn and probably into the Winter. I also am working on a rug and a blanket with plans for far too many other items.

I'm joining with Jennifer's Winter Project Link Party. Go and have a look at the projects that everyone else will be working on. This is the first link up that I've been involved in so I hope I do it right!

All the best for now. Hope you're enjoying the lovely Autumn weather we're having (or that you're getting lovely Spring weather). I have lots of pictures from when we were away at the beginning of September and again at the end but just don't seem to get time to post them. Maybe soon.

Thanks for Guessing

This is the picture I showed you in my last post. Thanks to everyone who tried to guess where it is. No-one got it right! This is Stornoway. We visited here very near the end of our holiday. Unfortunately I still haven't got the holiday photos sorted out to let you see them. We've had people staying. That's my excuse!

Anyway, what about a spot of crochet? Before I went on holiday I finished a cardigan for myself. It is worked from the bottom up, fronts and back all at the same time. When the armholes are reached you crochet the sleeves. Then the cardigan is finished by crocheting the sleeves into the main body and continuing to the neck, decreasing as you go. The pattern is from my Crochet Noro book.

I'm really pleased with it. Not least because it fits me (unlike the dreaded Aran coat which I have yet to un-knit). Do you see how the beech hedge has produced gorgeous new leaves?

Here's a close-up of the pattern. Three rows of trebles (UK) - or double crochet for US readers - followed by a row of V-stitches. Very simple but effective. The yarn is Stylecraft Senses Lace. I've used it before for a little shrug I made last year.

A couple of evenings ago I started trying out some of the patterns from the Boho Crochet book. There are lots of very beautiful items in this book! Very tempting indeed.

The Annie blanket looked simple so I tried a small sample. Then I realised it would make a lovely cosy for my one-person cafetiere. What do you think? Isn't it cute?

It's just some leftover scraps of yarn; all 100% acrylic. A mix of Stylecraft Special and Robin yarns. I used some blue buttons to keep it on.

Finally, here is our amaryllis about to flower. It first flowered shortly after the New Year of 2014. Then it flowered again after a couple of weeks of the first flower dying. Nothing more until now.

When it is in full bloom I'll let you see it again.

At last I've remembered! I keep meaning to tell you something but when I'm writing my posts I forget. Remember I told you about roasting rhubarb? Well, have you ever tried spreading roast rhubarb on toast? Or on a pancake? Or on a scone? Like you would use jam? It's delicious! Go on, give it a try. And talking of rhubarb, that reminds me that there's still lots more out there waiting to be roasted.

All the best for now.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

It seems like a very long time since I did a post. Things have been hectic and I just haven't had time to post anything or, even worse, to getting reading or commenting on any of your posts. Hopefully things will settle down again soon. In the meantime, here's a very quick post to keep you up-to-date.

Good things are happening in the garden. We had some glorious weather over Easter but it has now turned cold, wet and windy. We even had snow on the mountains over the weekend. It hasn't stopped the flowers though. Have a look and see what you  think.

This little Easter basket was crocheted using string. This was all the chocolate the husband and I had between us! The whole packet of mini eggs that is - not just five.

That's the good covered. Now for the bad. Remember my Aran coat? Started back here, then some progress shown here. It's finished, sewn up and almost all the ends sewn in. It's hard to know why I kept on and on with the sewing up because it was obvious very early on that the coat is way too big for me. Even the smallest size would have been much too big. I checked my tension (guage) again and it is right. Then I checked the pattern again and it gives two tensions for the two different honeycomb patterns. So I checked my tension for the second honeycomb pattern and discovered that this is where I was wrong - very, very wrong. However, in my defence, I don't think it would be possible to achieve the correct tension with the size of needles used. Now if I get the correct tension with the size of needles given for the first honeycomb pattern then I would (obviously wrongly) assume that the same size needles should give the correct tension for the second honeycomb pattern. In order to achieve the correct tension for the second honeycomb pattern I would have needed to use  much smaller needles.

Whatever. It's wrong and I'm not terribly happy about it. I've tried to think of ways to adjust it but it's just so much too big there's really only one option. The dreaded ripping it all out and starting again option. So far, I can't quite bring myself to start the destruction process but I will. There's plenty of time to get it finished again before the winter. I'm going to get another pattern though, as I don't think I could face knitting exactly the same coat over again even if I could make it fit me properly.

And the ugly? Nothing ugly at all to report. Crochet and some tapestry has been progressing nicely and I'll let you see soon. Even some new plants for the garden plus some "garden art".

All the best for now and I hope it won't be anywhere near so long before I'm back.

Almost Spring

Welcome back everyone and an especial welcome to my new followers. I'm so pleased that you all liked my crocheted Granny stripe blanket. Your comments were so kind.

Although we are having some really horrible weather these days, it is undeniable that it is almost Spring. In between the howling wind and lashing rain (like today!) we get some beautiful sunshine and calm lulls.

The garden is also proof that Spring has just about sprung. I took a walk round the garden the other day to take some photos.

Can you see the honey bee in this crocus? This is a close up of some of the flowers in the bed above. The whole bed seemed to be humming because there were so many bees in the crocuses. Honey bees love crocuses; especially the purples ones, it seems.

There's another bee among the yellow crocuses.

Ha!! A bee coming into land! Can you see it?

This hellebore is the latest addition to our garden. We bought it recently in the market in Banbridge. I love the colour of it.

Lots more daffodils still to bloom. I can't wait for them all to come into full flower.

So many of the Spring flowers are yellow, aren't they?

Well I hope you enjoyed that quick look round the garden. No doubt I'll be back some time with lots more flower pictures.

My Aran coat is coming on well. I'm surprised at how well, given the number of times I've left it to the side to work on something else! The back, a front and both sleeves are finished. That just leaves the other front and the collar to do. And the putting together, of course. I was worried about having enough yarn so, after finishing the first sleeve, I did a calculation. No worries. There will be plenty to finish my coat. All you knitters and crocheters know that what I really mean is that there will be plenty left over to use for something else! I have some other colours in this same type of yarn and quite a lot in a very similar yarn. Maybe another blanket?

How's it Going?

I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the fact that we're now into February. I have a few projects to show you, in case you were thinking I haven't been doing anything. Here's the scarf I crocheted for my sister. She liked the hat I made her so much that she asked for a matching scarf.

It is made using James C Brett marble DK and an 8mm hook, working trebles into the back loop only. (UK treble or US double crochet stitches). It turned out lovely and soft and squishy, long enough to wrap round twice.

Do you remember my crocheted chillis? I had a bit of a problem with how to display them. Some of your comments suggested joining them together to make a ristra. I tried that - had tried even before I posted about the chillis. There's only one way to describe what the chillis looked like. A cow's udder. Enough said.

Another solution had to be found for the chillis and I favoured a crocheted bowl. It has taken me all this time to finally get round to it. The yarn has been sitting in my bag all these months just waiting to be made into this useful little bowl. It's made using Stylecraft Special DK in Denim. I used a strand of Claret to work a little running stitch 

round the top of the bowl. I'm extremely pleased with the result!

Another project that I'm working on is my Aran coat, started back here. It keeps being left to one side to get something else done; like my crocheted socks. But, even with all the interruptions, the coat is progressing quite well. One of the fronts is finished.

And the back is now up to the waist. When I get the back finished I want to check that I am going to have enough wool to finish. I'm using wool from New Lanark Mill - well, it's 90% wool and 10% silk.

I'm pleasantly surprised at how quickly the coat is making up. Though I'm sure by the time it's finished it will be too warm to wear it!

Let me know what you think of my makes. I love to read your comments. Bye!

Mount Usher Gardens and Finnstown Castle Hotel

Last Thursday and Friday we took ourselves down to Dublin for a wee break. We got a very good deal at the hotel using a scheme run by one of our local supermarkets. Before going to check-in to the hotel we paid a visit to Mount Usher Gardens where we had a nice walk round.

 

We had to cross this bridge over the river. You can see the warning notices that were at both ends of the bridge; no jumping allowed on the bridge! Just walking across the bridge made it bounce so I didn't spend too long on it.

I didn't photograph everything; just a few of the trees and plants that I thought looked unusual.

This cherry tree was blossoming in early December.

We came across this little pet cemetery.

There were quite a few plants flowering. This one was very striking.

After our walk we just had to visit the Avoca Garden Cafe for some refreshments. The carrot cake and coffee were delicious.

We did a bit of shopping though mainly just looking round some lovely shops such as the Avoca shop at Kilmacanogue. Then we headed to our hotel, the Finnstown Castle Hotel, just outside the picturesque village of Lucan, to the west of Dublin. We were very impressed with this place!

There were several peacocks and peahens strutting around the grounds. Sorry it's not a very good picture.

While we were there I took the opportunity to start knitting my Aran coat. The wool is from New Lanark Mill shop; actually 90% wool and 10% silk; the colour is Forest. It's the same yarn I used for my bag (see here and here). My still-hasn't-been-lined-or-got-handles-attached bag! Anyway, back to the coat. I knit the first six rows in garter stitch and then I was supposed to change from 5mm to 5.5mm needles. Arrrghhhh!! I hadn't brought any 5.5mm needles with me. Fortunately I had brought some of the King Cole tinsel yarn and owl pattern with me. So I started an owl. To be honest though, I was totally loaded with the cold and didn't feel much like knitting anything. By the way, since coming home, I accidentally pulled the needle out of what I'd managed to knit of the owl and had to rip it all out. There's no way you can pick up stitches with the tinsel yarn! On the bright side though, I've managed to knit quite a bit of my coat.

On the Friday we drove to the Dundrum Centre where we parked and took the Luas light rail/tram to St. Stephen's Green in Dublin. We wandered round the shops and really enjoyed looking in Brown Thomas especially. Gorgeous but extremely pricey! We ended up in the lovely Powerscourt Centre to have coffee. Oh look. We must have had some biscuit cake as well. You won't believe it, but we were seated right outside a yarn shop for our coffee!! They had needles too, so I bought a pair of 5.5mm wooden ones.

We then returned to Dundrum on the Luas and browsed some of the shops there. Hamleys is a favourite of the husband's. Just a very relaxed day. That evening we had a fantastic four course dinner in the hotel. Free! It was part of the deal we had. The food was really, really good.

So that was our wee pre-Christmas treat. Thoroughly enjoyable. I hope you enjoyed it too. It's great to see I have another few followers and I'm still delighted to read your comments. I've also found some our your lovely blogs to follow too! All the best for now.