There's a lot happening in the garden just now; in a couple of weeks, there's been a dramatic change from practically nothing in flower to a wonderful spring burgeoning of colour, a fantastic array of daffodils, primulas, primroses, early tulips and plenty of other plants awakening from their winter sleep.
I particulalrly love the colours in this photo; it's garden design by accident on my part, but I love the contrast of the yellow daffodils and black hellebores together. Beautiful!
Photographic pickings were slim this month; I seem to be saying I'm busy a lot, it's becoming my mantra but I have been, very much so! In the end I chose this photo on the beach by the sea, because I like the sky and the sun light breaking through the clouds. A hint at the spring weather on the way soon after this was taken:-)
I will try harder to take more photos in April!!
Some time back when i was starting to learn to crochet, all the crochet blogs I liked to read were buzzing with talk of African flowers. I wrote the pattern down and then got waylaid with something or other and forgot about it. Then the other day, I came across it again and after oohing and aahing about how pretty it looks, decided to try making a few. The colours I chose were 2 different shades of pink, green, white and coffee brown.
I've seen many pictures of cherry blossom recently, particularly after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and maybe unconsciously I chose these colours as a reflection of those tributes; who knows, but they have the same harmony as the petals, leaves and tree bark of the cherry tree and they look lovely together :-)
The pattern is an easy crochet and yet they have a great rhythm to them as you make them. I think these will probably turn into a cushion cover, or possibly a bag, I'm not sure yet, but hopefully you will see soon.
If you fancy drooling over some more gorgeous colours, there is a Flickr group for these lovely flowers.......head on over and feast your eyes!
I know I've been have a purple love affair recently, but I am also very fond of green. After I happily sold my multi-coloured big granny square blanket recently, I decided to make another. When looking through my stash, I found so many balls of wool of just about every shade of green possible, and so the colour scheme of green and white suggested itself to me. I think it's something to do with spring coming :-) After about 3 weeks of hooking when time has allowed, I have finished.
As you can see there really is a plethora of greenness; mint, leaf, apple, grass, moss, spruce, teal, bottle, lime. There's even a yarn called Highland Burn in there. By my count, there are 14 different shades of green! I like the way the white makes the greens look so vivid, and yet when it's lying on the bed it exudes serenity.
It really struck me how the different tones come out with changes in the light; the 2 photos above, taken yesterday(Saturday) have a blueish green tinge: whereas in the photo below, taken last Thursday, on a sunnier day, the mossy green colours come to the fore.
I finished it off with some rows of half treble in greens and a row of white treble stitches folowed by a final lime green scalloped shell edging
The edging's frilliness wasn't deliberate but I like how it has turned out
This has been a great stash buster; I obviously had a huge splurge on green wool at some point in the past and had a lot of it. Now it's down to a sensible amount! The yarns I used are all DK and a mixed bag of wool and wool and acrylic mixture. I wanted the blanket to be machine washable, I can't imagine what a horrendous chore it would be to hand wash something of this size!
So there you have my latest finished project.
Staying with the green theme, a friend has asked me to crochet him a cardigan. He presented me with a big bag of this gorgeous wool, we chose this pattern which I found in a vintage book
and I am happily hooking away. The wool is beautifully soft, a joy to work with and crochets up well. I think the finished garment will be very cosy and smart.
It's quite a responsibility making something for someone you know and like, so I'm pulling all the stops out to make it look the biz!
It was quite hard to choose just one photo this month; should it be something crafty, something garden-related or to do with the advent of spring. In the end I decide to pick this photo, for the colour and the oncoming season which brings us such lovely flowers.
I'll be showing you my big green blanket later this week, it's turned out very nicely and is also very spring-themed......soon :-)
I really can't get enough purple at the moment, I've been wearing purple garments, using purple wool in my makings, and these are my most recent acquisition
purple boots, I HAD to have them!!
And now there is some more in the garden. The route to the purple shed needed sprucing up, so some constuction has gone on.
It is a recycling of the sandstone slabs which were there already; they were lifted, cleaned, given a good solid under carriage, replaced and edged with purple slate chippings
Halfway there...........
Finally finished
so now, I can walk up my very own purple path!
Sorry I haven't been here for a while, time has run away since I last stuck my head round the door. But I've been busy with all of the different parts of my life and work, and I have lots to tell you about. Enought for a few posts worth certainly! Just so that I make up for being AWOL.
So I'll start with some snapshots of my recent crochet/crafty makings
This blanket is nearly finished!
I have been enjoying using my garden studio, it's such a lovely space to be in, cosy and comfortable, and the light on a good day is so bright and clear. And I have re-discovered the contents of my iPod too, it's been quite inspiring to listen to old and much-loved songs with fresh ears.
Trying out some new colour combos
I have a big stack of things waiting to be made too; I have 5 commissions, which is fantastic, so I will be showing them off when they are completed.
So that's all the yarny stuff up to date; next time I'll be out in the garden :-)
Here are the granny squares I've made so far for the Crochet a Rainbow appeal.
I'm going to make some more over the weekend and send them off on Monday.
I've enjoyed making these so much that I decided to experiment with some colour combinations for possible blankets.Trying to think of a name for each of them.........
Green goddess - I have every ball of green wool out of my stash for this!
Spring flowers, as this puts me in mind of the colourful primroses that will appear soon. (Sorry this photo is not great,it's been pouring down and blowing a gale today with grey skies so I had to use a flash, which makes it look a little more garish than it really is - better pic to follow soon)
I think my colour choices are definitely a look forward to the spring and hopes of warmer climes and the start of the growing season in the garden. Bring it on!
All very busy here at MMM Towers. Which is good, I'm definitely glad to be in demand!
But there's always time for some crochet.
Experimenting with Valentine's cards
Trying something new, 4 colour square
And a commission from someone special, I hope they like it!
I hope your week has been full of good things :-)
After all the excitement of Christmas, I had a day of total leisure on Monday; absolutely nothing to do but sit, relax and enjoy watching Pride and Prejudice and Upstairs Downstairs and crochet. I have been keeping some of this lovely wool, Brown Sheep Worsted, for a rainy day, and I ended up making these wristwarmers for me.
I used a beautiful green, Kiwi, for the hand part. I wanted a bit of texture to these so I plumped for moss stitch.
Then I edged the top and bottom with a deep pink, Fuschsia; at the top I did a row of double crochet stitches and then a row of crab stitch
and at the bottom I made a long strip of rows of double crochet, working each alternate row in the back loops only to give a ribbed effect.
They are very cosy as the wool is lovely and thick; very luxourious.
They go very well with my new pink coat too!
I am Marie, a musician who likes to take photographs and write about what I'm making, reading and enjoying.
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