miss marie's miscellany

What every crochet loving lady should drive

I came across this fantastic smart car with its own multi-coloured crocheted cover........I love it!

 

It is the work of Magda Sayeg, an American lady who is a guerilla knitter. I've heard of guerrila gardening, but not knitting; but it sounds like an excellent idea to me, brightening up your surroundings with some lovely knitting or crochet, putting it in locations where you'd least expect to see such a thing; lampposts, road signs, a bus .........yes,really, if you don't believe me, look at this.

 

Magda Sayeg has a blog called KnittaPlease where she posts all her latest projects. Absolutely fascinating and inventive, it takes yarn and what one can do with it to a whole new level.

I wish my car looked like this!

  

Looking lovely in the garden this week

I was thinking how few photos I've taken this year of flowers in my garden, somehow up till now, there don't seem to have been as many as last year. But this week some beautiful colours have appeared .

Blue, blue anemone - this is sitting on the front doorstep, every time I go out, I have to stop and stare.

 

Pretty pink geranium

 

Frothy creaminess of this beautiful hydrangea

 

Lovely rose :-)

 

I love this two-tone geum, it's so unusual and the colours almost seem to glow, I find it mesmerising, especially when the sun is shining.

 

Green apples galore, it'll be a good harvest this year.

 

Cheery yellow calendula

 

All the bright and beautiful colours are having a good effect on my latest WIP, I thought I'd take a photo of it in the great outdoors.

 

Nearly finished! I'm loving how it's turning out, the random choice of colour is working a treat. I hope to be able to show you the completed blanket after the weekend.

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 

July collage

This year is passing by rather quickly, I can't believe it's the end of another month. There's been lots of crochet, some trips away and a mix of good and bloomin'  awful weather, sounds about right for the good old British summertime!

 

Heather shawl

I finished my granny stripes shawl :-) I'm made up with how it looks, the colours are just right for me and it's very cosy. I tried to take a photo of me wearing it, almost impossible, but after lots of shots of the side of my head, I succeeded in taking a presentable image.

 

It was a lot of crocheting once the sides started to get longer, but it was worth the work to get such a lovely finished article. I used a mixture of wools, some Sirdar Countrystyle and Bonus DK, King Cole Big Value DK and the purply-pink is from my Ebay wool from Kingcraig Fabrics. 

 

Thanks to Jenny for her comment on my last post, she said it reminded her of moorland colours and so, inspired by her idea, I've decide to call it my Heather shawl. 

I hope your weekend is full of colour and good things!
 
 

 

Playing with colour

It's a while since I talked about crochet and wool. but I haven't been idle, in fact quite the opposite, I can't stop with the crochet hook!
 
I found some fabulous wool/silk mix yarn on Ebay, from this seller. Their shop has lots of beautiful wool in a rainbow of shades; much of it comes on cones, good for those larger projects, and they have now started selling 100g balls, which is ideal for my purposes.  I chose an autumnal mix of aubergine, dusky pink, mustard, oatmeal and lemon and lime twist (sounds like a recipe) in this lovely nubbly yarn which has turned into this round cushion.

It is an unusual mix but I think it works :-) 


When I was in Liverpool, my sister-in-law took me to an Aladdin's cave of a shop, Abakhan, a treasure trove of supplies for every craft under the sun, and of course, that includes lots and lots of lovely wool. They have an online shop too, worth a butcher's.  It was like being let loose in a sweet shop, I left with a huge bag filled with brightly coloured wool. I decided to make a granny square blanket using lots of colour and a random combination of them.



A freefall colour experience for me, I usually like to be symmetrical ; I'm just keeping going till it's BIG.



Still a way to go before it's ready, but it's turning out nicely!

Continuing with the granny theme, I've seen a couple of lovely granny shawls recently and had a real attack of the wanties. Just the ticket for a cool summer evening in the garden, I thought, and it will definitely come in handy if we have another baltic winter! I'm just playing with the colours, but think I've found a good combination with these.



These are very 'me' colours! A concerted effort over the next couple of days and I should be able to show the FO shawl.

I hope your weekend is full of colour too.

Summer colour

Some delightful colours at the garden centre near my brother's house

 

They make me feel summery :-)

 

More tales from my week in Liverpool soon..........
 
 

 

Three gardens in one day: part 3

Last stop on this whistle-stop tour is Castle Kennedy Gardens, set on a vast sprawling estate, with a lake and tree-lined avenues. Castle Kennedy is a romantic ruin, covered in wisteria

 

Next to the castle is a beautiful walled garden

 

A lovely space to wander around
 

 

 

and enjoy the flowers

 

 

 

I have to admit the feet were starting to hurt a lot by now, so a big explore of the huge estate was not really going to happen. If you want to see Monkey Puzzle Avenue you will have to visit yourself! 

But through this gate..........

 

we found a lily pond to rival all the ones we'd seen before.

 

 There were so many water lilies you could hardly see any water

 

Monet would have been proud!

That's the end of the garden tour, I hope you've enjoyed this little slice of this beautiful part of Scotland.

 
 
 

 
 
 

 

Tom's stained glass blanket

I've been working away making my nephew's multi-coloured blanket, a square here and there, but I got behind when I had to go on my travels for work and missed last weekend's birthday deadline. My nephew was very understanding and patient, he knows you can't hurry a good thing! So this weekend I had time for a final push...... this was the state of play on Friday.

 

After a Herculean effort,  all that joining up and starting an edging which just didn't work and had to be frogged, it is complete.

 

I'm really pleased with the end result - I wasn't sure about the colours when I began making this, but I have to hand it to my nephew, he has picked a winning combination and I have tried a palette which I wouldn't have done, but for his choices. He loves it too :-) 

The bright colours against the black edges put me in mind of stained glass, hence the inspiration for the name of this latest crochet creation......

 

Tom's stained glass blanket!
 

Big sticks

Sometimes you come across something unusual which seems to have drawn inspiration from a variety of different sources  

 
 

Seen outside the smart new Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin...... big red knitting needles!

 

Chopsticks? Abandoned stilts?

They also remind me of Venice...... the theatre is right next to the canal after all.

And at night.....

 

they light up.......may the force be with you?!

 
What do they remind you of? 

The longest day

The longest day ended with the most brilliant sunset

 

A glorious sky

 

 with rich and vivid colours

 

You have to stop and look at such a beautiful sight

till it's almost gone.