A month of contrasts of temperature, starting off cold and ending warm and promising. A month of tulips galore, they have brought wonderful colour to the garden. A month of happy crochet projects, including a special gift. A month when I visited some old haunts and places I'm glad I re-acquainted myself with.
This is the first time this year I've been able to post lots of flower photos, something which makes me very happy! Enjoy :-)
In these cash-strapped times, it's always good to find something that seems good value. Buying wool can be an expensive business, especially if you go for pure new wool. I'd love to be able to use this more than I do, but just like the UK government, I'm having to make drastic cuts to my out-goings. All my recent makes have been blankets or cushion covers, things which (in my opinion) are better made with wool which can take some wear and tear and is machine washable. I know some people turn their nose up at acrylic yarns, but I don't have a problem with them, I think they are reasonably priced, crochet up well and keep their shape and don't shrink after washing. I found a new brand recently which I'm liking a lot, Stylecraft Life DK, which is a blend of 75% acrylic and 25% wool.
The colours are rich and vivid and it has a nice soft feel with enough wool content to make you forget about the man-made stuff. I got these for £2.25 a 100g ball, pretty good value I'd say. I've been making a little something with some of the colours......
I started making these squares a couple of weekends ago just to see how the wool fared. I can report favourably, it doesn't split and feels soft on the hands, the stitches look nice and neat and uniform too.
It's a homage to the Babette blanket! The pattern is from Jan Eaton's book 200 Crochet Blocks; I made one of the large squares to start with and then varied the repetitions of rows to get the small and medium sizes.
The lighter green wool in those squares is made with Sirdar Countrystyle DK which is a firm favourite of mine. This is a 45% acrylic, 40% nylon, 15% wool blend. The range of colours is wide and it's about £3.20 for a 100g ball. It feels wonderfully soft and crochets up beautifully. I've used it mixed with other wools in all my granny square cushions, my hexagon blanket, 2 baby blankets and my WIP blanket for my nephew. This green went so well with the other colours, they just seemed made for each other. And I've finished the cushion, what do you think?
I'm delighted with how this has turned out.
Some buttons to match the wool to fasten
Job done; I'm all crocheted out now! And pleased that I've found some new wool which won't break the bank and looks good.
Do you remember the yellow tulip in my last but one past, the one called the chameleon tulip?
I didn't know why........but I do now!
This is how they look today
I've never grown a flower which has changed colour before :-)
All the tulips are nearly past their best, they've provided some wonderful colour in the garden for the last 2-3 weeks.
This variety is called Antoinette.
On the pack it says this is the chameleon tulip, I'm not sure why!? The colours remind me of pear drops
I planted these to have cut flowers in the house, but I've hardly picked any, i just couldn't bring myself to take the scissors to them!
These dwarf tulips were the first to emerge, they're called Johann Strauss (yes, I have to get some musical names in there!)
This is Flaming Parrot.
Jan Reus, fantastic dark red
Madonna, delicate white ruffles with a tint of green.
Palestrina
Spring Green
And just because it's so pretty, this lovely parrot tulip 'Rococo' again.
I'm glad I included some ruffled parrot tulips this year, they are exciting to watch as they go from tightly bunched up petals which give no hint of what's hiding inside to richly coloured and frilly flowers. A lovely contrast to their more upright sisters.
I love tulips, they're one of my favourites, and I'm sad these lovely flowers will soon be gone from the garden, they make me catch my breath every time I walk past them!
But they'll re-appear next year, and there's plenty more to look forward to as spring turns into summer.
When I was down in Liverpool at Easter, my sister-in-law asked me to make a granny square cushion to go with their living room decor. She liked the ones I'd made already, and I was happy to oblige. Their living room colour scheme is soft grey with accents of green, black and red, so I chose a mix of light and dark grey, black, apple and moss green, red and white.
This is one side, a large granny square, just like my 2 previous granny square cushions. There are already some cushions with large flower designs in all of these colours in their room, so for the other side, I decided to use this design, Sarah London's wonderful Rose Motif pattern.
I made 12 of these
In these 4 variations of the colours used.
Here they are all joined together
I love making granny squares so that bit was easy, I'm a dab hand at them now! The rose squares appear complicated but were not too tricky at all, and they really look the business. I like the contrast between the flat granny square side and the raised texture of the roses side. I used a 4mm hook, and a mixture of wools, all from my stash.
Black and apple green - Sirdar Countrystyle DK
Red - Patons Diploma Gold DK.
Dark grey, light grey and moss green - Rowan Pure Wool DK.
White - Sirdar Snuggly DK.
And here's the finished article
Fastened with some red flower buttons
As luck would have it, it was my SIL's birthday yesterday, so I managed to finish in time for the big day :-)
Happy Birthday, Deb!
I planted lots of tulips in the autumn, and of course they are now coming up and looking fantastic. I love tulips, the more in the garden the better, I think.
Last week I spied this parrot tulip; I couldn't quite remember what colour it would be, so I waited expectantly for its petals to unfurl.......
A few days later, it was looking decidedly rosier
Then after my working trip away at the end of last week, I returned home to this beauty
I'm very glad I braved the freezing cold to plant all those bulbs, what a treat to have all this colour.
More of those lovely tulips to follow soon :-)
Some colour from the last couple of days to brighten up a grey Glasgow Saturday.
Purple primula, I love these flowers, they've been cheering up the garden beautifully for a couple of weeks
At my friends house - a line-up of all these lovely Russian dolls
Tulip, also looking very fine in the garden
And a peek at something I'm making just now, reveal will be coming very soon.
I wish you a happy weekend, with many good things:-)
This week I've been trying to get started on a blanket for my 9-year old nephew. I've been scratching my head about this one, as I couldn't settle on a design I liked, and that I thought would be acceptable to the recipient. He has been quite specific about the colours he wants, black most definitely, dark red, yellow, dark blue and maybe green. Not my usual palette!!
I tried rippling, a geometric design and diagonal squares, but they didn't seem right. After a great deal of deliberation and frogging, I found this pattern over at Min Inspiration, a lovely blog I recently discovered. I like it; I worried at first that it was too girly for a cool young dude, but in these bright colours, it reminds me of the sun.
Edging all the squares with black makes it look
a) like stained glass
b) quite funky and modern.
It's also quick to crochet up, which is excellent. So this is the winner, I'll keep you posted as it grows and takes shape.
Looking gorgeous in the garden right now is the pulsatilla or Pasque flower
So pretty- I love the wispy leaves and the delicate purple flowers with their orange centres.
A favourite at the moment.
Wishing you a happy and peaceful Easter.
I am Marie, a musician who likes to take photographs and write about what I'm making, reading and enjoying.
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