miss marie's miscellany

March collage

Time for another monthly round-up, is it just me or has March flown past? 

Good stuff; lots of crochet, as well as my recent reveals you can see some new stuff in the photos which I've been trying out and will post about soon, getting started in the garden and some lovely flowers beginning to show themselves, my trip to Aye Write and Creative Stitches 2010, the best green boots ever, so comfortable.......and my giveaway (which I very stupidly forgot to photograph; Jenny did a great job for me!)

Bad stuff; yet more snow at the start of this week......I'm not going moan about it too much but I've really had it with the white stuff, enough is enough! Let's hope April will bring more clement and seasonal weather!

 

 Have a good (and prank-free) day :-)
 

Granny blue

I finished my latest cushion cover, a companion to the one I made a couple of weeks ago. This is a green, blue and white colour combo, I think I was inspired by the blue skies and spring greens around me when I started making it.

 

For the other side, I decided to make 9 small squares, using different combinations of the colours in 3 variations. And they were very quick to crochet up, just a couple of days to complete.

 

I used some blue buttons for the fastening, attached to rows of half trebles. I chose the buttons because of their colour, but when I looked the photo below, I realised the square buttons echo the clusters of treble stitches in the granny squares. A happy coincidence.

 

The wools I used were predominantly Sirdar;  the light and dark blue and the lighter green are Countrystyle DK, the greyish blue is Click DK and the white is Snuggly. The slightly darker green is Rowan DK. I like the cool palette  of colours, fresh and light, serene and peaceful. 

Here it is next to Granny Apple Blossom

Looking pretty side by side, bringing a hint of spring inside too :-) 

 
 
 

Colour my Wednesday

It's a grey, wet day here; I need some colour today. I bought these roses yesterday, just from the supermarket; they're such an unusual two-colour variety, I couldn't resist them

 

Velvety peach and deep deep red, lovely!

I'm liking this succulent houseplant I picked up in IKEA today, it was only when I photographed it that I realised the ends of the leaves were so pinky-purple. Purple and green, my favourites :-)

I started another granny square cushion cover in a cooler palette than I've chosen previously. Just for a change.....blue and green with bright white.

The front

And the back, so far. Eventually, there will be 9 squares in total.  

And I'm still making hexagons for the never-ending blanket. I got a bit bored with making these before Christmas, and put it aside for a while. And once all that snow fell, the blanket -so- far was pressed into service; it's been keeping cold feet cosy in bed for a couple of months. I kept adding hexagons here and there, sewing them on before getting into bed...... and this is how it looks today.

 
 I'm not sure when I'll get this finished, but onward and upward, I'm going to make a concerted effort to fill in the spaces so it is a proper rectangle next time I show it here! 

Sunny afternoon

Today is the Vernal Equinox, when the day and night are the same length. Officially, the first day of spring. And right on cue it's been a lovely day here, perfect for a spot of gardening. And a bit of relaxing too. 

After quite a bit of digging,weeding and clearing, things are starting to unfurl, raise their heads in to the sunlight and grow.....at last!

It's been a long time coming, with such a long, cold winter, but finally the colour everyone needs is starting to burst through. Good for the soul.

And after all that toil, a chance to enjoy some warmth outside. Lovely to sit with the sun on your face, coffee and mini chocolate brownies and a bit of hooking!

 

Have a great weekend :-)

For my mum

A gift for my mum today (Mother's Day here in the UK), a scarf of crocheted flowers.

 

Well, you can never have too many flowers and I thought this would be pretty and useful for these spring days with a cool nip in the air.  These are good colours for Mum, it really suits her!

 

Weekend bits and pieces

The weather has taken an upward turn, the temperature has risen, so happy days. Friday evening started with this amazing sunset sky

  

Then I went off to hear one of my literary heroes, William Boyd, at the Aye Write festival here in Glasgow at the Mitchell Library

 

WB is an engaging and warm orator, natural, warm and witty, and totally at home in front of an audience. It was a fascinating evening with a description into how his novels are conceived, researched and crafted, some readings from his latest book Ordinary Thunderstorms and a Q&A; one of the questions posed was about the particular difficulties of transferring a long novel to the small screen, especially one's own work, and WB told us that his novel (and my favourite of his books) Any Human Heart is just about to start filming in a TV adaptation, to be shown this autumn. I, for one, can't wait to see how such an epic novel of a long and full life will translate to the screen. All wonderfully interesting and entertaining -  I'm so glad I was there.

Saturday, I put on my crafty hat and went to the Creative Stitches show at the SECC. I enjoyed much of the exhibits, and there were some lovely wools. But it was a bit of an effort to get round as there was lots of pushing and shoving - if anyone is familiar with the comedy show The Mighty Boosh, there's an episode called Nanageddon, when all the elderly ladies in the vicinity become possessed by an evil demon and go on the rampage, and I was reminded of this with increasing regularity as it got busier and wool-frenzy took hold.  I left before it got really nasty! However, I didn't come away empty-handed (of course not!) I bought some lovely wool from the New Lanark Organic wool shop

 and a pack of 10 balls of Rowan Alpaca in beautiful purple 

 

and this lovely book

 

I think I'll be making something purple from this book soon, so watch this space!

Today brought an invitation from my sister to go the cinema, so off we duly went, armed with our 3D specs to see Alice in Wonderland. The plot of the film is an amalgam of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass and Jabberwocky, so if you are a purist, you may not like it. But I did, it looked so beautiful, wonderful sets and costumes, and the sombre, slightly spooky mood and sense of unease suited the reworking of the story.  I liked Anne Hathaway's White Queen (like a crazed Nigella Lawson) and Stephen Fry's voice for the Cheshire Cat, all persuasive plummy purring! Well worth seeing if you like your films with a dark twist.

That's all I had time for! 

 

 

Making me happy today

It's Monday and March 1st already and there are nice things to show from today and the weekend.

Green shoots appearing in the garden;  despite the cold, spring is on its way and I found myself out pottering in the garden yesterday for the first time this year

 

 

A peek at what I'm making just now.

 

 
 Finding these in trouser pocket about to go in the washing machine! Happy days!

 

 Lemon, sunflower seed and blueberry muffin with coffee

 

Some views of the hills surrounding Glasgow which I took this morning when I was in the north of the city.

Looking north - I think this hill is called the Sleeping Giant, today he has a snowy blanket!

 

Looking south, at the cranes at the Govan shipyards and to the Ayrshire hills

And after day upon day of unrelenting grey, the sky is so blue today

 

Happy Monday,whatever it brings you :-)
  

Granny Apple Blossom

I've christened my latest crochet cushion cover, Granny Apple Blossom because

a)  the pinks and greens reminded me of apple blossom 

and 

b) it's 2 big granny squares sewn together. 

I hadn't made a granny square for ages, and started one about a week ago. I chose pink and green because they look so good together and after all the recent cold wintry weather, I felt a need for the colours of spring. Here's a list of the wools I used.

 

All lovely to work with and they worked well together, despite being different brands. I kept on making round after round until it was quite large and perfect for a cushion. 

 

A bit of a delay ensued with completion as I faffed around with making the second side. Firstly I tried an old sweater backing, but it looked awful. Then I tried rows of half treble crochet in the same colours, but it just didn't look right either and had to be frogged. Eventually I realised that another granny square was the best idea, keeping things simple. 

 

Some flower buttons to fasten

 

and there is is, finished!

 

Pretty and cheery on a cold snowy day, but I'm sure it will be just as good on a sunny spring or summer day!

Baby blue and green

Remember the blue and green WIP I showed you a glimpse of recently? It was a blanket for my friend and her new baby boy and I finally finished it off at the weekend. 

 

I'm pleased with how it's turned out, in fact I'm delighted. I found the pattern at the Lion Brand website, and tweaked it a bit; I used 6 colours, instead of 2

 

made 12 squares instead of 9

 

and added a border of half treble rows in each of the colours used. 

 

It was delivered on Saturday afternoon and they loved it! 

 

A lovely present for a very cute little boy!

 
 
  

Hearts for Valentine's Day

There are some lovely crochet patterns for hearts out there on t'internet, something for hookers of all abilities, and very apt for today :-)

 This one

This one

This pattern, over at The Royal Sisters

and this one from Sarah London

They're all lovely, cue for a group photo!

 

* Happy Valentine's Day! *