miss marie's miscellany

Feeling peachy

Life is a bit work- dominated at the moment. Not much time for anything else. Except a little gardening; despite there being an autumnal feel in the air now, there seem to be lots of plants blossoming.......like this lovely peachy rose

 

and this calendula, brilliant vibrant orange

 

And I have managed to fit in some crochet too; here's a glimpse of the nearly finished cushion cover, burnt orange and raspberry looking lovely together

 

Just the buttons and buttonholes to be done and I'll show it to you!

I'm off on a short trip later today to Newcastle, surely some good photo opportunities to be had there, I think. It is for a job interview, so cross your fingers for me!
 
 
 

Stitchy stuff

I have learned 2 new stitches this week, the first is the star stitch which I really like......pretty too isn't it?!

 

How about orange?

 

This stitch is also called the daisy stitch, and I've found a couple of versions of it. This one is nicely spaced so you can see the flowers/stars - I found the pattern here.

The second is the crochet version of moss stitch; I've crocheted this in a lovely pale biscuit colour.

 

I knew the knitted version of this, also called seed stitch and this doesn't look anything like that. But I did a little research and discovered that there are 2 versions of moss stitch and this is very like American moss stitch. You can see the 2 different versions if you click here.

These are going to make some cushion covers, I thought the 2 different sides would be a good contrast in texture. Hopefully, there will be 2 and they'll be ready next week, all being well, if I can get my hook moving fast enough!
 
 

Harvesting

Time for a little digging in the garden and look what I found.......some Pentland Javelin potatoes, 4 and a half pounds worth

 

and some more potatoes, this variety is called Bambino, and I got 6 pounds of these

 

I have already tried some of these and they are delicious! 

I also picked the last of the peas: they have been brilliant, my first time of growing peas and it won't be the last, and some big and little courgettes

 

There are more goodies to come, some promising looking beetroot and french beans, and parsnips, leeks and jerusalem artichokes for the winter :-) 

 
 
 

August collage

I can't believe August has been and gone, it flew by. I started with all the garden improvements, I went back to work, and did a humungous amount of crocheting. I took a trip across the sea, went on a hen night and I have painted, dug and chopped things down in the garden. Perhaps that's why August whizzed by, I have been very busy!

 

Granny ta-dah!

I've been working away on the big granny square blanket I showed off a couple of weeks ago, it has been quite a task! The rows were taking nearly an hour each by the end, quite an epic amount of crochet was taking place; but the weather has been so fantastic over the last week, I have sat in the garden with all my bits and pieces here

 

those small garden trugs are great for outdoor crafting! It's been lovely to enjoy the sunlit garden

 

and whizz round the blanket a few times.So, at last, I have finished! I'm breathing a big sigh of relief but I'm delighted with it. 

 

 
 I finished it off with some rows of double crochet using a mixture of the colours in the blanket, then a row of arch chain edging.

 

 

It used up a lot of wool, I have used 17 different colours! All the balls of wool were 100gs and I haven't run out of any colour, but haven't got much left of some and had to start a second ball of wool for a couple of shades.

 

But it is a biggie, here it is on the spare bed (double)

 

And here it is on my king size bed

 

It will be keeping someone cosy this winter!

My next project will definitely be something slightly smaller!!:-)
 

 
 
 
 

More dahlia love

We're having an Indian summer here in Glasgow this week, and I keep finding more lovely flowers in the garden, late visitors but they are very welcome. This dahlia is as lovely as the one in my last post; a beautiful, rich red, and a prolific flowerer, I hope it will last for a while.

 

 

Dahlia love

Just blooming in the garden this week, isn't it lovely?!

 

I think this is my 'best in show' for this year :-)
 

 

iCrochet

I'm a big fan of Sarah London and regularly visit her blog, it's always full of interesting things and her crochet designs and tutorials are fantastic. I was excited to see she has started a new blog, called iCrochet, which is a place for crocheters from all over the world to leave a link and photo of their latest WIP, a lovely compendium of hookiness, if you like. There are some wonderful things to be seen there already, so head on over and feast your eyes! 

 

 

This week I have been mostly.......

spending a lot of time with this old friend of mine, hence the lack of posting - I have lots of music to learn, so I'm being kept very well occupied.

 

Notice the strategically placed coffee, absolutely essential for constructive practice!

Coming soon, I promise, a crochet reveal :-)

 

My new hat

I wanted to make something quick and found this pattern at the Lion Brand website. I had some Crofter DK Fair Isle effect wool which I'd been wanting to try, and this seemed a good project for it. 

 

It only took me about 4 hours to make. Perhaps it's a bit mad to be crocheting hats in the summer, but it hasn't been too summery here in Glasgow of late, so I thought I might as well get myself ready for autumn days out in the garden!

 

Another self-taken photo of yours truly, I really must practice doing this a bit more! But you can see how cozy the hat looks :-)