3 flowers growing...

So I seem to be juggling 3 different floral projects at the moment, not that that should come as much surprise!

Firstly, the rustic lace flower scarf, still set aside waiting patiently for its ends to be sewn and to be blocked.

Secondly, the orange bloom scarf. I have still pain stakingly been pinning and steaming these blooms, and have only one flower left to add, so the end is near. I did try it for size to make sure the length was right, and thankfully I made the right amount. But i'm not too happy with how the petals lay, although not as curly as when first off the hook, they're not staying as open as I'd like, so I may actually wash it and pin it in place to dry, once its complete.

My third project was unplanned, and very spur of the moment! I've been struggling to get to sleep the last few nights, one of those nights, rather than laying there frustrated, I went in the front room and picked up my hook, and these little flowers were the outcome.

I did a simple circular edging, which I have since frogged. It worked well to join just 2-3 flowers together, but wont work for more, as you end up back at the same finishing point. I like how these look, but it's on the drawing board, whilst my mind tries to conjour up a join as you go method!

I

These are of course on top of the mood blanket, which is a continuous year-long project that I pick up as and when I'm able.

We finally booked out summer holiday this week, which we're in need of, as i'm feeling so exhausted, only 3 weeks till we venture to the Costa del Sol!

This week, with an extra day off we're hoping to take a trip to London Zoo, so next weeks post could be full of animal pictures instead of flowers, for a change!

Blocking Blooms...

On our day off last week, we were lucky with the weather, so after the chores were done we were back on our bikes. We cycled to Woking town centre, and stopped to look for our first Geocache around the WWF building. We made our way back, and found 3 more, but they were harder to find so we saved the others for another time, and cycled the rest of the route back...

I have continued working on my orange blooms this week

As I have so much blocking to do, and a towel really wasn't ideal, I sourced a set of foam mats, although technically play mats, they seem to be a popular, affordable option.

They have worked so well. The pins pop in so easily and stay in too!

The flowers are coming together. All the orange petals are made so i'm just adding the red edging and joining as I go and then blocking each flower

I'm thinking about writing out a pattern for this one, but as I haven't written a pattern for someone else to understand, I think I may need to do a bit of research first!

The weather has been quite erratic this week. From bright blue skies to deep, dark heavy rain clouds, but whichever we've had it's been very humid

Our flat is pretty hot, so when it gets too much, we have a lovely lake we can visit. just down the road

I never tire of this view, and a lap of the lake is a perfect stroll in the sun

We did have a sneak treat this time !!

Oranges and grannies...

So this week I have continued with my orange blooms

I joined two of the flowers together, but I really needed to block them, and what a difference it makes in doing so

I have no idea whether blocking will actually keep the petals open, or if they'll go back to being curly? I guess I will find out as I continue to work and join

After blocking the two finished flowers ( I really need to invest in some of those kiddies foam play mats to block on, a towel is very hard going to get the pins to go and stay in!)

I'm now whizzing through making more blooms, I've got a nice little pile ready for the red edging

This week I had a massive tidy of my craft corner. Hubby is very patient, but he doesn't like it to spread to widely! I have a big basket, and a small trunk, one which held yarn, the other my wip's and then lots of loose annoying bits. So the yarn has been relegated to the garage, and embarrassingly my unfinished projects have been moved to the large basket, and all the little tools, buttons, ribbons and odds and ends have fitted into the trunk. It is a job well done, and I found projects I'd forgotten about too (hangs head in shame!) but all I need to do now is stay organised, and maybe actually finish a few!

As usual a few more more mood blooms have been added to the ever increasing blanket

Yesterday was National Granny square day, so as last year, the crochet community from across the globe posted a close up picture of their square and uploaded it on instagram. The idea is then to take screenshot of everyones' squares to make a virtual blanket. With a heavy weekend workload, I had to cheat and take a cropped photo of a square from last years mood blanket. It's been amazing to scroll through everyones pictures, to see the variety and colours

New colour blooms...

I did very little crochet whilst on holiday, but sometimes its nice to have a complete break, devoid of pressure.

Our first day back home, and we continued with the outdoor activities. It was back on our bikes, and we cycled westerly along the canal path. It was a lovely sunny day, but not too hot, and with our newly attached water bottle holders, we were refreshed along the route. We then did an about turn, this time hunting for geocaches on the return journey. We found that some of them we had tried in the past, but this time we had success finding 4 in total. And despite having to search through a horse-fly swarm and getting stung by nettles, we did have fun!

I had a night out with the girls from work, as we visited Las Iguanas, Mexican restaurant, followed by Creams for pudding! It was a fun night, with yummy food!

And Peter Andre came to town, promoting his fragrance. I do have a soft spot from him, so I was quite happy to watch at a distance!

Crafting wise I've mangaged to complete all the rustic lace flowers, and joined them along the way. So all I have left to do is finish sewing in the ends, and it will definitely need blocking!

As i've taken many flower pictures on my holidays, I now have a lovely amount of inspiration to return to.

For my next crochet piece, this flower was behind my thought process (anyone have any ideas what it is?)

I love the simple shape, the way you would draw a basic flower on paper.

I made a dark round centre, and changed to an orange colour. I made a long chain, turned and worked back down the chain, and joined at the same point on the circle, till I worked round the whole circumference.

I wanted to add a second colour to the petals, to match the two tone of the flower

So I went round each petal in a bright red, for a slight contrast

As you can see, it is in desperate need of blocking as the petals have closed and curled round

I decided to make another, only changing the centre colour (after finding the original colour I had wanted)

I had no plan when I started out, but they are lovely plump flowers, so I will see how they look joined together, as I invisage they could make a colourful cosy scarf!

Looks like its time to dig out the iron!...

Fareham frolics

We took our annual trip to stay with my Mum, and had our jaunts around the area
After our train journey and refreshments, we made the most of the nice weather (although not nice enough for the beach) and headed to the Alver valley. Mum was eager to try Geocaching, and we are always ready for an opportunity. The first one eluded us, so we moved on, through tall grasses, and scrabbling round trees

We had success, finding 6 in total. We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and got to walk around some pretty countryside

The following day we visited Gilbert White's house, learning about the naturalists life

After a coffee break, we headed upstairs to see the Captain Oates exhibition, and his exploits to reach the South pole

We had a picnic on the lawns, before walking round the expanse of gardens

To round off the day, we took a stroll around the picturesque village

We do love a good Ag show, so we were pleased that our holiday coincided with the New Forest show. We have been before and it is a great mix of animals, crafts, flowers and displays.

We had planned prior to our holiday, a trip to the theatre. Annie is one of our favourites, and with Craig Revel Horwood playing Miss Hannigan we couldn't miss the opportunity

As we saw the matinee, which ends at rush hour, we took the opportunity to make a stop at Ikea

Our next choice of place to visit was Fishbourne Roman palace. We arrived in perfect time for the guided tour, to learn the history of the archaeological site

We had a walk around the gardens, had a picnic and saw a small archaeological dig for kids to join in

As the weather had come out nice, we didn't want to waste the opportunity, so we had a brief trip to the beach. The tide was out, but we took a stroll to the waters edge and went looking for shells

For our last day it was a relaxed affair. We took a stroll into town, and it goes without saying that I had to take a visit to the new haberdashery/wool store

We watched local teams compete in handmade raft races

Before heading back through town, with a vital stop at Wilko to stock up for home.

It was lovely getting out and about, enjoying the summer fresh air, what we miss most from working indoors each day...