Granny basket...

Its been a long hectic week. I made the round trip up to Derby and back at the beginning of the week, but at least I had a lovely 3 course meal

Finishing off with a scrumptious toffee pudding!

I've made a start on a new basket. This time trying something different. I thought i'd try a granny stripe. I didn't know if it would work using the washing line, but

I didn't know if it would work using the washing line, but I like that it's visible, it gives a great texture

I've managed another round on the mandala. It looked complicated on paper, but thankfully it wasn't that scary!

With the bank holiday next week I'm hoping it will be much more relaxed for me!!

Textural mandala...

Not too much to show as its been another week dominated by work.

I'm still continuing with the Mandala.

The rounds are slow now, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it! After a couple of pattern repeats, it usually stays in my head and I get in the rhythm, but at times I think I must have nearly gone fully round, only to find I'm only halfway!
As promised ive managed to get a full picture, its getting harder to do so now as it increases in size!

I am really loving all the different textures that are coming through with all the different mixes of stitches, and I'm learning a great deal, trying stitches ive not used before...

I am going to be making some more baskets. I have got a few ideas that I want to try, not sure which one will be first, ill see how it starts to work up

We managed one brief seaside walk, but it was deceivingly chilly!

The waves were crashing well and it made them all frothy!

We got a new (well new to us) piece of furniture delivered this week. Its going to be great to finally sort through all our dvds and cds and be able to have easy access to them.

Sadly I don't think ill get much crafting time the week ahead either as I'm travelling northbound for a training course, but ill see what I can fit in!

Pebble covers...

This week has been pretty stressful, and work has been getting too much, so one of my days off I chose a mini project to focus on

Something that's been on my list of things to try, a pebble cover

I look for smooth and good shaped pebbles on our beach walks, and had found a few ready with this project in mind

Again I've worked organically, working round the natural shape

Other than being by the sea, that would make this a natural project to progress on to, my main reason is for decoration. The fireplace in our living room, has an empty space, which had a couple of rocks placed in there. So ive been filling the hearth with prettier shaped pebbles, and I intend to add quite a few splashes of colour. I may even try my hand at painting a few!

To help myself relax I did have another afternoon sat on the beach

Walking along the seafront

And did another round of my mandala under the warmth of the sun listening to the lapping waves

I've now completed week 7 and its growing nicely, and involves plenty of stitch counting on each row. I'll endeavour to get a full picture next week as its getting quite a size now!

I'll leave you with the beautiful bunch of tulips that hubby brought home for me

I'm loving their deep red colour...

Floral madness...

We've had fabulous weather this week, and we tried to make the most of it. I had seen pictures of Highdown Gardens on facebook and knew instantly it was somewhere I wanted to visit. So we leapt on a bus, and found it easily enough, and it really didn't disappoint. You may know by now that I have a small obsession with photographing flowers! So this place was a perfect playground for me, and we'd gone at the ideal time of year.

There were carpets of bluebells

and forget-me-nots

little clumps of primroses

an array of blossoms

and magnificent splashes of bright colours from the proud standing tulips

As we'd made a spur of the moment trip, we hadn't thought about refreshments, but thank goodness there was an adorable little café, that was full of homemade goodies, so of course we indulged in a drink and some cake!

Crafting wise I have been focussed on my Mandala rounds and made good progress

And as I couldn't choose between relaxing and doing crochet or going out in the sun, my Mandala took a trip to the beach with me!

Best of both worlds!!

Each round looks so complicated in the written instructions, and occasionally I have a wobble and wonder if i'm out of depth, and then I break it down step by step and before I know it I'm in the flow of doing it, and then feel proud that another section is complete

Today I had to work in the afternoon, but the luxury of living so close to the sea enabled us to have a couple of hours strolling together

We even managed to pick up a few little treasures on the way

The forecast doesn't look so great for the week ahead, so it may mean we get some housework done ;-)

And then there were 3...

So after completing last weeks small pink ombre basket, I made a start on the next.

This time using the thicker rope. I made the circular base using up the thinner line and a neutral colour, and chose my next colour scheme. The only thing I had in mind when starting out on this one, was I wanted a wider shape. For the previous two baskets I used a single crochet stitch, so it was quite tight and closed, for this wider shape I chose the double crochet stitch, which is more open and stretchy, and makes the inner rope more visible, so has a completely different look and feel to the others.

There is no knowing how these turn out, its kind of an organic way of working, as the tend to evolve as they are being made. I'm thoroughly enjoying making these, they aren't too taxing and I enjoy seeing how they turn out.

I have also managed to complete week 5 of the mandala madness, and the good news is I managed to  not make any mistakes this time!

No other news, or trips out this week, although I managed to find myself a new hairdressers. A tiny independent business. After washing and cutting, she wanted to have a little play, so I ended up with a head full of curls!

Ive managed to pick up another couple of packs of thinner rope, so its time to plan the next in the basket family, and with an extra day of crochet play next week!

Until then...