Seaside walks and washing lines...

We had another great Geocaching session along the seafront. It gets us out and about, and fun to do and in a great setting too!

We invited my Mum to visit our new place, on Mothers day. She enjoyed having a look around, and we had a lovely seafront stroll.

We cooked dinner, and gave her a present, but she arrived with homebaked goodies for us! A malteser cake and marmite cheese straws, yummy!

Last time I showed you my neon crochet squares, these were supposed to help get my creative flow going again, but they failed to do so. I thought by making simple squares, the ideas and passion would come back, but I ended up disliking them, so put me off doing any at all.

I had in my stash some washing line, that I found at poundland. I had bought this with the intention of having a go at making a basket. Now, I was itching to give it a go

 

No plans, no pattern, just having a play and see what happens

It's working up quite quickly, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

I know there's not much colour going on here, but don't worry this will change, as this is just the base. As i'm making this up as I go, I thought I would make it for my own use, ideally to keep whatever my latest project is. So I thought I would choose colours suitable to match our living room.

I have a rug that i'd bought in Morocco many years ago and I thought I would use this as colour inspiration

So I've chosen an oatmeal colour and various tones of red, and the black of the washing line will be seen through.

I'm looking forward to continuing with this project, and fingers crossed it will end up resembling a basket in the end!

Today was a beautiful sunny day, so of course we ventured outside to enjoy the coastal views.

We also went to find some local Geocaches. This took us inland a little, around the local streets and park, following clues and various coordinates to get to the end result.

It enabled us to have a look around the area, and spot other things

These two had a great vantage point

And we stayed out till we saw the sun go down

It was so lovely to see the sun out and to feel a touch of Spring in the air

Posy Scarf...

"I had a break

I didn't intend to

It was a week

But turned into three

I haven't been lazy

Lots going on

Not much crafting

But changes for me..."

So the 'Posy Scarf ' is complete.

The ends have been tidied away and it was laid out and blocked

For the first time Doris got unwrapped and put to use.

The days have been dark and grey, but Friday when I was home from work, the sun showed it's appearance, and we had some light and brightness.

Firstly we had an indoor shoot near the window with rare natural light.

But I couldn't resist taking her out, into the rays of the sun, with the dark green bushes filled with bright orange berries as a background

Meanwhile, I have still be working away on making lots of pink posies, when I have a field full, then I can then face the task of working out how they can join for the shawl pattern...

So after my prize winning last month, it's like buses, I won another prize! This time it was a Woodland prize pack from a group of amazing crafters

It's been exciting getting different packages through the door, so far I have received these goodies...

Cards, notebook and print from @bycharlieshand and 3 prints from @erryberrydesign

I'm feeling extremely lucky!

From one little posy...

If you cast your mind back to prior my holiday, you may recall I was working on my posy scarf. Having got past the fiddly stage of working out the join, it just needed completing.

I can happily say it is now finished. Once in the rhythm of the join it flows quite nicely, but still takes a bit of concentration to make sure it's going correctly. It just needs to go on the blocking mat now so that it can be photographed in all its glory!

I had intended to then move on to a new design, and I've been having a little play!

After looking at the scarf and with my new yarn purchases I thought how lovely it would look as a shawl.

So I set about doing some colour swatches.

After eliminating one, I was undecided between the other two, and after posting my picture,the response was split too.

So I listened to my gut instinct and went with the warm soft pinks. I made a few centres, and now have started with the petals.

I'm hoping, as the joining will be the same in theory to the scarf it won't be too hard, but we will see, as we will be working in odd numbers in a row instead of even!

I still kept looking at my other colour swatch, and decided that this more contrasting colourway would lend itself nicely as a cushion. After more glances I thought how nicely a little hexagon would slot into the gaps!

So now from one little posy, we have a scarf, shawl and a cushion...

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!

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!...

It's the little things...

So I thought that with the way my week was going, I wouldn't have anything to show you. I've been hit with a summer cold, so I've been stuffed up, sniffling and coughing, and I hadn't once touched my rustic flower scarf.

It was only near the end of the week that I managed to add some more mood flowers.

Then impulsively I decided to try out an idea that's been in my head awhile. 

I started by making two identical circles, and putting some stuffing in between them before joining together

It looks like a little space ship, don't you think?

I then added some petals around the edge

To add to the 3d effect in the middle, I decided to add a highlighting colour, following the swirl of the centre, an effect from only working through the back of the stitches.

I picked up stitches from the top circle and worked my way round

Originally I had intended to do a cushion or blanket with a flat background and padded flowers, but after this little experiment, and the fact that big projects take me forever, I actually thought what a cute little brooch this would make.

I've already started on a different colourway, with just the swirls to add

I'll make a few more of these padded floral brooches, trying out different colours, but I suspect that none will quite have the impact of the original flower for me...

I spotted a great little find in Tiger this week (one of my favourite go to stores), a mini loom. Back in the day when I studied textiles, I had not only participated in knitting, but weaving, tapestry and rag rugs too. I have been itching recently, to have a go again, and in fact the big ideas swirling around my brain, are incorporating weave and crochet together.

So of course I was eager to get it out and have a little play

Now I just need to practice and see if I can bring any of my ideas to life

So it's been the little things that have allowed me to be creative this week...

Floral inspiration this week comes in the form of a mandala, coloured in using a colouring app on my phone