mini squares in the spotlight...

So true to my word, my mini-squares cushion has been completed and getting its moment if glory in the spotlight

With the joining complete, ends sewn in and a coloured trim all that the cushion needed were some colourful mini buttons to complement the mini squares.

The following day we had a brief spell of sunshine, giving me an opportunity to photograph the cushion, to show it off at its best. As our flat doesn't have many bright spots I ventured outside like a mad lady armed with my camera, cushion and mini blanket to protect from the damp and went to the little green spot around the back of our flat. I had my cushion on concrete bricks,

                                                                     grass

and balanced on bushes.

Ideally it would have looked Lovely laid out on a pretty bed of pastel flowers, but hey you can only work with what you've got!

I also started my friends beanie.

Well I say started, I actually mean started and nearly finished!

Now I'll admit to being a very slow crocheter, as I work in a very cack-handed way (the same way as I knitted) but its comfortable for me, just means I get jealous of those who have blankets flying off their hook. But the hat has been quite a delight to make, although working with a dark grey instead of an array of colours did take me out of my comfort zone!

It required a 5mm hook and although its only 1mm bigger than what i'm used to using it felt pretty enormous!  Having done the swatch previously it meant I could just glide through the rounds. I still had to concentrate, as its all to easy to keep going round without noticing where the start of a new row begins. I believe the band has turned out a little tight, but I will wait till she tries it on in case she'd like some extra rows added, seeing as I have plenty of yarn left.

Whilst browsing through images on Pinterest (don't you just love that place, I could get lost for hours on there) I remember seeing quite a few rainbow granny stripes, so I thought I'd do my own for this weeks mood square. Mid week was when hubby was due for his knee operation (a torn muscle to be fixed and excess tissue to be removed) and the day went as smoothly as it possibly could.  He came home that evening and i've been playing nursie since. I'd taken a few days off to be with him and keep the home ticking over but at the weekend was back to work, so juggling work, caring, shopping, cooking and household chores.  I decided on different colour stripes surrounded by a pale grey for this weeks square, as it has been a week of mixed emotions.

Mini squares appearance...

This week I have picked up another wip (work in progress)
Remember my mini squares cushion, well looking back through the archives, it seems I haven't touched this one since March!

So close to finishing the joining I got bored, and it's sat here forlornly next to me, patiently waiting for some love and attention again. Now the time has come, and ive kicked back into action.

The joining is now complete, and all of those pesky ends have been sewn in. I've also made a start with a coloured border.

This now just needs the front and back putting together and the little buttons for fastening, and it will be ready for its very own ta dah moment, and I promise not to abandon it again until it has had it's moment of glory!

Only a little bit of stickyness took place this week.

I moved onto a larger sized heart box, and with new bright spotty napkins I'd  purchased

I worked on the base, although i'm disappointed that I can still see through it, so will have to try another layer

The top of the box is a squishy satin, so I don't really want to cover it in paper and glue.

I'm thinking of trying a piece of openwork crochet to sit over the top. Initially I tried to find a heart pattern, but not really found anything I liked or open enough. So, I might try a mandala, or just go for it freeform? The problem will be how to attatch the piece to the box, and still have the lid fit its base. But that's for playtime in the future...

I took a little trip to Hobbycraft one evening. Hubby was at a hospital appointment (a health check before next weeks knee operation :-/ ) I went specifically for some holly to go on my little heart box. Time flew by as I browsed at leisure and I got lost in my own little crafty world! Hubby wondered where I'd got to in the end, oops! I am good at being quite restrained at these places, just as well really, so I came out with just 3 little packets (well they were 3 for 2) and a plain muslin bag to play with at a later date.
I think these little goodies will be great to decorate future makes...

A friend has asked me to make her a Beanie hat. This will be another new thing for me to try. I've been given a pattern book, with a couple of favourites bookmarked.

Straight away, in my eagerness, I read through the pattern to see if I could understand everything, and I ended up doing a test piece, as it was easier to get to grips with the stitch by having it physically in your hands.

My test piece, has now been turned into this weeks mood square!

I'm loving how much meaning this blanket will hold. Not just multi-coloured, textured pieces of yarn, but summing up how i've felt throughout the year, a memory blanket using my mother-in-laws yarn, and a learning tool, trying out different stitches and patterns.

Sticking with hearts...

So this week I carried on in my happy sticky place!
More cutting tissue into little squares, and glueing them into place round the heart boxes.

I also had a try at using paper napkins. I have read on other blogs of these being used as a medium and I liked this idea. So I popped in to trusty Tiger and found a pretty patterned set, which I initially dismissed as I thought it looked too (whispers) Christmassy, but then I realised that was a good reason to buy it! I liked the way this turned out and by peeling away each layer it gives you plenty to work with. As I am upcycling boxes, I have a pattern I need to cover up, so using the plain white back layer of the tissue this works well. I then started to add the second layer of tissue, which has a fine imprint of the design, and I left it, as I thought this looked like a pretty pastel version.

Once I'd completed the bright version, I thought a tiny sprig of holly, or a festive bow would finish it off nicely, so it looks like a trip to Hobbycraft is in order...

I now can't wait to move onto some bigger projects, they will need much more embellishments, but all my papercraft  resources are buried at the back of the garage!!

With all this paperwork going on it meant I didn't get much crochet done, in fact the only progress I've made on my summer flowers cushion is some sewing! Yes, you did read that correctly, Sewing!!!
The problem I had, was I wanted some smaller, more delicate flowers at the bottom of the cushion, but even the smallest flowers in my crochet book were turning out larger than I hoped. So my solution was to add some embroidery flowers. Firstly I had to look up how to do this. I found a great little video clip on Needle 'n threads website, on how to do the daisy stitch. It's was just what I wanted, and possible for an amateur like me!

I think they will look cute nestled in the leaves and stalks of the bigger flowers, and I added some button centres to help make them stand out more.

I've gone back to basics with this weeks mood square, for the simple fact that @suregal27 declared it to be grannysquareday on Friday and a whole host of crafters posted a close up picture of their granny square,

which enabled us by the end of the day to make a collage of people's squares and end up with a virtual blanket...

Patch perfect...

With a mix of lovely hot sunshine, and heavy showers, more flowers have sprouted and bloomed.

But mainly this week, I turned my hand to Decopatch. Dad had bought me a beginners pack last year, and my intention had been to find a course, but months passed and I never found one. I don't know why I didn't have the confidence to just go ahead, but having taught myself crochet from youtube clips, I got to the point of thinking, lets just go for it!

So out came the glue pot, paintbrushes and mix of papers. I had some empty boxes that I had saved from work which I knew would be perfect.

I cut up the paper into little squares, and just went for it...
Oh my goodness, it was so much fun!! So childlike and free, just cutting, sticking, and getting icky sticky fingers!!

I also did matching bases inside

Then I thought, how about taking it a step further and adding a bit of sparkle! So out came my box of treasures!

And I thought the golden star sequins would go very nicely with the purple and gold marbled effect paper

I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon of fun, and am happy with how they've turned out. I can't wait to do more! 

I also have some larger round boxes, and my mind is already racing with different ideas on styles and ways to embellish them

As we don't own a table, or have any good flat, plain surfaces I have to find different ways to photograph my makes. I have found the papers in Craftseller magazine quite useful, but I noticed tonight how amazing the difference in colour that my products turned out, dependent on what colour background I used!!

These are the same boxes, but with a bright coloured background, the colour of the boxes zing, but with a paler background the boxes become much more muted. I'm sure this is very obvious but a  good lesson I think, and more playing around and experimenting can be done...

So to this weeks mood square. I have been quite washed out and lethargic this week, so i've used a mid blue and two shades of green, and I tried a version of the spike stitch.

A taste of intarsia...

A short and sweet post this week, as I don't seem to have achieved much!

I have finished the background for my next 'summer flowers' cushion

And a couple of flowers have started to peep their pretty heads out...

I found a couple of new crochet books at the library this week.

I haven't had a good look as yet, just a flick through, but it inspired this weeks mood square. I have tried intarsia knitting before, but never with crochet, not sure why I never thought of it before!
Anyway, I absolutely love the way this square has turned out, so neat and squishy...

I admit I used the same technique that I used in the past when knitting, so I have little loops at the back where the yarn travels up. It does look very tidy, but I need to study the book further as I believe there is a way of hiding these altogether! Needless to say I intend to use this technique again!

I have to tried to catch up a little with the joining of my mood squares. I have managed to stick with making a square each week without fail, even doing some extras at holiday times, but I haven't been quite so disciplined with the joining! I know, I know, it's not the fun bit but it is essential, so I must be strict with myself and keep the joining going, the last thing I want nearing the end of the year is to have a mass to do to get it completed!

I cant believe yet another month has flown by already! So here is a look back at my July crafts!

Until next week, when hopefully some more flowers will have blossomed on the garden.....

Southbound...

Last week we took our annual trip south, towards Portsmouth, to visit my Mum.
We arrived at lunchtime, on the Wednesday, after a catch-up and some food, before heading off to the local beach. With hubby's knee still not functioning properly we weren't able to explore too much, so it was about getting out and enjoying the fresh air and sunshine as much as possible.

It was so refreshing to take in the sea breeze,  when I don't normally see much daylight, and to be able to doze or read or crochet to start to relax and unwind.

Of course I had to take my hook and yarn with me, no pressure just when I fancied a little go...
Unfortunately the clouds decided to roll in...

The following day we paid a visit to some 'open' gardens (someone's own personal garden they open to the public in aid of charity), we chose a Hanging Hostas garden.

I have to say I've never seen such a jam packed garden! Hidden in the depths of the greenery is a waterfall, 

and tucked away at the back is an Islamic relaxation spot.

I didn't think it was possible to squeeze so much into a small patch!

We stopped for a much needed coffee before making our to Frensham ponds.

This is a beautiful and unexpected area. It is a green common, with woodland and large ponds, and then a man made sandy beach!

 As it was a gloriously hot, sunny day of course this little retreat was a hive of activity! We tucked ourselves away in a bit of shade to have our picnic, and chilled out watching the sights around us. We took a stroll on the beach.

 Very surreal being on a beach in the middle of nowhere, and swans wandering in between the sunbathers and paddlers. Of course we treated ourselves to a nice cream at the day, just to cool us down of course!

A massive thunder and lightening storm happened in the night. We sat up watching it as hubby loves a good storm. I have to say I've not seen such a continuous succession of lightening, the sky stayed permanently lit. Unfortunately I didn't think to try to capture any of the beauty.

The following day we took a short trip to Whitely shopping centre,  and after lunch we made our way to Emsworth mill pond.

After a stroll all around we found a bench to sit back and take in the warmth of the sun and the views around.

The next days weather forecast was for bad weather so we strolled in to Fareham town centre for a look about the shops, stopped back for lunch, then on to Dunelm mill ( I was searching for a 12" round insert for my #cal cushion) and then on to a big garden centre. Of course the predictions were completely wrong and it turned outto be a glorious day! So once we returned back I sat in the garden for a bit of relaxed hooky time...

For our last full day, we had another trip to the beach, this time in Gosport. We settled into the pebbles, and soaked up some rays. I didn't get round to much crochet as it was so hot and bright.
It was pretty busy, and lots of activity on the beach, and plenty of brave soles in the sea...

We had our picnic, and some drinks from the cafe. We watched the swimmers, and boat races and there was a rescue display too. I so love being by the sea, whatever the weather, I find it so soothing.

On our last day, we took a trip to Porchester.

We walked around the castle perimeter,

had tea at the church cafe (the church where I was christened).

So for my mood square for the week, i've chosen hot sunny colours.

As I was on holiday, I thought I would get a few extra squares to pad out the mood blanket a bit more

I also used this opportunity to try out some new techniques too

Firstly, I tried the V stitch, as this is doing the rounds in the crochet community

And secondly, I newly heard of something called Entrelec crochet. Just the blue section of this square is using this technique, but after giving it a go I definitely fancy giving the multiple squares together a go.

The yarn I took on holiday with me, I found at my local charity store,

and I believe could be drops yarn, I do really love the interchanging colours. It makes such pretty squares, and not one is identical...