Crochet binge

Nothing croapy to report lately I'm afraid. Haven't made any soap for ages and desperately need to! Have been a bit under the weather this week so I've been at home and had a crochet binge. I've got loads of ideas going on and some stuff I'd like to make/sell to donate money to charity. Mainly breast cancer charities in the UK, and animal rescue in Portugal if I can.

This is a wonderful site run by a lovely lady called Norma Lynn and I'm trying to make some bits and bobs from her patterns - haven't quite conquered it yet, but I will! Aren't these sweet though. Pics will follow when I finally manage to produce things :-)

Anyway, last year I was sent some of the most beautiful handspun yarns by my friend Ruth. I believe these 2 yarns are a blend of camel down, cashmere and silk! Aren't I spoilt? I've waited for ages to find a scarf pattern that would do the yarns justice and finally found one the other day. I've decided (after consultation to double check) that I don't like the blue lacy edging the pattern calls for so I'm not going to do it. I'll try to remember to post a pic of it finally finished - when the millions of loose threads have been sewn in - that's the bit I really don't like.

This was a flower made from a different yarn - have been playing around with ideas again to come up with brooches/bag flowers etc after CONSIDERABLE nagging from certain quarters. (You know who you are LLL & J).

Remember that cushion?

Remember the jumper I (very) patiently unpicked and made into a cushion cover? Well, here she is.........finished! Yes, I actually finished something before getting carried away and starting something else. Well, I say finished - I never did get round to putting buttons on the back so she does have a tendency to gape and show her undergarments at the moment. I will get round to it eventually......... For the meantime, she's very happily living and working in Portugal, lucky girl.

Sometimes it takes a kid to put you right

This was emailed to me today saying that this 13 year old boy has written this song. If that's true, what a powerful message to put us all to shame.

Well, the body is back but the mind is still swanning about.....

Not a croapy post but I'm back in the UK and trying to settle back into some sort of routine. All the soaps I made before I went away seem to have orange spot and are a bit sweaty-looking so I'm ignoring them for a few more days before I dive in and try to work out what's going on.

For no other reason than I felt like it, I decided to crochet an amigurumi flowerpot today which I've scented. It stands about 4" high (sorry can't think what that is in cm off the top of my head). Not sure if I like it. Maybe a different set of colours for the flowers would help.


I'm working up to facing the challenge of uploading and blogging about what I got up to while I was away, but I've just checked how many photos I have and it's a bit of a task. I'll get round to it eventually. Think I'll set up a different blog for it though as it's nothing to do with soaps. I've gone a bit off track with this one haven't I? Oh dear.

Just a quick word.....

Well, I´m still here in Portugal but I´m busy, honest. I´ve been beading and crocheting and rescuing some poor old wicker chairs from the rubbish. I don´t have easy access to the computer so pics will have to wait unfortunately. I´ve got LOADS of updating to do when I get near a computer for any length of time. Hey ho!

I've been busy, honest!

I haven't posted for a while now - life has a way of kicking you in the backside just when you think things are improving. I may not have made any soap for a while but I've been on a crochet binge to keep me busy.

For some reason I got it into my head to make a bag from recycled carrier/plastic bags. This will be a beach/shopping bag if I ever get round to working out how to do the handles.


Then I decided to unpick an ancient jumper and recycle it into a cushion for the house in Portugal. It took me 4 days to unpick the wretched thing and a couple of days to make the squares. I've done the back but haven't sewn it up yet - it's going with me tomorrow when I disappear off there again, so I'll finish it while I'm away.

I didn't think it'd take me 4 days to unpick the thing, but it did......

And it ended up like this (as well as a whole load of bits floating around the carpet)

And this is how it ended up. I'm secretly chuffed (shhhhh don't tell anybody)

What did I do after that? Oh yes, inspired by Lucy's blog, I had a go at making a bag to cart all my crochet bits around with me.


Then I worked on something else for a friend of mine who has just moved house, but I can't post pics in case she gets her internet connection before she gets the present!

At the moment, I'm doing another stripy bag, which I started in desperation while sitting with my Mum in hospital waiting for her to go down for surgery.

Other than that, I took a couple of pictures of some gorgeous early summer flowers yesterday morning - it was a beautiful day down here in the south of England.

And finally, I HATE snails - this was a healthy petunia. I've now repotted it with anti-snail stuff on top of the soil. We'll see...

Royal Visit

One decided it was about time to give One's crown an outing, and visit one of One's loyal subjects, and so yesterday One packed up One's carriage and made a visit to Hastings on the Sussex coast. (One hasn't quite got the hang of being in charge, as One had to lug a holdall full of beading and crochet stuff for the once-over as instructed by One's subject). So, orf I trundled in my ancient carriage down the A259 - what a journey One had! Tractors, road works, every pensioner on the planet heading towards Eastbourne.....and an idiot in a van who tried to kill both One and the poor soul driving the articulated lorry in front. (He has since been reported - what a berk driving like that with the name of the company he works for plastered in 3ft high letters all over his van).

On arrival in Hastings, One was very unfairly accused of oversleeping being the reason for One's late arrival. Hmph, One was not amused. One's subject did however make One a very welcome mug of coffee to revive One's spirits and my subject and I then spent a very happy couple of hours oohing and aahing over beads - One's subject does however have the ability to cheese One orf by collecting amazing beads for bargain prices at boot fairs. Hmph again.

Then came the biggest indignity of all. Brace yourselves, loyal subjects. One was involved in a soap experiment. Nothing wrong with that, I hear you cry. No, nothing at all.....except for the fact that One's subject ordered One to wear a bright blue hairnet, red plastic sleeves and white latex gloves. (One supposes it was at least an attempt to be patriotic with the red, white and blue, but One is still miffed). The experiment was however a success - it has taught One that One's soap recipe is not up to scratch and needs some serious tweaking - no wonder One produces so much croap. Oh, and One's subject knows that she will be sent to the tower for immediate execution should she even consider posting pictures of the get-up One was forced to don. You can read about this experiment here if you're interested, and there are updates too.

Following that, One's subject helped One to make some jewellery for One's Mum. (One has had these beautiful semi-precious stones lurking in One's beading box since January and thought it was about time something was done with them). One's subject produces gorgeous jewellery herself and so One was very grateful for her subject's advice. Here are the results, and One hopes One's Mum likes them - if not, they will be reassembled into something else.




After an exhausting day (including a visit to a building One is told is called a "supermarket", where One's subject bounced (literally) down the aisles and One had to announce that shoppers were not to worry, but One's subject was only allowed out once a week, and only then under supervision), One packed up One's carriage and headed back to the safety of Brighton. Thankfully One had a much easier journey home but went to One's boudoir absolutely knackered. One did however have a very pleasant day (but One's subject needn't know that or it'll just go straight to her hairnet).