Crochet Catch-Up

I've been blogging so much about flowers lately I've neglected to tell you what I've been up up to crochet-wise. To tell the truth there hasn't been a great deal of yarn-related action going on, just a little here and there.
This is because we are about to have a new kitchen fitted, as well as having the walls damp-proofed, so we've been spending a lot of time emptying cupboards and drawers. I had a conversation at work the other day in which we all agreed that everyone's kitchen has a drawer full of the same things: old keys and phone chargers (not sure if we still own the things they're used for), tickets, receipts, string, tubes of glue, small screwdrivers, labels, elastic bands, drawing pins, batteries (old or new? - hard to tell), those pesky plastic bag ties that get everywhere, matches, plugs, small unidentifiable electrical-type things (perhaps they are important and we'll suddenly need them one day) ... the list goes on. And that's just the drawers. As for the cupboard-under-the-stairs ... I'm quite a tidy person on the whole, but we've lived here as a family of five for a good few years, and a sort-out was definitely overdue.

So we've spent two weekends clearing the kitchen and under-stairs cupboard, and soon we'll be temporarily kitchen-less. I am very much focused on Concentrating On The End Product, and persuading myself that it'll be fun - like indoor camping. It's very exciting that we are lucky enough to be in a position where we can say goodbye to our old damp cupboards and hello to a new kitchen - that's definitely something to look forward to.

So with that in mind, I have squeezed in a tiny bit of crochet here and there amid the jobs. I finished the crocheted hellebores which I mentioned in this post ages ago, but took a while to steam them. I was pleased with the finished result, even though the real ones outside have gone to seed now. They're made from cotton yarn in colours which are a good match for the real flowers. However, the strands of the cotton stamens separated and lost their definition, so I'll use wool or acrylic yarn next time, I think. I just have to decide what to use them for - I keep thinking they'd look nice on a tea-cosy.

Still on the hellebore theme, I also made a little needle-felted hellebore picture, which I'm very happy with. I enjoyed making the petals first, and then sewed the stamens in contrasting silky embroidery thread, finishing off with some tiny beads. Needle-felted items are always irresistibly tactile, aren't they?

Back to crochet again, I decided that another mandala-type table mat was needed for our dining room table under my flowers, so made another very easy granny-style circle to the same design as my last one. Not at all complicated, and in fresh spring colours, I enjoyed crocheting this one in front of the tv. I can see I'll be making a whole set of these for the changing seasons, and will try a different pattern next time.





After all  the high winds and blustery showers that we've had here recently it's sunny and warm today. Hope you catch some sunshine, wherever you are this week.

PS A very big thank you to VeggieMummy who has named me in the Two Good Reads tag - it's a great compliment and I shall enjoy deciding on two blogs to nominate, although this will be a tricky task! x

Good Morning!

Good morning! And a lovely one it is here at The House With The Blue Door - frosty and bright, just calling me to go outside. It's taken a few days for me to recharge my batteries, now that we're in half term, but I've got a bit more energy now and even managed to crochet a whole thing yesterday! Yes, I actually completed something, albeit a small thing. I'm a bit late coming to manadalas I know, but decided that my dining table could do with a little round mat to put under my jug of flowers, so experimented a bit and came up with a very simple one in my favourite cotton yarn.

 The pastel colours go well with the pink tulips which are looking like they've seen better days, and I'm now thinking I'll make another to go with daffodils too. I could have a whole collection in different hues to match whatever flowers are in the jug! Hmmm - perhaps I'm getting a bit carried away here.

After a morning of rain yesterday it's wonderful to see the sun today and a luxury to be able to plan the day ahead. Today is Pancake Day here, or Shrove Tuesday, so we are ready to make pancakes for tea. I've bought some maple syrup (my favourite) and we'll have the traditional lemon juice and sugar too. D likes Nutella on hers so we'll have to make sure that we buy some more today.

The end is in sight now on J's blanket as I've joined all the granny squares together and am now darning in ends, a dull but necessary task. Once I'm on the border, I'll be nearly there - hurrah!

 We're quite busy making some changes here at the moment, as we're having some damp-proofing work done soon and then a new kitchen in coming months. We've also been moving furniture around and generally tidying, sorting and catching up with jobs. I can see that life will be a bit topsy-turvy for a while, but it'll be very worth it, and I think that small creative projects are better for me for the time being. Before I go I have a few more flowers to share with you. These are the lovely variegated red and yellow roses that P gave me for St Valentine's Day.

And here in the garden is a little, hidden-away clump of pale purple crocuses about to bloom. (Looking at this photo I can see some weeding needs to be done!).

Finally I thought I'd show you these shy hellebores, one in bud and the other in bloom but, as always, with a drooping head. They are members of the buttercup family and seed themselves freely in our garden. As a result we have quite a few of them dotted around mostly in varying shades of mauve and deep pink, but a couple of white ones too. 

How wonderful it is to have some flowers to look at again in the garden! I do so miss them in the winter months. Right, I can't stay indoors a moment longer in this glorious sunshine!

See you soon x