There's a spider...

It's a monster spider, but there's no need to worry because Penny's onto it. 

Also, she won't need feeding after she'shad  it - it's that big!

Adventures!

Penny has learned to climb the fence. It was only a matter of time. Fortunately, she hasn't yet learned to jump down, so she hasn't got stuck in anyone else's garden yet. Yet. It's only a matter of time. 

In the meantime, I've been getting her down from our fence with a wash-basket. What is it with wash-baskets? Every cat I've known has loved them. They're good for sitting, fighting, playing and sleeping in. Penny finds our one almost compulsive, so I hold it up to the fence and she jumps in. Three times so far this morning. The back door is now closed. She can't yet work the cat-flap, but that is also just a matter of time. 

Penny in her wash-basket, contemplating her next adventure. 

R and R

A lovely low-key Saturday afternoon, spending a couple of hours in Birmingham. 

My lunch - a skinny cappuccino and cinnamon swirl at the Starbucks in the back of Selfridges, with the most fantastic view -

St Martin's in the Bullring. 

I love a bit of downtime. :-)

Etsy!

I've been meaning to open an Etsy shop for a while, to go with the Folksy one, and I've finally got around to it.  There are a few items on there - a selection of my favourites from Little Lovely Stuff.  I'll gradually add to it, so that both shops carry the same range.  The idea is hopefully that Etsy reaches a wider audience.

So, find Dizzy Duckling here - Dizzy Duckling.

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Domestic bliss...

Well, maybe not totally yet, but getting there! As much as you can expect two unrelated female cats to live in domestic bliss. And it's only taken a couple of months. 

The bureau's not normally in the kitchen - its place in the living room is currently occupied by Penny's pen. 

Admittedly, there was a mad chase up and down the stairs after this, but even Hattie's starting to enjoy that. Six of one, half a dozen of the other...  *rolls eyes and jumps out of the way* 

New Stuff

Some new items on my shop today.

A pretty little pincushion.

Some bunting.  These colours remind me of seventies shades.

A little handbag, decorated with crochet flowers and beads, with ribbon threaded through the handles.

 And some relistings - colourful hearts decorated with ribbons, buttons and sequins.

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Flower Power

I got a book out of the library recently about crochet blocks.  Who doesn't like crochet blocks?  Trouble was, everything I tried needed altering one way or another because the patterns just didn't work.  Whether that was down to me getting something wrong, or the pattern being written wrong, I don't know.  However, I made my alterations and wrote the pattern down the way it worked for me.

Both of these blocks are lovely flower patterns, and really versatile.  Decorations on a top, bag or skirt?  Tick.  Coaster?  Tick.  Flower garlands?  Tick!  The eight-petalled flower could even be joined together as a  throw or shawl.  I've worked them in Paton's 100% Cotton 4 ply with a 3.00 mm hook, and it works perfectly.

Patterns here!  I hope they work.  Any problems, let me know.

Granny flower

• Ch 5, join with sl st to form ring
• Ch 2 (counts as tr), 2trtog (1st cluster worked), ch 2, (1 tr cl into next ch sp, 2 ch) 7 times to end, join with sl st to top of Ch 2
• Sl st into 1st ch sp, ch 3, 2 tr into same sp, ch 1, (3 tr, 1 ch) into each ch sp to end, join with sl st to top of Ch 3
• Sl st into next 3 sts and ch sp, ch 3 (counts as tr), 2tr, ch 1, 3 tr into same ch sp, (3 tr, 1 ch, 3 tr) into each ch sp to end, join with sl st to top of Ch 3
• (7 tr in next ch sp, sk 3 tr, sl st between sts) in each ch sp to end, join with sl st to last sl st of previous round
• Fasten off.

Lacy Flower

* Ch 3, join with sl st to form ring
* Ch 3 (counts as tr), 10 tr into ring, join with sl st into ch3 - 11 st
* Ch 3 (counts as tr), 1 tr into same st, 2 tr into each st to end - 22 st
* Ch 4 (counts as tr & ch), tr into next st, 1 ch, (tr into next st, 1 ch) to end, join with sl st - 44 st
* Ch 3 (counts as tr), 2 tr into next ch sp, 1 tr into next st, (2 tr into next ch sp, 1 tr into next st) to end BUT lose 2 st on round by only working 1 tr instead of 2 in 2 ch sp - 64 st
* Sk 3, (7 tr into next st, sk 3, sl st into next st) to end, join with sl st
* Fasten off.

Here are some flower garlands I made with these patterns.

All these will be going on my Folksy shop later on, when I've got them measured up.

I've also started a new cushion cover, in  my ongoing bid to brighten up our living room.  I made a cover for the chair in the extension, from a pattern in Inside Crochet Issue 36.

It worked really well with that Rowan Lenpur Linen yarn I had, and the colours match the scheme there really well.  I had an idea, though, that if I took the central two squares and used them as blocks, then I could build an interesting fabric from that, so here's the start of that project.

One block...

Five blocks...

Each block seems to be a little less than 10 cm, so 16 blocks and an edging should make one side of a 40 cm cushion cover.  That's the current plan, anyway.  We'll see how it works out.

On to measuring bunting!

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