I can resist everything but temptation...

I can resist everything but temptation and more yarn. I succumbed, and ordered the yarn for Scheepjes Wol's Crochet-A-Long. The colours are just so lovely! I ordered the 'Succulent' colourway, after much deliberation, and it should be arriving this week.  The first part of the pattern is released this coming Friday.  Excited!

In the meantime, I've finished the blanket I started a couple of years ago.  Very pleased with that. Except for the small issue of the ends not being quite the same width.  That'll be down to one end being granny squares and the other being granny stripes.  I padded the short end out with stitches as much as possible, but it's still a little uneven.  Not noticeable as long as I don't fold it up...

It is just the right size to go over our bed in the winter.

The pattern came from Nicki Trench's Cute and Easy Crochet, but I widened it to go over the bed, and changed the edging. I was going to do a zigzag edging I found on Pinterest, but in the end I did pretty much the same thing in a straight line. It's crocheting into only the back loop for each row, so it comes out with that little ridge.

I'm trying out some patchwork too, right now.  I got a book for my birthday called 'Quilting On The Go', about English Paper Piecing.  I prefer to work by hand, so it suits me nicely. I've learnt some really good techniques for making the patches, and once I realised I could order precut paper templates, that was it! It was always the hours spent cutting the inevitably wonky hexes out that put me off when I was younger.  These must be die-cut or something - they're so magically even! It makes the patchwork even too.

That's it so far. It's going to be built out to a rectangle, then evened up with some half-hexes.  After that, I'm feeling my way a bit, but the book is very informative. Finally, it's going to be a little quilt for Hattie to sit on my lap on. She's not majorly fussy about perfection, but I'd like to make this as nice as possible. It's a good practice piece.

I also found a good way to keep my patches in the right order while I stitch them on. That photo there is a quick pic on my phone to remember the order for the next row, but then I thread the patches onto a length of cotton with a button on the end, so I can slide them off one by one in the right order. I'm sure this is a very well known method, but I was really chuffed with myself for coming up with it.

And of course there are always multiple projects on the go. A while back, I got a job lot of Sirdar yarn from eBay with the idea of doing a blanket from squares.  Each square is small, so it can be worked in the car or with a cat on my lap (a permanent fixture in the winter). I just make as many squares as I can get out of each ball, then I'll work out an order to put it together in.  That'll be fun.

Nice colours. They screamed 'blanket' as soon as I saw the eBay pics.

And no post would be complete without a portrait of a pusscat!

Penny on my birthday.  Or her birthday. She certainly thought it was her birthday when all these bags and paper turned up one morning!

Finished!

 Himself's jumper is finished!  I'm quite pleased with it, and he's chuffed to bits.  I think it may be a little bit close under the arms, but he insists it's perfect.  Now, we need some colder weather for him to wear it...

This is one I'm making for myself.  It's got a really intricate pattern, which I love knitting.  It's so much more interesting than just stocking stitch.  It's going to be a big slouchy jumper, but it probably won't be finished until it's too warm to wear it.  :-S

And finally...  I love Fat Face clothes, but not as much as the cats love their bags.  There's another cat inside this bag and they're having a fight through the opening.  Such fun!

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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. 

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* 

Bestest toy!

Meet Penny. She's about four months old, from Team Cat Rescue in Birmingham. A total mischief!  It's a little unnerving that she's such a robust little cat, because our others (rescue cats too) were all quite delicate as kittens.  Penny's a healthy little madam, with a good appetite and plenty of energy. 

There is a house full of toys, of course, and this is the new favourite. A shoe box with holes cut in the top and a bunch of toys inside. She loves hooking them out, then poking them back in. We saw a similar thing on sale in a pet shop for £15!  Robbery!  Other favourite toys include scrunched up receipts. You might almost say she was a cheap cat, if she weren't eating us out of house and home. 

Hattie, above, (lookalike and role model) is happy to be a most expensive cat. Only the costliest food is good enough...

It was only a matter of time...

The arch that we put up in the garden wasn't intended for pretty climbing plants at all.  It's really a pussy-cat climbing frame!

Conveniently situated next to the bird feeder...

Hattie approves thoroughly!

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I have some new projects nearing completion and some old ones going to new homes.  Very exciting!

A shop that's setting up in Lincoln has been in touch, expressing interest in my Hoot Hats - see here - and they also want two of my Hippoos - Mudbath Mungo and CandyStripe Hippoo.  They want to buy them upfront for their shop, rather than taking them on sale or return, so that's lovely!  I've started a new Hippoo already to go on Little Lovely Stuff on Folksy.  Some of my older items have been relisted there too, so things that may have disappeared are back!

New items.  A heart dangly in three parts.  This uses the same colours as the cushion cover I made, and it's covered in buttons and sequins.  They'll be joined together to hang with the largest heart at the top and the smallest at the bottom.

I use half treble crochet a lot, because it grows quickly and it's effortlessly decorative in a subtle way.

Another heart dangly - a single one this time.  I was experimenting with ways of increasing from the bottom to the top and this was the result of increasing in the middle instead of the edges.  It makes a nice chevron effect!  All these heart will be lightly stuffed to make them soft and three-dimensional.  I haven't decided how to decorate this one yet.  I'm thinking of threading a thin white ribbon through the holes down the centre and tying a bow at the bottom.

This is the Thistledown Scarf.  I'm using Rowan's Fine Lace, and it really feels as light as thistledown!  It may have a toning colour added to it soon, as I finish this ball, but I'm making it up as I go a bit.

Close-up of the granny stitch.  Really simple, but very pretty in such a fine yarn.

And the other project in these busy new-term days.  A new arch for the garden!  I painted the legs that go in the ground in five coats of fence preserver, and gave the top bit a coat too.  Better painting it on the ground than when it's up in the air, I thought.  The sides will get their coat when they're standing in the ground.  It's going to go beside the greenhouse to make a lovely separate garden room behind the greenhouse where we've got newly sown grass.  Clematis and other climbers will be planted to grow up the side.  Hopefully, that's going up this weekend.

And this is the cat that was at death's door on Tuesday.  Hattie was throwing up, squirting diarrhoea, and generally being very distressed.  Himself took her to the vet, got her an antibiotic jab, and she's back to her mischievous little self.  It's much more important to make love to the old buddleia stems than it is to pose for Mummy's camera, apparently.  She's got a few more days of antibiotics, but she's doing well, thank goodness!

Okay, time to go to work.  Bye for now!

~*~*~*~

Happiness...

... is a warm lap. Herbie is in his happy place.

Waste of Money

Yesterday...

And today...

It's just not worth spending money on beds for cats. They're as happy with a filthy box or bucket in the greenhouse.

Happy Herbert

I've been surprisingly uncommunicative during the summer holidays. You'd think with the extra time I'd be blogging all the time. I don't even have the excuse of kids!

I do however have cats. Herbie's getting on a bit so we bought him a new bed to encourage him in on these colder nights. He's a happy boy...

Spring!

You can tell spring's finally arrived - I've managed to ditch my opaque black tights!  I was beginning to feel surgically attached to them.  Look - legs!  Pasty white ones, admittedly.

 And the garden has taken off.  Everything's burgeoning (isn't that a lovely word?).  I wish I could take a more close-up picture of this London Pride, because the little spotty design on the individual petals is beautifully intricate.

A cluster of purple alliums around my pink ceanothus bush.  That's going to flower later in the year, but it's nice to see the alliums getting some room.  Ignore the compost bin and the incinerator behind them - I didn't even register them when I took the picture.  That area of the garden needs some serious attention this year.

Gorgeous yellow poppies!  They self-seed.  Well, with a little help.  I scatter the seeds when the seed head ripens, and they just get on with it on their own.  My favourite kind of gardening!

The pulmonarias are in full flower right now too.  They've also seeded themselves, so we might need to consider taking some out before they take over.  Pretty lilac pink flowers - they open as a clear blue and fade to pink.  Lovely leaf patterns too.

Our Japanese Acers.  They don't seem to be at all concerned about their confinement in pots.  They just flourish year after year.  We've had them ten years or so now, and when we see similar trees in garden centres, they cost an absolute fortune!  Maybe Acers are a good investment?

Himself dug a new border yesterday.  He says he can't mow up to the fence and round the little trees.  Fair enough - I told him that when he put the trees in to start with.  Now, though, it's his idea, so it needs sorting out.  (Is not cynical at all).  He's done a nice job, and there are some pretty plants in there - bluebells, marigolds and some I don't know.  It'll be interesting to see what happens there, because it gets baked in summer and freezes in shadow in winter.

A visitor.  Not one of ours - he lives down the road, but pays us frequent visits.  He's a happy cat.

So is this one.  She is one of ours - Hattie.  She has a talent for finding the most inconvenient place to sleep. This is where the lawnmower should have gone back.

And our greenhouse.  It's probably not that visible here until you click for a bigger view, but I've got a bit artistic with the shading on the back wall.  I was taking last year's shading off, but got a bit bored by the time I reached the back, so I started drawing...

And a quick bag update - it's taking shape!  The crochet panels are sewn together and they're getting a border around the top to neaten it.  The lining is all cut out and I'm in the process of sewing in the pocket.  I chickened out and sewed in the zip by hand, but it looks neat.  Pictures soon!

It's Spring!

In fact, this may be summer, so we'd better make the most of it.  My garden is getting going big-time.

My daffodils are bright and cheery, and in the background, there are my hellebores.  First time they've ever flowered!

 These are Ranunculus.  The name is Brazen Hussy, and the flowers open up in the sun and close up at night.  I love to watch them.

 This is my little Kojo-no-mai Japanese Cherry, flowering fit to burst.

 This cherry is just starting to flower - it's called Ruby.

 This bit of the garden is the bit I don't usually own up to.  We've got to think of something to do with it this year.  In previous years, we've grown veggies on it, but they either don't do anything or produce way more than we can eat.  We're thinking of a nice seating area to make it easy.  It's a good sheltered space.

 The best bit of gardening is sitting looking at it.  And we've had just the right weather to do that this weekend!

 Our bird-feeding station.  We put out all sorts of stuff for the birds, but all they want is the mealworms.  They chuck all the seeds out in search of the yummy worms.  The coconuts full of yummy fat and seeds they ignore.  Spoilt birds!

I love being able to put the washing outside to dry.  It smells so much better.  And I get to use my home-made peg-bag...

This is the reason we have fussy birds.  All the little pretty birds go next door for their dinners, and we get the big ones that can take care of themselves.

Best friends for once, having worn themselves out stalking birds.  Rascals!