Thursday 4 February 2010

When a blanket became a cushion and other stories

Hello!!

It feels like a bit of a Ta-Dah moment here - although its also confession time. The next BB is now officially a cushion cover and its the most Juicy and delicious cushion cover in our entire house.
I think I have mentioned before that Im a total harlot when it comes to crochet and Im easily tempted and seduced by new projects and new wool.
Anyway, I got to the last white round on the glorious summer grannies (yes, Attic24 ones if anyone was curious) and I thought to myself...hmmmm, yes. This is definately cushion fodder. It had absolutely
nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I had been sent delirious by ripple blankets Id seen on various flickr sites, no, it was suddenly just very cushiony looking and so it now sits awaiting its back which Im hoping to make this weekend.



Ive also been working on some characters, that is to say, when I haven't been looking after the Little Person who has the most croaky voice and bad cold - its making her extremely crabby but the little nap she has taken today has given me a couple of hours grace to get the paints out again. So, below is an example of a character that Im in the middle of creating. Im still not too happy with some of the facial features, hence the back view! But Im going at it with determination, I wont be sending them in until Im 1000% happy. This is a sketch/painting and the character is a naughty mischievous little girl Im calling Mo.
I even think her hair looks like it belongs to someone naughty...!



Anyway, at the weekend I finally went into our overgrown jungle of a garden, armed with secateurs and some serious intentions to clear up. The whole place had been taken over by crawling nasturtium creepers which had turned squishy and yellow from all the snow. I spent two hours cutting back dead things and raking up old fallen leaves and other such rubbish and I began to uncover the tiniest green buds in the hard soil - after that freezing winter snap we all had it was like manna from heaven seeing these early signs of spring coming through. A broken pot found languishing in a corner revealed a pleasant surprise:

...and as by this point spring was most definately in my bones, I picked up this cheerful little primrose at the garden centre (it was only 65pence!!) and it now glows radiantly on our kitchen windowledge, cheering me up everytime I look out of the window into a fog drenched back garden that is now covered with yet another layer of snow.
So...back to blankets. As I was saying before, I had a yearning to make a ripple blanket and I think that I just really fancied a change from doing lots of little squares, which although pleasurable and fun are sometimes a bit of a faff. I think I was hankering after something a bit different, and when the Little Person in our house peered over my shoulder at the ripplesome lovliness that is Lucy's blanket (at Attic24) and said 'will you make one like that next Mummy?' then who am I to say no!?!

I looked for some scrumptious colours that I could use to create a fabulous rainbow of a blanket with - and I discovered a tremendously beautiful colour palette from this wool, Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK and found this website which has a fantastic selection and picked a few out.


Yes, this blanket will take along time, yes it will cost me alot of money (but I dont mind, its going to last a lifetime and be handed down through the generations) and if I buy the wool in batches then it doesn't cost lots and lots all at once...does it. :D


Im looking forward to getting started on my new ripple blanket, the wool arrived today...
Im having to sit on my hands until I can start it later! The photograph doesn't do the colours justice, they are rich and sumptuous with glorious names for colours like Nest Egg, Shortbread and Periwinkle...oh I just have to keep scooping them up, they are so very soft and Im going delirious again just writing about it!!


Other things that have been happening here this last week is that Ive started to practise yoga. Oh goodness me, how long has it been since I subjected my little bod to anything more energetic than a gentle walk? Ive stretched muscles I didn't realise I had, but Im feeling rather nice and Ive treated myself to a couple of good DVD's to do at home as there is no decent yoga class close enough to us in this far flung country backwater!! It's certainly a nice antidote to the general mayhem that is life in our house! Also, the niggling pain at the base of my spine that Ive had these last few weeks has seemingly (after just 3 sessions of this wonder exercise) disappeared! Hurrah!!


I hope you all have scrumptious weekends, Im hoping mine has lots of little pockets to crochet in, and also if the weather brightens and the Little One is better, we hope to go to the garden centre to get our seed compost! Oh yes, already our little propagator is waiting to be filled with seeds, which we sent for from the fabulous Sarah Raven the other week, picking interesting things like Crystal Lemons (little round cucumbers) and Munchkin Pumpkins (teeny tiny ones) to grow. Can't wait!!


See you all again soon, thank you for stopping by my blog, its a pleasure to see you here!

Much love
Julia x

19 comments:

  1. I love Mo,cute. Your wool looks fab , i have a knitted blanket on the go but now when thats done i may have to start a crochet one, there is so much inspiration in blogland. Lovely post Julia,if you pop over to mine i am having a little house giveaway!!! x x x

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  2. I just loved the way you reasoned with yourself about the expense of the wool!!! It really made me laugh! I love the naught girl! What will she get up to? xxxx

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  3. Julia,

    I'm looking forward to seeing more of Mo!

    Those wool colours and names look wonderful; I'm finally off and running on my very first crochet project. I can't wait to make an afghan...some day!

    Be well!
    ~Andrea~

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  4. Hi I am jealous of your new yarns. You are so lucky!!!
    I love the cushion cover you showed.

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  5. Julia, the cushion cover is lovely and the naughty little girl adorable!
    I enjoyed your post today, full of delicious things like SPRING!
    Love
    Lyn
    xxx

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  6. As I was scrolling down the frame filled with Mo I thought to myself you can tell she's naughty from the way her hair looks and then you wrote that underneath...great minds etc.
    Loving the cushion cover and any wool called shortbread deserves to be bought and taken home.
    Enjoy that scrummy wool!!
    Ali XX

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  7. I would be Ta-Da-ing from the Crooked Spire if I'd crocheted a cushion - can you tell I am insanely jealous that yet another person has mastered the hook? ...

    Is that the wool you brought from Coles? Goodness I love that shop.....

    Love the look of the new drawing...Hope little Miss gets better soon....

    Love Lydia

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  8. Yes, the pigtails do say alot!!
    Will she have red cheeks?
    Blanket yarn is wonderous..I do miss having the choice over here, hey ho!
    Take car
    Jude

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  9. Oh that new wool is gorgeous...love the colours (and the names!!!). This will be a lovely creation for your little one.

    I have been contemplating yoga again these past few days too. I think investing in the DVDs is a great idea (I dont live close enough to anyone who teaches yoga either...drat!).

    The hairstyle on your naughty girl is perfect. Cant wait to see more.

    Jacky xox

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  10. Delightful post - love the cushion and little Mo who has the most fabulous naughty hair!

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  11. Gorgeous wool colours, you just want to sink into them don't you? It will be a fab ripple blanket... and you have me curious with your munchkin pumpkins and crystal lemons, and thinking also of a seed propagator..... mmm, perhaps reading your blog isn't a good idea??? Maybe I'll go see if anyone else has left a comment on mine to join in the knitting giveaway.

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  12. Love the new cushion cover ~ it's wonderful and also like the look of the new character that you are creating ~ very talented. Good Luck with the ripple too ~ that new wool does look very nice indeed. Hope you have a very lovely weekend :O)

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  13. Mo definitely has naughty hair! A lovely cheery post Julia. The wool looks so touchable and soft. Talking of yoga, I used to attend classes many years ago where we used to start the lesson with Salute to the Sun. I used to feel so healthy when doing yoga and learnt how to breathe properly. Have a lovely weekend with your little one. I hope the sun shines for you! x

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  14. Hello

    Firstly, ThankYou for your warm words - the though of Spring being but a bounce away (I Love the way You phrase things) has cheered me immensely :o)
    The second thing that has cheered me is Mo..I love her saucy character :o)
    The third thing is the luscious cushion cover :o) I think You did the right thing with the grannies. Your new yarn stash is absolutely divine! I bet it really feels gorgeous.
    I noticed in someones comment they asked for "more Mo!" - I so agree, More Mo!! More Mo!! I think she's a favourite :o)
    You've reminded me, I've been thinking about yoga for ages. I did some years ago and it was very good. I am sure I would benefit from starting again, my body needs to limber up in readiness for Spring. Thanks for the reminder :o)
    Your blog is such a marvelous Insprational place to visit and has such a nice friendly vibe. Every post is full of treasure :o)

    ThankYou for all the Smiles You have given today xxx

    Wishing You a Happy wool fest of a weekend xxx

    Sumea

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  15. Your wool looks delicious, it makes me want to take up knitting. But I have enough projects on the burner.Also I love the primrose they are always a bright patch of color in the winter garden.

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  16. My latest hooky thing is trying to become the other way around Julia. Started life as a cushion, but it keeps asking to become a blanket. Will I be able to stay the course I wonder. I flit and am easily seduced by new yarns and ideas. I think you'll understand.

    I'm very impressed by your gardening too. Much needed to see signs of Spring as winter is getting a tad boring now.

    Take care and have a great week.

    Lisa x

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  17. Hey Julia
    Wow you've been creating some gorgeous stuff! I love love love that wool, it's my fav! So soft and luxurious. Isn't it exciting to see bulbs coming up. Can't wait for Spring and all it's beauty and colours.
    Blessings to you all. Love Niki xxx

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  18. Can't wait for Mo to turn around! Love your new yarn colour choices. I keep buying the stuff but never manage to make anything!

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  19. I LOVE the texere website too....and the Sublime yarn is absolutely to die for. I was fondling it and swooning over it in my LYS a short while ago but they didn't have many colours....but the texere website is ace, the colours are lovely!

    I was looking at some cotton/acrylic yarn on there too, only £1.50 per ball which I thought might be worth a shot for a project of somesorts, the colours are quite good.
    xxxxxxxxxxxx

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