WOYWW it's been a looooong time!

Hello everyone, I thought that I would give you an update on my newest crocheting project, and as it is Wednesday, I would link to Julia Dunnit's 'What's on your workdesk Wednesday' blog post. I used to visit and blog for this post fairly regularly, but as we all know, life gets in the way, and I have not had a chance to pop in for ages.

My craft desk is messy, as per usual, and don't even mention the rest of the room! I am recovering from an op at the moment, it is a long haul, and I just cannot lift some of the heavier boxes to have a proper tidy up. It is my intention this year to declutter the room, and get rid of things that have not been used for more than a year or two. I have this feeling that it would be unfair to leave a mess for the family to sort out after I have gone, lol! I have no intention of shuffling off just yet, but I would like to be able to get to the four corners of the room, so a good tidy up would be a sensible thing to do.

I generally work on our large dining table in our very light and airy extension. This room is perfect for crafting, as the space is much less cluttered than my craft room, and I have lovely views of the garden to inspire me as I work. At the moment, I cannot show you much of what is lurking on that table, as there are DT projects as yet to be revealed.

My current 'desk' is the sofa, where I have been crocheting most evenings, accompanied by one or the other of my two cats.

Having finished my Lily Pond blanket recently, I have moved onto a larger sunny log cabin blanket, designed by Lucy from attic24. The rainbow colours are really beautiful, and very cheery on these colder, often gloomy days. I am looking forward to putting the blanket together, as it has a very clever design of hot and cold colour sections, that create larger diamonds once the squares are all attached together. So far, I have only completed three larger squares around the smaller granny squares, but you may start to see the larger pattern starting to form:

I have crocheted all sixteen of the smaller granny squares in readiness to finish the big squares, and am sewing my ends in as I complete each square. There is an element of darning required due to the nature of the pattern design, otherwise the ends could be crocheted in as you go along.

I hope that you have enjoyed your visit to my makeshift desk today, and I will try to pop along to see as many of you as possible. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Finishing off some WIPs

Hello everyone, I hope that you are enjoying some good weather today. We have had some really cold, windy days lately, and to be honest, I have just wanted to stay wrapped up in the warm. It has been a good excuse to get on with some of my unfinished crochet projects while I am still recuperating, and I thought that I would show you how I have been getting on.

My first project is a lacy shawl, crocheted in a bamboo cotton yarn. It is a great go with anything colour, and quite versatile for adding to my favourite black and plum outfits, as well as more neutral tones. I started this shawl ages ago, and it was the perfect pattern to crochet after my operation; simple without too much thought, as there are only two rows of pattern. I am pleased to have it finished now, as it was threatening to sit unfinished indefinitely in favour of more colourful interesting projects.

My second project was started last year, and before I began this project, I could not crochet much more than a granny square! I decided to tackle this project as a way of improving my crochet skills, and I certainly managed to do that. The project was designed by Jane Crowfoot, and the link to the project can be found here. She is a fabulous designer, and has created several other vibrant designs that you can access by following various links from her blog. Her Lily Pond design caught my eye, and I undertook the design, along with my dear friend Elaine, who is a more experienced crocheter than myself. It was great to have a crocheting buddy, even though we live hundreds of miles apart, we were able to talk about our experiences with the project as we went along. I was much slower in completing the project, and have only just finished mine, in fact. I had a few hinderances along the way....

I chose to change the colour of the edging from pink to green, as I love the green and mint combination. Here it is in its full glory:

I have already started my next project, another blanket, so I will keep you updated with my progress. Thanks for stopping by, xx