Complete?!

I read this blog post tonight, and thought that having a word for 2011 might be a good idea, but what could it be? Some people have come up with words like 'radiant', 'better', 'effulgent' (no, I hadn't heard of that one either), but none of them seemed to fit for me. Then I looked around and realised that perhaps the word I should adopt this year is 'complete'. The reason becomes pretty clear when you see all the projects I started in 2010 and haven't finished:

Hopefully, I'll post a photo of completed projects at the end of 2011!

20 minuters!

I've realised that although I've been busy, I haven't blogged about how I've been spending my 20 minutes a day for ages, so here's the update:

I'm not a very patient person, I like instant results, so I decided to alter my blanket design and I've started to sew!!!!

I'm planning to crochet a border once I've sewn them all together, here's what it should look like when it's finished:

I really do need to get my act together and take the pictures in daylight!

A virtual thank you!

For those of you coming here from 'Twelve Crafts' for stocking stuffer ideas, please make your way through the waffle to the ideas...

It's time for me to say a great big thank you to all of those people (and you know who you are) who have made me feel so welcome to Blogland with your very kind messages or silent visits.

When I started this blogging lark, I loved having my own private piece of cyberspace, but back in February I decided it was time to go public. I got myself one of those free little hit counters and never thought it would go beyond 20 hits. Well, today it got to 500!!!

I wanted to give all my visitors a special gift each, but sadly the budget won't stretch to that. Then I thought I could do a giveaway, but only one person would get the prize. Eventually, I hit on the idea of a virtual giveaway.

This is how it works: I've put together a list of some of my favourite crochet patterns, sewing patterns and printables from all over the internet and one of my favorite recipes. These make up your virtual gift hamper from me to you. Thank you so much for your visits and support they are so appreciated! I should clarify that everything is free and I have credited the creative people who have made these lovely things available!

Now the fun starts! Get ready to print, sew, crochet, cook, craft and enjoy:

Gift #1
First up is a gift for all those 20 Minuters and crafty crafters out there:


I love the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' poster, but I think this is more cheery. Moleitau designed this, and he's made it available to anyone who wants it. You'll need to click this link and print it out. Some people print it onto transfer paper and put it on t-shirts, I'm going to make a small poster, I might even frame it... What will you do?

Gift #2
Right, on with the unwrapping! My next gift to you is courtesy of Nigella and Jane Grigson, it's the easiest and best recipe for Yorkshire Pudding ever! I swear, you can't go wrong with this one, it is absolutely fool proof and produces a billowing pudding that always impresses. OK, enough with the sales pitch, here it is:

Yorkshire Pudding (serves 6 at least!)

You'll need:
300 ml milk
4 eggs
250g flour (sifted)

Heat your oven to 220C. Put a small roasting tin in the oven with a tablespoon or two of oil, dripping or goose fat. Beat the eggs and the milk together with a pinch of salt. Then let it stand for 15 minutes, now whisk in the flour. Pour the mixture into the scorching roasting tin, and put it back in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. I usually check it and leave it in a bit longer if it isn't golden enough for my liking. Enjoy!
P.S. This was particularly for Alison! Alison - I did remember, hope this one works for you. I used to be useless at Yorkshire Pudding too, but now I rock (Little Man is a very bad influence)!

Gift #3
I'm always short of note cards for thank you notes, but I found these recently, and they've solved my problems! I thought you might like them too:



The lady over at Creature Comforts has loads of free printables, but I really like the apples! Here's the link, get printing next time you need to say thank you via snail mail!

Gift #4
Next up is something for anyone with little girls out there. I used to love dressing paper dolls when I was little, so have fun:


These (and more) are from rustyvalley.com via Moms and Kids Couch. I think they would make perfect party bag gifts! Here's the link, just scroll down and print them out. I love the vintage feel of these, have fun!

Gift #5
I fell in love with this little chap the very first time I saw him.



There's a fantastic tutorial here, if you want your very own bunny. I keep meaning to make him, but you might just beat me to it!

Gift #6
I've started to make these, and thought you might like a pretty pair of slippers too. Look aren't they beautiful?


The (very easy) tutorial/free pattern is here. You may need to subscribe to Ravelry, if you haven't already, but it's free and gives you access to more free crocheting and knitting patterns than you could shake a stick at!
I made these for my daughter using this pattern.

Gift #7
Finally for all of the sewing fans out there, I found this
huge list of sewing patterns for every eventuality. Happy sewing!

Well, that's it for the BIG THANK YOU! I hope you enjoyed the unwrapping, and you found something you liked!

I've started, but will I finish?!

The 20 Minuters' Challenge is really good for me, but it's also starting to cause a little (but growing) problem.

I decided to use the Challenge to start and finish my granny square blanket. This started really well, but after a while my blog began to get a bit boring with reports about squares, squares and (yes, you guessed it) more squares. I felt I should introduce a bit of variety, and that's when the trouble started. I made this and this and this, I started a picture of letters for Little Miss, restarted a cross stitch (more about this another day) and I'm thinking of making a dress for Little Miss (when I'm next feeling brave!)

Have you spotted the problem yet? I'm in a frenzy of productivity, but I've stopped finishing things...I've even started to think about making a start on a homemade Christmas this year!!! Stop me now!

While I pull myself together, here's my granny square progress report:



Sorry about the lack of light in the picture, I left it too late in the day...

Hope you're having more success with the finishing thing!

Ladybirds...

Once a year the spouses of the people who work for Big Man's company gather together at a local pottery painting place. We chat, relax and get creative. I thought I'd post the results of my efforts this year. The design was really easy to do, I just stuck my thumb in the red paint and splodged it all over the dish, then I got a paint brush, stuck it in the black paint and added the detail.
I can't wait to make an apple crumble, and reveal the ladybirds bit by bit!

Homemade Secret Santa

I had a rare two seconds to think at work about two weeks ago, and I put it to great use. We do Secret Santa every year, but it's got a bit tired, so I took the initiative and sent an email. It read 'This year, in honor of the credit crunch, it's homemade Secret Santa, the budget is limited to £5.' A frisson of excitement went through the office and then everything went quiet.

Once I'd set the ball in motion, I had creators' block, great! So I did some blog stalking (I will leave a comment one of these days!), and then typed crochet into You Tube. I love seeing what people make films about, and I can't believe how much you can learn about crafting from the tutorials people make and upload. Anyway, I found these two VERY easy tutorials:
Simple hat
Threadbanger hat
I sort of combined the two, got some wool that's been hanging around for ages and made a hat. When it was finished, it looked a bit dull, so I went back to You Tube for a flower tutorial. This one was great:
Crochet flower
The end result is my first ever crochet hat:



The crochet bug had me in its grip, so I bought some cotton yarn and followed no particular pattern to make up this hat. It looked a bit plain, so I went back to You Tube and found out how to crochet a heart and some leaves, and voila - a strawberry hat:


I loved it so much I sent it to a friend's two year old daughter for Christmas. Now I have to make a pink one for Little Lady, I'll keep you posted!

Crimean Soldier costume tutorial (sort of)

Little man came home one day announcing that, as he was doing Florence Nightingale at school, he had to go in dressed as an injured Crimean soldier on his class's Florence Nightingale day. My mind immediately sprang (hopefully) to an easy trip to a fancy dress shop, or maybe we could make do with something simple, ha, ha, ha! I made the mistake of looking up the costume,on the internet, only to discover that my task (should I choose to accept it) was to make a proper, traditional red soldier's uniform...
I searched fancy dress shops, scoured the internet for a toy soldier costume or even a useful tutorial, but I drew a blank. Nothing, zip, nada. Is little man's school the only one which puts mothers through this trauma?

I couldn't let little man down so I came up with this:

Before I begin, this is for any poor unfortunate mother who is faced with the same dilema as me.

You will need:

1 red jacket
1 length gold braid
1 length thick white ribbon
6-8 large gold buttons
velcro
large poppers (snap buttons)

First of all little man and I set off to our closest charity shop (thrift store) to find a ladies' (they're smallest I could think of)deep red jacket. Miraculously I found a single breasted one (UK size 10, US size 8)on the sale rail for £2.50! I bought the rest of the 'equipment' at the haberdashers in our town. Then I got to work. This is the Jacket before the transformation:



I cut part of the arms off the jacket(and hemmed them roughly), so that they were the right length for little man. I also cut the buttons off. Then I put the jacket on little man, turned the collar up and wrapped one side of the jacket over the other, turning it from a single breasted jacket to a double breasted one. I stitched the popper buttons on so that the jacket could be buttoned up. Then I stitched the gold buttons on the front of the jacket, and the braid on the collar. Finally, I drapped the white ribbon over little man's shoulder and stitched it to a length I had velcroed round his waist. Little man was so impressed he said 'Mummy I didn't know you were THIS good!' which really made my day! Here's the finished article (we used red food colouring (for blood)on the bandage, which was amazing except for the fact that it dyed a patch of little man's hair red for a few days.):



The moral of the story is, make friends with a mother of older children, who have a whole wardrobe of relevant costumes you can borrow!

My first attempt at crochet...

Well, the night spent in the (new) tent in our back garden was not a success. At 3am I decided I'd had enough of being cold and hauling Little Man back onto his inflatable mattress, so we wandered back to our own (warm) beds. My conclusion was that I need a MUCH warmer sleeping bag, not the 15 year old, thin, warn out one my darling husband assured me would be fine!

While I was lying awake, shivering, I realised the crochet blanket I'd brought with me was keeping me warmer than the said sleeping bag. I am inordinately proud of my crochet blanket, it is a bit lopsided and the colours aren't the ones I would usually choose, but it is my first completed crochet project and I taught myself. Well, that isn't strictly true, there's this wonderful lady, Theresa, who has spent huge amounts of time recording short, really easy to follow, crochet tutorials on You Tube. I sat with my laptop on my lap, a sturdy pair of headphones clamped to my ears, my crochet needle and wool at the ready and Theresa taught me some basic crochet.

Once I'd got the hang of (very basic) crochet, I decided I wanted to make a blanket. The trouble is that I have no patience and I always want to see results fast, so granny squares weren't really going to fit the bill. I went to the wool shop in town and bought the thickest wool and thickest crochet needle I could find. Then I set to with double crocheting my blanket, after a week, spending about two hours a night, I made this:

If you're interested in learning to crochet, or you can't remember a stitch Theresa has her own blog, 'The Art of Crochet' that you can link to it here. She is amazing!

So I have achieved one of my life's ambitions and learnt to crochet, and now I'm doing a twirly whirly scarf for someone's Christmas present this year. I'll post a picture when I finish it.