Homemade Christmas presents

It's been a while since I've blogged about my 20 Minuters pledge, partly because I haven't had my camera handy and partly because I have to admit I haven't strictly done 20 minutes of craft every single day. But today, I am glad to report, I've more than made up for my lack of crafting.

I have another cold, can you believe it? I felt so ropey this morning that I didn't go to work. Usually I battle on but today I just couldn't. Sitting watching daytime TV was very depressing, so in the end I went to get my sewing machine, gathered a blanket around me, and got started on a project I've been dying to do all year.

I have coveted this little house for so long, but I lack confidence when it comes to using the sewing machine so imagine my surprise when I managed this:

It isn't finished, but I am so chuffed with it I couldn't wait to post it! I'll do a final 'tada' (and show off the cute floor boards) when I've put in the fireplace and doors and windows. This one is for a very good friend's 2 year old, but I want to do another for Little Miss. If you like it, the tutorial is very easy to follow, and there's a Flickr group who offer huge amounts of inspiration (I really love the bird box!)

I also joined a Secret Santa last week, so I crocheted this scarf for some 'lucky' person:

 I'm not sure about it but it's too late now!

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!

Slippers for Little Miss

For anyone wondering what has happened to my Twenty Minuter pledge, I just wanted to reassure you that I am still minuting away. I have to say that sometimes the twenty minutes are being gathered up into one big session every so often at the moment, as work has gone completely manic and I've been bringing shed loads (literally!) home. It is all very creative, but when there's just too much I run out of steam and things get a bit hum drum!

Anyway enough of my woes, I have been beavering away with my hook recently. My granny square pile is growing (very slowly!), and I've made little slippers for Little Miss!

You may remember the slippers in my virtual giveaway here. I fell for them and had to have them, but I also wanted instant results! As much as I would like to think I have small little feet, Little Miss's are just that bit more manageable when it comes to crochet slippers! So here they are:



Tada! I had to adapt the pattern quite a bit. Then I decided I wanted to add a flower so I found this really easy pattern here. I'm really pleased with them and Little Miss calls them her ballet shoes, so everyone's happy!

Things that made me happy today...

I bought some happy daffodils today, thinking my tulips might need replacing, but I just couldn't banish them to the compost bin quite yet...

Obviously it's a given that the Little People make me smile (and scream!), but I wanted to record my progress on the granny front, so here's another picture without the additional entertainment, sadly I can't seem to get the colours to look right in the photo, I need some bright sunlight (although chance would be a fine thing!):

I'm planning some family eggy crafting tomorrow. I've been trawling the internet for ideas, and it's amazing what some people do with their eggs! If anything goes well I'll post something tomorrow! Good night!

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!

Froggy Fun

I've noticed that this blog has become a bit animaltastic recently, what with birds, ladybirds and now...frogs! I got a new mobile phone for Christmas. I wanted a phone, you know, one that you can make phone calls on (call me old fashioned!), but Big Man told me they don't do those anymore. My other stipulation was that it had to be pink, what can I say? It makes me happy, and it has an added advantage: Big Man and Little Man wouldn't been seen dead with it!

Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a pink Walkman, camera, torch, oh yes and phone! The problem is that I'm not very careful with it, it needed a holder before I scratched it. After about half an hour, I had killed two birds with one stone (told you I'm animaltastic at the moment!), I'd done my 20 Minuter thing and Froggy was born. I sort of made him up as I went along. I think he's cute, and he made me smile!

Can you see my little pink phone/kitchen sink poking out?

Hope he made you smile!

A tweet tweet moment

I thought of calling this post a 'ta da' moment, but birds don't say 'ta da'! Thanks to the 20 Minuters, as you can see, I finished my bird! He's stuffed with lavender and smells divine (as Little Miss, aged 4, would say!). I think he's gorgeous, but then I am biased!

Watch the birdy

Recently, I have been truly grateful for my twenty minutes of craftiness a day. Work has been very stressful, so it's been lovely to escape my troubles by getting out my hook, wooden spoon or felt tips (I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I have bought my own pack, which Little People have been banned from using, they have their own!).
This week, I decided to take a (short) break from my granny squares and do something else. I went over to Attic 24 and was inspired by this cute little bird tutorial. I sort of followed it, and I'm almost there. I couldn't figure out the instructions for the beak or wings, so I made up my own version. I'm planning to stuff my birdy with lavender, I have my eye on some from Provence. I'll post a picture of him again when he's finished. In the meantime, here's his better side!

As easy as ABC...

I've been colouring in this week. It all started when I noticed that Little Miss's alphabet poster was looking very dog eared. At first I thought I'd just buy another one, and then I remembered the creative promise I made and started to draw my own. Here's a sneak peak of the first letter, if it goes well I might post some more, we'll see...
I'm really pleased with the progress I've made with my granny square blanket this week. The inspiration for it came from two very creative and talented bloggers, Lucy, at Attic 24, and Fiona, at Marmaladerose. I'm not sure that my colour choices are quite as beautiful as Lucy's, nor that my blanket will be quite as gorgeous as Fiona's, but I like it anyway. My only problem now is how to organise the squares. Like this:
Or like this:
What do you think?

In (lots) of 20 minutes I made these....

I've been a 20 Minuter for a week now, so this is my second 20 Minuter post and my first 'ta da' moment. Brace yourselves:

OK, so it isn't very creative, but I have been hooking for Britain this week, and my collection of squares is growing by the day, I'm getting closer to my blanket...
I've had some great advice, from lots of people, about how to join them together (thanks to everyone - it's much appreciated!). I've decided to sew them together, I just like flat seams.
So that's it for a little while, I'm off back to the hook now! Take care until next time...

Granny Squares in the snow...

We woke up to this on Wednesday morning:

Little Man's school was shut and the roads were impassable. So while the grown ups tried to get some work done from home, the Little People got more and more excited. Eventually I gave up and we went out for snow fun.

It wasn't any better on Thursday, but Little Man has gone back to school today, I'm dreading having to go and pick him up this afternoon. Little Miss and I will have to walk in...

With all this time trying to work from home and looking after Little People at the same time, my evenings have been spent finishing things off for work (great!). This means I'm falling behind with my latest project - Granny Squares!!!! Yes I have mastered the art (much thanks goes to Lucy at Attic 24 for this tutorial). I made a summer garden square and then added three more rounds. You just keep going in the same way as you do the last circle of Lucy's square. These are the results so far:

I love them!!!

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!

Cosy for Christmas

I have a great friend who forces me out most evenings for power walks, gym sessions, aerobics classes and we never stop talking! I'm fitter than I've ever been and I've got to know a really lovely person. Now Christmas is round the corner, I've been trying to think of something to give her.
Earlier in the year, (or was it last year?)I crocheted a blanket in a little over a week. Every time my friend babysits for us, we find her snuggled under the blanket at the end of the evening. She's also mentioned the blanket several times, so it occured to me that she might like one of her own.
I've labelled this post as a tutorial, but I feel like a bit of a fraud! I'm sorry if you were expecting more detail, I'm not proficient enough with crochet (yet!) to do any better than this! Anyway, it was really easy, I just bought two types of wool, got out two sizes of crochet hook(8mm and 5mm)and started making a chain, then I just double crocheted(I think it's triple crochet in the UK, but I'm no expert)for four nights and Voila:

I got carried away with the camera, so I took a few arty shots, as you can see I'm no professional!

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.