love happy

You might have seen a hint of these flowers on  this  post, well I eventually got round to sewing them onto the baby pink cotton blanket I found in a charity shop some time ago. It was meant to be for a work colleague's little 2 year old but Alice promptly claimed it for herself and hasn't slept a night without it tucked under her covers(hence the slightly squeezed and odd wibbly flower) ! I had grand plans for this blanket, I wanted to make a rainbow garden from  Penny's cottons  with crochet butterflies, bees, birds and magical swirls, but alas it was adopted far quicker than my fingers could flish flash my crochet hook. And, so a lollipop lane grew from the flowers I crocheted using  Bunny Mummy's tutorial  (I made some smaller ones and some the exact pattern as they were meant to originally make a flower garden with different size flowers)and made its way into my girlys heart. It's simple and sweet with one crochet edge covered in red scallops. We've ca...

Having a week off from normal routine has been blissful, we have squeezed quite a few things in catching up with Andy's family in Brighton and going to London together with some cycling, reading, eating yummy food and some crochet. I hope if you have had half term off this past week with your children its brought some small happies. I also wanted to set the record straight here, in that my life is by no means one happy-go-lucky ride, we have our daily strife believe me, but these posts are about little moments captured by myself that bring some joy. Firstly, our trip to Tate Modern, London. It was a blissful blue sky day and Alice and I had time to talk and walk soaking in the South Bank. I didn't take any knitting or crochet on the train as I wanted it to be a real day of just us and we had a good giggle at various things and people we observed. It was fun and tiring but so worth it. I love that most of the gallery's and museum's in London are free and have become more...

Yesterday morning started out very colourful, my goodness I am having fun with my left over bits of  Planet Penny cotton  which I purchased over a year ago and have made various things with since. It's divine to wake up, make some tea and start my day with cotton and crochet hook, I really am wallowing in each day of my annual leave, savouring not having to dash here and there and remember this and that...oh and to forget all about making the packed lunches! Unfortunately, my day then took another turn, a freezing bitterly cold one. I decided whilst Alice was busy with a friend over for the day, I'd cycle for a quick potter to St. Leonards on Sea just along the coast. What on earth possessed me? Who knows! Bitterly cold shards of wind rushing through my face is an understatement! With an Easterly wind to cycle into, this was not a fun experience my friends, I had to keep stopping to blow my runny nose and re-adjust my multiple layers which kept creeping up to expose my lower b...

Yesterday at the Tate Modern,  it hit me when I was quietly looking and almost gently engaging in  Gerhard Richter's  Transformed Visions, that I have become more and more alone as I have got older. It made me think about what loneliness is and what being alone is. It scared but, also calmed me somewhat. I realised that I have a lot of people I call friends but no real friends (maybe by what the world defines friendship by). Does that make sense?  What I think I mean is that I have slowly cocooned myself away from having meaningful girl friendships over the years. I've thrown myself body and soul into raising our girl (whose company by the way I adore...well mostly!), being the main bread winner and living in an almost virtual reality through social media and most of all being nostalgic and living on snap shots of my beautiful girl friends lives from University days and before I left South Africa to the day yesterday (19/2/1996)seventeen years ago.  It was eery ...

So, here it is... a crazy cosy for my mother in laws teapot. Its taken me ages to make it and I'm still not sure about it yet. I don't think I particularly like it but I can't be bothered to make another one, does that make me sound awful? I just can't put my finger on what is irritating me about it. Oh well, we are off to Brighton for a few days this evening and I'll let you know what she thinks :o) I used clever Alice's lovely simple pattern found  here  to make the cosy and then crocheted up some of Lucy's  May Roses  and knitted some swirly flowers that I also learnt from the clever Alice. I also felt compelled to make a pink pom pom which is one of my more favourite additions to this cosy. I enjoyed making this pom pom the way I did in the 70's as a kid with 2 cardboard discs and a hole in the centre for threading yarn through. Its not perfect but I do like it. Thank you for all your get well wishes I am feeling so much better and more human today a...

This past week has been rather hideous with a head cold, chest and blocked nose, so I really have not felt motivated to be crafty in any real way. I forced myself to have a day off to rest completely on Tuesday and did a little knitting and sorting out my left over yarny bits in bed. These yarns and their colours made me happy and cheered me up somewhat. There is something quite therapeutic about lining up the colours of your left over yarn. I wanted to look at what colours I had to make some crochet flowers for my mother in law's tea crazy flower tea cosy I am making for her. This cosy is taking me ages to complete and I try to keep working on it but, have not been inspired. I hope my crafty va va voom comes back as soon as I'm fully recovered. If you read my previous post you would have read about this little guy and his hairy apple. They have made me happy this week. I bought this hand printed V card for my gorgeous boy and he made me smile because he doesn't do Shakespe...

Last night this little man climbed down from my printers tray to make his way towards the apple pin cushion I finished knitting in bed with the lurgy yesterday. It was meant to be felted as per the pattern instructions in my copy of  30 minute knits  but, alas the merino wool I knitted with refused to felt and instead turned hairy! This however, didn't put the wee little garden gnome off, who cheerfully made his way to the apple. Here, he promptly settled himself on top of the apple for warmth from the chills of the mostly empty printers tray in the night. Ahh, that's better, warm and squishy despite the arrival of pins. My dearest fellow knitters, if you like quick instant gratification knits this book is for you. There are some truly delightful little knits for us beginners in the 30 minute knits book and I look forward to making many more fun (hopefully not hairy!) things.  This is officially my 300th post and I did hint at a giveaway in my last post, but unfortunately...

When I read the lovely Kristen of  Cozy things  post called "Charming" I felt a real warmth towards her clever idea of making a cotton crochet bracelet with some of my old orphaned earings, charms and beads that I had lying around.  Ever since I can remember I have been a collector of beads, pendants, bits and bobs that could be threaded onto a thread to make myself ankle chains (in my teens!), beaded necklaces, bracelets and earings. Since my early 20's when I started earning my own money I was like a magpie when it came to Indian and Thai silver bits and bobs and there is a gorgeous shop in Brighton called Blackout  that I adore and will always find myself being drawn back there for delicious jewels and beads to make my necklaces etc. I also like to buy beads when we go to different countries and over the years  have collected quite a few fun and memorable bits that I haven't found what to do with up until now. So, yesterday afternoon when Andy and Alice ...

This week has been a great learning curve for me at work and making further links with the Surgeons and Gastroenterologists that I work with. Amazing how my Career as a Dietitian which started over 20 years ago has almost come full circle to working with surgeons and gastroenterologists again. I'm loving getting back into the nitty gritty of how influential my role is in working side by side with these other specialists. Sorry...I get a bit passionate about my profession...ok on with my weekly happy little things. I was a little excited when I found 2 vintage sheets for a pound each in a charity shop. I am determined to make us a patchwork duvet cover this Spring time and these two beauties will be most definitely be added to my stash and become part of the patchwork. Nothing more comforting than homemade spicy carrot and lentil soup (quick no fuss recipe found here ) and some yummy bread on a cold Sunday lunch time. On Wednesday I came home to a big fat parcel waiting for me and w...