Just a quick update as I have been playing with flower patterns from a new book lent to me by Mum.

 

"100 flowers to knot and crochet" by Lesley Stanfield.

 

I did actually get this book out of the library a while back after reading about it over at Attic 24,

but I think my limited crochet skills have improved slightly since then.

Nevertheless I am starting with the 'Basic Designs'.

 

These are two Hellebores, a small meconopsis and a sprig of mistletoe.

They are all made from some wool I had in, old embroidery wool I think,

but I am going to have to get more.

 

It's the colour that is important to me so I may need to hunt around a bit but will let you know.

 

 

 

The Asters are coming out fairly early and the colours are gorgeous. 

 

 

I love the purple and yellow combination with the Rudbeckia.

Home grown and foraged

 

As usual there have been some successes and some disasters in the garden this year.

 

The runner beans got off to a poor start as the first lot were eaten by rabbits but we managed to get a second lot going and keep the bunnies off with an old fire guard.

 

 

 

The Dahlias have been good and are still providing flowers to bring inside as are the sweet peas.

 

 

 

Blackberries in the fields round us have been brilliant this year

 and I have already made two batches of jelly.

 

This time I was aiming for something for the grownups..
 

 

Blackberry vodka and sloe gin!

I have made sloe gin before but the blackberry vodka is a new one for me so I will let you know how it turns out. After a bit of reading on the internet, I have opted for the

 "alcohol and fruit only to start with"

method.

Supposedly this gets more flavour from the fruit before adding the sugar later on.

We'll see.
 

 

And if I pan out you can see this fab table made from a recycled pallet

 that all the produce is sitting on.

Child number two made it and it kept him busy for a whole afternoon.

I just love it!

If you haven't already,
 it is worth looking at recycled pallet furniture on the net as it is amazing I think.
Here's just some.

 

 

And finally, a little quilted table mat which I made for the top of a wooden box.

It stops all the mug marks and the other mat needs a wash.

Any excuse to make a quick and easy quilt!
 

Using some recycled fabric and scraps

 

You may remember the pile of fabric for recycling that I showed you in my last post,

well some of it has been put to use so I thought I would share the results.

The first project is a shoulder bag made as a present.

This was made from a pair of trousers combined with a strip of this gorgeous Brandon Mably fabric called Lazy Daisy Charcoal and a scrap of spotty brown for the pocket.

The lining was a recycled pyjama top with a Lazy Daisy Charcoal pocket and the handles some cotton webbing.

 

I decided to reinforce the top edge with some grosgrain ribbon that I picked up in a charity shop.

I am hoping this will help the bag to hold it's shape a bit. 

 

 

Next is a very simple shower bag to take swimming.

This was made from a piece of leftover oilcloth fabric which Mum made a table cloth out of.

I'm not sure of the make, sorry.



 

And finally, a recycled curtain.

I just folded it in half and sewed up two sides before adding some simple ties.

It is filled with half an old single duvet folded in half..

 

and is well used already.

 

In fact it probably needs a wash

 but I am determined to ignore all housework that needs doing today and sew instead!!