A Scrapadelic Scarf

 

I have been working on this one for a while now but had the deadline of my younger brother's birthday to spur me on to getting it finished for him.

 

It is a scarf based on the tutorial by Liz at Crochet in Color and has the great name of a
Scrapadelic Scarf!

 

I made mine a bit wider and only used three colours but my favourite bit is the plats on the ends which she explains really well.

I like the look of the chevron one she is working on now too.
 

 

Last week of the summer holiday here and we have been out picking these..

which with a bit of this ..



turned into this.



Yum. 

The tomatoes and courgettes are doing really well this year which is a bit of a bonus after last year's washout.

I bought my Dad some seeds for Christmas including different varieties of tomatoes and courgettes so I have him to thank for the variety of this year's produce.

The courgettes are particularly wacky..

 

 

And finally my second Sprocket Pillow (she said one would never be enough!)

which is destined to be a present for a friend.

 

 

More about these in my last post here.

A Little bit of French camping..

 

I love camping.

Lots of excitement and planning and packing.
 

Lots of this..

And this

And some of these..

 

And lots of these..

 

 And then lots of this..
 

Before returning home to a nice comfy bed.

 

And already dreaming of next year.

Pink Elderflower Cordial

We have a pink elderflower in the garden and I used the flowers mixed with some white ones to make a second batch of cordial.

I was hoping it would turn the cordial a pinkish colour 

 but had not expected them to work this well..

It is a beautiful colour and even diluted is a pretty shade of pink.

 

Here it is next to some strawberries from the garden.
I have never managed to get strawberries to work in our garden until this year.
I moved the plants to a raised bed and they seem to love it there and haven't been eaten by anything apart from us yet!

Geraniums are looking pretty too.

 

 

A Busy Week

June is a busy month in this house with lots of birthdays as well as exams and courses.

I have been working on a dress which is based on an amalgamation of two patterns (I and S) from The Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori.

I wanted the basic shape of dress S with the gathering on the bodice, but I like the v-neck and sleevelessness of dress I.

So, after a bit of fiddling about, and a bit of shaping of the side seams I ended ip with this..

Sorry about the photo but it's quite hard to get a photo of something you are wearing I find.

 If I had a mannequin I would use that to hang it on, but I haven't so you will have to do with me!

 

The bodice worked quite well I think and it is really comfortable to wear.

I also added a lining to the skirt.

The linen creases fairly quickly (you were right Mum!) but I'm not too bothered about creases.

Cakes for a birthday tea...

 

 and leftover sweeties..
 

 

on a crocheted doily.

 

And finally a beauty from the garden this week..

 

 

 a foxglove.

A Day of Surfing

I have the week off for half term and as is the way have come down with lurgi, so I spent an entire day yesterday on the sofa under a blanket.

Having finished my book, I decided that I could do a bit of surfing...on the internet.

I was there for hours.

 

I spent ages looking back over Lucy's archives over at Attic24, enjoying all the lovely crochet.
 

I liked the look of her chocolate buns and made some of my own this morning as we had some small visitors for lunch.

 

I also looked again at the card I have been admiring by Larissa at mmmcrafts.
 

I have made her cards before blogged here, and I just loved the colours she used in the recent one.

The original instructions are by Martha Stewart and the link is on Larissa's post.

 

I decided to have a go this morning.
 

I didn't find it too easy (to say the least!)
and had a couple of attempts before getting the 'sticking the bunch of flowers together' bit right.

I think my brain is still a bit addled.
 

But finally it came together well..

 

Ta dah..
 

It is a very satisfying thing when it works.

 

Yellow sunshine

The sun is out and I have been baking this morning.

Lemon Polenta cake from a recipe here.

 

 

 I added lemon curd to the top as we are looking after some chickens and have lots of eggs at the moment.

Haven't tasted it yet but will let you know what it's like.

And there was some lovely lemon curd left over to go on my toast tomorrow (if I hide it!!!).

I'm off to sew.

 

Have a good easter weekend.

 

Redcurrant jelly and Mist!

I had a real flop with my redcurrant jelly last year because it set like glue and was difficult to get out of the jar.

So this year I was determined to do better.

The jelly is much better this time and it was definitely clearer than the weather outside last week which was misty and wet.

If you want to see a shiny bright picture my friend got a much better one here.

I thought that I would try to get a picture to show it's colour on toast but someone got there before I had a chance to get the whole slice, which must be a good sign!