Snowflake Monday (yeah, I know)

#3 from The Crochet Works. I had a little fiddle with the "branches" and, as the previous rounds used sc picots, I replaced the slst picots in the last round with sc picots for consistency.






As per the countdown, my friend Dana (henceforth to be known as MFD) will be moving here next Monday. From tomorrow her daughter, our god-daughter, "M" will be staying with us so that she can start at her new school while MFD works her notice. This means I probably won't be able to get anywhere near my computer until she's gone, LOL! So apologies in advance for the lack of posts/comments. I'll be back asap.

Well, I never knew that!

Thank you, Sus, for bringing this vital piece of information to my attention:

More Fun Quizzes at QuizPox.com

Oops

This is Nancy Hearne's Snowflake Ornament. Well... almost.

When it was done I felt the edge might benefit from a bit of tweaking.

So I started another one.

It was only when I got to Round 2 that I realized I'd completely skipped this round in the first SF. {sigh} Carry on.

At Round 8 I added an extra chain each side of the points to give the picots in Round 7 a bit more breathing space. Then in the last round I worked an extra sc in each of those loops and added a picot on the sides.

As it happens, I like the first one - with the mistake - better than my tweaked version!

Saturday Sky with Lighthouse

The Harwich High Lighthouse was built in 1818, replacing an earlier lighthouse which sat over the town gate. It and the Low Lighthouse 150 yards away on the shore served as "leading lights" - a view of one light positioned over the other meant a ship was on the correct course into the harbour. Over time the harbour channel shifted and the lights became redundant in 1863.


The lighthouse now houses the National Vintage Wireless and Television Museum.

FGX Update

To date, I've received 5 squares and sent out 6 squares as part of the Crochet Partners Friendship Granny Exchange.

Since my last FGX post I've received:

from Arizona, USA - Grandma's Sunflower

from Maharashtra, India. It's much more "hot pink" in person.

from Florida, USA - Friendship Jewel 7"

from Queensland, Australia - Frilly Flower

And I've sent:

to Arizona, USA - my own design. I call it Off-Kilter Granny. Anyone interested? I'll post the pattern shortly.









to California, USA - stitch pattern here. Yes, teal again. I've got a lot of teal, ok?

to Maharashtra, India. Look familiar? Well, what can I say? - I really liked the pattern.









to Texas, USA. Yeah, I know. I'm such a sheep. It's even worse than that. The original square, when it arrived, was actually closer to 8" than 7" so I removed the last round of dc's. Then I used some of the salvaged yarn for the centre of my square. Hey, that's what scrappy grannies are all about.

{Insert witty title here}

Sorry, can't come up with anything better than "Snowflake Monday" today and well, frankly, it's been done.

So, without further ado, today's flake:

This is the last of Noel Nevins' recent SF designs. This one is unusual - reminiscent of a stellar plate.

Of her 8 designs my favourites are 1, 4 and 6.





Now to scuttle off and decide which of my patterns I'll tackle this week. Happy Hooking everyone!

Snow from a cloudless sky

It's an absolutely gorgeous day outside. The sun is shining, there's just a light breeze. I'm going to go out later and prune the buddleia.


Here's last week's snowflake. It's no. 7 of Noel Nevins' 8 snowflake patterns made available to members of Crochet Snowflakes. Unfortunately, NN isn't responding to sign-ups at the moment. Hopefully she'll be back soon.





As for the flake - a bit too much flower, not enough flake this one. Still, I've really liked some of her others and I've got one more to try.

Update!
While digging in the garden this afternoon DH disturbed a slow worm that had been basking in the sun. Yep, a really lovely day.

I've got a Fish Bag!

xxx

And I know how to use it.

Did I mention that green is my favourite colour?

I made the first one (pattern link here, too) with the intention of giving it away, but it was so cute I wanted one for ME. And now I've got one.

It's not big - the "bag" part is only 9" long by 8" wide so I'm using it to hold my take-a-long thread crochet projects (doilies, angels, etc). Yes, Crochets in Public. Should get some interesting looks. Maybe even some orders.

Maybe not.

Snowflakes on a snowy Monday

Last week it got up to about 16°C/61°F outside and today it's snowing (a bit).


Sorry, folks - don't know where this pattern came from. I just have a copy a friend gave me. I like it - very crystally-looking.








But this one is Sus'!! And you'll find her pattern here.

Snowflake Monday

This one is much more to my taste. It's Noel Nevins' #6 of 8.

Got to keep it brief as I'm off to work today. I usually have Monday off - perfect for blogging and hooking, snowflakes that is! Ah well, next week.

Saturday Sky

Saturday Sky
with Pussywillow

Brief Flurry

Only one SF again for Snowflake Monday this week. Hey, I've been busy. You done any better?! I'll be checking.

Noel's #5 - pattern info here.
(Not crazy about it. The picot points may be slightly longer but basically it just looks like it has 12 points.)

FGX

That's the Friendship Granny Exchange to you. No, not a swap of elderly female relatives but an excuse to whip up loads of crocheted granny squares and trade them with other granny square enthusiasts. In time you'll have received enough colourful squares to make yourself a unique and beautiful afghan.

This particular exchange is hosted by Crochet Partners. Details of how the exchange works can be found here (and there's a great picture of an FGX afghan).

I joined in January and so far I've sent 2 squares:

This one went off to Florida, USA. (#71 from Leisure Arts "99 Granny Squares to Crochet")

And this one went all the way to Queensland, Australia! (designed by crochetroo)








And I've received this one:

I love the little rose motif. This one came from Queensland, but not from the same person I sent mine to.








This is the sort of thing I get excited about. If the thought of little bits of yarny love jetting around the globe excites you too then join up! I'd love to send you a square.

Frozen Fish

The other week I was over at Asparagus & Mayonnaise admiring Sus' snowflakes. I was certain I had the pattern for the first one but when I went looking I couldn't find it. So, here's my copy:

I think I'll make the Rnd 2 chains a bit shorter next time.

Sus - if this was your own creation please let me know says no, it's #21 from 99 Snowflakes.






This little guy is from Pat Depke's Crochet Snowflakes and Angel (yes, singular; there's only one angel pattern):

It's kinda cute but I have to say I prefer "spiky" SF's.










But now, I have to show you this!:

Is this not the funniest thing you have ever seen? Ok, maybe it's not but it just makes me laugh every time I see it.







The pattern is at Crochetville*. I have serious doubts about the increase sequence from Rnd 16 onward. I worked it as written but ended up ripping it out. In the end I just made regular increases every 7 stitches, then 8 stitches, etc up to 12 stitches in Rnd 26. And I have a little trick for working the tail and fins straight onto the body - I hate sewing - email me if you're interested.

As for today's SF, I haven't even thought yet about which pattern I'm going to try so I'd better get going! See you later.

*Update 12/9/08: The pattern is no longer available at Crochetville, but it is here (scroll down).

Saturday Sky

Clouds over Felixstowe
(as seen from our bedroom window)
And here's the 5-day forecast:
Mmm, nice. Actually, I'm quite looking forward to Wednesday. If it's going to rain I like it to really rain. Hey, I spent 11 years in the Pacific Northwest - I do rain.

Snowflake Monday

I like this one - it's another of Noel Nevins' flakes (link info in this earlier post). Well, back to work on today's flake.

Show and Tell

Snowflake Monday again. I never did get around to making another SF last week and the one I did make is a repeat of one I made before so there's no point posting another picture. Instead, I'll treat (if I may use that word) you to a few other things I've made recently.

Here is the chart for the flower and the leaf pattern came from this doily at Craftown.










I really love this heart - chart here

Sorry, can't remember where I found this one.

This baby afghan was made for my new nephew, born just before Christmas (pattern here at Joann.com). Modelled by my lovely assistant Larry, who was bought from Hamley's for my 1st birthday. So he's also 40-something and his growler still works!

Naturally, Tinkle the camera-hog had to get in on the act again (seen here earlier). So before you think I only have the one cat:

L to R - Sasha, Beastie and Tinkle, cozying-up together in front of the radiator. Like the blinkie says, "I want my cat's life".

Is it just me...

or is Blogger being really cranky lately? Blogspots are very slow to load and half the pictures don't load at all! Why?

It's not easy being green

You Are Teal Green

You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts any strange habits you may have.

What Color Green Are You?

Green is my favourite colour. But teal is not my favourite green (paint me lime green any day). Oh well.

Early Snow Delayed

I was going to post my Snowflake Monday offering yesterday as I was going to be in Colchester all day today (nattering and shopping and drinking coffee with a friend up from London) but I couldn't get my pictures to load - not with Blogger or ImageShack. I could understand one not working, but both?!

I'd just about given up hope of being able to load them again today when, suddenly, up they popped! Took a verrrrry long time, though.

Both are from Leisure Arts Let It Snow! leaflet 2038. They're meant to be three-dimensional but I prefer my flakes flat.

And before any of you think I skived off SF making today, I had half an hour on the train this morning. I started a SF when I got on and I finished it just as we pulled into Colchester. Nice timing.