An update

I'm about to embark on a new project that I'd like to record on my blog, so I'd better do an update to fill in all the gaps since last summer. A lot has happened, so here are the main bits.

We had a lovely summer and autumn, and enjoyed watching the farm and fields going through all the changes of the seasons.

Christmas was just around the corner when my little Charlie was knocked down and killed by a van on the farm track at the back of the house. I was devastated and moved out that day. I stayed at my mum and dad's for two months (it also didn't help that the boiler burst, and I was without water for all of that time). I very nearly gave up on the house altogether then, I could hardly bear to come home. I'm glad I did in the end, but it was miserable all alone.

So I got two new kittens, Pixie and Willow, to come and live with me. I can never replace Charlie, he was a very unique little cat, but he left such a void in my little world. I would like to keep these two as indoor cats. They will certainly be staying indoors until they are spayed at six months, and if they show no interest in going out after that I'll be very happy.

And so we've slowly gotten back to normal. Spring is slowly bringing the garden back to life, and the nights are getting brighter.

I've made some improvements to the garden, including the addition of a raised bed for veg.

My new plans have to do with the garden, but more on that next time!

Carrie xx

P.S. I finished my blanket!!

A Busy Few Months

Well hello again! It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been so incredibly busy this last little while I can hardly believe it's been 5 months since I last posted an update. I have been without an internet connection for 4 of those months though, which hasn't helped really! Life has changed quite a bit since I saw you last...

I have moved into my own little house!

It's a little cottage on a working farm not an awfully long way from where I've always been. Except that it's out in the countryside! It's so beautiful and peaceful here, and the whole place is buzzing with wildlife. There are hares, roe deer, owls and foxes, and last night I had a little baby hedgehog snuffling around the garden! The land's quite flat here, and the view stretches on for miles and miles.

Moving in and getting settled was hectic and just a bit stressful, but this last month or so it's really properly been starting to feel like home. I'm having great fun adding little finishing touches to the newly-painted walls, flowers to the window-sills, roses to the garden...

But there was something missing.

There was no-one to talk to.

Until I found Charlie.


Now I have all the company I can handle!

He's a right little maniac, but I love him!

There's not been much time (or peace!) for crafty stuff in all these months, but my creative side's been getting more of a look-in over the last couple of weeks. I've finally managed to locate some Rowan Pure Wool DK in elusive Hydrangea (shade 27). It's been discontinued, but thanks to Jannette's Rare Yarns (who I can highly recommend, by the way!), work on the border of my Attic 24 (not-quite-so-big) Big Blanket can finally continue. It's been a year in the making, on and off, so I'm feeling ready to get it finished!

(Apologies for the picture quality on that one!) I started out making it for a single bed, but I've upgraded my sleeping arrangements (finally), so I have no idea where its home is going to be. Though apparently these little houses cost a fortune to heat in the winter, so it will probably be wrapped around me most of the time.

There's still a lot of work left to do to make this place really lovely. There's painting to be done, and the garden's not quite finished. More on that next time though. Charlie's woken up, and he's attacking my laptop and trying to eat my Wotsits!

It's good to be home!

Carrie xx

Must... not... neglect... blog!

That's what I've been telling myself every day for weeks now. 'Update your blog... post something... anything!' I wanted this blog to be almost a running commentary of my day-to-day life, and I don't want to have huge month-long gaps appearing in it!

The truth is though I've had very little to report for the long month of January - that black hole of boredom where time itself stands still. Every single year without fail I seem to be unemployed in January. It's become my most miserable month, and when I feel like that I find it so hard to motivate myself to do anything. I have all this time on my hands, and have done nothing to show for it.

So THANK GOODNESS I'm getting my old job back on the 1st of March!!! Three weeks tomorrow, and I'll be back in the land of the living! I can't wait, I really, really can't!

I know when I get back to work I'll wish I had more time on my hands, so I'll be trying to make the most of these three weeks. I always feel more optimistic once we get into February anyway - the nights are starting to stretch a little, the snowdrops are opening, buds are swelling. The seed potatoes are in the garden centre already, so I might get some of them on the go nice and early!

Crafty-wise there's not been an awful lot happening. I've been working on a crochet shawl using Garnstudio Drops Fabel. I'm just going with this until I run out of yarn. It was a difficult yarn to get hold of, and since I've only got one ball left, and the store I bought it from seems to have run out, I don't think it's going to get much bigger!


I bought an inkle loom last week! A Schacht inkle loom to be precise. It's nice and simple and, unlike my Knitter's loom, I can warp it all by myself!

There's nothing in my stash that's really ideal for this (according to the instructions, 5/2 or 3/2 mercerised cotton is ideal), so until I can find some, I've been practicing with left-over sock yarn:
1st attempt. I tried to use sock yarn to make the heddles, but it had too much give in it, so I ended up with uneven tension. I also made the ridiculous mistake of tying the warp to the first peg, so this is as big as it got!!


2nd attempt. Made the heddles from sewing cotton this time. I was worried it would be too thin and snap, but it turned out to be pretty strong. The band ended up about 33" long, and I used a check pattern:


The selvages are very wonky, and the warp seems to be a bit too spaced out at the edges. That is, I can see the weft through it, and you're not supposed to (although it's less noticeable now it's off the loom).


I've got quite a lot of DK wool in my stash, so I might have a play around with some of that, see if I can make some pretty patterns. I'm just not sure it's strong enough though, and it's quite fluffy, so I can see it sticking to the heddles. I ordered a bit of a random selection from the Texere weaving section before I really knew what I would need, and I've just this minute realised I would have been better off looking in the crochet section. I didn't notice that before, that's exactly the stuff I need! Oh .... !

What else has been happening?

Basil's going in for a big service on Thursday. He's been having some serious 'kangarooing' issues after about 3 miles into every journey. He won't go above 30mph when he's jumping about like that - it's very scary. Apparently it could be some simple electrical thing like HT leads or the distributor cap. Hopefully it's nothing serious! The bodywork on the other hand... that's in a right state! I need to get that sorted before I can get into the interior properly, which is a shame because I've got a ton of ideas for him! I won't scare you with pics just now, I'll let you see him when he's a bit prettier!

That really is about everything I think - told you I hadn't been up to much! I am very excited about the inkle weaving though, so I'll be back soon with more updates! See you soon!

xxx

Ready to Relax!

Well that's it, everything's done, I'm ready for Christmas! I haven't posted in a little while, so here's a quick update...

We've had snow... ...that hasn't gone away! There's more forecast for tomorrow, so we might be in for a white Christmas!

The tree went up...

I turned 26... :( Despite the fact that I definitely get happier the older I get, for some reason I always feel sad and regretful around my birthday. I haven't achieved as much as I should in 26 years, and while I'm now a pretty happy person, I can't help feeling I could be happier if I could just be braver. A lot of wonderful opportunities have passed me by, it's quite right that I should regret them. The more I regret, the more pushed I'll feel the next time I have an opportunity I'd like to run away from, and that's a good thing.
That's pretty gloomy reading it back, but I think I'll let it stand. I'm always a little sad and reflective at this time of year, but I'm sure most people are! Thankfully though it's always mingled with the usual happy, snuggly sense of excitement that I hope I'll never lose. The day itself was good really - I got some lovely prezzies, and mum baked me a cake this year which was completely delish!

Borders has closed. That's the bookshop I was working in that went into administration. It was only a temporary job, but it was also one of my favourite shops. That's where I meet my friends for coffee, and it's the best place for having a good proper browse for new books. In just three weeks the place was transformed from a happy, calm, relaxing and lovely place to work and shop, into a frenzied, tacky, pound-shop of a place, that somehow managed to attract the very worst behaved people I've ever seen. Signs like 'Total Stock Liquidation', 'Everything Must Go' and 'Last Few Days' seem designed to make people oblivious to everything except getting a bargain, and being rude and impatient, even to the point where they will throw a book on the floor rather than go back and put it on the shelf, seems to some people like an acceptable way to behave.
Electronic Gift Cards (EGCs) have been a horrible nightmare, with us at the tills having to tell people that their card can only be redeemed if they spend double the amount of its value. It was bad for the customers to hear, but it was no easier for us to tell them. We've been shouted at, sworn at, one guy even threatened to smash in the front window, so I can absolutely say, without any hesitation, that I'm glad the place is finally closed and out of its misery. It's a shame, but every member of staff can do without that kind of stress.
On the bright side, at least none of us has to work over Christmas!


Grandad's ripple blanket was finished this morning, just in time! It ended up at 40x35in, which I think is big enough. I'm going to miss working on this, it was a nice simple pattern, with not too many fiddly colour changes (a good TV project!). It's become my nightly ritual - a bit of Kiefer watching on 24 and a bit of crochet! I'll probably make another one for myself before long. I'll need lots of lovely handmade things to go in this...


Yes indeedie! Isn't he beautiful? I've wanted a camper van for years, and last week I saw this in the paper and couldn't resist him at all! My mind is bursting with ideas for the interior (there's going to be a ton of work involved!), and I'm thinking green might be a good colour for the bodywork? Ooh I'm so excited! It's so cold out at the minute that I've hardly gotten near him, but oh when I do...! For the moment he's locked in ice, and the battery's gone flat...

Anyway, for now I'm ready to snuggle down and enjoy the holidays!
Merry Christmas!!!
Carrie xx

Busy for Christmas

I haven't finished any projects this last little while, becuase I've been putting all my time into a spontaneous, last-minute christmas present - a ripple lap-blanket for my grandad:
I don't want it to be too big or heavy (his house is always roasting!), so I should have it finished in time, hopefully. Yarn used is Rowan Pure Wool DK in Kiss, Indigo, Honey, Port, and Emerald (hopefully a christmassy combination!).

Here are some other little bits and pieces I've been doing in-between crochet and work...

Updating some garden planters from dead summer plants to shiny new winter ones:
(Little red bells from Paperchase)

Little crochet flowers:

Sitting in my lovely warm car listening to Newton Faulkner while my brother braves a freezing cold howling gale to get a few photographs (it was a lot colder than it looks in the photo!):

And trying to stop Truffs from walking all over my other crochet blanket while I'm trying to block some squares (she's starting to look a bit protective of it!):

Not much else to report this time around. The bookshop I'm working in has gone into administration though, so come the new year it looks as though I'm going to have all the time in the world to finish off all the little projects I have lying around the place!

A Little Bit of Crochet

This week I started a new job. At this time of year work in a garden centre dries up a bit, and for the last three years I've had to find alternative employment over the autumn/winter. So this year I've ended up working in a bookshop. It's only part-time, but there are a few hours coming up at the garden centre for bare-root hedging and tree deliveries, so I should still be kept pretty busy. At the moment though I'm on part-time hours, so I've been getting stuck in to some crochet.

This is a smaller version of Attic24 Lucy's Big Blanket, to fit a single bed (sigh!) rather than a double one. I think it will probably end up being 7 rows of 4 big squares (28 in total). I had thought 6 rows might be enough, but it's starting to look like that might be a bit small. So 13 down, 15 to go!

As you can probably tell, my photography skills need some work, and, as a brand-new blogger, so do my posting skills. I'm working on it, really!