BFF SAL 24 - the mouse is ready!

Yippee we completed our latest SAL.  We have a plan for whatever is next.

Not sure what plans the Mouse will get for framing, I do rather like my BFF's latest magnetic solution.

I have some exciting plans upcoming for a garden office, this might give me a few more walls to display the stitching on.

Check out my BFF's finish here

BFF SAL 24 - coming into focus

Made a start on the backstitch this week. I started with the pea pods and then got annoyed at the large counts required. So I moved over to the flowers, and here's where things really sharpen up!  I'm using a completely wrong thread, 3781 instead of the darker 3799 recommended.  But as my BFF had an adventure of her own with that colour, and anyway I'd started so I'll finish, I'm rolling with it happily.

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - all crossed

Finally got the last of the cross stitch finished. In a few days time we get to do the backstitch.

Scuse the fluffy slippers who wanted in on the action!

Check out my BFF's update for the week here

BFF SAL 24 - filling the gaps

Got all the other bits done besides the mouse, I have dispensation to finish the remaining cross stitch off camera.

Check out my BFF's update here, we spent a pleasant evening anticipating the next day for my BFF as she planned for her last day at work.  As I'm younger by a small period, we'd always have been retiring at different times, but I'm excited to watch as she takes these next steps.

BFF SAL 24 - mousey

All mouse related stitches this week, although we didn't stitch as long because we played nice looking at new patterns, my BFF's blog here will tell you more about that though.

Scuse the Tootsies. Bizarrely the foot makes the pattern look much bigger.

BFF SAL 24 - a slow night

Hubby made me a coffee part way through tonight, and my BFF and I talked about our future retirement plans.  So there was a little bit of pink added but nothing else this week. 3 out of the 5 flowers are done so it feels like some progress at least.

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - squeaking through

I have to admit I was feeling frustrated this week, didn't feel like I made too much progress, and my BFF is miles ahead. You can judge for yourself.

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - all good stuff

A little bit of mouse. A decent bit of flowers. And a little bit of green stems.

Quite happy with that progress this week, approaching the backstitch in 2 or 3 more sessions time. (I think my BFF's going to get there before me)

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - owt but the mouse

Putting off the bitty nature of the mouse again. This week there was lots of pink and a bit of green stalks.  I am actually quite enjoying this, I promise. 

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - some brown

Finally got some 842, my original has still eluded me so a new purchase whilst picking up wool for the latest crochet adventure.

The bitty nature makes me feel like I don't see much difference even though there were a lot of stitches added. Ah well.

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF RAL - oh my back!!

Well... As you will gather from my BFF'S blog, my trusty wool bag and I were off on our travels again.

Once again off to our London offices, in two different parts of the City.

A smaller hotel room this time, the decent light being only on one side of the room, I did start off sat upon the floor. But I think I forget just how old my bones are these days.

There were many attempts at finding a different comfortable spot, eventually settling on the chair.  But I'll be honest not a lot of crochet was achieved.

Finished these 4 small granny squares on the night, and another 6 between the train travel there and back.  I've yet to decide on the purpose of them besides knowing that I want to make something with those as a focal point. Right now they're just for 'doing', I'll figure the rest out later

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - Pink!!!

Yep lots and lots of pink.

There was some green and a teeny bit of invisible cream/beige too. But the pink was predominant.  Putting off the evil moment of brown confetti in the middle. Partly because I am missing a thread but mostly because I feel like it's going to be hard work!

Check out my BFF's update here

BFF SAL 24 - it's easy to be Green

Haha at least when you are stitching things.

Recycling bin weirdness continues space across the UK, with a variety of different colours and sizes of bins not yet ready to support new policies thrown up from April. Here in Northumberland, changes not expected before October 2026.

Lots of green thread fun this week.

check out my BFF's update here

Yarn Adventures - part 5

It was time to up my game. The granny cardi and hexi cardi whetted my appetite, but I wanted to follow a pattern, with counts that mattered.

(I say this as counting was where my earliest attempt at crochet in my 20s fell down. Let's just say I called it the incredible shrinking waistcoat and I never did finish it!!)

Once again YouTube was the source of inspiration, having watched a video using granny stitch to produce a sweater from the top down.

Check out MJ's Off The Hook Designs.

So I purchased a pattern.  And another variegated yarn, this time Double Knitting weight.

This is before the sleeves were added.

Checking out the idea of short sleeves.

And finally, having settled on elbow length sleeves this time round. (Ignore the green row counter underneath please)

I'd still like to make something with long sleeves, and to branch out beyond my comfortable granny stitch, but I have another YouTube pattern in mind for that one, for which I still need to purchase the wool.

I've really enjoyed making this one, it only took a week to make, and whilst awaiting the arrival of the bulk of the yarn, I started another with some of my stash. I'll post when completed. I think it will be a short sleeved variant.

Yarn Adventures - part 4 - accommodation for an obsession!

Well. It grew... And soon it was overflowing the single plastic box allotted to it.

A YouTube video from EliseRoseCrochet focusing on tips and tricks for storing yarn gave me inspiration.

So this is my much more organised yarn stash. Heavy weight chunky at the bottom right up to skinny 4 ply at the top.  And all zippable to keep out any dust or spiders!  The original plastic box now holds only in-progress projects and granny squares awaiting a home.

Yarn Adventures - part 2

Yes, I know I'm posting this after part 3. But as it has yet to be blocked and stretched to best shape, and I have had further finished work since then, well it's waiting no more.

After the blanket, I have to admit there was a bit of a granny square obsession going on. So I decided I wanted a wearable something.

This time in Aran/worsted weight yarn.

Initial plans were just to use the big squares, alternating with the black.  Having assembled the back, however, I started to want a bit of variety.  And I discovered that 2 small squares fit perfectly in the vertical space of one big one.

A bit of a black border, and then a bit more variegated colour down the outside.

And then for sleeves. Initially I was thinking of plain black long sleeves given how busy the rest is.  But then I decided on elbow length sleeves, and again finished off with the variegated yarn.

For the borders of the whole cardigan, I chose the same variegated yarn with just a couple of simple rows of double crochet. The colours of it delight me, and I foresee many more things using it in future.

As a first crochet wearable beyond hats or fingerless gloves, I am happy with it. I've learned lots, including a join-as-you-go method for assembling the squares together, and various steaming techniques.

And watching many many YouTube videos for tutorials has given me ideas for my next few projects. 

Some of my wool stash has been busted. And other new things have joined.  I'll tell more about those in other posts.

BFF SAL 24 pink pink pink

Pink pink fizz.. nah not quite the Alka-Seltzer advert.  But for some reason that arrived in my head like that.

Lots of pink added, and a little more green.  It always surprises me how different mine and my BFF's look right up to the later stages 

It's a steady plod and I'm enjoying it as a bigger more involved piece than the cover kits 

Check out my BFF's update here

Yarn Adventures - part 3

Yes... I know I have not posted part 2 yet, but it's important that Finished Object number 2 is recognised and remembered as Started Object number 3 haha.

So, as part 2 will eventually tell, my fondness for the granny square grew. It also became a good companion piece to take on my work travels.

And as the hobby grew, so did the fondness for the accompanying YouTube tutorials. And so one variant of the Granny caught my eye, the Hexagon.  Worked using the same stitch, this uses 6 internal angles (corners to the rest of us) to produce a hexagon instead of a square, the  result when folded makes sleeve and body for one side, then another identical piece is added to the other side.

This was a great stash busting piece, with a combination of leftover and reclaimed wools, helping to thin out my chunky stash.

In contemplation for the next project now as Project Start number 2 also nears completion, I have a few more things in mind that I would like to try, and of course I am itching to be in the Starting Zone again... Such is often my way with crafts.

Yarn Adventures - part 1

Well..now for something completely different!

A couple of Christmases ago, my BFF gifted me a bag of very random, quite expensive yarns/wools, including 2 skeins of a designer yak wool, and wools from 4ply, through to double knit as well as the thicker chunky yak wool..  She'd won them in a competition along with some very complex pattern books, and wanted them to see a new home.

I'm not well up on expensive yarns, usually shopping at the budget end of things (once upon a time due to financial constraints but these days, more due to my own tendency to start a project without finishing it), so they languished for a while until a recent visit from my mother in law. 

Upon looking them up, they were all discontinued lines so not something where I could purchase additional skeins to coordinate.

Now my MIL is both a knitter and crocheter. When I showed her the strange little balls and skeins, she suggested a blanket or something made with granny squares.

So I started up with the yak wool, which was delightful to work with.  Got to the size of a large cushion before running out of wool, so I decided to search my own wool stash for a coordinated colour.  This variegated one, leftover from a knitted gilet, was just the ticket, especially as it has loads of teal which looks great with my chair.  I used up all my leftover yarn in that stash to finish a nice little lap blanket.  Here it is draped over my lovely reclining chair.

This was to be just the start of my next crochet adventure.  Keep following for more experiments and stash busting journeys.

BFF SAL 24 - many shades

Dotted around tonight with 5 different colours. A bit of pink, a couple of extra greens as well as the one I ended on last week, and a little bit of brown, so that the main subject in many shades of brown does not end up being a sole bug-bear at the end.

Check out my BFF's progress after she posts here