Lots of makes and only one failure.

I thought I had better try one more blog post for the year! It has been very productive making wise.

 A warm coat for Jaco

 Tea Cosy class from Beautiful Things

 A crochet blanket in 4 chunky yarns

 A jumper for Biddle

 Bags for projects

 Roadtrip shawl by ZootyOwl

 Another jumper for Biddle

Fronds shawl which was a Challenge but I did it.  Hint if you like me are new to crocheting Mark the ends of your rows. pattern can be found on Ravelry.

I made other things but some still need photos. And there was a semi-fail my crochet sock online class I didn't complete because I could not fathom the heel and by then it was almost Christmas and I had other stuff to finish. So rather get into more of a panic and ending up hating crochet I have put them away and will try again later.

Biddle has a sore paw.

Having looked up the price of bear mohair fabric I think he will be getting knitted mitts.

Hints of Spring

February

Well the crochet is going very well. Here is my finished tea cosy. I love it

I am a bit more confident following the pattern rather than the video

I think I shall be using up bits of yarn making more of the flowers

Libby sent me a photo of Jaco in his coat

He is happy to wear it except for the hat!

I have started my blanket, four colours of Stylecraft life chunky yarn  Zing, Mixtures Blue Haze, Mixtures Cranberry and Teal. It grows so quickly

One round of each

and back to the first colour.

It just grows and grow.

Look who turned up today

Magic aka Sparky. I have not seen him since last year. But he was out in the sun today. He is getting very grey and has a squeaky miaow. He  sat at the back door waiting for something to eat.

January has almost gone

and it has been mixed weather.
Some snow

just a little sprinkle but enough to cause the birds problems.

And a beautiful sunset to prove the sun is still around.

At the Knitting and stitching show back in November  I bought a kit for a dog's coat.  I didn't have time to knit it up before Christmas so Jaco got the kit for Christmas and then I brought it back home to knit. I am really pleased with the result.

It is a ladybird outfit. There a photo posted on face book with Jaco modelling it so hopefully I will be able to post a copy on here too at some point.

The crocheting is coming along very nicely. I completed both of my on line courses and then made this pair of gloves. The pattern instructions and little video were a reward for completing the beginners course.

I have since treated my self to a tea cosy kit and course and this is almost complete. I am beginning to understand following a crochet pattern. But there are time when I need to refer back to the videos.

Next on the list is a blanket. I have bought some  cheery yarn!

January....

.... is now half over and this is my first post. Not a good start to the year. We have had some snow but it was very little and it did not last. But it did bring birds to the garden

We usually only have a couple of blackbirds but this year there have been five or six on the back grass, both male and female. The sparrow population has dropped considerably over the last few years. But there are more blue-tits. It will be interesting to see who turns up for the Big Bird Watch at the end of the month.

The last day of the year

And what a year it has been.  Bad weather, many 'celebrity' types dying, Brexit Trump!

My year has plodded on as normal. Not too many crises. The plural of crisis never looks correct but I looked it up! I completed the Read harder 2016 challenge and I think I will do 2017. It does mean I read things I would not normally read.

Looking back through my records and photos I cannot decide whether I have made as much this year as usual. My Christmas Mother Nature at the beginning of the year took quite a while

Here she is all lit up. I found some really large Christmas pudding earrings in Paperchase in the week. (reduced of course ) I think she will be wearing those next year. My biggest achievement was learning to crochet.

We had a great Christmas on Teesside with Libby Steve Jaco and the cats.

It was quite warm but windy and the sand blowing towards the sea was amazing to watch.

One bit of worrying news though. Tia has not really been herself lately and so we visited the vet yesterday. She has had blood tests and been diagnosed with  Hyperthyroidism.   

So she is on tablets for 3 weeks to try and stable it. Once it is we have to decide whether to keep

on with tablets for life or surgery to remove her thyroid. At the moment our biggest concern is making sure she swallows the tablets. She isn't eating much.

Happy NewYear

Let's hope it's  a good year. 

It's Christmas...

... almost. It has been a busy week with a visit to Manchester for  Our Special Day. John and I have now been together for 27 years. Where has the time gone? We had coffee at The John Rylands Library. I love that place :)

 Lunch at our favourite Chinese restaurant  and then a look around the Christmas markets

This moose was a bit creepy as his head moved.

I finished off the afternoon in Abakhan (well I had to something while John was in the record shop ). So I bought  fabric I did not need and some yarn for a brightly coloured jumper for Biddle. i did not make him a new Christmas one. He thinks I have spent too much time learning to crochet.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all those of you who still visit.

Festive

From this to

this. I am pleased with how the tree looks. It took quite a while to do and it was bit of a pain as it is standing on a table this year. Consequently I needed the big ladder to reach the top branches and so the day's exercise involve me going up and down with the smaller baubles dangling from each finger and hoping I had enough hooks to fasten them to the tree.

As each year I have made yet more decorations  I have to find a space for them all.

 My latest tree is very festive

resplendent in her battery powered lights.

And the newest deer is sporting a Rudolf nose.

Some old favourites are always welcome

The fireplace wall is nearly the same as last year. It saves adding more nails and snowman corner is getting quite crowded.

Crochet had taken second place to decorating but I am on the last bit of the course

It has grown a bit since I took this  photo. I am more than pleased