A new addition to our family

In August we lost our beloved dog Tilly, she was 13 years old. It was very sudden all in the space of an hour and a half. When she tried to stand up she suddenly fell down and was unable to get up again, we took her straight to the vets and he checked her thoroughly and told us he was very sorry but she had a tumour and it had ruptured and there was nothing he could do. Prior to this she showed no signs whatsoever of any illness, I actually felt my heart break, but I'm thankful that myself and my family were around her and we got to say our goodbyes and to tell her how much we loved her and held her until she passed away. The vet told us she was in no pain and she didn't seem distressed at all, I just couldn't believe it.

A few months passed by and I packed Tilly's food (we had unopened 6kg bags of biscuits) and other things and we decided to donate then to Furness Animal Rescue, which was where we adopted Tilly from. I went onto the Facebook site and left a message with Anita, the lady who does a wonderful job and runs the refuge to arrange a date and time, when I noticed she had put some photographs of dogs that were up for adoption and noticed a very small Staffie called Dottie, she looked so cute, I remember thinking she will soon be adopted. A few days later we went to York for a little break away but after a couple of days I kept going back to the Facebook site and looking at the photograph, I couldn't believe she had not been adopted yet. I spoke to my husband and we decided to make an appointment to see her, I contacted Anita and she passed me the details of Dottie's foster parents, Linda and Keith, over the next few days we talked and we made an appointment to see Dottie the day after we got back from York.

When we arrived at Linda and Keith's house, we walked in and they introduced us to Dottie, my heart melted there and then. She is such a happy dog, her tail never stopped wagging, she loves having cuddles. We stayed with Linda and Keith for most of the day and they told us as much as they could about Dottie, I remember looking across at my husband and we both knew there and then that we wanted to adopt her.

Linda and Keith have fostered many dogs over the years and they have such big hearts, I am in complete awe of everything they do to help these dogs. When we took Dottie home I remember looking back and seeing their faces, they looked happy but upset as well, which was completely understandable, I don't know how they find the strength not just physical but mental strength to be able to go through this each time, I think it's takes special people to be able to foster and find appropriate homes for dogs.

Dottie is settling in very well, she is such a character, she is very vocal a typical Staffie, she doesn't bark but she does talk away. She smiles all day long and loves snuggling down and having cuddles. She also sounds like a little piglet as she snorts away quite regularly lol.

If you decide you want a dog in your life, then please contact your local refuge centres, there are so many dogs out there that are in desperate need of a loving forever home. Adopting a dog is a big responsibility and should be the result of careful planning and consideration, remember you are adding another member to your family and you need to look after them through the sickness and health, the decision should never be taken lightly, talk to the people who run the refuge centres they will help you with any questions you may have.

 

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Christmas Fair

It's been a busy couple of weeks, I have been crocheting jackets and flowers for my posy bottles, making cards and stitching hearts filled with lavender for my stall at Urswick Christmas Fair, which is this Sunday at Urswick Recreation Hall from 10am until 3pm, if anyone is in the area. It's a popular fair with plenty of stalls, I'm really looking forward to it.

I love crocheting my little posy bottle jackets and flowers. I only use merino wool, Debbie Bliss, Millamia, Patons and Drops all have an excellent colour selection. The bottles I use are all dated from the late 1890's to 1930's as far as I know. I'm lucky enough to go metal detecting with my father and in between we also dig for bottles, which I love doing.

I have also been making Sunbonnet Sue needle/pin cases using felt, fabric, embroidery and vintage buttons. Each case has a safety pin on the front and needles and pins inside. I've made quite a few of these in all different colours.

Last but not least as I have mentioned in my other posts I have an allotment and always have plenty of fruit at the end of the season, so I have been making a lot of jam, I supply my family and friends with jam and any left over I sell. This year I have been making blackcurrant, red gooseberry, plum and redcurrant which I will also be selling at the fair.

I am still crocheting my shrug, which I mentioned in my last post, it's coming along really well. Although, I did have to order three more balls of wool as I have found out I am an extremely tight knitter! Hopefully I should have this finished soon and will post photographs.

 

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Crochet Simple Shrug

I know I haven't updated my blog for a while, I apologise for this, life got in the way.

I have still been crocheting, in particularly I have a couple of Christmas Fayres coming up and have been busy making items to sell. I will post a few photographs of items I have been making in my next post.

I have also been catching up on a couple of blogs I follow, one particular post on www.allaboutami.com interested me. Ami had crocheted a gorgeous shrug and I decided I wanted to make one of these. Unfortunately I couldn't get hold of the same wool that Ami used but I did find an alternative on www.woolwarehouse.co.uk, it's by an American company called Lion Brand, the wool itself is extremely soft it's also very thick hence the name Thick and Quick, the colour is called Sandstone. I can't wait to make a start on it this weekend.

The pattern Ami used is actually one from Lion Brand itself and is a free pattern, I will include links to both Ami's site, Wool Warehouse and Lion Brand below.

The hook I will be using is an Addi Swing Crochet Hook in size 8mm, I love Addi hooks, I can crochet for hours and hours without a break and I don't end up with sore hands either, they are definitely worth investing in, this one cost £7.79 from Wool Warehouse.

All About Ami - link for the shrug

http://www.allaboutami.com/post/97114173811/easychunkycrochetsweater

Wool Warehouse - link for the wool

http://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/lion-brand-wool-ease-thick-n-quick-print-sandstone-504-140

Lion Brand - (please note you will have to sign up to their website to receive the free patterns, once signed in search for Simple Crochet Shrug)

http://www.lionbrand.com

 

Before I forget UK Wool Week started on the 5th until the 11th October in the UK, if you would like to know a little bit more about this, take a look at www.campaignforwool.org.

 

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Mustard and Grey Wrap

I decided I needed to finish a project I've had to one side for the last six months, it's silly really as all I had to do to finish it was crochet three button holes and make one last dorset button.

The pattern for this wrap can be purchased via Etsy, the shop is called redbootyarnworks and the PDF pattern costs £3.36, I did make one change to the pattern and that was adding a picot edge around the wrap. Instead of buying a couple of large buttons I decided to make my own dorset buttons, you can read the tutorial on how to make these in my July 2014 post. The yarn I chose was purchased from www.woolwarehouse.co.uk and is by Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in the colours Charcoal Grey and Mustard.

I'm quite pleased with the result.

 

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Out and About

It has been a gorgeous day today, lovely warm weather much better than we had last night which was heavy rain and hailstones. I took my dog Tilly on a nice walk around the village this morning, not too long as she's getting older now and just likes to go at her own pace, which is normally slow, sniffing everything and anything in sight.

She even made a friend this morning, a cow, and decided it needed a groom and licked all over its face, to my amazement the cow just stood there looking down at her, not bothered at all and then suddenly the cow licked Tilly's entire face, mutual grooming I guess!

Tilly was a little bit tired when we got home and needed a nap, so while she was napping I finished off crocheting a daffodil for a little project I was doing, a posy vase.

 

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Post Surgery Boredom

I had my surgery ten days ago and boredom settled in after day one. I hate sitting around doing nothing it drives me insane, yes I am in pain, no I can't move around, my body was telling me to rest, my brain on the other hand wanted me to get up and get busy. I decided I would make a list of things I could do without actually moving around.

1. Catch up reading posts of blogs I follow.

2. Catch up on emails.

3. Make a nice long list of things I can't do but can get my husband to do with me shouting downstairs every two minutes, have you finished my list yet!

4. Make my dog, Tilly, stay with me and keep me company. This one lasted about an hour, in which time she slept and snored very loudly, once she woke up she decided she had enough and walked off since I wasn't doing anything interesting or anything involving food.

5. Make a list of all the jobs I need to do in the allotment, then look outside and whinge at my husband that it's so nice outside and I can't do any of them.

6. Lots and lots of crocheting.

7. Sort my iTunes out.

8. Check out Easter sale deals. For some time now I have been coveting my mum's Tassimo coffee machine but I just couldn't bring myself around to buying one, I thought they were expensive and took up quite a bit of room, I only have a small kitchen. However, I noticed a couple of deals on Curry's and Argo's website for the Tassimo Vivy which is apparently the most compact one of them all, it cost £35 which I though was very reasonable and I also got two e-codes for £20 off my first order of coffee pods. I now drink at least three times more coffee than I used to!

9. Watch old Ealing films on YouTube.

I guess the only two things I haven't done, until today that is, was watching films and crocheting. I'm a total crochet addict but I could not seem to get my head around doing anything, my brain had gone on strike. Today is the first day I felt the slightest bit of enthusiasm to do any.

Easter has now been and gone and I noticed my tree branches in my window still had the little yellow wooden Easter eggs on it, so I decided to re-decorate it and crochet some bright flowers.

I used Patons Extra Fine DK Merino from Deramores, I just love the colour range. I have just checked the website, they are priced at £4.29 for a 50g ball and there are 45 colours to choose from. I bought mine when they had a special offer on merino wool, it's always worth checking what special offers Deramore's have as they change each week.

The pattern I used was from Attic 24 and is called a Double Flower. I didn't follow the pattern completely I did not want the top of the double flower as I wanted to put a button in the middle and thought it might look a little bit chunky if I did this.

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Spring Blossom Tree

Recently my Uncle gave me some hazel twigs that he had sprayed white, I put them in a large vase and thought they would look nice with something crocheted on them. I decided to crochet lots of small flowers in different colours using merino yarn. I definitely think it gives my room a little bit of colour?

The pattern I used for the flowers is from Attic 24.

 

 

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Crochet and Fabric Keyrings

As I mentioned in my previous post I had received two lovely presents, in return I made the two ladies crochet/fabric keyrings. As they are filled with lavender they could also be used as a pomander for your wardrobe, I have a few of these myself.

The fabric is from Harlequin, a small offcut from the Scrap Store, the lace is vintage and was made by my great great grandmother. I decided to use a mauve colour merino wool to match the flowers on the fabric. I lightly stuffed the holder and filled with english lavender which I had grown in my allotment.

The double flower pattern I have used is from Attic 24

 

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Crochet Hook Wrap and Fabric Flower Brooch

I have met so many nice people at Ulverston Scrap Store, it's always great to chat away to people who have the same craft interests, you can bounce ideas off one another.

Two members from the Scrap Store brought me gifts they had made using items from the Store, I was completely overwhelmed, it's so lovely to receive an unexpected present and I feel very lucky.

They both know that I love to crochet and made me a crochet hook wrap and a flower brooch. Very talented ladies.

So happy right now !!

 

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