It’s all Jess’ fault!!!

Published on September 29, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin7 Comments

My head has been turned a little recently and I have done absolutely no hooking what so ever…. diddly squat….nothing…

and this is why

5 weeks tiny xx

This is little Jess, just 5 weeks old in this picture, we didn’t get her til yesterday, when she was 8 weeks old, but the anticipation and waiting has rendered me unable to settle to anything let alone hook. So now that she is here maybe, just maybe I will pull out that hook!!

Operation pompom

Published on September 14, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin6 Comments

Following the creation of my pompom board on pinterest and being inspired by so many different ways to make pompoms, my excited and inspired mind whizzed and whizzed, whilst my hands made more and more pompoms…

making several pompoms all at once

a little trim here and there

26 minutes later... 12 little pompoms made — 26 minutes later… 12 little pompoms made

and before I knew where I was… I was sitting under an avalanche of prettiness. This yarny magnificence was also, if the truth be told, a welcome distraction from the University application which I should have been filling in!

101 pompoms later

It wasn’t long before this clutch of fluffiness had been strung together for one yarny purpose

yarnpomming!

all ready to go!

I just need to find the right place now… so give me a couple of days and I will show you my yarnpom reveal.

Chilli pepper Baby blanket

Published on September 7, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin10 Comments

2014-09-06 17.09.49 — Chilli pepper baby blanket

It’s done and it’s gorgeously cushy and it is a baby blanket that any Great Grand Mother would be proud of, BUT…….

I’m not in love with it, and because of this I am hugely disappointed.

It is a fabulous colour…Chilli red and not the traditional blue for a boy. and I love that. I also love that it has made up so densely and is beautifully warm and snuggly for the winter… I have also mastered blanket stitch!

2014-08-16_13.28.01_medium2 — about the yarn…

That’s where the positive ends for me tho…. although the yarn is soft in the finished blanket, it was not that pleasurable to work with…it didn’t slide on and off the hook and was a bit splitty and annoying.

chilli pepper baby blanket in s.l.o.w progress

It has also taken me soooo much longer than I had planned and I can’t work out whether this is one of the reasons for my poor relationship with this blanket, or… because I wasn’t having much hooking joy, that it has taken me longer than anticipated to hook!!

This blanket became a real block for my other hooky plans too… another reason for my lack of love for it.

So, to get my crojo back, I thought about the last hooky thing that really rocked me…that pompom border on my happy ripple…..

and I got creative by making a brand new pompom board on pinterest… go on I dare you to have a peek!

Oh...the potential! — Oh…the potential!

and once I had done that… I felt much better…and found myself thinking maybe a basket stitch blanket in a thinner yarn would be nice…

How Ironic!!

Published on September 1, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin10 Comments

It’s ironic that I have been hooking a winter hat whilst on my summer holiday. It’s not that the weather was all that bad, we had days that were windy and rainy and sunny and sometimes all at the same time… but then we were on the beautiful coastline of South Wales, and we had a ball, spent some really lovely family time together and made memories that will last us a lifetime!

2014-08-23 20.47.25 — Sunset over Tenby Bay x

I had packed up a project bag that had a ridiculous amount of yarn in, as the boys had asked me to make them beanies for the Autumn Term. They had all placed their pattern and colour order with me in preparation, and of course they all wanted different colours, hence the bursting project bag! However, I didn’t hook that much whilst away, as we were just too busy. I did manage to finish Little Robin’s hat though…

minion hat

This is the minion hat that he chose and once I had it done, he wore it everywhere xxx

I also hooked up another 10 rows or so of the chilli pepper baby blanket, this is not going as quickly as it should, I think I’m just a little bored of it!

I thought I ought to show you these lovelies too, not made on my holiday, but just before, out of some of the left over alpaca yarn from the infinity cowl

Pattern details can be found just here. So just a couple of finishes then and some additions to the YOP list… more beanies!

So, I will leave you with a few more holiday snaps as I cling on to the remaining hours that are left before the boys go back to school tomorrow…. and I must return to work!!!

xxx

sock it to me Baby!

Published on August 22, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin2 Comments

Socks, socks,socks…I’m seeing so many beautiful sock creations. A lot of you ladies that leave me comments are sockaholics… you know who you are!!!

The socks that fly of your needles are amazing, you’ve inspired me to visit my local yarn store and covet sock yarns, those self striping, oh so soft yarns are just gorgeous … not only to the eye but to the touch also.

Alas, I am a hooker (of the yarn variety) and am not a knitter at all, so socks seem hugely daunting to me… in fact they terrify me….. besides which, I own a washing machine that eats socks… Just take a look at my odd sock pile…

have you ever seen such a huge odd sock pile!!!!!

So for now I will continue admiring your sock creations and maybe one day… who knows?

I wont be able to post a YOP update this Sunday so I will leave you with a teaser of what I have been up to (yes, I know it’s quite obvious!)

my away project x

And I really must just show you this…

manicure just done x

After just 6 weeks of growing my nails, which I have bitten for 30 plus years! I was able to have my first ever proper manicure, see here for week by week photos. I know it’s a little sad to mention here, but I am just soooo not ashamed of my hands any more… and that’s a big deal for me. Any how, bragging done I would just like to wish you all a very good week and I will check in again as soon as I am able…

xxxxx

lacy obsession

Published on August 17, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin20 Comments

This week has seen this glorious baby alpaca wool

glorious alpaca yarn

hook up into a fabulous lightweight cowl… that is mine for keeps!

lightweight glamour... — lightweight glamour…

I love it’s geometric pattern and love even more that it was sooo simple to follow the pattern, made up of just chains, doubles and trebles. The pattern called for x20 pattern repeats, but I stopped at 10 as I didn’t want a bulky double wrap cowl… I wanted a delicate, just now piece.

infinity cowl

This means I have wool left over to make some pretty little mitts…

mine for keeps!

The pattern is called Lacy Infinity Cowl by Anniken Allis, the Queen of lace, and the yarn is

: in “Lichen”

Click here for more project details

I’ve also done a little blog hoppin! which was fun, and I have been teaching the not so little Robins how to French knit…

french knitting

mission completed!

Next project on the hook, a basket weave baby blanket called Chilli Pepper…which was not on my original list, so has been added…

chilli pepper baby blanket

For a brand new arrival…. “Jackson Richard”

My list is looking quite healthy and I am ticking off the FO’s with satisfying regularity. To check it out for yourself then take a look and if you are not YOPing yet, it’s never to late to join, just get your list together and head on over here!

xxx

My week in Pictures

Published on August 9, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin14 Comments

A busy week… lots of fun and work… not much craftiness… here is my week in pictures!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

That’s all for this week, hope you all had a good one!

xxx

Alpaca All the Way

Published on August 3, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin11 Comments

Week 5

So if you are a regular here you will know that I didn’t have much to show you in terms of photo’s of progress last week, but had things in the pipeline as it were. Well, this week has seen the completion of the Happy Ripple which I was really pleased with… and actually had a hard time parting with it, but part with it I did on Thursday, when I gifted it to my friend who had been made redundant. My friend immediately burst in to tears and said that she would cherish it forever and would cuddle under it even when she was 80 years old, to which I replied that she would be the envy of the nursing home!

I also completed my first ever tutorial, the bobble edge tutorial which is a step by step photo heavy, how to. I do not know who to attribute the technique to, I wish I was that clever to have come up with the design myself, I had so much fun hooking it though, that I just had to show you guys how to hook it to! If you have a go, let me know what you think of the tutorial, as I say it’s my first… On my original list I wanted to make a tutorial for broomstick crochet and now I have completed 1 tutorial, I am feeling more confident about the process… so watch out for that in the near future!

alpaca yarn - Louisa Harding yarns - Orielle — alpaca yarn – Louisa Harding yarns – Orielle

I took the alpaca yarn down from my bed post and started my summer scarf… a rare project that I’m making just for me and one that I think will occupy me for the rest of August. The yarn is divine and has little flecks of gold metallic running through it, which gives it a very subtle shimmer

glorious alpaca yarn

Here is my progress so far

infinity cowl

This gorgeous 8 row repeat geometric pattern is working up with an almost Argyle look. The pattern is by the Queen of lace… Anniken Allis.

So, that’s my progress… slow but steady.

xxx

Messing about on the River

Published on July 28, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin9 Comments

Well, not much done this week in terms of anything to show you guys, but there has been some work in the background that shall bear fruit very soon.

Instead this week has seen a lot of this

sun cream

and lots of this

and lots of ice cream!

and some messing about on the river with friends…

lazy days with friends

We spent the day in a gorgeous little place called Hampton Loade, not too far away and splashed the whole sunny day away!

serene

DSCF4786[1] — how far do you think I can throw it!

DSCF4803[1] — boys, boys, boys!

DSCF4796[1] — Mr R

I so nearly completed the Happy ripple… honest I did, just gotta weave those ends in! I cant wait to show you… It’s such a playful blanket and has the most amazing edging on it, that was so much fun to hook. I have learnt a new technique with this edging and am putting a tutorial together for it, because I think I need to share the joy I had hooking it with you all… so watch this space, I will pull it together over the next few days! So for now I will leave you with a picture of my al fresco crochet corner…

crochet corner — my little spot!

and the yummy alpaca yarn that I have for my next project… a summer scarf

too lovely to hide away while it waits to be hooked!

xxx

Roses and Posies tea cosy

Published on July 20, 2014October 21, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin13 Comments

Roses and posies tea cosy

So this week has seen the start of the Roses and Posies tea cosy by Nicki Trench. It is the tea cosy that you can see on the front of this book….

Nicki Trench book

So here is my progress this week…

components for roses and posies tea cosy designed by Nicki Trench

I really enjoyed whipping up these roses and hooked them all over the place this week, mostly in the car, whilst waiting for one or more of my Little Robins (as their social life is so much better than mine!!).

tea cosy wip — naked tea cosy

these little roses are gorgeous to hook

and here it is my second Finished Object

roses and posies tea cosy by Nicki Trench

If you knew my friend, then you would know that she is just going to love this tea cosy!!

Tea Time x

I have also made a start on my scrappy afghan… I want this to be huge at least big enough for Mr R and I to snuggle under together, so I’m not even going to do the maths and work out how many squares… as that may be rather disheartening to know! But, this is the width and I’m x3 rows in, so I’m a happy Robin. It’s a long term project always in the back ground, but always a joy to hook. It’s a bit like having an old friend that you get excited to see, you know you can always pick up where you left off from, easy and relaxing and just a pleasure to be with, well that’s this blanket!!

tiny little granny squares

I love a simple granny!

The happy ripple is almost done too, no pictures this week, but there will be some next week… About x5 more rows and a border and it will be done ready to gift at the end of this month.

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