A beanie or 2!

Published on October 21, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin10 Comments

brainwave beanie — Autumn Robin enjoyed choosing his own colours!

So here are the promised pics of the beanies I hooked up last week. The pattern is called the Brain Waves Beanie by Liz McQueen.

I made both my boys an adult sized hat from the FREE pattern, which has lots of clear instructions and is easy to follow. The only thing I didn’t have was the stated yarn weight so made these ones from my trusted stylecraft DK Special… it took me a couple of attempts to get the guage correct because of this and my first try was disappointingly huge!! So I came down a couple of hook sizes and used a 4.5mm hook and crocheted using the yarn double stranded… which as you can see has made up a dense, snug fitting hat.

brainwave beanie with ear flaps

Summer Robin made a design tweak and requested the addition of ear flaps… I added one of those cute ele buttons on each hat, expecting a protest… but they loved them and you can’t ask more than that!

it was at the bottom of a stash bag!

Published on October 19, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin7 Comments

Well this week I am posting and posting on time!

It’s been a while I know… but I think that I must start by thanking some very special people. If you read last weeks post you will know that I had lost my crojo! and I was desperate to find it again. After searching high and low to no avail, these very kind folk all offered their help in hunting for my elusive and misplaced enthusiasm;

Lucy, from aknitandacake despite having no crojo herself mailed me some enthusiasm.

Kim, from auntmaudknits kindly offered to send the great Aunt Maud herself, to come and have a good old rummage around in the search!!!

Ruth, from mysparemoments offered to search despite her leg being in a cast.

Iris, over at thegreenonion offered some of her very own crojo.

Last but by no means least…Sandra, atfarmgirlsam suggested amongst other things a bit of yarny retail therapy.

I am pleased to report that after all that help, I found my crojo at the bottom of an old stash bag… and got x2 items ticked off my year of projects list. A beanie for my Summer Robin and another for my Autumn Robin…I have no pics as they are away this weekend and their beanies have gone with them! I will post in the week about them.

As you can see from the photo I took Sandra’s advice and indulged in some (restrained) yarny retail therapy. Isn’t it delicious…it’s telling me to hook it into some hottie covers for Christmas!

I also had a little dabble around in Etsy and got these cute little elephant buttons.

bowling balls

I have also spent some very precious time with lil robins this weekend as it has just been him and me, as big brother is at scout camp and other big brother and Mr. R are on a cubs, lads and dads weekend. Lil robins’ requested we go bowling and eat pizza

and ice cream

He has talked my head off about flying cars and ninjago. We’ve played pool and drunk slush puppies too, had long walks with the dogs in our wellies, watched movies snuggled up together and he has enjoyed sleeping in Mommy’s bed and Mommy has enjoyed that too!

Anyway, have a good week and thanks again for all of your help, I am going to enjoy the last few hours with lil Robins, we’re off to church, before the boys return with all that dirty, dirty washing!!

I’ve looked high and low…

Published on October 13, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin13 Comments

Apologies for my distinct absence lately… I’ve found myself waking each morning yearning to create and yet by the time I’m home from work and the chores are done and I have the opportunity to hook, that a severe melancholy rises up from within and my hook stays in it’s case….

I fear I may have lost my crojo!!!

I’ve looked high and low…I have tried and tried… I have put my hooks away and I have got them back out… I’ve thumbed the delightful pages of books and magazines… trawled through many of your lovely project pages on ravelry, where fleetingly my heart skipped at so many inspiring creations, only to find myself with yarn and hook in hand and still no hooking action.

Holey!!!!

My brother dropped round last week, to my horror with the blanket I had made as a wedding present last year. It had a hole in it and he wanted me to repair it, as now the evenings are chillier, the blanket is required once more. A hole!!!!

As I mended, I certainly didn’t feel inspired and worried about other gifts I had made… what if?….!!!!

repair in progress

With the repair done and my brother gone, I reflected that actually, that wedding blanket is super heavy and probably with hindsight, should have had a more substantial joining method than the pretty but delicate flat braid join that I gave it… hence the hole. I did take some close up pics to cheer my soul a little…

crocodile flower by Joyce Lewis

double treble burst, Crochetville

wedding present

It is a very pretty blanket.

In other news, Little Jess has finally found a best friend in Alfie and this has really warmed my heart, after 2 weeks of grumbling and growling our Alf decided that Jess was not so bad after all.

best friends now x

Importantly, the evenings are now drawing in nicely, I so love this time of year,

The evenings are really beginning to draw in now... — The evenings are really beginning to draw in now…

drawing the curtains, lighting the candles and snuggling in for the evening… what could be better… maybe just a little crochet

settling in for the evening

So, please would you have a little look to see if you have any extra crojo that you could send to me… I’m desperate!

xxx

Jess

Published on September 30, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin3 Comments

it's hard to get a good photo of her as when she is awake she doesn't stand still for a moment! — it’s hard to get a good photo of her as when she is awake she doesn’t stand still for a moment!

It’s been 48 hrs since little Jess arrived and so far so good… the first night she yelped for 10 mins before settling to a full nights sleep and last night she took herself into her crate and drifted off for the night without so much as a squeak. I think having Alfie our lab around has much to do with the suprising amount of sleep we have managed since this little ball of fur arrived.

bath time

She did require a bath however as she wasn’t that fragrant and the smell of her litter mates and no doubt her Mom, was sending Alfie a little grumpy…

she was all of a quiver

Jess, protested throughout her bathe, but seemed to enjoy the hair dryer and she smells much more pleasant both to us and Alfie, I think!

2014-09-29 09.53.22 — Alfie, interested in Jess, but not too sure yet!

House breaking is also going well, only x2 accidents so far, so I am very proud of how well she is doing. Her favourite thing is exploring the growing garden. That is where we have just come in from now and she is zonked!

sooo cute!

The cedum in glorious autumn splendour from Jess' point of view! — The cedum in glorious autumn splendour from Jess’ point of view!

Other progress made is that Jess is happy to wear her collar complete with name tag, which I am pleased about as you can always hear where she is, as it jangles gently when she runs, which is also very sweet as she runs and springs about like a baby lamb with a slight tendency to lean to her left as she goes.

All in all she is lovely xx

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!!

Yarnpom!

Published on September 16, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin8 Comments

So here it is… to celebrate the submission of my application to University, to return to nursing….(drumroll)

my yarnpom!

yarnpom in all it's splendour! — yarnpom in all its splendour!

so simple…so fun!

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.

Tiddly…um..pom…pom

Published on September 8, 2014October 14, 2014 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin9 Comments

Following my flirting with pompoms the other day which led to the creation of yet another pinterest board, today I have experimented with different ways of making pompoms. Not only have I learnt new techniques that are sheer genius, I have also de-stashed and Operation Pompom has commenced also… but, more about that some other time.

a new use for chair legs!

makes several pompoms all at once!

recycling cardboard tubes

produces larger pompoms

So you see, it’s been a pompom sort of day!

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