I have been reviewing my yarn stash…I have lots of little balls and some big balls of mainly acrylic yarn…mostly Stylecraft special dk and some balls of ‘I just don’t know what’. They are leftovers from projects long gone by like my Happy Ripple
the ‘his’ colour wayCosy Cottage Blanket by Attic 24
Of course, I did well last year de-stashing a lot of what I had with the lovely coastal crochet CAL
I was going to gather the rest up and take it to the charity shop…as I have felt for quite a long while that the numerous odd balls of this colour and that colour have been blocking my creative mojo. But, as I gathered what was quite a tangled mess a pang of guilt coursed through me…it seemed so wasteful.
I peered into the bag of what I had managed to detangle, not even sure if I liked the colours anymore, but I couldn’t shake that wasteful feeling. I also felt tired, but I needed to hook; and so before long a simple granny stripe (there are several versions of the pattern out there) began to fall from my hook. Even more surprisingly, the random colours were so very satisfying to my soul…as was the feeling that this odd surplus of yarn was not only becoming useful, but it was becoming something rather splendid indeed!
I am calling it my ‘Make Do’ blanket. I’m not sure what size it will be when it is finished…I’m not even sure how many chains I began with, I’m just making do!
I have not been overly productive on the crochet front since the New Year began, largely down to a chest infection and it’s lingering gift of tiredness. So I have settled for being under my crochet instead…
I have started my new book which I got at Christmas…it has been on my wish list for a while now and I am really enjoying turning the pages and soaking up the next page of words…I haven’t read a book for a long time.
I have put the border on my second ‘Yala’ blanket…I know I have not shown you the first yet, but I am thinking of ordering some cork disc labels to add to them and they are in need of blocking also, so you will have to wait to see them.
Whilst adding the border this morning I relished the feeling that time had slowed down and I drank in the atmosphere here at the nest…home, sweet home. I enjoyed the sound of my youngest two robins chitter chattering to each other and tried to absorb all of them, even their bickering. They are growing so quickly, and I know that in a blink of an eye I will be sat here hooking, wandering what they are doing and when they might visit.
I spent the afternoon baking for the week ahead and we managed to catch the sunset whilst walking the dogs. It was windy and the trees swooshed noisly above our heads. I was grateful to be outside, kicking up the leaf litter and breathing in the cold air; I was even more grateful to come home into the warm, pull on my pj’s and heap my bowl full of slow cooker chilli.
My plans for the week are particularly hectic…today may well have been the calm before the storm; so I plan on spending little snippets of time through out the week doing more of the above, wherever I can…because sometimes just being underneath your crochet is enough.
As 2018 draws to a close and 2019 peeps over the horizon, it is that time of year when bloggers from all around the world post their obligatory review of the year.
Yes, this is that type of post…however, I have kept it simple and I have decided to choose just one photo from each month…yarn related of course.
Suffice just to say, 2018 has had it’s ups and downs, as I am sure it has for you; but crochet has, as always been my constant therapy! 2018 was all about busting my stash, finishing Projects Half Done (PHD’s) and learning to knit…I have also released the following FREE patterns this year which I hope you have enjoyed.
Being part of an amazing crafty community means so much to me and I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to you, whether you are a first time reader or if you are a regular here at the nest. Your support and encouragement is treasured.
February, revolved around guilt free crochet as I ended up on crutches and had to take a month out of work. Luckily, for me I found the beautiful Seaside Stashbusting Blanket CAL hosted by the very talented Coastal Crochet It was the perfect project to bust some of my stash…every cloud eh!
March 2018
crochet and coffee
This is my favourite photo from March. My Seaside Stash Busting Blanket was starting to look more blanket like and by now I was enjoying the random colour selection from my stash.
April 2018
On a personal level April was profoundly traumatic and sad here at the nest, but on a yarny level I released the pattern for this beauty. I just love this blanket so, so much and it proved to be a welcome shower of cheer which burst forth amongst the grief. This also fulfilled the remit of completing a PHD!
2018 saw the beginning of my learning to knit adventure…this is as far as I got. I started really well and perhaps got a little ambitious…which became my downfall. Here are my posts to prove it here,just here and here
I haven’t returned to this project yet as I can’t work out where I am in the pattern! I do really want to finish this off…a New Year Challenge perhaps?
June 2018
We had an unusually hot summer here in the UK, so hooking al fresco was great now that my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket had grown in size. We had a beautiful sunny weekend glamping and those soft pink and grey shells will forever remind me of that recharging break away with Mr R and the Robins. You can read about those glamping adventures just here.
July 2018
The stash busting continued throughout July and inspired me to hook this cheeky dude. I had some black, white and grey Paintbox cottons just sitting in my stash and the most apparent thing to make was a zebra of course.
Having never made amigurumi before I am now completely smitten with all things amigurumi, which came as a total surprise to me! I made so many mistakes with this pattern, but learnt lots about the process of amigurumi along the way…if you want the full details of the mistakes I made take a look here.
August 2018
This was a joy to hook and also busted some more stash. I made this Vintage Market Tote for my Mama…and she loved it
September 2018
The end was in sight for the now glorious Seaside Stash Busting Blanket…and just in time for the change of seasons as Autumn crept in.
October 2018
A real …tadaaa… moment. This beautiful unicorn was made with a lot of love in my heart and no mistakes…well none that I know of! A real gem of a pattern that was easy to follow and so well written. It was an absolute joy to send her to her forever home and I am looking forward to hearing what she has been named. The pattern details are just here.
November 2018
My two favourite things to do when I’m on my own are to crochet and drink coffee and if I can do both whilst watching the world go by then that is near perfect for me.
This is another stash busting win for me also…a super soft and pretty baby blanket using up left over yarn from my Sunday Shawl.
This photo is from January…a PHD fail. I have added some more rows over the course of the year…honest I have. I don’t know why I haven’t finished it. The pattern is simple and it is very handsome… and it is not really that far from being finished; but the pretty things call me more loudly.
All in all 2018 has been quite yarny, maybe not as yarny as some, but yarny nonetheless. I have met some amazing crafty friends along the way, busted through a lot of my stash and finished a PHD or two.
Life seems to be on fast forward at the moment…It is nearly December already…how can that be?
I have been hooking, but a lot of what I am doing is
Secret Santa type of top secret and the like. I can show you this, however
A pretty linen stitch baby blanket, using up my leftovers from my Sunday Shawl…this yarn has to be my absolute favourite at the moment. It is Scheepjes Merino dk and it is so, so soft…I mean really soft and plump and squishy. I started this blanket on a whim and then couldn’t put it down, so it actually hooked up quite quickly. I hooked it in the car,
In the café whilst the boys were mountain biking,
but, mostly I hooked it in Sherwood Forest, whilst away for a few precious days…hence the name ‘Sheraby’.
in my happy place
You might be thinking what about all those pesky ends? Well, I just crocheted over them as I went, so there were no pesky ends at all.
It is only a small little blanket…car seat size, but I am so pleased with it. This years hooking seems to be about busting my stash and I am really enjoying the challenge of that. I really do like the ‘knitted’ look that linen stitch produces to. It’s a lovely closed fabric effect and is very simple to do.
It’s done! I have made the last stitch and woven in the last end of my beautiful #seassidestashbusting blanket.
It’s huge and I simply love it!
Oh! what a journey this blanket has been…a beautiful, stitchy, vibrant and meandering journey of colour, crochet and community…not to mention stash busting too!
Thank you so much to Eleanora over at Coastal Crochet for hosting such a marvellous and well organised CAL (crochet-a-long) and to all the lovely people I have met a long the way; who have encouraged and inspired me with kind words or blankets of their own. I have really enjoyed scrolling through the IG feed #seasidestashbustingblanket and seeing so many wonderfully unique contributions.
I am keeping this blanket for myself because honestly, I just can’t bear to be parted from it. I have hooked in so many memories of my year…like the sunny glamping rows, the foot surgery rows, the world cup rows, the too hot to crochet rows and the snowy day bobbles and I can relate each memory to the specific rows. I will leave you with my photographic journey…
Love, love, love this blanket.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do without the weekly rows…
These rows were finished a little while ago and I am onto the border now…but, I wanted to show you my progress in chronological order.
I didn’t think this blanket would match any décor in the nest, since it is just made up of stash I had hiding under Little Robin’s bed, but it is looking fine on my bed…
and in the lounge…but to be honest it is so flipping lovely it would look amazing anywhere.
So, I’m off to finish the border and I will be back soon with the final post for this beautiful blanket.
I have just completed week 29 and I think the CAL is now up to week 31, so I really want to push on and catch up with this as the CAL is almost done. I think there may be a couple more weeks of rows before it is time to border and finish. So I am going to make this one of this week’s hooky priorities; especially since it has cooled down a lot around here. These weeks pictured contained some more filet crochet, bobbles and some more basket weave!
I am loving these colours there are 11 in total which I had in stash and they are stylecraft special dk. I did have to go a buy a ball of yarn yesterday as I was short and didn’t want to introduce a new colour so late into the blanket and I really felt that it should feature in some of the last rows. Other than that I am just picking from these yarn balls randomly, and I like the surprise of that.
I have been hooking some other little makes and have found some wonderful patterns and I will share those with you soon.
I confess I have fallen a week behind with this CAL. I am laying the total blame for this at the feet of Gareth Southgate and the England world cup team for smashing history and those penalties…apologies if you are reading this in Columbia.
I am also totally going to blame the UK heatwave…the hottest and driest summer since 1976…which was also before I was born! It is glorious but it makes hooking blankets hot work. If you look closely at week 24’s photo you will see just what I have been hooking instead… but I will write a separate post all about that next time.
Just a couple of weekends ago, I abandoned work early, gathered my brood and made a little journey to a truly magical place. We only travelled 30 minutes away but we found ourselves in a different world.
We went glamping…that is camping in style!
And let me tell you it was absolutely luxurious. Running hot water, flushing toilet, the most comfortable bed in the world (honestly I felt like I was sleeping in a cloud) and a roll top bath with a gorgeous and very private view.
The boys happily shunned their screens and devices and spent hours splashing in the hot tub
and lighting fires
We cooked contently on the dutch oven (although there was a large wood burning stove inside our abode)
And we cycled the short distance into Arley where the great Severn Valley Railway passes through.
In the evenings we lit another fire and made use of the blankets provided for us;
and we chatted and laughed and breathed in and out deeply inhaling as much of the tranquillity as we could whilst toasting marsh mallows and drinking bubbles.
Of course I took my own blankets and they looked so pretty out on the decking…which has fairy lights at night.
(Yes, that is a candelabra you can see on the dining table! )
There was also plenty of time to crochet
and knit
This place is a true gem…and look what I found in the dresser…
a happy piece of yarn!!!!
So thank you Mark and Sonja for all of the fairy dust you sprinkled for our stay with you….we loved it!
I thought you might like another little update on the slow CAL (crochet a long) I’m participating in which is being hosted by the lovely Eleanora over at coastal crochet. You can also find lots of other amazing blankets and makers participating in this CAL across social media by searching #seasidestashbustingblanket.
I am calling it my ‘Make Do’ blanket. I’m not sure what size it will be when it is finished…I’m not even sure how many chains I began with, I’m just making do! 
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