inspiration – Page 10 – Crochet blog

‘Very V’…a very happy blanket.

Published on August 28, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin11 Comments

This is my latest finish.

I’ve called it the ‘Very V’ blanket, as it uses the very beautiful and very simple ‘v’ stitch throughout.

The yarn is stylecraft special dk and the colourway…

It reminds me very much of the Happy Ripple blanket I hooked a few years ago.

This blanket was a thank you gift for someone that has helped me enormously this year and each stitch, like the Happy Ripple before was hooked with love and prayer.

It makes my heart sing when I am able to gift something like this and know that it is appreciated.

I received a card in the post just this week from the owner of the Happy Ripple telling me of the enormous comfort the blanket has brought to both her and her family in the midst of heartbreak recently…

and that…

well that just blows me away.

xxxxx

Hooking al fresco…

Published on August 25, 2016August 25, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin8 Comments

I have been so blessed to escape life for one whole week and kick back with the Robins clan…

The weather was more than kind to us, we even braved the sea for a session of body boarding! That in itself may not seem that amazing, but if I tell you that the only water that Mama Robins likes is of the hot and bubbly variety…body boarding in the sea was a small miracle (it was so much fun too!).

Of course I got some hooking in; mostly on the go. Instead of taking a mammoth project like I usually do, I took just one hook and a single ball of yarn. I didn’t even take a pattern and made it up as I went…

The yarn was the hank I had won a few months ago all the way from South Africa from Joey over at her fabulous blog, Littleblackdog, which you can read about here.

The freedom of just one hook and a little bit of yarn meant I hooked every where…beach hooky….pool side hooky…farm hooky…

I met the coolest sheep too, just take a look at him.

But I think the most yarniest place we visited was this place…

Clovelly…a tiny village of quaint cottages that seemed to tumble down into the harbour. The cobbled street is so steep that it is unsuitable for vehicles and can only be accessed on foot or by donkey. To stay overnight at the cutest bed and breakfast, your belongings are transported from the car park at the top to your accommodation by sledge…yes, I said sledge!!

The steep journey down is rewarded with an 18th Century harbour which the boy Robins loved. Taking much delight in hurling rocks into the sea with a catapult!

But, I digress slightly…yes, it is a yarny place. On the way down I discovered this beautiful doorway

And this little cottage with a yarny roof

And a yarn bombed lamp post

And of course I did a bit of my own hooking.

Hooking al fresco has proved quite satisfying indeed.

xxxxx

A Yarny Giveaway…

Published on July 31, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin31 Comments

Yes, that’s right I’m having a little yarny giveaway here at the Nest. The purpose for such frivolity I hear you ask?

Well, it is a belated celebration of my 2 year blogging anniversary; which was actually back in June. Whilst I was aware this occasion had come and gone, life was a little too hectic to mark the occasion. So, I parked the celebration temporarily and am now ready with a little yarny give-a-way.

This year has been frantic and I want to thank all of my regular readers for being patient with me along this journey and for all of your cheering on! It has really helped me and if you’re relatively new around here consider it a welcome.

So before I get to the give-a-way, I thought I would just highlight some of my favourite posts from the last 12 months.

100 patch granny

The 100 patch granny blanket…

blog post here

joining tutorial here

A hooky bake off

The world’s smallest library

A yarny little leaf pattern

Robins nest square pattern

I love a little look back, don’t you?

So Give-a-way time…cue the party poppers!!! It’s easy to enter and is open to all. The prize to covet is this…

A gorgeous hank of beautifully soft baby alpaca wool in Lichen by Louisa Harding; which has an added touch of sparkle with a fine gold metallic thread.

glorious alpaca yarn

This yarn is gorgeous, I hooked with it a while ago…remember?

lightweight glamour... — lightweight glamour…

So the entry rules are simple.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is leave a comment below. If you are reading this on facebook then like the page and leave a comment also. Simples! Closing date for entries is 22nd August 2016.

xxxxx

Sharing a good thing…

Published on June 12, 2016June 12, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin5 Comments

How Kind!

Thank you to Eleanor over at Harebells crochet for the nomination.

I love playing a very tiny part in such a BIG community of bloggers and am always amazed and humbled that even one person bothers to read what I type. So to be nominated for such makes me both smile and blush! The award comes with a few guidelines and in the true spirit of

‘Love is something if you give it away’

‘sharing a good thing’

‘pass the blessing on’ etc, etc…

The rules for the Creative Blogger Award are:

Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog….. (tick)

Share five facts about yourself…..(tick)

Nominate other bloggers and add their links…..(tick)

Notify the bloggers you included…..(tick)Keep the rules in your post….(tick)

So, my 5 facts are:

1.

just had to stop the car the other day for this cheeky chappy!

These are my absolute favourite animals…Alpaca’s! The yarn is divine and when my middle little Robin was very, very little he called them ‘naccapaccas’. We still use that word for them now.

2.

100 patch granny

I am addicted to coffee, I just love to have a cup close at all points of the morning.

3.

I rely on hope, at all times and in all circumstances it is hope that drives my soul.

4.

already a firm favourite!

I love a lazy afternoon, I don’t get many, but they are perhaps my most favourite thing… a lovely cosy blanket, snuggled up with my family, a cup of coffee, a hook and some yarn…bliss!

5.

According to the internet, my bakery name is ‘Sweet Brownie Patisserie’

Nominations

So time to share this good thing… My nominations for ‘creative blogger’ are:

Stefanie over at Wooly cakes and wooden spoons

(because I love her attitude and more recently her awesome podcasts)

Lundy Girl over at Could do worse

(because I love her posts about her allotment and wordless Wednesday’s also)

and Anna over at Boys and Chickens

(because I love the honesty of her writing about the everyday)

These are really great reads.

xxxxx

Feeling Chuft!

Published on June 4, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin7 Comments

Wow! Another whirlwind week, which marks the start of the final Semester of my Health Visiting course. Feeling a little daunted about moving teams and having my own caseload of 100 children; in true ‘yarnyrobin’ fashion I created my fellow student Health Visitees a little crafty survival pack for their Semester 3 journey!

WP_20160602_20_31_48_Pro — The list of contents needed for Semester 3 survival!

WP_20160602_20_31_19_Pro — All packaged in a pretty little box

perfect to keep on an office desk

I think the girls liked them!

A special shout out to them here is also needed as yesterday we all passed our nurse prescribing exam (feeling chuft!).

I also need to thank Eleanor over at Harebells crochet for nominating me for the creative bloggers award. Thank you for the nomination, I will get round to posting about that later in the week….promise.

xxxxx

Down but not out….

Published on May 21, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin11 Comments

You lovelies who read my blog regularly will probably have noticed that I am not producing so much hookiness of late. You will also know that I am up to my eyes in assignments, exams, placements and juggling the family.

InstagramCapture_b1e1474d-aadc-4596-9ef3-9d5bcd71e7d0 — I’m still working on this… but it is a slow burn…

Phototastic-09_04_2016_a56ef296-d285-45bd-980f-48a6872e825b — This has been relegated into the ‘ I will start it again in Autumn’ pile

It has really bothered me lately that my hook is not frantically producing crochet lovliness at the rate I was before and if I’m honest it has got me feeling a bit blue. Admiring other hookers (you know what I mean!) being so efficiently productive caused me to ponder if I should continue my blog… after all this space is predominantly for such hooky show offing and if I haven’t got it to show off…. then what should I do? And then I came across this

I love this little space that I get to write in.

I love this little space because it links me to communities and wonderful people…just like you all across the world.

I love this little space even if no one visits or presses like because it’s mine, because this space celebrates my journey.

So I’m not out…I’m just slower!

xxxxx

Crowning glory

Published on May 15, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin4 Comments

It seems that I am busier than ever before which makes any spare time very precious. So as the sun has chosen to shine for a brief couple of days (Seriously…this could be the sum total of the British summer time!!!) I have chosen to spend my time outdoors and make the most of it.

WP_20160505_17_10_01_Pro — Dining al fresco in the garden

The warmth of the sunshine has caused an explosion of foliage and weeds! So I cleared a patch of rogue nettles in the growing garden and rediscovered a little hosta…

WP_20160508_17_47_48_Pro — Can you see it at the back…it is tiny!

Mr. R dug up the blackberry and raspberry bushes which quite frankly were looking very ugly. I have pondered their removal for some time, but sometimes you just have to cut your losses. Their fruit bearing has been lousy and that’s a polite way of putting it!

WP_20160508_17_48_04_Pro — So we have a blank canvas of a flower bed which is going to include Jasmine

Talking of losses, we lost our last chicken this week…sad news! We have decided not to replace them, so the chicken run has been dismantled and we are deciding what to do with this space.

I also made a return to bluebell wood, and was met with this utter spectacle…

And I just had to stop the car to photograph the present crowning glory of the British countryside…

Fields of just WOW!!

All this colour led me to the garden centre

in pursuit of summer annuals for my kitchen window box

a sweet pea tipee

and a little bit of something yummy…

lettuce and spring onions

so not much crochet time, but I did get half an hour in this morning

Have a great week.

xxxxx

Looking for the lovliness…

Published on April 24, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin7 Comments

Well, I’m sorry for my noted absence, there are just two weeks left until exam and essay deadlines and to be truthful I’m worried that one of the boys might fall into the laundry pile and never be seen again!

I’m shattered and busy, busy, busy… my mind has many yarny creations whizzing around and I really need some colour therapy, but I feel overwhelmed and hence my hook has fallen silent (temporarily). So to keep my creative mind sane I have been looking for the lovliness that surrounds me daily… and taking photo’s…this is April.

A birthday breakfast

WP_20160412_10_53_31_Pro — elevenses with my Mom and Dad.

A heart from Mr R

A coffee made with a whistle always reminds me of Gran

A lovely present from a friend

Alf in his favourite puddle... — Alf in his favourite puddle…

Rhubarb sprouting

hellebore raising its head

WP_20160423_14_10_19_Pro — clematis budding

WP_20160423_14_07_32_Pro — climbing clematis well…climbing!

Spring is here sort of... — Spring is here sort of…

It was warm enough yesterday for the first cuppa out in the garden

but today it has been cold, so these tulips brought the spring inside

But mostly these lovelies have been the loveliest…

the Robins xx

xxxxx

Contagious creativity…

Published on April 11, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin2 Comments

Soul restoration…

Published on March 26, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin5 Comments

After a long hard slog I now have 2 out of 3 of my essays done…but it has been hard, not just for me, but for the whole of the Robins’ nest clan. So with the sun shining it was time to restore the soul with some non academic (no not a single reference required here!) time together. However, it didn’t quite work out as planned. Mr R had to work… ON A BANK HOLIDAY! and summer and autumn robins, well they are growing up and wanted to go out with their mates…so that just left me and my little Robin to go and play.

Pitch and putt, all 18 holes in the sunshine.

I spent a lot of time trying to get out of bunkers…

and trying very hard not to misplace my golf ball in the river that ran alongside some of the course.

After the successful execution of hole 9, we had a half time interval of ice cream and popcorn…much needed foods when soul restoration is in progress!

before, more rounds of golf…

and more time spent trying to get out of bunkers!

Soul Restored…

xxxxx