A crochet update

I've mentioned a couple of times here that my "Spring" crochet blanket is complete - named by one of the comments in a much earlier blog post for its spring-like colours, and the name just stuck - but other than a glimpse I hadn't shown any photos.  So today I am, I also said previously that it doesn't match the bedding currently on the bed, and you can see it doesn't, but I don't really mind.  It goes with the colour scheme of the room, and more importantly it is finished, ends sewn in and everything.

And I'm rather proud of it.  This is my first crochet project, and given that I taught myself last autumn, and the blanket includes my very first granny square ever - it's a pale yellow one - I'm pleased with how it turned out.  

I quickly got bored of plain granny squares though in the thirst to learn more and experiment with this new-to-me craft and so the idea of the 'pattern' was born.  I decided to try different squares to test myself, some I liked and enjoyed making and others I didn't; some I adapted part-way through, especially if I found the pattern too dull, or if I went wrong (more likely!)

And so it grew, but I was keen to move onto the many other projects I had lined up, so to add variation I decided that I needed one larger square in all of the wools I was using which would help it grow quicker, and give the patchwork look I was after.  And I reverted to plain granny squares to get it done. With enough squares completed and a layout decided - remember I used the bed and photographed it so I didn't forget - I started to join it together, first adding a round of white around each square to give some uniformity, joining with the granny square stitch.  

I learnt many stitches, the composition of squares which I know will help in future projects and that variegated yarn works so much better in crochet than it does in knitting somehow.  I've always liked the variegated wool, but not so much when knitted, now my love is rekindled, although it might be on hold for a bit as I've already several projects that I have the wool for, including the Kalevala which was the blanket that started this journey (and is still not started).

So, with the Spring blanket complete, what next?

Well apart from the two other projects on the go, one is a square a week in muted colours that I'm behind on in the number of weeks and the other is a lunchtime project that lives in my desk.  I rarely get to do this, that I should do more of it really, I decided I needed to start another of the projects I already have planned.

I wasn't sure which but then I remembered I'd already done some of the groundwork for the Vintage Sweetheart blanket by Cherry Heart which was serialised in Crochet Now.  The original colour-way of the blanket is great, but not very me.  I'm much more of a bright colour person and so I decided to ramp it up a bit with my own colours.  They're not too far away from the original, but they do have a bit more of a pop.

As well as creating my own colour chart - as I'm bound to forget at some point which colour is what - I've also listed which squares are in which section, so I can take a slightly different approach to making it.  I'm starting with the Granny Jean square and last night made four of them for three separate sections.  I'll need to work out how to label them so I don't get them muddled up and right now the simplest thing I can think of is to put each section’s squares into a separate bag.  Simple is good!

They're quite bright though aren't they?  And I'm already pleased with them.  These are a variation on the granny square, but use the V stitch instead of the more traditional approach.  MOH noticed the new project last night, asked what it was and then enquiries if I was expecting a cold winter, what with it being another blanket. 

It’s for another room I told him, but I hadn’t worked out which. Not that I shared that last bit, of course. However this morning as I was photographing the new squares, I think I found its new home:

What do you think?!

Cushion crazy

This week I'm sharing more from the Yorkshire interiors shop of loveliness.  Our cushion detecting radar must have brought us here as we keep saying we need to buy cushions for all three of our grey sofas.  The easy, and more traditional way of doing this would be to choose two or three designs and stock up.  But I'm not always a fan of the easy route, sometimes that's a good thing and at others it just means more shopping than either of us are used to...

There was certainly plenty of choice here and while many were lovely, and there was the pom pom edging that I've been banging on about for most of the year, many were a bit too pastel and soft for what I was after.  The hare did seriously test me though, isn't it lovely?

It wasn't all just animals though, there were florals and multi-coloured bobbles. These were getting to more of what I had in mind, something full of colour that could be switched between our main living room and our conservatory, but even so we moved on.

The fish cushions were admired, and they're quite obviously related to some of the cushions I've already shared.

And then, upstairs in one of the many rooms, we found our cushion.

Yeap, the orange stag was ours and is now proudly living on our conservatory sofa. I suspect it's quite lonely out there as while we find the right cushions for the main sofa, we've requisitioned the black and white geometric patterned cushions (these ones which have already been promoted from the futon).  But putting these together give you an idea of the bold approach we're aiming for in the conservatory, the living room might be slightly more sedate, but who knows...

Interiors inspiration Yorkshire style

You might remember this photo from Instagram? It was from our first trip into the nearest town, Ripon, on our recent week in Yorkshire, where we stumbled upon a fantastic interiors shop The Castle.

A chance find in #ripon earlier @thecastlehome and escaped with just three purchases (I did well there!) #love #wallart #interiors #homeetc #interiorsinspo #interiorsinspiration #yorkshire

A post shared by Stephanie Robinson (@lifeat139a) on Jul 1, 2018 at 12:35pm PDT

And there was much more loveliness besides.  So much that I did well to leave with just a cushion and two coasters.  Even MOH could have picked up more, but you can bet he was pleased we didn't!

I don't need any lamps, but I was rather taken with this chartreuse chinoiserie-style lamp bases.  Deep breath, and move on quickly...

But then there was the fun and funky fish coasters - thankfully blue's not my colour, so it was easier to carry on walking after stopping to admire them.

But then there were more lamps.  These brought back memories of walking in the South West, where we often pass by similar piles of stones.

It was the type of place that had the knack of organising things, just so.  The pewter dish was much harder to walk past, but shuffled along quickly by MOH we didn't even get to the "where would you put it" stage.

The other reason for not resisting the shuffling along, was what was in front of me.  I mean, who wouldn't be drawn to a display like this.

Or even a drawer unit like this. 

MOH knew he needed to act when we got to this unit, and so he predictably pulled out the "it needs a good rub down" line.  Remember this is the person that tried to dust a purposefully dusty bottle of wine, so he has form.  And to be fair so do I, I was already daydreaming where this could go, there isn't anywhere in our house that would work, so I'd quickly moved onto storage solution options.  

It is that gorgeous, and if we had a proper hall or space that it would work in, then there would most likely have needed to be a Serious Conversation.  Yes capitalised, so you know it's serious.

But thankfully for our bank balance, we didn't, although I wish we did!

So if you're in Ripon, or close by, do pop along to The Castle, it really is a shop of simple pleasures.  Just don't buy my unit...