A secret garden

I haven't been in the best of health lately but an upside to this is that I've been able to finish some crochet projects - namely some blankets :)

The first one was a present for my youngest girl and I made it with the thought in mind that it had to be bordered in that particular blue, which she loves.
I wanted it to be a lap blanket or one that goes on top of her bed for decorative effect.

I chose five colours for the flower:
Bottle Green
Aqua
Mintox
Taupe
Wheat

All except wheat are from the Porta Craft acrylic 8 ply yarn range and the wheat is an 8 ply acrylic yarn from Textile Traders (their bricks and mortar stores no longer exist)

I chose two colours for the squared-off border:
Fawn
Hot Blue

Both these colours are Porta Craft 8 ply acrylic

The flower part pattern of this one above is called "Secret Garden" flower and is from this blog: https://www.dadasplace.com/2015/10/secret-garden-shawl-free-crochet-tutorial.html

I squared it off myself (the first time I've attempted to do so and I was very pleased with the outcome) and then joined each square, using the join-as-you-go method, with the Hot Blue colour.

If anyone would like the square-off pattern please let me know and I will type it up and link it here :)

The border was done in four rows of moss stitch (a.k.a. linen stitch) and then finished off with a row of dc (sc in the U.S.)
Border colours:
Taupe
Aqua
Wheat
Hot Blue (also colour for final dc row).

Here it is displayed on my fancy couch. Only seven colours but I was really pleased with how varied the flowers looked.

More blanket posts to follow!

Rural bliss

Last Summer our clan house-sat for extended family in Cowaramup, a little slice of rural W.A., and it was  wonderful.
There is nothing quite like the beauty of the Australian bush; the light, the scents, the colours - just gorgeous.

Today I'm going to share a little slice of this rural idyll:

Dawn in the Australian bush. The mist was still rising from the ground and the light was stunning.

An Aussie farm gate; I love old gates :)

The view from the verandah. Words can't do it justice so I won't bother trying! Just take it in (we did, every day).

This old bath was on one end of the verandah and is plumbed up and useable (we weren't game to do so but the owners used it regularly).




I'll share more of our rural house-sit holiday in future posts :)

Seasonal cushion

My baby turned 18 earlier this week and, as a special surprise, I made him an Autumn/Winter cushion.

The Autumn side, with an Autumn-coloured background and leaves.

The Winter side, complete with raincloud :)

I love the colours and shapes of the various leaves.

I fastened the cushion cover with two buttons from my op. shop collection!

I can't wait for Autumn to arrive, it's my favourite season...

Welcome, Divine Mummy and cook!

My eldest daughter, who is a divine mummy and a fabulous cook, has just started two blogs on here so I guess I should actually start blogging myself and follow hers, too.
Welcome, Chicky...love you :) xox