Birthday

birthday flowers

I’ve had a week filled with lovely birthday things. I’ve been out for dinner/lunch, twice, no! three times. I’ve had lots of awesome presents and there has been gorgeous weather. Smashin’.

I got my hair cut off too, so when I went out to dinner on Saturday night (The Five Bells in Clyst Hydon- very nice) I felt all new and swooshy. I didn’t feel so new and swooshy when we went out for lunch on Sunday (The Rock Inn on Dartmoor). A roast dinner sorted me out but, crikey, I felt rough yesterday. I took loads of pictures of Haytor whilst there, which I’ll post in a day or two.

granny blanket

I also finished a blanket, one that I’m really pleased with. I especially love the border, which is the same pattern I used for my granny shawl. It’s Stylecraft Special dk.

big granny square blanket

At some point this blanket will end up in my Etsy shop. I will sort out a link when I’ve got some blankets and other things in there.

Handmade bags

Other things I managed to finish last week were two little bag/purse type things. One is for my unimpressive collection of barely used knitting needles and the other is for keeping small projects in so I can take it out and about. I used the fabric I bought in Totnes shops during the Easter hols. They both need pressing again because I made a very lacklustre job of it.

sewing time

I had all my sewing laid out on the table. I’ve made a half hearted pledge to take part in Me Made May. Since last week, I’ve worn hand made things already and I made a dress! I’ll take pictures of the dress before the end of May, I’m sure.

Green crochet wip

Another work in progress is a new shawl. I’m doing a variation of my granny shawl just to play around. I’m using Drops Baby Merino. I went on a Drops spending frenzy last weekend. They had a sale at Woolwarehouse so I went a bit bonkers.

Drops Lace.

See! Drops. I have an idea.

next project!

More Drops. I cannot wait to start this, Cherry Heart’s Victoria shawl. Pattern bought and printed, ready to start any second.

Some new fat quarters.

Some lovely presents were received, I got a bunch of fat quarters from my mother-in-law. She went to a quilting shop in Bovey Tracey. I know about this shop but I’ve not been. It’s supposed to be good.

birthday books

I got lots of fab books. Looking forward to getting stuck into those…

My new bowls

I got these bowls too. I got loads of stuff, I won’t show it all, but needless to say it’s all good gear. One of my favourites is the drawing from the photo at the top. It’s by my friend who is an artist and graphic designer. It’s a picture of me doing me crochet! I guess I should frame it, I think it’s beautiful but then so is the subject matter, obvs.

power ranger

And then the week before last, I got this wonderful bundle of stuff from Samantha at createitsamantha.co.uk We took part in the  #craftblogclub spring clean challenge on twitter. Essentially it was a craft stash swap. It was such a lovely surprise to open up the parcel and have lots of delightful things tumble out. The Power Ranger didn’t come with my new stuff; Three year old thought I should take a picture of it. I have some ideas of what I might do, I’m looking forward to playing around in the next week or two.

pretty birthday flowers

I love getting birthday flowers!

Anyway, I’m off. Got a house to tidy and a child to entertain. Can’t watch A Bug’s Life all day. Actually, we did sit down and watch the local secondary school do a live Q&A with Tim Peak on the International Space Station a couple of hours ago (via the internet). I thought it was interesting but Three year old only managed five minutes before going off to look at a Lego book.

23 thoughts on “Birthday

  1. Happy birthday !!!! I won’t ask your age 😉 You got some lovely stuff. That pattern for the shawl looks good I have never ever tried one yet, although I do have that shawl/wraps book in my Amazon wish list, I spied it amoungst yours bits .
    I got some sewing bits myself really need to get the finger out & start them.
    Yah for birthdays , mines next hope I get a good haul !!!!

    1. Thank you!!
      The shawl book is good but I’m not sure that I’ll get round to making any of the patterns from it. I’ll just look at the pictures for now.
      I have no idea what to do with all the fabric. I’ll think of something, I’m sure.
      Maybe you’ll get that shawl book for your birthday! x

  2. Happy belated bday! You got loads of goodies to play with 😀 I’ve made a concerted effort to actually sew something for me for a change so have spent today sewing a Dottie Angel frock ,too early to say if it actually fits or not but I hold out hope 😉

    1. Thank you! Sometimes it takes a bit of effort to get started but then you can get stuck in and go for it. That’s what usually happens to me anyway. Fingers crossed for your Dottie Angel! 🙂

  3. Happy belated birthday! I bet you can’t wait to stuck in to making lots of lovely things with your presents… Those fat quarters are especially tempting 😍 Enjoy!

  4. Belated Happy Birthday. I love the green of your shawl but it’s a colour that Irish people are almost afraid to wear for fear of looking like members of Michael Flatley’s troupe. The clock in the mirror is a beauty.

    1. Haha, I’m sure you wouldn’t! Green features highly in stuff I make. I’m due to overload on it soon.
      The clock in the mirror belonged to my Great Aunty Alma. It’s hugely noisy so we don’t wind it up. I can’t remember where she got it from, I’ll ask my mum. She’s told me before but it isn’t in my head.

      1. We have a less impressive clock from Husband’s Granny’s house. Mind you, we had to buy it back at auction. Must write that story some day.

  5. Such glorious bunches of birthday flowers, you lucky thing! I also succumbed to the Drops sale at WW, only I went for Polaris, the super chunky variety for a change. Looks like you had some great birthday presents, too.

  6. Happy Birthday! You’ve got some awesome stuff there, it all looks lovely. The blanket is gorgeous too, and I like the look of the Drops yarn, but I haven’t seen it here in Australia. Happy crafting! xx

  7. What wonderful things you got! Your blanket is lovely. I seriously mean it when I say you are so talented. Everything I’ve seen you make are so beautiful. Looks like your day was wonderful. Happy Birthday to YOU. Best wishes, Koko:)

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