It’s not really a cottage garden, it’s my garden made to (kind of) look like one. This is totally self indulgent but I want to record what the garden looks like at the moment because I think it’s pretty. Apart from round the side to the left, that’s a mess (mostly leftover stuff from the fancy pants new patio and kids stuff).

It’s frequently changing and next week it probably won’t look the same at all. And then I’ll take more pictures and do another post…and I’ll become obsessed. I’m already a tiny bit obsessed.

We did the garden five years ago and it’s my job to keep the plants maintained. I kill quite a lot of plants but thankfully, most seem happy. The plants that die are most likely to have have poisoned by me because I was too liberal with fertiliser. Some of them definitely don’t enjoy overdosing on it. And other stuff just doesn’t like the soil, I guess. I don’t know what kind I have.

I am just getting into container planting at the moment. Pots look great in number but they do get thirsty. I’ve got a lupin in a pot and he seems to be enjoying it. Loads of flowers are going to pop up soon. The lupin in the bottom bed is already in flower, this guy is behind. If it’s got flowers, I suppose he is really a she. Whatever.

This yellow rose is the first of what will be many on the rambler. Last year in a February storm, we chopped it back to a foot high because it was torn from its moorings. It spent the rest of last year recovering and growing. This year I reckon it’ll be fabulous. That’s If the green fly don’t attack it too much. And it does have a little bit of black spot and a touch of mildew too. I keep forgetting to spray it. Oops.

The alliums aren’t happy with me. They’re being drowned by a japanese anemone. I’ve pulled up some of the anemone to give them room but a few have given up and decided not to bother growing anymore. Fingers crossed I get at least five. Mind you, it’s not as if I planted any bulbs last autumn, they’re from the year before. More will have to go in this year.

Crikey, I never thought I’d geek out about gardening. I’ve started young. This is what old people do. harrumph.

Still using my doily too!

In a few days I’ll put up some crochet pictures. I’m working on a blanket that’s not behaving itself.

I have finally finished and blocked my second crochet granny shawl. I like it a lot. So far neither of my shawls have made it out the front door, I am not quite brave enough to go out wearing one yet. Maybe up to school and back? I’m not sure. The farthest I have ventured is into the back garden, floating about around the flowers pretending that I am not in a terrace of houses and that the neighbours aren’t there wondering what I’m up to.

It looked a bit iffy before I blocked it because I went rogue with the pattern. It’s the second time I’ve used Made by Leen‘s April Flower Shawl pattern and I will probably be tempted to make it again.  But not any time soon because I have a very long list of other things to make besides crochet granny shawls.

Once again I went for a different crochet edging. That way, you know no one else has the same. I used Edie Eckman’s Crochet Borders book again (pattern no. 22) but changed the pointy bit. In retrospect I’m not sure I should have tinkered with it so much, but I did and once I’d done it, I wasn’t going to unravel it all!

These colours are much more me than the first crochet shawl although I do love them both. It’s the same stuff; Stylecraft Life DK yarn. It has wool in it so it is nice and warm. I have loads left over which will go towards making a flowery blanket, that is somewhere on my to do list but nowhere near the top.

This is the garden that I’ve been floating about in. Actually, we have all been in the garden this weekend and no one did much floating about. The grown ups did digging, planting and building whilst the children played and partially destroyed the grown up’s hard work.

That clematis is only a few years old and looks pretty awesome already.

Look at the awesome!

I have seen loads of crochet shawls about in the last year, some really nice ones. It’s the ultimate Granny accessory. Naturally, I wanted one, so I made one! And now I’m making another.

Here is my first crochet shawl. I found a lovely free pattern, the April Flower shawl on Made by Leen.

I changed the border as I fancied something a bit pointier. I used Edie Eckman’s book, Crochet Borders, to choose which alternative crochet border I wanted. I also swapped to a different colour in the middle of the broad stripe, but for the most part, I have stuck to the original crochet pattern. I think it’s great! It was very quick to make, and now I am nearing the end of my next shawl using the same pattern.

I love the colours. They’re much better than the first one I did, where I grabbed colours without thinking. I’ve tinkered with the stripe on this one, just to make it different from the first one I made. I have no idea which border I’ll choose next, but I have a couple of ideas. I might also stick to the original pattern for this one; it’ll make it softer.

I have used Stylecraft Life DK yarn for both of these. I got it on sale in my local shop. I bought more than I know what to do with, but that’s OK!

I’ve got loads of crochet projects in, my head but I should probably finish off the granny square blanket, which I started before the shawls. There are 100 crochet circles in a bag, hiding in the cupboard under the stairs. They are waiting to have their ends sewn in. Booo.

For years I didn’t really get why people made stuff out of felt. I never really liked it as an artistic medium. Then I realised it was because the things I’d seen were cheap and nasty and probably had glue blobbed over them.

I think it was last year when I decided to give playing with felt a try. I don’t recall what it was that made me want to try. I do remember thinking that the interest would wear off quite quickly, though. But, what happened was I got more into it and more interested in adding details and seeing how small I could get things before the stitches frayed the teeny tiny pieces.

I’ve been trying to find examples of things I made first. This is the latest make:

It’s a needle case. It’s a present to myself but I haven’t swapped over any pins and needles yet because then, I might ruin it. It’s all hand-sewn and made up from my head. I’ve made a few needle cases over the last year. They make nice little presents.

Mostly, they’ve had different designs stitched on the front, too.  Here is one I made for my sister about six months ago:

This little mermaid was so lovely, I made her twice. But because they’re handmade, the same design always looks different.

I think this badger brooch was made early, about two years ago. I still like him. I gave him to a little boy whose mum hangs it on her Christmas tree! He wasn’t the first felt thing I made, but for now, I’ve given up trying to remember what was.