Zeens and Roger, Author at Zeens and Roger

8 Go Mad in Dorset. We Went Camping!

July 9, 2015February 25, 2026crochet3 Comments

On a gloriously sunny weekend in Dorset, we went camping. It was hot. There were eight of us, four adults, four children. That’s two families. We had a lovely time.

Two Adventurous Nights in a Field

There was only one heavy tumble down into a badger’s set (resulting in lots of bruises) and only one incident with a hand saw (involving a quickish trip to a Minor Injuries Unit) but they somehow have added to the weekend, making it more memorable… and good for story telling.

Our shoes had to dry by the fire after a short but heavy downpour.

We briefly took refuge in the woods but it got slightly soggy so, in a break in the rain we went back to the tents.

Camping By a Fire

We had delicious meals on the camp fire. The first night was a chicken and chorizo stew with new potatoes. The second night we had carbonara with homegrown courgettes.

We camped in this very green and clovery field.

Lots of West Country Sunsets

I took a ridiculous number of sunset pictures.

It was a beautiful and peaceful place to be. On the first night, we had to listen to music from a nearby party. It went on until 2am, ugh. In the first photo, peaking out from behind some trees is a white marquee. That is where the party was happening.

Camping On A Dorset Farm

We stayed on a farm I know. I’ve been camping there a few times, but this is the first time since having kids. I was worried it would be a nightmare, but the children had a fantastic time. I didn’t like them waking us up at 4.45 but at least it was only for two nights.

More Silly Adventures

Unfortunately, we forgot our sleeping bags, so Husband kindly drove back home to get them. It’s only about fifty minutes from home, and I don’t think he minded tooooo much. I just can’t believe we forgot such fundamental camping equipment. Duh.

Intense Stuff

This is our new tent, bought so that the boys could have one section and we could have the other. It has a porch in between. Nice and roomy.

Camping isn’t camping without a proper fire to cook on and keep warm.

This looks messy in the photograph but in reality, it was very well organised. Instead of crafting, we set to work making an awesome drying rack for dishes and a washing line for clothes. There is a rudimentary rubbish bin in there, as well as extra sticks stuck in the ground to hang lanterns from. It was very cosy.

Here is a proper camping breakfast!

Nice views.

All Camping Things Come to An End

Promptly upon our return we all came down with a bug. I’m still feeling rubbish as I’ve been kept awake by pukey kids for two nights. Decent sleep hasn’t come to me yet. It’s such a shame because it put a downer on coming home. I think we caught the germs before we went camping and harboured them whilst we were away.

I might get back to some crochet today but I still don’t have much energy. I’ve been doing too much camping laundry instead. Boo.

Little Crochet Flower Pattern

July 3, 2015February 25, 2026crochet, free pattern14 Comments

I often share quite a few crafts I’ve made from other people’s patterns, but there hasn’t been much that has come directly from my own brain. Sooo, I am going to rectify that now and share a crochet pattern for little flowers that I’ve come up with myself.

It’s a pattern for some delicate little flowers. I’m sure there are lots of similar ones out there, but this one is nice because I created it for my friend’s daughter. She wanted some hair clips with crochet flowers, and this is what I came up with. There are two sizes because the first size I made was just a bit too big to stick on a hair clip. So, I downsized the flower motif. I don’t remember if I took photographs of the original flowers I made; this idea happened about two years ago!

A free crochet pattern. A bunch of crochet flowers

Little Flower Crochet Pattern

Please excuse me if the pattern doesn’t work; I’ve never done this properly before. My notebook has words and pictures that I deciphered, translating that has been…interesting… Gosh, if that doesn’t fill you with confidence!

For both of these quick crochet patterns, I used a 3mm hook and Stylecraft Special DK. I’ve written the pattern in UK terms.

Small Crochet Flower Pattern

Chain (ch) 6 and join with a slip stitch (ss).
Round 1: Ch3, 1tr into the ring (counts as 1 pair of spokes), (ch5, 2tr into ring) x5, ch5 and join with a ss to the top of the ch3 – [6 petals].
Fasten off (Fo).

Round 2: Join new colour with a ss between a pair of spokes (pictured above), 6dc in each 5ch sp (space), ss in between each pair of spokes, join with a ss to the first ss. Fo and sew in ends. (Round 2 is pictured, below).

Extra Small Flower Pattern.

Ch5 and join with a ss.
Round 1: Ch2, 1htr into ring (counts as 1 pair of spokes), (ch3, 2htr) x4, ch3 and join with ss to the top of the ch2. – [5petals]. Fo.

Round 2: Join new colour with a ss in between a pair of spokes. 4dc in each 3ch sp, ss in between each pair of spokes. Join with a ss to the first stitch. Fo and sew in ends.

With the help of a glue gun, just wodge these on a hair clip. I can see lots of them together on a headband, too, or do whatever you like with them! I am pretty sure these little crochet flowers are very versatile!

My First Ever Written Crochet Pattern!

There, my first ever published crochet pattern. I do have more designs that I’m going to blog about, including one that I am completely in love with, which is very cute indeed. I want to see if I’ve got this one right before I get overexcited though. I’d love to hear what people think, but please don’t hate it!!

A Sewn Toadstool Handbag, and Self Indulgent Garden Tour.

July 1, 2015February 25, 2026sewing4 Comments

Sewing And Gardening This Week

It was weeks ago that I cut out all the fabric pieces for this bag, and because I’d never used the pattern before, I had mild reluctance about starting. It always happens, and I know it’s down to the fact that, at some point, I’m going to have to concentrate. I am an easily distracted person. Finally, I managed to find some focus, and I am so pleased with the result!

Sewing a Handbag

I picked up the sewing project again a couple of weeks ago to make a start, but it was abruptly stopped by a toddler waking from his nap. That means no sewing allowed. I got as far as basting and stitching mitred corners. I was then disrupted by lost magnetic clasps. Should I even bother with them? Well, I’d bought them, and one day they’d turn up, so I really ought to give them a go. Two days ago, I found them, so sewing resumed.

Magnets on My Sewing!

Look! Look at the magnetic clasps! They are so snazzy. I actually put them in and it was so straightforward. I feel silly now. My one disappointment is that I placed them too low in the bag opening. They need to be a couple of centimetres higher so that they’re nearer the top. I will know for next time.

Neat & Tidy Sewing

I’ve impressed myself with the sewing on this bag, even if I haven’t impressed anyone else. There are straightlines for goodness sake. I never usually manage that sort of thing…. Straight lines!

There are some untidy areas, such as the attachment of the handles. By that point, I was sewing in the evening and getting distracted by the telly, so I had some unpicking to do. Strangely, I didn’t mind. However, I did mind a little bit when I got a random handle stuck to the handle I was working on. That was unnecessary unpicking. I got the fabric from Etsy.

Anyway, I have been randomly pushing it in people’s faces and parading around looking very pleased with myself, whilst I swing it on my shoulder!

A Quick Garden Tour

A quick tour of the garden in its current state. Here are some flowers I bought at Aldi (!). The salvia and the osteospermum are both Aldi bought.

A Proud Hosta

This is the best hosta I have, and I think that must be because it is in a pot. The other hosta plants are down the bottom of the garden, which, once weeded, I shall take a photo of.

I’m starting to wonder if most of this year’s annuals are actually bought from supermarkets because I think this lobelia came from Tesco! I’ve grown them from seed in the past, but I’ve had a very lazy year.

Views of the Garden

Yep, the snapdragons are from Aldi too. I’m beginning to feel embarrassed. Look, I’ve spotted rogue horseradish trying to invade again. The winter before last, I spent days digging the biggest hole ever, trying to get rid of the stubborn roots…. So, that worked :\

Pansies from um, Aldi. But that blue salvia isn’t, I grew that from seeds I collected. That is going to look amazing in a few weeks. They all will, I have five or six of them.

Self-seeded nasturtium. It used to be a deep red but is slowly turning to orange. Each year, the orange takes over a little bit more. I still like it.

I was surprised to spot the first sweet peas yesterday. These are one of my favourite flowers. They smell gorgeous, and I totally love them. I love you, sweet peas!

Crocheting, Sewing, and Baby Vegetables

June 28, 2015February 25, 2026crochet, sewing7 Comments

Crocheting A Shawl

I made a new crochet shawl a couple of weeks ago. It uses a mohair mix yarn that was once a 90’s-made jumper. An old knitted sweater was unravelled by a 92 year old Nan, and remade as a shawl by me, for her daughter (my Mother-in-law!). The crochet pattern is the Elise shawl, which I found on Ravelry. It was such a nice and straightforward to make.

It needed blocking, which I did directly on the bedroom carpet. I don’t have any fancy blocking boards (if such things exist). I’m not sure this method is recommended, but it works for me. Anyway, the shawl turned out well, so that’s all that matters.

Sewing Projects

As an accompanying birthday gift to go with the crochet shawl, I made this reversible bag. The tutorial is clear and easy to follow. A few years ago, I sewed a knitting needle case for my Mother-in-law out of the same fabric, so I thought it would make a nice matchy-matchy present. If I remember correctly, the fabric was from Ikea. I probably bought it about four years ago. Hmm, I obviously didn’t press this bag very well.

More Crochet Projects

I also made up a very quick project from the crochet pattern book, Hook, Yarn and Crochet by Ros Badger. I bought a ball of King Cole Cottonsoft DK especially for this project. The cotton yarn is beautiful stuff to use. I’d love to make a baby blanket out of it, but I can’t justify the cost at the moment. If anyone I know begets a child, then I might consider spending the extra to buy some.

I Crocheted a Lamp Shade Cover!

It’s a lamp shade cover! I still haven’t sewn in the ends yet because as soon as I finished it, it was shoved straight onto the lamp. Maybe I’ll do that job today. It left the room a little bit darker, but I like it. With the yarn leftovers, I made four little crochet coasters, but I haven’t taken any pictures of those.

Time For Vegetables!

At the beginning of the week, I came up with an excuse that these new vegetables were ready to eat. In reality, they were super small and probably needed a weeny bit longer suckling from their roots.

Nevermind, we ate them anyway! I fried them in butter, garlic and lots of salt and pepper. Looking in the garden yesterday, everything has replenished, and there are definitely some spoils to be had. Properly grown this time, I reckon.

Good, now I feel as though I’m catching up with crafting projects. I have a few things half done and some things waiting to get started, but I’ve also ticked other things off the list, which makes me feel better.

The Blanket That Took a Very Long Time to Make

June 24, 2015February 24, 2026blanket, crochet10 Comments

At last, I have finished this green crochet blanket, and it turns out it’s not that big. I had thought it was going to be just a bit smaller than a single bed size, but it’s probably a third of that. I also thought I’d made somewhere over 100 circles, but when it came to getting them all together, there weren’t as many as I thought.

I think some circles went missing, or I completely miscounted. It is only 8×11 squares, which is rubbish. Seriously, I was expecting more. But there is that feeling of having completed a job that means when you are wrong, you really don’t want to keep on going. So I gave up on doing any more, and I’m glad I did because as I wrote in this post, I had do redo some anyway. In the end, it turned out I only had to make two extra circles as I forced the other ones to fit with some jiggery pokery (they were on the edge where it wouldn’t make such a difference). If you look closely, you can spot some really bad crochet.

I’ve taken a ridiculous amount of photographs of this crochet blanket, but none of them show the actual colours. I’m not sure how to rectify this, so I’ve given up chasing the perfect photo. The pictures I’ve taken on my phone do it more justice. I think I’ll put those on my Facebook page, which is over there on the right!

I was originally inspired the colours of Meg and Mog books. I’d been reading the books to my youngest [2], and I kept thinking that the colours would make a nice bright blanket. I remember drawing Meg and Mog pictures when I was at primary school.

I had a surplus of green yarn in my stash from some abandoned idea. That ended up being the main colour just because. I then got started, which was in April or thereabouts.

I didn’t really pay close attention when I was actually picking out the balls of wool so the end product doesn’t really look like it has anything to do with Meg or Mog.

It’s incredibly bright in real life. It’s all Stylecraft Special DK, as that is what they sell in the shop down the road. The pattern for the circles comes via Tiny Tin Bird. It is by Priscilla Hewit, and I printed out the PDF a couple of years ago with the intention of doing something blankety with it then. I didn’t get around to it until this year.

It’s the slowest crochet project I’ve worked on, probably ever. I think it’s due to not liking it very much! It’s the colours, not the pattern. I’m not sure. It’ll come camping with us in a couple of weeks, and I won’t mind if it gets scuffed up.

For the crochet edging, I gave up on finding something new and used one I have used quite a lot; Attic 24’s bobble shell edging, but with three slip stitches between each bobble to have a little gap between them.

In the meantime, I’ve got a couple of small things on the go and another blanket I want to make.

A Little Bit of Crochet in the Garden.

June 20, 2015February 25, 2026crochet4 Comments

Crochet in The Garden

I’ve spent two days enjoying a proper sunny day in the garden! Although I’m prone to burning, the sun heals my rubbish skin, so I jumped outside to try and get mending. One of the things I like about crochet is that you can do it anywhere, so I took my granny square blanket with me.

It felt mightily hot (compared to what I’m used to), but it was lovely. I’m nearly finished with this crochet blanket now. These photos were taken on Thursday, and I was stitching together the last row of puff stitch circles. I’m now on the border.

Will I finish the granny square blanket this weekend? I dunno. It’s been a stop/starty crochet project that has been interrupted by many other projects, photos of which I will probably post next week.

I discovered that I had company whilst I was sat on the bench. Poor Emmet. He’s obviously been playing in the sand pit because he’s covered in the stuff.

When I’m not crocheting, I’m thinking about the garden.

The courgette plants seem to have doubled in size in the last few days. Looking forward to eating those. I also got around to putting out the lettuce, which the pigeons seem to be enjoying. There are a few of us who think about pigeon pie sometimes.

This is a nice looking corner of the garden. Hidden in there somewhere are some cute little geraniums. The peach rose was in a pot that sat in the dark behind a crumbling old shed when we moved into our house. When we sorted out the garden the following spring, I chucked it in the ground, and it is doing very well.

These little geraniums are very cute, but I’m not sure I’ve put them in the right place. They were too far back and getting swamped, so I dug them up and moved them forward. I’m still not sure they’re in the right place, and the trauma of moving them might have disrupted their growth. I need to think more about where to place things.

These Rozanne geraniums are crazy and have had no worries at all. This is their third year, and I should probably split this plant. I think I’m supposed to do that in the spring. Anyway, I should probably go and help a two year old make a Father’s Day card. We’ve been painting this morning and it’s only 7.40am. He thinks mornings are great.

A Quick Sewing Project and Garden Changes

June 16, 2015February 24, 2026sewingLeave a Comment

I enjoy little sewing projects. Usually, they’re easy and don’t take that long to make up. Just before the weekend, I made two identical purses to give out as presents for two birthday girls.

I didn’t do so well with pressing, meaning I didn’t really do it. And I should have. They would have looked really tidy if I’d been more careful with the iron. I didn’t not get the iron out, but neither did I use it every time I needed to. Rush rush and being lazy. Also, with a good press, both bags would have opened without the lining repeatedly getting stuck in the zip. One did, one didn’t.

The tutorial is by Skip to My Lou, and it is really easy to follow. I think it looks a bit more special than a plain purse. The only problem was that the zips I had were too short, so I added a small strip of extra fabric to each end of the zips to make up the length. I got the idea from here at fishsticksdesigns.com, and I’m really pleased with the effect. Also, in that tutorial, the zip is top-stitched, which would help to stop the lining from getting stuck in the zip. And, don’t sew too close to the zip teeth, that helps.

The garden is in a lull. I think it is a common occurrence in June. All the spring flowers have gone or are looking sadly scruffy, but the true summer flowers are not yet at full gusto.

I’ve got straggly areas that I don’t know what to do with, and they could look much better with some planning. Next year I would like some sweet william and centaurea, please. The erysimum is a new addition, and I like it, hope it’s happy too.

The lupins are now tired; however, the bees think they’re awesome and have been buzzing around them constantly. I will take pictures of other plants from now on; these have had their moment.

It’s time to move on to the veg patch. Things are beginning to appear! I’m as excited as I can be about courgettes coming. I’ve also got flowers on the sugar snap peas and runner beans. I’ve had a couple of batches of spinach for dinner, too. It’s all a bit behind other years, I’m sure, but I’m starting to feel relief that production has begun.

And, I am so pleased about the apple tree. This is only the second time that fruit has decided to turn up to the party. I bet they get some hideous disease and wither from their branches.

I love my garden. I hate chunky, plastic garden toys. I do like these wooden blocks, though. There is an old baby walker they belong to. I’m not sure where it is at the moment, but the blocks have been sitting outside for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, this was a bit of a mish mash of garden pics that I’m not really happy with. I think it’s disappointment that the thrill of spring flowers has passed and I don’t know what is going to happen next…. Apart from some crochet, I know that that is going to happen next. I’m going to get a move on with turning some circles into a blanket.

Sewing Machine Adventures

June 11, 2015February 24, 2026crochet, sewing2 Comments

This is my cranky old sewing machine (it’s not mine, it’s my Mum’s). It likes to be used a certain way and it has taken me over two decades for me to really understand it. I reckon it’s been that long anyway. I’m sure this was the machine I was allowed to use when I was little.

Here are the pieces of my toadstool bag. Hmm, I was going to try and add a magnetic clasp to this to make it proper snazzy. It’s not something I’ve done before. Sadly, I’ve lost my recent purchase of said magnetic clasp. Shame.

I didn’t get very far with the toadstool bag before I realised that birthday presents had to be made for the weekend. Two small purses are being made from a really good online tutorial at skiptomylou. I’ve used the pattern before, about a month ago and I really liked it. Deffo a go-to recipe for a nice present.

I’ve also been working on a crochet pattern this week. I’m excited by it. Way more than I thought I’d be. These are the prototypes that I’ve been working on. I typed up the pattern and handed it out to my crochet friends for testing. It turns out that pattern writing is tricksy. And because it’s so tricksy, it is far from being ready to release into the wild. Soon.

I had a lovely time on Tuesday evening. I went for a walk along the river Otter. These are the chimney tops of Salston Manor, I can’t believe it is sitting empty! Absolutely bonkers.

There’s a group of people who meet regularly to walk around nearby places. Nice places, obviously. And no dawdling allowed. This time, we managed to squeeze in a quick drink at the pub too!

I took a ridiculous amount of photographs but never really stood still to take them. Therefore, I have a huge selection of blurry pictures and only a few that managed to refuse the blur .

The first time I joined the Weekly Walk I didn’t take my camera. Then when I did, I didn’t make an effort to use it properly. Tsk.

I don’t really mind cows. They’re OK. Moo.

Deciding What to Blog About

June 7, 2015February 24, 2026sewing7 Comments

I can’t decide what to blog about today. I fancy having some random pictures is the thing. I bought some fabric a couple of weeks ago from a shop in Exmouth. Gorgeous fabric, expensive fabric, birthday money fabric. I have no clue what I will be making with it. Every now and then I stare at it, then I put it away in the fabric drawer.

Last Thursday I went to Exeter for car mending and lunch. There is a bookcycle place down the bottom of the high street. The books are free but you give a donation (however much you feel the books are worth). Three per person, but I stole Husband’s allowance too. I found Ladybird books!!

More Ladybird books to add to my collection! I love Ladybird books. I love jumbling for them, car booting for them and finding them in charity shops. They’re getting pricey these days though and hard to find.

I’ve been rooting through my basket of tricks this week. It’s a massive mess in there but it’s full of all things awesome.

I got the basket out to make some felt eyes for a project I’m working on. It’s mostly a crochet thing. A new pattern I’ve invented all by myself! A friend is going to help me design a PDF thingummy so that, I can maybe put them on here to download and ultimately (one day) sell stuff on Etsy. Or some such thing. Maybe. It’s alien to me at the moment but it’s important to learn new skills I suppose.

Here, more gardens pictures, ha! Next door is like a building site, I pretend it’s not there.

The peonies are out but I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. They’re not that great. The clematis is on its last legs.

The best thing about the lupins is the leaves. A fantastic contrast to boring roundy leaves. There are loads of colourful spires on this one too.

Anyway, I think I’m going to go and sit in the garden now (after I’ve done the washing up and hung out some laundry).

And lastly, in this random collection of pictures, I would like to say Thank You to Joyful Solitude for nominating me for a blogging award. Wow! Such a fabulous thing to happen so soon. Must be doing something right! I googled it and haven’t found where the specific award comes from. My gut feeling tells me not to accept because I don’t know what it is.

Well, actually, I’d love to accept, but there are conditions of acceptance which, to me, defeat the purpose of this space, which is that it is mine and I want to do my own thing. To accept the award, you’re supposed to tell seven things about yourself and nominate ten others for the award. I might be shooting myself in the foot, but maybe I can defer for a while instead?

I’m being a pooper at a party about such a nice, thoughtful thing. Eh, I’m still thinking. Also, I’m still adjusting to blogging. It takes me ages to do anything. For five years, I said, “I’m gonna start a blog tomorrow.”

Sorry, one more thing. My eldest (6) requested that I post this picture of his Hot Wheels car. Here it is sat on a dusty shelf.

crafting projects await.

June 4, 2015June 24, 2015blanket, crochet, sewing5 Comments

These are things that I am supposed to be working on but really, they’re just sitting on the shelf waiting. I will finish them soon. Other things I’m more interested in have taken over.

I’ve completed the worst bit of the latest blanket; sewing in the ends. I am useless at crocheting over them as I go and sometimes you can see them in the finished product anyway.

It’s enormously satisfying to see them in a nice pile once the nasty bit is over.

I laid out the circles in an order that would do (there’s no point in overly fussing about this) and got started. I use the photo to make sure I keep on track. I also have a stack of each row high up on a book shelf, out of reach of the kids.

I’ve only used this technique once before. Crocheting in a continuous join. I found a great tutorial at babylovebrand.net via Pinterest. I couldn’t work it out on my own. I gave a half hearted attempt to design a method myself but meh, it was too much hard work. It’s fabulous that people share this kind of thing. It’s been a huge help.

I got about two rows in when I realised my mistake. I had made what I thought was all of the centre circles when I decided I wanted some green too. So, I quickly worked up about 10 green centres and went on my merry way with the rest of the rounds. When I came across the first of the green centred circles I thought it was one off, but no. It turns out, all the green centred circles have only 15 spoke thingies, not 16. Bum. I’m going to have to make them again. Don’t want to.

This is a sewing project I have waiting. It’s all cut out but I haven’t started it yet because I want to put a magnetic clasp doodah on it and I never have before. New things wait until I find the patience to give them my full attention. I know that it’ll be wonky. I know. I’m a slapdash sewer. Anyway, it looks like a lovely project and it’s another Pinterest find from thinkliz.com. I’m making the big version.

This is a project that has been waiting a long time. I bought the pattern about two years ago. Last month I found some fabric and finally cut out the pattern pieces. Once again, It’s waiting, sitting on the shelf waiting to be made because I should probably try to adjust the pieces so it’ll fit me. I love sewing but I don’t remember the last time I made an actual dress. It was probably when I was a teenager. The fabric is from Fabricland, I bought it when I went to Southampton.

You can follow me on Pinterest if you want to! And Facebook, which is over there on the right!