Too nosey for my own good! Crafting and fossil hunting :o)

Good evening lovely bloggers!

How are you all this damp and Autumnal-like August evening?

I hope this post finds you all fandabby dozy :o)

  I came and sat down in front of this screen nearly two hours ago now. I loaded up my photos from my camera so that I could make a post.  Got my crochet out next to me ready to do a spot of crocheting while Blogger was loading my pictures. Started looking at all my favourite blogs, and now it's two hours later, and I've only just started to write my own post!

Honestly, I'm too nosey for my own good I am!! lol.

Anyway, let's just get down to business now shall we?

I know you won't believe this, but I actually got around to taking some photos of my daughters quilt I made her for her Birthday.

I couldn't make her a quilt and not add some crochet now could I? And the beautiful oriental butterfly is from just one of the vintage fabric pieces i bought from Jennie's shop.

I spied this sequined skull and cross bones in my local fabric shop, and with his red gem eyes, I just had to get it for her along with a sequined star that you can see in a picture above ...

This was the backing fabric...loads of bright skulls on a black background.

I couldn't actually find any fabric like this in the fabric shop, so i bought a brand new double duvet cover, and used one side of that.. 

This is a closer view of the backing fabric..i had to add some girly flowers to each end as it was just too goth like to keep it all skulls and cross bones.

The dolphin cushion cover came up beautifully.

But unfortunately the only feather cushion i could buy in time was too big for the cover, so we've put it in for now with a view to getting a smaller one when we see one! (Hence the very over stuffed look :o)

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I'm working on a few crafty projects at the moment. 

This is the beginings of a new afghan I'm making. It's yellow in all the centres, then greens in the middles, then I'm going to border it with black -around each granny square-, and maybe add a thin yellow border round the very outside too.  but this is an 'ongoing spare five minutes' project that just gets added to every now and then.

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See my beautiful little russian doll?

I spied her in the Charity shop the other day.

She's absolutely tiny, just four centimetres tall. I just couldn't leave her there once I'd spied her.

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We've been out and about quite a bit these school holidays.

Over the past few days, we visited Lyme Regis again. (We went there on our way back from holiday)

It's the most lovely place, all kinda quaint and English-fied.

Gorgeous old buildings..

I just loved these blue shutters on this old house by the stream..

gorgeous pastel coloured beach huts..

D'you remember the book 'Persuasion' by Jane austen?

Well, the stretch of path above is called the 'cobb', and it's a place her heroine in her book visited, and the scene of a nasty accident!   But it was lovely to 'promenade' along it thinking of her story (Alas I'm the only one in my family who had read it, so the others had to take my word for it that it was in her book lol)

I just love vintage graffiti don't you?  :o)

It was a glorious, sunny day,

We headed up the beach to some of the best fossil hunting areas in the country..

Took out trusty tools...

And hey presto!

Laying in the ground (no hammering required!) I spotted this beauty...

She's a gorgeous fossil. 7cm across, and made of solid iron pyrite (fools gold) so she shimmers beautifully in the light.

we found several other fossils too, but not as good as this one.

Do you go fossil hunting?

Our children love it. Shades on, so no nasty bits of rock fling up in their eyes...and they can hammer away with impunity :o)

If you've got this far without falling asleep, thankyou for reading my lovelies.

I'll try and post more often with less photos in future ;o) (famous last words).

Have a great week whatever you do...

Two weeks till they're back at school -it'll fly by ;o)

Take care now,

Love Donna x

Well, Hellooooo :o)

How are you all then my lovely people?

Hmmm?

Keeping well I hope!

OOOooooo....It's an age since I've been on here!

Well, as you can all see, I've now been connected to my new internet service, so hopefully that'll be it with any internet problems from now on. But now I've said that......  lol.

Anyway, what have you all been up to? And what have I been up to?

Well, me and my little family all had a fantastic week away in Devon and Cornwall.  It was absolutely gorgeous down there.  We had loads of walks, and fresh air.  

The scenery of these two counties is just gorgeous, and the arts and crafts down there are just everywhere.

Base camp was North Devon, just on the border with Cornwall, and we basically drove all the way  around Cornwall visiting Lands End and Lizard Point, visiting all the bays along the way, then drove around the middle of Cornwall a bit, and back to the cottage.

I hasten to add that we didn't just do this in one day, we did it bit by bit through the week:o)

We visited Clovelly, where other than the cobbles, we spied these two beautiful kittens sitting in the window :o)

First there was this cute black n' white kitty - she really wanted to come out and play..

See her little face when we were talking to her?

Then her sister came along to get in on the act, and budge her out the way..

I must admit I felt a tad rude standing there photographing someones lounge window, but I just couldn't resist!  ;o)

I loved this pretty porchway with it's chimney pot planters and comfy looking seat!

And the views were gorgeous.

We also visited the lovely Donkey Sanctuary just outside Sidmouth.

It's a lovely place where poor little souls get to spend their retirement in peace.

Then on the way home, we spied these gorgeous hay ricks in a field...

Honestly, how often d'you get to see this view nowadays?

Aren't they beautiful?

I took dozens of photo's on our holiday, but don't worry, I won't put too many on here :o)

But in future posts, I do hope to show you some of the lovely places we visited. 

I didn't get a lot of crafting done -which means we were too busy ;o) - but I have finished my daughters quilt and cushion cover since we've come back, but I'll have to show you them in the week, as it's her 16th Birthday today, (Happy Birthday! :o)  ) and I haven't yet had the chance to photograph them properly yet. 

That's the reason I haven't had a chance to post until today, as now I've given it to her, I've got five minutes to myself ;o)

Anyway, that's it for me tonight folks. I'm of to fit in a spot of crocheting for my Etsy shop.

I do hope you're all fine n' dandy where you are!

Take care now.

Love Donna xx

A Short Goodbye :o)

Hello lovely people :o)

This is just a quick post to say that I won't be about for a few weeks.

**Campanula under the apple tree**

One reason is because we are changing our broadband service to Sky, and between them and BT, they have seriously cocked up on our order! 

**All the apple tree is like this this year :o)**

So from tomorrow, we will not have any internet service for at least two weeks :o(

**One of our roses.**

And we are also hoping to get away for a few days holiday :o)

So just to let you all know that I won't be around, and I'm not ignoring you :o)

I don't know how I will get along without my blog reading though! 

I don't watch hardly any TV, but I do like my lovely bloggy peoples blogs ;o)

I might have to sneak to the library a couple of times to use their internet service if I can ;o)

Anyway, you all have a fantastic few weeks won't you!

The good thing about having no internet is I get to catch up on lot's of reading when I get back :o)

Take care everyone, and be good :o)

Love Donna xxx 



Huge Hook ...

Well.  Thankyou kindly for all your comments on my last post about work experience.
It was really interesting to read all your thoughts and experiences to do with the subject.
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I also had a couple of emails and comments on my large crochet hook and using all the yarns, so i just really wanted to do this little post to show you all how easy it is to make your own big hook, and hook away all your favourite odd balls of yarn.

Both the hooks below I made.

The smaller of the two is 12mm wide. It was made from a wooden knitting needle out of the charity shop.

It's my most favourite hook :o)

I use it for my rag crochet mainly, but also for when I make what I call my 'tweeded' crochet with about six different yarns.

Below is my 12mm favourite, a 15mm shop bought plastic jobby, and in the middle is the beginings of my new 25mm large hook.

I've cut the 9" section off of one of the poles of our beach windbreaks :o)

Then got the stanley knife (a blade like a craft knife/scalpel, only stronger and sturdier for 'sharpening' the stick! -for my lovely  readers outside the UK)

See how they all measure up?

Then see, this is the begining where I mark the stick cross ways where my pokey bit of hook is going to be, and where I'm going to wittle the throat.

So you sharpen the pokey bit first (I know all part s of the crochet hook have got names, but I forget!)

You cut crossways, then scrape the wood away to the cut notch..

And you just keep doing that till you get to the size of the actual hook you want.

See above is the basic shape.

Then you get the sandpaper out.

As rough as you can handle it to begin with.

To shape the 'hook' part, you wrap the sandpaper round a kebab skewer, or a knitting needle and sand away.

Then you cut a bit, then sand a bit...See...

See the difference the sand paper makes?

And Voila!  See, a beautifully sanded crochet hook, just the size you need to make a nice fat yarn rug/pad.

I wax my hooks with a candle at the end, and rub the wax in really well with my warm hands to get a nice smooth edge to my hook.

You don't have to do this, but I think it makes the hook nicer.

And if you use a scented candle like my ginger and orange one above (the green thing -don't ask me why ginger and orange is green......) it makes it smell lovely too.

Oh, and the wax doesn't come off on the yarn if you rub it in well and leave about 24 hrs before use. :o)

Above is the little practice rug I made with my new hook, just to see how many yarns I could get on and how fat and cosy it would be.

Let me tell you now, IT IS SUMPTUOUS!

I used 18 yarns all at once on the hook.

And if you pop them all in one of those supermarket big 'green' bags, they don't get tangled up together.

(Well knot much anyway ;o)  )

But you will want to make loads of things once you see and feel how lovely it is.

Believe me, you won't be leaving all those odd balls of mohair and strange yarns in the bottom of the basket at the charity/thrift shops anymore once you see what you can make!  ;o)

Have fun lovely people.

Hope you all have a fantastic week.

And please, please, stop the rain dancing ladies ;o)

Take care everyone,

Love Donna x