....A quickie quick post.....

....hello friends......nothing very exciting today to show you all really,  Mr Pixie and I had a rather late night last night sitting outside in a friends garden enjoying a very pleasant summer evening with wine and candles.......i only had a couple of glasses of red wine and today i really don't feel myself....wine and me just don;t seem to see eye to eye anymore..............a very lovely evening though all the same.......but today....i can't seem to get motivated to do anything...........anyway.........i have made some more squares from my book this week.................

......i think when i have made a load more of these squares i shall sew them altogether and make one large mismatched blanket......i think it will look pretty good........................and also, i have been making some flowers from this really wonderful book..................

.......not sure what i am going to do with these lovelies yet.......but there are a great many ideas floating through my woozy head..........

.....well..............that's about it for now my friends..............a bit brief i know, but sometimes the weeks just fly by so fast that when you look back over it  you just haven't had the time to do much else than work or chores...........but i hope your all enjoying whats left of the weekend and i hope its warm and sunny where you all are...................I'm going to go and lay down now on the sofa and watch a film and nurse my sore head...........

......love and hugs Pixie xx

P.s ........There is a crafte nook 'give away', coming soon................so watch this space......x.x 

.....Hello friends.....

.........not much to post on today.........just a shop front that Mr Pixie and I found on one of our strolls........its not a brilliant picture as it was taken with Rs phone......but i think you can just about make out all the amazing crochet and knitting on the front of the shop.......lots of big flowers and happy looking sea creatures.............i was so inspired by it.....................the words in the middle are knitted and stuffed and it reads............ 'love is a flower you've got to let it grow'................

.....just wish i had my camera with me..............it was incredibly colourful........

.....Pixie.....x

.....I know what your thinking..............

.....some of you, i just know..........are wondering.....'what has happened to the Japanese flower crochet thingy'...the long overdue unfinished crocheted shawl/scarf thingy that perplexed me with its identity and then had me crocheting like a woman possessed.......and then.........'nothing'............well...we have had a falling out...the shawl and I.....I have turned my back on it.........'and it', has shut itself in the downstairs cupboard............sounds harsh doesn't it.....but for the time being we have both decided that we needed some time out.........i shall explain.....
..................................................................................................................................................................

....This is what it looks like at the moment.........................

......its quite big isn't it.....and it looks kinda OK too......the trouble is...........

..............when i began this project i hadn't at the time decided what i was actually making.....i was just happily crocheting away at making these adorable flowers and not thinking about what i wanted to make...........but i should of done,.................because, as this thing got larger, and i decided to turn it into a shawl,....i didn't consider the yarn that i was using might be the wrong yarn...............you see......the yarn i have used is 50% acrylic and 50% wool, double knit..........sounds OK....but it has made it a very heavy piece of fabric and also a very stiff piece of fabric......so when you wrap it around your shoulders it sticks out like a bit of cardboard and doesn't hang lovely and loosely like i had imagined it would.

...........Also...because the yarn is not 100% natural wool you can't block it successfully............this i didn't know till i came to try it.................i did a test area...pinned it out ...sprayed it....left it for a good 24 hours....went back and checked it.........................aaand..............................no change..'AHHHHHHHHHHgh...................still curly edged....................i was a bit fed up by this point................i had hoped that i would be able to show you this wonderful cosie shawl all snugly and lovely..........but all i had was a large curly edged stiff piece of cardboard........................................so lessons have been learnt.............................always think before you start a project 'is the yarn appropriate for the job'.................

.............So...........for the time being my shawl and I are taking a break from each other and I shall continue to enjoy my small 'quick fixer' projects.....................for now anyway,............and speaking of which............

.........................way way back at the start of the year I showed a book that i had bought.......it was this one......................................

.....well.....i pulled this of the book shelf a few days ago, and I have been making one square an evening.........and do you know..............i am just loving just making one square from each design.......no big project in mind...............just nice simple one of'' squares...............don't know what i shall do with them when i have made a load...........but at this moment...................i don't really care.....................just thoroughly enjoying the simple creative process of    'just doing'..........

..........here's a few pictures from inside the book.........

......Its a great book.....and i highly recommend it...........

......now here's my squares.........so far......

.......i shall show you more as i make them.......

.....Also......i have decided to mix my yarns............i find as long as i stick to using 'double knit' yarn i get a more colourful range of designs in my crochet...........so in these squares i have used.....

Acrylic and wool mix

100% pure wool

Debbie bliss fez

Alpaca

and cashmere.

.....And they all crochet together beautifully.......i'm sure there are loads of you out there doing that already anyway, but for me....being a fairly new crocheter and not a great master of yarn, this has been quite a revalation.........i have always tended to stay with the one wool that i am used to and not experimenting enough with other textures......so this has opened up my choice of colour greatly.............so ...............if your like me and tend to play it safe................perhaps try adding something else to your crochet...................there is so much wonerful yarn out there, that i just want to use it all...........

Have a wonderfully peachy weekend.....Pixie xxx

.....Harry Potter.....the end......

......Mr Pixie and I went to see the final instalment of the Harry Potter films last night...........and what a fantastic ending to a truly fantastic journey............i had to really stop myself from bursting into loud excited clapping when Voldermort finally copped it.........................and off course when Ron and Hermione finally have that long awaited kiss..........ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............................................Brilliant...

....A big warm welcome...........

.....to my new followers......i seemed to off suddenly gained a few new chums.....so welcome, welcome to you all..........................and off course hellooooo,  hellooooo to all my other blogger followers too......

.............and also i wanted to show you a little something else that i have been making....this time with my knitting needles, i do actually have sore fingers at the moment with the amount of crocheting and knitting i have been doing off late.....i think i need to take a break for a bit.......but you know how it is !

.....Anyway.....here it is....................................................................................................................

..................now i bet your thinking 'what on earth is that'?...................

......it's this.....

......my new love......knitted lampshades.....or crochet......i don't mind which......

......its a bit wonky in places.. but i quite like its wonkiness.................a bit like me really.....

.....its got buttons and its got flowers.......and the flowers are from the pattern in 'mollie makes' issue three......

....i love it....

......watch this space.....x

.....Pixie.....

.....Keeping it simple......

....Yes...'keeping it simple'...is my new motto at the moment....
....when it comes to my crocheting ventures i always seem to end up with the project turning into some mammoth job that takes an eternity to finish...the enjoyment in the making starts to wain and then what started to be exciting and fun turns into a drawn out 'gotta get it finished', kinda project................

......................well not now.....well.................not at the moment anyway..........................i am taking a break from big projects and making smaller more 'quick fixer' projects instead....................much more satisfying.....................well for the time being anyway.......so, moving on then to my 'quick fix' projects of the week.....yep', you heard that right , 'just one week', to produce two very yummy crochet items.............................here is the first...............


...............Taken from my lovely new Japanese crochet book...................here's the picture in the book.....

.......now here's mine......

....I'm very pleased with how it turned out....lovely and pretty.........here's some more pictures......

......OK.......now, i know its summer but i am an Autumn, winter gal, so my thoughts have been on Autumn projects.........so my other addiction/obsession , (along with the magazines/catalogues/wool/carob coated peanuts and curry).............................is..............

............Scarves and shawls...............i have loads of them.......hung on this, draped over that, all over the house....................................so i made another in the good old granny style that we all love........

...............its very difficult photographing yourself isn't it?..................

........well there you have it......crochet yumminess........i really think i may now have another addiction  to 'Japanese crochet books',.............

....Also....i forgot to show you something a couple of weeks back......

............Mr Pixie each year, well...for the last four....has been going to the Glastonbury festival, and when he's there he buys me a handmade piece of pottery...i now have four pieces.....and they are just wonderful........totally handmade and hand painted......take a look............

.....aren't they lovely...i just love handmade things.....

......anyway, take care everyone, wherever you all may be, and have a wonderful weekend.....Pixie x x x

....I am an addict....

.....no...not to yarn....although yes' that is another addiction of mine as you know.......no, on this occasion , i am admitting that i am badlyyyyy addicted to ..................................................

..................Magazines and catalogues.......................badly.......................................................................

....This past week has been especially bad as all the magazines that i am addicted to all appeared at the same time..........its been a magazine fest of great proportions...........so let me share with you my cocaine,my nicotine, my obsession.................

...Mollie makes...

....i cant wait to have a go at making some of these crocheted flowers....

.....love the bedspread.....

....these are cute too.....

....then i received my second Japanese crochet book which i have to say is absolutely amazing, just feast your eyes on some of the goodies inside......

.....lots of yum yum yummy yarn, in lots of yum yum yummy colours.....and...

....vintage style pot holders......gorgeous....and....

....the most loveliest crocheted hangers ever....

......i just loooooove this blanket.....

......and as for this.....well....i am awe struck....

....heaven....

.....then, next to come was 'selvedge'.....

.....wonderful clothing....

....must make sure to put this date in my diary....

......and theeeeen came...

...............country living..............which i have collected every month religiously since the early nineties....which makes for a very laaaarge collection.....i had so many that i had to be ruthless and cull some, so, i decided to just keep thirteen years at a time, (still a lot of magazines), but a manageable amount.......

.................so there you have it............a magazine fest of loveliness.........it would be really great to hear from you if you too have an addiction like mine, or a huge magazine collection that you would like to share........my next post will be probably Wednesday as i have some crochet yumminess to show you..(i know its been a while), i only have to work Monday and Tuesday this week then i have the rest of the week off, YAAAAAAY, so i will see you all very soon.....enjoy whats left of Sunday.....

......Pixie.....xxx

 

....Japanese crochet books.....

....I have been waiting longingly for this to arrive, it is in fact one of two that i have ordered and i am still waiting for the other to turn up but have a look at this for a crochet pattern book.......its wonderful.............

.....lovely isn't it..... everything in the book is written in Japanese but it doesn't matter because at the back of the book they give you all the patterns, so as long as you can read a pattern its fine.

....If you want to order these lovely books there are quite literally hundreds to choose from on Etsy, i got mine from here.....but there are many other sellers that do these books also.....

 . . . . .  . .plus . . . .  . . .

 . . . i didn't realise that when i made my jumper cushion that i was in fact making it for . . .

 . . . .bix . . .

 . . .  .he hasn't extracted himself from it since i made it..nobody else has had a look in . . .

 . . . . . . . cats aye!' . . . . .  .

......have a lovely weekend everyone....Pixie......xxx