Almost Back To Normal

I haven't blogged for a few weeks as I have had several distractions. Well 3 of them as you can see.

I have been dog minding whilst my son and my neighbours have been on holiday. These were the faces that I saw everytime I picked up my crochet.

Buster was shedding like mad despite his daily brush so crocheting anything important for other people was out of the question.

Little Poppy and Buddy wanted my attention also. I had to be careful not to pat one dog more than another. Buster was a bit miffed as he usually is top dog when he comes to my house and gets all the attention. It is the first time that I have known him willingly go with my son and jump in the car without being asked a few times. I think going back to his boisterous sister dogs was the better of two options.

I did manage to finish Julie's beach dress in time for her to take it to Turkey with her.

This is a dress for Julie's sister in law. I did manage to finish it off in time for her holiday in Egypt but I forgot to take a photo of it when it was finished. I have a feeling though that the dress is too short and have offered to extend the length when she comes back from her holidays. I just wanted it finished in time for her to take it. I think that it needs a few more rows around the bottom so that she can wear it after her hols.

I have been stash busting whilst the dogs were here. I am used to dog hairy clothes so I made this jacket for myself. I had a come of the blue mingled with fuchsia purple but there was not enough yardage to make anything except a sleeveless top. I felt the wool was too thick for a top so I found a toning shade in my stash and made myself an everyday cardigan which will be bright, warm and colourful for the cold winter days.

I also had another thicker machine cone that didn't have enough yardage so I turned it into an over top to wear in the winter over my finer sweaters. I made myself a grey one in knitting a couple of years ago and have worn it to shreds as the sleeve length is so useful when I am doing housework or even crocheting. It is such a busy colour that you have to look bard to see the buttons up the front.

This is a jazzy beach bag that I made for Julie's holiday. It comes from a free pattern that I found on Ravelry. Basically it is one large granny square which is gathered with crochet for the sides and the grooves for the handles. I trimmed it up with flowers and beads as Julie likes a bit of Bling. It took me longer to sew the lining into it. I am not a very good seamstress and hand stitching isn't my best craft.

This is a headband that I made to match the grey sparkly beach dress. I like to add little accessories to match outfits.

These are just some headbands that I made for Julie to wear on her holidays whilst on the beach. The second one down in white actually has little pearl seed beads on it but they are difficult to see on the photo.

I went to Manchester Art Gallery on Saturday with Rachael from Art Yarn who was running a learn to knit textures and colours with the Close Knit group. The idea is to use influences from art to incorporate them into crafts such as knitting. There was opportunities for people to knit with different elements such a wire and string.

Now that the dogs have all gone home and the holiday rush crochet is finished I think that tomorrow it is time for a good tidy up and sort out all of the yarn that has arrived lately and just got dumped into the spare bedroom. I know that I am a yarn hoarder but I do like to have it sort of organised onto bookshelves or into see through plastic storage boxes. Every now and again I review it all just to remind myself what I actually have in stash and what I bought it for. I love finding yarn that I have forgotten about.

I haven't had time to complete the June Abakhan project. It will now be my July challenge. I may start that tonight. I have 3 more crochet orders but as the customers are away at the moment I don't have to start yet as pattern and colour has yet to be decided.

Enjoy your day. I do hope that your weather is far better than it is in Manchester.