Cardigan

 

This may look like a knitted cardigan - but it isn't! It is Tunisian crochet - which makes it thick and warm. The buttons are also homemade - from Fimo. I find they stand machine washing - and teething kittens. And, of course, it means I can make exactly the right buttons for my project.



My comfy corner

 

I love sitting in the garden - whenever the weather is good enough. But now it is autumn and next summer is a long, long way away!
 



Surprise Afghan

I have been making this in secret as a surprise gift for my husband. Today I got it finished. It is just a basic crochet ripple but I think he will like it. He has to keep his legs very warm when sitting as otherwise he gets cramp.



Hat

 

This is a double-layered, reversible hat, knitted in sock yarn. It should be very warm and cosy and fits well thanks to all the ribbing.



Hot Water Bottle Cover

 

I needed a new cover for a hot water bottle in a hurry - so made this.



Delta Crochet

 

I have only just discovered the joys of delta crochet - crochet where the basic net is triangular. This is the first thing I have made in it. It is a pattern by Hartmutt Hass called Anushka Doily. I enjoyed making it and am delighted with the result.



Doily

 

I really like this doily that I just finished. It was fun to make and I like the look of it.



Tigger - In Memorium

 

Everyone always laughed at his huge clown feet when he was a kitten.

 

 

He was so good-natured too, letting the new kitten - Ginger - sleep on top of him.

 

 



Doily

 

I finished this doily yesterday. The colour is a much warmer green than I can persuade the camera of. The big trouble is that it is huge! I have nowhere I can even lay it out flat to photograph. I wish I had realized and made it in much thinner thread than the pattern called for.



Another doily

 

I love this design - from a Japanese book, but I am a lot less sure about the thread I used. I think a plain colour would have been a better choice.



Crochet doily

 

Life has been so difficult this year that I am struggling to get anything finished. So this week I opted for a crochet doily as being quick and easy to finish.



Summer!

 

For the first time in several years we are actually having a summer here this year so I am spending my days in the garden. Here you can see my patio flowers.



Pollenless Lilies

 

 

These are some new pollenless lilies. I always try to get ones that have no pollen as otherwise I have to be sure to snip out the pollen-bearing bits as soon as they start to open - lily pollen is deadly to cats.

 



Sadness

 

I was going to make a blanket for my half of the bed with a flower garden of a mixture of flower blocks and plain ones. I thought it would be a good memorial to Tigger - who lay against my legs at night. Unfortunately I had made 10 blocks when my husband decided he absolutely hated them. I am blocking them here - the blocking board is too small so they are overlapped. At least I found a friend who likes them and to whom I am giving them.

The garden in July

 

Despite the truly awful weather we have had this year, the garden is doing surprisingly well now the weather has finally cheered up.



Tigger

 

It really doesn't look comfortable to me - but he was sound asleep.

My darling Tigger has been missing since last Sunday. We have done all the right things and he is microchipped - but there have been no sightings. We have to accept that he is probably dead. He was very timid and shy, never travelled beyond a few gardens, and was never away from home for more than an hour or two at a time. I am heart-broken.
 



Tatting - again

This is such a simple pattern that I make it again and again. I wonder how many of these mats I have made down the years. One thing I do know is that they are scattered all round the world by now.



Double Ended Tunisian Crochet

 

This was a technique I had never tried before so I fished two balls of cotton out of my stash and gave it a go. The texture is the same on both sides but one colour is stronger on one side and the other colour on the other - making a truly reversible piece.



Ginger

 

Ginger is the cat who cares. He knows instantly if I am extra-ill or upset and comes to keep me company and make me feel better.



Sunny

 

She was curled up asleep on the chair and I thought I could take a photo - but of course she woke up.