Crochet dilemma....

OK so it's not that important but hey I need your help....

I started making this granny square blanket in March last year... I wanted to use up my scraps of wool... I decided to sew the square together like so.....

But I've changed my mind & have started joining them together like this.....

Now before I take apart all the squares I've joined together ...... about 80!!!...... I would like you to tell me which way you prefer!

Thank you....

Giveaway.....

I was suppose to do the draw for the crochet slippers yesterday but I had Internet problems. I plugged the hoover in & it blew the power for the whole house!! It keeps on doing it & there's no pattern so we're not sure how to stop it. Yesterday I used a circuit breaker extension with it but it didn't work. Anyway OH was not at home & I couldn't work out how to get the Internet connected.

I did the draw this morning....sorry no pictures so you'll have to trust me on this.... the batteries in my camera have gone & I don't want to walk to the shop in the rain :( .... It's not been a good weekend for technology!!!

And the winner is..........

MelMel..... congratulations..... I hope your niece likes them & more importantly they fit!!!

I'm now off for a cup of tea & a good look through all my knitting books. An old school friend text to say she had a little girl on boxing day.....4lb 7ozs!! Now that's small.... I should be able to knit a cardigan quite quickly!!! I'm thinking of a basic cardigan with some crocheted flowers..... what do you think???

My brother & sister are both expecting babies in February so I need to start planning their gifts....... that's the problem when you knit...... people expect knitted gifts from you.

I used to sell my knitting & was hoping to start again this year but I don't know if I'll have time!!!

Hope you've all had a good weekend.

Thank goodness for that....

On boxing day, after all the Christmas gifts had been made, I decided to make Liv a gift for her 1st day at school..... and what better then a new friend.....

I thought this would take a few days but nearly 2 weeks later & I've just finished... I'm giving it to her tomorrow so it was touch & go. It was so fiddly, all the clothes are removable including the tie. I hope she likes it .....

My giveaway for the crochet slippers finished yesterday.... I will be doing the draw on Saturday with the help of my lovely assistant.......





Only 2 people are in it so you have a 50/50 chance.... good luck to http://facebook-melmel.blogspot.com/ & http://bekisbloggybits.blogspot.com/

Christmas gifts & sale bargains

So at last here are my Christmas gifts...... I really needed to put them away but I hate doing that... makes it so final...& of course I had the added pressure of finding the time to take photo's...

In this picture you will see the lovely sewing machine my parents & brother gave me.... I thought it was blue & white but that one was out of stock so the alternative was red & white.. yipee!!

Also the Russian doll painting that my friend Helen did for me.... as I make most of my gifts I wanted to encourage my friends to do the same.... isn't she clever??? Makes you wonder why she's working in habitat!! She also gave me a lucky cat necklace from Etsy which is too small to show.

The suitcase is from Liv, the little girl I make all the knitted things for, her mum made some fruit chutney & there's some anti-stress face cream (boy do I need that!!). Also a crocheted mat from LA...really pretty.....not sure where that will live.

The scarf is from an old work colleague... I wore it yesterday & got lots of comments. She also gave me a box of M&S chocs but they're gone.....by lunch time boxing day I believe!!!

OK ......next one........ my gift from MelMel... CK address book & pencil, red spot tea bag holder (been wanting one of these for a while but couldn't find the right one.... well done Mel!!) & a lovely home made heart.

The crochet flower book is from Claire, one of my closest friends, we don't always do Christmas gifts but at the last minute we both brought something from our amazon wish list.

Vintage crochet book was brought with some vouchers a lovely customer gave me.... her & her daughter have been shopping with us for years & I always make sure they know about discount events etc so they get the best bargains. They gave me the vouchers as a thank you gift...... how sweet...good to know there are some nice people out there.

This is my giveaway from Vanessa...... soooooo many things in the box.....blue spot apron, lavender heart, tissue holder, cup cake bag, wooden star, piece of green fabric, tea plate & a lovely matching tea cup & saucer that she's planted with some crocus bulbs... what a good idea... that picture was taken on Christmas day so it's a lot bigger now.

And finally my sale bargains........ Jamie & Delia from Waterstones... Delia was only £4.99!!!

Yankee candles...1/2 price because they're the Christmas ones but hey I like the smell of Christmas.

From Accessorize the lovely green handbag...I've had my eye on that for a while.... a bit small for me as I like to carry around loads of stuff!! The red spotty purse was brought to put my crochet hooks in, they always get lost in the jug with knitting needles. And my Russian doll pants...love these!!

You can just see my beret that my mum knitted for me...forgot to include this in the gift photo as I've been wearing it everyday. I've got lots of hair so it's really hard to find a hat to fit but mum made this quite large.

Think that's all for this Christmas... I'm very happy with all my gifts this year.....thank you everyone.

Happy New Year......

To all my lovely friends in 'blogland' & best wishes for 2009

New year giveaway.....

On Christmas eve I sat down to make myself a pair of crochet slippers. I receive emails from Lion brand yarn http://www.lionbrand.com/ & just before Christmas they sent an email through with free patterns for slippers. I was so excited the fact I could be waking up on Christmas day wearing my new granny square slippers..........but......

(Sorry about the rubbish photo's but I've been trying to take a photo for 2 days & couldn't be bothered to move from my armchair!!!!)

As you can see they came out really, really small!!!! The pattern said they're for a adult size 7-9 ... I don't think so.

The sole is 15cm in length.... if any of you have incredibly tiny feet or you have a little girl they may fit... please let me know. They are free to a good home, leave a comment before 7th Jan, I'll do a random number thingy & post them off.

I will try again but next time I'll use a bigger crochet hook.......

'Cozy night in' swap....

I've finally opened my swap..... I think me & Pixiedust @ Faerie Nuff are the last ones......

As you can see it was beautifully wrapped.....

I love the hot water bottle... just the right size for sitting in front the TV... I always use a hot water bottle as I don't like putting the central heating on unless it's freezing!!

Can you see the little lantern??? .. It looked so cozy on my mantle piece last night... also some soap which smelt good.... and some chocolate....sorry all gone now!!!

And last but not least some lavender cushions..... I've made so many lavender bags for gifts that I ran out of lavender to make one for me so I'm very pleased with this gift.

More gifts coming soon.........

Happy boxing day......