WOYWW 681 A new Tizzy

Hi again-back for our Wednesday blog hop hosted by Julia at The Stamping Ground

I showed you last week a panel of 4 ply crochet I sometimes work on. 

I tried a Tizzy triangle with it and I laughed aloud. I struggled so much with the yarn for the Tizzy blanket I’ve just finished, but this one is perfect for me, and I already had it!

I’m going to make a cardigan from Tizzy squares. It even works up quite quickly in the Tizzy pattern. 

This is the pattern.

Bella and Gracie have to go to see the v.e.t. this week for their annual jabs. Hard to believe they’ve been with us for a year! Gracie in particular hates going in a cat basket and the car so I expect lots of protests. 

And finally 

This was the first piece of classical music I remember listening to. I loved it. 

Take care and happy crafting!

Hugs

Lynnecrafts x

WOYWW 654 Colours, cats and the Christmas tree

Hi all, back again for our weekly blog hop, courtesy of Miss Julia. 

I haven’t done much crafting this week, between (nervously) putting up the Christmas tree, plus visits to the physio, x ray dept and doctor. I may have pulled a muscle in my back at respiratory rehab, but with osteoporosis it always has to be checked if it’s a fracture. Fingers crossed it isn’t. 

I’m still working on the slipover. I didn’t take the picture early enough for the colours to show up but I’ve added in a dark green that seems to work ok. 

My nerves about the tree are just because this is our first Christmas with Bella and Gracie. You hear such stories! I’ve left off the particularly fragile glass baubles but so far they’ve been fine, in fact have permitted exceptionally “butter wouldn’t melt” poses. 

Gracie

Bella 

Then, when Gracie came in wet the other evening, she was so determined to have a cuddle, she jumped up over Bella on my lap to get dried, growled at her after a minute, and jumped off. Bella just rolled her eyes at me. In general they seem to be getting on a bit better.   

On the way home the other night we went up Mount Pleasant Close, known locally for ultra-bright Christmas decorations. 

The little boy who went past made it for me. He was shouting “Look! There’s another one!”

I wasn’t feeling at all Christmassy till I heard a brass band in Hythe on Saturday. Thank you brass banders everywhere, including you, Jan! 🎺🎷🎺. (Sorry, no tuba emoji). 
And finally…

Bella and Gracie here. We’ve instructed Hoomum to put out this message. No more mention of pumpkin hats, alright? 😹😻

The lengths we have to go to…

Purrs to all you cats 😻😻

Take care and happy crafting!

Hugs

Lynnecrafts x

WOYWW 653 Herringbone and beach glass

Hi all, back again for our Wednesday bloghop care of Miss Julia at the Stamping Ground

I’m still crocheting the slipover. Funny to think that I barely did crochet before lockdown and now I don’t ever feel like knitting. These are my yarns. The multicoloured blue- purple is the one that didn’t work with my cat stitch shawl. 

It's coming on quite well. My husband's birthday is at the end of January.

I’m doing it in herringbone stitch which is really easy but makes a nice change from half-trebles. You just slip the first loop like a slip-stitch then finish the half- treble as normal. 

I still don’t feel very Christmassy but I’ve bought some beautiful earrings for a couple of goddaughters from a really good glass artist, Julie at Beach art glass.com. Aren’t they glorious? Which do you prefer?

She’s from Malvern. 

If I might be permitted a little boast, I heard this week that a fantasy short story I submitted for a Writing Magazine competition has been short-listed. I didn’t win but it’s only the 2nd time I’ve entered a writing competition so I’m really chuffed. I’ll put it on my writing page. It’s called the 99 Sorrows and came from a dream. Send me an email to lmcollis_at_icloud.com if you want to be added to the readers.

Onward and upward! Thanks Jan for forwarding the link to the Discoveries competition for the 1st 10,000 words of your draft first novel, run by the Women’s Prize for Fiction Trust. My submission went off last night. The key part of the prize is being signed on by an agent. Many publishers won’t even consider submissions that haven’t come via one.

Here are some pictures of Bella and Gracie peacefully reclining together. I still occasionally threaten them with pumpkin hats tho 😹

They adore the log burner. We had someone in to replace the back plate and sweep the chimney yesterday. I contribute to a fun page on Facebook called Larry for Prime Minister, and complained on her behalf. A few of you might have seen it. 

“ Dear Larry and the Catinet. I really must register a ‘plaint. Firstly the sunshine door has gone. Where? Why? Intolerable! 

Then Hoodad made a nice warm place with what he calls a log burner but today even that has gone, and a strange man has come with a nasty noisy thing that’s poked up the burner. I’m forced to shelter under a blanket with Hoomum.  Gracie is hiding upstairs. You just can’t get the staff!”

Gracie snuggles  up on the bed as soon as I’m up. I love this photo of her, she’s sitting on my lap ignoring me telling her I can’t get up and cede the warm spot to her till she moves.😻

Believe it or not, it was sunny enough last Thursday for a walk by the canal, but very cold. 

And finally….,

Take care, stay safe and happy crafting! 

Hugs

Lynnecrafts 

WOYWW 627 Cats, hats and the solar eclipse

Hi all, here we are again for our weekly desk peek, courtesy of Julia at the Stamping Ground. Click on the WOYWW 12 to the right of this page to find out more. 

I haven’t done a lot of crafting this week, partly because Thea is ill (more detail on that below.) 

I swapped the ear wires on some earrings I got for my birthday on Saturday.

I also finished the hat I crocheted. The wired brim was a challenge. I used a craft wire, maybe millinery wire is easier. 

 I ended up using Sugru to secure the ends of the wire. I think you can buy special joiners via millinery suppliers but only in bulk. Thanks Julia, you mentioned Sugru a long time ago. It worked a treat.

Here’s the hat. 

This shows the Sugru before it was covered. 

The brim is a bit wayward but I’m happy overall. The pattern is on YouTube. 

Bag o Day Crochet summer hat

I’ve also had a couple of lovely ATCs: 

2 from Lyn Spyder’s corner in a cute packet2 

And this one, which had no name.

Is it from you Lisa- Jane?

I also had this great birthday card from Jan

By the way, has everyone in the Northern Hemisphere got their eclipse glasses for tomorrow? It’s only a partial one here, unlike the 1999 one, which I remember watching with colleagues in Regents Park. There are timings for tomorrow in this link. 

Eclipse timings

So Thea. She likes to lick my ear. She has a rough tongue but she means well!

They think it’s a urinary infection. Fingers crossed it’s not kidneys. She is feeling a bit better after all the antibiotics and other medicine. One is a capsule I have to break open and split into 8. That’s right, 8. A craft knife and lots of little wraps of tinfoil. Looks like a drug factory!

We’ve been doing a lot of running to and from the vets and to and from the cat food shop to get exactly the right variety of fish soup that she’d eat when feeling off colour. Of course, once I've found them she goes off them and wants the gourmet sachets of cat food instead. WE don't iond.

 She is looking brighter now. 

And finally...

How could I resist?

And for all of us who have to adapt:

Take care and keep crafting!

Hugs

Lynnecrafts 

WOYWW 623 Pockets and feathers

Hi all, back again for our Wednesday blog hop, hosted for 12 YEARS next week by our host Julia at The Stamping Ground. Have a look and why not join in?

I've finished my pocket shawl (just in time for the summer 😏 )

Here are views with the rust pockets, and on the reverse, the blue pockets. 

I've also done a bit of jewellery making. I love these steampunk feathers I found on Amazon. 

Now I have some sleepers I really like. Sometimes my right ear can be difficult. Maybe the angle of the hole is off, I don't know. Anyway, at times it's best to leave my sleepers in. I bought some lobster clasps so I can hook dangles onto my sleepers without taking them out. 

This is what they look like. Unfortunately I ordered 9mm lobster clasps and they won't quite close. They will slip over the open sleeper but not latch on, so I'll have to get bigger ones.

I have some other charms to make into earring dangles so I'll see what the 11mm lobster clasps are like.

My village is having an Anglo- Saxon festival at the end of June ( we’ve had big archeological digs here). I wonder if I could add a yarn bombing. Any ideas on Anglo- Saxon themes?

My romantic assignment (in my creative writing class - I’m not slipping out on assignments 🤣) went ok, but I apparently didn't put enough slushy feeling into it. Now, I'm a feminist so I have always resisted that sort of "Oh my beating heart" writing. You know what I mean. Books with covers of nurses fainting before handsome doctors, that sort of thing.

We have another assignment in the same genre this week, with lots of "spanners in the works" so I've done a traveller boy who falls for the daughter of a cop. If a boy is doing the swooning, it seems easier for me to write.

Thea alternates between mad parkours of the garden and intense sleeping, with occasional visits for hugs like this one. She loves to lick my ear. A very strange feeling!

We went for a walk up Folkestone's Old High Street on Monday, looking for postcards.

It's become very pretty and arty, thanks to all the investment in our "Creative Quarter."

It's not feasible for us to go on holiday yet so I'm determined to make the most of our local area.. 

And finally, I have chosen a couple of cartoons that remind me (in a nice way!) of LLJ and family this week....

Jan, I think Gordon will like this one too....

Stay safe all, and keep crafting!

Hugs Lynne x