150 flowers done!

A little bit of crochet and the last row of flowers are done! Feeling good now. 150 flowers all ready to crochet into the finished blanket - at last! This is the bit I've been waiting for; the balancing of the coloured edgings against all the other flowers in situ - should be fun:) I might not be able to see the floor for a few days/weeks, but at least it will look colourful! I also have a feeling the cat will decide that this blanket should belong to her....of course;) I will try to catch her on the camera sneaking into prime comfy position - right in the centre, I'm thinking!

The weather here is very wet and dismal today so perfect for snuggling inside for some hooky time. Now, just need to find a good film to watch and I can get started. No deadline for this really but I need to get back on a roll and keep the crochet mojo going;) I haven't seen any finishing rows/borders on other versions of this - maybe nearer the time crochet blanket experts may have some suggestions for me? Maybe it won't look as if it needs one..... but all ideas would be very welcome!

Righty-ho, I'm off for some flower hooky fun. Starting the count - 149, 148, 147...... :))  See you all soon with another update!

Restless knitter....

I don't know if it's just the seasons changing but I can't seem to settle on knitting any projects at the moment. I have a few WIP's that are so close to being finished that a little push would see them done and dusted but still they languish, hidden in their little bags - nice, patterned and stripey bags - but languishing all the same.

What I really feel like doing is starting a cosy blanket or something similar to my crocheted ripple blanket from a few years ago. But something new and challenging that will also be snuggly to knit and keep my legs warm! My first thoughts were crocheting a hexagon blanket in mad, bright colours like this or this or this after coming across attic24's blog site recently - crochet heaven! How didn't I know she existed until now? I've spent quite a bit of time reading her blog backwards - as you do:-) - and she is scarily so like me in so many things. Her choice of bags, colour, bags, flowers - big bright dahlias, did I mention bags? It is uncanny. She also talks about her brain being in a tangle - Oh yes, I can totally relate to that one!! Anyway! Getting sidetracked:-) She also does a great how-to tutorial for joining hexagons as you go so you don't have the huge piecing together headache at the end. You can go direct to it here.

Another project I've been pondering is making a pouffe or pouf depending on how you call it. A total luxury to sit on or rest my feet on while I'm knitting in the evenings. I've been thinking about this for a while and my initial idea was to use strips of fabric like this image I found. I've had it so long I don't actually remember where I found it now but its lovely! I still have quite a few strips of fabric I haven't used for my large stripey quilt so this is a possibility.

But then I saw these knitted pouffes over on Pickles blog. She has designed several using different stitches and sizes. They are pretty much knitted as one long strip gathered or ruched at the ends - which works being a chunky knit. If I were piecing fabric strips, the shaping may be quite fiddly - unless anyone out there knows a quick and easy method that would be robust enough?

And then I found this lovely fabric and crocheted pouffe by Eclecticgipsy - yum! You can see more of her work on her flickr site here as well as on Ravelry.

I think I must be in a crochet frame of mind! But it does look fun, bright and cheerful:-) And maybe that is why I'm drawn to two bright colourful projects now the nights are beginning to draw in and there is a coolness in the air. That reminds me I'll have to hunt out some warm knitted jumpers and boots soon. We're due a temperature drop here in the UK over the next few days. Brrr!

Right! Time to start that crocheted blanket!