Bags, Bolero's and Bits

Heatwaves et. al. well not in this part of the world. Here we have overcast skies and very little sunshine. I don't suppose I should complain as it means more time for finishing projects, photographing and blogging.

My first item that was completed last Friday and it is my version of a vintage bolero. I took inspiration from a vintage pattern titled 'Bolero without the Ravel'. I have modified the pattern and had to guess needle sizes etc. The bolero was knitted in 100% DK wool with 6mm needles throughout. The original pattern quoted 'Beehive' knitting needles size 0. I couldn't find a conversion chart so spent a while trying different sizes to obtain the correct tension.




I'm quite pleased with the overall shape but would like to embellish the collar area with fun knitted roses or flowers. I haven't found the desired colour of lipstick fuchsia pink yarn yet but will post a photo once completed finally.



Blocking on the ironing board - why don't we have blocking boards in the UK ?

Crochet Bag

The beginning......

The first rounds......................

The handles and flowers for finishing off ................

Still on day one and growing nicely.

Finally complete and all sewn up.

Although I used 4mm hook and DK yarn the result isn't as tight as I would like. It never ceases to amaze me how 20 different double knitting yarns can have such differing widths and finishes.

Never mind it still makes the perfect stash bag and I feel has a beauty all of it's own. I love the colour mix.

I took my lead/inspiration from Lucy's blog at Attic 24, my bag ended up so large that I had to decrease in the final few rows.

Finally the bottom of the bag which is equally as pretty as the rest.

Next up the cushion, again inspired by the Attic 24 blog. I have been meaning to do something 'wavy' for quite a while and this made perfect sense. The pattern is quick and fluid and could be applied to numerous projects - scarves, blankets, sofa throws and baby blankets etc.

We have the local village show coming up shortly and one of the competition categories is a scarf in any medium, so this will fit the bill nicely.

The cushion in progress - here it looks like a scarf. Again completed in DK yarn on a 4mm hook.

Other WIP's (works in progress)

There are too numerous to mention but the garden is always an ongoing WIP at this time of year. Everything is growing so rapidly and it seems the grass grows overnight. We are exceptionally lucky to have three distinct gardens with the same quantity of maintenance and work to complete.

And so the work begins .......... thankfully my other half started to trim this shrub. The bees just love it and hang about there until after dusk. I didn't want to disturb the bumble bees and so it became a 'him' job.

No signs of activity here but it was so sunny I thought it was a nice picture.

This is our very special wishing tree which merits a post in itself. We tie ribbons to the tree and make wishes each time we do. We also encourage all visitors to do the same. This type of tree is also known as a 'clootie' tree in Scotland and further explanation will follow.

One of many perfect hosta in the garden.

I really should have divided them all in early spring but the weather wasn't great and I was probably distracted crocheting or knitting.

More signs of progress - there is definitely a wheel barrow in this photo which indicates some work having taken place in the garden. I took this photograph late last week at about 6pm whilst bringing the laundry in.

And finally it's cake time

Our version of Sunday afternoon cake made by our master chef Aidy-P aged 11. I was meant to make the cake but was taken over and sidelined by the little persons enthusiasm. We had a fair amount of debate about if the nuts should be included in the cake. He finally conceded and I was allowed to decorate 'half' of the cake with pecans.

A sterling effort and very tasty to boot.

Coffee and Pecan cake.