A Lovely Birthday

I have to admit, being 21 doesn't feel any different from being 20 except that everyone is now telling me I'm all grown up.

I've had a great last few days, starting on Wednesday when I spent the evening baking cakes for work.

Thursday was my birthday and everyone at work was so kind and loved my cakes - they didn't last very long, I took 24 cakes and after less than 10 minutes of them being in the kitchen over half had been eaten.  One of the admin women gave me a hug when she found out I was 21.  It was great getting to see my Bestie too and he gave me a lovely card and present.  In the evening my parents and Eve came over to see me.  They gave me lots of lovely presents: my Mum knitted me a jumper (you can see it here), I got new double pointed needles, and I got 2 Mochimochiland books - can't wait to get making stuff from these books!

On Friday, Eve came over to help me tidy, clean, and bake for the family party the next day.  I couldn't have coped without her help (also thanks to Mum who helped with the cleaning and dealt with the maintenance man).  When The Boy got back from work, he took me and Eve to Nando's for a meal and then we went to a fancy cocktail bar (Las Iguanas) and spent a few hours there with another of our friends from university.

On Saturday, we did some more baking and cleaning (and watched Beauty and the Beast which was another of my presents) then all of my grandparents came over to visit (and see our house).  I don't think I could have managed without help from my parents during the party.  Or after the party really, they helped me with the cleaning and getting the house back to normal.  Below are the cakes left over for me and The Boy from the party and after my parents had taken their share.

By Sunday I was glad we had 2 days left of the weekend so we can sort the house out a bit more - we had some furniture removed on Friday and now have a lot more space so can unpack some of the boxes we left under the stairs out of the way when we moved.

I need to get some more photos from Eve and Mum but I'll hopefully post them soon.

Lots of crafting!

Since I've been working this summer I feel like I haven't had much free time to crochet.  I've occasionally taken some to work with me but mostly I've been too tired to do anything and in the evenings I tend to just eat, clean up, then sleep.

However I do have a new appreciation of weekends!  Previously, I let my time fly by and wasted my weekends but now they seem to be long and relaxing with lots of time to crochet, sew, knit, and bake.

Over the weekend I crocheted things for when Eve goes away to uni (she got her results on Thursday and was very pleased), sewed a dress for my teddy bear, Ole, as she turns 21 on Thursday too, planned what I'll be baking over the next week (cakes for work and cakes and shortbread for my party with my family on Saturday).

As a birthday present to Ole (in case you didn't already guess I was crazy) I decided to get her a bear friend.  I had to go to the parcel depot to get him on Saturday morning and they have been inseparable ever since.  His name is Theodore which I let The Boy pick out of a list of approved names (if The Boy had free choice he would have been called Ethelbert).

Aren't they a cute couple!  He'll have some clothes soon but I'll have to finish some other projects first.

FO Friday - A Present for The Boy

I'm in a generous crafting mood at the moment so just want to make presents for people all the time.  I decided to make a present for The Boy as he needed a bit of cheering up because he wasn't feeling well the other day.

I made the lovely Little Amigurumi Wolf by Lion Brand Yarn as I have been eyeing up this wolf for a while and just needed an excuse to make it.  It didn't take very long to make and The Boy loves it.  He has decided to call it Romulus after the founder of Rome.

I'm also trying to follow my Mum's example of not starting to make anything new until I have finished something else so now that this wolf is finished I can plan my next project - probably some more amigurumi as I love how quick it is to make something utterly adorable.

A little bit of everything

I have many exciting things to report so this may become a messy blog post.

Firstly, a couple of weeks ago I went on holiday with my family to a little village called St Dogmaels in west Wales, near Cardigan on the River Teifi.  We had a lovely time, our mornings were spent relaxing and our afternoons spent on picturesque walks in the countryside.  Here are a few photos from the holiday but more can be seen on my Mum's blog post

When I got back from my holiday I was met with a beautiful bunch of flowers from The Boy which made me smile.  He had previously bought me flowers when I had two uni exams on the same day.  

Exam Flowers

Holiday Flowers

I like the colours of the holiday flowers best but both are beautiful and so sweet of The Boy to surprise me with them.

I'm halfway through crocheting a little surprise present for The Boy which is difficult to do when we live together so I can't hide things as easily.  It's mostly done so hopefully I can find a bit more time to finish it off.

I've got a significant birthday coming up in 3 and a half weeks and to celebrate I'll be inviting my family over to our house.  The house is definitely a lot tidier than when I first moved but we have surplus furniture that we need the landlord to take away that is cluttering up the living room at the moment.

This weekend I've been making an extra effort to get organised - I'm carrying a notebook around in my handbag and made a to-do list board based on an idea I found here at heartmadeblog.com.  As soon as I saw this daily prioritiser I had to come up with my own design using robots instead of people.  I also decided to use clips to hold the notes rather than use post-it-notes.

The other thing I did this weekend was a spot of baking.  I've been meaning to make little cupcakes inside teacups with jam in the little glass ramekins I've saved from eating Gu desserts.  They turned out exactly how I had hoped but I had forgotten how difficult it was to mix by hand and after a long time with no exercise this tired me out! 

I'll have to make these again soon but I have already planned what I'm baking next weekend.  Also, The Boy's Mum said next time I bake she is coming over to eat at our house - I'm just glad people like my baking!

WIP Wednesday

This week I have been working on the jumper I started ages ago for The Boy. I've completed the back and am making good progress now on the front. Hopefully I can continue to make good progress. If you can't see the image below it can also be found here

Keeping Busy

I've been very busy recently.  As my Mum mentioned on her blog here The Boy and I moved out of our flat into a much bigger house.  We're both working full time over the summer and we only have evenings and weekends to unpack so the place isn't that tidy yet - that's our excuse and we're sticking to it!  We'll get the place sorted in the next week most likely.

Here is a picture of me in the doorway of the house:

Work is hectic - the two projects I've worked on so far have been tested and worked successfully so it has been worth the effort.

Need to dig out all of my wool and get back to crafting soon though but so much to do!  No finished objects to report but lots of progress made on my ongoing projects.

Happy Birthday, Bestie!

Oh dear I feel like Amy from The Big Bang Theory saying that - although she's the character my uni friends say I'm most like anyway.

Today is my Best Friend's 25th birthday.  I start my summer job on Monday so will see him every day but I wanted to give him his card and present early.

He was very good and didn't open it until today - I'm rarely that patient.

This is the card I made for him:

And here it is with his presents in little origami boxes:

We are both huge Lego fans so when I saw Lego cufflinks on Etsy I knew he would love them as he wears cufflinks to work - he is about the only person I know who wears cufflinks.

I also got him some old style lemon bon bons because who doesn't love sweeties?

Titus the Barn Owl Pattern

I have always loved barn owls and I’ve been looking for a good barn owl pattern for a while but none of the patterns I saw were what I wanted to make.  When I saw Stacey Trock’s Design Week idea I was inspired to start designing this barn owl rather than put it off any longer.

He got his name from the scientific name for barn owl – Tyto Alba.  Although every time I think about the name I just think of the explorer nicknamed ‘Titus’ (Lawrence Oates) on Scott’s mission to the South Pole who said the famous line: “I am just going outside and may be some time”.

The pattern can also be downloaded as a PDF here

The body and head are made as one piece then the face, tummy, and feet are sewn on.

Need:

·         3 mm crochet hook.

·         Double Knitting or Worsted wool in the following colours:

o   Tan.

o   White.

o   Straw (for the feet and beak).

·         6mm Safety eyes (or black thread to sew eyes).

·         Stitch Markers.

·         Tapestry needle.

·         Stuffing.

Pattern:                    (English terms used)

Note: dec = dc 2 together, inc = dc 2 in 1 stitch.

Head and Body 

(Starting at the top of the head)

Tan wool

Row 1:  dc 6 in a magic ring.                                                      (6 stitches)

Row 2: inc around.                                                                    (12 stitches)

Row 3: (dc, inc) around.                                                             (18 stitches)

Row 4: (dc, dc, inc) around.                                                       (24 stitches)

Row 5-8:  dc around.                                                                 (24 stitches)

Row 9: (dc 2, dec) around.                                                        (18 stitches)

Row 10-11:  dc around.                                                             (18 stitches)

Row 12: (dc 2, inc) around.                                                        (24 stitches)

Row 13-17: dc around.                                                              (24 stitches)

Row 18:  (dc 10, dec) around                                                    (22 stitches)

Row 19-20:  dc around.                                                             (22 stitches)

Row 21: (dc 9, dec) around.                                                       (20 stitches)

Row 22: dc around.                                                                   (20 stitches)

Row 23: (dc 8, dec) around.                                                       (18 stitches)

Row 24: In back loops only (dec, dc) around.                             (12 stitches)

Stuff body at this point

Row 25: decrease until hole is closed.  Fasten off and sew in ends.

Face

Note: ‘tr inc’ is 2 trebles in the same stitch

White wool

Row 1:  dc 6 in a magic ring.                                                      (6 stitches)

Row 2: inc around.                                                                    (12 stitches)

Row 3: ch1, dc1, tr inc, (1 tr, 1 dc) in next dc, sl st into next 2 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch, sl st into next 2 dc, (1 dc, 1 tr) in next st, tr inc, 1 dc, sl st into next st, sl st into 1st dc.

Row 4: 1 ch, 1 dc in next 2 sts, inc in next 2 sts, 1 dc, sl st into next 2 sl sts, sl st into ch, 1 ch, 1 dc, 1 ch, sl st into ch, sl st into next 2 sl st, 1 dc, inc in next 2 sts, dc in next 2 sts, sl st into sl st.  Fasten off leaving long tail to sew.

Tummy

Starting at bottom edge

White wool

Row 1: ch 6

Row 2: turn, dc in 2^nd chain from loop and every chain to end, turn.

Row 3-7: ch, dc across, turn.                   (5 stitches)

Rows 8: ch, dc, inc, dc, inc, dc, turn.         (7 stitches)

Row  9-10 : ch, dc across, turn.              (7 stitches)

Row 11: ch, dc, dec, dc, dec, dc, turn.     (5 stitches)

Row 12: ch, dc across, turn                     (5 stitches)

Row 13: ch, dec, dc, dec, turn.                (3 stitches)

Row 14: ch, dc 3 together.  Finish off leaving long tail to sew.

Wings  (make 2)

Tan wool

Row 1: 6 dc in a magic ring.                                                       (6 stitches)

Row 2: (dc, inc) around.                                                             (9 stitches)

Row 3: dc around.                                                                     (9 stitches)

Row 4: (2 dc, inc) around.                                                          (12 stitches)

Row 5: (3 dc, inc) around.                                                          (15 stitches)

Row 6: dc around.                                                                     (15 stitches)

Row 7: (3 dc, dec).                                                                    (12 stitches)

Row 8: dc around.                                                                     (12 stitches)

Row 9: dc around.                                                                     (12 stitches)

Row 10: (2 dc, dec) around.                                                       (9 stitches)

Row 11: dc around.                                                                   (9 stitches)

Row 12: (dc, dec) around.                                                          (6 stitches)

Row 13: dc around.                                                                   (6 stitches)

Row 14: dec around.                                                                 (3 stitches)

Fasten off leaving tail to sew to body.

Feet      (make 2)

Straw wool

4 ch, ss into first chain, (4 ch, ss into same chain) repeat two times.

Making Up

Stuff the body and head. 

Put safety eyes on face and sew a few stitches on using straw yarn to form the beak.  Sew face onto the head.

Flatten the wings and sew onto the body.

Sew the feet onto the body.

Happy 1st Birthday Blog!

Wow it doesn't feel like I've been blogging for a whole year.  In that time I've crocheted lots, written patterns, and (most surprisingly) people have made the things I've designed.  I've made lots of bloggy friends who have made me feel loved and like my post are not just rambles.

Today I'm finally getting around to publishing the pattern for Titus the Barn Owl - thanks to my Mum for checking the pattern for me.

FO Friday - Tetris Blanket

I really can't believe it is all done but I finished crocheting the border this morning.

I started it on the 28th of January and my predicted finishing date was the 14th of August (based on 1 a day) but as I was crocheting a lot more towards the end I managed to bring the date forward.

200 squares later this is how it looks:

I'm thrilled by how it looks and it was good fun working on such a large project.  Also it did require the best spreadsheet in the world to keep it organised but I love Excel so it was ok.

Quick Mention - The Journey Man

One of my uni friends has just started a blog about Software Development and other stuff he is interested in called 'The Journey Man':

http://justajourneyman.blogspot.co.uk/

I can't wait to read more of his posts - I love his chatty style of blogging.

Hello again!

I just wanted to prove I haven't disappeared.  It has been far too long since I last posted so I'm getting withdrawal symptoms! 

I'm still snowed under with revision but my last exam is on Thursday so I will be back on Thursday or Friday.

I made a little toy for The Boy as he has exams too.  It is a Trojan by NeedleNoodles:

He's with a cute little book I got for The Boy ages ago.

His favourite computer game is Rome: Total War so I knew he'd love it.  I didn't make the sword as I don't have any felt (Mum can I use some of yours?)

I've been making granny squares in between revision so I've only got 25 more squares to make for my Tetris blanket!!!

Oops

I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged.  I've been so busy revising that I haven't had time to blog.  My exams start on Monday and I have 5 exams in the first week then 1 exam a week later.  I mostly haven't had to craft, but I've been making the odd Tetris square or part of housewarming present for my best friend. 

The housewarming present is going well but there is still a long way to go.  I've put it on my Ravelry project page here or you can see a photo of it here but I'm not putting a photo up here so my best friend can't see it until it is done (I assume I can trust him not to peek).

At some point I need to start making presents for Eve for when she goes away to uni in September but that can wait until I have more free time.

I mentioned last week that my Boy was doing a 10k run.  I went to watch him run and support him (and take some photos). 

He managed to complete the run in 70minutes which is a good time.  He also did a sprint finish and overtook 3 other guys right at the end.

Here he is with his medal and t-shirt (after he'd thrown a bottle of water over himself to cool down).

I am so proud of him for doing the run.