Monday 27 July 2009

No I haven't shuffled off this mortal coil. I'm still here. It's just a bit of 'a squash and a squeeze' fitting blogging in around work, housework, kiddie and my two new passions...

Exhibit A



and Exhibit B...


Exhibit A is our lovely jubbly new camper van!! It's actually a Mazda Bongo. VW's are just way too over-priced for what they are and, much as I love them, they are a bit beyond us. But a Bongo, while not quite as cute and quirky, is much more reliable and has lots of gadgets and gizmos. Ours is fully converted from the original 8-seater people carrier to a mini-motorhome with sink, cooker, fridge and lovely rock-and-roll bed plus an automatic elevating roof where the kiddie sleeps.
We only picked him up on Friday evening and haven't had chance to camp out yet but we had pizzas and cups of tea in him on Friday evening... outside my mum's house!! How adventurous!!
While the interior is all very modern and tastefully upholstered, it needs a few creative touches. All the side windows have built-in electric blinds but the two ends have little curtains. At the moment these are very serviceable checked ones in tan and cream *yawn*, but I feel a big splash of LIME GREEN is needed to match the pop-top bit. I'm heading off to the shops today to try and find some other limey accessories to spice things up a bit.
Exhibit B is as a direct result of my new job. I am surrounded by buttons, zips, patchwork fabric, haberdashery of all kinds and yarn. I have always loved wool shops - the gorgeous colours, the sumptuous textures - but have never been able to indulge in many purchases as I have never known what to do with the stuff. My knitting is school-girl standard at best and the thought of trying to make a garment fills me with terror. As for crochet, well it's become so popular in recent years but I've never mastered it. I tried last year on holiday but didn't know what I was doing and after one wonky sample I gave up.
Then...
I mentioned at work that I would love to know how to make granny squares and that was it! My boss (the lovely Bev) produced a hook and a ball of yarn and gave me a demo there and then. I got it pretty much straight away and since then I've been hooked (oh I'm soooooo funny).
I bought 3 balls of Rowan DK out of the 'end of line' basket and a size 4 hook and that was it. Now I'm obsessed. I take it everywhere with me. Joy of joys - I can do it in the car (not while driving obviously). Reading while travelling gives me a bad head but not crochet.
So far I've made 27 granny squares (soon to become 3 nine-square cushions), a couple of other experimental ones (learning to read patterns), several little flowers courtesy of Attic 24 and I'm also working on a cotton scarf. More pics will follow when I make time to take some. :O)
So that's me.
For now dolls and all things fabric have taken a backseat. It's "crochet love" all the way. And now it's the school holidays. For some inexplicable reason kiddie is off for 7 weeks this year!! So in between entertaining her and working and a visit to Devon at some point, my blogging could still be pretty sparse. But I'm still lurking on the edges of Blogdom so do come and say 'Hi'.
ttfn
xx