One Little Gift Bag

Hello readers, today I would like to share with you one of my latest quick projects, part of a series which I have really enjoyed making of late. It's a little gift bag on the model of this little bag, which I blogged about a couple posts ago:

This time round, I originally wanted to fill the new creation with handmade cotton scrubbies, as with this one. But I soon realised the bag would be too narrow to accommodate even a couple of pads, so I decided to garnish it with a store-bought piece of handmade cosmetics instead, which had the advantage of making it smell amazing!

So here are a couple of pics of the bag without anything in it:

As you can see, I retained the ruffled top but went for a slightly wider base than on the pink bag above, and chose a string made of chains, which I decorated with beads at the ends. Readers of Simply Crochet magazine will probably recognise the stones gifted for the dream catcher project a few issues back!

And here it is, full of its scented shampoo bar. It is truly a shame that the Internet can't carry smells on this occasion. It was absolutely beautiful :)

And here is a close up of the beads and stones trimmings.

In the above picture, you can really see the stitch definition of the yarn, Rico Creative Cotton Print (Aran) in the Pink Mix shade. I love the look of it. It reminds me of those candy necklaces that were so popular in the 80s!

Anyway, I could not stop there, partly because there was another birthday to cater for, but mostly because I absolutely and utterly LOVE making those little darlings. But it's getting late now, so I will leave you with a little preview of the next bag I made...

And of course, I'll see you Wednesday for the usual granny square update!

Thanks for reading, folks! :)

Au Revoir Summer

Hello my dears! I have just come back from a nine-day holiday in the South of France. It was lovely, but it truly marked the end of summer, which in a way was what I thought and hoped it would do. A sweet conclusion to a sweet summer.

We didn't do much, preferring to lazy around as the days went by, but we did spend the weekend near Toulouse in the South West of France, about an hour and a half away from where we were based. On the way there, we stopped to admire the beautiful medieval city of Carcassonne from afar...

...before pushing onwards to my aunt's place, where we found gorgeous weather and peaceful surroudings. My aunt has a beautiful house in a lovely village, and being more used to seeing it around Christmas time, it was sheer delight to discover it in all its summertime glory.

On the Saturday, we drove to Toulouse town centre and walked around the streets of the 'Pink City' in sweltering heat, among incredible views.

I had done some research on local haberdasheries, and headed straight to Aux Doigts d'Or, where I purchased some woolly goods:

After that, it was back to my parents' for more lazying around, such as admiring sunsets...

...and of course crocheting! Whilst packing for this holiday, I had no idea what crochet projects to bring along. The Blanket is now utterly non portable, as are many of my current WIPs, so literally five minutes before leaving for the airport, I picked up random yarn from my ever expanding stash, and very happily worked with it once arrived. More on those project very soon!

All in all, it was a great way to say 'au revoir' to summer and 'bonjour' to autumn, even though I could not help but feel sad, as I always do, to see summer go. However, the good news is... I now get to crochet warm, cosy makes! Ah, I (almost) can't wait for winter! ;)

Looking Back in Sweet Anticipation

Hello, my lovelies! As I am writing, my suitcase is (kind of) packed and I am (more or less) ready for my holiday. So before I leave, I thought I'd share with you a few notable-or-not pictures I have taken the past few weeks...

This colourful fountain in the King's Cross area...

This handsome fellow, encountered one early morning in Richmond Park...

These munching and fluttering beauties, seen at the Sensational Butterflies exhibition, at the London Natural History Museum...

Guilty pleasures brought back from an impromptu lunchtime shopping spree...

A new crochet project... Can you guess what it will be ?

And finally, the most glorious light show I had seen in a long time, another early morning in Richmond Park...

Now, all I need to do is choose which crochet project to take along on hols. Oh dear, wish me luck! :D

Time For Grannies Again

Hello, everyone! It has been a hectic couple of weeks here, and I am desperately looking forward to my upcoming holiday, early next week. Yay! I really need a break!

Anyway, I have carried on with the Blanket joining, not as much as I would have liked, due to looming birthdays, for which I have to whip up a few crochet things. But I am getting there, definitely. I have now completed 8 horizontal joining rows, and currently doing the 9th:

Only 5 to go...

It's starting to look good, isn't it?

I am already thrilled with how it looks. In fact, I have also started using the Blanket. The thing is, when I crochet the joining, I have to literally bury myself under the Blanket. Well, last weekend, I sat down for a few joining rows, delighted with all the colours surrounding me, and the next thing I knew, I woke up from an hour's nap, feeling incredibly refreshed and invigorated. I have no doubt that all those lovely colours helped to relax my mind.

I am not sure if I'll have anything to post about next week, as I will be on holiday, but I'll try!

In the meantime, as always, go have a look at the others' work at Jijihook's.

See you soon! :)

Wednesday Grannies

Hello! It's that time of the week again! I am happy to report good progress on the Blanket. Last week, I finished joining the last few vertical rows...

And so, the horizontal joining has now started. So far, I have completed four rows. You can see the fully joined rows to the left in the pic below.

The joining is an absolute joy to work. Even though there are still a few joining rows to complete, the Blanket is pretty much in its final shape now, and so I have to literally wrap myself in it whilst doing the joining. It is a lovely feeling, and the riot of colours never fails to lift my spirits if need be. Something else I have found surprisingly pleasant is the weight of the Blanket. It is so heavy! It really feels like one of those old-school blankets there used to be at my grandparents' country house when I was growing up. Very lovely indeed. I can't wait to wrap the finished product around me this winter!

Go on, have a few more angles :)

I hope to report on a fledgling edging next week :) In the meantime, go have a look at what the others have hooked up at Jijihook's.

Toodles!