Octogonical: Part 1

I tried hard to resist this Blanket Crochet Along – failed!

Helen Shrimpton’s Octogonical.

My excuse to myself is that I am only going to use yarn I already have:

Stylecraft Special DK and a 4.5mm hook

Colour Order

Lobelia, Royal, Teal, Lobelia, Bright Pink, Lobelia, Emperor, Lobelia

What can I say – crochet makes me happy, and joining in with other crocheters on the same project is fun.

In a Vase on Monday: Happy Birthday

It was my daughter’s birthday last week and I picked some asters and cotoneaster to pop in a jar for her.

The bees are going crazy for those asters but the birds are not eating the cotoneaster berries yet. There is a Mrs Blackbird tucking into some pyracantha berries just outside my kitchen window – so they must ripen earlier.

I used an old doodle book of the children’s to make the birthday card

The book had been filled and discarded so I took out the centre to reuse the neon pink cover

I could easily reuse the holes for sewing in a new centre.

With a bit of neon yellow embroidery thread. My daughter loves a bit of neon!

I came across something called ‘block writing’ on Instagram, so I had to have a go.

When my daughter was born, I was reading a beautiful book about Native American practices: Voices of Our Ancestors. by Dhyani Ywahoo.

A was born at 3.45am and when I got back to the ward, the light of dawn was beginning to glow in the sky. I looked out of the window, feeling so happy and relieved and grateful to have a healthy baby girl, and I saw one bright star, which I now realise must have been Venus.  I gave A a Native American name ‘Bright Morning Star’- a secret name – just between her and me.

For her birthday I gave her a rooted fig tree cutting that I bought in the market – hope it grows well and tucked a note in the card for her to go towards her lunchtime meal at The Station Kitchen, West Bay.

I am definitely going to try and take some cuttings from my fig tree next year.

My daughter lives just across the field from me, so I walked up quite early to give her the card.

This was the scene over the village as I walked back – autumn mist in the distance.

Joining in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for In a Vase on Monday.

Beach

Imagine my delight when I went for a walk at Overcombe beach yesterday morning and saw PINK seaweed!

It was such a beautiful morning and there were quite a few people swimming

with the backdrop of huge cruise ships sitting in the bay. There have been up to 10 at a time out there as they sit out the pandemic in the shelter of Weymouth Bay

They are quite a sight – some are enormous!

But I was far more interested in the seaweed and just looking at the pebbles 

and other finds

meet Rocky (found on different day)

and this is when Rocky met Bob, who lives at my daughter’s house

and this is me (on the left) and my sister on Newgale beach in Pembrokeshire, circa1962.

Who had one of those bathing suits? And why on earth did we have to wear those horrid hats in the sea!

Textile Tuesday: Wild Twinchies

I just love seeing those little envelopes pop through my letterbox. If you want to know more about this project see this post.

These are just arranged randomly at the moment.

Aren’t they yummy! An Autumnal theme is developing methinks.

Only two more to come and then I can start playing around with how to bring them all together.

Thank you so much to all who have joined in

Life is a bit hectic here right now – all good but it is keeping me away from blogging – I am looking forward to it all calming down soon.

Silent Sunday in Thorncombe Woods

And the Rainbow Blanket goes to ……..

Pebble!

Yes Cathy, you were right!

Liitle Miss M asked for the blanket to be for Pebble and I crumbled!

Pebble arrived yesterday and has settled right in. I am not one to go all gooey over animals in general but ……. I have to admit I’m smitten.

We had a black labrador in the 70s/80s called Dido, this is Dido as a puppy

and later, (circa 1974) curled up with Basil and Rue, our two rescue cats, next to the solid fuel Rayburn in the kitchen, on a very comfortable chair I bought in an auction for £1.

Dido went on to have 8 puppies and by the time of this photo was taken, with my son (then two and a half, now 44) she was heartily fed up with them!

The next photo is when Pebble met Little Miss M and Master R for the first time, after school yesterday. She snuggled in and went to sleep just after this photo was taken with two very happy children, beaming from ear to ear.

My daughter sent me a text this morning to say Pebble is very happy with the Rainbow blanket and slept on it last night, and sent this photo, saying that Pebble seems to be a fan of the scrap happy blanket too.

Happy Days ahead!

Wordless Wednesday

Rainbow Blanket for ?

Another stash busting Rainbow Ripple Blanket using Attic24’s Neat Ripple pattern, a 4.5mm hook and the yarn left over from the blanket for Big Bro.

And this one goes to ………

….. and I can’t quite believe I have agreed to this ……

but this one goes to ……..

……… answer next week.    😉

In a Vase on Monday on Scrap Happy Tuesday

It was my son-in-law’s birthday yesterday – Happy Birthday Mr. M!

You might remember he is the farmer who likes supporting my crazy crafty ways.

You can see him and my daughter in this post.

I had meant to post this yesterday, but the day did not go to plan, never mind it now doubles up as a multi-functional post, two memes in one.

In true Scrap Happy Style I made Mr M a card out of old used teabags and some of the old wire fencing he brought for me to play with.

Each element, a symbol of members of his family. The heart with gold kisses represents my daughter – her name means ‘beloved’. My two Granddaughters’ names are represented by the fern leaf print and the ‘pearl’ and my Grandson’s by the red beads.

In the Chive vase are a couple of Robin’s Pincushions found on a wild rose in my garden

Intriguing, I love the colours and texture – they have a touch of magic about them

and the wonderfully shiny hips reminding me of the school nature table, when each year in primary school we seemed to do something about hips and haws.

Joining Cathy for In a Vase on Monday.

Kate and her fellow scrappers for the monthly Scrap Happy Day

Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra (me), Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline,
Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Del and Nanette

and Cee for Flower of the Day, with a link to her post with some graphics on the state of the fires and air quality on the West Coast of the US.

Saturday Saunter

This scene is from a walk I did with a friend and her dogs on Thursday, just over and mile from my house. (click on the photo to see it larger)

We have done the walk many times, but we both just had to stop and soak in the view which seemed particularly beautiful in the September sunshine. We both remarked on how lucky we are and how we never take for granted that we live in a beautiful and relatively safe part of the world.

My heart is with anyone affected by wildfires at the moment, all those in California and  particularly Cee, who has been evacuated from her home.

❤  Stay safe friends wherever you are  ❤

Pastel Rainbow Baby Blanket

It’s stash-busting time. How did my stash of yarn get so big?!

To use up some Stylecraft Special DK, I made a baby blanket in one of the most relaxing patterns to crochet –  Attic24’s Neat Ripple .

It was easy to carry around and do in any odd moment – I always have one such project on the go. It lives in the car.

I used a 4.5mm hook

The final measurement is 40″ x 30″  which is  1m x 85cm

Choosing soft colours, with pinks as the starting point, I arranged the colours in rainbow order.

A friend saw the blanket on Instagram and said she thought they look like Unicorn Colours – what do you think?

The colours: Sherbert, Cloud Blue, Wisteria, Clematis, Soft Peach, Candy Floss, Fondant, Shrimp, Blush, Buttermilk, Lincoln, Spearmint, Duck Egg, Spice,  Powder Pink,

The foundation chain was 140 + 3

Most of this blanket was made with two rows for each colour.

The colour order:

Sherbert, Cloud Blue, Wisteria, Clematis, Soft Peach, Candy Floss,

Fondant, Shrimp, Blush, Buttermilk, Lincoln, Spearmint,

Duck Egg, Sherbert, Cloud Blue, Wisteria, Clematis, Soft Peach,

Candy Floss, Fondant, one row of Spice and one row of Shrimp,

Buttermilk, Lincoln, Spearmint, Sherbert, Cloud Blue, Wisteria,

Powder Pink, Soft Peach, Candy Floss, Fondant, Spice, Buttermilk,

Lincoln, Duck Egg, Spearmint, Sherbert.

Edging

Row 1, filling in the ripples: Spearmint

Row 2, in Double Crochet (US) Treble Crochet (UK): Powder Pink

Row 3, in SC (US), DC (UK)

Row 4, shell stitch in Spearmint.

I did not have a recipient in mind when I started it, but as often happens, someone sees what I am making, says they love it and Ta Dah! it finds it’s home.

A friend saw me making this one and would like to give it to a new baby due to arrive in January. Perfect!

Textiles: Collage Squares

Yet another Scrap Happy post!

Making fabric collage squares for the Twinchie projects was such a fun way to upcycle some of my fabric scraps, I carried on making them

The first ones were 10″ squares, but I realised that 12 ” squares are much more versatile

You can divide them into 2″, 3″, 4″ or 6″ squares.

The squares actually measure 13″ to allow for the squares to be cut just slightly over the these measurements to allow for a little bit of trimming if necessary.

They can also be divided into different sized rectangles or strips

I love making these, even though they take longer than you’d think to get the placement satisfactory. When I have a pile of about 50 I might put some in my Etsy shop just to see if anyone would want to buy them as starting points for their own projects.

If you fancy one – just send me a message via the Contact Me page.

Once all of the Twinchies are back and I have completed a piece of textile art with them, the plan is for these squares to be used in more collaborative textile art projects. Watch this space!

PS. For WordPress users – is the new format driving you crazy? Arrgghhhh!

In a Vase on Monday

Self-seeded Calendula and aster with ripe and ripening pears.

It is a challenge to catch the pears at the the right time to pick them before the wasps get to them. A good crop this year.

Joining Cathy and her joyful meme: In a Vase on Monday

I am completely replanting the bed behind the espalier pear trees. Everything has been taken out because the ground elder and marestail had taken over.

Looking from North to South

I dug it over, took everything out, and dug it over once a week for 4 weeks in the hope of getting every bit of weed root out. I saved all the bulbs and have replanted them in a completely random fashion and planted new and old irises

Looking from South to North

A rogue sunflower which grew in the pot I had the tiny fuschia (Jollies Nantes)  in.

I have also scattered seed from Nigella, calendula, cerinthe, aquilegia, foxglove and purple loosestrife.

It will be fun to see how this looks in Spring.

The daughter of a friend of mine is just starting her garden and liked my scattergun way of creating a border, so I have collected seed for her to try it out.

I found this You Tube clip

 

made some little seed packets out of a Gudren Sjoden catalogue

I loved making these, I like the way they are in the shape of little flower pots.

Joining in with Cee’s Flower of the Day

 

Silent Sunday: Swan Lake

Yarn Along: Mosaic Crochet Lap Blanket

Stylecraft Special Double Knit and 4.5mm hook. Colours and quantities: 4 Parchment, 2 Copper, 1 Lincoln, 1 Silver, 1 and a bit (enough to do the last row of the border) Cypress

Measurements: 1m15cm x 1m3cm

Pattern by Moira of Daisyknots

I made this for my nephew (30), it was supposed to be longer, but I accidentally missed out a couple of sections in the middle. I was doing the border when I realised, so I had gone way too far to unpick. My nephew says he is happy with the size, which should look good as a throw on a chair or sofa and be the right size for a lap blanket. The colours are to go with his room, which is mainly greens, but he asked that I include a rust colour as he knows how much I love my rust and it would ‘add that Dondi touch’.

‘Dondi’ is the nickname all my nieces and nephews have for me. You might remember that another nephew even co-wrote a song “Singing this song for Dondi”.

I have just got the back border to complete. An envelope border to encase all the ends, as you only work on one side and start a new piece of yarn for each row. Cunning plan!

Joining in with Ginny for her Yarn Along

~

I have finished the book!

This is the first novel I have read for years – I don’t know what happened, but at some point I just lost interest in reading fiction.

I enjoyed the almost poetic descriptions – there are some beautiful scenes that really give you a sense of place and I enjoyed the characters. I could have done without the whole ‘whodunnit’ aspect of the book, especially the tying up of the plot which seemed rushed at the end and I did not believe in it.

Maybe Delia Owens would not have found a publisher without it being a murder mystery, which is a shame, because I would have loved to have spent more time in the marshes and enjoyed a few chapters of a happy dreamy ending with the hero and heroine in their isolated cabin.

Have you read it? I know Laurie and Lynn have.

I am interested to know what others think of the book.

Textile Tuesday: September

Good Morning! A brand new month and moving into Autumn. I am looking forward to more stitching time, but for now the garden still occupies much of my creative time.

However, the Wild Twinchies are returning home! Which is very exciting.

These are the two little gems arrived from Dawn, so beautifully wrapped in a tiny box, it felt like opening a lovely present

and when I put them with the others ideas started to form about how I might work with them

Thank you so much Dawn,  Cathy, Amanda and Rainbow J for your beautiful pieces of textile art – all gorgeous, all fabulous little gifts arriving in the post.

Just over half are here, I’m excited to see what comes next.

~

There was a piece on Woman’s Hour last week about a collaborative Quilt project organised by Sue Brown and Louise Asher called Same Sea, Different Boat.

It seems that many of us had a similar idea at the same time  – Hundredth Monkey Effect and/or Zeitgeist!

There is also the Quarantine Quilt on Instagram

~

If you have any textile news or views to share – pop a link in the Comments.

 

❤  Happy Stitching!  ❤

Silent Sunday: Castle Cove

Rain

The view from my window this afternoon – the village 3 miles away had a river running down the street and so did the local town.

But it was all over in about 10 minutes and then sun came out. We are very lucky.

Thinking of all our American friends in Louisiana and surrounding area.

How has it been where you are?

3 mile walk: Hambledon Hill

On Sunday I met my son and his family for a walk and a Pub Lunch, it felt almost normal.

We parked at The Cricketers pub at Shroton, where we had a table booked for 12:30.

and set off up on the footpath up towards Hambeldon Hill

under dramatic skies.

Happily there were a couple of gates, but not really squeaky enough to be very tuneful

and some rusty wires, making line, shape and pattern

Hambledon is one of the 20 Hill Forts in Dorset. I have been to 12, not all of them are on footpaths, but I will see if I can go to a few more, there always such magnificent views from up there.

 

Dil on a Hill

Then back down the hill to the Pub garden

for lunch

I am glad I ordered a Child’s portion of Roast Beef – look at the size of that Yorkshire pudding – it was massive – and yummy.

My son was the only one to go for a pudding

Toblerone Cheesecake!!!!

But Dil and I insisted on trying a spoonful – mmmmm – delicious!

 

Textile Tuesday: 1500

Progress on the #brownpaperbagchallenge

(this is how they looked last week)

And another one in progress

I just noticed that I have 1500 followers! How exciting, what a milestone.

Thank you to each and every one of you for being here!

Someone once wrote in the comments that Wild Daffodil is like a Crafts Magazine, and I loved that. One of the greatest joys of blogging is to share inspiration and ideas and give and receive support for all forms of creativity.

But the greatest joy is undoubtedly the sense of community that builds and the meeting of like minds – I really do thank you for every single visit to the blog, every like and especially every second spent taking the time to comment.

I really do value the wonderful friendships made along the way, that enrich my life and my creativity.

Huge hugs are beaming their way across the miles to you.

~

To mark this milestone, I would be interested to know

1. What you enjoy most about Wild Daffodil?

2.  What you would like to hear more about?

As a little Give Away, I will send one of the above pieces of textile art, when finished, to one of you picked at random.

Thank you for being here!

❤