Windy Wednesday Evening Walk

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Yennefer completed

You can see the beginning of this mandala journey in this post. It took a while but at last I found a 70 cm metal hoop to attach the mandala to.

Using Scheepjes Whirl, Turquoise Turntable, and a 3.5mm hook, I cut the thread after Round 19, 24, 30 and 32 to wind off until the next colour join or two. I think I have used just over half the Whirl on this mandala and I will make another with the yarn that remains.

I didn’t block this one, I attached each point to the hoop with a stitch marker

and then using a needle and a length of the yarn, I sewed each picot point to the hoop, threading the yarn through the edge to get to the next point

It will hang on the wall above my fireplace, but I’m wondering if I should mount it on something first.

A Solstice Vase on Monday

After weeks of wet and gloomy, we had the most glorious weather for the Summer Solstice

The honeysuckle grows on a fence outside my bedroom window – can you imagine the heady wafts of scent on a warm solstice evening ………. deeeeeee-lissshhhhhh-usss

I have mixed it with the froth of Lady’s Mantle for a Solstice celebration

They are in a heavy ceramic circular candle holder with a trough (there must be a better word?) around for flowers. I bought this many years ago in Glastonbury and it has been the centre piece for many a meditation gathering and Solstice celebration in my past life in hippyland.

I do hope you enjoyed the Solstice in your neck of the woods.

Oh how I am delighting in my Long Border filling out, gradually hiding more soil.

(you can see the beginnings of the creation of this border and how it looked a couple of months ago in this post)

Next door are doing some renovations, there will be a fence eventually between the concrete posts, and then that bit of the border will be north facing and in shade. I will move some hostas there when the time is right.

Did you spy a Hot Princess?

Cathy! She is flowering and she is Hot! This is my lovely birthday gift from Cathy when I went to see her last November. Cathy knows I love Hot Pink and this thoughtful gift is just perfect!

Just before I go I MUST show you some of my poppies – which have been so much enjoyed by me, my neighbours and most importantly, the bees!

Click on any photo to see it full screen

Turn up the volume to hear the buzzzzzzzz.

Joining Cathy for her In a Vase on Monday, weekly link with other gardeners around the globe.

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day

 

Happy Solstice!

 

Yennefer

Sometimes to urge to start a new project is overwhelming and I have to set all of the WIPs aside and just go for it. 

Zoya Matyushenko’s new pattern Yennefer was irresistable.

The instructions are well written but do not come with a photo tutorial, so I make a copy of the photo on my laptop and then crop it and enlarge so that I can see the details as a guide.

I’m using Scheepjes Whirl Turquoise Turntable – ooooo – I just have to pause to delight in this gradient yarn – it feels gorgeous and looks so inviting – I had to stroke and squidge it for a few days before breaking into it. The photo does not do it justice. Oh the joy of the colour and how it fades from light to dark ………… ………… …….

It is soooooooooo pretty.

I tried a 4mm hook, but it did not hold together, so I am using a 3.5mm hook to make a mandala which I will sew to a metal hoop and hang in the wall. You can see other mandalas/dreamcatchers I have made here , here, here and one for a wizard here.

I am not getting the stitches even but hope, by the end, they will look ok

Zoya is a magician with crochet and creates all sorts of amazing effects. Each round is an adventure and the sense of achievement is huge and so satisfying.

I am working from the pale turquoise on the outside and by the end of Round 14, I thought I would, cut the yarn and wind off some of this pale turquoise, in order to get the full range of the gradient colours into the mandala.

At each join another strand of darker turquoise is added, I wound the yarn past one join and cut it at the next

Round 15 is started with the slightly darker yarn.

Working these Rounds is like reading an exciting book, I’m eager to get to the end of the ‘chapter’ and to get onto the next one, a real page-turner. I want to see how the next bit of the story affects the last bit and see the story unfold, each new stitch, a new character. I can’t put it down.

Sometimes I wish there was a photo to explain the next Round, so for my own future reference, this is the beginning of Round 17.

I am often asked how long I take to make a blanket or a mandala and it is always a difficult question to answer as I pick crochet up in odd moments and never time myself. But I was interested to see how long each of the ‘Petals’ took to make so I set my Stopwatch

At least I have an answer if asked about this one – if only for one part of it.

The work is much softer in Scheepjes Whirl than in a finer crisper cotton, but I’m hoping that once stretched on a hoop the details will be defined enough for a pleasing effect.

Onto the next petal….

 

 

Silly Happy Snappy Saturday

North Dorset

On Wednesdays, after school,  I take my granddaughter Miss E to her Gym Class. In the winter I am happy to sit for the two hours with crochet and a flask of tea, listening to podcasts on my iPad, but yesterday was such a lovely evening, I dropped her off and drove on for about 10 minutes and went for a walk.

 

Is this a Six Spot Burnet moth?

Joining Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Wordless Wednesday: Evening Walk

 

Glimpses from my walk yesterday evening.

Turn the sound right up to hear the birds and the bees.