In a Vase: White

Cathy, of Rambling in the Garden, has been inspired by Christina, of My Hesperides Garden  this week and is celebrating blogging friendship with a vase full of beautiful white flowers from her garden – which in turn has inspired my vase.

This little white jug has Tiarella Sky Rocket, a self seeded white lavender, saxifrage and erigeron.

The props are some crocheted daisies ready to adorn a blanket for Miss E. I started this way back in April last year, doing the many squares for the border has halted the process, but it is her birthday coming up and I really want to finish the blanket in time.

Here it is without a border

and here is the border in progress with daisies arranged by Miss E

40 squares and 12 daisies and so many ends to sew in!

I am also creating a pattern for the blanket so that if I ever did want to make one again (?!) I will have the instructions to hand. This will be available as a free pattern for anyone else who would like to give it a go.

White flowers are my favourite and despite the heavy rain this morning I managed to find some in the garden for another vase

In the vase on the left there is feverfew, astrantia, and a perennial white wallflower with a gorgeous scent, especially at dusk.

The vases are sitting amongst the pot plants: a white orchid,

Streptocarpus Rhiannon

and Streptocarpus Myfanwy

Do pop on over to see Cathy’s vase and all the others that come pouring in from all over the world always lifting a Monday with beauty.

Also joining in with Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Happy Monday!

Update: Some photos of the plant which I think is a perennial white wallflower

Am I right?

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Edgy Decisions

I have crocheted all these little daisy squares to go round the edge of the throw for Miss E.

Design Decision 1: I was intending for them all to have pale yellow centres. When I showed Miss E she requested that they had different colours for the centres.

Design Decision 2: When I lined them up around the blanket I wondered if they were a bit too much. With hindsight I think I would have crocheted another round of pale blue to give more space around the daisies. I did some plain squares to go in alternately.

Miss E had the choice, and she has chosen solid daisies.

Design Decision 3: We could have daisies scattered on the surface and sewn on, or leave the ripples as they are.

When I first suggested this Miss E put her head slightly on one side and said , “that might be a bit over-the-top Granny, let’s wait and see”, as if she has learnt that Granny needs reining in on her crazy ideas sometimes!!!

Having seen them as in the first picture she is now considering it, but still wants to wait and see what it looks like once the edge is on – wise girl – one step at a time!

Linking in with Ginny’s Yarn Along

What design decisions are you making today?

Bedspread for Little Miss M

A finished project is something to celebrate!This one started out as one of the throws I was making to go beneath my favourite painting, ‘Summer Flight’ by Carolyne KardiaI was trying to choose colour and design to compliment the picture and go over the back of the sofa beneath.  Not a good idea as it turns out –  all the ripple designs I tried seemed to fight with the picture – they were not happy together. But experimenting was enjoyable and resulted in quite a few cushions and a couple of throws that have been put to good use elsewhere.

This one is much loved by Smokey the kitten. It has now become a bedspread for Little Miss M.

It took some time to work out how to do the edging, but with crochet this is quick and easy.

Filling in the rippled ends took a bit of working out. I just sort of made it up as I went along, but I think it worked out well enough in the end.Smokey and the girls think so anyway.

Made with Stylecraft Special DK, 12 Colours:

White, Cream, Soft Peach, Fondant, Bright Pink, Magenta, Aspen, Turquoise, Teal, Aster, Bluebell and Lavender.

Ripple Throw

The Portland Ripple Throw has found its home with my grandsons …..to snuggle under whilst watching T.V……… to stretch out on when Granny is trying to photograph it

corners being kicked up as the boys practised long-jump across it…

and big brother was delighted to discover he could still see through the blanket when he covered himself up as a GHOST MONSTER

and could chase his little brother

happy days!

For those of you who would like to know the details:

Portland Ripple is made from Lucy at Attic24’s Neat Ripple Pattern

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

Using Stylecraft Special DK , acrylic machine washable yarn and a  4.5mm hook

It uses Multiples of 14 sts plus 3 for turning.             12 x 14 = 168 +3 = 171

So chain 171 as the foundation row.

I really don’t like counting chain stitches, so I usually just chain about the width I want the finished piece to be, and then do about 10 more chains and start on the pattern – any chains left over, I simple unpick before sewing the end in.

This is my random colour order, 2 rows for each colour:

1 – 10:       Lime, Parchment, White, Aster, Silver, Cream, Parchment, Lime, Meadow, Aspen,

11 – 20:     Silver, White, Parchment, Cream, Aster, Aspen, Lime, Cloud Blue, Silver, Parchment,

21 – 30:     Cream, White, Aspen, Aster, Cloud Blue, Meadow, Parchment, Lime, Silver, Cream,

31 – 40:     Aster, White, Cloud Blue, Parchment, Aspen, Meadow, Silver, Aster, Cream, Lime,

41 – 50:     Cloud Blue, White, Aspen, Meadow, Lime, Parchment, Cloud Blue, Cream, Aster, Lime.

My finished throw measures   104cm (40.5”) wide x 130cm (51”) long

The boys seem to like it! – what do you think?

Portland Ripple

December sunshne! So out with the camera for a ripple fashion shoot.

the colours remind me of Portland – the stone, the sea, the grass and the lichen

a rather coy owl

with a ripple wing, and teasel tiara

and a not so cosy armchair

or throne ………    Tout Quarry is just one of Portland’s many hidden gems.

You can see the colours used in order in the next post.

Throw.n

Nearly finished ….

There is always a mini feeling of sadness when a big project is coming to an end, like when you arrive at the last chapter in a great novel and you don’t want to leave the world of the characters and the story.

I started this throw back in April, and if you are interested in the yarn and colours, click here and you can see the list I ordered. However I did not use the ‘raspberry’ in the end.

I have loved using this process of choosing the colours and working out the best combination and pattern and making up the sequence of colours according to the painting.

Has it worked? Well, I’m not sure it has – the zig-zags are maybe too bold … perhaps a more regular and repeating pattern would have worked better with single rows of each colour.

I have so enjoyed the ‘journey’ of it though. It holds many happy memories. It has led to making cushion covers for 3 grandchildren and they have been able to choose their own colours. And Miss E who painted this picture when she was 4 (at her house, so not in sight of the painting)

as the sort of picture that Granny likes,  was able to play with colour. Teddy chose this combination for her next dress!

And here is the throw, or snuggle blanket  …. finished (?). I crocheted a row of single crochet along the side edge in pale turquoise.

When a creative piece is not entirely a success I like to remember that “it is not wrong, it is just not finished”. A great quote – wish I could remember where I found it.

So I will live with the Throw and enjoy it and probably try out another design for another cushion cover. And maybe make a second blanket that will harmonise in a more pleasing way. I do like it, but not LOVE it, so no big Ta Dah! on this one – work in progress.