Diary of a croaper

Boob hat

2012-02-12T19:47:00.000Z

Inspired by something shared on Facebook, I was asked if I could make a boob hat for a baby girl. The original idea came from knitted boobs to aid new breastfeeding mothers, but there are a few boob hats around now.

So, I fiddled about with a basic pattern, but I'm not 100% happy with it. Any opinions? I think it needs to be made slightly differently so you don't get the holes on the increases.

FFOs

2012-01-18T14:21:00.000Z

Finally Finished Objects!

My time stuck at home with Horrid Bug 2 hasn't all been wasted. Yes, I've actually managed to get some bits and bobs finished at long, long last so here are a few pics (bad ones, sorry) of things I've had lying around just waiting for the dreaded ends to be sewn in.

This was the first ruffle cushion I did but never got round to finishing off

This one's a teaser - the recipient knows who she is and just a glimpse will be enough to drive her mad :-)

A lap blanket I made way back last year. I'm not too pleased with the way I put the blocks together, but it's too late now, and it's only for me

I used to be more of a knitter than a crochet fiend, and for a change I picked up some needles and made quite a few cowls/slouchy neckwarmers/snoods or whatever you want to call them for Christmas presents, and just for fun. I'm sure I made more than this though but mustn't have taken pics before I gave them away

I know I took pics of a couple of other things too, but I can't find them anywhere on my computer :-(

So, that's the FFOs for now, but here's my house guest Reggie. My sis is recovering after a knee operation so I've got this beautiful boy staying with me for a while. There may be a custody battle when it's time for him to go home - he's my new best friend and has been dishing out lots of love and cuddles. We think he's a Norwegian forest cat, but one of the vet nurses seemed to think he could be a Maine coon. Whatever he is, he's a very beautiful boy and I'm more than a bit in love with him :-)

Time to find something else to do now after all that blogging.
TTFN!

Christmas cake 2011

2011-12-27T16:30:00.000Z

I didn't realise I hadn't posted anything since July! That's dreadful, but life has just kind of got in the way again. I'll try to do better in 2012. I've been making loads of crochet/knitted stuff, but I just haven't had the time to take pics or do any blogging (anyone using Picasa to upload pics having the same trouble as me? It just refuses to work, I don't know why).

I wasn't going to do my usual cake this year, but I started out with the marzipan and a box of coloured icing, and about 5 hours later I'd forgotten I wasn't doing anything fiddly this year! Here's the result - I try to make my family smile when I turn up with a surprise decoration on the cake. I think this one worked......and I had fun making it :-)

Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year to all my friends out there in blogland.

Back!

2011-07-12T17:25:00.000+01:00

I haven't been around for a while, but I'm back now IF Picasa and Blogger will work. Anybody else having trouble? It's driving me insane telling me the security certificate isn't valid, and Picasa refuses to upload photos straight to Blogger. Grrrrrr

Anyhow, after a pretty traumatic time lately, I've been in Portugal for a lovely break. It was an, erm, interesting break to say the least - with spooky goings on among other things. I don't recommend anybody sprays fly spray and then shuts the door and has a nice warm bath by the way - it makes you feel VERY ill! What an idiot, I should know better, and I do! Good job I can laugh about it now.

Well, true to form I had to make some Diabolical Doilies, but no beading this time around. I took some lovely Lanarte cross-stitch with me to do for a change (I managed to sew my dress to that too!) but I didn't get very far. In fact, I'm not quite sure what I did manage to achieve other than reading a fair few books and some crochet.

So, this year's Diabolicals are coming up :-)

I did make a couple of filet crochet mats too. Not quite sure what happened to the pic of the second one, but here's the other - it's quite large (would fit a large tray) and took the best part of 5 days to do.

Forgot about these! Just seen them in my album. I was just fiddling about with the threads I had and decided to make a few coasters and a bigger version to put under a bowl.

I think that's about it. I'm sure there's other stuff lying around I've forgotten to take pics of.

And finally, just when you think the hols can't get any weirder, in the middle of nowhere in the Portuguese countryside, what else would suddenly appear trying to get a drink out of the pool?

Well, obviously it's a very tame budgie. What else? We managed to catch it and it now has a nice new home along with another rescued budgie :-)

Bye for now!

Trying again

2011-04-05T20:14:00.000+01:00

I've given up trying to get Picasa to post pics to Blogger - the "fix" they say works just plain DOESN'T. Grrrrr. If this method works, I'll try to repost the pics from the previous post!

So, to test out another way of doing it, here're a few pics of some earrings I fiddled about with last week. The bigger ones are made with regular #11 seed beads, and the smaller ones with #15s.

A weird week

2011-03-30T14:23:00.027+01:00

I'm having a bit of a weird week - no change there then! I didn't know gardening was hazardous - I managed to pop something in my back and pinch my finger in the cutters all in the space of an hour on Saturday. I've been stuck at home ever since trying to move about slowly but with a lot of grunting and groaning like an old lady. Anyhow, I had some physio today and it's a bit easier so fingers crossed it'll ease up a bit now and I can get back to work - minus the hot water bottle stuffed down my trousers, lol. Then my laptop did very weird things and I thought it'd died - black screen, white screen, wouldn't switch on or off. I unplugged it, took the battery out and let it sulk in the corner overnight. It seems to be playing nicely again now though so I thought I'd do a blog post while the going's good.

So, stuck on the sofa, I got some beads out and had another play - the pattern is from Beadwork Feb/Mar 11 issue but I adapted the beads and style a bit. It's a modified St Petersburg stitch, which is really simple once you get the hang of it. The finished necklace is about 17" long and drapes quite nicely. The green version was made with 1.3mm cubes and the red one with ordinary #11 seed beads - both work well.

Right, off to walk around for a while - I'm told it's good for me, but it might take me some time to launch myself off the sofa :-)

Edited to add: the week gets weirder - Blogger ate my pics so I hope they're here now. Grrrrrr.

Edited again 3rd April - Blogger and Picasa have an "issue" which supposedly is fixed. IT'S NOT, grrrrr. You can't upload multiple pics and you can't edit the html code as they suggest, because the code they tell you to edit isn't there. Anybody else having this problem? It's driving me insane.

Busy beading (mostly)

2011-03-21T19:11:00.001Z

Too many things on the go keeping me busy, but this one had to be ready for tomorrow for my Mum's birthday. The pattern was in the Feb/Mar 11 issue of Beadwork magazine and was easier to make than I thought it would be (even though it was fiddly and took a bit of getting used to as it's a lonnnng time since I got round to any serious beading).
Anyhow, the result is a bracelet for Mum, made with Toho and Miyuki seed and delica beads and Swarovski crystals in the middles and for the button. Sorry the pics aren't up to much - photography is NOT my strongpoint - but I hope you get the general idea :-)

I ought to show you these cute little pieces, found at the Antiques & Collector's fair in Brighton a couple of weeks ago. Lizzie came over from Hastings (EXPERT bootfair rummager/collector, so she led the way) and we spent a fun couple of hours rooting about. We spotted these - one little crochet hook and one, erm, prodder I suppose you'd call it (although I have no clue what it's actually for) with mother-of -pearl handles which aren't split anywhere (which I'm told is good) - and I was busy admiring them when Lizzie stepped in and bought them. I had no clue she was buying them for me, so I came away very chuffed.

I'm mid-way through crocheting another ruffle cushion (that'll be 4) and trying to knit, yes knit a corgi. I can't say as I'm enjoying that corgi very much - it looks more like a dinosaur to me at the moment - but it's another one to add to my CV I suppose, lol. Before anybody thinks my plot has gone even further into hiding, the corgi is for a Royal Wedding window display in my friend's wool shop, and not just something I've decided to do at random :-) TTFN

Crochet bits

2011-03-06T18:04:00.000Z

I've done a fair bit of crochet lately, just haven't got round to blogging about it. Just a couple of bits to show so far - camera battery has died and the light has gone now. Never mind, maybe it'll inspire me to take more pics another day and blog a bit more often :-)

So, first up is a baby blanket I did for somebody at work - they knew it was going to be a boy so I chose blues but tried to lighten it up with yellow and green. It's the same pattern as here, but I didn't join this one as I went (wish I had!) and it's amazing how the dark outer colour changes the look of the whole thing. I didn't like the look as much when it was sewn together so I did a raised join in light blue - gave it a nice textured finish.

After that, I was fiddling about with some ancient wool (which kept breaking it was so old) and found a ruffle cushion I wanted to have a go at. Mum spotted it and asked if I'd make her one - next thing I know I had a bag of new wool to play with so I had to abandon mine immediately and play with the new stuff :-)
Here's the end result - same cushion, just different light. The last pic is probably the nearest to the true colour.

I'm sitting here trying to remember what else I've made but forgotten to photograph - will have a root about this week and see what I can find.

Seen on a mug, and makes me smile

2011-02-23T21:00:00.000Z

I try to please at least

one person a day

Today isn't your day

tomorrow's not looking

too good either

Christmas cake 2010

2010-12-21T18:04:00.000Z

I had no clue what to do on my cake this year and then it came to me as I was trudging through snow and ice the other day. I always make the cake myself and give it a good drinkie of brandy (to preserve it of course) and then spend hours agonising over what to do for the decoration.
After a few hours of faffing, this is the result - pics aren't very clear though, sorry.

Not sure where November went!

2010-12-04T13:44:00.000Z

It really doesn't seem long since I posted but the time has flown by and we're into December already. Other than working, I've been doing a bit of playing here and there - mostly crochet and playing with my new 200 recipe cookie book :-)

I did go to visit my friend Liz in Hastings though, and look what I came home laden down with! Liz managed to be in the right place at the right time when a wool shop had some stock ruined by a flood - all salvageable but not to be sold. She rootled around in a skip apparently (I'm very proud of her for that, but glad I was in Portugal or I'd have had to be in there with her) and spent ages carefully washing her treasures. Bless her, she showed me her finds and gave me, yes gave me all these beautiful yarns. Aren't I the lucky one - thanks Lizzie.

Anyway, after a cuppa, much scoffing of biccies I'd taken with me and a lot of oohing and aahing at yarns and the beautiful things she creates up in her eyrie, she decided that sitting around nattering just wasn't allowed and I was going to do some papercrafting (at which I'm really rubbish, and try to avoid like the plague). I can't take any credit for the pleated star as she'd already done that bit, but I spent a very happy couple of hours cutting, gluing, sticking and colouring-in. Not bad for a novice, but then I had a good teacher, lol.

It was a good job I went over to Hastings when I did because the weather turned foul after that and it was bitterly cold, even down here on the south coast. I should've known better than to say we had no snow, nothing, zip, nada. This was taken at about 9pm and I thought that'd probably be it

This was the result the next morning - 7 inches of snow which did not budge at all for the next 3 days. Luckily for us, it rained heavily last night and it's all gone - our council isn't exactly what you'd call good at gritting/salting roads and pavements and the trudge to and from work the past week has been pretty horrendous.

Still, a girl has to cheer herself up when it's horrible outside and I had a recipe for Bailey's and white chocolate fudge which had been niggling at me for a few days. I haven't made fudge for at least 30 years and I'd forgotten just how easy it is.

In went the cream, sugar and Baileys - melted and stirred slowly over a low heat until the sugar dissolved

Brought to a rolling boil with great big unruly bubbles and then turned down slightly

Stirred occasionally until the bubbles were smaller and more even and a small amount dropped into a glass of cold water formed a ball which could be scooped out without dissolving

Stirred in chopped up chocolate (I'd probably chop it even finer or even melt it next time). It reduced to a lovely thick gooey, gorgeous-smelling concoction..

Finally - into the tin, smooth the top and wait patiently (not) to cut into chunks and then scoff delicately at every opportunity :o)

I took some into work this week and was told it was the best fudge they'd ever tasted. The texture was really good and it sort of melts on your tongue, but for me there wasn't enough of the Bailey's flavour and I think I'd prefer a mix of milk & plain choc as the white choc was way too sweet for my taste.
The recipe I used can be found here. Enjoy!

So, now the snow has disappeared, hopefully our supermarkets will start getting supplies again and I can trundle off in the next week or so to buy more ingredients to play with. Life's a swine sometimes isn't it, lol.

Well, I've done the housework and it's raining/sleeting hard so I think it's time for playing hooky making crochet snowflakes for my friend's shop display, a nice cuppa and maybe the odd piece of fudge.
Have a lovely weekend x

18th birthday cake

2010-11-13T17:02:00.000Z

Today is my beautiful niece's 18th birthday (doesn't seem possible!) and I was asked to make the cake.
After a bit of a major disaster (had to make a second cake late last night as the first one sank, and not blowing my own trumpet, but my cakes don't normally do that!) I was up at 7am this morning trying to work out what to do for decoration.

A bit bleary-eyed about 4 hours later, this was the final result - a rich chocolate cake with ganache covering, topped with sugar paste flowers and white chocolate shavings. I made 2 smaller "cakes" for the sides to hold the candles - the "E" candle was a sparkler one and I didn't want the sparky bits going all over the chocolate.

I managed to get it to the restaurant in one piece thanks to a lovely cab driver who drove very carefully after I pointed out he may not want to work the rest of the day covered in a pink/white/brown gooey mess, lol.
Stuffed as we all were after a lovely meal, everybody managed a sliver (or 2) so it seemed to go down very well.

Next week it's going to have to be Christmas cake weekend or it won't have time to absorb all the brandy I'll treat it to in the run up to the big day :-)

Off to slump on the sofa now to wait for the effects of the wine and choc cake to wear off :o)

Playing hooky

2010-10-31T12:41:00.000Z

Well, finally Picasa and Blogger are working together on my computer, so here we go!

Now then, a girl just has to take some yarns and crochet hooks with her when she goes away. This is the result and I'm a little bit chuffed with the way the colours and the pattern have worked together. Yippee! something I quite like at last, lol.
I made the whole thing in one week (and then ignored it for a bit because of all the ends to sew in) but I actually finished it.
Thanks again to Solveig for the inspiration :-)

I played around with the African flower pattern and made myself a little bookmark

Stand by - here come the doilies (and there are more lurking unironed in my suitcase which I've yet to unpack)

I'm a bit cross with my lack of photography skills on the next one - it was a lot prettier in real life

And finally, here they are - what you've all been waiting for - this year's Diabolicals. Heehee.

I think that's it for now - I'm having a trial run of a yummy chocolate ganache cake which I've been asked to make for my niece's 18th in a couple of weeks' time. It was my Mum & Dad's anniversary this week so it's a perfect excuse to try out a cake don't you think? Pics to follow (if it works, lol).

See you soon!

Stash-busting hooky and a bit of baking

2010-09-19T18:38:00.000+01:00

Inspired by this pattern and blog (thanks for sharing the pattern Solveig) I was a bit bored yesterday afternoon so I whipped this up. It will be a cushion cover, honest - the sides are already joined together and ready to go, but my camera has just died. The optical illusion you get from this pattern is amazing - edge it in a light colour and you get a star effect, edge it in a dark one and you get a pinwheel. Very clever. I will adapt the pattern slightly though so that the edges aren't quite so wonky.

So, with that pattern in mind, I trotted off to the wool shop on Friday, to stock up on a few yarns to make a blanket in Portugal. All of this cost me less than £10, and even though it's acrylic, it's really soft and doesn't squeak when you work with it :-) I've been a VERY good girl and haven't touched it, even though my fingers have been beside themselves to get going.

And finally, this week's baking - more oaty bakes, this week made with whizzed up blueberries and peaches. Not quite as yummy as last week's but I'll soldier on.

And on that note, I'm off to Portugal for a little holiday. Ahh, happy hooky, beady and reading time all to myself. Bliss.
See you soon. Jo :-)

Bakey, hooky, croapy and beady stuff

2010-09-12T16:02:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I blogged, but I've been busy doing other stuff.....

I'll start with some yummy Sunday baking - a tray of oaty bakes made with coconut, dried apricots and some white-fleshed necatrines which I whizzed up in my new gadget. They smell gorgeous and I've had to sample 2 bits just to make sure they taste ok. They're a bit squidgy in the middle but I'm not complaining :o)

Right, down to business. This was a little lap blanket I made for my Mum. I forgot to take a pic when it was finished, but you can get the general idea. I edged it in dark brown with one narrow row of the other colours. Mum loves it - now just got to make another for the other room. Oh, and one for my sister, etc etc!

Then there's the slight flower scarf addiction I seem to have developed lately (Emily, I know you're with me on that one!). The annoying thing is that ALL of these yarns claim to be "double knitting" thickness - look how different they all are!

Then there's a stash-buster lap blanket I thought I'd do for my niece who has splashes of bright pink in her bedroom. Yet another WIP....

Oh, and there's a shrugelero thingy, just another WIP...... all those wonky squares have got to be sewn together and made into a curvy edging.

Then, there's this luscious stuff lurking in my stash. When my sis asked me what I'd like for my birthday as we happened to be sitting in a coffee shop next door to the yarn shop...well, I didn't physically drag her to the display, but you get my drift :o)

That's all the hooky stuff for now. There is a shawly wrap thing lurking too, but there are far too many of those offending loose ends to sew in yet.

***************
And so, after almost a year, I finally croaped. Oh yes, my croap crown is safe, and I am indeed the Croap Queen. I so want to be a decent soapmaker when I grow up. They NEVER turn out like the image I have in my head. Quite why I get such bad ash on the tops is beyond me too.
The blue one is scented with "Blue Amberwood" which is a lovely spicy unisex scent, but for some reason the FO misbehaved and has left brown traces in the soap. It's also going through the curing stage still so I expect that yellowish colour to change again.
The purple one is scented with Geranium & Lavender. It's a new FO from Jo, and it behaved beautifully in CP soap, and is holding the scent well so far.
Neither soap has palm oil in, but is loaded with shea butter and other goodies.

This is the purple one before it went through the gel process. Quite interesting how the colour changed afterwards. Those "peaks" didn't last too well, but never mind.

And finally, how's a girl ever supposed to get anything done when they keep issuing mags like this, and she keeps getting reminders from people that they're waiting for the jewellery they were promised. I'll have to have a beadfest when my poorly neck gets sorted out. Yipppppppppeeeeeeee.

Well, I think that's me for now. No doubt I've forgotten something and will get told off by Lizzie.

Think I'll go and sit in the sunshine with a cuppa and a smallish chunk of oaty bake while my horrid neighbours are out and it's nice and quiet.

Hope you're all having a lovely Sunday. TTFN.

Yummy yarn and some AFOs!

2010-07-29T12:27:00.001+01:00

When I visited Lizzie a couple of weeks ago, she took me to a lovely little yarn shop she'd discovered.
Lurking in the bargain bin was this yummy yarn. It's not silk or cotton but it's got a beautiful feel to it (splits like mad but you can get past that bit if you try). Any guesses what it's made from?

Anyway, being the patient soul I am, I ditched all other WIPs and UFOs immediately to dive in and have a go. I have a huge dislike of sewing in ends etc so I found a join-as-you-go pattern (yay!) which I adapted to make a wide wrap. My aunty saw it half-finished and snaffled it! I made her a floppy flower brooch to hold it together, and here's my lovely little Mum modelling for me :-) Now all I have to do is make another one for little ol' me.

Here's where the AFOs come in - yes, blogland, I have some Actual Finished Objects. Oh, I'm so proud of myself, lol.

While the camera's out, my aunty asked me to make her a couple of flower brooches, so I had a play and came up with these 2.

Right, off to mess about with the 3 scarves, doilie and almost-done wrap I've made this past week while I've been off work with a horrid virus :-)

A lot of effort for a courgette

2010-07-27T11:55:00.000+01:00

Following yesterday's grumpy post, brace yourselves. Look what they've done overnight :-((

I checked under the leaves last night and there was no creature in sight -
overnight something's eaten most of the leaf they started on the day before....

Flower? What flower? I suppose that means no courgette now....

Rooting around in the shed, I found this. This is the last ditch attempt - after this, I give up...

Ta da!. Must be the world's best-protected courgette, surely...

Why I loathe slugs & snails

2010-07-26T14:02:00.000+01:00

Well, hmph, and double hmph.
I've been trying for ages to grow things other than flowers in my teensy garden but have always been thwarted by slugs and snails.
Yet again they've attacked and I'm MIFFED to say the least. Look what they've done to my courgette plant (given to me by Lizzie when I visited her a couple of weeks ago) - I mean, it's not like I didn't try to protect it, is it? Top left - all comfy and well-protected in her new home and surrounded by enough shells to put off even the most determined creature. Look what they've done to it in the next 2 pics - grrrrrrrrrrr.
Bottom right - I'm not holding out much hope for my attempt at being green/eco-friendly - seeds I saved from a red pepper ages ago have sprouted into 5 fairly healthy looking little seedlings, and that's my very own egg-shell snail/slug deterrent - shells dutifully washed and saved and ground with a pestle and mortar. Wonder how long the poor little things will last - the dreaded S&S have scoffed my rocket too.

This is where I get even more miffed - I treated myself to a beautiful little plant which was packed with amazing flowers - all different and pretty shades of pinks/creams.

Look what's left of it! They used the corks as stepping stones I think - corks obviously don't bother the horrid things around here.

I'm going to hmph again now - HMPH.

I shall go and carry on with my crochet to soothe my hmphedness and my summer cold - maybe it's the cold that's making me more grumpy than normal, lol.

Long time no blog!

2010-07-04T13:47:00.002+01:00

Thought it was about time I updated my blog as my ears are ringing from the nagging from certain persons (begins with "L" and ends with "izzie"). This may be a long post, so brace yourselves :-)

Well, I swanned off to Portugal for a little while in May/June and because they've had such a wet winter/spring all the wildflowers were still out and it was a real pleasure to see. Just after I'd taken these pics, and been crawling about in the "mato" or scrubland, my neighbour was busy strimming all the wildflowers around her house. I accused her of being a flower killer but she pointed out it was because conditions were perfect for snakes to start breeding/hiding/lurking! Glad I didn't know that before I wandered about in my flipflops.

The weather was really weird for the time of year - either cold and windy and we were sitting about in fleeces (in June!?) or it was a heatwave. Very peculiar and I've never seen it like that in all the years we've been going there.

Even this poor "Dama de noite" or night-blooming jasmine was a bit confused - the flowers usually close up tightly during the day. Although the beautiful scent didn't arrive until night, it was very odd seeing the tiny flowers open all day long.

So, whatever the weather, a girl has to get her crochet hook out - it's the law :-)
Our lovely neighbour had been into the house and made it ready for us - we had no idea she was going to do that and I was really touched by her kindness. She even climbed over the wall to get in because she couldn't get the gates to open. Anyway, I thought I'd make her something to say thank you so I had a little play about and came up with a little cotton bag/pouch and a beaded bracelet.

I got a bit carried away with the pouches after that - I think I made 6 or 7 in total although quite what I've done with the rest of them is baffling me at the moment.

Then I got the doilie bug again. It's really strange because they're not really my cup of tea at all but I find the rhythm of the patterns really relaxing (although very frustrating sometimes and I could speed unpick in the Olympics). Anyhow, here are a few (the last 2 are, erm, quite large to say the least!) -

And it wouldn't be the same if I didn't do at least one Diabolical Doilie while I was in Portugal, so here you go - not quite as vile as some of them but even so.....

And finally, for now, Liz pointed me in the direction of a Flickr group making African flower hexagons. Not being one to choose the easy route to anything, I decided I'd make diddy ones (1.25mm hook and size 10 thread). Haven't quite decided yet what to do with them - think I'll make you wait for that :-)

Right, I'm worn out after all that. Toodlepip as Liz would say.

P.S Quite why Blogger is NOT putting pics/text where I want them, I don't know. Anybody else having problems?

That Blanket

2010-05-09T18:11:00.000+01:00

After a long time, I've finally done what I can with those squares that were knitted by various people, including children, for a charity blanket. It's been a challenge to say the least - all different sizes/tensions/definitions of "square". There were 100 of them in the end and I've crocheted round each one, sewn in all the ends, and produced 1 of 2 blankets.

Can't say as it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, but I've done what I can with what I was given. I sewed them all together first making a flat seam and then I've oversewn along the front of the seams to try to tidy it up a bit more.
Oh well, one blanket down, one to go!
This is it in its unpressed state - somebody else is going to take responsibility for that!

My youngest niece had a birthday recently and whilst she was at my house, she played around with some wool and designed a little pouch she'd like made (she was hoping for an i-Phone, but it didn't happen - she just got a pouch, lol). Happy to oblige, I faffed and made her this - it's about 11cm x 8 cm if I remember rightly. I filled it with little packets of seed beads she'd asked for (all wrapped individually) just for a bit of interest :0)

And that's me for a while - instructions from the osteopath to take time off from the computer etc are being followed - I'm off to lounge about under a tree in Portugal for a little while. Bye for now!

Awwww! (and other things)

2010-04-14T17:39:00.001+01:00

I looked after my niece today and we were lucky enough to be invited to a beautiful farm where they had not only some foals but just look what else. Awwwwwww.

This lovely lady is called Kara and she's a Kerry blue terrier. She's 7 years old and has just had her first litter of babies. She's the friendliest, most gentle dog I've met for a long time, and looks very proud of herself :-)

Loooook, aren't they just gorgeous! 6 weeks old and with very sharp teeth and claws but adorable all the same

This little foal is only 2 days old and still a bit wobbly, and although I'm not a horsey person, I was very brave and said hello to Mum at close range.

A lovely way to spend an hour or so, and my niece was beside herself with happiness. Bless her.

Before we went out today, Rachel has been watching & helping my Mum make some lemon curd and wanted to have a go at something different. Ta dah! We give you .... lime curd. The little taste I had earlier was delicious. Pity I can't eat bread but I'm sure I'll find something to slather it on to.

Just to annoy Lizzie, here are some raspberry and white choc muffins and some much healthier oat, apricot & pecan cookies.

Sad news now. My old girl has finally been consigned to scrap heaven. I was very sad to see her go as she's been my faithful companion for 20 years, but she was starting to wreck my shoulder with her heavy steering, and bits were starting to drop off/go rotten. Sniff.

Still, I have a fab little new car which I'm learning to love and for the first time ever I've named a car, and my new companion is called Snowdrop. (I'm losing the plot again aren't I?)

Finally....I had the most evil migrainey headache last weekend and seriously thought I was hallucinating when I looked out of the window and saw a large chicken walking past. It then skateboarded past the other way. On closer inspection, it turned out to be one of the kids over the road trying to film tricks on his skateboard - quite why he did it dressed as a chicken I've no idea, but it was hilarious to watch :-)

Other than all that, I've been attacking those "squares" for the charity blanket. Nearly there now, but the box they're in is like the Tardis. I keep thinking I've finished but they seem to be multiplying. Once I've finished tidying them up, I've got to work out how to put them all together.....it could be a while, lol.

Oh deary, deary me!

2010-03-13T20:34:00.001Z

What on earth have I gone and done?

A few weeks ago my local wool shop had an all-night knit to make squares for a blanket to be auctioned off for a neo-natal charity.
(I made some squares but didn't go to the all-nighter.)
Wandering home from work on Thursday, the lady who owns the shop beckoned me in as I trundled past (I affectionately call her my dealer, as I have been known to have a slight yarn addiction). She had a HUGE pile of squares and a partially made blanket covering the table, and she was looking decidedly cheesed off.

Well, having taken up the challenge of attaching a few more squares to the blanket, I looked at it a bit more closely.
People have put a lot of time and effort into making the "squares", children included, but it was a bit, errrrm wonky to say the least. Different tensions, different sized stitches and the general concept of a 10cm square seems to have been lost on some.

I'm going to do my very best to make it into something that will raise as much money as possible for the charity, but this is what I'm up against....

Front of blanket as it was

Back of blanket as it was

Uh oh

Look at all those ends (Sarah, help!).......

I know it's for a very good cause, but I really should train my mouth to behave itself a bit better sometimes -
Imagine my horror when I heard my it saying things like "give them ALL to me and I'll see what I can do" and "do you mind if I unpick it and start again?" and, even worse "would you like me to crochet round them to make it easier to sew together?"

My beads, my beads, my poor beads! They're going to be neglected for a while to come, but it's all for a good cause :-)

Oopsie

2010-03-06T14:46:00.004Z

I got beeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaads, they're multiplyin'
I think I'm loooooooooooooooosin' contro-o-o-ol
It's the power, they're supplyin'
It's addictifyin'.

They'd better shape up, into things I like
'cos I got the urge to bee-ee-ead
They'd better shape up, and behave themselves
Or I'll be in a bad moo-oo-oood

They're the beads that I bought,
Woo hoo hoo honey
They're the new beads I got
Woo hoo hoo honey....

Erm, I had a teensy accident on my favourite bead site. Oopsie
Here're just a few, and I mean literally just a few.

I can't even see half of them 'cos they're so small (size 15s), but I've finally got a new work lamp. Ever-so-slightly deceptive on the website I bought it from as I thought it'd be your average desk lamp size, but I think it may come in useful anyway and it's got a base as well so I can either clip it to my work tray or stand it next to me.

Now I've finished the housework, guess what I'll be doing this weekend. Ahh, happy days.

Still no soap, but .....

2010-02-28T15:21:00.002Z

Well, I still haven't made any soap recently, but I've got itchy fingers to start again so it's on the horizon.

In the meantime, just a couple of bits and bobs I've played around with when I'm not dashing around between work & family or just collapsing in a heap on the settee....

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was wearing a lovely, snuggly soft neckwarmer she'd made and being a slight yarn addict I couldn't get it out of my head. So, you just have to give in to the urge sometimes and I trotted off and bought a ball of Rowan Cocoon yarn in a shade called Kiwi. A departure for me as I'm not really a green kind of a girl, but it's a really subtle colour. I can't remember the last time I knitted anything so I had a play about and eventually worked out a cable pattern for myself. I'm quite pleased with the end result - fingers crossed it doesn't make me itch or I'll have to give it away.

Today being a wet, grey Sunday some choccie brownies have suddenly appeared in my kitchen as a counterbalance to the yukky weather. Made with dark choccie, cranberries & coconut, they're all squidgy in the middle and I may or may not have had a smallish nibble already. Bliss. Oh, and they're non-dairy so I can scoff the lot. (And I blame Lululiz entirely for putting the thought in my head as she was bragging about scoffing Tiffin she'd made yesterday).

Now that I've got a new beading lamp, I've been playing about with this pattern I got from the last issue of Bead & Button magazine. It's a bit fiddly and I've questioned whether or not to carry on, but I've been told to keep going so I'll perservere. All will be revealed when it's finished. I've got so many beady things I want to do, I feel a fairly major beady shopping accident coming on. Yipee.

Hope you're all having a happy, crafty Sunday.

Hatching a new brain cell....

2010-02-18T18:11:00.005Z

I've been very bad at blogging the past few weeks as there've been all sorts of things going on here in my little corner of Lalaland. I've finally signed the warrant for my old car to go to the big scrap heaven in the sky, and I'll be very sad when she goes (getting rid of things is excruciating for me), but excited to get a new car that will start when I need it to.
I'm just over 2 months into a new job and I STILL can't get my head round some of it which is really frustrating (I know I'm a bit dizzy at times, but I didn't think I was particularly thick!). It's all a case of learning how all the agencies fit together and all the acronyms etc that they use. Never having worn corporate knickers in my working life, it's taking me a bit of time to get used to it all and so I'm growing a new brain cell to keep my other one company - hence the little duckie above, as she sits on the eggcup I'm using to hatch the brain cell.

What else have I been up to? Hmm, not sure where to begin so I'll just waffle through it.
My sis asked me to make her a nice big blanket for snuggling under on the sofa. She provided the wool and asked if I'd make it like the scarf I gave her for Christmas. With just the one working brain cell, I said "yep, no problem" without realising just how much work would be involved. I crochet pretty fast, but I reckon in all this has taken me between 80 and 100 hours to do. The pics don't show the true colours - they're more of a lovely rich mossy green and a subdued teal/turquoise. By the time I finished (no wonder I was very warm crocheting round the edges) I reckon it ended up about 6 feet long by about 4 feet wide (sorry, don't know what that is in metric, but think large rug!) and really heavy as it's an aran-weight yarn. Anyhow, she loves it and I had a really sweet call from my little niece to tell me she was snuggled under the blanket with Mummy watching a nice film. Awwww.

Even standing on the sofa I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture, so the pics are a bit rubbish I'm afraid.

Now for a lovely surprise (despite the very rude comments by a certain other person). I had an unexpected parcel the other day, beautifully wrapped and in a lovely box. I've been coveting Manos del Uruguay yarns for a long time now, and Lizzie made me a beautiful scarf for a Christmas prezzie. Click here to read her very, erm, charming post about it (and her pics are much better than mine). Despite the rude comments about little ol' me, she's done herself proud with this lovely prezzie.

What else? Oh yes, with my first pay cheque for a VERY long time, I treated myself to some beautiful hand-dyed cotton yarn. I have no real idea of what to make with it, but I'm leaning towards a lovely blanket just for me (or a pashmina type thing, or, or .....)

For no reason other than they made me smile, just look at these daffodils I bought at the weekend. They've all opened and have a wonderful scent. Well, I can pretend it's nearly Spring.

And finally, before I go for a lie down after that lot, I've waited nearly 3 years for this orchid to flower again and she's now been in bloom since the beginning of December. Not only has she given me beautiful flowers, but there are 2 stems of them. It was well worth the wait.

And that's me for now. Off to check the progress of my new brain cell as this one is exhausted now. Toodlepip.

PS Don't put some eggs on to boil and then sit down to write a long blog post. Oops.

The things a girl has to do

2010-01-10T14:34:00.004Z

We've had conditions like this for nearly a week now. It doesn't look bad compared to some of the pictures you see on the news, but believe me, the road and pavements are solid ice under that fresh layer of snow. They're forecasting more of the same this coming week too. I don't mind the cold, but when it's so dark and dreary it gets boring after a while

SO, because of the weather and feeling poorly for a week, a girl has to take drastic measures sometimes. The little choccie alarm in my head kept going off so I had a look at Sarah's blog for this recipe for white choc and cranberry cookies. Thanks Sarah!

So, working on the basis that:
a) cranberries are fruit and therefore good for me
b) oats are good for me and low GI so they'll release energy slowly
and finally
c) choccie contains milk and therefore calcium which is good for my bones.........

I raided the cupboards (which are looking very sad now - note to self: really must venture out and go food shopping) and found some white chocolate buttons - borrowed, I might add, from my niece's Christmas stash. Instead of chocolate chunks I just chucked in the buttons and it worked quite well. At last! After a very long time searching for a cookie recipe that gives you chewy cookies, I found it. (I might leave out half of the sugar next time though as they're a little sweet for me).

I now have a luscious pile of about 20 enormous chewy cookies to scoff my way through. Bang goes the diet, but as they're packed with all that goodness, I shan't feel too bad about it :-)

Odds and sods

2010-01-08T13:59:00.005Z

Stuck at home this week with a rotten virus as well as evil weather outside, I've done a fair bit of crochet to keep myself occupied when I wasn't back in bed shivering and croaking. Not all of it was done this week but after some severe nagging by certain people in Hastings, I've finally managed to take some pics of what I've been up to lately. So, here we go...

This variegated yarn started off as a scarf but I didn't like the way it was working up so I unpicked it and it sort of ended up as a blanket. I put the black edging round it to try to make it look like a stained-glass window effect, but I'm not sure it really works. The colours are a bit richer in real life, but I'm rubbish at taking decent photos.

I don't really know why, but I sat in bed the other day and decided to try an amigurumi doll. I've unpicked her face twice now but I still think she's got a sort of freaky expression. Doll faces aren't my strong point I've decided. Oh, and the bunny I did the other evening when I was bored.

For want of something better to do, an Easter chick appeared yesterday. Pity the beak is so big - yet another freaky effect!

A dismembered bunny, yet to be sewn together.....

A croilie I forgot I made when I was in Portugal. It's supposed to sit in a square basket so the corners drape nicely over the edges. Not so sure it'll work - maybe if I bothered to press the thing I'd have a better idea! I had to work out the instructions as best I could by the way - I mistakenly nabbed a magazine written in ruddy French off the shelf. Well, fancy putting a French mag on a shelf in the middle of nowhere in Portugal. Grrrrr.

And, for your delectation, a couple of Christmas croilies I forgot too. The first is definitely a Diabolical doilie. Not quite the most hideous yet, but it's well on its way to joining the club.

Maybe if I actually got round to pressing and starching the things properly they might look better. Or not! I like the challenge of making them, but they're not really my taste at all so I've a box stuffed with all sorts of the things :-/

Then came a little heart which I faffed about with yesterday. The other design has been consigned to a basket in disgrace. French patterns are a pain to follow when you don't really speak French.

And finally, for this very long post - sorry about that! - some of the goodies I had for Christmas. The beautiful beads and beady book are from one of my sisters, and the beads all came in a special beady workbox. Wonderful! I've never tried wirework so it'll be interesting. The crochet book was from my eldest niece and is a really good find.

Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to practice taking pics. I'm really quite bad at it, so I apologise!

Well, that's me. I'm exhausted now and think I'll go for a lie down :-)

A lovely day with my niece

2009-12-27T19:56:00.002Z

My lovely little niece Rachel came to spend the day with me today and she brought a HUGE bag of things to do from her Christmas present stash. First of all we made some of these giant paper flowers, which were fun but a bit fiddly. While Rachel had a rest from supervising and lounged about on the settee, wrapped in a blanket and watching a film, I decided to make her a little crochet bunny.
Bunny then had to have a scarf, a football, a basket and finally a blanket (cobbled together from some old flower squares I had lying about). Then we made some little pipecleaner puppies but we're not brilliant at them as you can see. Rachel reckons the green one is a bit more like a sheep.

Not a bad day's work though, eh?

Grumpy

2009-12-22T17:55:00.004Z

Despite treacherous conditions since Friday, I've done my bit and traipsed, slid and skidded my way to and from work. Last night I spent a good hour with my neighbour chipping off the thick ice from the pavement outside our houses - our local newspaper is printing stories about how badly Brighton & Hove council have coped with this weather, and I'm inclined to agree given that main roads and pavements are still icy in places. Brighton is very hilly in places and it's downright dangerous - I'm lucky I'm able-bodied but it must be very frightening for those unsteady on their feet.

Anyway, that's not why I'm grumpy! I've done my best not to be, honest (despite the fact there is no way on this earth I'm going to be ready for Christmas this year).

Here are a couple of pictures and you can see I've tried to find nice things to think about instead of grumpiness.

This was about 8am on Friday morning and the snow was about 10cm deep. Looks quite pretty if you don't have to go anywhere particular.

I happened to mention buttons in a conversation with one of my neighbours and she said "oh, I've got loads you can have". Lizzie, eat your heart out.

See, it's nothing to be grumpy about.

After work today, I braved the supermarket and spotted this spud shaped like a heart. I bought it purely because I thought it was sweet (I'm going a bit soft in my old age I think). Still not grumpworthy, and you have to agree I've been trying not to be....

So, what has made me VERY grumpy? Well, standing staring into space at the supermarket checkout, I eventually noticed a large red display in front of me (I tune out when I'm in supermarkets as I find that's the best way to cope with them). Ooh, I thought, choccie! and the little choccie alert in my brain tuned me back in to reality. I did have to ask the lady behind me to confirm that I wasn't hallucinating though. She had a look at the object of my major grumpiness and agreed I was perfectly sane and not seeing things. (She also left the shop grumpy).

So, what was it that finished me off so that I've finally succumbed to a major grumpfest?

EASTER CHOCOLATE ON DISPLAY ON THE 22ND OF DECEMBER.

Nestlé, producers of Kit Kat, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Hmph.

With no idea what to do, this is what happened!

2009-12-20T17:52:00.001Z

Today was the day for sorting out my Christmas cake. I marzipanned it and put the white icing on (yes, I know I should have waited 24 hours but I don't have the time this week). Then I had a coffee and stood in the kitchen gawping at a bald cake. I had absolutely no idea what to do this year, and I was limited as I'd forgotten to buy a block of white icing which only left me with a pack of coloured (and the roads & pavements are literally sheet ice here today so there was no way I was risking nipping to the shop).

So, a few coffees and 6 hours later, this is what I ended up with.

So.........is Santa blushing and looking shocked because he's woken up late, or is he wondering where Rudolph's other arm is? :-)) I'll let you decide.

More crochet, and sore fingers

2009-12-04T12:24:00.001Z

This is the second oversized cushion I was asked to make. It's more of a large pillow size and I did it with an envelope style flap. Hope she likes it!

As well as finishing off the little lap blanket for my Mum this week, I also made a little stuffed cushion for my OH who has a problem with his elbow. He finds it really uncomfortable resting his elbow on the desk while he's using the computer so I whipped up this little thing for him to see if it helps. He says it's great because it moves with him as he uses the mouse so he doesn't have to keep repositioning his arm on a folded up old cushion.

I knocked up a quick scarf while I was having a break from those granny squares, and there's another half done sitting here next to me..

Oh, and I've also made 5 robins but they're still lying about waiting to be stuffed and sewn up.
I've got beady stuff to do now for presents - good job I've ordered some new specs or I think my eyes may start complaining again. Must admit too that my fingers were a bit stiff and sore this morning. I'm hoping it's just the freezing weather here today and not crochet overload :-)

Grrrrrrrrranny squares

2009-12-04T12:13:00.004Z

Well, finally the oversized cushions I've been asked to make are finished. Yipee! Here's the first one, made with 50 granny squares which I made in 2 days. Those vile little ends took me 3 hours, yes 3 hours to sew in, and that's WITH a lot of them being caught in as I crocheted! Just looking at the pic brings back nasty memories and makes me shudder.

Just look at them, taunting me..

Here they are, still lurking in front of all the nice neat squares..

Squares minus those ends (well and truly stuffed at the bottom of the bin)..

Finally crocheted together and made into a huge cushion.

I hope she's happy with the finished effect!

Loose-endophobia

2009-11-24T16:43:00.002Z

3 projects I've got on the go this week. Phew! One is a little lap blanket for Mum 'cos I'm fed up with seeing her drape an old cardie over her little legs when she's a bit chilly. The creamy coloured mass is an oversized cushion cover I've been asked to make, and the piles of squares are for another oversized cushion cover for the same person. It's sheer coincidence they're all coffee/cream/brown colours, but much as I like them I think the next project has to be a bit different. I've done the 50 squares in the last 2 days, the creamy one in less than a week, and the stripy one in about 10 days, so I'm quite pleased with myself (if not a bit on crochet overload and with sore fingers!). My problem is this - I have a severe case of loose-endophobia. I'm extremely allergic to sewing in loose ends, and usually do anything I can to avoid it, even if that means starting something else and pretending all the current projects are finished. Poor deluded soul I am - these are for somebody else so I can't get away with it this time. Hmph.

The fun bit (the creating/making) is sadly over...

Here comes my nightmare.
Just the squares alone will mean 500, yes that's
FIVE HUN-DREAD
evil little ends to sew.
I don't dare count the blanket ends or I may just faint....

All at sea or a turning tide?

2009-11-21T12:21:00.003Z

This isn't meant to be a "poor me" post, but I don't know whether I'm all at sea or the tide is finally turning! Some of you know that my family has been through hell the past few years - 3 lots of cancer, 2 nasty divorces, loss of a business etc etc etc. Anyhow, we've been struggling to make a go of our leather shop and are on the verge of deciding to call it a day after Christmas. So, to get us out of a hole I decided I had to look for alternative work. My sister works for the rough sleeper's team which helps with all sorts of people from drug abusers to mental health patients, all of whom are living rough. She needs help in the office and I had it confirmed yesterday that I've been offered a job there on a part-time basis. We've also had a record week in the shop - 5 coats sold! - and added to that, I've been asked to make some crochet gifts and beaded jewellery for Christmas presents, as well as an offer for me to make some of my soy wax melts for somebody else to sell! What's going on? I can't quite figure it all out at the moment. It's going to be very, very weird not having my other half working with me, but I'm hoping that this means things will finally turn the tide for us. Fingers crossed! I hate change but I don't think I can halt this one......

How to spend a November Sunday morning....

2009-11-15T15:42:00.004Z

Something I should have done in September but never quite got round to, yesterday I washed and dried a huge amount of fruit, blanched, peeled and chopped some fresh almonds, and lined a cake tin all ready to go this morning.

What am I up to? Read on...

Loads of yummy ingredients I only use once a year...

A whole block of delicious butter - a treat for me as I'm not supposed to eat dairy stuff....

Flour mixed with spices and nutmeg....

A generous amount of sherry......

All made in an ancient Kenwood mixer (I'm not mixing that lot by hand EVER again!)
Into the tin with a hole scooped out of the middle to hopefully stop a big mountain appearing in the middle.....

4 hours later and with a house smelling wonderful...
Ta da! My "C" word cake (can't bring myself to say it yet 'cos it's only November grrrrr).
The bumpy top will be cut off and the whole thing turned upside down so I have a flat surface to decorate at some point.

Best of all, she's all vegetarian and there's not one teensy weensy piece of that evil stuff known as candied peel anywhere near her. All she needs now is some loving tender care (that's brandy to you and me) until such time as she gets dressed.

Here's a link to the post about last year's cake. Don't quite know what I'm going to do to top that one this year.

Told you I was busy.....

2009-11-15T15:13:00.004Z

There's a distinct lack of nice yarns available in Portugal, so I have to make do with some of the best of the worst (available in any self-respecting "loja chinesa" or Chinese shop to you and me). For want of something to do besides beading, I faffed about with 3 different styles of project bags. The pics are a bit rubbish I'm afraid, and some of the yarns are hideous, but there you go.

This one has a pocket on the front with a little scissor holder thingy

This one has a drawstring with an inside pocket, and a slidy thing I made for the drawstrings. Awful to photograph :-/

This one is just a very basic, pocket-free bag made with scrap yarns I had no clue what to do with.

A couple of little hook pouches I faffed about with.. (nowhere near as ingenious as the one Sarah sent me in the swap though)

Third attempt and I finally had one big enough for the larger hooks & scissors

And finally, I decided to make a blanket. It can get quite cold in an evening, so I took some yarns with me to make a snuggly blanket, working on the basis that I'd be nice and warm as I made it. Errrm, it's not easy to crochet in 32 degrees buried under an ever-growing blanket. That's about right for me though isn't it! Anyhow, I got slightly carried away and it ended up being about 5ft long, and so far about 3ft wide (sorry, I don't have a clue what that is in metric) and then I ran out of yarns. It's not what I envisioned in my head at all, and I'm not sure I really like it, but I am NOT unpicking that lot. Each row took about 25 minutes, so you can work out how many hours I've spent on it so far! I did it in a ridged ripple so it doesn't have a front or back. I have now run out of yarns, and am hoping a very nice friend of mine in Hastings will toddle off to the shop I got the yarns from and supply me with more........

Lizzie's colour swap

2009-11-14T12:21:00.004Z

I recently took part in a colour swap organised by Liz. My partner was the lovely Sarah in New Zealand - her chosen colour was red and mine was turquoise. I had fun looking for and making red things for her, but look what was waiting for me when I got back. What a clever lady! Hopefully we'll keep in touch too as I feel I've made a lovely new friend. Thanks to Liz too for organizing the swap.

So, here goes.

First in my goody bag was a lovely card, handmade by Lucy one of Sarah's little girls. Looks like Lucy is following in her Mum's crafty footsteps. Thank you Lucy for such a lovely card :-)

Inside was this gorgeous handmade bag, beautifully lined with lovely turquoise fabrics. Wish I could sew and make things like that!

Just look at the little tag attached to the fastening! (It goes very well with my Croap Queen crown too).

All the contents of my lovely bag! Aren't I lucky? Look at that luscious yarn. Am thinking what I can make with it.

Looks like a jewellery roll? It's not and it's very ingenious....

A lovely crochet hook roll. What a great idea and will save me a lot of hunting for the right size hook.

And finally, a fab little padded cushion. Beautifully made as are all the other things. No idea how Sarah put the stuffing in it though - can't find any seams that don't look machine sewn! One day I shall release my machine from the depths of the wardrobe and have a go. I want to be like Sarah and my friend Joy when I learn to sew properly.

So, after all that, thank you Sarah for putting so much time and effort into the swap and sending me such lovely goodies. xx

Some beady things

2009-11-13T19:45:00.003Z

I was a very busy girl while I was away, and I'm working my way round to taking pics and blogging them. (Don't hold your breath too long as you may have noticed I'm rubbish at doing that bit!).

So, to start off with, here're a few beady things I knocked up to amuse myself - bracelets so far (the earrings went horribly wrong and I left them in a box to sulk on their own). By the way, beading while sitting outside where the light is good has its drawbacks when it's windy. Small beads and windy conditions don't go together, just so you know.

This one I'm calling "Dawson's Diamonds". We had a famous comedian here in the UK called Les Dawson, and he was a master of playing the piano badly - not easy to do deliberately and still make the tune recognisable. So.......these "diamonds" were "deliberately" made to look wonky, so there. And, they weren't as easy to get wrong as you may think.

For anybody interested in beads, this was an odd-count peyote stitch using size 11 seed beads, and edged with a mix of size 15 and size 11 beads. I'm not keen on odd-count peyote as you always get one edge more rigid than the other because of the "turn" you have to do to make it work. Any beaders with any helpful hints on that - your advice would be much appreciated!

These are some bracelets I knocked up for the dreaded "C" word prezzies for my sisters. I've yet to track down some nice 2-strand clasps here in the UK that aren't all fancy and fuddy duddy looking. Hmmm, might end up making my own with toggles - we'll have to see what I can find.

For the beaders again - it's a right-angle weave with embellishment. Can't say as I'm too chuffed with R.A.W as I can't get a regular shape to my weave, but overall I'm quite chuffed with them as I've never had a go at this stitch before.

Finally, this one will be for my Mum - she chose the colours. Now all I need to do is remember how the heck I made the fastening on the last one I did in this stitch, so I can finish it off! This one is done in St Petersburg stitch - easy to do but very effective I think.

Back again.....

2009-11-11T16:35:00.004Z

Well, the ground keeps shifting under me so I've been to Portugal for a bit of R&R and me time. I can't believe I last posted here in August - lazy moo, I am - but in my defence I haven't had access to a computer for a while!

Anyhow, my "me time" involved quite a large amount of crochet and beading but sadly no soaping whatsoever. What a relief I hear you cry.... Hang on, though I think I did make a couple of new ones back in September so will have to look for pics (if I remembered to take any). Other time involved desperately seeing if there would be a chance of work or a career in Portugal - trouble is, they're part of the world crisis too so I didn't get very far again, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I even asked the local police when they drove past if they needed any native English speakers at the local station! Well, they didn't say no, but that Portuguese shrug could mean yes, no, or I don't give a whatsit, so I'm not quite sure :-)

Anyhow, now that I'm back I'm absolutely pooing myself with nerves - I should be starting part-time work next week, after 26 years of being my own boss. I am terrified. The only saving grace is that I'll be hopefully working with my sister so I won't be completely at a loss and faff about like a complete moron. Even though our shop (leather coats etc) is doing absolutely NO business, I'll carry on slogging away at it as I have for the past couple of years until we finally decide to call it a day. Hence "the ground keeps shifting under me" comment earlier!

When my head clears a tad I'll look for some pics of what I've been making. Been up since 5 a.m and I'm in shock - didn't know there was a "5" anything at that time of day.
So, until the fog clears, TTFN.
:-)

Crochet binge

2009-08-14T14:14:00.001+01:00

Nothing croapy to report lately I'm afraid. Haven't made any soap for ages and desperately need to! Have been a bit under the weather this week so I've been at home and had a crochet binge. I've got loads of ideas going on and some stuff I'd like to make/sell to donate money to charity. Mainly breast cancer charities in the UK, and animal rescue in Portugal if I can.

This is a wonderful site run by a lovely lady called Norma Lynn and I'm trying to make some bits and bobs from her patterns - haven't quite conquered it yet, but I will! Aren't these sweet though. Pics will follow when I finally manage to produce things :-)

Anyway, last year I was sent some of the most beautiful handspun yarns by my friend Ruth. I believe these 2 yarns are a blend of camel down, cashmere and silk! Aren't I spoilt? I've waited for ages to find a scarf pattern that would do the yarns justice and finally found one the other day. I've decided (after consultation to double check) that I don't like the blue lacy edging the pattern calls for so I'm not going to do it. I'll try to remember to post a pic of it finally finished - when the millions of loose threads have been sewn in - that's the bit I really don't like.

This was a flower made from a different yarn - have been playing around with ideas again to come up with brooches/bag flowers etc after CONSIDERABLE nagging from certain quarters. (You know who you are LLL & J).

Remember that cushion?

2009-08-06T13:14:00.002+01:00

Remember the jumper I (very) patiently unpicked and made into a cushion cover? Well, here she is.........finished! Yes, I actually finished something before getting carried away and starting something else. Well, I say finished - I never did get round to putting buttons on the back so she does have a tendency to gape and show her undergarments at the moment. I will get round to it eventually......... For the meantime, she's very happily living and working in Portugal, lucky girl.

Sometimes it takes a kid to put you right

2009-08-03T19:02:00.005+01:00

This was emailed to me today saying that this 13 year old boy has written this song. If that's true, what a powerful message to put us all to shame.

Well, the body is back but the mind is still swanning about.....

2009-08-02T20:31:00.004+01:00

Not a croapy post but I'm back in the UK and trying to settle back into some sort of routine. All the soaps I made before I went away seem to have orange spot and are a bit sweaty-looking so I'm ignoring them for a few more days before I dive in and try to work out what's going on.

For no other reason than I felt like it, I decided to crochet an amigurumi flowerpot today which I've scented. It stands about 4" high (sorry can't think what that is in cm off the top of my head). Not sure if I like it. Maybe a different set of colours for the flowers would help.

I'm working up to facing the challenge of uploading and blogging about what I got up to while I was away, but I've just checked how many photos I have and it's a bit of a task. I'll get round to it eventually. Think I'll set up a different blog for it though as it's nothing to do with soaps. I've gone a bit off track with this one haven't I? Oh dear.

Just a quick word.....

2009-07-02T15:06:00.002+01:00

Well, I´m still here in Portugal but I´m busy, honest. I´ve been beading and crocheting and rescuing some poor old wicker chairs from the rubbish. I don´t have easy access to the computer so pics will have to wait unfortunately. I´ve got LOADS of updating to do when I get near a computer for any length of time. Hey ho!

I've been busy, honest!

2009-05-30T11:59:00.009+01:00

I haven't posted for a while now - life has a way of kicking you in the backside just when you think things are improving. I may not have made any soap for a while but I've been on a crochet binge to keep me busy.

For some reason I got it into my head to make a bag from recycled carrier/plastic bags. This will be a beach/shopping bag if I ever get round to working out how to do the handles.

Then I decided to unpick an ancient jumper and recycle it into a cushion for the house in Portugal. It took me 4 days to unpick the wretched thing and a couple of days to make the squares. I've done the back but haven't sewn it up yet - it's going with me tomorrow when I disappear off there again, so I'll finish it while I'm away.

I didn't think it'd take me 4 days to unpick the thing, but it did......

And it ended up like this (as well as a whole load of bits floating around the carpet)

And this is how it ended up. I'm secretly chuffed (shhhhh don't tell anybody)

What did I do after that? Oh yes, inspired by Lucy's blog, I had a go at making a bag to cart all my crochet bits around with me.

Then I worked on something else for a friend of mine who has just moved house, but I can't post pics in case she gets her internet connection before she gets the present!

At the moment, I'm doing another stripy bag, which I started in desperation while sitting with my Mum in hospital waiting for her to go down for surgery.

Other than that, I took a couple of pictures of some gorgeous early summer flowers yesterday morning - it was a beautiful day down here in the south of England.

And finally, I HATE snails - this was a healthy petunia. I've now repotted it with anti-snail stuff on top of the soil. We'll see...

Royal Visit

2009-04-29T12:20:00.006+01:00

One decided it was about time to give One's crown an outing, and visit one of One's loyal subjects, and so yesterday One packed up One's carriage and made a visit to Hastings on the Sussex coast. (One hasn't quite got the hang of being in charge, as One had to lug a holdall full of beading and crochet stuff for the once-over as instructed by One's subject). So, orf I trundled in my ancient carriage down the A259 - what a journey One had! Tractors, road works, every pensioner on the planet heading towards Eastbourne.....and an idiot in a van who tried to kill both One and the poor soul driving the articulated lorry in front. (He has since been reported - what a berk driving like that with the name of the company he works for plastered in 3ft high letters all over his van).

On arrival in Hastings, One was very unfairly accused of oversleeping being the reason for One's late arrival. Hmph, One was not amused. One's subject did however make One a very welcome mug of coffee to revive One's spirits and my subject and I then spent a very happy couple of hours oohing and aahing over beads - One's subject does however have the ability to cheese One orf by collecting amazing beads for bargain prices at boot fairs. Hmph again.

Then came the biggest indignity of all. Brace yourselves, loyal subjects. One was involved in a soap experiment. Nothing wrong with that, I hear you cry. No, nothing at all.....except for the fact that One's subject ordered One to wear a bright blue hairnet, red plastic sleeves and white latex gloves. (One supposes it was at least an attempt to be patriotic with the red, white and blue, but One is still miffed). The experiment was however a success - it has taught One that One's soap recipe is not up to scratch and needs some serious tweaking - no wonder One produces so much croap. Oh, and One's subject knows that she will be sent to the tower for immediate execution should she even consider posting pictures of the get-up One was forced to don. You can read about this experiment here if you're interested, and there are updates too.

Following that, One's subject helped One to make some jewellery for One's Mum. (One has had these beautiful semi-precious stones lurking in One's beading box since January and thought it was about time something was done with them). One's subject produces gorgeous jewellery herself and so One was very grateful for her subject's advice. Here are the results, and One hopes One's Mum likes them - if not, they will be reassembled into something else.

After an exhausting day (including a visit to a building One is told is called a "supermarket", where One's subject bounced (literally) down the aisles and One had to announce that shoppers were not to worry, but One's subject was only allowed out once a week, and only then under supervision), One packed up One's carriage and headed back to the safety of Brighton. Thankfully One had a much easier journey home but went to One's boudoir absolutely knackered. One did however have a very pleasant day (but One's subject needn't know that or it'll just go straight to her hairnet).

More bag bling

2009-04-23T22:52:00.003+01:00

I did a bit more faffing today to see what effects I can get with different yarns. This one was done with a 1mm hook, and fine yarn that I'd normally use for the doilies. You need very good light for working with a hook and thread that small. Oh, and I attached a recycled sparkly bead in the middle for a change.

Bag Bling

2009-04-20T16:41:00.003+01:00

A certain person, who has ever-so-slight bossy tendencies (but is very sweet really), has been on at me to make crochet flowers to decorate bags or to use as brooches. So, as ordered, here they are :-) I'm calling them bag bling.....now, what sort of price do I sell them for? I hate putting a price on things I make.

I really should get out more......

2009-04-19T18:22:00.005+01:00

I had an unexpected day on my own today, so I started off watching "Some Like It Hot" (which I've never seen) but it was too early on a Sunday to concentrate. I've been hatching an idea for a soap so thought I'd have a go today - what did I learn? Blue lye water does NOT equal blue soap. Hmph. It's skulking under some towels now while it goes through gel. Maybe it'll look more the right colour tomorrow.

On a roll in the kitchen, I made a yummy lemon drizzle cake (failsafe recipe so no problems with that one). Only problem is you have to wait for it to cool completely before you can attack it - it was an agonising wait.

After I'd stuck yet more laundry in the machine, my little brain was whirring with ideas so, as you do, I made some "bag bling". Crochet flowers to use as brooches or bag decorations. These are a bit different though - what you can do with a couple of plastic carrier bags, eh? :-) So, here you have it (I really should get out more I think) - plastic bags recycled and made into flowers. Not sure they'll catch on though :-/

What can you see?

2009-04-16T13:27:00.002+01:00

What can you see on this palm tree?

A horse's face or a little bum, or both?

The most diabolical yet?

2009-04-16T12:37:00.002+01:00

Does this one win the prize for the most diabolical yet?
Hmmmmmm we'll see :-)

Beaded cuff bracelet

2009-04-13T18:59:00.007+01:00

When the strong wind calmed down a bit, I managed to make this too (I rarely sit inside if the weather is nice in Portugal!). I've never done this stitch before, and although I used the wrong thread so it's not as rigid as it should be, I really enjoyed making it.

This was made using Peyote stitch in a mix of cylinder seed beads and ordinary seed beads in a combination of sizes. If I can find the right "thread" here in the UK without having to pay a ridiculous amount of money for it, I want to have another go in a different combination of colours. I might do a "matte" version too just to see the different effect you can achieve

Diabolical Doilies

2009-04-13T18:54:00.003+01:00

As I get easily bored - and making "cream" doilies can get a bit tedious - I've decided to do a trawl of the "Chinese shops" in Portugal as they stock a range of the (in my opinion) most hideous variegated threads. For want of a better name, this series will be called "Diabolical Doilies" and is just for fun :-)

Portuguese "lace" crochet

2009-04-13T18:49:00.003+01:00

I learnt to do this kind of crochet a couple of years ago, and although I'm not personally very keen on the things I enjoy the challenge of making them - I know, I'm a bit weird!

So, this little lot was done in the last 10 days or so..... keeps me occupied when I can't make soap :-/

Alentejo coast

2009-04-11T15:02:00.005+01:00

View Larger Map

Instead of driving back on the motorway from Lisbon, we decided to drive all the way down the Alentejo coastline. We pottered back and it took us about 8 hours in all, stopping off wherever we felt like it having a look at pretty little beaches and villages.

After we left Lisbon, we headed for Sines, which is the birthplace of Vasco da Gama. It could be a very pretty little fishing village if it weren't for the dirty great oil refinery lurking in the bay! It was a very nice place despite that, and the bayfront area is very well kept - maybe kept in good condition by the oil refinery, I don't know! After that, we drove down through Porto Covo and stuck to the old road which goes all the way to Sagres in the far southwest of the Algarve.

We "nipped" in to a beach called Praia de Odeceixe too - well, nipped is a bit of a bad word to choose. The track bumped its way round the river and hills for about 20 minutes and when we got to the end of it, there's a very pretty little cove. There were a fair few campers there, most of them parked away from the "road" as it was just a very dusty dirt track. It made us proud to be British though (not!) when we spotted right on the turning point at the end of the track, a pair of idiot Brits parked and eating their sandwiches. Where they'd decided to camp in this pretty cove was the spot where every car that went past covered them and their sandwiches in clouds of dust. Given we went past twice, their sarnies can't have tasted too good by the time we left :-)

I'd recommend the drive along this coast as part of it's a national park and there really are some beautiful places to stop and enjoy nature. Our last stop was in Aljezur before we headed back down to the start of the motorway at Lagos to take us back across to São Brás de Alportel up in the hills behind Faro.

Lisbon

2009-04-11T13:51:00.012+01:00

I went to Lisbon for a couple of days with Mum & Dad. We drove from the Algarve and it took about 2 1/2 hours on the motorway (toll road and cost about 20 Euros). The drive to the bridge across the river was fine, but after that.......DON'T DRIVE IN LISBON UNLESS YOU ARE COMPLETELY INSANE! We ended up going round in circles even though we stopped twice for directions. Finally Dad got in a taxi and we followed him to the hotel - we'd never have found it otherwise.

We wandered around the old part of town on the first afternoon - there are some beautiful old buildings and quaint alleys but we found the traffic and noise a bit of a shock! If you're interested in museums and churches then I'm sure you'd thoroughly enjoy the place as there's lots to see, and if you like big noisy cities you'll love it! It was a bit of a shock for me to see how many poor souls there are begging and just lying on benches, but I suppose it happens everywhere sadly.

The only part we didn't have time to visit was Alfama, which is where they believe the Portuguese Fado music originates. I quite like some Fado music and would have liked to listen to some in Alfama but maybe I'll have to save that for next time!

On the second day we bought a day ticket on the Carris sightseeing bus tour of the city. You can get on and off as many times as you like and the buses stop at all the most important sights. It was well worth the money (about £15 per person), especially if you're only staying for a couple of days. The buses have an open top deck which allows you to see a lot more - word of warning though, put some decent sun cream on your face or you'll end up like a beetroot, and if you wear a hat be prepared to spend the trip holding on to it :-)

If you stop off at Belém, make sure you try out a "pastel de Belém" which is the famous custard tart. Much to my annoyance I didn't know about it until afterwards as a little custard tart and a nice coffee is my vice when I'm in Portugal.

Belém is the part of town that has the famous Tower, fantastic views of the 25 Abril bridge, and is the part of town where the wealthy and famous have their homes, including the President.

Even though we only had a short stay, we enjoyed what we did and saw. I can't say as I'd rush back though, but then I don't like big noisy cities so that might just be me!

The photos in this post came from www.visitlisboa.com which is a great site for information if you're planning to visit Lisbon.

We stayed at a great little hotel near the Botanical Gardens. It's very simple, clean and friendly, and the rates for Lisbon are very good - Hotel Botânico - they have a few rare parking spaces if you do arrive by car (which is a godsend!) and it's about a 20-minute stroll down into the old part of town. They also sell tickets for the Carris bus trips and the nearest stop is about a 5-minute walk away on the main Avenida. I'd thoroughly recommend staying there, but if you're not too good on your feet be warned it's up a very steep, cobbled hill so you might need a taxi after a hard day's sightseeing or a good meal out in the evening!

I'm back!

2009-04-11T12:53:00.002+01:00

Well, we went to Portugal for about 4 weeks, and as always stayed longer. I've got severe soapmaking withdrawal now - fingers are itching to get going. Luckily (?!!!!!) the weather is rubbish back in the UK so this Easter weekend I might just get a chance to make some.

It gets harder and harder to return to the UK each time we spend some time hidden away in the Algarve hills. I need to make some major life decisions and either take a leap and try living there or keep faffing about living a half life spread between the UK and there! Not an easy decision to make as I have family here and we're very close. I put out some feelers for work whilst I was there, and there are a few things that could come up but I'm not the type of person that likes uncertainty and the thought of not having something definite lined up makes me nervous! I'm such a coward. Maybe I was a real risk-taker in a previous life and this time around I'm a wimp!

Anyhow, we were extremely lucky with the weather in March - the driest for a decade in the Algarve - and watching the garden spring to life after all the rain they had at the beginning of the year was wonderful. When we arrived, my plum tree (under which I sit contemplating my navel and staring at the clouds) was completely bare. A few short weeks later and she's sprouted a beautiful crown of leaves so there's now shade to sit in and watch the birds and sky. For some strange reason, I feel a real affinity with that tree - she's very old and gnarled but she valiantly springs to life every year - and I do a lot of thinking sitting there. (Am I losing the plot finally?!!!) Oh, and I also make hideous crochet doilies sitting there - more to follow in another post :-)

Our lovely Portuguese neighbours were as kind as ever, giving us fresh eggs, vegetables, lemons and delicious winter oranges. We were invited to dinner twice for traditional Portuguese food which was a lovely treat for my Mum & Dad who were staying with us. They cooked "Bacalhau com batatas ao muro" which is dried salt cod (soaked in milk I think) cooked very slowly with garlic, onions and small baked potatoes which are slightly crushed. Mum & Dad said it was delicious. As I'm veggie, they made me a separate meal of freshly picked veg and eggs, and homemade soda bread. I was really touched by that - Regina knows I'm allergic to yeast so she made me my own loaf of soda bread and it was delicious. Whenever I make it, it ends up like concrete. They then produced 2 massive dishes of what Mum said was the nicest ever creme caramel as well as about 3 other desserts - would you get that kind of hospitality in the UK any more? I'm not sure.....

The second meal was a spur of the moment thing because when Regina was picking the broad beans I offered to help and just asked how she cooked them. Next thing we know, her son Rafael was telling us dinner was ready! We abandoned our half-cooked dinner and went round to find she'd cooked another traditional dish of "favas com choriço" which is broad beans cooked with potates and sausage and fried pork. I had to pick out the meat this time but the beans were delicious :-)

This is turning out to be a long waffle isn't it? I think I'll separate the other things we did into different posts before you all lose the will to live reading this lot! Congratulations if you got this far by the way :-)

Last soaps for a few weeks

2009-02-26T20:11:00.006Z

I got a new mould recently and decided to risk it for cold process soap. It's worked really well so I'm chuffed to bits. The only thing I can't decide - whether or not to brush the pattern with mica. Not sure which I prefer.

This one is a plain vanilla FO, uncoloured. It's a beautiful creamy colour and I'm hoping it'll stay that way! It looked like a big block of vanilla ice cream before I cut it.

Beaded bracelet

2009-02-23T22:02:00.008Z

I was making this the other day and my Mum saw it. She said she really liked it, so I've managed to finally finish it and will give it to her for her birthday in March. The beads are only about 2mm across, and the needle is so fine I have to take my specs off to thread it :-)

I haven't been idle

2009-02-02T16:17:00.007Z

I've decided to learn to bead and make jewellery because I can't bear doing nothing, and when I'm in the shop I can't make soap!!

This ring is made from a mixture of Swarovski and Czech crystals as well as seed beads. It was a bit fiddly to make, but it's held up well to doing chores and hand washing.

I've also had a go at a beaded bracelet but I'm a bit stuck now trying to figure out how to construct a clasp. Could be interesting...

Oh, and I've also made about 3 lots of soap. This one is a sort of fresh, ozone smell with a hint of musk.

A slow start to 2009

2009-01-11T20:03:00.002Z

It's been a while since I posted anything, but I haven't disappeared. I've got a head full of ideas and never seem to find the time to put them into action. I'm really interested in polymer clay at the moment and have spent ages researching and learning about it, as well as admiring some of the incredible work out there; I'm intrigued by beadwork and dying to have a go so I've been reading up on that too; I need to make more soap 'cos I haven't made any for ages and don't want to lose interest and I miss my croaping Mondays :0); I've been crocheting different things, none of which I'm happy with so I've been messing about with that too. I also need to learn how to set up a website as my lovely friend Corrie bought me a domain name for Christmas......

So, while I haven't done anything productive so far I'm reading/researching & learning and hopefully I get some space and time to have a go at all the things on my list.

My opinion of 2008

2008-12-24T14:18:00.002Z

It's been a bit of a rubbish year, so for this year's cake I was going to do a big bare Santa bum poking out of a chimney until my other half suggested that maybe Santa could pee down the chimney. So, after a bit of faffing here's the result. Bit revolting, but it made us smile :-)

Food for thought

2008-12-04T20:35:00.005Z

There's been some debate on the Fresholi forum lately about "chemical-free" claims made by some skincare/bodycare manufacturers. Elaine has written a post on her blog which sums up the facts pretty well in my opinion. There isn't really any point me posting anything more, as she says it all very neatly here.

Good for you Elaine!

It's official - chocolate can be good for you!

2008-11-06T18:18:00.008Z

I went to an inspirational seminar for women yesterday, and met a lovely lady called Galia. She has a company called CHOC CHICK and offers kits to make your own healthy, yes healthy choccies. Yipee!! What a fab idea, and for people like me who are dairy-intolerant, the perfect excuse to eat choccies without suffering, and without feeling too guilty.

There's a page here explaining the benefits of raw chocolate, and a recipe page here

Galia was offering us tasters of her chocs yesterday and I'm very proud to say I managed to snaffle 2 (oink, oink) and they were both delicious.

I wish Galia all the very best with her business as it's a great idea.

I think I've done it!

2008-11-01T19:27:00.004Z

Well, I think I've managed to change the look of the blog to something a bit more interesting than it was, so until I get my act together & learn more about editing html code and know what I'm doing, I'll make use of the amazing work available for free that's out there for our enjoyment & use!

This background I found on a great site called http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com
where there are all sorts of goodies to play about with.

Hmph

2008-10-31T20:39:00.002Z

I've spent hours and hours recently trying to change the look of my blog without losing all my widgets etc. Not having much luck as you can see, so until I can get the hang of this html code malarkey, you're stuck with looking at a very boring layout. Sorry!

Note to self: buy book on how to do it properly.

Smelly Chick's Giveaway

2008-10-30T19:25:00.004Z

Smelly Chick's is a great site, and now there's a chance to win a giveaway too! Go and have a look, read & enjoy.
If you could mention that you heard about this on my little blog, that'd be great :o)

Golden Wedding Anniversary cake

2008-10-28T22:15:00.007Z

My Mum & Dad celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary last weekend. I planned to make them a cake a couple of weeks ago (Christmas cake recipe so it really needed to be "fed" with brandy for a couple of weeks at least) but I've have had a really vile flu/chest infection so it was a bit late! Anyhow, I made the cake on Sunday and then spent almost 8 hours decorating it yesterday. Their sofa is quite a long one, and the way I've positioned them is pretty much how they always sit. It was a real labour of love and I think they really appreciated it.

Here're a few pics for posterity before it gets eaten!

A truly horrible week!

2008-10-08T14:22:00.002+01:00

Well, I don't know when I'll next be making or posting pics of any soaps/disasters.... I went to Portugal for a week with my sister & a friend of hers. What a week! I'm absolutely knackered.

Here we go:
I got accosted by a Brazilian nutter at Gatwick airport before I'd even left the UK; the windscreen wiper flew off the hire car before we'd left the airport; I took the girls to the lovely old town of Loulé to show them around - and forgot the place shuts on a Saturday afternoon; we had 3 days & nights of the most horrendous thunderstorms so had no sleep; on the 4th day we decided to mooch around the shops because the weather was lousy and came home to find my beautiful house had been burgled :-( The scumbags kicked the door in and stole quite a lot of stuff - including my camera (complete with all my soap pics, boo hoo). I then dealt with the Portuguese police (who were wonderful by the way despite the dreadful press they've had lately) on my own - had to translate and make sure my sis & friend knew what was going on as they were both pretty freaked out by it all; spent almost 5 hours in the police station getting the right police reports for the insurance - good job I speak the language or we'd have come home with reports that were wrong and wouldn't have been able to claim anything from the insurance; arranged to have the doors repaired and secured; went to renew the hire car for a couple of extra days and watched some woman being arrested for attacking an airport worker 'cos she'd missed her flight.........on the whole it was a very weird experience!

Good things to come out of it:
1 The scumbags weren't in the house when we got home. It could have been so much worse
2 I now know I can deal with an emergency in Portuguese if I have to!
3 I didn't go to pieces even though the thing I'd dreaded the most had happened.

Anybody want to go on hols with me? Hah! I doubt it very much.

A slight pause in transmission...

2008-09-25T21:26:00.003+01:00

I know you'll all be devastated (whistle, whistle), but I won't be around for a short while as I'm off to Portugal again, & that means there won't be any new croaps for a while either. Boo hoo! I'll have severe withdrawal symptoms again when I come back, as well as a brain overloaded with ideas and no time to do anything about them. Awwww, shame innit? :-)

Chocolate cheesecake

2008-09-21T19:00:00.005+01:00

This one is supposed to be a chocolate cheesecake! I tried to do a whipped top but when I added the FO it made the whipped soap go runny so I couldn't pipe it as I'd planned. In the end, I just slapped it on & poked at it for a while (technical terms). I'm hoping it will hold its shape & not disintegrate overnight. Fingers crossed as it smells gorgeous!

This is it before I covered the top with the "whipped" soap. Interesting how it's discolouring - it's supposed to go a chocolate brown so it was a bit of a shock when I cut it & it was a fudge colour in the middle.

An interesting gentleman

2008-09-15T20:16:00.007+01:00

For the past 10 months, I've been a partner in running a small leather goods shop. The past 25 years of my working life have been spent in a first-floor office so everyday life at pavement level has pretty much passed me by. Opening the shop hasn't exactly been a roaring success but I've met some very interesting people, a few of whom have become friends now.

One regular visitor is Gordon, a gentleman in his 80s who pops in for a coffee and a natter on a regular basis. He enjoys going to Sussex University to sit in on lectures, and has a passion for understanding all the things that make us human. He carries a book around with him called "Why Love Matters" (Sue Gerhardt) and is on a quest to understand more about how we develop as humans depending on how a mother's love is given during the first 2 years of life. He has several blogs going, but this one is his current passion - check it out and leave him a comment :-)
Gordon's blog is here

Why the croap crown is mine.....

2008-09-15T19:00:00.005+01:00

I wanted to have a go at a "round" soap and finally managed to find somebody eating Pringles, so I stole the tin and had a go. Eek! - I've no idea what went on in that tin during gel, but it's a very weird- (and rude-looking) soap to me. Or is that just my dirty mind? :-) It smells good though - a mix of strawberry-coconut with milk.
I suspect it got too hot during gel - anybody knows the answer, please let me know!
It doesn't look too disgusting cut, but I might have to set the cookie cutters on it. We'll see.....

First funnel soap!

2008-09-14T21:20:00.004+01:00

I discovered this fab new technique and thought I'd give it a go. I'm gobsmacked at the result, to say the least. It looks completely different cut than it does in the mould, and no two slices are the same. I scented this one with "Blue Amberwood" and as it's a discolouring FO, I'm hoping the "cream" swirls will eventually go a browny colour. So far it's gone a bit of a strange yellow but we'll have to wait & see.

In the mould

Cut!

I'm exhausted, and still no soaps......

2008-09-12T18:42:00.003+01:00

I still don't have any soapies to post here as I've been away in Derbyshire for a few days staying with my friend Joy. On Friday we went to Buxton and met up with our friend Zoe (we all know each other from the Fresholi forum) and to finally meet in person was great. It was a lovely giggly day despite the hideous weather. On Saturday we managed to produce 5 batches of CP soap and very proud of ourselves we were too. Joy showed me how to make whipped soap, so watch this space. Sunday we went to a trade fair at the NEC in Birmingham. Picture it - 2 grown women going a bit giddy when they found a cake decorating place that had silicone moulds perfect for making soap in. At one point certain people were brought a chair as they were a bit overcome by it all (and it wasn't me) :-) It was good fun but very tiring and we came away with some great ideas.

My only problem now is too many ideas (and a head about to explode with them all) and not enough time to put them into being. Drat.

I haven't fallen off the edge.........just yet!

2008-08-29T11:06:00.006+01:00

I didn't realise it'd been so long since I posted. Well, I've been away hiding in Portugal for a few weeks, contemplating my navel and wondering what to do with my life. My dream would be to live in Portugal and make my croaps, and if I can make some sort of money from it - great! When things were going well for us a few years ago, we were lucky enough to buy a house there and there's just something very special about it. The house almost gives you a big cuddle when you go back - sounds mad but I know what I mean. Might be something to do with the resident spirit we have (and yes, I know her name, which part of the house was hers and a bit about her family - courtesy of her granddaughter who turned up out of the blue one day last year after living in France for 40+ years!). My friend even commented that the house was happy to have us back and had seemed very sad when we weren't there. So here's a pic which doesn't really do her justice but I love her anyway

We also had a visitor who brought us her kittens last time we were there. She hasn't been seen for a few months, but 2 days after we arrived she appeared (sadly without kittens this time). After a few weeks she was having a bit of trouble with the word "feral". We called her Suki which I'm told means happy in Japanese - suits her really well.

And for those friends of mine who doubted that the Croap Queen took her crown with her so it couldn't be stolen while she was away, here's proof! Hah!

Been a bit busy lately!

2008-07-08T19:40:00.003+01:00

I haven't posted much lately but there'll be some pics soon of what I've been up to. I've been concentrating on sorting out my safety assessment and all the associated red tape that we have to cope with here just to sell a bar of soap. I had a meeting with Trading Standards today who are more than happy for me to sell my soaps. Scary stuff!! Now I've got to decide on a business name & identity, and that's not as easy as it sounds. Oh, and sort out insurance, and packaging, and labelling, and allergen declarations, and weights for labelling.......and the list goes on! I just want to have fun making soap and hope to be able to sell some. As for reading the 351-page document relating to EU Cosmetic Directive changes coming up, I don't think so!

Not that I'm addicted or anything........

2008-06-01T16:21:00.008+01:00

I've made 4 soaps in the past few days - 3 ok and one disaster.

This one is Seabreeze and I was hoping for reasonable swirls all the way through. Not too bad for a first go at this way of swirling, but I didn't really want the base to be blue blobs. No idea why it's got greenish bits in it either, or white feathery bits.....I only used blue colour.

This one's Rhubarb & Custard. I went into shock when it came out of the mould because it turned out more or less as I'd imagined. A first for me!!!

Then came Raspberry Yoghurt. I can't get the hang of in-the-pot swirls no matter what I try. I've tried different traces and nothing seems to be quite right. I'm not keen on the smell of this one either but it's getting a bit less pongy as it cures.

All going too well........here comes the disaster. Beautiful smelling FO but a swine to work with. I had soap on a stick and no time to even smooth out the top once I'd dolloped it into the mould. The contrast colour wouldn't mix in so I had a hissy fit & just chucked it on top. It went to gel within 15 minutes, and doesn't look much better when cooled. Hopefully I can rescue it by slicing off the lumpy bits from the top and making little sample sizes out of what's left.

Lolita

2008-05-20T19:12:00.004+01:00

I made a hot process soap this week for my niece - the FO is a dupe of a perfume she loves. I'd not tried the Celestial colours in hot process before and whilst they don't react like they do in CP, they hold up quite well and mix in fine. I even went mad & brushed some mica on the top just to show off a bit.

Shell bracelets

2008-05-20T19:05:00.005+01:00

I finally got to meet my friend Joy last week - we'd only ever spoken on the 'phone, and we had a really nice day. Got some strange looks in the pub with a table full of soaps & fragrance oil bottles but hey, we're soap addicts so we don't care. Anyhow, she very kindly gave me some kits to make up bracelets from shell buttons and here they are.

Washcloths & Danglies!

2008-05-10T20:15:00.006+01:00

I've been playing about with some cotton yarn and made a few crochet washcloths for my friends. I hope they work ok!

I also enjoy making "Danglies" - bag or key charms! Here are a few pics - some I made especially for my friends and others I'm not quite sure what to do with! I should sell them in my shop, but I'm not sure what to charge or whether they'd sell. Hmm.

Lavender goat's milk

2008-05-10T20:08:00.005+01:00

Second ever goat's milk soap just using lavender EO as fragrance. First pic is of the soap wet and before it went into the fridge. Yet again, the colour is a bit different than I expected and because I didn't gel this one, I didn't know what'd happen to the colour. For a change it went vaguely right and ended up a lavender-ish colour.

Honey Baby

2008-05-10T20:03:00.002+01:00

This one worked a bit better than the Pink Peril. I tried to do a proper in-the-pot swirl this time but didn't take out enough uncoloured soap for the contrast swirl. Still, I've learnt from yet another mistake!

Pink Peril

2008-05-10T19:51:00.007+01:00

I got some lovely new colours from the US to play with last week. Believe it or not, this was a combination of fuchsia for the base and the swirl was wine-coloured. The fuchsia didn't colour the base as I thought so I kept adding a bit more. Oops. Look what happened once it had gone through gel.

Before she spontaneously combusts from her pinkiness, here she is cut - to make matters worse, photographed on a pink background and in a pink bathtub. :-)

Internet trouble

2008-04-25T18:55:00.004+01:00

I've spent over 4 hours on the 'phone this week trying to sort out a faulty internet connection and given that all technical fault calls are routed to India, does this picture explain why they are unable to sort out my problem?

Fruitarama & I are not speaking

2008-04-23T18:55:00.003+01:00

This is REALLY unfair. If I'd wanted pink & purple soap I'd have made it. I wish I had a "strop" emoticon on here. We are not on speaking terms this monster & I. Hmph.

27 different soaps so far, and still counting......

2008-04-21T19:29:00.009+01:00

I thought I should just post a few pics of other soaps I've made before starting the blog. Am I getting better or not?!!

Hot process Tea Rose

Hot process Anastasia

Special facial soap I made for my Mum's birthday

Left back: Antique
Right back: Orange Blossom
Front: Rice Flower

Fruitarama

2008-04-21T16:49:00.003+01:00

This week's effort is a fruity little number - smells of all sorts of tropical fruit. I stuck to a fairly basic recipe for this one - just olive, coconut, avocado & cocoa butter. But, true to form, when I mixed the 3 colours one of them was actually turquoise (well, for a while anyway) until I turned round and it had gone - surprise surprise - brown. So, my pattern (inspired by the amazing soaps at Alkali Soap Studio) is no longer red, orange & turquoise. Who knows what'll happen when it's finished gelling etc. Your guess is as good as mine!

Hot process for a change!

2008-04-16T21:46:00.008+01:00

I thought I'd make a hot process soap this week for a change - I get very twitchy waiting for cold process ones to be cured and ready to test. The rubbish effect on the top is NOT what I was aiming for (I was hoping for something vaguely resembling those of platypusdreams.com.au & as you can see, I didn't come remotely close!) but it looks a bit better than I was expecting when I cut it.

I don't think that'll last though - this fragrance oil is known to discolour to a dark tan, and I quite like it pale. Bum!

Garden Path

2008-04-07T19:25:00.002+01:00

This was supposed to look like a meandering garden path surrounded by pretty flowers, not like a garden shed collapsed and flattened any flowers along the way. The base is actually green in reality - not sure why it looks yellow in the pic. I'm not gelling this one in the hope that the embeds don't move (although maybe I should gel it and it'd cover up the topping). I used lots of avocado oil in this one so hopefully the soap itself will be lovely and conditioning. We'll see what happens when I attempt to cut it later in the week.

Snow in April!

2008-04-06T20:45:00.002+01:00

We don't often get "proper" snow this far south. It was forecast for this weekend but we don't take much notice here. Right by the coast, we rarely get what's forecast so it was a bit of a shock this morning to wake up to this. Most of it's gone now though, but it was nice to look at while it lasted.

Floral Ripple

2008-04-06T20:33:00.004+01:00

Well, here she is, finally cut. I don't understand the chemistry but her purple swirls have decided they'll stay pink so far. It took 4 days before she was hard enough for me to cut comfortably and even then was still a bit too sticky. I used essential oils in this one and didn't allow it to gel - so far the scent is holding well and doesn't seem to have disappeared much. We'll see what happens as she cures!

GM update

2008-04-03T11:09:00.002+01:00

Well, the goat's milk monster is out of her mould and sitting quietly in a corner. Hopefully she'll harden up soon so I can cut her. However, I checked on her this morning (the sad life of a soap addict - get up in the morning and check on your babies) and the purple swirl has morphed into a very strange pinky colour. Not only that but there is definitely ash forming on the top. Hmph. I am not a happy girl now.

First Ever Goat's Milk Soap

2008-03-31T18:02:00.003+01:00

I had an itch to make goat's milk soap and had to give in & scratch it today. I managed to get away with it not curdling or seizing, no smell of burnt milk and finally managed to get the right trace to have a go again at swirling. I need to learn not to faff once I'm reasonably happy with the swirls/contrast colours or I'll end up just mixing the swirl colour into the base completely.

I remembered to take a pic before it morphs into some kind of monster and then stuck it in the freezer for a couple of hours. At the moment, there are some nasty cracks forming so it's now sitting in the fridge to see what happens. Hmmmm.....

Baked Beans

2008-03-27T20:20:00.001Z

I thought this week I'd have a play with a liquid colourant in some CP soap. Yet again though, I took out too much soap to colour for the swirl - will I never learn? I got my fragrance oil mixed up with something else too and thought it would discolour to cream (and not a caramel colour).

The aim was a delicate cream-coloured soap with orange swirls. The fragrance moved quite fast though and by the time I came to add the swirl colour, it had almost set. My timing is still off and something I'm having trouble getting the hang of. I didn't think it looked too bad in the end until my sis very kindly asked me not to leave the end result hanging about in case my niece came in from school & thought it was baked bean sauce. Oops.

Note to self: Do not remove too much soap for colouring; Read notes on fragrances properly; Stop having pictures in head of what soap should look like when it's done. :-)

SMelties!

2008-03-18T18:17:00.001Z

Just to show I can make things that work as I want them to sometimes, here's a pic of my soy wax melts which I call SMelties. I sell them in bags of 3 tarts (and sometimes make other smaller shapes too when I'm feeling brave) in loads of different lovely scents, and the only complaint I've had so far is that they last too long! I love them because the wax has no nasties in like petrochemicals etc and if you do spill it it just washes off with hot soapy water. I really enjoy making them and when I've made a batch, my whole house smells lovely!

Gorg (as in onzola, not eous)

2008-03-17T19:45:00.000Z

Today I decided to make HP soap using sodium lactate for the first time. It really helped with the fluidity but the soap set really, really fast (so much so I made a whole bar of soap out of the pot scrapings). The idea was to have a whitish base with pink & blue swirls. I used beetroot powder to get the pink colour, but when I added it, it disappeared completely so it ended up as whitish with just blue swirls. The fetching air holes gorgonzola style, are because I didn't really have time to get the air out as it was setting so fast. Another day, another croap......

Crapple Pie & Crudstard

2008-03-12T20:52:00.001Z

This week my idea was a creative new croap
As ever I planned it & was living in hope
I love baking, so I had in my little mind’s eye
A soap to resemble a real apple pie.

I pre-tested the FO to see if it would go brown
But no! It stayed nice & light and would not let me down.
I rang my friend for advice on how to make “pastry”
She suggested I add oats to make it look tasty.

So, off into the kitchen I went – all fully prepared
I’d worked it all out so I wasn’t too scared.
I divided the base into 3 different parts
So I could add colours etc for my soap apple tarts.

It was all looking good, so I left it to gel
Apple Pie & Custard – it’s a really nice smell.
But when it came to unmoulding, I ran out of luck
It wouldn’t come out, ‘cos the “pastry” was stuck.

I smacked it and froze it, and then I got cross
‘Cos my sweet apple pie was another dead loss.
So please don’t look too closely, and please try not to scoff
But when I pick a piece up to sniff it, the custard falls off.

Quest For Blue Soap

2008-03-10T21:31:00.000Z

I'd tried every way I could to make blue soap and it kept evading me. I tried liquid soap dye - it didn't disperse and I ended up with blue blobs; I tried making an alkanet infusion which nearly worked but was more lavender (and has since morphed into a browny-purple because of the discolouring fragrance).

After a barrage of blue comments on the Fresholi forum, I was going to make blue soap come hell or high water. A wonderful surprise came in the post from a fellow forum member - blue ultramine. Last week I finally made blue soap (and it's still holding).

It doesn't have a "blue" fragrance but I don't care!

How It Started

2008-03-08T19:40:00.000Z

While in Portugal in 2007, my good friend Isabel got me hooked on handcrafted soap. She was making melt & pour soaps and I spent a fair amount of time "playing" in her kitchen. My curiosity got the better of me and I started to research making cold and hot process soaps.

I then found a new forum http://www.fresholi.co.uk/ and spent a fair bit of time being a wimp and gawping in awe at the beautiful products being made by the very talented, and knowledgeable bunch of members. After I'd picked their brains, and moaned and whinged for several months, I finally took the bull by the horns and had a go.

What a disaster, but hey, I'd made soap (well sort of). So, the word "croap" was born - cr*p soap - and I've since been promoted on the forum to Croap Queen. Without the encouragement and help from my fellow Fresholettes, I would never had had the courage to have a go. So, ladies (and you know who you are) a big thank you, and I apologise for the monster in me which has been unleashed in the world of handcrafted soap.