Last minute!

Finished the baby blanket.
Finished Obi Wan Kenobi.
Finished 2 hippos.

No top for me, however. I just can't make up my mind about what yarn, what stitch etc.

But at least I got the other stuff done. Here are the carcases of the hippos:

And one with innards:

I haven't reported on Teasel the cat for a while. She's not a popular cat at the moment because she's proving to be a great hunter, and Rhiannon takes exception to having to rescue a teeny mouse in the early hours of the morning, or to waking to the sound of bones crunching beside the bed. So she is being stuffed with multiple courses of food in the hope that she'll be so full she won't want to hunt!

Last night was  Stitch Bournville. We had bread pudding fudge, made by Rhiannon. Very rich and lovely, though I still love the rose and pistachio fudge she made last weekend.
 Catherine brought her latest creation, Nellie the elephant, another of Heidi Bears designs. I hope Catherine won't mind, but I'm going to 'borrow' her photo, because I fell in love!



You can't see it, but there is the cutest little tail.

Tomorrow I'm off on holiday. Rhiannon and Fig and I are going to a cottage near Tintagel. I wouldn't go to Tintagel for years, being sniffy about fake Arthuriana. But once I had been dragged there I loved it. You walk down the steep path to the cove, and there are looming rocks and splooshes. If the tide is right you can walk into the cave that led to the legends about Merlin receiving the infant Arthur. It's very wild and very beautiful.

While we're there we'll go to a herbery that we've visited before and buy lotions and potions. There's a crab and lobster festival at Clovelly. And maybe we'll go to Rock and take the ferry across to Padstow. Fig will enjoy a swim or two in the sea and no doubt be spoiled rotten.

Wooooooooohoooooooooooo!

Fingers to the bone

I've been crocheting hard. First of all I had to finish the shawl for Kath:

Not one of my better photos. But I'm pleased with it.

Then I had a baby blanket to finish for Gareth's friend's little boy. It's not blocked yet, but I'm quite pleased with the colours. The centre is Tunisian entrelac, with plain crochet round the edge. I used Rico baby because they had the right sort of colours. It doesn't look like a traditional baby blanket, but he'll grow into it!

I'm also working on organising my workshops better. Yesterday Linda started her drop-stitch checked blanket, and two new ladies made granny squares and then squares with a 2-layer flower at the centre. They learned all the major stitches, and several useful techniques. The leaves are from a lesson prepared for Linda.

Fig went to the vet for her jabs today. I was quite nervous because the last time I went to the vets was to have Hesta put to sleep. Fortunately Fig has a clean bill of health. The vet's waiting room fascinates her, what with the smells and the noises and other patients. At least she doesn't try to leap up and get the toys, unlike one of the little dogs there. Good thing too - Fig would be able to reach them when she jumps.

At the shop, the winter yarn is starting to come in. Or do I mean autumn? There are two kinds of fluffy yarn, and some great colours. The Reflections yarn, which was new last year, has some new colours, which are really tempting. Reflections is a glittery yarn that knits as DK. Then there's a new Bergere de France 4-ply, with 75% wool. There are some printed shades, and the solid ones co-ordinate perfectly with them. But I'm not sure about the name - Goomy!

One of our customers is making photo props for her photographer husband. We gave her lots of ideas. She wasn't excited by some of our more creative suggestions, but she did go off with pompom yarn to make baby blankets.

So am I having a rest from crochet? You're joking. I'm making another 2 hippos, and there's a cone of Frangipani 5-ply waiting to be used. We're going to Cornwall for a week at the end of the month, so a wrap of some sort would be useful. And then there's Jules's shawlette, in orange Arauncania Botany Lace.

So if I don't blog much, you know why!

So much happening!

And no time to report!

I've been working on a shawl for a friend of Rhiannon's who is having chemo, using Lilygo's Remember Me pattern. It's a great pattern, and if I had time I'd do her mystery CAL. Then one of Gas's friends had a baby, Ben. I'm working on a blanket for him but have had major problems deciding. I saw a pattern called Ebbtide on Mainly Crochet (a new subscription website with some legendary designers) and loved it, but couldn't quite make it work for a baby. So I tried these:

Not what I wanted. So another try, which I like better:

It's too hot for big blankets on the knee, so motifs it is.

Heidi Bears is still having problems with pattern theft, and the latest sufferer is Helen. But my favourite horror story is the designer who found her FREE pattern being sold as a kit, with the photo of her wearing it on the front!

Let's see. Rhiannon is back to baking: this week we've had Gooseberry Frangipane and Blackberry cheesecake brownie. The brownie was yummy: when you bit in, there was a lovely ooze to slurp. The ladies at Stitch Bournville certainly enjoyed it.

Stitch Bournville was a bit quiet this month - holidays drawing people away - but Katherine came back from Devon to show off her two latest happypotami. One was in DMC perle 5, and the other in no 8 crochet cotton. I loved this last one especially - so plump and cuddle-able. I must start taking the camera down with me.

Workshops continue at the shop. My favourite this week was the lady who didn't know how to thread a needle ...

Customers come in all shapes and sizes and nationalities. This week one lady was visiting from Hungary and had come back the second day without her son. I know what that feels like!

Then there's Margaret, who has made 495 blankets for the Cats' Protection League!

Ann came in to show us her latest poppy - it's perfect and I'm hoping she'll share the pattern.

The hot weather has kept people focused on the cotton yarns, but the autumn/winter yarns are arriving daily. There's a new Sirdar yarn which is very interesting. It gives the effect of mohair but is mainly cotton and doesn't itch at all. There are some lovely colours.

And talking of lovely colours! I followed a link online and discovered Sophie Digard. So of course I fell in love and wanted to try my own, and after a lot of online thinking decided to try wool intended for crewel embroidery. It's 2-ply and comes in small quantites. These packs are from Renaissance Wools. If there's ever time, I'll have a play!

And finally a sad note. Gillian's mother died this week. She was still knitting, and had in fact won the tea cosy competition this year, with some super designs. I'm sorry, Gillian.