If we took a holiday

We have just returned from a fortnight in the sun and I could do with a week off, it's exhausting doing nothing.

Before we went I should have spent the day before I left packing but I took a couple of hours out to make a travel wallet for our holiday documents.

  During my time away whilst hubby and the boys lived in the water, I spent lots of time sitting still and relaxing mainly reading

 and crochet, my holiday activity.  

This is going to be a scarf; it is the pattern Gigi by Amanda Perkins from Ravelry.

Well back to reality with a bump, but I do love this next season best of all and there is a lot to look forward to. 

My most exciting bit of news is we are getting a new member of the household, he is my 40th Birthday present (which is coming up in December) meet Oskar.

He is a Silver Tabby Siberian Kitten and I am in love.

We spent an couple of hours with Oskar and his mummy just before our holidays he will be ready to come live with us sometime in September after his last set of jabs and I am so excited.

I am a cat lover and have one already but I am quite allergic to them.  This breed is known to be somewhat hypo-allergenic which is what attracted me to the breed to start with and after a couple of hours with Oskar and his mum I was overjoyed to have no reaction whatsoever (I usually flare up within minutes).

By the time I met him, allergy or not I was already smitten, how could I not be?

Back Soon 

Laa Laa Land

You lovely lot are sure to remember Hookin With Laa Laa.  My lovely friend Lynda closed her blog down but she still going strong.  In fact Lynda has taken the bold move to leave her job and embark full time on her dream of designing, making and selling her beautiful handmade creations, patterns and kits as well as needlework accessories.

Lynda has created a range of beautiful vintage inspired designs with a contemporary feel, in her own words:

"I have a love for all things British, UK iconography and nostalgia. You will see this love reflected in my designs. All of my work either harks back to a bygone age or celebrates 'Britishness' in all its quintessential hope and glory!

I love to mix traditional with contemporary. So a lot of my designs give a modern twist to more traditional techniques and ideas."

Her shop is now open online, it is not fully stocked yet it is a work in progress but Laa Laa Land is open for business.

Here are a few of Lynda's recent stunning designs:

 Victorian Rose Needlepoint

 'Pin' Cushion Kit

 Bungalow Pin Cushion Kit

 Bourbon Pin Cushion Kit

 Custard Cream Kit 

 Oreo Pin Cushion

The designs are all available to buy in kit form with all of the materials required to make your design up, or alternatively if you have a healthy stash of materials at home you can buy pdf versions of the pattern only.

Lynda is bringing her years of teaching experience together with her craft expertise to host a forthcoming workshop.  You can learn the art of needlepoint and create your very own needlepoint pincushion.

The pincushion has been designed especially for this workshop and you can create your own monogram as all letters of the alphabet are available.

This workshop will be held on Saturday 21st September, 2013 at The Blue Door Bakery in Hagley, Worcestershire, there are more details on Laa Laa Land in the Workshops section. 

Lynda will also be exhibiting at the NEC in Birmingham later this year on the 7th to the 10th November at the Crafts for Christmas / Hobbycraft Event, if you are visiting this year pop along and say hi, she is lovely, tell her Kandi sent you.

I've been delighted to be privvy to some of Lyndas up and coming designs and I can tell you there are many more delights to come.  I have been helping out stitching up designs for display, I have just completed a couple of makes from her kits and am in the middle of another, they are a delight to make and I find it a very relaxing and easy thing to do, I must admit that I'm a bit addicted. 

A bungalow blocking.

A Custard Cream before it's final stages...

...and after!

I must add that this is not a sponsored post, Lynda is a dear friend and I just love her work and wanted to share as I am sure you will love it too.

You can find Lynda in any of these places:

Shop

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Back Soon

A Little Catch Up

Hi, once again its been a while.  I am finding it more difficult to follow blogs and to blog these days, it is mainly down to the fact that I have become a little bit addicted to using my iphone and ipad for everything.  I know its possible to blog from a phone and ipad but it's just not for me.

I am getting my fix of crafty goings on from my little Instagram family so I rarely venture into blogland these days.

I did start this blog as a little online diary of my makes and goings on, so I am not quite ready to give it up just yet.

In my last post I mentioned my first ever knitted jumper, well I did finish it, after much frogging and a bit of swearing I have a completed garment.  It is very thick and covered in sequins and to be honest I can't see me wearing it much (I know, what was I thinking) but it will be a good cover up when the cold comes back.

 Knitted with a crochet rib band.

 I finally managed to make something from my ever growing pile of 6" squares

Its my mish mash blanket in tones of pink and grey. It's been a WIP for a long time but I'm glad to have it finally done and dusted. It seems odd making blankets in this weather but it's made a nice garden blanket this summer.

Still on the crochet theme I was delighted to make a little gift for a special little girl.  My gorgeous friend had her precious baby girl christened last month and I was honoured to be asked to be her Godmother.  I made this bunting for her christening cake table, 

 here it is insitu with a stunning cake hand made by Sophies Mum and Granny,

 isn't it special?

The last of my crochet makes was a long string of bunting for a friend of mine, Lynda.

Lynda is embarking on a new business venture, I just have to share her stuff with you but that deserves a post all of it's own.  I will be back to share tomorrow but here is a sneak peek at one of her designs I have recently completed.

 

 Back soon, promise.