What Took You So Long?

A while ago I shared this crocheted blanket with you

during the making of which my pup Thatcher (Tatty to her friends) ate my bamboo crochet hooks several times

but I got there in the end and gifted the blanket to my eldest son

much to Tatty's disappointment.  

So just like any good puppy dog Mum I promised to make her her very own identical crochet blanket and set to it straight away almost finishing it in less than a week but didn't.  The blanket than sat in a knitting bag for the next year and the next year - yep that's right for just over two years - but this week I got it out and finished it.

 See it looks pretty much identical to that first blanket, exactly as promised.

In fact it looks so similar I'll forgive you for thinking I've just recycled old photos.

But there's been some changes around here over the last two years.  The eagle eyed might spot the cream fabric sofa is now cream leather and the back wall has turned a serious shade of aubergine (eggplant)

but the biggest change has to be that Tatty now has a Havanese puppy brother, Watson

who's lived with us for just over a year - proof if needed that this is indeed a different blanket to the first!

And just like the first blanket, Tatty (and Watson too) loves it, she only has one question for me 

"What Took You So Long?"!

Do you have an almost finished, promised to a loved one, project tucked away somewhere?

Share your stories in the comments and ease my guilt! :D

Clicking on a image will take you to the new page of crafty goodness :)

It's Here - It's Available !!!

Lots of bits and pieces to share so did a bit of a debate as to whether it was best to do one long post or a few short ones.  I've settled for one long one but I'll try to do mainly pictures and not talk too much!

Firstly, great news for anyone who saw and fell in love with the paper pieced butterfly that I tested for Juliet of Tartankiwi - the pattern is available now on her blog and for the time being it's free to download.     Update on 14 February 2015, please contact Juliet directly via her blog for information about the purchasing the pattern.

If you do have a go at your own butterfly be sure to let me know how you go on, I'd love to see :)

Updated 12.41 pm, 2 May 2014

I do not receive payment from Juliet @Tartankiwi for testing her patterns, nor do I receive commission on any patterns sold via her Craftsy page or any other sales method.  This post is purely informational and of no direct benefit, monetary or otherwise, to me.

I've been busy buying lots of fabric and here's a quick peep at what I'll be working with over the next few months.

Remember a few weeks ago I was busy making place mats to take along to a 'finished edges' course at The City Quilter?  Well I finally finished the place mats and they're already being well used at our dinner table, thought to snap these photos today while they're still looking fairly new and lovely!!!

It was my first time sewing binding on completely by machine and I can now see the attraction - it's soooooo fast.  I still prefer hand stitching binding on my quilts but there's a lot to be said for whipping around a binding in minutes rather than hours!!!

In the same class, we also covered the 'no-bind' binding technique that I shared with you in my 'no-bind' pram/stroller tutorial.  This time, I made a small Christmas themed pot holder and it's already on its way to a new home just in time for Christmas.

Unfortunately, I was ill and couldn't make the second class but my friend, W and I are meeting up with our tutor, Christine Janove, over Christmas for a seasonal drink and to catch up on the bits we missed.

 

 A few weeks ago I told you about a throw I was attempting to crochet but I was having a bit of trouble as Tatty had eaten my bamboo crochet hook - well in the end she ate two of them and, given half a chance, she'd see her way through a full set.  Now my friend, V, who runs Tatty's Doggie Daycare at Fuzzybutz, Hoboken has told me that she's having a bamboo floor laid in her apartment - as Tatty goes to stay at V's when we go away I suggested this might not be a good idea!!!

Anyway back to the crocheted throw - well it's finished and it too has gone to a new home for Christmas.

Tatty loved it so much that I had to promise that I'll make her another one!

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs and opinions are my own.

Related Posts:

Not So Finished Edges, Yet! 

Is It Possible To Crochet With No Hook On Your Hook?

It's been a good week, lots achieved and a particular highlight has been testing the paper pieced butterfly for Juliet of Tartankiwi and judging by the fantastic response I've had, I think you all love it too!

I've had a big finish as well - My Dad's Memory Quilt is now complete and will very shortly be winging its way across the Atlantic to my Mum.  For now I still can't share photos with you here - I promise I'll do that right after Christmas but you can take a look at it on my Facebook page

There was a wonderful moment this morning when I was going through posts on all the blogs that I follow and started reading a post on The Lazy Quilter that talked about Miss Chrissie and Miss Sarah.  It took me a moment to realise the post was about me and my good friend, Sarah of Quilt Candy as we have become the first followers on Erin's great blog.  Erin lives in Brisbane, Australia, and has been blogging since August but has only just discovered how to add the 'followers' button to the side of her blog, which I'm very glad to know as I couldn't understand for the life of me why no-one else was following her.  Anyway, Erin has a really great voice, funny and quirky, and deserves a few more followers if you'd like to pop over and visit her.

Another great new blog that I've come across in the last week or so is I Taught Myself Patchwork which is brilliantly and humorously written by F (Fleur Bleue), an English quilter now living in rural France and sharing her experiences with us.  I've laughed out loud many times reading her posts and that, for me, is as good a reason as any to keep going back for more. 

I've started crocheting a throw this week using the acrylic/mohair wool I brought back from Rhinebeck in October.  Initially it was going to be a keeper but I've had an idea of someone to give it to and I think they'll appreciate it more than me so we'll see if I think it's worthy of being given away once I finish it.  Another reason to give it away is that Tatty is totally obsessed with it - or so I thought, but turns out it's my bamboo crochet hook that's the real object of her desire.  Tatty had her friend Abi around for a doggie playdate on Thursday afternoon and while I was busy chatting with Abi's mum the inevitable finally happened - has anyone out there had any success crocheting with a hookless crochet hook?  I switched to one of my metal hooks, which was of no interest to Tatty whatsoever but I had to go back to using another bamboo hook (I have a whole mountain of crochet hooks!) as it's so much nicer once it warms to your fingers and takes on the oils from your skin - after a few uses it just glides through the wool.

This morning Tatty and I went for our daily constitutional down to the Colgate Clock looking out to the Statue of Liberty.  It was such a beautiful morning, once you've layered up and you're wearing your ear muffs, hat, scarf, gloves and full length, down filled North Face coat, so I snapped a few photos.

Top left - the Colgate Clock - they're busy replacing all the land that was washed away during Sandy, you can see Ellis Island and Liberty in the background.   Top right - that's my husband Simon's office on the river front and then I've taken the bottom photo from outside his building - that's the Jersey City to Manhattan ferry with 1WTC (previously known as the Freedom Tower) in the background and you can just about see the Empire State Building behind the ferry.

 Top right - I love this building, the Jersey City Powerhouse.  Left - Newport Town Square 9-11 Memorial looking through to where the Twin Towers stood.  Bottom right - I snapped this photo of the ground floor walls of my apartment building being dried out and repaired  after Sandy.  Oh yes, and that's Tatty sitting waiting patiently in her pram!

Well that rounds up my week and it's been such a good one.  I hope you've had a good week too :)