Recovery

I mentioned in my last post that I was going into hospital last week to have my gall bladder removed, and thankyou so much for all your kind wishes. I'm happy to report that the surgery went really well and I'm recovering nicely. My tummy is still very sore (and VERY bruised) but other than that I'm feeling fine. I'd read a lot about gas pain afterwards, from the air that they "inflate" you with during the surgery, but I was lucky and didn't have any of that. Lifting is still a big no-no, I can't bend very well, and feel like I've done a million sit ups, but all things considered I feel really well.

Of course whilst recovering I've been able to craft - thank goodness - and I've made a good start on making my Christmas cards...

I'm aiming to make 4 a day throughout the remainder of November which will give me the hundred or so that I need.

On the morning of my operation there was a fair amount of waiting around, and I'd taken some crochet with me - of course - so I rustled up lots of little granny squares ...

They're made from the leftover Scheepjes minis that I received on the Carcassonne crochet retreat ...

They are going to be turned into a blanket at some point, and I think I will edge them in cream and join using continuous join-as-you-go. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) this will necessitate the purchase of more yarn! 

Since I got home I've been working away on my Fireside blanket ...

I just love the gorgeous colours, they're so cosy ...

Its coming along nicely, and I'm a good 2/3 of the way through, not counting the border. I'm loving how its looking, and its working up very quickly indeed. Enforced rest is very good for crochet-time!

I'm on a mission to get it finished ASAP mainly as I have so many other things I want to make! Crochet baubles to name one, every year I say I'm going to make them, every year I don't get round to it, I even have the baubles to cover, so maybe this is the year that I'll get them done.

That's it from me for this week, as you can imagine it's been a fairly quiet one as I am being kind to my body, giving it lots of rest in order to recover fully. Thanks again for all the good wishes,

Til next time

Jillxxx

Reindeer Chocolate Orange Cover

Every Christmas we get together with 6 other couples for a Christmas lunch, which usually turns into a day long very boozy affair - its great fun. One couple always hosts and boy do they host! There is Bucks Fizz upon arrival, an absolutely amazing Christmas meal and several heavenly desserts, including, of course, a Christmas pudding which is lit with brandy. All very yummy!

This year I decided to make some little gifts for all the girls (don't feel sorry for the boys, they would not appreciate my hard work I can assure you). Whilst on the retreat in Carcassonne I had got chatting to one of the other ladies who said that every year she makes chocolate orange covers for the girls at her work, and I thought that that sounded like a perfect little token gift, to which I knew I could give that personal touch by making them, knowing noone else would bring anything similar - none of the group are crocheters. Or crafters even. What's wrong with them ? Don't they know what they're missing out on?!)

I had a look on Etsy and found this sweet little pattern for a baby reindeer chocolate orange cover from Make Do and Craft. Have a look at her shop, she has the cutest little crochet patterns, and the one I bought was very well written and easy to follow.

Oh by the way, if you're not from the UK you might be thinking "what the heck is a chocolate orange anyway ?". Well its like it says really, its chocolate in the shape of an orange.

When you open it up it has about 20 segments, and the chocolate is orange flavoured and simply DiViNe. As a child I always had a chocolate orange in my stocking, and it just wasn't Christmas without one. So I trotted off to the supermarket and bought 6 chocolate oranges. And I can report that I did not even eat any of them!! How's that for self-restraint!

Over the last week or so I've been working away on the various reindeer body parts.

OMG those antler pieces were SUPER-FIDDLY to do, there were 24 pieces altogether, I was going cross-eyed one evening working on those. The main piece is a round ball shape that fits snugly over the orange.

Then the mask sits on top of that and is sewn on ...

Then the other pieces are all sewn into place to make a sweet little reindeer ...

Isn't he so cute ? I think these are even cuter than the pigs in blankets that I made :) 

Next I wanted to make some lovely little Christmassy fabric gift bags to wrap them in. I coudn't find my Christmas fabric anywhere (I've no clue where loads of stuff is since we moved house last year) but I did find a pack of tartan fat quarters which I thought would fit the bill.

Doesn't it just scream Christmas ?? I especially love this one ... makes me think of cosy pyjamas ...

I am a very messy sewist, so don't look too closely, but I managed to turn the fat quarters into some little drawstring bags ...

.. and finally I made some little tags to go on the bags. The crocheted holly leaf is a pattern from Attic24, you can find it here. Bit of hot glue and a red button and - ta-da - some cute little gift tags...

I bagged up the oranges, and attached the tags, and here they are all ready for Christmas ...

I couldn't help myself but take a load of photos of the little reindeer though, they are very photogenic! ...

I'm not normally organised enough to have hand-crafted Christmas presents done in early November, but I have a deadline to work to - tomorrow I'm going into hospital to have my gallbladder removed. Its done by keyhole and I should be home the same day, and hopefully will recover within a couple of weeks. I'm hoping Mr EC will step up and do the cooking, laundry and taxiing the kids around, meanwhile I'm going to use the enforced rest to crack on with my fireside blanket, I've been saving it especially for this reason :) Wish me luck!

Til next time have lots of crafty fun,

Jillxxx

3 Little Pigs - plus a few more

Hello and how are you all ? I am very well and have had a great week of crochet - more about that in a minute. Its a very rainy day here at ECHQ, I'm going walking with a friend later so I'm hoping it clears up. This week I've been enjoying these beautiful pink roses which are very appropriate for the crochet I've been doing as you will see shortly. I've been crocheting for a local charity, The Cowshed, who describe themselves as "a new charity which provides support to people of all backgrounds in a time of personal crisis".

The support they provide is largely by way of items of clothing, and they take donations of good, pre-loved clothes which are all washed and ironed by a team of volunteers who do an amazing job getting the clothes ready and displaying them beautifully for clients (who are referred to them) to come and choose from, and try on. They also provide toys for children at Christmas and have a wishlist which you can find here. I've decided this year to buy three items from the wishlist and buy less for my own three children as they already have so much.

The Cowshed also raise money by doing craft fairs, and they have a craft club which I've been to a couple of times and made bunting for stock for their stalls. Doesn't their stall look great ? I'm not in the photo by the way. Helping at their craft fairs is something I intend to do next year.

Anyway, onto the crochet! So I've been crocheting little pigs in blankets ...

Just look at him! How super-cute is he! My local crochet group, The Barkham Hookers, asked us to make these for the Cowshed so I set to and managed to get three out of the yarn which they had provided ...

These three have gone off to the Cowshed already, apparently they have lots of orders to fulfill. I then posted about them on facebook and have had orders for another 7! Luckily I had more pink yarn so I've been non-stop piggy-making all week, with a little production line going for things like noses and ears ...

Here they are, starting to take shape ...

I ran out of the Christmassy red and green yarn for the blankets but I think the purple and blue ones are just as nice ...

They've such funny little faces, I'm sure they each have their own little personality ...

The pattern is by A Right Good Hook and you can find it here on ravelry.

It was a great pattern to follow, very well written and no mistakes! Lots of fun to crochet, but I must say after doing 10 of them - yikes! - I am now looking forward to moving onto another project. 

Til next time, hope you all have some crafty fun,

Jillxo

Autumn Days

Mr EC and I were out walking the other day and he said to me "I'm sure there weren't this many acorns last year". "Don't be ridiculous" I said, "a tree will produce roughly the same amount each year" and suitably told off he said no more about it. Several days later whilst scrolling through facebook I noticed a post from a friend, talking about a "mast" year. Have you ever heard of this ? A mast year is when certain species of trees produce an unusually large amount of nuts or fruit, and this year is a mast year. You can read about it here, but basically it happens every few years, as a way for trees to ensure they produce more nuts than animals can eat, thereby ensuring their propagation and survival. It's also thought that due to the extreme heat during the summer this year, trees were under stress and a larger amount than usual of nuts has been produced, again to ensure their survival. I was really surprised to read about this, I've never heard of it before, so it turns out, much to my annoyance, that Mr EC was right. I was very magnanimous and did tell him though.

And actually, now I come to think of it when we are out walking Pixie, we are crunching our way through paths loaded with acorns, they are everywhere. Pixie is very camera shy. when my phone goes anywhere near her she looks away, the photo above is as good as it gets. She is super cute though.

We walked round our local nature reserve, Dinton Pastures, last week. There are a few lakes there, and we walked round the largest one, Black Swan Lake. No idea why its called that, there are no black swans - does such a thing even exist ? Clearly, as was evidenced by the mast year knowledge (or lack thereof), I am not to be trusted when it comes to nature-y things! There was plenty of other wildlife though ...

... and lots of beautiful tree-lined paths to explore ...

... the trees are glorious at this time of year with leaves in every shade ...

... we grabbed a quick coffee to have on the go ...

... and walked back via the activity centre ...

... bit too cold for anyone to be out boating though ...

Back home I took a quick wander round the garden. There are still some flowers blooming - are these a type of chrysanthemum ? Can anyone tell me ? They were planted by the previous owners of our house so I'm not sure. They are so pretty though ...

.. and this rose is still hanging on, just about ...

We even have some grapes growing! They're delicious!

... and the acer is looking fabulous ...

Back inside I've been progressing my Millenium cross stitch, and yesterday I finished the William Shakespeare motif. This only leaves 2 motifs to do, then some backstitching in the centre, and backstitched lettering to do round the central border, and it will be all done. I can see the end at the light of the tunnel now. It may even get done this year which would be amazing.

Taking a break from the big kit I worked on a really quick little design for Halloweeen ...

... I decided to make it into a card for Mr EC. The pattern is a free one that I found on pinterest.

Do you like my new Halloween mug above ? Isn't it so sweet ? I had a trawl through the cheapy shops - Poundland, Home Bargains etc - this morning for some Halloweeny bits to decorate our front room but I'll show you more of that another day!

Til next time, happy crafting,

Jillxx