This evening I am getting packed because tomorrow we’re off on our jolly hols – a much needed break after the trials of the past few months.

And the most important packing of all….

See you on the other side, tomorrow when we’re arrived, and I’ll tell you all about it!!

PS my website host has been down all evening and has only just come back online, at 11.45pm!  Phew!  Managed not to miss a Blogtoberfest day!

I feel very naughty to be posting this so late after I actually finished the project, but I guess that’s no reason not to!

Over the summer I started using the Rowan Amy Butler yarn I bought with my Hobbycraft winnings.  Just before I received the vouchers I’d bought just a couple of balls, as it’s not cheap, but I went back for more and had plenty to make this one cushion and I plan to make its twin soon.

The yarn is Rowan Belle Organic DK, 50% Organic wool and 50% Organic Cotton.  The shades I used are:

• 005 Basil
• 012 Tomato
• 013 Moonflower
• 015 Slate (the name and shade on Rowan website indicate this is a grey, but the yarn I used is more purple – so maybe some sort of mix up on labels!)
• 017 Zinc

I used a standard granny square pattern for the body of the cushion and both sides are the same.  I wanted the cover to be removable so on one side I made two rows of double crochet (UK) and on the second of those rows made evenly spaced chain loops as button holes:

On the other side I then made two rows of double crochet along one edge (which the buttons would be sewn onto):

I then put the two sides together and made two double crochet around the remaining 3 edges:

Then I changed colour and completed another double crochet row around the remaining 3 sides and across the plain edge (without the buttonhole loops) and :

I did attempt a picot edge, of sorts, but it added too much of a frill to the edge so i took it off again.  I liked the pink trim but not the effect this additional trim created:

Then it was on with the buttons:

Et voila!  A granny cushion:

I’ve been working my way through all the other blogs taking part in Blogtoberfest and came across several taking part in this ‘meme’, so I just had to jump on board!  It has originated from ChunkyChooky who has set up a page to add your link to.

Here goes more stuff about me than I probably ever intended to share on this site:

4 things that I always carry:

1. lip balm
2. mobile phone
3. keys
4. a clean hankie

4 things that are in my bedroom:

1. a whole lotta mess – I am very, very untidy
2. A painted wooden owl that I bought the first week I moved to Oxfordshire when I first left Scotland.  I only had £10 to last the week and I spent £5 on him and have never regretted it
3. 2 pictures: one is a poster that advertised a photography exhibition at the Edinburgh Festival in 1993 called The Waking Dream, the other a canvas of a Roy Lichtenstein painting called Drowning Girl that has the words ‘I don’t care!  I’d rather sink than call Brad for help’  I never tire of looking at either of these
4. Several large piles of books, including lots of crochet and knitting ones

4 things that I would like to do but haven’t done… yet:

1. Get married
2. Buy my own home
3. Travel into space and look back to earth
4. Drive an HGV.  I have wanted to since I saw Long Distance Clara in Pigeon Street (my family sometimes even called me Clara as a result!)

 
4 things that you don’t know about me:

1. I never drink alcohol.  I used to, socially and for pleasure, but now I just don’t see the point.  I also have a real issue with people being drunk!
2. Caveman and I met through internet dating! 
3. I think about everything very deeply.  I think it’s a good quality but others don’t
4. I have a funny combination of qualifications including a degree in Clothing and Textiles, a Foundation Degree in Community Governance and  City and Guilds in Floristry.

4 things I often wonder:

1. what all my Grandparents were like.  I only ever had one Grandmother alive since I was born and she passed away 6 years ago.  I would loved to have known all my Grandparents.
2. where the universe stops beyond the stars and what there is beyond that!
3. what it would have been like living through the First and / or Second World Wars.  I am fascinated by the first half of the last century and find myself drawn to it in many ways.
4. What my life would have been like if I had stayed in Scotland all those years ago when I took a job in Oxfordshire and moved away.

It feels like a very good time to be recognising the nicer things in life as there is a lot that is causing a lot of stress and difficulty at the moment, for many people.  The happier things, not matter how small or apparently trivial, can add a little bubble of delight:

my new purple corduroy coat!  Purple, cord, cosy and even better a bargain!

the circles scarf coming along nicely.  2 rows joined with a slip stitch in the middle or the circle to the same point on the previous row:

looking at the frost on cars outside while still snuggly warm indoors in my pj’s (oh, you’re not getting a pic of me in my pj’s, by the way!):

my new Nintendo Wii – why didn’t I get one years ago?

4 days til our holiday in Yorkshire!  And counting…

Is it really Sunday night already?  Why do weekend days go much more quickly than weekday days?  Maybe it’s because I don’t get up at 8.00am!

After a day that included some shopping, getting stuck in traffic for far too long getting to the shopping, playing Mario Kart with Caveman on our new Nintendo Wii we finished off the weekend having dinner with friends.  They were kind enough to cook for us and it was great to see them outside work, which is where I normally see them.

And what a delight to see the Apple Coasters I made them recently as a wedding present in situ and in daily use!  I don’t know about you, but I love knowing a gift I’ve made is so well received, so much more than a bought item.  It makes me smile!

This afternoon I had a good catch up with a good friend who is a fellow Crocheteer and a new blogger! 

Over a cup of tea and some jaffa cakes we did some html tinkering (doesn’t everyone?) and shared details of our latest crochet yarns and projects.  Ah, perfect afternoon!

And she had a fab present for me, a seasonal present no less:

So here’s an undulterated plug for her new website: Hairballs and Hatstands!