Solid Granny Square Blanket

As far as the lifespan of a ball of yarn goes, this Stylecraft has gotten off to a busy start!
When I bought this back in May, I was super excited to be embarking on another bright and glorious yarn fuelled journey. This Stylecraft was going to be the ingredients for a sunny and beautiful "Granny Stripe" that planned on making for a friend at work.

Dani (my friend and work colleague) had seen pictures of the other blankets I had made and (ever so nicely) asked if I would make her one. She wanted something bright and fun (like her personality), but didn't mind what it was. I decided upon a "Granny Stripe" as they are nice and simple to make and the end results are simply stunning.

Dani had said that there was no rush for her blanket to be completed, so I decided to make it a side line project. A project that I would work on gradually, whilst also working on other projects.
I decided upon a stripe a day.

I was pretty busy with rehearsals at work and also going to German school, so one stripe a day was easily do-able.
I got cracking with the project and was doing my best at being random with my colour selections. I was loving the results!! It was so happy looking and I was extremely pleased with how it was progressing. 

Things got a little hectic at work and I fell behind on my "stripe a day" and for a short while the blanket ceased to grow.
When I finally got around to continuing with the blanket I found that my motivation had dwindled. I just wasn't feeling the "Granny Stripe", not to mention, I had been totally inspired by some "Granny Square" blankets I had seen whilst browsing the internet. (Sandra's blanket, Little Tin Bird's Elmer Squares)

I decided to pull the "Granny Stripe" apart and give making a solid "Granny Square" blanket a whirl.
It was so nice to make these little squares, so simple and quick, not to mention easy to join together.

My "Granny Square" blanket was a constant presence at work and at home. Always in the background waiting to grow.

I was using 16 different colours and making it totally random. It's probably the first time I've been totally random with a project. Usually I end up with a little planning, no matter how random I intend on being. But this time I succeeded with being totally spontaneous.

The blanket seemed to grow at an extremely fast rate. I would keep a small stash of colours and a hook in my rucksack. It was so easy to quickly pull out my mini stash and make another square.

I was always surprised at how different the colours worked next to one another. Sometimes the blanket looked very blue and other times very pink.
The only thing that I did plan, was to ensure that every colour was used in equal quantities. I didn't want one colour to overwhelm the blanket.

Two months after beginning, my blanket was finished!!!!

TAAAAA DAAAAAAH!!!!!!

 

I am so completely chuffed with how it turned out!

It has so many different colours and seems to complement many things very well.

You've probably noticed I added a border. Just a simple one but it definitely does the trick.

A multicoloured blanket of happiness!

It looks very at home lying on my bed and making friends with my nice big "Blooming Flower Pillow". As you can see, its pretty large. 560 squares in total, 20 X 28. It should be big enough :-)

It's been such a pleasure to make. Really it has!
I'll let you in on a secret........I've seriously considered keeping this for myself! EEEEEK! I know that's terrible, but I'm truly in love with it. I also know that Dani will love it, and she is lovely!
I guess I'll just have to get cracking on another one for myself!!!
I just have a few more ends to sew in and then I'll have to say goodbye :-) It's really going to be tuff parting with it, but I'll enjoy it for the final few days that I have it!

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Clotted Cream and Jam

Happy Sunday lovelies!!!!
I can't believe two weeks have passed since I was at home spending time with my family!!..... I can't believe two weeks have passed since I last posted! My, TIME IS FLYING!!!
Needless to say, It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I've had a bunch of pictures sat in a file on my computer, just waiting to be shared.
So here they are, two weeks later, pictures summing up my lovely and indulgent week at home:

Beautiful sunny days spent walking around my traditionally English home town.

Afternoons spent chatting with my mum. Stopping off at a local tearoom and enjoying clotted cream and jam scones.

Washed down with a soothing pot of tea. It really warms the heart.

Yummy pub food

and late night hot chocolates with my sister.

Laughing and gossiping whilst Mum and Dad are upstairs sleeping.

Sunny trips to the nearby town of Cirencester.
One thing I noticed when I was at home was how very traditionally British everything appeared. I'm not sure if things have always been this way, or if it was the left over spirit from the Golden Jubilee, Royal wedding and The Olympics? Whatever the reason I loved it! Everywhere seemed very patriotic and bunting appeared to be draped everywhere I looked.
You all know I'm a tad partial to a bit of bunting :-) It makes everything look so 'Postcardy', very quaint and cute.   

Sure the Sunny day helped, but Cirencester looked really beautiful. So "oldy worldy'. I did enjoy looking around the many vintage/antique shops and hunting for forgotten treasures. 

Time at home spent in my Dad's section of the house.... the garage. Playing around with his 'babies'.

It always amazes me how pristine my dads motor bike is. Always fully polished and sparkling with pride.

Finally...a day spent out in Bath, with Mum, Dad and my Sister. Walking around the endless traditional shops. Eating home-made pastries, sweets and fudge.

Discovering the local yarn store. Simply named 'WOOL'. :-)

and falling upon a treasure of a store. "The Makery Emporium"

I was in love with this shop. So cute and everything I love all under one roof.
The lady working in the shop kindly let me take a couple of pictures to share with you all.
The shop was full of all things crafty. Books on crafting, bags, needles, stamps, and many many buttons.

Gorgeous, bright and fun fabrics.

and endless amounts of beautiful ribbons. I was in heaven.

Not only do they sell all sorts glorious stuff, they also teach crafty classes in the above floors of the shop.  This was a true diamond of a shop. My sister and I had a lovely time browsing through all of the crafty eye candy.
Of course we couldn't leave empty handed! My sister bought a gorgeous scrap book and some fun decorative ribbon and I left with these cute little trinkets. Possibly for future projects I give as gifts.

If you're ever in Bath I'd really recommend keeping a look out for this cute little shop, you'll love it. So there we have it, my week at home. I really did enjoy it. Hopefully I've got a couple of exciting posts coming up in the next week or so, I've got things that I NEED to share! Until then enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Matt xxx

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A Day With Dad.

Hello happy readers!

What a lovely week I've had! I took a much needed break from work and went back to Malmesbury, England, for an indulgent week of home cooked food and (surprisingly) sunny days. Its been over a year since I last made the trip to England and was really the right moment for some quality time with my family.

One of my favourite days was spent with my dad.

Mum was at work and dad had taken the day off so we could hang out together. We were having a guys day out with our cameras down at the 'docks' in Bristol. My dad recently bought a new camera and I hadn't really used mine, so it was great fun playing around with them and trying to create some 'artsy' shots.

 

 

 

Normally full of colour, but today I decided to shoot in black and white. The docklands made for some interesting shots.

 

Taking pictures out in the fresh air made for some pretty hard work and before long we were both in need of refuelling. In true father and son style we grabbed a greasy egg and bacon butty and a hot mug of coffee from a little cafe. It reminded me of when I was younger and we would go out for the day on dads motorbike, we would always stop off at a road side cafe for a 'bacon sarny'.

Bristol had some very interesting parts. Even though I was born In Bristol it had been a very long time since I had visited these parts. Many things had changed, but it was really nice remembering some of the places I remembered from my childhood.

I enjoyed the docklands, but I also enjoyed walking around the city. I found looking at some of the street art and graffiti very interesting.
We came across one of the graffiti pieces by Banksy, Bristol's famous street artist.

I loved the idea of this street art. It was made by cleaning the dirt off of the buildings as opposed to adding paint. I like that idea and think that the stencils look pretty cool.

 

 

  

Once again we ended the day with talk over a comforting hot coffee. I loved what it said on the inside of the mug. Made me smile :-)

 



A lovely day out together. A time to catch up and put the world to right. I loved it!
I hope you're all having a lovely week?!
Matt xxx

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