March

Posted on March 27, 2023 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making: Ummm I’m not sure how this happened, one minute it was a ball of Hayfield Spirit and the next it’s half a cowl! Addicted to bobbles still

Cooking: spicy chicken with tomatoes & peppers, lots of mixed spices

Sipping: water, tonic, lemonade, lime & soda (Dry Lent)

Washing on the line, cyclamen in lots of corners of the garden, mid-March

Reading: Landlines by Raynor Winn. Nearly finished. It’s her third walking book and I’ve loved spending time with her and Moth again

Waiting: for my parcel delivery

Spot the daffodil? A bit invisible and crunched up to the others, but the people coming through on the double deckers will be able to see!

Looking: at all the spring flowers in the garden. So many anemones this year and the heathers are really vibrantly pink

Listening: to Conversations from a Long Marriage (BBC Sounds) Hancock (ditto) my latest Radar playlist on Spotify

Wishing: I planted my chilies, peppers and tomato seeds earlier

The leaves have been munched, but the hellebore flowers are looking good. The garden needs a good spring clean and tidy up

Enjoying: sunny blue sky days which seem slightly more frequent. Today’s one of the best in ages

Appreciating: blossom, daffodils and the smell of flowers’ perfume on the breeze

Eating: an epic goats cheese, onion chutney & rocket sourdough toasty in a cafe on Friday. I earned it!

Liking: my bed, I’ve got into the habit of heading up about 9:30pm to have lots of reading time. Then I wake at 1200/0100/0200 (latest so far: 0215) glasses on and Kindle in sleep mode, bruised side of nose from glasses! A huge D’oh!

Loving: watching Lockwood and Co. On Netflix

I took this photo on the 14th, now the pot is absolutely brimful of viola again. Best autumn purchase I’ve ever made! It’s been a really nice sight from the kitchen window over winter

Buying: local free range eggs (as always.) I’m having another phase of fried and scrambled for lunch

Baking: (this morning) mixed seed sourdough, what a great crust! It’s always a much deeper colour and crunchier, from the oils in the seeds probably

Managing: to get out for more walks lately, dodging the rain storms. It’s been really good to get up to the fields again and not have to wade through ankle-deep mud. It’s a bit slip and slide, but so far I haven’t…

Watching: The latest series of: Unforgotten, Vera and planning to start the new David Attenborough soon

Hoping: for peace, easier financial times for all …so much… positives for the environment, the homeless and disenfranchised …the list seems endless at the moment

Watching: films…Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (or as I called it “A lot of Biff Boff”) Billy Elliot (a modern classic, so worth rewatching!) Brian & Charles (well worth renting via Prime, particularly for those who like quirky British films) Empire of Light (Sam Mendes latest. We really, really enjoyed this at the weekend.)

Saturday. It won’t be long before the trees are in leaf again

Wearing: one of my favourite Seasalt tops. It’s green

Noticing: leaf shadows on the curtain

Forsythia just coming out in flower at the beginning of March

Following: an arrow shaped cloud tracking across the blue sky

Sorting: bits for the charity shop

Getting: a list written for the next groceries order, it’s one of those big order weeks. Why do all the tissues etc all run out at once?

Coveting: Spotify premium, mine’s just run-out

Feeling: the need to move again shortly

Hearing: the clock tick, the birds chirp, someone on a call, the fridge click off

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The clocks went forward this weekend, that loss of an hour can be so discombobulating! I woke up Sunday morning, asked what the time was and when I heard 9 o’clock, I nearly fell out of bed! And then of course I realised that really it was eight. Or, so my body still thought. I wish we didn’t have to change the clocks, although I suppose the extra long hours of daylight until October are good. I’d like to have a year where we try not moving them, just to see what it’s like. I was going to ask if anyone remembered before British summertime began. Then googled it, thank goodness, otherwise I would’ve looked a right idiot! It began in 1916.

To save energy and help the war effort, the Summer Time Act 1916 advanced the clocks in the UK for 1 hour from May 21 until October 1 in the same year. Summer time, or DST, proved so popular that it was named British Summer Time (BST) and the seasonal practice kept

From TimeandDate.com this has some good nuggets of information, although I admit ‘Time Zone History of the United Kingdom’ isn’t exactly a catchy title.

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Tell us a few things, what have you been up to during March? What are you making, enjoying eating, reading or watching on TV?

Crochet daffodil

Posted on March 3, 2023 by The Little Room of Rachell

My little contribution to a Spring Flowers yarn bomb. What a lovely little daffodil!

It was designed by Lucy of Attic 24, she’s so good at designing flowers. Here’s the pattern.

I couldn’t make another, or two, by the March 1st deadline as my hand needed some rest, but apparently there’s been a really good response so plenty of knitted (and maybe some crochet) flowers. One is better than none!

I blocked it flat as the leaves and petals were a little curly, but then realised that if it rains (when it rains) they will twirl upwards as soon as wet. So I left a green yarn tail and added a little wrap of yarn so the petals can be secured with a stitch or two.

In England in the spring there is a profusion of flowers and blossom, but actually not many daffodils are flowering around here yet. We’re not quite in springtime. The greenery is there, many buds and an occasional flowering daffodil, but not the golden array we will soon see everywhere. I can’t wait! In the meantime I’ve been buying £1 bunches for my jug. The sight of their happy faces is really cheering. Everything else has risen in price in the supermarkets, but a simple bunch of daffodils is still £1.

From January onwards there have been many winter snowdrops and croci to provide some welcome patches of colour and loveliness. These photos were taken in a mix of locations from various walks and outings over the last month, or so. I’ve got even more photos from other days, but you probably came for the crochet and might be overwhelmed…

Following my mum’s tip I sometimes gently lift a snowdrop’s bloom to see inside, being really careful not to step on others. There are so many different varieties, they are really lovely delicate little flowers.

This was taken yesterday while I paused on a walk

This beautiful bunch of croci was at the base of a tree in early February

Last Sunday. What’s that little patch of mauve in the hedgerow?

Have you ever made something for a yarn bomb?

What’s flowering at the moment in your part of the world?

November

Posted on December 2, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making: my crochet bobble cowl

Cooking: fish chowder, some cream and dill at the end make it taste luxurious

Sipping: hot lemon, ginger & honey

Reading: I started another of Ann Cleeves Vera series, perfect winter reading – a country house at Christmas with a house party in full swing and … da-da-daaa! A body

Anticipating: my December gin box to be delivered at the beginning of next month

Breakfasting: porridge all the way!

Looking: at all the birds who suddenly appeared in the garden, when it became much colder

Listening: to The Green Planet TV series soundtrack on Spotify, it’s epic. I didn’t watch any of the series, but the soundtrack makes me want to!

Poppies in progress for the Remembrance Day postbox topper

Wishing: for some thermal gloves for when I walk

Enjoying: Sing 2. Purchased on Amazon, it’s a really good fun watch if you like music and silliness

A well-used and borrowed library book, I’ve made a note of the mint syrup recipe for summer cocktails

Appreciating: all the colours in the trees, it hadn’t been that windy in November, so there were lots and lots of beautiful autumn leaves still

Eating: chicken and leeks in blue cheese sauce with potatoes and green beans (leftovers with tagliatelle were delicious)

Liking: 1899 on Netflix, it’s creepy and intriguing

Loving: wearing my handmade woollies again

Buying: a few presents, trying to get ahead of the game

The Christmas cabins were in place at Blenheim Palace by 18th November when I walked in the parkland

Watching: I’m a Celebrity as usual, it was really entertaining back in Australia. Wales did not work for us

Hoping: for a lovely family Christmas, looking forward to it

Wearing: my Edenvale cowl and some purple gloves while I walked

Noticing: Christmas trees going up in homes before the end of the month. In NOVEMBER #TooEarly

Still making a loaf of sourdough every week

Following: Made by Anita on Insta, see her page here. We’ve followed each other there for years. I recommend her account if you want to see lovely colour combos, plus loads and loads of crochet

Sorting: out some yarn oddments for the next yarn bombing project for my friend (orange for a nose!)

He sang his heart out for my cousin and me

Getting: Stollen and a tin of Twiglets for my Christmas store, in recent years I’ve realised if you snooze, you lose!

Coveting: A really good flask so that I can make a hot cup of tea back at my car, after long walks

Tempted to buy a Velvetiser, I made my own real hot chocolate instead; with a bar of Lindt dark, some whole milk and a whisk, in a pan. We loved it

Feeling: a bit tingly excited about Christmas as the month drew to a close

Hearing: the heating whirring away, I’m not taking it for granted

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It was a nice month, some exciting things happened; I met new people, went to new places, generally all felt pretty good. As I write this it’s the second of December now, I hope it’s as special a month.

How are you doing? I hope all is well in your world and you’re managing to stay warm. Or, cool and dry if you’re Down Under!

Tell us three things about your November?

Crochet! Crochet! Crochet!

Posted on November 16, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Here’s the eye catching postbox topper that my friend’s WI (Women’s Institute) put together for Remembrance Sunday.

Can you spot any of the crochet poppies that I sent her?

Offering to make some poppies was the best thing for me really. We had such a hot summer. I don’t usually do much crochet when it’s warm and even less so this year, as England had some of the highest temperatures since records began. But since I made some poppies I’ve got my crojo back again, with a vengeance. It’s probably the darker evenings and the cooler weather too.

I’ve been buzzing. I’ve looked through my crochet books, read the latest issues of Simply Crochet mag on the e-library site PressReader (it’s free! Great app. Really, really good) and dived into my storage cube to see what was in my yarn stash.

Making a resolution not to start anything new, but to finish off projects I’m already halfway through this year has not been that exciting. I’ve made some headway, but felt bored, so then ended up doing little.

I checked to see what yarn I already have, but of course I didn’t actually use any of it! I mean we don’t, do we?! That’s why we build up stashes in the first place. Mine’s modest because I’ve sent a friend some and donated other bits to a charity shop, so I reckoned I could buy a little something. I chose some brand-new Hayfield Spirit DK. I really like it. When there’s even 20% wool content it’s much nicer to work with than pure acrylic, and looks better as well. It should be warmer too. I never usually make wearables with 100% acrylic, but of course it’s far more affordable for big projects, such as blankets.

I started a virus shawl. Here’s a quick snap that I sent to a friend when we were sharing what we were making one night. It’s not a great photo, but it was enough for her to see what I was doing.

This is the autumn colour way, the people at Hayfield (Sirdar) must have been thinking of autumn flowers, such as dahlias and asters, because the colours don’t say autumn leaves to me.

Then although I was happy with how it looked, I realised I would probably never wear it. I’m more a scarf or cowl wearer. I unravelled it and started a virus blanket. I bought the pattern from Jonna Martinez. Here. There are lots of You Tubers whom you can crochet along with (fun thing to do) as you start your own Virus shawl or blanket. I did that to begin.

Jonna brought the Virus pattern back to the fore and made it famous – go viral. I have read that the Virus design is actually based on an old pattern from Rumania or Russia. This wouldn’t be a surprise; I don’t think there’s really much that’s original in crochet, we’re all replicating stitches and patterns that have been done over decades, maybe centuries.

Pretty colours, aren’t they? But you see the problem? You see what’s really, really, REALLY annoying me, that means I’m going to have to unravel it?

All I will say is that I am looking into the standing stitch and checking out various ways to do it. One crocheter made a video to demonstrate one and it really made me laugh, because she can hardly get her hook through the loop. I’m not sure about doing that version. Might give it a swerve and find another!

And then when I was reading Simply Crochet, issue 128, I found a Bobble Cowl design by Sue Pearson, that I really fancied making. Pattern available here too.

I remember how much I like crocheting bobbles. I started the cowl without really checking what size I would prefer, but happily it’s exactly the height of my favourite knitted Edenvale cowl. Here it is, I wear it all the time in the winter.

And that is what I’ve been making, making and unravelling, making and measuring, then sighing with relief when it’s right.

What about you? What are you making? Any unravelling going on? Any new yarn purchases?

I’ll be back soon with a new books post.