Sunday, January 30, 2011

Yarn Shop, New Baby and Sewing Kittens!!

Happy Sunday everyone,
 hope you are having a lovely weekend, I am dreading going back to work, even though the mornings are getting brighter it is horrid going in when all I would love to do is stay at home and create, but oh well bills have to be paid and the rent aint free! thats life, On Friday I was in our LYS with my sister, and while I did all the "boring" stuff she went around snapping pictures, so would you like to see where I buy all my yarn/ material and bits?... of coarse you would!

 At the moment there is a HUGE sale on
 they sell Donegal tweed here
 and baby yarn
 so pretty!
 Here I am below trying to find a pattern, I was looking for a pencil skirt or dress pattern

When we were finished we met up with my brother and husband and passed by a lovely art exhibit, the painting below just took my breath away, isnt it wonderful!

Oh and the lovely news for my family right now is that my cousin Lisa had a little girl, Ella Katy Furey weighing 7IBS and 13oz,
I saw this on a blog today and fell in love with it so wanted to share it with you all, enjoy!
have a lovely week x

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Crochet Fish, Floral Fancies and Vintage Sewing Machines!

Hello everyone, how has your week been?, I have been so busy crafting all week and have made some wonderful projects, I have been so excited to share them with you, so lets get started:

After seeing a lovely fish hat on Libbys blog I decided to design and crochet one also - here it is below

 Made for a newborn
 eyes
 Tail

Below I made a hat and matching pram blanket for my cousin who is due a little girl any day now




I also tried my hand at some filet crochet, by making this heart! it was very easy and quick to do - the video can be found here LINK


I have also been shopping, and as everyone knows I love all things floral so in Primark I got myself two lovely tops


I have also been very busy on my sewing machine and have sewn the following:

My Summer Floral Skirt
I got the material from the lovely shop PippaBlue, I love this shop so much, and was very proud of my skirt, I wore it on Saturday and got many compliments!

My "for her" Patchwork Blanket

Patchwork sewing machine mat with pockets

Talking about sewing machines I want to share with you a longing I have had for so long, I have always wanted to own a old singer machine - the black metal one! so many people own them and have them on display, and I always thought - If I had one I would have it on show in my future craft room,anyway my mother in law Elizabeth heard about this and this morning gave me a lovely gift of this:

A Singer Featherweight 221

 When my husbands grandparents got married they moved to America, My husbands grandmother, Angela who was only 22 at the time received this machine from her aunt Mary over there it was 1960, it turns out her aunt had had the machine for years but had never used it as she was "keeping it", Angela worked hard with this machine, making clothing for her children, when they returned to Ireland the machine was sent with their belongings by boat as the family took the plane home to Ireland, Years later Angela gave the machine to her daughter Elizabeth who then knowing my love for them - gave it to me today... and guess what? It still works, I have decided to get it serviced though to make sure it stays in good condition, after looking into it we found out the machine itself was made in 1951, isnt it beautiful!





I am currently crocheting a project from the book Crochet that fits by Mary Jane Hall and was delighted when I saw she had featured me here LINK
Oh yes and my PIF package will be going out to Andrea from lushstuff! I will contact you, Andrea for your address and will send it to you ASAP, so far I have 5 packages to send this week!! and I have been delayed so much in sending out three for months, two to England and the other to New York but I promise those packages WILL be sent!! 
now I will finish with this video that my husband took of me while I was sleeping, how cute is my pretty kitty Hope?

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Crochet Give Away

Hi guys, how has your week been so far? I want to start this post by saying thank you to Sarah for awarding me the stylish blogger award! what a lovely treat!
With the award comes the fact that I must tell you 7 things about myself, so lets begin ...
  1. Neen is not my real name but 90% of people only know me as that.
  2. I would love to spend one whole day in a spa- being pampered and rubbed and relaxed 
  3. I sing in my sleep
  4. I do not trust people easily, If someone hurts me I usually step back from that person and cut contact
  5. I am desperate to become a mother
  6. I love clipping other peoples toenails!
  7. I really want a craft room.

So I got one "love" themed project done - I made a heart shaped table mat and coaster. I was thrilled with how easy the pattern was



I also never got a chance to show you the ear rings that I made for my secret Santa partner Kym - it really made me smile that as we exchanged gifts we had both crocheted for each other ear rings! the saying comes to mind "Great minds think a like, and fools seldom differ!" 


Last night while watching Quantum Leap I decided to try a pattern from one of my favorite books "Crochet that Fits" by designer Mary Jane Hall,

what do you think of my flared 1940s hat?

I was delighted with the pattern, it was very easy to follow and Mary Jane writes instructions so beautifully! I then decided to make these lovely slippers also from the book, for my little sister Shauna



In my opinion every crocheter should own a copy of this book, the patterns are so different and wrote simply, 

I also received a lovely PIF package from Clara of Claras Crochet Room
She made me a beautiful Christmas table runner, Christmas decoration and a bottle cooler- Thanks Clara!

So now it is my turn to send three PIF(Pay it Forward) packages, If you would like to take part let me know in the comments - I will then pick my three on Wednesday. Remember though that once you receive your package you must write a post and link it back here but also then it will be your turn to make something for three other people (TIP- make something small and light for cheaper postage)
So who would like to take part?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

All you need is love....


So I must ask what do you guys think of the new look of my blog? I love it so much, I love my banner above which has a collection of images to do with me and my life, Thanks must go to my husband who stayed up until 3AM arranging it for me, also for those of you who read my blog and like my crafts please feel free to use my button on the right hand side of this blog, its the pink ball of yarn.


we are fast moving on to spring and I will be so happy to say goodbye to the dark mornings! I thought that I will spend the next few weeks dedicated to ... .Love!, so everything I decide to create will be inspired by the heart - and to give you an idea of some of the things I plan to make I have picked a selection of patterns from Ravelry



make sure to keep watch for my take on these!

I am back to work tomorrow after two week sick leave, to say Im not looking forward to it is an understatement, even though I was ill it was lovely being home and having the whole day to craft and just be home! I pray for the day when I can be a stay at home wife and one day mother.
Im wishing you all a lovely week, Im off now to cuddle up with my handsome husband and watch a movie, God Bless x

Friday, January 7, 2011

Blog Face Lift

If you get time, make sure to check back here on Sunday - to view my new and improved Blog :)

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Lean Mean Crafting Machine!

Hi everyone - I am pleased to say I am fully recovered now and after a week of sick leave I kept myself busy by crafting and watching Quantum Leap! I use to watch this when I was alot younger then I am now!(I feel old!) but thanks to Graham for lending me the entire box set I have started watching them from the beginning and love it!

 and I have so much to show you all, this Christmas in CafeCreate we all took part in Secret Santa and will be exchanging gifts this Saturday - I got partnered with the lovely Kym, the rules of the gift is to hand craft something and to buy a gift at a ten euro limit so I decided to make her a craft purse, somewhere that she could keep her crochet hooks, tape, pins etc... Kym will be returning to Thailand in a couple of months so I wanted something to remind her of her friends in Galway




 I lined it with some pretty seasonal fabric



I also made her this:I decided to keep in the same theme of things and decided to sew her a crochet hook holder







I also managed to crochet a couple of hats, I made the hat below for the Harry Potter group I'm in on Ravelry, we were asked to make something mushroom inspired ...


I also made a miniature mushroom for my husband, the hat was Inspired by toadstool mushrooms!



I also made the below hat as a gift for a girl in the states, I really enjoyed making this pattern up using front and back post stitches to give it some texture





The last thing I have to show you is something I have been working on since before Christmas, I started off making the Holy Family as a decoration for Morgan




"Oh Holy Night"

I enjoyed making it so much and got so many compliments I decided I could not stop there! and decided to make the three wise men, Gaspar, Balthasar, and Melchior.





"We Three Kings "


Next I decided to add the poor old shepard and Angel to the collection!


 The Shepard holds a sheep and the Angel holds the Star of David


"Silent Night"


and now the finished collection - I am so proud of these 


also Hello to Andrea at Lush Stuff, we had a lovely chat on the phone the last night and I'm delighted to meet a new friend through the land of Blogs! I look forward to meeting this talented woman soon for some tea! also thanks to soon information from Andrea I will be applying to attend a evening coarse in dress making at our local college and to say I'm excited is an understatement! Anyway I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! x