Sunny out side

Browsing through some photographs I remembered these hyacinths from last year. A beautiful shade of blue outside the back door. It won't be long now and they'll be blooming again. Teen 2 had planted them about 5 or so years ago. Thankfully they were his favourite colour so he doesn't mind caring for them each year. 

At the weekend whilst one teen was out ice skating the other helped M make some bread. I made some leek, onion and potato soup with watercress which we all love. A Delia Smith recipe and like all her recipes they always work. I keep thinking about those automatic soup makers but for now just chop vegetables and cook everything in the big pan. This is also known as my pressure cooker, which is the one thing in the kitchen that I couldn't live without. I have a slow cooker but alas I just can't get on with it. 

Here are some pictures of the crochet cushion I made that are on my facebook page. This seaside crochet cushion, Lincolnshire style - representing the marsh grasses, grey seals and wet sand dunes was made at an improvers crochet course that I'd attended last September/October. The main aim was to make a layered granny square and then use it with other granny squares to make a project of your choosing. I think many of the people made blankets but being me I wanted something a bit different. I had thought about a bag but think it would look better crocheted 'in the round'.

I bought a feather cushion from Boyes to go inside, joined the squares with grey dc stitches and crocheted a few extra rounds (squares) to make it fit. Then I finished it by adding some large green chunky buttons as I wanted to be able to remove the cover for washing.

After the improvers course the tutor put on a beginners course making Christmas decorations. Feeling like I was going backwards I attended that too and am glad I did even though it was for beginners as I did learn new skills. The round red and white (sort of napkin ring) used a spike stitch and the bauble to hang on the tree used a chain stitch that required 3 hands (almost) to keep hold of it and crochet around it. Unfortunately I missed the previous beginners course when they'd crocheted bunting, one day I'll have a go myself. 

Craft circle this week was very quiet, not many ladies attended. We did all manage to chat and laugh whilst knitting, crocheting and drinking tea with biscuits. I did some more crochet with the Moorland blanket here for details. One of the things the ladies were discussing this week was this - those that knit don't tend to crochet and vice versa. Well I do both and I'm sure many people can do both too.

Do let me know any thoughts about anything in the comments below. Thank you for reading, happy crafting.