By hook and by crook I will learn this skill

For this award I have to learn a new skill and I decided this would be the push to learn how to crochet. A long long time ago my Mum tried to teach me but I just didn’t get it. I could never turn the corner when doing squares and gave up and went back to my knitting. Two needles were always better than one for me.

This time I started with a book (that’s how I always start new projects) but still struggled. Someone suggested YouTube and www.bellacoco.co.uk. I tried that and hey presto after a failed Granny Square I made a Daisy. I was so proud of my accomplishment. YouTube is the modern day equivalent of having someone sit beside you and teach you with the advantage they don’t get annoyed when you get it wrong and you can just replay the same part over and over again until you do get it.

I made flowers,hearts and butterflies and eventually went back to my book and followed a pattern to make an owl (which I haven’t actually got round to sewing together yet but the pieces look good.)

But I needed something bigger to do.

In my meanderings around all the crochet websites, blogs and pinterest I found out about Yarndale. This is an event held in September in Skipton, North Yorkshire. The website (yarndale.co.uk) describes it as a "creative festival celebrating all things woolly and wonderful", I was in awe of all the wool that was there to buy and all the hand-made creations that were knitted and crocheted. After much dithering I bought 2 packs of wool to make an Attic24 Harmony blanket and bunting but once home didn’t feel ready to tackle them as I kept making mistakes when doing this type of pattern (my wonky snowflake and Christmas tree are testament to this.)

As I was looking through my books again looking for inspiration my daughter asked me to make her a cushion cover in lime green to match the colour scheme of her bedroom, so I did. Half way through I noticed it was not quite the rectangle it was meant to be but realised what I was doing wrong. I decided when it was sewn up no one would notice. I still think it looks a bit wonky but Kate is happy and that's what matters.

I decided it was time to tackle something bigger and started with a straightforward blanket with beautiful stripes of colours. After reading the Attic 24 blog (www.attic24.typepad.com) I was inspired to start on a blanket, maybe! I dithered about buying the wool for several days and then decided to just go for it and now it’s nearly done. Apart from taking 8 hours one afternoon/night to get the first two rows done (involved doing it, pulling it out and re-doing but I wasn’t going to be beaten) and then 45 minutes for each row. I am eventually getting quicker. I can take no credit for the colour combination as I am following a pattern but it’s beautiful and each new row is like a pop of colour. It inspires me to keep going to see how the next colour will sit with the previous. It is nearly finished and is quite useful for keeping me warm some nights.

Once this is done what’s next, maybe I’ll try the bunting and I want to make more flowers for a spring wreath and then the Harmony blanket is sitting there mocking me and I must stop looking at other people’s creations as I want to do them all. And as it's a New Year I've read about temperature blankets where you change the colour of your wool depending on the temperature of the day. Okay realistically I’ll finish this blanket and then I'll pick one new project, who knows what it will be!

To Orlando and beyond

After such a grey wet start to the year I thought it was about time I was transported back to Florida. One of the sections of the Voyage Award is Explore my World and to satisfy this you can travel to a foreign country. Guess where I went in July 2015. I’ve put off doing this write up for so long as I had so much to say and so many photos I didn’t know where to start. I thought now with a 6 month gap the memories may have faded and I would be able to not get carried away. But once I started thinking about it and looking at photos it brought back the memories and even small things I’d forgotten about so here goes and I’ll try not to bore you.

The Voyage Award is a challenge so my challenge was to keep everyone happy and still fill every waking minute being a tourist in Orlando . There is too much to do to rest.

I started as I meant to go on on July 4^th. It is Independence Day and this is USA we HAD to go to Disney, we HAD to be there early as the news reports said they were expecting Park full signs to go up by lunch time (I hadn’t come all this way to be denied entrance) We HAD to see the 4^th July fireworks and we HAD to see the Electrical parade. So up at 8:30 and out….we achieved everything except the electrical parade.

Let me set the scene its evening, its rained solid for a couple of hours so we bought ponchos, my glasses broke so I had to wear sunglasses in the dark and I wore my bucket hat to keep the rain of my glasses. But I'm still smiling. This is my favourite photo of the day.

Picture mad Englishwoman abroad and you will be close to my look.

Random memories:
Families wearing matching tee-shirts with “The xxxx family vacation” printed on. Apparently we are not doing that next time.

99% of people wearing stars and stripes on their tee-shirts on 4th July (even the family vacation tee -shirts)

South American school parties, don’t think there were anyone left to go to School in South America, they were all here.

Going to Hollywood Studios and it snowed in the street for the Frozen parade and then going to watch a Frozen sing a long and it snowed in the theatre!

My husband would say the best part was the Star Wars ride which we went on approx 6 times but he would be wrong. It was the snow. But in true Florida style it also rained very heavily and we stood again watching fireworks in the rain in our Disney ponchos.

Universal Studio memories were sitting waiting for 2 hours for the rides to re-open when they were closed as a thunderstorm was approaching and when we eventually gave up they opened 5 minutes later. Going back to the same ride on another day and it was closed for mechanical reason. Returning in the afternoon and queuing watching the black clouds roll in and with announcements that rides may close. Eventually getting on said ride and 10 minutes later getting off absolutely soaked to the skin (did I mention it was a water ride) My Disney poncho was absolutely no use whatsoever. Maybe the magic only works in Disney.

We went beyond the glitz of Orlando to NASA and a whole different world. Marvelled at the rockets and touched a part of the moon and experienced a rocket take off….and no rain!

We shopped and ate and never managed to finish the huge American portions and even unlimited Coke loses its thrill after the 2^nd glass and in a place where dreams do come true had afternoon tea with Audrey Hepburn and met the President.

 

I confused a waiter when I wanted no dressing on my salad “You do know it’s a salad” he asked me and tried several times to give me a dressing and couldn’t understand how I could have no dressing. The waitress in Bahama Breeze who asked my daughter if she could “borrow” her hair elastic that was on her wrist as she had forgotten hers for work. She borrowed it but we never got it back, does she not know the meaning of borrow?

But special thanks to the Check in man at Orlando airport who even though one case was overweight let it go as the others were under and to the security checker who held my passport up and said “Who is this?”in a very accusing manner. It’s me I replied holding my hair away from my face. Those who know me know my hair has grown a bit in the last few years

It was fabulous and 2 weeks is not enough but that was all we had. Just as well I don't think we would have lasted any longer.