Blanket love

Well, you might think you could get bored of doing the same thing.....but you know, no matter how many blankets I make, I still want to make more!

About three months ago, we bought a caravan, in a bid to make family holidays a little more affordable, having three school aged children and dogs makes for an expensive getaway always.

Our first caravan holiday went swimmingly, it was so relaxing.....yes, we forgot things, but it was lovely having all your own things to hand.....and who knew that you could carry so many crochet/knitting projects when you have a whole caravan to fill ;-)

Well, it wasn't long until there were 'caravan blankets' being crocheted frantically!

This is middle boy's blanket who has a liking for  yellow and blue....and was so excited when I finally sewed in the final lose ends....doesn't that make you so warm inside when something you've made is so wanted?

This is biggest boy's (as seen on the last post)....far more grown up and sophisticated!

This is littlest boy's....I had already made this, so it has been re-purposed as a 'caravan blanket'

And if I haven't made enough, I find myself making another at the moment, this one a car seat blanket for a new baby girl....I am really enjoying it, as it's a totally different design to the ones I have made previously....I'll show you next time.

On other yarn news, I bought the above from a lovely etsy shop Mothy and the Squid.....it looks amazing, you can't see all the rainbow colours in it, but it is called Summer Skies Rainbow.....I think it will be a shawl....hhmmm shawls, just mini blankets eh?!  The delivery was next day and I got some lovely stitch markers to boot!  How thoughtful is that!

On non-yarny news, this is my mad hubby, finishing his first Iron Man....that's 2.4 mile swim, 122 mile cycle and 26.2 mile run....I was too stressed at the time to take it all in, but I've shed a few tears since.  He raised £500 for a local food and clothing bank.....MY HERO!

Just to leave you with more happy thoughts, here's the caravan blankets, littlest boy, middle boy, biggest boy and mummy blankets....hubby denies needing one.....will it stop me???

Summer

Well, as ever, my life can hardly be described as uneventful.  These school holidays have been filled with all sorts of bits and bobs.  I often think I haven't done much until I look back through my pictures.  It must be the sign of a blogger (up-to-date or not!) who always takes photos of everything!

So a quick look at just a few makes, the above ripple is for biggest boy, and actually is now finished, ends sewn in, border added and in situ on bed (I must go and rescue it to take some pics before it is too lived-in)

The below toe up socks are Lousie Tillbrook's Have Fun Socks, and were started rather haphazardly, ripped out after realising I wasn't concentrating and have gone so far and been put down in favour of crochet....I'm sure they will come back in to their own when I am back on the school runs again next week.  It is nice to have a take-a-long project.

Biggest boy has been away on a church camp with friends and was part of a nativity dress-up (he was dressed as Michael Jackson....don't ask!) and a last minute non-delivery of wings meant that I was rustling up these at midnight before they left early the next morning.  I love a challenge....I also love the fact I have one of everything in my craft cupboard!  

I've had my sewing machine out a few times recently and have rustled up a number of cushions, which is a great short job that I enjoy.  Cushions that I have made for our caravan.

This is a patchwork cushion cover made up with wool blanket remnants from a local woolen mill.  I made this for an old Welsh friend who now lives in America.  The word 'Hiraeth' is a welsh word for a homesickness for Wales.  I really enjoyed making this....such an enjoyable make.

I have done loads of baking, actually, I think I've truly bought up much of the baking section in our local supermarket.  We've had friends to stay and I've baked until I've dropped a few times for various get togethers.  This cake below was a requested pig birthday cake....hhhmmm...

What with all the baking, there has had to be a bit of activity too.  I have taken up a bit of running again, although the term running  is used loosely!  As a family (even the dog) we have done a couple of Parkruns which have a weekly 5k run about an hour away from us.  My hubby is a runner and a nutter so he cycles the 30 or so miles to  the parkrun and then runs at snails pace with me at the back, and then cycles back home....impressive on his part, less so on mine...but hey, its an effort in the right direction!

Middle boy wanting to be like his Dad in everything has done a couple of kid's triathlons and this is him after the most recent one, which was a mudbath but much fun was had despite taking a good slide along a muddy field and landing flatout....up he gets, grinning from ear to ear and came in third in his small group.

And here he is, the hubster himself after completing a middle distance triathlon Ocean Lava Wales. This is a pre-cursor to The Big-One which is Iron Man in three short weeks' time.  The Iron Man is a 2.4mile swim, 112mile bike and a 26.2mile run.

I'm so proud of him, its only 18months since he did his first run, a half marathon on a foggy beach.

If only I had some of that determination....can you imagine how many things I could crochet and knit!