Summer Craft Challenge 2018

Summer Craft Challenge 2018 (week 8)

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So at last, the Little Postcards returned after a (very) long 8 week school summer holiday, and throughout that time, I have used crafty distractions each day to keep me going. Here’s my final week (+2 days) just a week or so after they went back to school! Better late than never!

Saturday

Work began on Percy the Gnome’s head.

Sunday

Head complete with eyes, meant time for a little scarf.

Monday

On Monday evening, we played scrabble and I crocheted along at the same time – not advisable as I kept losing count – however near the start of the game I ended up with the letters to spell sewing in my little rack of tiles. How appropriate for a craft challenge, shame it didn’t spell crochet!

Tuesday

A gnome hat with a bell!

Wednesday

And he’s finished!

Thursday

On Thursday, our last full day in Manchester, Percy came out with us to the park, looking for some fairies to hang out with…

… I didn’t see any, but saw quite a few fairy doors.

While the Little Postcards played and climbed, I found time for a last little bit of English al fresco crochet for this summer.

Friday

In flight crochet, crochet and gin goes so well together don’t you think?

Saturday

As I waited for the copious washing machine cycles to finish as I unpacked from our trip, I caught up with one of my favourite blogs (Attic24). I discovered through reading it that this year’s Yarndale Festival was appealing for butterflies to be made, so quickly made one…

Sunday

A little flurry of butterflies (the correct term I believe is a kaleidoscope) all bound for Yarndale. One had to be red and white for Gibraltar 🇬🇮.

And another thing…

Way back just before I started my craft challenge this year, I started work on a new project which I didn’t want to say too much about until I had showed it to someone special. Earlier this year, my little brother and his lovely wife went on their honeymoon to Bali. They brought me back a beautiful sarong. It was too pretty for just taking to the beach so I decided to make a skirt out of it.

I took it along to my dressmaking teacher to get her advice. She told me how to cut the fabric to take full advantage of the pattern.

And here it is:

I’m thrilled with it 🙂 and now I have showed them, I can share it with you.

That’s the end of my summer Craft Challenge for this year, I managed to do something crafty on all but a handful of days, and I loved it!

Edit: for some reason the photos in this post have been rather tricksy and that’s the main reason this blog post has taken so long to publish. Apologies if they take a long time to load, I’m not sure what the problem is…

Summer Craft Challenge 2018 (Week 7)

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This is the penultimate week of my summer craft challenge. I set out on this mission back at the start of July in a bid to do something crafty every day of the school holidays as a way of keeping my head above water in all the chaos of School holiday time. Here goes week 7:

Day 43 (Saturday 18th August 2018

The Rock of Gibraltar part of my Sandy Bay blanket was completed last week, and no Rock is complete without a fluffy Levanter cloud sitting on the very top! The Levanter has led to some very uncomfortable and humid conditions recently, not the best weather conditions to be sitting under a crochet blanket, but I was determined catch up on this CAL!

Day 44 (Sunday 19th August 2018)

A busy day meant just time for a few shells after dark!

Day 45 (Monday 20th August 2018)

Another busy day left time for just a few more shells, this time in daylight.

Day 46 (Tuesday 21st August 2018)

At last! I got time (after packing our cases for our next trip) to finish the shells and after many weeks, I was finally all caught up and up to date with this Coastal Crochet Crochet-along.

Day 47 (Wednesday 22nd August 2018)

On Wednesday, we flew to Manchester to visit my family. Time to dig out my portable holiday project again!

Day 48 (Thursday 23rd August 2018)

On Thursday I did a bit more of this. And a spot of decoupage with Littlest…

We visited a craft shop and bought some supplies to keep us busy on wet days.

Day 49 (Friday 24th August 2018)

I started this little chap’s feet in Commonwealth Park last week… he now has legs and a tummy!

This week is the last week of the school summer holidays, hopefully I’ll be able to finish something before they go back!

Summer Craft Challenge 2018 (week 6)

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Another week gone already, I can hardly believe it. The summer holidays are whizzing by, and we have just 2 weeks left here in Gibraltar. Here’s what I’ve been getting up to this week in my craft challenge….

Day 36 (Saturday 11th August)

I enjoyed doing my Jennie Maizels sketchbook club picture so much last week, that I thought I’d have another go on Saturday and give some Southwold Beachhuts the Jennie Maizels treatment. This time, though, I couldn’t leave them black and white, I just had to colour them in.

Day 37 (Sunday 12th August)

Done! Now, I wonder what I should draw next?

Monday

A trip to Commonwealth Park which running some errands in town meant a few moments of Crochet calm on a bench in the dappled shade. The perfect excuse to crack open another Little Box of Crochet!

Later on, in the evening, I got reacquainted with an old friend…

Day 39 (Tuesday 14th August)

A few more rows were completed on my Coastal Crochet CAL after dark on Tuesday.

Day 40 (Wednesday 15th August)

It was International Granny Square Day on Wednesday, so I had to join in!

Day 41 (Thursday 16th August)

We spent most of the day at the beach on Thursday so my crochet came too!

Day 42 (Friday 17th August)

I’ve been working on my Sandy Bay Seaside Stash Busting Blanket a bit this week, as I had a lot to catch up on. On Friday I spent quite a bit of time on it and am working on making a crochet version of the Rock of Gibraltar (hence the grey & green rows). I think I’ve done about 17 rows this week. Here it is in all its glory:

That’s it for this week. The end of week 6 means we are three quarters of the way through the long school summer break already! Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Craft Challenge (Week 5)

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Week 5 of my Summer Craft Challenge has been and gone in a Whirl (a Scheepjes Whirl to be precise). I spent most of my crafty time with a crochet hook in my hand, but took a bit of time out to try something new too…

Day 29 (Saturday 4th August)

All the suitcases were unpacked and the washing done, but I was done-in by Saturday night and only managed a quick row of my My Picot 2060 scarf in my PJs before bed!

Day 30 (Sunday 5th August)

Day 30 and it was another super busy day on Sunday. On the go since before 7am and I didn’t sit down with my hook until 10:45! Oh how I miss those lazy days I had in Suffolk and Norfolk over the last couple of weeks!

Day 31 (Monday 6th August)

I fancied trying something different for a change and treated myself to a module from the Jennie Maizels Online Sketchbook Club featuring some very cute houses. Don’t look too closely at my wobbly lines please!! I’ll show you how it looks when I’ve finished…

Day 32 Tuesday 7th August

I think I may be hooked… I had to go to the shops to buy some acrylic paint to finish this off! My mind is racing with other things to paint and draw….

Day 33 Wednesday 8th August

I’m really enjoying the colours of this Scheepjes Whirl.

Day 34 Thursday 9th August

Al fresco brights on a deck chair were the order of the day on Thursday.

Day 35 (Friday 10th August)

Late night crochet in front of the telly with a sleeping child on my knee! I daren’t move too much in case I disturbed him… but I got him back into bed in the end!

So that’s been my crafty week this week, I need to get that scarf finished so I can crack on with something else next week. Until then, thanks for stopping by!

Summer Craft Challenge (Week 4)

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Things have been a little bit manic since we returned from our holiday, so a little bit later than expected, here’s week 4 of my Summer Craft Challenge, if you’re interested!

Day 22 (Saturday 28th July)

This My Picot pattern for the leaf scarf I’m working on at the minute can be a little trying at times – well only if I don’t concentrate. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I have had to unravel a few rows to get the stitches right! Never mind, even if Saturday evening did end with me frogging crochet, at least I was able to pick up this lovely hand dyed yarn skein from Worstead Festival during the day! I can’t wait to make something with it, it feels lovely. (Hopefully a post all about our trip to Worstead will appear before too long).

Day 23 (Sunday 29th July )

Crochet wise, things worked a lot smoother on Sunday. I just love the colour changes in this Scheepjes Whirl. It makes me smile as each new colour variation appears on my hook as I make progress through it.

Day 24 (Monday 30th July)

We had a busy day planned a the shops on Monday buying school uniform to take home to Gibraltar, so I had to plan my crochet time a bit better. I got up before the rest of the family and sat happily with a mug of coffee as everyone else woke up and got busy.

Day 25 (Tuesday 31st July)

You can’t beat a crochet session with a lovely view! An evening pub meal on the Norfolk Broads with crochet for dessert as the sun went down – just the ticket!

Day 26 (Wednesday 1st August)

Yay! The first strand of yellow appeared in my work! It feels almost like I’m on the home straight!

Day 27 (Thursday 2nd August)

On our last full day on holiday, we made one last trip to Southwold Pier for a beer and an alfresco crochet session as the waves did their thing beneath our feet. Sadly the tranquil moment was cut short due to an invasion of wasps, but it was nice while it lasted!

Friday

So Friday was Day 28 of my Summer Craft Challenge and it was a day of traveling, about 11 hours door-to-door. Although I had my crochet in my bag with me on the plane, I wasn’t feeling it, so it stayed in my bag. Therefore no Craft was done at all. However, just before we left on our epic trip, I called into the pottery painting shop to collect our works of art. The Little Postcards painted Pokémon characters, I opted for rainbow dots. Here’s mine, all finished and it survived the trip back to Gibraltar.

That’s me officially half way through the long 8 week school holiday, and I have had my craft challenge to keep me going. I can’t believe we’re halfway through already!!

Summer Craft Challenge 2018 (week 3)

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This week has been a rather crochet filled one, against some lovely backdrops of seaside and fun filled holiday times…

Day 15 (Saturday 21st July)

Sloe gin and slow crochet was the order of the day on Saturday. We stopped off on the way back from visiting family at a lovely country pub with a beer garden – one of the joys of being in holiday!

Day 16 (Sunday 22nd July)

For weeks before we came to Southwold, Mr Postcard and I were dreaming of visiting the Red Lion Pub on South Green for an early evening drink and sitting out on the green as the sun went down. We managed that on Sunday.

Day 17 (Monday 23rd July)

I’m loving the colour changes on this Scheepjes Whirl yarn. I’m having to frog quite a bit of this pattern, I need to pay attention and at times my mind can wander and before I know it I’ve got a couple of rows wrong… whoops!

Day 18 (Tuesday 24th July)

So on Tuesday, I fancied starting something different, so over breakfast, I cracked open my latest Little Box of Crochet, which I’d been saving for my holiday. It came out with us for the day to Orford…

And then to the pebble beach at Aldeburgh…

… it’s one of those projects that once you start it’s hard to stop… just one more row…

Day 19 (Wednesday 25th July)

A spot of sunset crochet was in order on Wednesday. It was only the second day of this project but it was working up quickly.

Day 20 (Thursday 26th July)

My crochet took a trip to the seaside at Sheringham on the north Norfolk Coast.

Day 21 (Friday 27th July)

Where better to work on a seaside themed crochet project than on the pier at Southwold?

And guess what? It’s finished!

The perfect backdrop for my Coastal Crochet designed Little Box of Crochet project, Southwold beach… where will my Summer Craft Challenge take me next week?

Summer Craft Challenge 2018 (Week 2)

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Week 2 of my Summer Craft Challenge has come to an end already! It began in Gibraltar and ended with a plane journey to England to visit family. Here’s what I got up to this week:

Day 8 Saturday 14th July

At last Donovan the lamb has all four limbs! Ready to be sewn together.

Day 9 Sunday 15th July

Finally, he’s finished and waiting for that little baby girl to be born! He looks lovely, and I just love his floral bottom :-).

Here he is, sitting up!

Another Little Box of Crochet project completed!

I was on a bit of a roll on Sunday, and even managed a couple of rows of my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket too! I’m playing catch up though, as it has been on the back burner for the last few weeks.

Day 10 Monday 16th July

Not much time for crafting on Monday – it was a busy day! Just long enough to manage a row on my Stash Busting Blanket.

Day 11 Tuesday 17th July

Tuesday was rather hectic too, so I only had time for a late night row on my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket in front of Newsnight, before heading to bed.

Day 12 Wednesday 18th July

On Wednesday I was utterly determined to get a bit of crochet done during daylight hours, so I snuck in a cheeky row after breakfast before getting my jobs of the day done. Amazingly, later on, I managed a bit more too!

Day 13 Thursday 19th July

So, not wishing to come over all superstitious, but on day 13 of the challenge I had a bit of a day. Think washing machine breaking down, a house full of builders, lots and lots of dust and then the hot water boiler went. I hid in the corner for a bit and pretended it wasn’t happening!

I wanted to start something portable which can be taken out and about with me as my two blankety projects are getting a bit big to lug about. So here it is, I’m having a go at following a chart by mypicot.com and I’m using my Jumpin Jelly Scheepjes Whirl which has been waiting patiently for the right project to come along.

Day 14 Friday 20th July

We headed off on our holidays yesterday so a spot of in-flight hooky was in order.

Thanks for stopping by, I wonder what next week will bring…

Summer craft challenge 2018 (week 1)

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School’s out for summer! As I stare down the barrel of another 8 week-long summer break from school, yet again, I thought there was only one way I would survive it with my sanity intact; to craft every day.

As in the past two previous years, I have set myself the challenge to do something crafty each day (even if it’s just 10 minutes). Each day I will put a crafty photo up on my Instagram account and at the end of each week (probably on Saturdays), I’ll publish a post about my crafty week. It’ll be as much to encourage me to keep at it as much as it is to share my crafty summer and it’s worked before (twice).

Here goes…

Day 1 (Saturday 7th July)

Life has been rather hectic in the past couple of weeks and my ability to take a few moments out for crochet or anything else crafty has been severely restricted. So now I intend to put that right, and I started with a bit of a catch up on my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket from the Coastal Crochet CAL by the lovely Eleonora. I’m about 3 weeks behind… but I’m catching up!

Day 2 (Sunday 8th July)

On Sunday we took a drive into Spain and I brought my crochet with me in case there was a long queue getting back into Gib. As you can see there wasn’t, as it happens, but at least I was prepared just in case!

Day 3 Monday 9th July

I know I really should finish some of my existing projects, but I happen to know that a little baby girl is due to be born very soon, and I thought she might like to have her own Little Donovan Lamb. This Little Box of Crochet has been waiting patiently since it arrived back in March.

Day 4 Tuesday 10th July

One Donovan head completed!

Day 5 Wednesday 11th July

And now he has a body.

Day 6 Thursday 12th July

Much of the day was spent at the beach and as this is a gift for a new born, I didn’t want to take it out with me. The busy day out and about only allowed time for a little bit of arm-making!

Day 7 Friday 13th July

And now he has arms! One comment on Instagram, when I posted this, was that it looks like he’s sunken in a field of clover – I like that image.

So there you have it, one week done already, I can hardly believe it’s gone so quickly! Seven left to go on this Summer Craft Challenge.