Wet Wednesday...

Brightening a grey day... our mini irises are blooming

Today is my day off.... the weather is wet and wild... I don't mind as the fire is on and I'm having a relaxing time. The light is not very good for taking photographs, but I have tried my best so you can see the tea cosy made for an anniversary present.

 Sending cosy goodness your way x

Retro brew

I bought a 1967 Meakin tea-set in January from my local charity shop... I'd wanted it ever since I had seen it, but it was too pricey for something I really didn't need or have room for in the kitchen. I loved the teapot though and kept going back to look at it. Then the charity shop reduced it to half price and I couldn't resist.

It matches a set of dinner plates I bought last summer. The tea-set has been sat in a glass kitchen cupboard for the last month unused, until I had a brainwave the other day... I would make a retro cosy for the teapot to feed my current cosy obsession...

The flowers used include Crochet with Raymond's five point flower, Sew Ritzy's Peony and the English Rose from the book Crochet Bouquet. I love it; the peony looked huge when I was making it, but it sat perfectly on the teapot lid.

 

I have a cosy to make for an anniversary present and then I am sure cosy making will be out of my system... I'm a coffee girl if truth be told, so I need to make a cafetiere cosy really.

Before I go, super Alice has a wonderful tea cosy post which you really must see if you haven't already...

One today!

Well I'll be... my MemeRose blog is one year old today! The year has flown by... and blogging has turned out to be very enjoyable indeed. A few days ago my business turned eight, so this first week in February is certainly a time to celebrate indeed.

I can still remember very clearly sitting down at our old dining table this time last year, and taking the plunge into blogland. I really did cringe when I looked back at my first post. I felt kind of  awkward typing to no-one in particular and wondered what the heck I was doing. Now I know there are people out there in the big wide world that do read and take interest in what I put in this blog and the awkwardness has long gone. Thank you thank you thank you everyone for visiting my blog over the past year. I know I wouldn't still be blogging if I felt I was talking to myself...


I've finally managed to collect enough lily of the valley cups for these hooks...

I have finished the turquoise blanket... 70 squares and a border of about 16 rounds.

I took the first two  photographs last Friday before the blanket was finished... it was below freezing when I was erecting a string washing line to the garage wall and pegging up my blanket. A year of blogging has hardened me up no end, as I no longer care if I look crazy in my neighbours eyes.

I like the above picture as the sun has produced complementary colours in the top right-hand corner...

The blanket has similar colours to the stain glass in the door...

This blanket seems to have been made super quick... I think being ill helped, as row after row of triple clusters was all I was capable of last week. I have a feeling I may now go through a bit of a teapot cosy phase...

Details for the blanket can be found on my Ravelry page HERE...

Thank you for all your wonderful comments on the tea cosy... I'd never thought about it before, but tea really does taste better and is a much more cheery experience when the teapot has a beautiful cosy on! So on that note I am going for a celebratory brew and a little hooky... it wouldn't seem right not to on MemeRose's birthday...

 
I'll leave you with pictures of my latest treasure... a brown junk shop owl money box and an  owl ebay purchase. Bambi and an owl all rolled into one! Why yes please...

Sending happy vibes your way x








Ahhhhhhhhhhh Sunday...

It snowed yesterday and this morning we put on our Yaktrax and went for a snowy walk... off the beaten track, up past a farm and into the countryside.

It was very misty and the sky merged with the snowy fields, but underneath our noses there was plenty of beauty to be found...

These sheep had come for a nosey onto the lane, through a gap in the hedgerow... their coats get snagged on the branches and in frosty weather this looks rather beautiful. Very sculptural encased in ice.

I loved how nature was frozen in time...

I've got a thing about stone walls; we are very fortunate to have one at the bottom of our garden and I just love all the different textures and colours on the stones...

The sheep were moving sharpish as it was lunchtime...



As the sun started to come out we made our way home to have a cup of tea from my new teapot.... By the time we reached the trees in the photograph above, we got wet as the ice was melting and showered us with icy water as we speedily walked past.

Wishing you a happy Sunday x

Tea for two...

I've wanted to make a tea cosy for quite some time now. There was one featured on the front cover of Cute and Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench and Alice of Crochet with Raymond has made many wonderful tea cosy works of art.

I decided to make use of my new book Crochet Bouquet by Suzann Thompson for the floral decorations and use the Cute and Easy Crochet pattern for the actual tea cosy. I bought some chunky Stylecraft yarn and off I went....

I had a teapot which looked the same size as the one in the book, but once the cosy was finished it was way too small for the teapot. Getting it on the teapot reminded me of the beginning of January, when I was trying to squeeze into my skinny fit jeans.... not good. I was in a bit of a grump. A good hours work and it didn't fit. 

A tight squeeze.... a new teapot is in order! It matches my new vintage tablecloth at least...



A much better fit... now for the transformation

So off I trotted to the charity shop and I bought a £1 teapot for two, which fits the cosy perfectly. After soaking the teapot in sterilising solution for a couple of hours, the teapot looked like new.

After making the English Rose flowers, I found a pattern for leaves over at Crochet with Raymond. Alice has written a super leaf pattern which is super quick to do.

So here is the finished cosy... I'm pleased with this first attempt and would like to make another one for a present, once I have purchased a suitable teapot. I didn't enjoy making the cosy itself, but I really enjoyed decorating it.

I must also mention that Tales from Cuckooland has a very pretty tea cosy pictured on the sidebar... just in case you are after more inspiration.

I'll leave you with this picture from today's walk... I am loving this cold snap with frost and buckets of sunshine...

Sheep eating turnips.... and looking a bit miffed that I was disturbing elevenses...