I must say it was money well spent... the crochet seashell lampshade patterns particularly excite me and I look forward to having a go at the bobble shade in the future. The shades used are all from Ikea, but I am sure it won’t be too hard to adapt them to other shades.
There are also a couple of blanket patterns which I like the look of and I’ve made a couple of sample squares.
There was a revamp of a 1940s pattern for a crochet bag which also interested me – I forgot to photograph it however. I fully intended to make a crochet bag last weekend, but could only find one bamboo handle; it is beyond me where the other one is! So that project has been put on hold, maybe my crochet panel is destined to be a blanket after all.
The Monterey Bay shawl is pretty and the colours are beautiful. The shawl I am making at the moment is tough going; slow to grow and not challenging enough for me. I had the bright idea to use fine merino yarn with a 3.5mm hook and the shawl progressing at a snail’s pace. The yarn is beautiful though and that is keeping me going... that and how much I want to wear it.
When we shoo the starlings away from the sultannas, he just stays there ignoring the commotion and carries on eating. When they change nesting shifts and his wife comes to the garden, she is not tame and very nervous... so it tends to be Mr Thrush who is in charge of bringing back the succulant sultannas - it is an expensive job feeding this family of thrushes, but so worth it!
