Bolero Ta-dah

Sorry it's been a while. I had a lovely weeks holiday of days out with good friends and family, then a busy week at work,with an extra day in the shop, so no time to blog.

At the start of my time off, I got a shift on with the purple bolero so I could wear it while the weather was hot - boy was it hot that week! It turned out very well, made using my favourite pattern - the make it up as you go along pattern! It has trebles, granny clusters, a chain stitch bust dart,picot edging and a beaded hemline. It fits like a dream and looks fab with my sundress. 

The crochet cardigan is not going so well now. I think I've gone off it to be honest. It might become a waistcoat rather than a cardigan. We'll see.

The latest bargello flame panel is nearly done. I'll do some more tonight and probably finish it at work tomorrow. And if you're wondering what all the bits of wool on the left hand side are for - they're just long enough to work 2 or 3 stitches at the end of a row but too long to throw away. Wool isn't cheap you know.  Each panel would have cost me over £30 a time to make if I were buying the materials myself. By the time you add in the backing and a cushion pad it will be £40 per cushion...

I know what I want to do next - in hot pink and lime green. If I'm allowed! And if we have enough lime green in stock. Watch this space on that one. 

Do you ever look at my photos and wonder what camera I used to take them? Most are with a Canon Ixus 95, some on my (very old) Sony Cybershot phone and the odd one on my tablet. But I had to buy a new camera recently. I think I wore out the buttons on my beloved Ixus 95 as they suddenly started sticking. So I now have an Ixus 285. In purple! I'm still getting the hang of it. And as it has 20m pixels I'm going to have to buy a much bigger memory card and possibly  a spare battery. I chose this one partly because it can connect to my tablet by wifi and then I can just download the odd one or two. The rest can go on the laptop.
I tried out the zoom on a butterfly and it came out rather well. What do you think?

Isn't this cosmos flower just perfect too?

Going back to crochet - whilst surfing the other day I came across a CAL that I thought I might join in with. That's a Crochet A Long to you and me. CAL. It's by the same lady who designed the Sophies Universe pattern I used for Emma's cushion.  I had just bought some more crochet cotton in the sale when I saw  it and the word serendipity came to mind. What do you think of my colours? Do they make you think peacock? Sort of? In a soft, pastel kind of way? Maybe.

I've never really done a CAL before. It will take 6 weeks to make, with very detailed instructions released weekly. I get the feeling I will be champing at the bit to get on with it!! 6 weeks will feel so long I'm sure. I'm quite looking forward to joining in and sharing my progress though. I wonder what colours other people will choose?...
Talk again soon I hope!! T xXx