Thank goodness ........................

Thank goodness my friend likes bright colours

because here is the blanket I made for her brand new baby

and if that's not bright enough for you here's a

CLOSE UP!!!!

It's actually rather lovely even if it's not the usual pastel baby shades!

I've really enjoyed playing at crocheting these hexagons and seem to be in a bit of a crochet phase at the moment - there is just something so lovely about the different textures and patterns of crochet and the fact that it just grows and changes with each round - so much fun!


I thought I'd show you the blue versions of the red fabrics that I am sending to Monkee Maker for my giveaway.

I've seen this idea of framing fabrics in an embroidery hoop on a few blogs and it works really nicely

I just need to find a hammer to put some nails in the wall because my experiment of hammering/pushing them in with a plastic wine bottle cork just didn't work................ why is that????? (it's ok, I sometimes wonder about my sanity too......!)

And finally, for today that is, I thought I'd show you the new dinner plates I bought at Matalano-Daaaahling for the princely sum of £2 each

Not my usual chunky pottery style but rather fun and "Springy" which we all need in the dark-post-Christmas-months.

I also bought these tea-towels for £4 for the pack because I'm sure I'll be able to make something lovely with the apple and gingham prints and the waffles, well, they might actually be good for drying up!!!

Hope you are all having a good week so far. Lucy x

And the winner of the 250th blog post is............

Aha! You didn't think I'd let you know straight away did you???

Of course not!

First I've got to bore you silly with some more Locketland News.

Well, I would, if I had any!

I've been busy all week making a present for a good friend's very late baby - I was panicking at the beginning of the week because I had only started making it when she was already a week overdue, but I am quietly confident that I will get it finished today and the baby is still not here!

I don't want to show you a photo of it until I have given it to my friend so you will have to wait - but I can tell you that it is very, very BRIGHT!!!

Instead I will show you some of my new-ish fabric purchases.


Like a lot of other people in blogland I have been unable to resist this gorgeous bird fabric and I managed to find some fabulous black prints to go with it - maybe a bag or a fabric scarf?

I also treated myself to these lovelies from FabricRehab


my favourite is the owly print - so cute!

Daisy and Fred have been having fun this morning playing with their Playmobil


The horse stable has been set up and raffle tickets written for the characters to have a chance of winning a horse - they had to buy the tickets of course. At 2p each. Not bad when the prize is a horse and 7 out of 20 tickets were winners!


Meanwhile Dot was busy in the kitchen making our lunch! How fab to have an 11 year old daughter!

And finally, the winner of the giveaway..................


as chosen by the lovely Mr Locket is......................

MONKEE MAKER!!!!!!!

I'm just hoping that this prize will tempt her away from knitting severed horse's heads!!!!

250th Post Giveaway!

Although I have noticed that I don't blog anywhere near as often as I used to it is still clear that I really do talk a lot! So it is no surprise that I have arrived at my 250th post!


In true bloggy style I am having a giveaway.

But seeing as I still have an impressive array of bloggy gifts and swaps to make and send:

• Mini quilts for Monda, Nicky, Stephanie, Clare, Sally-Ann, Leah and Jo
• PIFs for Fran, Lucy-Kate, Sally-Ann, Sal, AnnieB and Eileen, and an extremely late, way past it's 365 day deadline, PIF for Pink Petal Designs - so sorry, I haven't forgotten
• and Katy's fabric swap

(please let me know if I have forgotten anything/one!)

I have decided that this one will be a no-make, from-my-stash giveaway.


I recently bought this fabric in both the blue and the red colourway (inspired by one of Katy's Sunday Stash posts - that girl should not be allowed to corrupt us in this way! Her blog should at least carry a Public-Health-of-your-bank-balance-Warning!)


(Because I have lost/mislaid my camera these photos have all been borrowed from PinkPolkaDotStudio's Etsy Shop - a really good fabric store and where I bought this range. Go and pay her a visit - she has some lovely goodies!)

So my 250th post giveaway will be 1 fat quarter of each of the three red bird fabrics and the only condition of winning is that you leave me a comment telling me what you would make with it if you won.

The giveaway will stay open until Saturday lunchtime (UK time) so start leaving your comments now and then the little Lockets will pick the name out of a bowl at the weekend.

But even if you don't want to win the fabric please leave me a comment anyway because you all know how much I love comments!

Lucy x

EDITED TO SAY THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!
A WINNER WILL BE DRAWN THIS AFTERNOON!

Next Generation Brilliance!

This is my chance to boast about my very clever relatives..................

first of all my super clever niece - please go here and look at her fantastic artwork.

Here is a little peek to give you an idea of her work


Isn't it amazing - and she is only 13!

I've never been able to draw or design like that and I doubt I ever will!


Well? Have you been and looked at all the other things too? If not then hurry up - she's incredible!


Ok, you can come back now!


Meanwhile Dot has been busy cooking as she has been inspired by Charlie P to try a new recipe each week whenever possible.


Here is her orange cake made from and adapted version of a recipe in this book that I bought for Mr Locket for Christmas.

Scrummy!

Towards the end of last term she had some science homework where she could make a model of a cell so I told her about the model No.1 (Kitty's daughter's) made. Here is Dot's version using buttons and beads for the chloroplasts and nucleus.


And finally, here is a picture of my Inventor-Daughter Daisy


demonstrating her patent-pending-idea of using a pair of water-pistols when she is having a bath with Fred "To get you clean!"


Did I ever mention that she is rather mad?



And rather wonderful too?!



(P.S. I think I've already boasted about Fred quite enough this month!)

Colour Blast

I've been working on a couple of things lately that are so BRIGHT and beautiful that they are the perfect antidote to the cold, dark, damp January days we have been having lately.


The first of a planned series of mahoosive cushions in my Christmas present Amy Butler fabrics (from the Daisy Chain range (apart from 3) - see the Etsy link on my sidebar for where I bought them)


The cushion is 24" square and just looks fab on my new second-hand sofa.

The sofa came from one of my big brothers and is donkey-years old, second hand to him from where he used to work, but very expensive when new - it's just a shame it took over an hour to get it into the house and involved taking off two doors and part of a door frame!


It is extremely comfortable and very deep which is great if you want to flop but not so good if you want to sit up and sew/crochet/knit, so I bought 6 24" feather cushions for the bargain price of £1.99 each - now I just have to cover them all!


The other fabulously colourful thing I have been working on is this hexagon blanket from Lucy's tutorial. I love doing my ripple but you can't really carry it round with you whereas I can pop little balls of yarn in my handbag so I can make hexagons anywhere (including at work in my lunchbreak!)


You couldn't feel cold or miserable looking at this colour burst could you? I ordered some more cotton yarns (orange, red and gooseberry green) from Barbara at Ring-a-Rosie - have you seen that her website is up and running?

Another exciting crafty project in the pipeline is Rosalie Quinlan's Little Patchwork Village


I'm so delighted to have been able to get the pattern in this country already. I ordered it from here on Tuesday afternoon and it arrived the next day which is amazing these days!

Other exciting crafty things are in the pipeline and I heard yesterday that I WON'T be getting a load of A'level Archaeology teaching to do over the next couple of months - which is a shame as far as the money and "playing at being a grown up again" is concerned but a HUGE relief in terms of workload - I'll have so much more time to play!

So why, oh why have my stupid elbow and wrist started to hurt again??????

So unfair!

But it's funny how it hurts so much more when I am using the computer at work than when I am crafting!

Edited to say - Oh BUM, the above sentence is not true at all! I've been trying to crochet this evening and my elbow hurt so much I only managed to do the very central ring of a hexagon. I'm so fed up :o( A whole evening ahead of me with no crafting - what a stupid waste of time!

Well I blame Lucy

BUT FIRST! More funny, funny, funny pictures of my fabulous trip down under! I feel so honoured to have been allowed to join in all the fun at the Trash and Treasure meet up!

I just had no idea what Jodie was planning when I got this email from her last week

Hey Lucy , you know the pic of you on your blog when you are a little girl - the one we all think you must still look like??? Anyway can you email that to me????? Please????? No questions.........just trust me.....

But now there is a flat version of me, who knows where else I could go?! (I just wish I was as cute and slim in profile as the other 2-D me!)

Apparently I behaved true to form......................

You had a quite a busy day yesterday - I am surprised you are out of bed.

Dinner at annies was fun , even if you did have a few drinks and fall off the couch. Of course you loved hanging out in the chook pen.

It was such a great day and I was driving home with you in the car seat next to me last night about 11.30 having a lovely conversation and you know what - after 12 or more hours of straight blogmeet - you were still smiling......

Sounds just like me! (I used to spend many a happy hour sitting in our chicken run with a book when I was a child!!!)

Meanwhile the much older and plumper version of me has been busy being corrupted into spending money on crafty supplies which I'm sure you all know I don't normally do!!!

As I said before, I blame Lucy.


No! Not ME!


This Lucy!


With her incredibly beautiful and inspiring and fairly-new-to-me blog. Such pretty, pretty colours and lovely photos - I just want to invite myself round for tea!


So I simply had to top up my stash of double knit cottons so I could have a play with some of her crochet patterns.


It wasn't my fault that Fred was at a party on Saturday and there wasn't really enough time to come home and then go back to pick him up. It wasn't my fault that there happened to be a wool shop nearby while I was waiting. And it really wasn't my fault that the cottons jumped off the shelf and into my arms was it?


Actually a really lovely thing happened at the wool shop. I was tootling around looking at all the pretty colours when an elderly lady entered the shop and asked the shopkeeper if she could show her how to do treble (US double) crochet. The shopkeeper said she couldn't as she wasn't a crochet-er so I piped up "I can show you if you like!" So I did. And it was such a lovely feeling being able to help this lady. I think she had been a crochet-er but had forgotten some of the stitches. So I left with a really happy glow having helped someone out!


Now if she had asked about a double then I wouldn't have been able to help because I've forgotten how! Trebles are well and truly hooked (geddit?) in my brain because of the ripple blanket.

Which is my swish lead in to this photo


It's getting bigger but there is still loads to do. I'm thinking of pinching borrowing some of Dot's Christmas crochet wools because they are just the colours I need next.................................

2008 in pictures part 2 and 3 - BUT FIRST...................

More photos from 2008 - but first you MUST go here - it's too funny for words! Apparently I got my wish and went to the fabulous "let's meet Trashy" bloggy gathering in Ballarat!

May 2008
more fabulous quilts - the wall is becoming fuller; little locket sewing and knitting (with books, needles and patterns from Quiltdude), Daisy's birthday trip to the Lakes, the allotment beginning to show life, learning the new crochet skill of amigurumi

June 2008

Fred's birthday, Dorothy's first school trip away from home - and her return to lovely hugs from her little siblings and a nice tidy bedroom! Lovely sewing by Dot too!

July 2008

the month I learned how to ripple, yet more bunnies, flat scones, ladybird club dolls, a glut of strawberries and jam from the allotment and even more quilts sent and received

August 2008

Dorothy's birthday this month! Mad quilts and sock monsters along with sensible quilts and gifts and a wonderful Russian doll swap

September 2008
My birthday now! Lots of parcels and gifts, playing with Charlie's gocco machine, getting my very own Mr Pigeon, Granny and Grandpa's new puppy, and a very overgrown allotment

October 2008
A fabulous trip up to Edinburgh to meet the wonderful Thimbleanna, Halloween, Dotty's baking, AND GETTING A DOG (job)!!!!!

November 2008
London again - meeting lots of lovely mad friends, my magic sewing pen and happy anniversary to us!

December 2008

Sewing, sewing, sewing, sewing and a bit of knitting thrown in for good measure!

For Christmas you need to go here.

So I hope you don't mind that I have bombarded you all with photos!

A few of you have asked how I did the collages - well I downloaded the free photo programme Picasa from the internet and making collages is one of the many functions. I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I wish I was a better photographer but unfortunately I don't wish it enough to learn how to use a camera properly - ooops!

2008 in pictures part 1

I have been inspired by some of the "2008 in pictures" type blogs that I have seen around in the last few days and so have created a few collages of each month in the Locket household.

Unfortunately my photography skills are very poor - basically I just pick my camera up and press the button - no thought or composition I'm afraid.

But I have done the collages anyway because they are a fun reminder for myself of the key points of last year in my bloggy/crafty/family life.

January 2008
the month of sock monkeys, Loosley crafting, owls, potatoes chitting on the kitchen work bench, the first batch of bunnies, and the launch of the first Lucy Locket swap for Valentine's day.

February 2008

cold walks on the beach with ice-cream to warm us up, Valentine's day, the start of the wallet production line, Fred's soon-to-be-patented-sewing-needle-finder, gorgeous bookshops, lovely gifts and the launch of the Bunny-Hop-Bunny-Swap.

March 2008

all about knitting, learning to crochet, bunny overload, meeting wonderful bloggy friends in London, pencil rolls, mad stripey-Locket designs, shopping with my little girl who looks oh, so very grown up

April 2008

mahoosive dolls, the ladybird club, tending the allotment (must go back there again someday soon!!!), the MAHOOSIVE mini-quilt swap, meeting local bloggy friends, finishing my first (and to date, only) "pair" of socks

My Book by Fred Locket

This book is called Beast Quest and is very exciting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Fred typed that bit but then delegated the rest to me)

So what's the book about then Fred?

Well Tom has, well, he has to fight the dragon and he gets the golden chain and in the second one he um had to go under the water to get the chain and get up to the dragon and take that one off too with the special key.

But Mummy, I don't mean you to write down the well and um

But I like it

Oh, ok.

So why is it good then Fred?

Well it's got one of my favourite animals in and it's a dragon. And you get a bookmark in it and cards. He has to free the beasts from Malvel's curse then he gets dragon scale when he frees the first beast and when he frees the second beast he gets a dinosaur tooth.

What else Fred?

I'm going to save up my pocket money until I get £5 and then buy some more Beast Quest books!

Hooked

I think you could safely say

that this little boy

is well and truly
hooked on
his book

especially considering the fact that when Daisy asked whether he wanted to watch a certain programme when he got home from school he said
"It doesn't matter. I just want to read my book"

How happy am I?

Crafty Christmas

I didn't manage to make as many presents as I had hoped this year but it has still managed to be a fairly crafty Christmas.

Our next door neighbour made Daisy's mahoosive dolly Beatrice a new bed so I made the bedding to go with it (but I still need to paint the bed which is why it isn't properly in the picture!)

and Granny Biscuit knitted the squares for this blanket for Beatrice then Aunty Mo sewed them together and crocheted the border and the lovely flowers.


Another of Daisy's other presents from us was a sewing kit with fabrics from my stash so she can learn to make a patchwork quilt for Beatrice.

I made Fred some of Jodie's fantastic "racing snails" although I didn't have time to make a fabric race-track so I did one on the computer, added some fabric leaves and then laminated each sheet.

It's such a fab game to play - especially as the spinner I made to act as a dice has lots of minus numbers too so the snails go all over the place - just like in a real snail race!

I knitted Mr Locket a hat that I finished on Christmas Eve and plonked on his head - only to discover it was too small/strange :( so Fred ended up with a "cool skater dude" hat instead!


I also knitted my mummy a cowl/snood type of scarf-ey thingummyjig complete with the odd hole where I knitted it in the dark at the cinema while watching Wall-E with the children - but I reckon that just adds character and provenance to the finished item. Don't you?!

I made Dorothy three crafty kits in these lovely suitcases.


The top one has a basic sewing kit, the middle one has some lovely felts and perle threads and The Cute Book, and the bottom one has a selection of wools, a crochet hook and the Kids Learn to Crochet book.

But even before she got these presents Dot was busy making gifts for her little brother and sister.

She made Daisy this beautiful Betz White style cupcake pincushion


with a matching needle case


to go in her sewing kit.

and for Fred she made a Mrs Perkins Giraffe by Melly and Me



and although she didn't win the card making competition at school, I thought her design was so lovely that I got it made into a proper Christmas card at Vistaprint



And then I got loads of crafty Christmas presents too!

books

knitting needles

and lots and lots and lots of lovely Amy Butler fabrics!


So although I didn't get EVERYTHING done - it was still a really Crafty Christmas chez Locket!