Keeping the Animals Cool

The weather has been so hot lately, it has been difficult to keep cool for all of us.
We don't have enough room in our garden for a decent size pool, but I decided the dogs could really do with one to help them to cool off after their walks.
I bought a cheap baby paddling pool and set it up in the shade of a small birch tree, whilst the boys were out with the dogs.
When they got back Joe got straight in and used treat to encourage Sheba in.

Jessica came over to have a look at what was going on, but got out too quickly for me to get a photo

Bubbles had a quick paddle too, as you can see only her paws got wet.

The main players seem to be Matt, Joe and Sheba, who somehow all managed to get into the pool at once. (Matt even managed to fall over and get soaked, but I had put the camera away by then)

Tunisian Crochet

I spotted the Tunisian Crochet La Mer Scarf in Interweave Crochet (Summer 08) and decided it would be a great project for learning Tunisian Crochet.
I decided to use Colinette Lasso in Sea Breeze, which I purchased from a LYS called Tangent Treasures in Willington, Derbyshire.

I bought 2 skeins and once completed I had used all of the first skein and a few meters of the second skein.

I generally try to use natural fibres, but the softness and glittery sheen of this yarn won me over.

The next thing I need to find was a 6 mm hook suitable for this style of crochet.
Husband to the rescue, I showed him what I wanted, he disappeared into his workshop and half an hour later, this was the result.

Time to start.

I found the pattern and how to instruction really easy to follow. Once I had got the hang of the pattern rows I was able to keep going without having to refer back to the instructions repeatedly. The scarf grew quite quickly.

I managed to get all the main length of the scarf done with the first skein and part way round the SC border before I needed to start the new skein.

I then had to search through the beads I have stashed to find ones that co-ordinated with the the scarf had large enough holes to thread onto the yarn. I found I did not have as many suitable beads as specified in the pattern, so I adapted the beaded fringe using the beads I had. This resulted in only two rows of beaded loops, but I am happy with the results.

Out on a walk

The fields look so colourful at this time of year. I've always loved seeing the poppies growing through the crops.

This morning Beth and I took the girls out along the footpaths by this field. It was Bubbles's first big walk and she had lots to explore.

New Addition To Family

Today we collect a new member for our family. She is a chocolate coloured Toy Poodle called Bubbles.

She has a bouncy step and loves to play, even if the ball the kids threw for her was almost as big as her head. She has taken to the kids really well, especially Beth and loves to sit on everyone's lap.

She makes a welcome addition to our existing dogs Jessica and Sheba.

Matt's Year 9 Prom

This evening, Matthew went to his year 9 prom at school. He looked really good in his black suit and smart shoes, so different from the skater gear he usually wears.

He clubbed together with a group of his friends to hire a posh car to take them to school.

Crochet Bead Necklace

I've finished my first Bead Necklace made using the Turkish Loop Crochet method, instructions for which can be found here http://www.hookyarnandneedles.com/oldstuff/trkloop. I struggled a bit with the written instructions, but a friend on ravelry gave me a demonstration and then all I had to do was practice.

I used size 30 cotton thread size 0.6mm crochet hooks and beads ranging from 11 to 6 in size. All the beads had to be threaded first, which took a couple of hours, because I wanted them in a specific order, so couldn't use my bead spinner. The bead colours are silver, frosted white, pale aqua, pale apple green and ab coated silver lined clear. I arranged them in a 6 bead repeat pattern.

The work progressed quite quickly once I got the hang of it. I just had to be careful not to drop my working loop, using a 0.6mm hook meant the loop was very small and difficult to find if I needed to pick it up again. Each loop I created consisted of 6 beads, there were 3 loops per round. I finished it off by attaching a small lobster claw clasp at one end and a jump ring at the other.