Over the rainbow...

I've been wondering what to do with all the "free" wool I've accumulated since taking up knitting again, and learning to crochet. The free wool is usually attached to knitting magazines, is usually in odd colours, and not particularly brilliant quality. I've been keeping them all together in a bag, hoping that one day I would find a use for them - but not really expecting to. I say "free" wool - it's not really free as the magazines cost a fortune, and it's not "wool" as such, it's acrylic.

The other thing I wanted to do was to make a Spring wreath. I saw some polystyrene rings at the Hobbycraft show last weekend - and I bought 2. Why I only bought 2 I will never know, because really I needed 4. I thought I'd do each season. i suppose I was being cautious in case I couldn't do it.

I have been inspired by Attic24 Blog - in fact much of my crocheting inspiration comes from here - the tutorials are very easy to follow with loads of pics. It has helped me enormously. Up until yesterday morning all I had was 2 crocheted daffodils (instruction from same blog).

Yesterday I decided it would be a brilliant idea to make the covering bit of the ring out of all the free wool, in a sort of rainbow effect. I absolutely loved making it and could barely bring myself to put it down to go to work. I couldn't wait to get home to carry on with it - I don't know what it was that made it so pleasing to create.

The plan was to have random thicknesses of bands of colour, but to continue the rainbow pattern, however this bit didn't quite go to plan because it grew quicker than expected and in no time at all it was big enough, so I had to miss out a few colours - but I didn't think it would matter as I intended to put flowers on that bit which would cover it up.

The reason this happened was because it didn't need to be as long as I initially thought, as it needed to be stretched round the ring. Now the sensible thing to have done would have been to measure it at this point for future reference so that I can plan better next time. Sadly though, I didn't think of that until it was too late.

I started sewing it in place very late last night.

Anyone who knows me well, will know that the one thing I despise more than anything is sewing in ends! There were at least a million of them! For some reason, it didn't really bother me last night. Maybe I was too tired to think too much about it, and I couldn't wait to see how it looked.

It certainly looked a lot neater than I was expecting! I'm not that neat when it comes to sewing up, especially at 3 am.

I think this is my favourite thing I've crocheted so far. If I hadn't been almost asleep I would have started making flowers then! As it was I sorted out the wool I intended to use for flowers etc. I wanted to add some pom-poms but have to admit to being a scruffy pom-pom maker, they usually end up looking like a child has made them - however, in Hobbycraft yesterday looking for Easter related things for my Easter branch, I chanced upon some ready made pom-poms in the kids section - and the colours were similar to the ones I'd used for the ring.

I couldn't wait to "dress" the ring - if only so that it stopped looking like something to relieve the pain of piles.

The  original intention was to completely cover it in flowers and leaves etc. but I loved the rainbow effect so much I decided it would be a shame to cover it up entirely, so I left the top bit empty.

Here it is hanging on the wall...

So far nothing is permanently attached, everything is pinned, so if i decide I don't like the position of something I can move it about. Presumably at some point I will have to sew it all in place - I'm sure that's going to be an annoying, fiddly job - so it will probably stay like this till I need the pins, which will probably be when I start to make the Summer wreath.

I am really excited about making the rest of the seasons. I am particularly looking forward to Autumn, and will be scouring the Internet for acorn patterns! Maybe red spotty toadstools, and some tiny pumpkins!

A pug in a reflective mood!

I've done quite a bit of Pug-sitting in the past couple of weeks, so I feel I am qualified to say that they are fairly easy to look after. They are a faithful, devoted and loving breed, although at times can be a tad over affectionate! They require very little (if any) exercise, and are easily amused by mindless quiz shows.

They can entertain themselves for hours barking at anything they feel doesn't have the right to walk, or drive, past the house. They will alert you to any "strangers" in hi-vis jackets, especially if they are carrying a large red post bag. They will let you know immediately if a cat walks past the window, or if someone rides past on a bike or scooter. They are particularly keen to share info on any suspicious looking vans, especially those selling ice-cream - just in case you didn't hear the tune yourself.

As guard dogs go, they are good at the 'alerting' side of the job. Not sure how they would deal with an actual intruder. I'm guessing they merely wag their tails and roll over for a tummy tickle. They are easily bribed with food, and they make excellent 'hot water bottles'. But there are, however, drawbacks.

It's not the actual pug itself that is the problem. No! It's the small, but ever increasing, army of puglets that lurk about in all sorts of places around the house. These must be barked and growled at. Incessantly. Some must be punched. Ned's arch-nemesis is the one that lives in the oven. He only really appears when the oven is on. He must be stared at, and snorted at, for as long as the oven is on. He is the one most likely to be punched by a puggy paw. The pug in the oven does go away, but always comes back again, and cannot be ignored.

Then there is the one that lives in the mirror in my bedroom. He is so offensive he must be covered up. This is the one that growls and barks back! There is the new, circular x2 pug which made an appearance a couple of weeks ago. My fault - it was silly of me to buy a small magnifying pug and keep it at Ned height.

Every black car passed on a walk contains a small, and usually surprised, pug in it's side. They must be approached with caution!

Computer monitors, ipads, laptops, phones, in fact any black and shiny object - they all contain a pug!

So after a weekend of pug-proofing, hiding and covering up the pug-army, a new one appeared in a most unexpected place. On a shelf near the bottom of my bed lies my stash of wool, in a large zippy-up bag that is plastic and see through. I just happened to turn it round to reveal a black ball of wool - and there he was - a small, but perfectly formed Ned replica!

You would think he would be glad of the company, wouldn't you? But NO!! They must all go!! Because if there is another pug in the room he just can't concentrate on growling at his own shadow!