Caravanning...

 I love this stage when I am making a caravan - so many possibilities.

Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx.

Circus Friends

 Just starting to assemble a new menagerie of friends. I don't know that much about them yet but I do know that they perform at the same circus.

They haven't even told me their names yet. 

Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx.

Sea Craft.

We have been away for a few days, taking it quietly and trying to recover from the whirlwind of the past few months... and try to get on top of our coughs and colds at the same time.
Hugo and I had a lovely morning together working on a mobil for each of our rooms. I love this age, he is 9 and still full of wonder and imagination but also very capable.

Look at those little hands!

Crafting by the beach at one of the most peaceful locations has done so much for my soul. I am in a kind of post-viral fatigue at the moment so changing my pace and dropping the idea of what I need to achieve in the day has been invaluable.

I think everybody should start choosing of their drink by the colour of the bottle. We need more blue and green sea glass. Enough with brown I say. By the way, I'm trying to introduce a new concept to the boys that I own all of the blue, green and white sea glass on the beach and that when they find it, they need to hand it over to me immediately. They can keep all the brown sea glass that they find. Unfortunately they see right past me.

Sigh.

Awwwww.

Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx

Old Friends

 Every now and then I have a trawl through my old photos, looking at projects I have made over the years. I get so much inspiration from doing this and it often sends me in a whole new direction.

 I had completely forgotten about this bunny girl. I had my friend, artist Mandy Williams paint the face for me and then made a body and clothes to suit. It was such a joy to do and really special to collaborate on.

When everything settles down I would love to do more work like this, make lots of heads and send them out to various artists. So nice to have something different to look forward too.... and to take my mind off the hideous cold that has wrapped itself around the family!

Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx.

Tiny Mice!

Here is an unused photo from 'Stanley and the Hot Air Balloon'. I was so chuffed to read this review left in my etsy shop about the book.
Superman speed of postage. Wonderful! This flight into fancy is an incredibly addictive book, that brings joy to our smallest household members. Stanley flew into our house(by balloon)and promptly requested he be accompanied by his three little friends(mice) unfortunate for us we are now experiencing a mouse plague. Do not hesitate to get this book as I was told by my 4yr old "I need my Stanley book", she also needs rows of hospital beds full of baby rabbits, but that's another story :)
Thank you so much Kim, you made my day!
Lots of love,
Kate. xxooxx

Hungry!!!

Do you ever get to that point in the day where you are so hungry, you find yourself trapped at the computer unable to move. Lucky I have this ice cream on hand. It is full of fibre.

Love Kate. xxooxx.

Hobbit Crochet!

Can you imagine my excitement when I found this crochet blanket hanging on the line at Hobbiton. Their hooks must be so tiny!

Lots of love,

Kate. xxooxx

Hobbits.

 We went to Hobbiton on the weekend. What a treat, something we have been meaning to do for the last few years and have only just managed to get around to.

 The colours - let me tell you, Hobbits have immaculate taste.

 The attention to detail was phenomenal. Look at this bird feeder!

 And honey outside a Hobbitsy beekeeper's house....

 Bilbo Baggin's house.

 Luckily I was on party business.

 Hobbit bunting.

 And my own little Hobbit (who is almost bigger than me).

 Laundry day.

 A Hobbit with a sore knee - he had his own personal guided tour on a golf cart.

 The Green Dragon.

Sigh.....

What a magical day!

Lots of love,

Kate. xx

A New Beanie

 The first thing I felt like doing after my huge batch of crochet was to knit. So here is the beanie I made with wool bought during my travels last year from Loop and Wool. It was a joy!

The pattern was taken from my favourite knitting accessories book, 'A Good Yarn' by Katherine Poulton.

Happiness.

I hope you have all had a lovely Easter and eaten way to much chocolate!

Love Kate. xxooxx.

Crochet Caravan Pattern News!

Thank you so much for all of your queries on the caravan pattern! Your comments have been so lovely and I am very happy to say that I have a book coming out in September which contains not only a pattern for the caravan, but also things like ice cream trucks, lakeside cabins, tents, teepees and canal boats! I have been lucky enough to have Kyle Books publish the book and at this stage it is provisionally called, "Camp Crochet: From Cabins to Caravans, Create Your Own Camping Scenes in Crochet".

 It is all very exciting but also exhausting. Yesterday was my deadline and wahoo, I made it!!!!!!

I was given the green light mid January so as you can imagine, crocheting and writing took place all hours of the day and night to get it finished. I have to admit that whenever anybody offered me any sympathy, I did have to say that it was secretly the most wonderful thing ever as it meant that I had to crochet my heart out. Things like dirty dishes and socks could slide into the periphery!

I can't wait to show you a few more sneaky peeks!

Lots of love,

Kate. xxooxx.
p.s. These photos are not official photos from the book - just ones I took from home before sending them off to the UK.