Granny Tic Tac Toe Cushion and PDF Give-away...

My granny’s lost the plot

But she’s ever so nice,

We sit and play games

And take turns rolling dice.

Tic tac toe,

yahtzee and snap,

Games to make you think

so you don’t and take a nap.

She always seems to win

which is awfully strange,

 For a granny so doddery

of a ripe old age.

At last I can show you my latest design...

As always I am still writing this pattern out...

I have had a few set backs with adapting to new programmes 

and saving small file size pdf's.

Now at long last these "high tec" things are soughted

and I am back on track...

It will still be about a week before it is all looking lovely

and ready for my etsy shop...

The lovely Kate

is also helping me out with testing...

Which reminds me...

Sorry Kate for the long delay with getting it to you...

 Very soon...Promise...

Now...back to the give-away...

Please leave a comment...

Tell me if you like it...or not...

If you liked playing Tic Tac Toe...?

Or much preferred to call it "Noughts and Crosses"...?

any comment at all will go into the draw...
And I will pick one winner for a free PDF...

That easy...

I will let everyone know how it is coming along by the end of the week...

And for anyone wondering about the little dolly in the picture...

I made her a very long time ago...

Inspired by the amazing Shannon of Aunty Cookie...

Who's fabric designs and illustrations are just "ACE"...

And the sweet little stripped Cat is called Felix...

He thinks he's the "Top Cat" around here...

and has a air of "grandness" and "distinction" about him...

And is quite happy with begin the only one of his kind

living at River Cottage...

Till next post...

Please stay safe!!!

Hug someone you love...

and keep up the Granny Goodness..

Edit:
Entries are now closed...
Thank you all for your kind words and lovely thoughts...
I will post details very soon...
And this pattern will be available in my etsy shop...

Begone my slumpy ways...

 

What a relief...

I hear you say...

Yes my slumpy ways have headed for darker pastures...

and left me to create...

and there is nothing better than a new cushion design...

I will have to leave everyone

with only a tiny sneak peek...

sorry...

Just know that I will be sitting down tonight and starting to write

everything out and try and make sense of my sticky little notes...

Luckily I have taken all the photo's so even if I get stuck I will have them to remind me...

Till next time...

Keep up the granny goodness...

Union Jack Cushion by Amanda

Union Jack Cushion a photo by Manda's challenges :) on Flickr.

I huge thank you to Amanda for adding her
finished Grandma English cushion to
the flickr group...
There are a few photo's of finished ones on Ravelry...
and I just love seeing them...

I hope everyones Monday morning
has started out well...
We have lovely weather here at River Cottage...
Blue skys, slight breeze...
A freshness in the air...that smells like Autumn...

Just Perfect...

Washing Wednesday...

Washing is something that we all have to do...

But some manage to do it in such vintage style...

Like my flickr friends above...

Washing on a Wednesday just sounds nice...

Don't you think?

I even made a point of begin a bit colour co-ordinated for the day...
Well at least I thought so...

Note to self...
Don't freak the neighbours out with Washing Wednesday outfits...

As they already think me a bit "strange"...

 

My Mum use to have a wringer...

Just like this...

 

I think washing would have taken a lot longer...

But how lovely it would be to have one 

just like this

sitting in your laundry...

So Vintage...

Henry's Lack Of Interest...

Flickr

Henry's getting a little annoyed with the time spent on my art work...
He thinks I should have been moving on by now...
But I am sticking to it I say...

Not even the dreaded lurgy will stop me...

Well ok...it will...

But I can't believe how long this cold has lasted...

It should be long gone...

Packed it's bags and headed for the hills...

But no it's much to nice it says...

staying with me here at River Cottage...

Why oh why would it want to leave...

Maybe because I actually want to get some work done...

Or even to get a chance to wear my new thrifty frock...

in public!!!

I am hoping all of my friends have had a lovely weekend...

with no dreaded lurgy and lots of happy crocheting...

And thank you all for putting up with my absense 

and general slumpy ways of late...

I am most happy...

I am most happy...
Originally uploaded by Loving The Vintage

When I recieve lovely etsy parcels in the mail..

I am even happier when the cover of one
of these gorgeous Dottieangel notebooks
has the very photo of the apron I bought from her...

Pass me a tissue please...
It's all too much...

Yes I have managed to go and get myself
the dreaded lurgy...
After such a nice start to the week too...

Thank you for your sweet comments last post...
and for the great links...
They have sent me to some lovely sites and blogs...
Just what I needed...

So while I lay low for the rest of the week...
And cough and splutter some more...
I would love to find some more interesting places to visit...
Maybe you have a favorite blog?
Maybe it even has nothing to do with crocheting?

Some of my favorite blogs are totally different to what I do...
I just love getting inspiration from all creative people...

And it's ok too if you want to share something that you think
I would like from your own blog...
Just leave a easy link so I can pop over...

Till next post...Stay safe...
Eat healthy...and keep those dreaded lurgy bugs at bay...

Hi

Hi
Originally uploaded by Loving The Vintage

Just thought I would pop in to say Hi...
How is your Monday...
Quite...or busy...

Have you stumbled across any great patterns...
or maybe a great new blog...

Have you finished a project or maybe bought some
fabulous new wool to start one...

Whatever your week holds in store...
I hope it is just full of goodness and smiles...

And a couple of hugs...they never go astray...

Flickr Favorites

7 Feb 2011
Originally uploaded by cjcsew

Thanks to Cjcsew for adding this gorgeous
grandma hearts garland to the flickr group...

I love the colours and the great idea of adding letters...

If anyone wants to add pictures to the group...be sure to pop over...
the more the merrier...

I have seen lots of pictures over on Ravelry of some granny cushions
made from my patterns...Just gorgeous!!!
I would love to see these added to the group if you have a flickr account...
They are just so many crafty crocheters about it's lovely to see there work...full of colour and granny goodness...

I will be back soon with pics of something new and arty I have been working on...

Roses Are Red...

Roses are Red,

Denim is Blue...

Blogging is sweet,

with friends like you...

Happy Valentines Day my dears...

These flowers are part of an installation crocheted art piece

I am working on...

Getting side tracked again...

But I am loving it!!!

I like Blue...do you...

Flickr

I also have a fondness for Turquoise

and Aqua...

flickr

 I love when the light is just right

for taking photo's...

flickr

 I love finishing UFO's like this Grandma's Garden

which I have had sitting waiting patiently to be completed and admired...

flickr

 Most of all like it when it all comes together so perfectly...

Bursting with Granny Goodness...

Crocheting my way to Happiness...

As we all know,

crocheting can just help sooth the soul...

So I have told myself to just pick up the hook and get on with it...

I told myself this in a very gruff, important voice too!!!

And I think for once I was listening...

So I have now finished another Tissue box cover...

and managed to make a very simple Granny square cushion...

complete with pretty little picots around...

I am in the very early stages of a new pattern...

The stage where I have undone so many times I have gone quite loopy...

It will be about a week or so before I am totally finished,

at least I have an idea now which direction it is heading...

The buzzing direction I think...

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words of late...

I think it was the enormous kick in the butt I needed...

 Now if I can just find those boots again 

as I think there is a pile of dishes to do and a few floors that need cleaning...

P.S...You can still e-mail me for the Granny Chevron Blanket pattern...

Just pop over to the side bar and click on the ABOUT ME...

and that will take you straight to my profile and e-mail details...

Till next post...

Keep up the Granny Goodness...

The Waiting Place

Have you ever read the children's book...

Oh, The Places You'll Go

by Dr Seuss???

I have...

It describes The Waiting Place...

I think that's were I have been stuck

for quite some time...

And as the story goes...

I need to escape...

Maybe it has been a combination of things...

The excessive heat...frying my brain...

Work...Sweating kilo's off me...

Uncertainty of what to do next...

Yes just waiting...

Sometimes it's not hard...

To kick ones butt!!!

Maybe I just need to buy a bigger pair of shoes...

I have been very remiss in not blogging...and for that I feel quite bad...

So until I shake myself out of it all...

Or buy some enormous shoes...

I will try to keep you close

and all of your sweet comments even closer...

Maybe the start of the Chinese New Year will do it...

I mean honesty who can resist the year of the rabbit...

How cute are they...

And I will leave you with a pic

of me this morning...

Trying to start on improving my disposition...

Hugs to you all...

P.S...If you would like a copy of the Chevron Granny Blanket pattern

please just e-mail me and I will send you out a PDF...

And the winner is...

Thank you all so much for an amazing response 

to my latest Grandma Daisy pattern giveaway...

I did find it hard to find a way of picking a winner...

So I thought I would be very conventional...

for me anyway...

And give a free pattern to the very first

and very last comment...

Thank you

Aisyah Helga

and

Melody 

(Can you e-mail me your details...that would be great)

and Congratulations!!!

I will be listing the pattern for sale on etsy

so if you would like to grab a copy

please take a look...

At Home...

I have been spending a few afternoons

in the vegie patch...

With the amount of rain we have been having

it is looking more like a jungle patch...

The basil plants are fantastic...

 

And that mass in the middle of the patch

is three tomato plants...

They are suffering a bit from the wet weather

but we should have about 30 large tomatoes on it to harvest in a week...

and in front of them is a row of baby tomatoes

which we have been picking already...

 

Lots of other vegetables too...

Finding time to spend out in the garden is just what I need...

It clears my head a bit...

and is so relaxing...

***

I would also like to send my best wishes

to all of my dear sweet friends living in Queensland...

 I do hope you are all safe...

and your family and friends are too...

Stay high and dry!!!

Grandma Daisy...

Grandma Daisy

is my latest design...

I am very excited about this new pattern

and do hope you will be too...

If you would like to leave a comment

I will draw a lucky winner by the start of next week

and one of my lovelies will be the first to receive a free copy of the pattern...

I am about half way through writing it out on the computer...

So there will be nothing better than a deadline...

I did find that the older I get 

The harder it is to get up once down...

Granny All Square in flickr group...

Granny All Square
Originally uploaded by Lady Colori

By Lady Colori...

Thank you my dear
for adding to the flickr group...

I am so amazed at the amount of work
and time that you must have put into this
gorgeous blanket...

and LOVE seeing it...

It has put a huge smile on my face
and a warmth in my heart...

I have decided that this year I will be putting
more time and effort into my work...

I hope to organize at least 3 classes a week...
plus pattern writing time...
and not forgetting blogging time...

I have almost finished the front of a new cushion
and have written the start of the pattern out...
On lots of lovely scrap paper....
and just need to pick up some extra wool
when the shops open back up again...

I am really excited about this one...it's very pretty...

I do hope that everyone's New Year is starting
out happy and bright...and full of inspiration and Love...

And thank you all so much for sharing your granny goodness
just like Lady Colori has...

It's All About The HOME...

flickr

This New Year...

it's all about the HOME...

A granny good Home of course...

Putting my best foot forward and making

my home life extra special...

Lots of gardening...painting...prettying up...

and most of all 

lots of LOVE....

I do hope everyone's New Year will be just sweet...

Thank you for all of your support over this last month...

it has made me realize that there is so much more I could be doing

instead of feeling all wishy washy...

Like crocheting some more...

I have started working on some more patterns 

and will have one out in January...

Cross fingers...

But for now...keep up the granny goodness that you know so well...

And I will see you very soon in the New Year...

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very...

Merry Christmas 

and a granny good New Year...

Flickr

With the help of a last minute "How To"

by the lovely Dottie angel

Thank you my dears for your sweet words 

and kind thoughts 

over this past year...

You make it all worth it...

Reflecting...

Reflecting...
Originally uploaded by Loving The Vintage

Reflecting...
on a year almost past...

Surrounding myself with comfort and memories...

Carnations...my favorite flower...
Garlands...to hold me together...
Tissues...in case I need to cry...
Tea...to sooth the soul...
Granny Blanket...to keep my safe and loved...

Chevron Granny Blanket pdf

Thank you all my very special dears...

for all the well wishes and kindness

for our sudden loss of our dear pet Millie...

Your comments have helped me so much...

I would love to thank you all

so I have added a

Chevron Granny Blanket pdf

in my sidebar...

It is free,

but I can only have the pdf link for 30 days

through the host server...

So please feel free to download it and save to your computer...

I do hope it works as I am new to uploading this sort of thing

I know you will need Adobe to access this...

Wishing you much granny goodness... Michelle...

Farewell my sweet Millie

You will be so dearly missed...

You were taken from us tragically yesterday morning...

and the tears keep flowing...

I would like to say more...

But it hurts too much...

Know we will always think of you as our little friend...

Always in our thoughts

and now sadly in just our memory...

About my tutorials

With the festive season approaching 

and many of my dears

crocheting their decorations...

I have had a lot of e-mails asking about my free tutorials...

so I thought I would help out

and answer a few here...

You are most welcome to use my free tutorials...

You are more than welcome to borrow a image and post a link with it to my free tutorials...

You don't even have to contact me...But I do like to see every one's lovely work...

You can of course sell your finished product...even on etsy...

Changing my tutorial significantly and posting a tutorial on your site is also most welcome...

Things I find not ok...Are...

 This is more a blog etiquette thing...

Copy and paste my tutorial and posting it on your site...

I have only ever given one person permission for this...

and it was so it could be translated into another language 

so more people can benefit from some granny goodness...

Taking your own pictures of the "Grandma step- by- step Tutorial" and posting it...

Changing the pattern slightly and posting it as your own step-by-step tutorial...

eg of slightly : colour changing, adding a picot etc...

This doesn't mean showing these steps that you have come up with...

it means the whole tutorial from start to finish with a few added steps included... 

(did that make sense?)

I have always kept the original patterns very basic...

no colour changes,adding an extra row of dc(sc), or adding picots etc...

because I really want the patterns to be used by everyone...

including people who are only learning...

and by keeping it simple the finished product is achievable...

also if you are an advanced crocheter you can add these things quite easily without

a step-by-step tutorial...

and of course I always love seeing these as finished products...

and I do know a lot of my dears out there have done just that and they look amazing...

 and thank you so much for sharing your versions with me...

I do realize that many people can and have come up with some of my patterns without every seeing my tutorials or pictures...That's just the beauty of crocheting and trying new things out...

and if you have come up with a pattern that looks identical to mine without realizing it or every seeing mine till now...that's wonderful...

I would never want to upset anyone that has made a pattern from scratch

and it just happens to look like one that I did as well...

I do hope these last things haven't upset anyone...

I do believe though if you stick to the general blog etiquette rule

sharing links and pictures we can all

keep up the granny goodness...

and all enjoy the wonderful free things you can find on the internet...

P.s...Thank you MADE BY KATE for the lovely jute idea...

I'm loving it this year!!!

Little Granny Bag via flickr

My Little Granny Bag
Originally uploaded by bunny mummy

Thank you Bunny Mummy...
For adding your finished Little Granny Bag to the
Flickr group...

It is so amazing to see one finished!!!
Looking just sweet in the snow...

It feels like snow here...
even thou we are in the first week of summer...

What is happening to the weather lately?

We are having flooding across so many parts of the east coast of Australia...and the garden is starting to go to mud and mildew...

I think we are all mixed up...

Are you my dears feeling mixed up...

I think I am...

Must be time to sit and get out the yarn and try to keep myself busy
and stop myself feeling mushy...

Christmas mantle

Christmas mantle
Originally uploaded by thatischarming

Thank you "That is Charming"
for adding your beautiful Christmas mantle
picture to the Grandma Tutorial Group...
I adore these little trees with the
added stars...
And the coloured trunks are too cute!!!
It makes me feel all
motivated to get out the hook and yarn
and make some more too...

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last tutorial...
and please don't forget to add your pictures to the group...
They always inspire me...And I do need some inspiring lately...
To many hours at work and not enough hours
to do the fun stuff...

Like Crocheting...

Little Granny Bag...Tutorial

I do think it is time for another tutorial...

How about a sweet Little Granny Bag!!!

We start this little granny bag using the 

Grandma All Square Tutorial...

Make one motif

and do not finish off...

Just sl st to the next 3 ch corner and follow pattern

for the last round again...

Taking into account the added treble cluster

on each side...

It just makes the Square bigger...

Make two...

One for either side...

Join the two together...

Wrong sides facing inside...

and start joining three sides together

I have used a burgundy to add contrast...

Start in the 3 ch space in the top left hand corner.

1 ch, 1 dc(sc).

Add a picot...

By doing 3 ch...

and then sl stitching back into the two loops of the dc(sc)...

Pull yarn through...

and your picot is complete...

add 1 dc(sc) extra in this corner and in the very last corner at end...

1 Dc(sc) in each treble and 1 dc(sc) 1 picot in all spaces...

Making sure you are lining the front and back up nicely as you go...

In corners do 2 dc(sc), picot into second dc(sc) , 1 dc(sc)

stop at top right hand corner...

You can either leave yarn attached or fasten off...at this point...

It will depend if you have an extra ball of yarn to use for sewing the lining...

To line...

Cut two pieces of felt the same size as Granny All Squares

and sew together...

Trim excess and corners...

I have added magnetic snaps in mine...

And place lining inside of bag...

and with a needle and yarn secure and start to sew in lining

from the corner...

Work in BACK LOOPS ONLY!!!

This is easier with a sharp needle

but if you only have a wool needle it will help to make a hole through the felt

with a sharp pin...

continue around to end...Fasten off and trim ends...

Now with your hook...

Starting where you left off or continue

by re attaching yarn  ...

Work in front loops only...

1 dc(sc) across each treble and 1 dc(sc) with picot

in all 1 ch spaces.

When I work around the left hand corner

I like to sl st to dc(sc) that we started on the "Joining" round

as that secures it nicely...then

continue on the other side...

sl st to dc(sc) at start...Sew and trim ends etc when you have finished...

Now you little bag is almost finished...

We just need to add some handles...

I put mine in between the picots

one spot from the corner...

Starting with a 1 ch 1 dc(sc) in first dc, 2 dc(sc) in next 2 dc(sc).

1 ch...Turn work over...

3 dc(sc) in next 3...

1 ch...Turn...etc

Make to the length you like...

Fasten off and sew to corresponding front side...

Turn over to other side and make second handle just the same way...

Congratulations...

You have finished your Little Granny Bag...

Put some granny goodness inside...

Like a hankie, some lollies and your lipstick...

And don't forget to casually place it in full view of all your friends to see...

You will end up having plenty of orders...

Keep up the Granny Goodness...

Be sure to add to the flickr group...