FO Friday.......I'm on a roll!!!!!

Good morning, I hope everyone has had a good week, I've been on a bit of a roll as far as Finished Objects are concerned. My goal for December is to finish my WIP's, I haven't got as many as I first thought as I've gone through them I decided to put a couple into hibernation while I decide whether I want to carry on with them or frog them. I frogged the Livingston sweater as mentioned in my last post. I have two crochet blankets which won't be finished in December and then I have this little Debbie Bliss Matinee Jacket which I plan to finish, I've only got one sleeve left. I will also try and finish the Henslowe Shawl as well as some Christmas socks. I'm not sure whether this is a bit of a tall order but I will give it my best.

I have finished my Pennycress socks, which for some reason have taken me months to finish, the pattern was a bit more complicated and I also changed it to toe up rather than doing top down. I love Rachel Coopey patterns and once I've got all my WIP's out of the way, I will try knitting another one of hers but next time giving top down a try.

I'm linking these to Tami's FO Friday, check out what everyone else has been finishing up this week.

I've also finished my first adult sized garment, it's the Anzen crochet cardigan from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 7. I love the pattern but when I was working on it I wasn't loving the yarn which is Jenny Watson Pure Merino. It's not one of the most expensive merino yarns but it's not budget either, the balls of yarn felt quite nice but I found the cardigan very stiff not soft and squishy like other yarns I've used. After soaking and blocking though, it is a lot softer, perhaps not as soft as I would like but much better than before.

I love the actual look of the cardigan though, I'm sure I'll be wearing it a lot through the winter and spring, it will go with most things.

This is what I've been working on this week for Marrianne and Chrissie's, Bloomin Crochet Along, pop over, there is always gorgeous projects on the hook.

Have a great weekend, everyone, will you doing anything festive over the weekend?

Thanks for stopping by.
xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin' Crochet Along........Quick Christmas Gifts.

Good morning, I hope you've all had a good week. It's been a busy week here, with lots of Christmas shopping and making Christmas gifts. I haven't been giving my hexagons much love lately and probably won't until after Christmas now.

I have been crocheting these Bow Tie Mug Hugs, filling an Ikea mug with a sachet of hot chocolate, marshmallows and candy canes. The pattern is from Simply Crochet Issue 11 and I used Drops Nepal, which is an Aran weight wool/alpaca blend. I added a few more rows to the pattern so it would fit the mug better. I think they are great fun stocking filler and quick to finish if you need to make a last minute gift.

I'm linking these to FO Friday over on Tami's blog, check out all the great projects this week.

I've also been working on my Anzen cardigan, it's coming along nicely, I've finished the body and have started the first sleeve. It's a DK weight yarn but crochet grows so much quicker than knitting.

This is my regular post for Chrisse and Marrianne's Bloomin' Crochet Along. I hope you all have a great weekend, I'm off to a local village tonight for the turn on of the Christmas lights, there will be stalls and all the pretty little shops will be open with hot Pimms and mulled wine. I love this time of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xxxxDebxxxx

Bloomin CAL..........and the Anzen Crochet Cardigan.

Ok so I've only finished six measly hexagons this week and I'd already done the centres so really I've only added the borders.

I have been busy doing some crochet, though. I received the latest edition of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine last week, again it did not disappoint, I would happily knit/crochet every pattern in there. I was immediately drawn to the Anzen which is a crochet cardigan and I had the yarn in my stash to get  started straight away.
I'm using Jenny Watson Pure Merino DK in grey, black and off white, the pattern uses a sport weight yarn. I'm using a DK and have just done a size smaller, that seems to have worked fine for me. I've never knitted or crochet an adult garment before and have made a promise to myself to start knitting more for myself.

I've also got my eye on the Aureus cardigan, I think I will ask the husband to buy me the yarn for Christmas. The photo is taken from the magazine and I love the colour that they've used, so will probably find a similar colour.

I'm linking this to Chrissie and Marianne's blog for the Bloomin' Crochet Along.

A little update on the vegan birthday cake that I had to make, yesterday. It didn't turn out bad at all, the cake was very moist in the centre, the outside was a bit crispier and a little bit crumbly but it cut up fine.

I mixed the ingredients for the cake, which you can find here, so far so good, the mix tasted very good and the recipe was simple.

My decorating skills aren't really up to scratch but in my defence I had 15 minutes to make the icing and decorate, you can find the recipe for the buttercream icing, here. My niece was thrilled with it and told me I'd got the job of making it from now on, even my brother who pulled his nose up at a vegan cake said it tasted good!!!!!

I'm linking this to Cosmos and Cotton's Weekly Bake, check out Hannapat's gorgeous bake this week.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend. I'm off to a scrapbooking retreat for the weekend with my friend, Kerry. I'll tell you all about it next week.

xxxxDebxxxx