Stormy seas

As I hide inside, snug and warm from the shrieking wind, inevitably I think back to last year's storms. This time last year, Aberystwyth hit the news when the seafront promenade took a beating. A few miles up the coast, Borth also suffered. Borth usually is a popular family beach- miles of gently sloping sand and shingle. Last year's storms though left this:

Some very topographical looking mud!

This isn't any old mud though, it's actually ancient peat. Further down the beach there is the remains of a petrified forest. Usually there are just a few slimy treestumps covered in seaweed, but after the storms a magical land was revealed. There is an interesting article and some beautiful photos on the national geographic website.

Conveniently for me, it was around this time that I finished my stormy seas quilt. A perfect opportunity to visit a local attraction, and photograph my quilt on location!

I love the modern simplicity of this quilt, but oh my goodness, it was bo-o-o-o-ring to make. Cutting, ironing, sewing strip after strip after strip. I will not be doing this again.

First finishes for 2015

Yikes! Two finishes in the first week of January!

The first is the sunshine waves blanket. No prizes for how it got the name.

I love ripples, the waviness makes them just that bit better than an ordinary stripe.

I was going to do an all yellow, sunny sunshiney blanket, but it was a bit blah, so I added the blue border which I feel gives it more oomph.

Ripples are so simple I shouldn't really need a pattern, but I have a tendency to get a bit lost at the ends of the rows. For this one I followed the neat ripple pattern on Attic 24's blog. This ripple uses groups of four stitches (4tr, tr2tog x2, 4tr, 2tr increase x2). I usually use the pattern from Nikki Trench's Cute and easy crochet book. This uses groups of three stitches and I find it suits my rhythm of treble crochet better. (3tr, tr3tog, 3tr, 3tr increase). This photo shows the two side by side, and I can't really tell much difference.

The stats.

This was made in double knitting yarn on a 4mm hook. I can't name any of the yarns, as they're a pot luck of whatever yellows I already had. It weighs 370g, and is 75 x100 cm.

Caddy bag

The blanket above was started in December, but this bag is so quick and easy it's a true 2015 creation. I'm guessing I took about 4 hours in total, but some members of my quilting class can whip these out in an hour and a half. I find it a great way of using up the samples I have made in class. (The stars on the pockets are the results of my paper-piecing lessons).

It's not the most beautiful design created, but really is so useful to keep things tidy. Here is a smaller one I use to take to sewing class. I carry my fabrics in the main compartment, and stuff my scraps for sorting into the pockets.