Ascribe Greatness {Week 2 - lettering challenge}

Well, I have reached the second week. I have a little catching up to do, but as no-one has joined in with the challenge, I don't feel so bad! LOL

I am certainly enjoying dwelling upon the words of the hymns as I do my own lettering. There is so much doctrine and blessing in the words.

So, here are this week's prompts.

Day 8 - Immortal honours

1. Immortal honours rest on Jesus’ head;
My God, my portion, and my living bread;
In Him I live, upon Him cast my care;
He saves from death, destruction, and despair.

2. He is my refuge in each deep distress;
The Lord my strength and glorious righteousness;
Through floods and flames He leads me safely on,
And daily makes His sovereign goodness known.

3. My every need He richly will supply;
Nor will His mercy ever let me die;
In Him there dwells a treasure all divine,
And matchless grace has made that treasure mine.

4. O that my soul could love and praise Him more,
His beauties trace, His majesty adore;
Live near His heart, upon His bosom lean;
Obey His voice, and all His will esteem.

William Gadsby 1773-1844

Day 9 - How Deep the Father's Love

This is a modern hymn, so you need to go directly to Stuart Townend's site to find them, here. 

Day 10 - Before the Throne of God Above

1 Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea;
a great High Priest, whose name is Love,
who ever lives and pleads for me.

2 My name is graven on his hands,
my name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
no tongue can bid me thence depart.

3 When Satan tempts me to despair
and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look, and see him there
who made an end of all my sin.

4 Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free;
for God the Just is satisfied
to look on him and pardon me.

5 Behold him there! the risen Lamb,
my perfect, spotless righteousness;
the great unchangeable "I AM,"
the King of glory and of grace!

6 One with himself, I cannot die,
my soul is purchased by his blood;
my life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ my Savior and my God.

Charitie Lees Bancroft

Day 11 -  I Will Stand on Every Promise of His Word

Another modern one, by Stuart Townend. Find it here.  

Day 12 - O Thou by Whom we Come to God

    O Thou by whom we come to God,
    The life, the truth, the way,
    The path of prayer Thyself hast trod:

Lord, teach us how to pray.

Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Unuttered or expressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.

Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near.

Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains
That reach the Majesty on high.

Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air,
His watchword at the gates of death;
He enters Heav’n with prayer.

Prayer is the contrite sinner’s voice,
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, Behold, he prays!

The saints in prayer appear as one
In word, in deed, and mind,
While with the Father and the Son
Sweet fellowship they find.

No prayer is made by man alone
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus, on th’eternal throne,
For sinners intercedes.

James Montgomery 1771-1854

Day 13 - Take My Life and Let it Be

1 Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise.

2 Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.

3 Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee.

4 Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose.

5 Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.

6 Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee. 

Frances Ridley Havergal 1836-1879

Day 14 - Blessed Assurance

1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. 

Chorus 

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.

2 Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Fanny Crosby 1820-1915

I'd really love it if others join in, sharing these words with others in this lettering challenge. 

Ascribe Greatness {WEEK 1 - lettering challenge}

This has been a crazy couple of weeks. Planning and tidying up school related things. Getting ready for Holiday Bible Club. A little boy having hernia repair surgery. And then, this week, the crazy, but rewarding, that is Holiday Bible Club. I. Am. Wrecked. It's 7.30pm, and if I didn't have a high maintenance 5 month old who doesn't go down for the night until silly o'clock, I would be in my BED!!!! (I think I am getting old....)

BUT....

I am SO excited to be starting off with my FIRST EVER lettering prompt series, starting on MONDAY!!! 

As long as I can remember, I have LOVED singing. I sang in the school choir. I learned to sing alto when I was quite young, just by listening to the older ladies in the Church singing. I love to lift my voice in praise to God. In Church. In the car. In the home. I love to sing. 

The words matter to me. 

If your singing of Christian praise is NOT about the words, but only the emotion or the music, then there is something wrong. You've missed the purpose of praise in song. I digress.

I was travelling with Robert to a wedding, recently, and we were, as we often are, listening to Christian praise - hymns and songs. I was thinking about some of the words that I hold very dear, and I thought "these would make great lettering prompts!"  Sometimes it was only a word or two, sometimes a phrase or line. Some hymns have whole verses that are precious to me. The wonderful thing about hymns is that, for each of us, the Lord may use different words to speak life to us, whilst we worship HIM! It's a perfect combo for lettering, I reckon.

I scoured through Instagram, but couldn't find any obvious challenges revolving around hymns and songs, so it was a perfect opportunity!

I made a list of some of my all time favourites. They are mostly traditional "older" hymns, but some are more modern. All of them have solid Christian doctrine and scriptural basis, and have an amazing depth. In some ways, they just don't write 'em like they used to! Maybe there are many you don't know at all, because you've only  known more modern worship? Don't miss out on these superb words of praise. 

Every week I will either share the words or a link to sites where  you can find the words to these hymns, so that you can find them easily if they are unfamiliar to you, or if you don't have a hymn book that has them. (I don't think any one hymn book will have them all, anyway!)

So, from August the 1st, jump in and join us on Instagram and Facebook. You  don't need to be able to write "fancy", but maybe this would make a great opportunity for you to jump in and join with learning lettering? A great way to be creative and relax over the summer, whilst dwelling on these great words of praise and worship. 

(This whole endeavour has sent me on an educational trip all around hymn copyright! It's involving maths, and working out dates and years!!!)

1. I lift my heart to thee

I lift my heart to Thee, Saviour divine;
For Thou art all to me, and I am Thine;
Is there on earth a closer bond than this,
That my Belovèd’s mine, and I am His?

Thine am I by all ties; but chiefly Thine,
That through Thy sacrifice Thou, Lord, art mine.
By thine own cords of love, so sweetly wound,
Around me, I to Thee am closely bound.

To Thee, Thou bleeding Lamb, I all things owe—
All that I have, and am, and all I know.
All that I have is now no longer mine,
And I am not mine own; Lord, I am Thine.

How can I, Lord, withhold life’s brightest hour
From Thee; or gathered gold, or any power?
Why should I keep one precious thing from Thee;
When Thou hast giv’n Thine own dear self for me?

I pray Thee, Savior, keep me in Thy love,
Until death’s holy sleep shall me remove
To that fair realm where, sin and sorrow o’er,
Thou and Thine own are one forevermore.

Charles E. Maudie (1872)

2.  When peace like a river

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sin—not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so—it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford (1873) 

3. His robes for mine

Find the lyrics here. This a new hymn, but the words are incredible. I first heard it three years ago,

 when tragedy struck the heart of a Church where I had visited in Indianapolis. The youth pastor, 

and his wife - Chuck and Courtney Phelps - their unborn baby, and a lady from their congregation,

 Tonya Weindorf, all tragically lost their lives in a coach accident, returning from camp. 

This is a hymn that was sung at their funeral, which I watched via livestream. 

The words really challenged me, especially the words at the end of the chorus. 

"Bought by such love, my life is not my own.

My praise-my all-shall be for Christ alone."  Their lives were lived faithfully for the Saviour, and I want my life to be lived the same way. 

This site has many newly written hymns. They marry up wonderful words and beautiful melodies. They make them free to use and print for worship, because they desire that God should be praised more than making money. You will be blessed by the hymns you will find there. 

4. Great is thy faithfulness

Find the words here. This is one of my all time favourites, because my heart is so thankful for God's faithfulness to me. 

5. Come, thou fount of every blessing

(I've added this one as it was written, although it's not in the format I am used to singing it - we have some parts skipped out, to make three verses.)

Come, Thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothèd then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send Thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

6. When all thy mercies

(Another one that had many more verses than I am accustomed to, but I loved how it tells

 a life story of God's mercy!)

When all Thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I’m lost
In wonder, love and praise.

O, how shall words with equal warmth
The gratitude declare,
That glows within my ravished heart!
But Thou canst read it there.

Thy providence my life sustained,
And all my wants redressed,
While in the silent womb I lay,
And hung upon the breast.

To all my weak complaints and cries
Thy mercy lent an ear,
Ere yet my feeble thoughts had learned
To form themselves in prayer.

Unnumbered comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestowed,
Before my infant heart conceived
From whom those comforts flowed.

When in the slippery paths of youth
With heedless steps I ran,
Thine arm unseen conveyed me safe,
And led me up to man.

Through hidden dangers, toils, and death,
It gently cleared my way;
And through the pleasing snares of vice,
More to be feared than they.

When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou
With health renewed my face;
And when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss
Hath made my cup run o’er;
And, in a kind and faithful friend,
Hath doubled all my store.

Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ;
Nor is the least a cheerful heart
That tastes those gifts with joy.

Through every period of my life
Thy goodness I’ll pursue
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.

When nature fails, and day and night
Divide Thy works no more,
My ever grateful heart, O Lord,
Thy mercy shall adore.

Through all eternity to Thee
A joyful song I’ll raise;
For, oh, eternity’s too short
To utter all Thy praise!

Joseph Addison (1712)

7. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

(We have just finished Holiday Bible Club. Our "Missionary story" was about John Newton! 

What a life of testimony to God's redemption and grace! I live just a few miles from where he 

ministered, in Olney)

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

Dear name, the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

By Thee my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

Jesus! my shepherd, husband, friend,
O prophet, priest and king,
My Lord, my life, my way, my end,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy name
Refresh my soul in death!

John Newton (1779)

There you have it. All the hymns for the first week of #ascribe_greatness, starting

 AUGUST THE 1ST. 

I hope you join with me, and that your heart is truly blessed by these great hymns. 

Lettering {which tools do I use?}

So, a quick second post about lettering.

The last post I told you about where I get my inspiration, so I thought I could now share about the pens/brushes I use.

It's been a journey, really. As I started off with Bible Journaling, I started off with pens for that, and progressed from there. I have two photos for you, and I will talk you through them all, and tell you where you can buy them.

1. Staedtler Triplus Fineliner

This is one of the first pens I started with. They come in a fantastic range of colours, but in order to do calligraphy type, you need to do "faux calligraphy".  For this, you need to add a second line on the downstrokes of your letters. Then, fill it in. I have demonstrated this technique on the photo. It works well, but you can sometimes end up with very tiny lines where you don't "keep in the lines". It's probably imperceptible, but I see it! lol  You can get these pens many places, including Amazon (UK) . 

2-4. Pigma Micron 

These come in a variety of thicknesses and colours. These pens, and the Staedtler Fineliners, are both pretty good for using in Bibles, as they don't bleed unless you do very thick and heavy lines. The very fine ones are great for print style lettering, or for very small lettering. All these first 4 pens don't work very well on watercolour paper, though, as they tend to gouge into the heavier weight, with their harder tips. 

This (UK) set has a good range of the nib sizes, all in black, including a brush pen (which I just don't like at all) and a thicker "graphic" tip, which is a nice thick tip for solid lines. You can also get them in sets with colours, but with that you have to decide on one nib size, as they are all the same in the multi-coloured pack. 

5. & 9. ( 9 is in the image below) Tombow Dual Brush Pens

These are a MASSIVE treat to myself. I got them for a knockdown price (with the pre-Brexit exchange rate!), and a friend who was returning to the UK kindly delivered them to me, so no postage costs!! I got the full set of 96, and have been LOVING them. I had already bought the primary set from Amazon to try them out, and had fallen in love with them. It's these pens that I have used for my entire series of pictures that went with the #animalpartychallenge on IG. Because they are water based, you can blend them on watercolour paper with a brush and water. You can also blend two colours together and create your own blends (simply just blending them on a piece of plastic)! The tips are self cleaning, so the new ink runs through and it goes back to the original colour. One end has the brush tip pen, and the other end is a finer nib. It takes a bit of practice to master using these (I initially didn't like them, because I didn't crack it as quickly as I wanted to!!! - patience.... ), but once you have, they write like silk. The textures and tones are beautiful, especially on very smooth paper. These are best for doing BIG lettering, although some people seem to be able to achieve much smaller text than I can! 

If are wanting to get serious about your lettering, the 96 box set is a very sound investment, as it's a lot cheaper per pen than buying the smaller packs. It's also massively reduced in price over this side of the Atlantic, compared to a matter of months ago when it was over £200 to buy it!!! 

6. Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen

These pens are the ones that are able to give a lovely look to a more "normal" sized lettering. As with all the brush tips, you need to master the basic technique of modern calligraphy to be able to use them best. The ladies in my last post have videos that demonstrate the technique - think upstroke, thick down stroke. You can get practice drill sheets for this on many sites - free and "pay for" ones. 

These pens are a bit trickier to track down in the UK. The cheapest way I have found to purchase them is from an Etsy store. They come in a range of colours, and you can get the full set of 12 for £17 including shipping from Japan. You have to be patient, as it takes time to get here! If you can't wait, you can also get them here for a little more money.

I really love the gold and silver in the multi-pack, and the black is a pretty fundamental piece of kit, in my opinion.

7 & 8. Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen - soft tip and hard tip

These, like the black sign pen above, as what I would consider "essential" if you are serious about lettering. They give slightly different effects. The soft one gives a thicker line, and the hard one gives a very fine line on your upstroke.  These are available on Amazon, and are best value in a 5 pack - soft and hard are both available in these 5 packs.

10. Pentel Aquash Water Brush

I love, love, LOVE this tool!!!! This is a watercolour brush, in essence, but has a water barrel attached. You can either fill the barrel with liquid watercolour inks, or keep dipping it into liquid or solid watercolours. I just love the variation in tone that you get with each stroke. It's simply beautiful. There are three sizes available - think medium and thick brushes. Obviously you can achieve a different look with each. They aren't overly expensive, and are available as a three pack on Amazon. These absolutely work best on watercolour paper, as it's far more absorbent than other papers.

11. Paintbrush (I used a Taklon Size 3)

A good old fashioned paintbrush is also a tool you can use. This is one of the ones I found hardest to crack, and I still don't feel I have mastered it completely, but it gives a lovely effect. Again, like the Aquash brush, you have to use watercolours with it. But, you have to keep dipping it into either water then paint, or a liquid watercolour. I found I had to get my grip right with a paintbrush, moreso than other pens, and also the quality of paintbrush MASSIVELY matters. A round brush is best, and don't just use a child's cheap one. You just won't get the brush to move smoothly enough, in my experience.

So, there we have it.

Those are the pens and brushes that I use, and my limited experience with them so far! You don't need expensive pens to get lettering. You can even use Sharpies (which I have never tried!) or Crayola supertips!

Just grab a pen and start trying, and then take it from there!

I think I also need to do posts demonstrating each of these pens, just to give a better idea about how they write and look. No promises as to a time scale for doing that, but I will get started ASAP.  Any questions, just ask away in the comments below, or find me on IG @thejoyfulkeeper and ask there. I will also start trying to record which pens I have used on my IG pictures.

I am SO far from being a pro at this, so I hope this has been useful!?

My Menu Planner {FINALLY, some "prettified" organisation}

Today, I have a "Ta-da" moment.

Over a year ago, I shared about Organising your Meals. I found a really great idea for doing a meal-planning board.

It looked lovely.

Just my kind of thing.

I thought it would massively help my organisation.

Yes.

If I DID it.

Well, over a year later.... I DID IT!!!!

I am LOVING it.  I love how it turned out. I love that it has buttons.  I love that I will HOPEFULLY be better at planning meals now.

Do you wanna see??...

Ah! You want to know how I MADE it, first? Oh, ok then!

So, I salvaged a magnetic white board, from the back of beyond in my school room.  I used it pre-large-whiteboard, and forgot I had it, until a clear out the other day. Perfect size, perfect shape.

I got some double-sided tape, and put it all over the surface of the white board.

Then I covered it in pretty paper. I didn't have enough of one type, so I used two, complementing designs. 

My principle was based on using pegs (clothes-pins) to clip my meal cards onto.  I was in The Range, just last week, and they had these sets of pegs, with the days of the week ALREADY PRINTED on them!!!! ONLY £1!!!! BARGAIN! (I now have some family members who have a set - I thought they could be useful!) Buying these are what inspired me to FINALLY get this board made!

I also wanted little pockets, to put the meal cards into.  I found some little envelopes I had, and with a bit of cutting, sticky backed tape and pretty paper, I made three pockets.  I think they will work on the principle of "meals we have regularly", "meals we have less regularly" and "meals we have rarely".

I was  thrilled to find, in Bethany's stash of craft items, some stickers on a kitchen theme!  So, I used them to decorate the little pockets.  the children INSISTED on the first one, as I was reluctant to describe myself thus....

This next one is certainly how I TRY to make my meals, but Elijah sometimes questions the first part (he's my fussier eater!)

Then, I embellished and prettified it! I had a LOT of fun, picking out buttons, sticking on flowers, and finding ribbon!

  

I ended up with a bit of a "gap" at the bottom, so I thought it would be good to have a space to hang up some scripture, perhaps any memory verses we have, or simply good verses to be mindful of? 

This seemed like a good one to begin with.

So, that's my board!

TA-DA!!

I am really pleased with the overall effect...  the colours tone in with my kitchen and dining room, so I plan to (sorry, I plan to have ROBERT....) hang it on the hatch doors, so that it is visible from the kitchen with them shut, but also seen in the dining room, when they are open.

That's the plan.

So far, it's not quite happened, and this leads me to my last picture.

Can you see?.....

I learnt a spiritual lesson, on the way through.  I was reminded about the life that God has given to us.  Sometimes it is less than perfect, or a bit "messy".  Sometimes the imperfecttions are invisible.  Sometimes they are visible, and we try and cover it up, to make our life look more "normal".

Ultimately, like my imperfect board (people who know  us well may guess the culprit, who pulled SEVERAL pegs off the board, requiring repair....) we just need to pray for grace from those around us.

 I kind of hope no-one will point out its flaw! It will probably not be seen most of the time, but I will know it's there.  So, I need to show MYSELF some grace, as it hasn't quite ended up as perfect as I wanted. 

Likewise, as we hit problems and imperfections in our life - our marriage, our children, our relationships, our choices - we need to show ourself some grace. Not beat ourselves up about the "messy" parts. Instead, we need to put our best foot forward, making things right as we are able, and move on.

I COULD have thrown the whole thing out, because it wasn't right.  That would have been SUPER silly.  It will be barely noticeable, and still perfectly functional.

Our life is the same.  Even with messy bits, it's silly to just give up when things are less than perfect.  We need to press on, and make the best of it, most of all remembering that GOD shows us grace, even with our imperfections! 

"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." 

James 4:6

See, the HUMBLE! I have to be willing to put my imperfections on show, and press on!  Not one of us is without the messy parts, so receive grace, and give it in return, in equal measure.

So, there we have it.

My Menu Planner. 

Oh, if you are interested in my master list of meals, I can share! Let me know!

If you make your own, please send me a picture - I'd love to see it.  Or, link up and tell me how you show your weekly meal plan!

Fun with crochet {start of a regular post and link up}

In the last year or so, I have started to learn how to crochet. To begin with, I only made the odd little thing - hearts, snowflakes, stars. I had never made a proper "project".

This last year, it all changed.

I shared with  you about my first proper project - a baby blanket for my friend's baby - little Joash.

Doesn't he look cute?! I loved how this blanket turned out,and you can see more pictures of it in the original post about it. 

It totally inspired me to try more creations. Days after Tabitha was born, I began on a blanket for her. It's coming on, but I hooked up a few things as Christmas gifts, so it keeps getting put on hold!

I decided to do one big, enormous Granny Square. For those of you who do not know, a Granny Square is a basic square, which you join together to make a blanket. In fact, whatever else you can think of using squares!  It's very simple to make, and there are 100's of variations that you can create. The basic one is what I used for my rainbow blanket. 

On the way through, I decided to add in some variation. So, I added some rows of trebles, rather than the clusters of 3. Only trouble is, being an amateur, I have ended up with a wavy blanket! I think I managed to increase on those rows, by doing too many stitches in the corners? It's still perfectly "usable", I am sure - unique. Let's just call it unique. Sounds more intentional...

Here it is so far, but I still want to make it bigger. I hope to work on it today, and see how it goes. I MAY get it finished! 

I am thinking of attempting a bobble edging. 

(picture from the website above)

I may also add crocheted flowers in some of the corners, over the top of the blanket. We'll see how it evolves.

Last night, I also had some fun trying out some new squares - new to me, that is.  I just rummaged about in my yarn stash, and used some rather random, bright colours, to try the squares out. I am not entirely sure I would put these colours anywhere in my home - maybe a child's bedroom, where it wouldn't matter? I like them, in theory, but in practice they match NOTHING in my house! 

This one is called a "Sunshine Granny Square", for obvious reasons!!! It was very easy, and I love it! I would happily make a whole blanket in this design... just not these colours. You can find the pattern here.  

This one, I had seen popping up a lot in some online crochet groups that I am on. I loved it, too, so was determined to try and make one. Of course, this is not a "square"!! It's a hexagon. (There, maths lesson for the day - you now no longer need to do anything maths related, by permission of me...)

It's called an "African Flower Hexagon".  Isn't it lovely? It looks even better with a cotton yarn - they are more expensive, so I have less of that in my stash!  I was wondering what I could do with them, and was reminded that there is a GORGEOUS creation with shapes like this. I am now determined to make one, at some point. 

HOW CUTE IS THAT?!??!

It's definitely on my  hooky creations "to do" list!  I need to master "join as you go" technique, which joins blocks as you go, rather than afterwards. 

Who WOULDN'T love a Happy-potamus? 

There we have it. A little round up of how I have been spending some of my time in the evenings. It's a really relaxing hobby, with such quick and easy results to show for your efforts. If you have never tried, you should give it a go! 

I plan on regularly sharing my crochet creations and projects with you, even if it's just what I have found on Pinterest, or ideas from elsewhere. 

Also, check out my new "page" at the top of the blog. I am doing a whole compilation of pattern links and helpful hints and tips about crochet. I will update it regularly, and add patterns. I will particularly add them if I have done them myself, to give you a first-hand opinion about them. 

My crochet creation {...a rainbow baby blanket}

I just wanted to share with you about my creation.

I learnt how to crochet in the last couple of years, but had not done anything very amazing.  I had made a couple of hats, and come little flowers and hearts.  Nothing major.

So, when I saw some coloured yarn on a market stall, in every colour of the rainbow, it shouted "MAKE ME INTO SOMETHING WONDERFUL".  I picked out each colour of the rainbow, for a bargain price, and took it home with me.

I decided it needed to be a baby blanket, in rainbow Granny Squares.  Granny squares are SO easy to make.  In fact, crochet, on the whole, is a pretty simple needle craft to pick up and learn.

One of my favourite sites is Attic24.  She is the one who inspired me to make something with rainbow colours, as her creations are so vibrant and colourful.

To start with, I decided I wanted to make something that was square.  Something that is a square, can be folded into a triangle, which I think is nice for going around a baby. Some squares I decided to do red out to pink, the others from pink out to red.  So rainbow, and reverse rainbow!!

This is a red out to pink...

And, these are both, when I joined them together.

I did 9 squares in the centre of the blanket, and they are quite big - that top picture is one sitting on my lap, to give you an idea. I could measure it, but that would require me getting up and finding a tape measure....

I decided that it wasn't as big as I wanted it to be, but thought that if I went out another square of that size, it would have needed another SIXTEEN of those squares.  that would have been enormous, plus, I would have run out of yarn! PLUS, by the time I had finished, the intended baby would be a toddler...

So, I decided just to make little squares, only 3 colours in each one. I merrily began making them, until I realised that 3 doesn't go into 7 (doh....) and they would not look QUITE right along the edge.  But, 3 does go into 21, so at least they would fit along each side, with one on each corner.  I did them in the more "boyish" colours I was using, as it was going to be for a boy.

Here is the edging attached...

This is the back of the work.  You can tell, because of the green that you can see, attaching together the middle squares. 

Then, I did 2 rows of edging, before doing a scalloped detail right on the border, the pattern which I got from Attic24.

The next job was tedious.

I really need to learn/remember to tie in the ends as I stitch, rather than leaving it as a big job at the end.

Here is the mammoth task that I needed to do...

And this was only one corner!!!!

See all those loose threads??

Fun....

But, it was so worth it, because once that was done, then it was finished.

Ta-da!!

I should really have taken one that gave a better idea of the size, but it will certainly be plenty big enough for a baby!

I hope little Joash, my lovely friends' baby, will have many a snugggle underneath it.

Problem is, I now fancy making one for our new baby, and the children all fancy a big one for their beds!!!  Now, THERE'S a project!!

It was really simple to make, and I am no crochet genius.  If you feel inspired, I would really recommend Attic24, as she has loads of great tutorials, with clear pictures and instructions. 

I must update you on my utility room, next.  I am SOOOOO excited about that!!