Crochet Hero 3KCBWDAY3

Well, what can I say. When I saw the topic for Day 3 of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week there was only one choice. I had to pick Lucy from the Attic24 Blog.

There are so many reasons why I've chosen Lucy and here are the main ones:

1. Her designs are stunning and yet so simple to make. I love that you can often start them and after the first couple of rows the pattern is so stuck in your head that you can just sit and crochet without needing bits of paper around you and it doesn't matter if your kids are asking a million questions because you're not losing your place each time you pause to answer them.

My Neat Ripple Blanket

2. The lovely bright colours she uses. They just make me smile! I love that places are now selling a "Lucy Pack" of the 17 shades of Stylecraft she used in her granny stripe blanket.

My Granny Stripe Blanket, made using a "Lucy Pack"

3. I wish I had her photography skills. It's a pleasure to read her blog just for the pictures!

4. She makes so much for her own home. This is something I didn't really do before I found the Attic24 blog. I would make things for my kids. I would make the odd thing for myself. I would perhaps make something for my house at the sewing group I go to, if we were all doing a project together. I made a quilt for the bed and planned to make some for the kids. But after finding her blog and making the granny stripe above, I just couldn't stop. I wanted that Homemade Home! I've made multiple blankets, cushion covers & jar cozys, not all from Lucy's patterns but inspired by the lovely photos she has of her home. It's like I no longer need to just make for other people.

Candle Jar Cozy

Owl Family

I think that seeing the photos of Lucy's beautiful home has made me realise that I can make things just because they're pretty, that I can dot things about the room to make it look nice, that the things I make don't have to just be practical. She's helped me turn my house into a home.

 

Mmmm Cake!

It's my birthday tomorrow and, unusually for me, I'm going out! It's not really a birthday night out but my friend was going out with her friend and has invited me and a joint friend out too.

It also means winning a prize from the Lucy 'In The Sky' blog was great timing! In the spirit of passing on the good fortune I'll start a giveaway tomorrow to celebrate. I think I can find some hand-dyed yarn that needs a home ;-)

Of course, it can't be a proper birthday without cake. I was hoping Orla would want to bake with me but despite saying yes she refused to come into the kitchen :-/ so if it tastes awful I've no littlies to blame it on!!!

The recipe I used is from this book, which was a Christmas present from my sister.

Every time I use this recipe I have a slight panic that it's gone horribly wrong. It never seems to have the usual cake mixture consistency, it's more like pastry when it goes into the cases/tin. I've never had a problem with the taste of it though ;-)

I also got to try out my butterfly cake silicon mould. I've had this one and a train one for ages now. they came from a clearance sale at Lakeland some time ago and I've just not used them. One thing that has put me off is I threw away the cardboard that was around them that told me how much mixture to make. Anyway I was brave and it seems the recipe I followed (Vanilla Cupcakes) makes pretty much the right amount!

See what I mean about the consistency????

But it seemed to turn out ok...

I'm hoping Erin might help me ice it when she gets home from school. I might use this mould and recipe for her birthday cake as the plates & party bags are butterfly themed.