And the crocheting goes on . . .

I don't know why, but I've become almost addicted to crocheting. 

It's got to the point where I don't even read for pleasure any more, as I'm just itching to get back to whatever project I'm doing :)

I have to admit, I've been a real little busy-bee since I last posted - mainly with crocheting stuff for my daughter, so she's got plenty of warm woollen stuff to wear, as Bristol, where she lives, is getting very much colder as the winter deepens:)

So far, apart from the ear-warmer/headbands I'd already done, I've crocheted her a Slouchy Mesh Tam O'Shanter (the instructions posted by simplycrochet2021, at the following: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiZ2PPZ25eQ).

I've also done an extra slouchy Beanie, also posted by simplycrochet2021, and I needed the extra room, so that my daughter can fit all her dreads in it, while staying snug and warm.

I've also made a chain scarf, and I got the pattern from YouTube, from my absolute favourite crochet instructor, Claire, who goes under the name of BobWilson123 - to be found at:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APDUf2bpQQQ

I've also crocheted a Scoodie for her - a mix between a scarf and hood - and I've also completed one pair of leg warmers for her, with another half finished, and a third pair planned for after that :)

Then I'm going to be making a pair of fingerless mittens to go with each of the leg-warmers, so she's colour coordinated {grin}

I've just this minute finished making two 3-strand headbands (the pattern for these is at BobWilson123 once more) - one of these for my daughter, and the other for her good friend Shosh, known as the Flower Fairy. 

I'm particularly happy with these, as it allowed me to let my creative streak run wild {grin}

I'm still really busy with all the different things I need to complete - and I've also got to finish off the blanket I've been crocheting for myself, in a gorgeous Wavy Shell pattern, which I'm hoping to finish fairly soon - well, at least before the cold weather really strikes, anyway :)

I do tend to have 2 or 3 projects on the go at once, as I've found it stops me getting bored, especially when I'm having to do a repetitious pattern :)

I've got so very many projects I want to do, which means I'll probably be busy with things for the next 5 years!

A very nice way to pass the time, though, don't you think? :)

It came at last! :)

I got my certificate through at last and, although I was excited that it had come, I was also a little disappointed at how flimsy the paper was that it was printed on :(

But, at least it's here at last, and Hubby immediately went out to get a suitable frame for it, and it's now hanging up on the living room wall :)

As I told you before, I've taken up crocheting to while away the time, and I have to say that I'm really delighted with how well I've taken to it. I know my work is still a bit rough around the edges, so-to-speak, but I'm really enjoying creating stuff that's going to be useful to loved ones.

The first things I made were a series of headband/ear-warmers for my daughter, in a variety of colours, so she can keep her head and ears warm this winter. As she's got a head full of dreads, she's finding it difficult to find anything suitable to wear around them, and my stuff has really fit the bill, I'm glad to say :)
Here's a picture of one of them:

This is made with a Dusky Lilac DK Acrylic Wool, and a 5.00mm hook.
The Yellow rose was made with the same gauge of wool and hook.
I got the patterns free from:
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=HJLIsyyn_CM&feature=player_detailpage 
&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gqvaSFEYOg

The Rose pattern can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94vYpcZ3W64&feature=relmfu

I also made her my first crocheted pair of fingerless loves, which she was really happy to get, as she had just given away her only pair to a Jamaican friend she'd met up with at her latest mini festival, and who was freezing cold in our so-delightful weather. Lol

They're not perfect, but I didn't think they were too bad for my first attempt, and Brex loves them, so that's all that counts really :)

Here they are:

These were made with an Emerald Green DK Acrylic Wool and 4.00mm + 4.5 mm hooks.

I got the pattern from:

http://www.woolcrafting.com/crochet-gloves-pattern.html

On the subject of crocheting, I've been searching the internet for projects to make, and have come up with enough stuff to keep me busy for the next 5 years! :)


I've also come across Plarn - yarn made out of all those useless carrier bags that take centuries to break down!

I actually made a big ball of it, just out of the bags we've got stored at the moment, and I plan to make a pair of long-sleeved fingerless gloves for my daughter, which she plans to use with a costume she's making for her stilt-walking/fire dancing work. We're both looking forward to see how they turn out, and I'll put a photo of them on here - that's if they turn out okay, of course! :)

It was our 29th wedding anniversary yesterday (8th) and, as most of our friends have to work, we decided to invite them over for a meal this Saturday just gone. A good family friend makes an awesome Rogan Josh curry, so we based our meal around that. The food turned out well, and we all had a great time. 

One of our friends, Hannelore - a fantastic craftswoman, had made me the most gorgeous jewellery set I've ever seen - a torc necklace that fits me perfectly, and a pair of lovely dangley earrings to match. 

My daughter took a picture of me wearing them, so I'm posting them for everyone to see (although the picture doesn't do them the justice they deserve) - and also a link to Hannelore's shop, where she's got some awesome stuff up for sale, in a variety of mediums, and prices - you really should have a look, as I think her stuff is amazing!:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AstridsJewelGarden?page=1

Here's her Blog, where she shows how she makes some of her stuff, and also shows some of her artwork, which is also fantastic to see:

http://paperbeadsinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/

You can also 'meet' her at the following places:

https://www.facebook.com/AstridsGarden


http://twitter.com/AstridsGarden


I'm just going to finish off with a couple of pictures of my girl, waiting to do what she does best - dancing with her fire wings at the Burning Man Festival, which has just taken place in the USA :)

Brex getting ready to perform her fire dance.

Brex performing in front of the Burning Man

I'm so very proud of my girl! :)

And I'm still waiting . . .

It feels like an age since I found out I'd got a 2:1 degree, and I have spent the time since then waiting, fairly patiently, to receive my degree certificate. Unfortunately, it still hasn't arrived through the post, and I'm beginning to wonder just when it will :/

I know that, in the great order of things, a piece of stiff paper with a bit of writing, and a pretty picture of the University's motif on it, isn't that great a thing to be worried about but, if I'm honest with myself - and I do always try to be honest with myself - I guess I need that paper proof, just so that I can look at it, and think back over the 6 years of tough striving it took me, to get it in the first place.

My hubby was very proud of my determination to continue with, and then complete, my degree as he, more than anyone else on this earth, knows how hard it was for me to do, and I guess that's why I love him so much, as he was, and still is, my full-time carer, as well as my husband, and it fell to him to look after me when the studying caused my health to deteriorate. I guess, if anyone deserves this degree, it would have to be equally my hubby, as well as I - it's a pity that can't be written on the certificate, isn't it? :)

On the writing front, I've barely done anything since my final course finished, as my health was so bad by then, that it has taken all this time just to get to a place where I can even think of doing anything.

I had planned to start the research needed for a story idea I've had in my head for a couple of years now, and I had also planned for my children's book to be at least completed enough to start sending it on the rounds of editor's slush piles but, unfortunately, my daughter has been so busy with her work, doing stilt-walking, and fire wing exhibitions, that she hasn't had the time to finish the illustrations I need. I'm hoping she'll have a bit of time this winter to do them, before all the various festivals start once again in the spring - I can hope, anyway :)

I had also planned on using some of my spare time in finishing off a cross-stitch pattern I've been working - on and off - for my daughter but, unfortunately once again, my hands have been so bad, I've been unable to wield the sewing needle to do so. 

Because my creative side has been so very frustrated, I've decided to take up crochet work - something I haven't done since I was a child, when my great-grandmother taught us all how to do it. I can't manage knitting needles, but I figure a crotchet hook won't be so bad, and I'm hoping it'll keep my hands a bit more mobile than they've become recently.

I'm going to start off by crocheting a throw-over for my bed - something to put a bit more colour into the room I spend so much of my time in. I'm going to use shades of medium and light terracotta, some yellow, and some white, to make granny squares - an easy pattern for me to re-learn all I've forgotten :)

Once I've completed this - or maybe in between - I'm going to attempt a little wrap-around bolero top for my daughter - I know! I'm probably getting wildly ahead of myself {grin}

I'm just hoping that this will keep me active - in the times when I am actually awake - over the winter months and then, if we actually have a decent spring and summer next year, where we're not water-logged all the time, I may even be able to get back to my much-loved cross-stitching again!

And my final results are in . . .

I received an email from a student friend yesterday, telling me that she had just received her exam results for her final module, and that she had also accepted a First Class Honours in Literature!


I was just so delighted for her, as we have been studying together through all but this last, sixth, year with the Open University, and I know how hard she had worked :)


Before I sent her a congratulatory email, I quickly signed on to my Open University account, and checked my results!


For a few minutes I felt quite down, as I saw I had only received a Pass 3 for my final module - which was the first time I'd got one. But, after thinking about it, I realised that it wasn't that bad a result, considering that, if you've been following my blog, you'll know this last year has been absolutely awful for me, due to my many, and varied, health problems :(

But, for some reason, I got it into my head that, with this result, it would mean that I wouldn't pass my honours degree!


It was only on reading further that I saw, to my huge relief that, far from failing, I was actually being offered an Upper Second Class Honours in Literature - which wasn't too far short of my friend's result!


(I do hope you'll pardon me, for the momentary sin of pride?) 


             YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Once I'd calmed down a little, I quickly followed the instructions to accept my degree - and so, now all I need to do, is to wait for the certificate to be sent to me through the post :)


When I first started this learning journey in earnest, I had occasionally wondered if I could, or would, ever get a degree, and had daydreamed occasionally about walking on to a stage, in front of my fellow students, to accept it. This daydream often had lots of pictures being taken of me, in my OU gown, grinning triumphantly, and grasping my degree in my sweaty hand - but, of course, the reality of my situation always burst that little daydream - after all, if I can't get as far as my nearest town, which is only a mile and a half away, how on earth did I think I could make it to an awards ceremony right across the country from me!

It took me a little time to accept this would never happen, and I kidded myself, for some time, that it didn't really matter, knowing in my heart of hearts that, yes, actually, it did matter! 


But, six years after starting this adventure, it is really, and truly, the fact that I have kept on going with it, despite all the hurdles I've had to face, that is, I think, my best achievement!


So the idea of an awards ceremony is something to smile about now, and something I really don't regret missing out on, as the reality of my achievement gives me so much more pleasure :)


There was a little blood, a lot of sweat and, in this last year of study, a lake of tears has been involved in my achieving what I set out to do six years ago but, despite all of this, I'm just so glad I did it!


Not bad for a 50-year-old, broken-down, bookworm! :)