Succulents on the terrace

You’ll know I’m rather partial to a succulent or two, and so having been relatively ‘starved’ of ogling other people’s succulents when I saw these perched on the wall overlooking the main lawn at Standen, it didn’t take me long to be standing in front of them.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

I mean, who could be disappointed with the dusky grey pink variety above or the pink, orange and yellow flowers of the one below.

And that large rosette. Pure heaven. Though my succulents tend to do this, and migrate to the edge of the pot. I’m glad that that is usual behaviour, however frustrating that may be.

But I think the one that stole the show was this pretty, pale pink flower. How delicate, and how exquisite. And even better it let my iPhone capture its detail - always a winner for me.

That was quite an unexpected succulent fix, but one that I didn’t realise I would enjoy quite as much as I did.

A laptop sleeve

A while back I scratched the outside of my laptop after a weekend away. I thought i’d placed it carefully in my bag, but clearly not. I have a laptop bag, but when you’re taking more than a laptop then usually I pack around my clothes. Somehow though, things went wrong and I was a bit upset with myself. I’m the sort of person that likes things nice, and keeps them nice and in good condition so it was all a bit grrrr.

So when I saw someone share the idea of a crocheted laptop sleeve, I was sold. Full of enthusiasm I started straight away, crocheted two squares, and four triangles and there it stopped for quite a while. But finally, I’ve picked it up again, and finished it.

I used pale blue and mint cotton double knit, a strand of each for some extra padding and a 6.5mm hook. I chose a fairly dense square pattern, which is offset with the four corresponding triangle shapes forming the pattern. Of course I followed a pattern for the main pieces.

I’m not usually much of one for a pastel approach, but I love these colours together. In fact, I’ve just made myself giggle a little as I’m sitting here dressed in pastels too, very uncharacteristic of me. A pale pink top and pale blue shorts, in case you’re wondering - I’m not quite matching the laptop cover.

But when it came to putting it together I went a bit off-piste and free-form. Mainly because I needed it a little bigger, so once it was sewn together I added a few rows to extend each end. Thinking that in my more clumsy moments a laptop might slide straight through my sleeve, I decided to enclose one end. I thought it would be stronger if it was crocheted together, rather than sewn. And it worked, but I should have thought about that earlier on. Ideally the squares should be front and centre, rather than top, bottom and over (or under), if you see what I mean.

But you live and learn, and in any case I’m pretty sure unless I told you, you wouldn’t have known.

Now I need to make another one, and put that lesson into practice. I’ve threatened to make MOH one, but he keeps crinkling his nose up at me, so I’ll keep it as a threat for use when needed!

And despite what he thinks, I’m going to enjoy using this and will be proud to pull this out of my bag.

A growing pile of colourful crochet

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post about what’s on my hook, so here one is. And what’s on my hook is a bit of a misnomer really as I’m waiting for my next delivery from the mini-skein club. I’ve half-way through my six month subscription, which I took out to treat myself whilst lockdown was on, and to support a smaller business.

But it’s been addictive. And a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I was fine with the first month’s yellows, greens and turquoise - all colours I’m comfortable with. I had a bit of a wobble when the next box arrived with pale blue, but by the time I finished on a lilac that reminded me of parma violets, I was back on course. Then when the pinks, which turned out to look quite like raspberry ripple arrived, I was on the up again.

My original plan was to make a wrap, oblong shaped as I’m not a fan of the triangular shaped ones, and at times I wonder if it might be too colourful. Which is quite something coming from me, a self-confessed lover of colour. Another suggestion is a beach cover up, and I’m tempted, although beaches aren’t quite my natural habitat, and I wonder if I’d want to get it sandy.

Maybe it’ll turn into some other kind of multi-coloured wearable. I’ve thirteen completed squares so far, with the fourteenth already started. So the pile will grow for a few months yet, which means I’ve some time to finalise exactly what I’ll make. Which is probably a good thing!

But for now, I’m just enjoying the colours. And wondering where we’ll go next in the colour wheel.