Surfacing

I'm posting this very quickly before plunging back into paperwork and packing. There's only two weeks to go before I'm on six months long service leave (hurrah!) and, as we're only half way through the academic year here in the Land of Oz, I'm preparing a handover for my replacement
so I am busy busy busy with work
but taking lots of little crafty breaks in between.

So the hexagon pillow cover has grown:

(By the way, you can find a link to a tutorial on how to crochet the hexagons here. ... and Andrea, who asked if I thought this would be good for people who aren't very experienced with crochet, my answer is yes! The second row and the joining row are a bit fiddly but the tutorial's so explicit this shouldn't be a big problem. )


I've started to make a new scarf:


which is based on the Romantic Wrap pattern (Ravelry link) from Crochet Today! magazine.


I have managed to get out into my garden and to enjoy,
if only for a little while,
the Winter sunshine and my beautiful, bright red, ivy geraniums:

and I've baked two batches of a quick yet delicious slice called Cammy's Father's Favourites.

I have also started to get ready for my wonderfully long holiday.
I'm planning lunch and dinner dates, and weekends away, with long neglected friends,
I've booked an overseas trip
and I've enrolled in (big breath)
a pastel drawing course,
a nuno felting workshop,
a glass bead making workshop
and a silversmithing workshop.

I'm so excited!

Have a wonderful week everybody.

Hexagonal Happiness

I've been crocheting hexagons
and it's fun!
Like lots of people in Blogland, I've long admired moonstitches' beautiful hexagon throw.
I also really like Linda Permann's crochet hexagon pillow
and,
now that I've discovered knittingnonni's half hexagons pattern
and Lucy from Attic24's excellent tutorial,
I'm making a hexagon cushion of my own:

I can understand why so many people are making these.
I love the flowery shapes and I'm really enjoying being able to play with different colour combinations.

The pottery shard,
by the way,
is from a hand painted pot,
made by a woman called Jo
and, sadly,
broken in one of last year's Winter storms.

Here's another little painted pot that I bought from her:

My work load's becoming crazy again
(I'm seriously thinking of working part time to get a better work~life balance)
but,
along with a little crochet,
I've managed to bead (yet another) memory wire bracelet:

(I love burnt orange!)
and taken photos of the pointsettias that are blooming outside my kitchen window:



and beside the front gate.:

(I love scarlet too!)

Hopefully, I'll be able to get enough time away from report writing to be back here soon.
Have a wonderful week everybody.
x