July roundup

I spent £49.60 on yarn, this will not arrive until later in the year, it's a yarn advent calander, I am making a scrap blanket with crochet granny squares, and I thought it would be nice to have a mixture of colours, not just the same shades I use for my socks. Garden was much lower, just a few plants to fill gaps and yesterday I got 4 packs of half price seed for next year.

I spent £57.99 on clothes this month, I needed a couple of bra's I always purchase from M&S, not the cheapest, but I love their quality and sizing. Plus a pair of shorts in the sale, I did need a good pair, mine are all looking past their best, and another pair of soft shorts for in the garden. . I have spent £155.89, my budget is £300 for the year.

Plastic free July was a disaster, it is almost impossible, everything you do, buy, see has plastic, I got 2 lamps for the garden, they were not wrapped, but the label was attached by the thin strand of plastic, we buy products to replace plastic, but often they come in a plastic bag. Plus of course often the items arrive at the shop protected by plastic, which is removed before going on sale, so at this point I do feel it is hard to go plastic free, BUT as I have read it is better 1 million people recycle and avoid plactic imperfectly, it's better than just a few living totally plastic free.

I hope to blog again this week, I have again had a tummy bug, much worse than before I spent almost 4 days in bed, and then our friends from Spain visited. We are now back with just hubby and I at home, it will take a few days to sort and pack things back into our spare room. I have done no crafting for almost 2 weeks, but it's OK.

Going dotty

It's great to be using silks (floss) again, I have a huge stash of colours so I should not need to purchase many for this project. The fabric was in my stash and left over from this project. I have used french knots before to colour a project bag I made. I do love the shades in this fabric, hence I purchased more than I required at the time. 

 The circle is the size of a small diner plate, the template on is the back, I will stitch each coloured dot inside the template, plus any part areas. The back ground will be left flat. I aim to use the large circle in the design of my finished bag. 

The stitching is so simple, I start in the middle of the dot and work outwards, just taking care along the edges, I don't want to lose the shape. I was going to stitch each colour in turn, but decided it was better to work from the top down, that way I should not flatten any of the stitches. 

 I have one spot so far I am not happy with, marked in photo below, when I matched the silk, it looked the correct colour, but once I stitched the whole area, I was unhappy it's the wrong shade, so I will remove the stitches and find the correct shade. I am going to use the unstitched fabric next to this panel I am making, so the colour matches have to be good. 

I have a large area to cover, but it is an easy project to pick up.

I have done a tiny bit more to my crochet dog, and some more weaving, not enough to show progress photo's, but it's good to be able to mix my crafting.
I am going to Hobbycraft on Sunday morning, so I will be able to get any silks for the above project I require, I normally get them off line, but this time I will pay the higher price and match the colours. 
We had heavy rain all last night, the water butts are full again, and everywhere is looking much better, give it a couple of days and the garden will be full of colour. We have friends visiting from Spain next week, and they love the garden, so I have been working to ensure it's full of colour.
We have a musical background today, our local park is hosting a Party in the Park, we will pop along this afternoon, but the music fills our garden, we can hear it in the house, it's just one day each year, so it does not bother us. We do have to pop out this morning, so we won't be listening to it all day.

Crafting

I can basic crochet, but I would like to make more items than just blankets, I do enjoy crocheting a ripple blanket, but there are only so many you can use. My daughter gave me this beautiful box kit to make a cockapoo, I have made the body, which was fiddly, I just have the smaller head and limbs to make. I hope to get this done quickly and try something a bit more challenging.

 I got my loom out, I am using a 3ply yarn, I was thinking to make a scarf for a Christmas gift, but I'm not sure I will have enough yarn to make a decent length, I have seen a bag design, which these shades would look good. I will work a bit more before deciding. 

I have been pulling out patterns,

 I like the small square box, 

I might make a couple. 

 These are all 4ply patterns, all very old, the cost printed on is shown as imperial, we went decimal in 1972, so they are really old. I have the Alpaca yarn, I do like the soft styles of these tops. I could make a couple of designs. 

Finally after over 4 dry weeks we have rain, it rained last night and it's due to rain most of tomorrow, perfect timing my water butts are almost empty. 

It's good to be doing craft again, Wimbledon is wonderful to watch, but it takes most afternoon and evenings for two weeks, matches are often tennis at it's best. 

I do have a book to read, but I want to finish my little crochet dog before I start to read, I also have some material out to make a couple of beanbags for a neighbour. I also have some spotty material, I want to enhance before sewing, so loads of plans. I can do which ever craft my mood takes me to, but I do want to bring on my crochet skills, which means getting to grips with pattern reading, my hope to make a couple of small things to boost my confidence.
At some point we should see Will today, he is unwell with a bug and will saty with us, whilst mummy gets a few jobs done. 

Sunday I am home alone, so I plan to get my sewing machine, and make a few items. 

What are you reading

My hallway book shelves. 

On this lower shelf,

I keep a book from authors I have enjoyed reading,
in each case it will be my favorite book if I have read more than one.

Craft books on my craft shelves. 

Books in the spare bedroom,

Ready to be taken home if not finished. 

Alistair McLean books,
I loved his stories, for years he was my favourite author.
I have had this set since the 70's

Loved this set of books, sadly Sue Grafton died before Z for Zero, was finished.
I keep both A and Y on my shelf.

This is the only book I have read twice, once when I was at school, my English teacher gave me a copy. I read it again last year, just to see if its impact on me had changed, which it did not. 

I have just finished this book,

 I guessed the plot early on, but it was still a good read. 

I have been asked, who is my favourite author, there are so many good authors around, we are so lucky to have so many good story lines to read. My fellow bloggers always list good books they have read, leading to me to new exciting books. I am a book worm always have been, my mum used to nag me to pack away the book and go to sleep, I always had a torch under my bed so I could read after lights out. I always have books, in this house I have less books, I decided not to keep every book I owned, I rarely read a book twice.

It's a question I can't answer, it would be like saying which is my favourite daughter.

Who do you love, what do you recommend I should be reading.