Crochet Baby Gift Set

A while ago I made a little crochet gift set for a baby boy. I decided to put together three pieces that would be perfect for a newborn to give as a gift at the baby shower or when they arrive home. I decided on a hat, a pair of dungarees and a teddy bear rattle (which I've already blogged about here).

I made the hat a while ago and honestly cannot remember where the pattern is from! I probably typed in 'newborn crochet hat' and searched the images. It was super easy to make and the pattern gave various sizes from newborn to adult (I think). If I find the pattern I will link it here.

As mentioned previously I have already blogged about the teddy rattle I made so check out that post for more information. I'm not sure if I said it then but I am planning to make it a bit smaller as it came out quite big, especially for a baby! So I've bought some cotton DK (as opposed to aran) and will let you know how I get on.

Moving onto the main item: Dungarees. I love babies in dungarees, I think they look adorable so after finding a suitable pattern (link here) which was harder than you think, they were super easy to make. I went with a fairly neutral colour so a baby girl could wear these too and I used New Fashion DK in Glacia. The pattern shows a pocket on the front but I thought to add a bit of character I would add some applique in the shape of a teddy bear (although he looks a bit glum!) which also tied in nicely with the rattle. This pattern was from OneTwo Company (the same as the rattle) and again was super easy to follow and you only need a small amount of yarn so great for using up left overs. I finished it off with some random cream buttons along the crotch area and to fasten the straps.

I'm now thinking of doing a girl set with a cute dress, shoes and a teddy rattle. Check back to see my progress!

What are your favourite crochet items for a newborn?

Betty xXx

Reasons to be Cheerful #2

This week has been slightly manic and chaotic as we are still in progress with home improvements. The kitchen is now completed and I'm so happy with it! There will be a post coming soon with before and after pictures. We are now taking up all the flooring as we are having carpet fitted tomorrow (eek!) so the flat looks like a building site and everything is all over the place :( However I've tried to find the positives in life this week's 5 reasons to be cheerful are:

1.  Learning new things: I've been wanting to give my blog a bit of a make over for a while as it looks pretty basic. I don't want massive changes or anything fancy but every time I look for premade blog templates they are either really expensive, especially for a custom made one, or I just don't like the design. So I've decides to try it myself! I've installed some new social media icons - all by myself! and will be looking to design and install a new header/banner soon! I love it when I learn a new skill and I know it's really easy for some but html coding is hard to get to grips with!!

2. Cooking: Now that we have the kitchen back in use I've really enjoyed being able to cook dinner again! Although we've not had anything too crazy it's been lovely to have a sparkly new environment to cook in, something I find really relaxing. I'm thinking about making some bread this weekend so I'll let you know how I get on with that.

3. Home: As mentioned already the flat is a bit of a tip at the moment and it's made me appreciate our little home that we've made together. It's nearly a whole year since we moved in and I think we've made it pretty cosy. I'm looking forward to having everything done and back in it's place so we can enjoy our surroundings.

4. Toby Bear: Poor Toby has been terrified by all the works going on and I hate to see him so upset. He is a rescue cat and from what we know he was locked in a room for probably the first couple of years of his life with his brother so was extremely nervous when we first adopted him. It took him a while to settle and get used to his new home (it took him two weeks to come out of hiding) but I love to see him happy and content. These past couple of weeks have made him really edgy again so there has been lots of fussing of an evening.

5. Life: With the sad news that Peaches Geldof had passed away at the young age of 25 it makes you realise that life is very short and we need to cherish each day. Sometimes the mundane-ness of life can consume us but I feel it is important to remember that life is about living: do things that make you happy, be yourself and don't care what anyone else thinks of you.

Betty xXx

A Day Off

I had a day off from work thisWednesday which was mainly to focus on the new kitchen, i.e. painting it and tidying the flat up to try and get some order back in our lives. Here's how my day went:

MORNING

I started the day with a healthy bowl of watermelon and a (Munch Bunch) yoghurt - a lot healthier than I usually would have on a day off. I love toast or a cooked breakfast but decided to keep it simple as we had a busy day ahead.

We then headed down to Homebase to pick up the paint and tiles for the kitchen. We I chose a lovely pale duck egg blue with cream 'underground' tiles which will hopefully look lovely together. After buying all the equipment(?) we got to work; Neil tackling the hallway whilst I concentrated on the kitchen. It didn't take long to do the first coat so we decided to take a little break while it dried.

LUNCH

We headed down the road to a small cafe we used to go to quite a lot in our younger days. On the way there were some lovely flowers which I couldn't bypass without snapping a photo! Who ever maintains this beautiful section does an amazing job. On arriving at the cafe we ordered some pannini's (at a very reasonable price). The food is always delicious and is served very quickly.

We took a stroll back through the park where there were some more lovely flowers in bloom. The skyline was so hazy with this unusual 'Saharan dust/fog' London has been experiencing. Of course we had to stop off at the shop on the way home to pick up a cold drink and an egg or two!

Back to paining and I ended up doing three coats in total! The kitchen walls were quite yellow and stained (eeww!) where the old cupboards were covering the walls.  Once we had finished it was a mammoth tidy up session and then onto making dinner.

DINNER

The meal was a complete flop (for me; Neil loved it). I made gnocci with roasted beetroot, broccoli, red pepers and wilted spinach. I just didn't like the combination of flavours and mine ended up in the bin! We spent the evening plonked on the sofa watching a Louis Theroux documentary with some chocolate a cuppa tea and the cat.

Not the most exciting day but it was nice not to be at work and have some time together.

Hope you're all having a lovely week.

Betty xXx 

Reasons to be Cheerful...1, 2, 3

I've seen a couple of blogs such as Rosie from Cider with Rosie  and Kate from gh0stparties feature 10 reasons to be happy each week. I think this is a lovely idea as it helps one to remember that even though the week may have been crappy, there are still reasons to be happy and thankful. Sometimes we all go through a spell of feeling down or that things aren't going our way but there is always something that can make us feel happy and despite how small that may be, I believe it is important to remember this.

I think 10 might be a bit ambitious for me; it's not that 10 happy things might not occur but more that I won't remember them! So I'm going to start of with 5 happy/thankful things a week :)

1. My Parents: They have been so helpful this week, especially my dad helping with the kitchen. He has waited in for it to be delivered as well as the appliances and has helped take apart the kitchen too!

2. Having an amazing husband: He has been working so hard to get our kitchen prepared for the new one this weekend..eeek!

3. Being creative: It really is my release at the moment and I look forward to working on a little bit of crochet each evening


4. Bloglovin: I signed up to it a while ago and didn't really go on it until this week. I love the layout and how easy it is to read posts, like and follow other people. I have actually reached 20 followers on there! I know its not a great deal but it's 20 more people that have visited my corner of the internet than last week and it did bring a little smile to my face :)

5.  Sleep: There has been a significant lack of sleep this week what with the clocks going forward and our new kitchen being installed so any chance I've had to have a nap or a proper nights sleep has been most welcome!

Betty xXx