Lullaby Lodge

Christmas is not Christmas without a trip to a village fair.  This year we went to Moss End Village to see what they had to offer.  The fair was situated on an old farm converted into shop suits, including a garden centre and lot's of craft shops.     The children were given a trail card and told to look out for 15 elves that were hiding around the site.  Our first stop was to write a letter to Santa and collect a stamp on the trail card.  The next stop on the trail was inside a glass blowing shop.  The children helped to decorate a glass Christmas tree and collected another stamp on their card. The next mission on the trail was to feed Santa's reindeer.  The children were given a sprig of lichen, which the deer gobbled up.  I guess they only eat carrots on Christmas Eve... As we walked around the trail there were lots of stalls, rides and games for the children to enjoy and the smell of roast chestnuts and freshly made donuts filled our nostrils, mak

What could be more festive than bedecking your halls with gorgeous handmade decorations.  I have scoured the web and found this selection of my favourite 10 free patterns. Everyone loves a granny bauble and this  Christmas Bauble by Carmen Heffernan is gorgeously bright and cheerful, perfect for any tree... ... and what tree would be complete without some pretty stars?  Why not try these  Crochet Stars  by One Dog Woof... Trim your tree with the super cute  Santa and Mrs Claus  designed by Yarnhild You can never have enough baubles on your tree and this  free pattern  from Hello Yellow Yarn is super cute! Crochet a  Christmas Gnome  for your home, with this pattern from Simply Crochet Magazine.   No Christmas is complete without pudding and this  Crochet Pudding Decoration  by Crafty Cruella is just the thing... Make these festive  Crochet Christmas Tree Ornaments , pattern by Salvabrani.

Need a last minute Christmas gift for someone?  Then this is the perfect project.  This knitted mini hot water bottle can be finished in just a few of hours...  Would also make a great birthday or Mothers day gift.   The pattern is suitable for beginners who know the basic stitches and are familiar with working in the round.  The hottie is worked in stocking stitch, with simple decreases and ribbing at the neck.  Cute pom pom ties may be added.  The cover is very stretchy and can be easily removed for washing with no need for any fastenings.  Please read the pattern in its entirety before beginning your project.  You will need the whole 50g ball, please consider this when substituting yarns… Mini Hottie You will need... 8mm dpn's or circular needles (using magic loop method). 7mm dpn's or circular needles 1, 50g ball Drops Eskimo or any other yarn with similar gauge (10 x 10 cm = 11sts x 15 rows in stocking stitch Darning needle Clover pom pom

For all my lovely crochet and knitting friends, I have created a Facebook group for us to share all fibre related projects and patterns.  It is a place to socialise and chat about our love of crochet and other fibre arts and to share and find new patterns and blogs etc.  I hope you will all pop over and join, I would love to see what projects you are working on and to share hints and tips etc. Lullaby Lodge Crochet & Fibre Arts Back soon... Catherine x

Wow things have been so busy here over the last few weeks.  I have been inundated with custom orders for baby blankets, dolls blankets, hot water bottles, baby hats and bed spreads; so the half term has come as a welcome break.  Time to get away from it all for a few days. We travelled straight from school pick up on Friday and headed for South Wales.  I have many fond memories of childhood holidays in Wales and was very excited to be returning with Little T.  It took us around 3 hours to cross the Welsh border and the sun was setting just as we traversed the Seven Bridge, providing stunning views.  A little over an hour later we arrived at the Pendine Sands holiday park.  It was now pitch black and we would have to wait till morning to see the local scenery. It really was worth the wait.  The next day proved to be a blinder, with gorgeous sunshine and hardly a cloud in the sky.  Just look at the breathtaking Welsh coastline...  rugged cliffs... gorgeous

The crochet blanket stitch is such a versatile pattern and can be used to create many items not just blankets.  You can use this stitch pattern to create hats, scarves, hot water bottle covers anything you can think of, just use the hook size recommended on your yarn ball band.   This is a stitch tutorial only, if you are looking for the Sweet Dreams Baby Blanket pattern you can find it  here... Video Tutorial The Blanket Stitch  US terms are used throughout Abbrieviations sc - single crochet dc - double crochet sl st - slip stitch ch - chain sp - space sk - skip st(s) - stitch(s) Foundation chain loosely make a ch as wide as you would like your project to be, a multiple of 3 +1 Row 1 dc in 4th ch from hook, *sk2, sc in next ch, 2dc in same ch* repeat from *to* until last 3 st's, sk2, sc in last ch.  Turn. Row 2 ch3, dc in 1st st, *sk2, sc in next st, 2dc in same st* repeat from *to* until last 2 st's, sc in sp between ch

We recently spent an idyllic couple of days at  Long Acres Camping & Glamping  site in Surrey.  Little T had been asking and asking if we could go camping and living in a small flat with no ample storage to keep all the gear we would need, had meant that the answer was always no.  So when I came across a deal on Wowcher for a 2 nights Glamping trip, I thought this would be the perfect compromise.  Little T could get his outdoor camping experience without us having to buy all the gear, plus we could have nice cosy beds to sleep in. I have never purchased a holiday with Wowcher before but the whole process was pleasantly simple.  Once receiving my voucher code all I needed to do was call Long Acres to make my booking.  The lady I spoke to on the phone was very friendly and helpful and we ended up paying a little extra for the luxury package and also the hire of a fire pit (this was well worth the extra money).  Now all we had to do was wait... The day finally arrived