Fritz the Frog

I was going to post this on Monday but there was some issue with blogger making people's pictures go weird. It was my sister's 21st birthday last Friday so I decided instead of a big gift to make her a 'goody box' filled with lots of different, well, goodies. One of which I wanted to be handmade by moi. Since she has a thing for frogs - which I only found out recently and somehow missed for years - I decided to crochet a frog. I searched on Pinterest until I came across this Fritz the Frog pattern by Yuki Yarn designs. You can find this on Ravelry or straight from her Etsy shop here. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I used Stylecraft Special Double Knit wool Grass Green, lot 1821 for the majority of the frog. For the bottom of the head and the tummy patch it was a ball of wool I had lying around without the label so your guess is as good as mine. Sadly I dispatched this birthday gift on the actual birthday as leading up to it I was loaded with the cold resulting in a splitting headache which didn't mix well with counting stitches. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, hopefully the birthday girl was too.

It was a very easy pattern to follow, the digits for the fingers and toes where a little tricky. My reject toes ended up being kitten toys. Which due to the size the kittens loved to run around carrying them in their mouths - uber cute!

Weddings and Mackintosh

This day last week I was at one of my best friends wedding back in Glasgow. She was a gorgeous bride in a gorgeous venue. The day before the weather was awful. Heavy rain almost all day, I felt nervous for my friend that it would continue into her special day but we were lucky. The next morning the sun was shining and it was as if nothing had happened the previous day. I had a little disaster before leaving for the wedding. I had bought these super cute shoes especially for the wedding. Due to my dodgy back I posted my wedding outfit home ahead of time to limit the amount I had to carry up to Glasgow. On the day of the wedding I popped the shoes on just before heading out. And the bloody clasp to secure the strap on the left shoe came off! There was no way I could sew it on or fix it in the time I had to get to the wedding. Therefore...

I was forced to wear my trainers!!! My feet are ginormous compared to my family so there was no help there. One thing the other guest's had to say - at least I would be comfortable! What a reddy!

The bride picked an amazing venue. It was held in House for an Art Lover next to Glasgow's Bellahouston park. I had only ever previously explored the swing park and gardens around the House in the past back when I looked after kids. For kids the swing park is pretty cool. The House was built from the designs by Charles Rennie MackIntosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald that they had submitted for a compitition for a German design magazine. The design interested Graham Roxburgh who was the Consulting Engineer responsible for restoring Mackintosh interiors in nearby Craigie Hall. Work began in 1990 but due to recession it wasn't opened to the public until 1996.

The gardens were absolutely luxurious. One good thing about all the rain in Glasgow is that it keeps the grass and plants looking healthy!

The bouquet the bride selected contained a lovely array of colours. It wasn't anything I had ever seen before, It looked spectacular!

I borrowed it for some pictures:

They thought of everything to keep the guests comfortable. A lovely little goody box in the bathroom:

And later, for all those ladies who looked fabulous in painful shoes unlike moi there was a basket full of slippers and flip-flops. So thoughtful! One thing I would add if I was ever to bother getting married - I would have a tent filled with bean bags or hammocks so that folk could take a nap after the meal. I was so ready for a wee forty winks after the five course feast we had. 

The bride is a bit comic and superhero mad. The tables therefore where named after some of the biggest characters from these genres. This was my table:

And last but not least was the amazing favour that the guest's got with their meal:

These groovy glasses where handmade by Pie in the Sky who you can find in many craft fairs in and around the Glasgow area.

Despite not knowing many people before the day I had a great time in an amazing venue with fab people. All the best to the new couple!

Being a tourist

Two weeks ago my wee sis came down to visit me in London. We did so much stuff in a week by the end of it I needed another week to get over it (no such luck) and had a feather-light bank account. It was ACE!

Pottered around Museums, Art Galleries, the Zoo, saw an amazing circus performance, Harry Potter world and ate so MUCH good food.

The circus performance we saw was called Limbo. It was amazing. The only downer was the crappy seats. 

It was an amazing week together and has made me want to fit in so much more whilst I'm here. Need to stop making it all about work.

Have a great weekend!

What a Hoot!

It was my little sis's 8th Birthday today - and what a glorious day we had! She got an amazing big paddling pool along with other gifts and had a whale of a time. I made her these little guys to go along with a Monster High t-shirt and towel (she is mega into Monster High just now).

They were so easy and fun to make. The pattern was by Amigurumi Barmy which was featured in Issue 25 or Craftseller.

I was chuffed that the birthday girl loved her little handmade owls from her big sis!

Although the pool and the sunshine was defo the star of the day!

My poor legs are now on fire from sunburn. Not looking forward to missing another glorious day tomorrow because I need to get back to slaving away in the stifling heat working my tooshi off. So glad I got to enjoy at least one nice day!

I'm also impressed I got up early after a nightshift to finish these wee guys for the birthday girl - with the help of Yoshi of course!

Hope everyone enjoyed the sun and remembered the factor 20 unlike me!

xx

Little sis' 7th Birthday Party

The famous Grannies Chocolate Birthday cake. Doesn't look too fancy, but oh my word! It's delicious!

The little monster turned 7 today. She received many Moshi Monster toys (the current trend) and had a ball eating crap, playing with swings/ bean-bags/ Frisbee/ hula hoops etc. We were mega lucky that the rain held off so my Gran could get the gazebo up (she has the biggest garden, so parties always tend to end up there!). Was a fun/ tiring day. Just family and one of her friends - always the same at this time of year, too many folk jetting off on holiday. The day went down a treat :) .

The Birthday Girl and her new Moshi!

Child friendly sweet kebabs with bendy straws

Gazebo ready for the birthday party to begin

Quick game of hop scotch before folk arrive

I decided to tie her up with balloons attached to a streamer. Kept her still for all of 2 seconds!

Hope you all had a nice weekend 

Kirsty

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