It was a really good workshop, Denise is a great teacher and I have picked up lots of tips that will help me to improve my crochet. I am very pleased that I finally understand amigurumi, I might stop making so many blankets now I can crochet something else!

I wanted to make more amigurumi so I made a friend for my pink octopus. It was much quicker to make the second time, I knew what I was doing and understood the pattern.

I didn’t have any safety eyes so I used some felt which works fine, but I prefer the look of the black plastic eyes.

I love all the octopi grouped together, these are the ones Denise has made and those from the workshop.

Paul also attended the workshop, as a beginner this workshop was a little too advanced for his skill level, but he did really well during the workshop and was able to finish his octopus on Sunday morning.

I love having a matching weekend bag and wash bag and this pattern is a good attempt at a mid-century style design, one of my favourite periods of design. I wouldn’t normally pick green and yellow as my colours, I think it was the pattern that caught my attention.

The third part of my weekend luggage collection is my small yellow Zatchels satchel. I purchased this satchel for our trip to America (that we haven’t been on yet!) and it has become my handbag of choice. It is small enough for a handbag when going to a gig or out for dinner, yet big enough for me to carry lots of things around with me!

You can buy all these items from Berylune the weekend and wash bags come in a variety of patterns, you can then select a matching satchel from the rainbow of colours they stock. Maybe I need a green satchel too…

This little collection were all pretty things I wanted that were really cheap! I am especially pleased with the mint green mini Pyrex casserole dish.

I love these wooden animals and often see them with broken bits, these three were in really good condition. I haven’t seen a giraffe before so I had to have that one.

I finally finished my larksfoot blanket as well. I loved making it and would use this stitch again. Luckily a friend was interested in having a handmade blanket so she has had this one which makes me feel slightly better about the fact that I have started another one already! I am going to make the ripple blanket I originally planned using all the colours in my rainbow runner just without the grey.

If you would like to try either of these patterns you can find the larksfoot blanket from Meet Me at Mikes, and the ripple pattern from Attic 24.

Yesterday I found this wonderful cake topper online when I was looking for other books illustrated by Maxey. It was custom made by Robyn Fabsits based on the Maxey illustrations, I would love to have one!

(Image from Robyn Fabsits)

I also really enjoyed making this crazy blue and grey monkey for Paul.

I did some vintage shopping and ended up with two covered coat hangers, an orange knitting needle box, a small blue pot, a strange plastic notebook cover, a table cloth, a pair of curtains and a Pyrex bowl! Now I need to find somewhere to keep it all.

My favourite part of the weekend was this delicious asparagus quiche that Paul made. It was exactly how I like a quiche, crispy pastry and lots of cheese.

I loved the town, such a lot of wonderful bookshops from open shelves and an honesty box to beautiful shops full of children’s books. My favourite shop specialised in Penguin and Ladybird books.

We also found antiques centres, handmade items, clothes shops, and a few charity shops. It was my kind of shopping!

We saw lots of red kites and went to see them being fed. We went to Aberystwyth twice and ate fish and chips, visited a museum with a quilt exhibition, walked to the camera obscura, and did a little shopping. I also found time during our holiday to experiment with some crochet.

For now I will leave you with a knitting needle rainbow that appeared at Knit and Natter recently.

I love the combination of pink and green fabric on this one.