April and May

Tonight I'm stuck home with a lousy cold bug while the family gets to eat with good friends.  I figured I could catch up here, instead of rattling around the empty house wondering what to do.  This spring seemed to go by remarkably fast; I'm not sure if it was because it felt so busy (it was) or if because we hardly seemed to have any spring like weather so we just sort of missed the whole thing by waiting for it to come.
I bumped around a lot these past two months and managed to fit some crafting time in between packing suitcases and tying up last minute details.  Back in February I started on a spring flower crocheted tea cozy and finally got it off the hook in April.  Unfortunately with all of my 'busyness' I didn't get around to taking a finished photo of it.  Here it is as a work in progess:  you can see it's made up of spring flowers.

I also added some purple bluebell type flowers to it that I designed myself.  I ended up being quite proud of it, but it didn't stay in my hands long as it was a gift for my Mum.

I decided to stretch my crochet capabilities and make a little baby cardigan.  I used Debbie Bliss yarn and it was such a treat to work with.  Here it is just waiting for some little buttons.  I found out that our neighbours across the road who are expecting a baby this month just found out they are having a little girl.  Perfect!

I made myself some crocheted Mary Jane slippers too.  I put leather on the bottom so these should last longer than the last pair did.  I love that they look like ballet slippers: sadly my own ballet slippers have become quite neglected and I'm getting the waistline to prove it:(

The slippers came in really handy on all three trips I took this spring, but they were especially welcome on the tile floors at the house in France we went to for three weeks!

(This isn't actually the house we stayed in, but we did visit it!)

For a couple of years I have been on the look-out for a crocheted purse that I could personalize with flowers.  I finally found this navy blue one, and in between trips I added a new lining to brighten it up and added some roses to the side.  I'm still deciding when to step out with it.

I didn't realize what a crochet heavy post this would be!  My cross stitching has been sadly neglected of late, but hopefully not for too long.

Last night I made a new decoration for our front door.  I wanted a lavender wreath but could only find two small bushes of it at the craft store.  It's a bit sparse, but it's simple like I wanted and reminds me of France.

I am liking these new smaller door decorations; not only because they are lighter, but they are much easier to store.
 I am currently all into things that store well as I have been cleaning and organizing like mad since we got back from France.  I have been away for so much this spring that it makes me so happy every day to be home and just be a domestic.  Everything about being here makes me happy: getting the carpets cleaned; baking something nice for everybody; hanging my laundry outside... It really is the best place on earth.