Crochet, Dresses, Parties and Books

Morning everyone, I'm blogging from the comfort of my huge red sofa- It is the first day of my holidays from work and I couldn't be happier even if I am a little unwell today!
On Saturday I went along to the weekly stitch meeting were with a few hats I also donated these towards a members charity cake sale:

PUMPKIN EGG COZIES

Also members Anne and Kym brought in their finished hats from my workshop last week, Anne enjoyed making the pumpkin so much that she has gone on to making a witches hat! and Kym went on to make a strawberry hat! talented women!

 Kyms Hat

Annes Hat

After the stitch group I went into town, I wanted to buy a new dress for a romantic dinner that Morgan was taking me to for our anniversary - I had a quick look here and there when I saw this beauty in Monsoon

Now I have to say I dont think the above pictures do the dress justice and I dont think the shoes that the model is wearing suit the dress when I wore mine I wore them with flat dolly shoes and it looked really well, saying that I dont think I do the dress justice either! 

the necklace I'm wearing was my anniversary gift from Morgan!

it is bridal wear designed by Belleek

after our meal we stopped by the Harbour Hotel for a friends 50th, she opted for the party to be 70s themed and even though my dress was more 60s, I think I fitted in well :) Please excuse the photos as they were taken on my phone in the dark!

At the moment I am reading "Falling for Christmas" by Debbie Macomber, I have read her Blossom Street books- and I think I only liked them because there was the interest of the yarn shop, but so far Falling for Christmas seems good, its an easy cozy read.

Hope your all having a wonderful week xx

Feeling Sad, Art, Anniversaries and more Crochet!

So I have decided to pull out of teaching the crochet classes at the center - mostly because of a few of the women there who have been making bitchy comments about me- trouble is these women think they are whispering but I have heard every word - it started on the first night but I tried to keep my head up and then again on the second night, I decided to pack it in as life is too short to be in that kind of situation, I have never had to deal with that behavior before and wont tolerate it again, I have taught many before this and never came across women like them, saying that some of the women were real ladies and I'm so sad to disappoint them.

http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=sad&order=9&offset=72#/d16tqmo

As far as Crochet goes I was busy this week making this pumpkin hat, after my last post do you think I might be a little pumpkin crazed? ;)

So what do you think? I love it and had a plan to wear it around Galway but I think my little sister Shauna would look far cuter in it:) also another person finished the pattern on Ravelry- here it is:

Also Morgans exhibition is going wonderfully well - he has sold lots of his paintings and I'm so proud of him, all week he has been teaching school groups of children and today was interviewed on the radio!

 Morgan(in the red) at the official launch of the festival

 Morgans exhibit is on the old city wall of Galway! a wonderful spot!

On other news Morgan and I will be married a year on Sunday - I was super excited until I found out hes working so I'm super bummed! I had had high hopes for our first anniversary... to be honest it has not been a good week at all and I cant wait to start a fresh next week - mostly because I will be on my holidays and can relax and catch up on house work and crochet yay! Hope you all have a wonderful week - tell me what your going to be doing and seeing would love to know :) and I will finish with a wedding photo to flash back a year ago:

My shoe got stuck in the grass! - Classy huh? ;)

Autumn, Art and LOTS of pumpkins

 Autumn is here, isn't it just wonderful! I have to say I never have been a fan of spring or summer - but Autumn and Winter, now that's a different story all together! If you like the pictures above and below follow the link to the artist HERE

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend, what have you done and seen? On Saturday I went to the stitch group where I was teaching "How to Crochet a Pumpkin Hat" and my friend Aga was teaching "How to Lace Knit" so it was a busy group, I was delighted that we started early it was great to have some happy testers to check my pattern and I was thrilled that there were no flaws! by the end of the group we had really made alot of progress, and I even finished the hat I was working on!

Haven't the women done an amazing job on these hats!

After the group I met my lovely husband and we had a bite to eat and then we bumped into Anne and her grandson Jack I was delighted as the hat I had just made fit him like a glove - so he got a little gift from us:

 so cute, what I would give for a little Baby of my own!!

and then we went to town - Morgan had some things to pick up for his work during the week - while walking through the shopping center we took a turn down Medieval Street, as Morgan wanted to show me where his exhibition would be hanging - and what a surprise we got to see this:

Morgans exhibition "Reminders of then..." starts on Monday and hanging on the wall was a huge poster made up of material all the details with one of his illustrations on it too! I was so so proud of my talented husband! If your in Galway this week make sure to pop into the exhibition and say hello!

Breast Cancer

Remember this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month,  Try to do regular checks on yourself, if you have never checked your breasts before just follow these simple 4 steps below:

1

Start by taking off your shirt and bra and stand in front of a mirror that is clean and in good lighting. Look at your breasts for any physical abnormalities, lumps, bumps, indents (don't count those stretch marks ladies, we all have them!) While you are doing your exam make sure you glance at the nipple once in a while to make sure there is no discharge, unless you are breast feeding, in that case it is perfectly normal.

2

Perform your self breast exam lying down with no clothes or bra on. If it feels weird, just relax, remind yourself that you are doing something that is good for your body and completely normal.

3

Pretend that your breast is a clock! Start your self breast exam by putting your left hand behind your head, and checking the left breast starting at the twelve o'clock position. Take the pads of your first three fingers and gently but firmly press into the breast tissue, rub firmly to feel around for any bumps, lumps, or other wise abnormal spots. It's going to hurt just a bit. Keep moving around the breast from the twelve o'clock position in a clockwise pattern until you come back to the twelve o'clock point.

4

Keep rotating around the "clock" getting closer and closer to the nipple, and be sure to check often for nipple discharge. Then move to your left armpit and do the same thing. Check in tissue around the breast and in the armpit as throughly as you do the breast. If you find a lump, don't over re-act, a lot of people get blocked sweat glads in the armpit. However, you do want to call your doctor immediately just to be on the safe side.

A huge Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and comment on my blog!

Yesterday I reached 100 Followers!

Thank you so much :)

Have a lovely weekend everyone :)

Crochet Classes, Hats and Hooks

Hi guys, Hope you all had a great week- well on Friday I held the first of  a ten week crochet class in the Ballybane center,before I left I made sure I had starter packs for all the participants which included yarn, a crochet hook and a manual

 It was more difficult then I thought it would be, as the 14 ladies there had not crocheted before and it was difficult to get around to everyone! I felt very much like a failure when some weren't "getting" it, but when I got home I realised I have showed many many people how to crochet before so I will look at this as a challenge, next week I plan on bringing in my laptop which will have slow motion crochet videos to help the ladies while waiting for my one to one attention, next Friday we will be starting a granny square blanket.
In the above photos you will see the hat I am wearing - I crocheted this a few months ago, well I decided to decorate it with my fabric broach from HERE 

So what do you think?

This week I have finished three hats towards my charity project,  I have designed all these patterns and really feel quite pleased with myself, so 5 down only 7 to go :)

LUCY

CHARLOTTE

I added two rows of ruffles to the end of the hat

I made this floral detail using chains and shell stitches

MOLLY

I made two ear flaps to keep little ears warm

At Saturdays meeting Aga brought in my gift from South Korea from the group, I was blown away when I unwrapped it.. a handmade Crochet Hook Holder!!!

isnt it pretty!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful week, I cant believe I am back in work tomorrow :(  anyone wanna go in instead of me?