Festive Friday - I'm a Spring Chicken

'I'm a Spring Chicken, I'm yellow and small

My feathers are fluffy and they're keeping me warm.

My legs are not long so I'll never be tall

But I'm a real spring chicken and I'm having a ball!

All the teachers and mums will be cursing me now as you'll go around singing this all day! Thank-you Out of the Ark Music click to listen on line if you don't know the tune.
So inspired by the song I have created my very own spring chicken.

Spring Chicken

Cast on 30 stitches using 4mm needles and double knitting yarn.
Garter stitch 18 rows.
Cast off.

A chocolate egg can go inside - or you stuff him!

Sew up one side and across the cast on or cast off edge - whichever is tightest.

Turn right side out.

Using some of the long ends you have probably saved because you can't waste them, sew some loop at one corner for the tail.

Then sew,  using sewing thread, two googly or wobbly eyes at the other corner. Using another long end of orange yarn, sew a couple of small loops as the beak.

At this point you can either stuff the chicken and sew up the open edge, or leave it open to sit on a chocolate egg.

I have used lavender yarn to create a lavender pekin (actually a bantam) chicken and red, white and blue for coronation chicken - sorry no photos as son has the camera on his school trip to WWI battlefields. But you can let your imagination go wild with any types of chicken you'd like to create.

'Chicken, I'm a chicken, and I'm having a ball!'

Have a lovely week-end!

Jo x

Baby Blossom Bunting

Baby blossom bunting

Good morning - or it may be afternoon or evening when you read this - but isn't the sunshine glorious!
This week-end I am at a fair called Birdsong and Blossom and the organisers have been quite specific with their setting up instructions, including decorating your stall with birdsong and blossom. So I have made some mini bunting. It is very, very, very easy using up lots of the little bits of felt that I had kept for 'something'. If you would like to make some yourself - well I don't even think you need instructions, it's that simple.

A triangle of felt, with a felt flower cut using my Big Shot, button centre sewn on a long piece of ric rac.



There, instructions in one sentence! I would say that I originally left a gap between my flags, but they looked silly so I placed them next to each other and that the triangles are 7.5cm wide at the base and 7.5cm tall. I cut the paper pattern by eye to what looked like the right size, so I do apologise for the strange dimensions!

These could be made for any occasion.

I am really rather pleased with them and am looking forward to using them all the time.
In between enjoying the sunshine I shall reading the lovely blogs on Handmade Monday and Creative Me.
Have a lovely week
Jo x

Roll up, roll up

Mr Clown

Ta- dah my little clown is finished! Several hat attempts later and a bigger bow tie here he is!
With his big brother who inspired me -

I can see him in all sorts of colours and maybe in red, white and blue for the Jubilee.
 Have a good week-end and enjoy the lovely sunny weather.
Jo x

Lovely Things

Lovely things

On Saturday for my Mother's Day treat P and I went to visit Spring in the Barn  at Mells. What a lovely event, we chatted to lots of lovely people and bought lovely things. We met the very friendly and talented Becky from Dots and Spots as well as Rebecca from edamay .

Can't possibly cut this ribbon up!

P and I then treated ourselves to a visit to Frome and a climb up St.Catherine's Hill. This is full of lovely craft and vintage shops including Millie Moon, where we bought some gorgeous ribbons and booked P onto a children's beginning sewing machine day in the Easter holidays.

and even more lovely things!

On Sunday P gave me this lovely sock cupcake she had made at Guides - what a great idea. It came with an origami flower and a yummy mummy mug. She also baked me a cake - all by herself, and literally spent hours decorating it Sunday afternoon.

Ahhh!

Mr Clown will soon be winging his way to his new home in his cosy sleeping bag. It is lined with flannelet and has a little snugly pillow to go with it.

All snuggled up

I am currently designing my own smaller clown, the same size as the pirate, but at the moment he looks more like a farmer! Some tweaking with the details is needed, before he is ready to enter the circus ring.
Have a good week and go and wonder at all the crafty cleverness over at Handmade Monday with Wendy.
Jo x

and the winner is.......

Firstly -  an apology for not doing this sooner, but I have been really busy this past week - aren't we all though! As you may know I am a supply teacher with some regular teaching work thrown in, and I have worked every day last week, this week and will be next week - and am very grateful! What it means though, is that crafting has to take a back seat whilst I'm teaching and blogs are far too distracting!
Next - the Birthday Giveaway Winner is ....


Choosing the winner



 ...Twinkle Star.
Thank-you to everyone who entered.
Finally - I had an email last week from a lovely lady who had seen my toys on Folksy and asked if I could knit her a new favourite toy for her son. The old one's yarn had been worn away from so much loving. I recognised the photo she sent me as one from Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Toys book, and set about knitting him. I used some beautiful Adriafill merino in beautiful colours and a real pleasure to knit with and last night he was finished. He is bigger than my usual dolls so took a little bit longer to make. Now I have to make him a sleeping bag for night time snuggles (the clown that is!)

Have a good week-end
Jo x

P.S Pickle-Lily actually picked the winner!
PPS I've been doing connectives all week - can you tell!

Hot Water

Good morning everyone
Especially if you are visiting from Wendy at Handmade Monday .
Not much to report this week on the crafting front as I had four fairs booked and managed to teach everyday.
Unfortunately when I woke up on Sunday morning, bright and early to go to the day's event, I discovered that the hot water tank in the airing cupboard was leaking and all the old towels I stored on the floor in there were absolutley soaking wet! So I spent Sunday waiting for the gas man to arrive (we have one of those home breaksown plans, thank goodness). We need a new hot water cylinder and it can't be fitted until Thursday. I now realise how lucky I am to have hot water on tap and how many times in the day I use it. We are having baths by filling the bath using the kettle, it is incredible how many kettles full of hot water it takes for a couple of inches of bath water! Roll on Thursday!
So to finish off, why not enter my Birthday Giveaway before you leave!

Birthday Giveaway

Jo x

Birthday Giveaway

A year and exactly 100 posts has now gone by in the life of Pickle-Lily, so it is time for a giveaway!

Giveaway Goodies

You could win ...

• a spring coloured fat quarter
• 4m of co-ordinating ribbons - the daisy ribbon is lovely!
• a daisy votive holder
• five balls of white fluffy yarn
• and a chocolate bunny

All you need to do is....


Follow my blog and then leave a comment to say you have done this. If you are already a follower (thank you) please just leave me a comment.

For extra chances to win you can....

'Like' me on my Facebook page and leave a comment on my blog and on my facebook page to let me know you have done this. If you already 'like' my FB page then please just leave a comment here and FB!

If you would like to blog about my giveaway this will give you another entry. Again leave me another comment here on my blog.

Please ensure that I am able to contact you.


I will keep this giveaway open until March 16th when I will then put all names into a hat and get Pickle-Lily to choose a winner!


I will post internationally so all welcome to enter.

Jo x
P.S. I thought you might enjoy my entry photo for the teacher's reading competiotion at school for Book Week!

Not very flattering!

The giveaway is now closed.