Not all ideas...

..actually work.

Whilst others do.

I wasn't sure about the "Minion" but other folk seem to think he is fine...

 ...and the "Ghost" (free pattern found on line by a friend) worked beautifully but a colleague suggested knitting a "TARDIS" (the Dr Who telephone box). This wasn't such a success a) because I didn't have the right shade of blue b) because the TARDIS is square and the innocent smoothie bottles are round so it looks rather distorted. Ho-hum...at least it is another hat to add to the collection.

Innocent Smoothies stated they wanted to achieve 2 million mini hats this year which means they would be donating £500,000 to Age UK to boost funds that help elderly vulnerable folk deal with heating issues during the colder months of the year. Around mid-May they said they had reached approx. 1.2 million (the deadline for submitting the hats is end of July).

Our "Craft & Chatter" group at work will be well over the 100 mark by mid-July when we will be packing them up and sending them on their way.

Here are a few more that have been added to the collection...

 ...the one with the multi-coloured bobbles at the back seemed like a good idea at the time LOL - let's just say there will not be a second one knitted.
The collection box is filling up nicely...

...and the good thing is, folk are getting to use up all those odds and ends of yarn that they have hanging around the place (you all know how we crafters don't like to throw anything away).

I've now cracked the 100 mark for little hats and will be keen to see just how many my final total amounts to when we have to send them off.

Our group have said that this has been quite a bit of fun and some of them may continue in between other projects so that we get a head start for next year.....................................

I've knitted...

...ninety-one mini hats; so far.

The total currently stands at 94 hats, three of which have been made by colleagues (one by Heather, one by Pam and one by Kristian). Lynn has been knitting away and promises her finished items when she has attached some bobbles and Francis has been knitting little character hats that just need some googly eyes attached.

I thought I'd done about 70...

 ...and just kept adding the finished ones to the box.
These little hats are so easy to knit - perfect for an evening in front of the TV...

 ...and the basic pattern can be 'played' with to create all sorts of designs. Here are a bunch of 'bell flowers'...

 ...in a variety of different colours.
Yesterday I added a few more hats to the box and decided to tip out the contents...

 ...this was the pile and it was quite a surprise to find just how many I have knitted over the past few weeks.
I had a go at making a 'Minion' type hat...

...but it didn't come out as I wanted (a touch of leaky elbow syndrome). Still, it's another hat for the collection.

We are aiming to send our hats off by the middle of July so there should be plenty of time for me to break that 100 mark......................................................................

My first...

...completed parchment project.

If you promise not to look too closely (and spot the wonky snipping around the edges and the odd pierced hole that shouldn't be there) I'll show you my finished Christmas gift box.

I did all the outside panels using the Scalloped squares Groovi plate rather than create different shaped panels for each side.

The Groovi plates are a great starting point...

 ...which can be decorated in any way you like. This means even traditional 'parchers' can make use of them (much easier than measuring and trying to draw straight lines with perfect corners LOL).

The "S" on the front of the box was my first attempt at grid-work...

 ...and despite a couple of 'oops' moments I was very pleased with the finished result.

The inside of the box was decorated with some small (less detailed) panels...

 ...with a touch of glitter and 'spray & sparkle'.

The background for the "N" was from a small grid...

 ...which meant that the pattern had to be 'matched' to fill the space - I think this is my favourite panel.

On the sample that Joanne made, her "O" panel was round (using the scalloped circles Groovi plate)...

 ...so I had to adapt the design slightly to fit a square.

The "W" was stippled (only the second time I have done this) and it seemed to take for ever...

...but once done, the background was created with the random use of the micro sun tool.

This Friday I have a couple of parchment classes so will be continuing with my "Twas the Night before Christmas" book - just 3 pages left to do.

At this rate I should have at least two completed projects by this Christmas.....................................

"Little boxes...

...made of..."

The box that we made as the base for the parchment project was such a nice idea that I thought I would have another go at making one.

The box is constructed from 300gsm smooth white card and covered with PP from a paper stack that I bought in Poundland (the stack was one of several A5 sized pads that they had and the paper is actually very good quality).

Here is the resulting 'make'...

 ...I didn't have any very fine magnets that could be used as a closure and Velcro was also too thick so I raided my ribbon stash.

The inside of the box was covered in the same PP...

...although I did consider using a contrast.

A lovely sturdy little box - perfect to pop a gift or some fancy chocolates in and still have a cute storage box afterwards................................................................

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

...and double Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Windows 10 carried out some up-dates on Sunday & Monday and whatever was done means that Windows is no longer friends with Blogger.

Yesterday, I spent ages trying to get into Blogger only to be faced with a blank white screen.

Today, I have spent ages trying to get into Blogger and although I have finally succeeded, things are not running smoothly.

Windows 10 & Blogger - will you please 'kiss & make-up' so that I can get on with the things that I need to do...........................................................

The little hat collection...

...is growing.

I had a bit of a play over the weekend - after all, despite it being a Bank Holiday weekend there wasn't a great deal to watch on the TV of an evening.

So the knitting needles were busy and I made around 20 little hats...

 ...two of my 'plays' are shown in the photo on the bottles.
The yellow & green and the blue & white were a couple more...

...they were sewn up at this week's "Knit & Natter".

Some of the other folk in the group have been making hats too but they also need to get them sewn.

The knitting part seems to be quite quick & easy but we are all less than enthusiastic about the sewing LOL

Still, we seem to be doing well and hope to have a good collection completed and ready to send off by the middle of July.

I'm looking forward to seeing how much of the box we manage to fill.............................................

I told you...

...I had a busy weekend.

Despite parts of the UK having temps that were better than Jamaica, the weather over the Bank Holiday weekend wasn't that great - spells of heavy rain & thunder storms made it difficult to plan anything.

On Friday & Saturday the weather wasn't too much of an issue as I had craft classes. However, I really wanted to get my fence at the front of the house stained.

Due to the thunder storm Saturday evening, the fence wood was too wet to apply stain on Sunday so I concentrated on getting the washing & other household chores done. I was lucky, the rain held off until around 4pm so the washing dried and luckier still, the rain didn't last that long.

So Monday, bright & early, I was determined to get the fence done.

I had previously managed to get the front door painted as it is under the cover of the front porch area...

...and as you can see, it is now "Village Green". I used a satin exterior wood finish rather than a wet-look glossy finish.

Several hours later.

The front fence was changed from a tired "Red Cedar" colour to "Forest Green"...

 ...it looks a bit patchy here as it wasn't completely dry.
I'm very pleased with how it looks...

...and despite the initial doubts...

...I am loving the new colour.

The sky started to cloud over and rain had been forecast so I didn't get to do the front facing side of my back gate but I should get that done next weekend.

Now I just need the rain to hold off long enough so that the grass can get cut................................