My cat wants to be a drummer.......

......so all we need now, is a bassist!!

Shitty Dog Owners.

There are dog owners who pick up after their pets and there are those who don't. Though I prefer the former, I can kind of understand the latter; but what I cannot even begin to comprehend is the idiotic bastards in the middle.

How many times have you seen a little black poo-bag hanging in a bush or strewn by the wayside? For Christ sake what is the matter with these people? Why go to the trouble of bagging a turd, only to lob it back down on the floor or make a hideous tree ornament out of it?

At least if you just left it, nature could take it's course and eventually the smelly pet present would disappear of it's own accord, but you twits have wrapped it in a non biodegradable bag and added that to the environment. I am at a loss... you utter plonkers! Especially as you've gone to the effort of picking up the damn thing in the first place. If it were up to me, I'd make you eat it.

Kat’s Floppy Sun Hat

Spring has sprung and I was in need of a hat to shield my eyes from the sun whilst out painting the fence! It went so well, I'm sharing it here.

This crochet lark is far quicker than knitting; So much so that (and I never thought I'd say it)I think I'm turning into a crochet queen rather than a knitting nutter!

Once I've typed this pattern up I'll be off out to take on the fence... it's a horrible job, but you've got to look after your wood! Besides it's an absolute stunner of a day, the daffodils are out and the birds are singing; what more could you want? Ooooo I know - a floppy sun hat!!

Ok - here's the pattern:

Abbreviations:
sts - stitches
sl st - slip Stitch
ch - chain
sc - single crochet

HAT

Using a 5.5mm (size I) hook, and DK yarn, start by making a chain of four sts and then join with a sl st.

Round 1: ch 1 and do 10 sc into the loop. If you are changing the colour for a striped effect like mine, join by adding the new colour through your first and last sc. - 10 sts.

Round 2: ch 1, do 2 sc in every st of the round and join by adding the original colour through your first and last sc. - 20 sts.

Round 3: ch 1, then sc all sts, increasing every third st by doing 2 sc in the same space. Join with alternate colour.

Round 4: ch 1, do 1 sc in each st of the round then join with alternate colour as before.

Round 5: ch 1, then sc all sts, increasing every third st by doing 2 sc in the same space. Join with alternate colour.

Round 6: ch 1, do 1 sc in each st of the round then join with alternate colour.

Round 7: ch 1, then sc all sts, increasing every third st by doing 2 sc in the same space. Join with alternate colour.

Round 8: ch 1, do 1 sc in each st of the round then join with alternate colour as before.

Round 9: ch 1, then sc all sts, increasing every third st by doing 2 sc in the same space. Join with alternate colour.

(If you want the pattern to continue as it is and have all stripes the same width, continue your colour changes as established. If you want them like mine, you now change colour on every other row, giving you a 2 row thickness.)

Round 10: ch 1, do 1 sc in each st of the round then join with alternate colour as before.

Round 11: Count your sts - we want 66, you’ll have less. ch 1, then make up the difference by increasing evenly across this row.

Round 12 - 31: ch 1, do 1 sc in each st of the round then join, remembering to colour change where required in order to obtain your desired stripe pattern.

FLOPPY BRIM

Round 32: sc every st, increasing 8 sc evenly across the round.

33 - 42: Continue to increase 8 sc on each round as established, alternating the spacing of your increases so as to avoid developing an increase line.

Final Round: working in the back loop only, sc in each st of the round and join with a sl st. Fasten off and weave in ends.

You can make the brim as big as you like….I did mine so it was just enough to shield my eyes, but you could do a huge silly one! (If you really want to.)

Right, that's me done - I'm off out in the sun.... lookk out fence, here I come!

Kat's "Magic Dust" Spice Pouch

Here's my latest design; a crocheted pouch to hold my precious "Magic Dust" chilli powder. I put a lot of effort into growing and processing the chillies - I reckon they deserve the best treatment and that includes storage! The pouch holds an airtight shaker and is finished off with a handmade charm - for this I used a genuine Swarovski crystal bead and 2 delightful murano glass chilli peppers!

YAY! :-)

Firewalk in Memory of Mewzli x

OH MY!! I've only gone and signed up for a firewalk!

I'm doing it in memory of my bestest friend Mewzli who passed away on 24th January.

We now have a new friend called Mr. Wilson who came to us via the Cats Protection adoption centre in Bridgend; I'd like to do something to aid them in their great work finding new homes for adoreable kitties that need help.
So, if you can, please help and sponsor me to do this rather mad thing!

You can sponsor me here: http://www.justgiving.com/KatWilliams

Kat xx

How to: Make your own grow light.

Grow lights are an essential piece of kit if you want to get a head start on your growing season or want to be able to grow indoors all year round.

If you want to make your own light set-up, here's a how to, along with the costings and where I got my bits and pieces. (prices were correct as of 2010.)

I used:

3 x 30W Daylight bulbs £6.69 each £20.07
3 x Bulb Batten Holders £1.69 each £5.07
2 x Rolls of Aluminium foil tape £2 each from poundland £2.00
1.5mm twin and earth cable approx £1.00 per mtr in B&Q £2.00
1 x Plug from ASDA £0.36
1 x Carboard box
1 x Piece of wood I had lying about

So I spent a grand total of £29.50 bear in mind that is for 3 bulbs! If you only used 2, it would only be just over £21.00...

FAR cheaper than your shop bought stuff and lets face it - far more fun and rewarding.

Here's a link for the bulbs, and one for the holders:

BULBS: http://uk.farnell.com/pro-lite/helix-30w-es-64/lamp-daylight-es-30w-6400k/dp/1298309

BATTEN HOLDERS: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Batten-Holder/invt/710002

So.... here comes the best bit, making it!

The batten holders are screwed to the piece of wood and then wired up with the 1.5mm twin and earth cable like so:



I've drawn it onto the batten holder instructions to give you a better idea:



Make sure you put a plug on the other end that has a 3 amp fuse, and that's it done:



...and with bulbs!:



Now for the reflector and it's amazing what you can achieve with a piece of cardboard and some aluminium foil tape; here's how I did it:

I cut jagged edges where I want my ends to be - this will help when folding the card around the end pieces; I also scored along the width of the card to help it bend neatly:


Then I cut out 2 end pieces:



I folded the ends of the shade around the side pieces and stuck them down:



Then I started lining the box with aluminium foil tape - I thought this would be neater than kitchen foil. You can pick this stuff up for a few quid a roll, but I got mine from the DIY bit in poundland!!





And that's that bit done - one nice and shiny reflector:




Then I added my lights. Using a sharp blade, I cut out a slit from the reflector allowing me to put it behind the batton holders; then I screwed in my bulbs:



I've got 3 30W daylight bulbs and wow; when I switched them on, the whole room went white! - You cant really get that from the photo, but believe me it was a shocker :-)



So that's it; get on and make one for yourself, then stand back and swell with pride.

Happy lighting, folks!

Kat

Crochet Valentine's Day Card

In an attempt to do something slightly different this year, I decided to crochet my partner’s “Valentines Day” card!



It was quite simple really, but rather effective.
He loved it; though he did say that he thought I may be a little mad…

The hearts are quick to make up and look great if you do the last row in a contrasting colour.
To make a heart, I did the following:

Abbreviations:
Ch = chain
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
hdc = half double crochet
st(s) = stitch(es)
sl st = slip stitch
bl = back loop

ROUND 1: Ch6, join with a sl st into first ch st, to create a loop.
ch3, do 16dc into loop, join with a sl st in the top of ch3.

ROUND 2: ch3, dc in the same space, 2DC in next 2 sts, hdc in next 4 sts,
3dc in next st, hdc in next 4 sts, 2dc in next 2 sts, 1dc in next st, Ch3, sl st in same space, sl st in next 2 sts.

ROUND 3: Ch1, sc in bl of every st until you get to the bottom "pointy bit" of the heart; in that st, do 2ch, then continue with a sc into the bl of the remaining sts, binding off with a sl st at the end.

It's round 3 that I did in contrasting colours!

I did some hearts with chunky wool and a 5mm hook and some in DK with a 3.5mm hook, but try whatever you like.

For the card bit, all I did was crochet a rectangle 20 stitches wide, and single crocheted every stitch until I got the required length. Once I was happy it was card sized, I tied off and sewed in the ends.

That's all the bits done!



I cut a piece of card to the same size as the crocheted rectangle and glued it to it - placing a heavy book on top whilst it dried, to make sure it stayed flat.



Once it was sufficiently dry, I glued on the hearts with some overlapping and again, I placed the book on top in order for them to dry flat.

So simple! I bet there are so many other occasions that a crocheted card would be just perfect for - I know I'll certainly be doing more :-)

Happy hooking!