Little Mouse Wreath

At the weekend I swapped the hills of the Yorkshire Dales for the equally beautiful and equally hilly hills of the Derbyshire Peak District. I travelled with a good friend on Friday morning, and after three hours and three train journeys filled with chatter and a bit of sock knitting we arrived at the lovely little town of Buxton. This girly weekend away had been many, many months in the planning, a gem of an idea hatched last Summer and finally we were there......

.........this is the house with the rolling green view which became a veritable Hooky Haven for the weekend. Actually, it was a bit more than a house, it was huuuuuge! Quarnford Lodge is a rambling ten bedroomed detached residence on top of a high hill, a perfect venue for a large bunch of rather crazy hookers to hunker down for a few days. It was absolute bliss. Nothing to do except chat, eat, drink, sleep and crochet.

The living space at the lodge was large and open plan, with a wood burning stove separating the living and dining areas. As there were nineteen of us, the large space suited us perfectly and those chocolate brown leather sofas provided a wonderful place to while away the day with hook and yarn. The whole weekend was very informal - no workshops or schedules, just a huge amount of laughter, cake, wine, crochet and hilarious banter. Oh, we did laugh, I laughed so much and so hard I thought I would either stop breathing or pee my pants. Or possibly both. Such a beautiful bunch of lovely, vibrant, charming and funny ladies. As I only knew two of them in real life, it did make me feel ever so slightly nervous about spending a whole weekend with virtual strangers. I am quite a private person, verging on the shy really, and sometimes I do find social situations a little tricky. But I needn't have worried, everyone was so lovely and by the end of the weekend I knew I had made a whole big bunch of great new friends.

It's one of the things I most love about crochet - it is such a warm, creative and sociable hobby, and the friendships that grow from sharing a love of hook and yarn are just brilliant. I experience this every single day as I write my blog and share pictures and chatter on Facebook and Instagram, but there is something extra special about taking an online community and springing it into real life. Those of of us that shared our weekend together had only previously known each other via a small online group, but you would never have guessed it in a million years. The friendship was real and instant.

One of the things we had decided to do for the weekend was a hand made gift exchange. We didn't know who we would be making the gift for or who's gift we would be receiving (we did it a bit like a raffle), it was loads of fun. I was so lucky with my gift and received a really beautiful crochet shawl - can you believe I have never had a shawl before, whatever was I thinking???! It was hard to photograph to show you the pretty silver sparkle that runs through the yarn in my shawl, tis rather glamorous to have this beauty draped around my person. Warm and cosy too, I am most definitely a newbie Shawl Lover.

I pondered over what to make for my gift for all of about 20 minutes, and then as if by magic an image popped into my Creative Mind like a photograph. I could see it so clearly......and I saw a little mouse!

Actually, I decided that one mouse looked a little bit lonesome so I made him a little mousey lady friend, awwwww! I found a really delightful little free mouse pattern designed by Lucy Ravenscar, so sweet and very easy to make. I used 4ply baby merino yarn and a 2.5mm hook, and they came out quite dinky and very cute looking.

Now my little mice needed a place to live, and my Creative Mind had already provided me with a very clear picture - I needed to make a Flower Bower.

So just as I did for my Bower Bird, I used a 7 inch Flexi Hoop {you can find these on Amazon} which I covered with a length of crochet. This is very easy to do, and I've given a full explanation as part of my Bower Bird tutorial.

Once I'd made the green base, it was time to decorate............

..........I had loads of fun here and really, really enjoyed making this pretty mini flower wreath. I used some of my own small flower patterns (Teeny Tiny Flower and Daisy Flower) and added some simple leaves. I also made a few smaller/shorter versions of my fern leaf, as well as having a little go at making some approximate lavender-ish type flowers in shades of purple. 

Everything was carefully arranged, pinned, then stitched in place and finally the wreath was ready.......

................ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so pleased with this little decoration, it turned out pretty much exactly as I saw it in my mind. It was a pleasure to wrap it up and know that it would be going to a lovely new hooky home too.

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ps I want to say a huge THANK YOU to the 18 fabulous hooksters who made my weekend so special and so memorable, especially Sarah C and Mel who organised it all. It was amazing and I hope we can do it again next year. And special big hugs to Sarah S who made me laugh so hard and for so long that I came very close to having an accident. Mwah x. Hooky friends are the bestest kind of friends there are x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Pinar Tan]

I love your mice wreath..Would love to have one in my big mice collection.Do you take orders.Your colours sense is very nice.

[Charmaine]

Hi Lucy :)

I'm just getting back into crochet from a verrrry long break (years & years) so I am looking for something simple for myself to do & I come across your beautiful shawl. Do u have a pattern please? I have googled shawls & still couldn't find such a lovely one like this :)

[Lara]

That wreath is just too cute. I love the little flowers too - I'm looking for some teeny flowers to crochet to hide some holes in a lacy knit pattern that went slightly wrong for the last couple of rows! I'd already ripped it out so many times I couldn't face doing it again. These would be perfect, and so pretty :)

[Clare]

Sounds like a wonderful get together, and I love the little mouses, not to mention the shawl, yay for spakles
Clare x

[Michelle Tulloch]

Just re-read this and it made me smile. It brought back a flood of happy memories. It was lovely to meet and chat to you that weekend Lucy. Hope to see you at the next one xxxx

[Christina]

That mouse wreath is too freaking cute!!! <3

[Kim Clark]

I love the little mice wreath. How fun!! Ohhh but I love love love the shawl!! I'm obsessed with crocheting shawls. I sure would love this pattern!!

[Charlotte]

Sounds like a great weekend and wonderful gift exchange. I think that it is something that every busy women covets. Glad you had the opportunity.

[Mary]

Lucy, your wreath with the mice is one of the cutest things I have very seen. You are so talented. I have some many things on my to do list that I got from your blog!! This wreath thought is just plain adorable. I love the shawl too. I have been trying to find my utlimate shawl pattern, but no luck. But you have inspired me over the years to start trying to come up with my own pattern. Thank you for all your wonderful blogs. They make my life so much brighter.

[Myra Wade]

I adore this post!! Such a fun, happy time; your descriptions are so wonderful. And I love the mouse wreath. You have such a creative mind. Wish I did.😔 I can do most anything I want to if I see something, but to think something up all on my own.....fagedaboudit!!!!😄
Thanks for your blog!

[Angel Jem]

You love your little hookiness, don't you? Don't blame you, either! Those mice are so cute and dinky. What a brilliant and creative weekend.

[TINA]

Beautiful wreath! I love the little mice !!!
I wish you many more happy weekends like this one!
Tina x

[Tammy]

What a wonderful time you've had, good company and a beautiful setting. I will be travelling to England from Australia with my family for the month of June and we are staying in Deryshire.
Tammy

[bartynboz]

Fantastic mice. Love them. Thanks for sharing Lucy.

[L'Empreinte de l'Ange]

Absolutely lovely.

[gabriella adano]

hello ohhh lovely garland!!Thank yuo for little mouse pattern I love it!!Have happy week

[Anne76]

I love your blog.... Your crochet.... Bye....

[Angela-Southern USA]

For some beautiful detailed crochet, a cross between tapestry crochet and cross stitch almost, x_renk

Have a lovely day! x

[Liz U]

So adorablE!

[quinita]

What a lovely lovely idea! Thanks for sharing your ideas and your time

[Amanda]

How lovely Lucy, my weekends away with my girlfriends are so important to me...even better that you have lots of hooky friends too! :) xxx

[Jo Browning]

Love, Love, LOVE this wreath! I adore your creativity!

[Deirdre Greene]

Hi Lucy, I'm glad you enjoyed your weekend away, sounds like a fun weekend. It was also the weekend my husband & I chose to visit Skipton, I was a little bit disappointed when I read on the blog that you were going away but not to worry I carried on with the "pilgrimage" & we enjoyed a very nice breakfast in Cooper's, in fact it was so nice we went back for more on the Saturday morning. We loved the town & the surrounding countryside so much that we intend to return next year...Deirdre G xxx

[Lynn Butler]

I love the little mice. I just have this weekness for cute little crocheted babies. I'm definitely going to make some of these darlings. I love the handmade gift exchange idea. What a fun way to break the ice and share the hooky! I'm so glad you had a weekend full of laughter. It truly is a miraculous healer. We all need that in our lives.

[Emily]

Hi Lucy,

I always enjoy reading your posts and I just love the things you do in life. To be jealous of I can tell you. It looks like you had a great weekend, really amazing. I just love the little mouse wreath you made. So adorable. Thank you for sharing your project to inspire us with. Have a great weekend.

Sweet greetings from Holland,
Emily
(casacreaemilia.blogspot.nl)