Mini Pikachu

"Mummy you said you would make me something next and Pikachu is one of my favourite Pokemon too..."  Right - so that would be another order for Pikachu then :-)

This time I used a very cute and quick pattern by Gladys at The Bunny Studio and I love how he turned out.

He also has a cute lightening tail and brown stripes at the back.

I choose you Pikachu!

Our growing collection of Pokemon just wouldn't be complete without a Pikachu.

This little guy is very dinky, he has tiny little limbs and is a good size for a toddler hand. My Emily insists he is a Pichu because he is so small.

I used the lovely free pattern by Clare Heesh. I love the detail that has gone into his tail to make the lightening shape.

He even has some brown stripes on his back.

Aww - such cuteness!

Poliwag!

This little pokemon has been in my to-do pile for over a month - but I'm so glad I cracked on with him and got him finished to show you all. He was inspired by the new Sun & Moon Pokemon cards which have featured a few new artworks with crocheted versions of the Pokemon. Pokemon and crochet make a fantastic mix and I've loved seeing the creatures that have been obviously lovingly made to go on these cards.

I wanted my Poliwag to be as close to the original artwork as I could manage so I've spent a lot of time ripping out and reworking the different parts to get the shapes as close to the original. His main body is shaped a little like a squashed raindrop so I had to do some interesting shaping with increases and decreases to get him to be a non-rounded shape. I also reinforced his tail a little with thick felt to help it stand up unsupported when attached to his body.

Now Poliwag is completed he is going to be making his way over to Australia to meet Ando who is a huge Pokemon fan and has the YouTube channel Unlisted leaf.

Who's that pokemon?

Can you guess who this crocheted creature is going to be turned into?

Parts assembled in the wrong places without final embroidered details

Books and baking

Currently at Tea Towers we are busy getting the most fun possible out of our Summer holidays. We have a long list of what we want to do with our time and have been enjoying reading, crafting and playing games.

My reading pile is looking pretty tall right now. I was delighted by all the beautiful books I received for my Birthday recently and I have further added to these with some lovely ones from the Library and a few borrowed from friends.

"Sense & Sensibility" by Jane Austen
"The Lie tree" by Frances Hardinge
"Stone mattress" by Margaret Atwood
"The Heart goes last" by Margaret Atwood
"The Street" by Bernardine Bishop
"Charmed life" by Diane Wynne Jones
"Witch week" by Diane Wynne Jones
"The Magicians of Caprona" by Diane Wynne Jones
"The Lives of Christopher Chant" by Diane Wynne Jones
"Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
"Ruby and Custard's crochet" by Millie Masterton
"Crochet home" by Emma Lamb
"The Gentle art of stitching" by Jane Brocket

Talking of books I also was given a copy of Nadiya's "Bake me a story" which is a lovely book containing a range of recipes to try with the kids each with a story to read.

We had a try at making the 'Breakfast muffins' using blueberries from the garden.

We have also had a go at the 'Zebra cake' recipe which is a rather tasty chocolate topped marble cake.

Yumm! I hope your Summer break is just as tasty as ours is turning out to be!

Seeing rainbows

Now Summer is here I'm noticing all the beautiful colours showing up in the garden as well about the house.

I've been busy sorting through the kids hama beads and I have found it very rewarding putting them all into colour groups, the kids have been intrigued by my doing this and can't wait to get hama beading again.

Talking of bright rainbow colours I thought I would also share these crochet flower brooches I made a couple of Summers ago to join the massive rainbow "Flowers for memories" display at Yarndale 2015.

Red theme brooch

Orange theme brooch

Yellow theme brooch

Blue theme brooch

Purple theme brooch