Crafty progress

I've finally got back into full swing of full time work following my operation and had forgotten how much it works into your free time BUT I have finished the following recently:

I started this years ago and recently found it. I finally finished it (just needed to finish the black lines) and was quite chuffed with the final result though it needs a little bit of blocking...

 If you're a regular reader you'll know that I've got back into crochet and became addicted to granny square blankets but despite having known how to crochet since I was a kid I've NEVER followed a pattern until now. Above is my finished beanie hat from an awesome book 'Crochet Boutique' by Rachael Oglesby. I can highly recommend it and hoping that I can do some more projects (or possibly another hat as this is a little tight). Quite a few friends have asked me to teach them how to crochet which is very flattering but a little nerve racking! Perhaps I have to run a workshop....

OH's cousin is getting married later on this year and I started above just before Christmas and finished it this week. Normally if I have to work to a deadline (eg. make something for a certain event) I end up leaving it to the last minute then stress about getting it finished so was very please I got this finished with plenty of time to spare (eight months!).

And finally I bought a set of stencils for cards and have only just got round to using them. Very basic but very satisfying!