Nayu's Project Progress #7 Invisible project + baby blanket

I was too comfy to get up and lay this on the floor for the photo shoot.

I hope everyone's day has gone well. I've been working on the project which is not being photographed until completion, in case the recipient sees it. It's a bit frustrating as I've made quite a bit of progress on it today while I waited for my car to be serviced (about 2 hours), but it'll be worth it. 

I can and have shown you the picture of the progress on my baby blanket! (top pic) This will be a blueprint for custom blankets, which I will be able to adjust the size and also the colour to suit what you'd like. So you can make the perfect gift for a newborn in your life, or make a bigger version and keep it for yourself! The joy of blankets is that they aren't only for one category/occasion, they can be whatever you want them to be! 

Sneek peek at concepts for NCDs upcoming rebranding!

In light of NCD having a relaunch once the new branding is ready to go, I'm also hoping to make more than 1 flower coaster tonight. I intend to start watching the new Agatha Christie 3 parter on BBC 1, and don't expect to figure out who did but there's a crochet related tale to the series. 

Who done it? &  why am I watching this show?

I became very intrigued by what my family were watching one crochet session. Turned out to be Temperance and Tuppence, which I found hard to ignore (but was in the middle of anime so kind of wasn't about to switch shows since anime comes first!  Otherwise I'd never have been interested in the funny and thrilling new show which is in 3 parts...and thus I refused to start watching until all parts are out so I don't have to wait a week for the next part of the story. 

Slightly off topic but I think I have some craft themed mystery books coming up on my review list, so I will link you to the reviews when they are up. Craft is craft! Be it in a book, or using my preferred yarn and hook/needles. I'll leave you with a saying which I found today - they will pop up more and more as I'm getting a little addicted to them at the moment!

Nayu's Craft Time #57 Baby Booties Book Mania!

Similar to my lunch today

 Ah, another great day. I'm having a minor change in how I schedule my days, and I'm currently trialing doing most of my book review for Nayu's Reading Corner on a Friday, plus emails so I have more time during each day to do craft and writing related work. I did have lunch with a friend today, which was yummy. Ordinarily I try to avoid going out 2 days in a row, since I need time to recover as fatigue features heavily in my life as part of my medical condition, but since I wasn't driving today & it was close to home I went for it!The brie, cranberry and vegetarian stuffing panini was delicious! 

I'd totally planned to continue review when I got back, but - and I have to say this happens every single time I know I should stop and not blog for the rest of the day - key websites simply are too busy for me to use them. Guess the universe is saying I need a break! I promise I'll rest soon - got a few personal emails I must write, then it's finishing up sorting knitting needles which I started yesterday (the ones which I need a needle sizing tool to check the sizes), figuring out which baby bootie pattern to start & then starting them. 

I am pleased to say that the book above and below this sentence are the ones I've chosen to keep from my bootie book buying mission (it has the same initials as this post's title, BBBM!) 

The booties are mega cute, you're going to love them with the embellishments I'll be adding. They're so tiny! Most are knitted, I think a few are crochet, but that doesn't matter - I'll make them all the same! I've ordered a nice selection of buttons to make them extra pretty. Booties are coming very soon! (I promise I'm not doing a weird pact of putting an exclamation mark at the end of every other sentence, it's just happening that way.)

Nayu's Craft Time #26 My first commission!

Yippee! Otome from the anime Aikatsu sliding down a rainbow slide looks like she's shouting this ^o^

I'm super excited at the moment, as I've got my first commissioned blanket! Well, nearly got it. It's from a relative, and they'd like a blanket in autumn colours. The decision of exactly colours, yarn, and pattern will be made over the next few weeks which makes me excited about what I'll get to do. Commissioned work is something I'll be advertising towards the end of the year, but I won't say no if anyone asks me now :) I'll most definitely keep you updated on the various stages of this exciting project! 

I'm still busy working on my competition piece, whose deadline is only a week and a bit away. It's action stations time!

Must keep crocheting...

Nayu's Craft Time #25 Shiny yarn!

The yarn isn't literally shiny, but, like with any yarn lover, all yarn is shiny! These two came all the way from the USA. I thought I'd give them a try for dishcloths, since they say they are kitchen yarn. With alternate rows of white and mustard yellow I think the dishcloths will be rather smart. 

Once again I'd planned to write about some of the crochet books I've received this week (still waiting for 2) but it's late afternoon, and after only just avoiding a migraine yesterday I'm feeling drained. I've done a fair amount of crochet, can you show you these lovely squares which are for the final blanket in my Spring collection (coming soon!). 

I hope to do a little more of my competition piece tonight, which is also growing nicely, but first I'll be reading. Often after a migraine/almost migraine for a while I crave things which don't move and aren't brightly coloured. I've watched both human drama and anime today, which may be why I want to steer clear of it now - I've had my fill! Time to dive into the world of spy dogs, Amish country, dystopian royalty, friendship and ever so much more, as well as shiny yarn, both in the books I read and in the crochet I do! ^o^

Nayu's Craft Time #17 Good found in not so good things

Pretend it's crochet not knitting!

Falling flat on the floor was pretty much how I felt on the day I'm writing this (Monday). I had an evil migraine Sunday evening, been awake since 1am, got woken from a 70min nap by my cat purring while pawing me and digging her claws in, and am doing blog work as quickly as I can. Ordinarily I don't mind writing this type of blog post on a Tuesday since Wednesday is my day off, but due to said migraine & my work being closed on Thursday until Tuesday, instead of needing to take a sick day I'm working Tuesday & Wednesday. It always takes me a few days to get over the extra fatigue of a migraine (which is worse just because fatigue hits me really hard). & that's why I didn't put up a post this weekend - I'd planned to Sunday but then evil migraine happened.

What I'm saying in a long winded way is that I'll announced the winner of this wonderful blanket on Thursday. Sorry it's not sooner but I'll need to rest as much as I can after work this week. 

Will this be yours?

The only plus side of Sunday's migraine was I started a new blanket, as all my current ones involved a fair amount of sewing squares together and I wanted something quick and easy. 

 There'll be excitement here on Thursday when I announce the blanket competition winner and on Saturday when I share my latest very exciting news with you! As always thank you for stopping by Nayu's Crochet Dreams ^o^ 

If I remember correctly this girl is from the anime Sugar Snow Fairies (or something like that!)

Nayu's Craft Time #10 Pet blanket paw print prototype progress!

Paw progress!

Sorry this wasn't posted yesterday - my internet played up so I had to give up on using it.

As much as I'd hoped to be writing about what can influence my crochet style, I'm opting for a shorter post of the progress on my pet blanket paw print prototype - trying saying that several times in a row! This time it wasn't a migraine which made me switch my post plans, thankfully. I'd unexpectedly had to have my super strong pain meds yesterday, which I usually have every 5 week, because I'd been having a pain flare for the last 2 weeks and needed my body reset, which the meds sort of do. I'm feeling heaps better than I was, albeit a bit tired because continuous severe pain is exhausting. I'm mostly used to it, but extra high levels wear me out.

Never fear tho, it doesn't stop me (much) from doing crochet! This has been on both Facebook and Twitter, but as you can see I'm making progress on my paw print. Please ignore the different styles of borders to the squares - since it's a prototype I'm experimenting with how I join the squares together. Due to the extra time it takes to make something like this there will probably only be 1 paw print per blanket, but I'm sure none of you will mind that. I'm hoping to work on it a bit more today, but since I've got several hours of reading planned I don't think I'll finish this project today. 

Remember there are some fab competitions which need entering! You can win a blanket made by me (worldwide competition)

win an audiobook of your choice  (US/UK only competition)

Nayu's Craft Time #3 My crochet kit

This is where the crochet magic happens! The basket, not the table.

Today I thought I'd show you my crochet tools. I got this basket as a present from some friends nearly 2 years ago. The cute ballerina koala which has a bell that chimes whenever I move is it from when some of my family visited other family who live in Sydney, Australia. 

I will chat about my crochet hook another time, as that information is for a full post and I'm trying to keep this brief as although I went to work today after being off sick yesterday, I'm still feeling peaky & need rest. The problem with this weekend it's time to take my extra strong pain meds which make life rather interesting until Sunday. You can find out more on this post at my other blog Nayu's Reading Corner.

The yellow ribbon which you can see in the main picture is from this!

A keepsake from my childhood

This little bag is from my childhood. I had a matching outfit which may have been a dress. I must have kept this because of how cute it is. I can't remember when I started using it for craft, but I keep my scissors, hook & sewing in needles in there, and I put any ends which I cut off in there too. I do periodically chuck them in the bin, but usually only when it's too full to use ^o^

I plan on working on my idea for pet blankets tonight, while listening to audiobooks and maybe watching some anime. 

I hope that whatever you're doing tonight you enjoy it!

Coming soon #2 Gallery

 I'm putting this blog together step by step, so something that's coming soon is the Gallery! This is where you'll see every crochet item I make. Some will be for sale, some won't as they are presents or made for some other reason. This blanket made for a young boy in my family. 

I'll include pictures of my cross stitch projects, which will never be for sale but are always pretty, like this cute owl kit which I've just started

That's all for now - see you with new projects very soon! 

I'm off to get crafting!

Coming Soon #1 A new range of blankets!

A colleague at work today had a brilliant idea for another range on Nayu's Crochet Dreams - pet blankets! She helps out with a cat charity, and has dogs of her own so know how useful blankets can be. My cat was a rescue cat, who was found by builders in a shed emaciated, with a broken leg and a broken pelvis. She spent months in recovery after surgery, and I know blankets were used to keep her comfy. Blankets not only provide extra warmth when it's colder, but they can be a great comfort to our four legged friends. 

Belle just happened to be near my competition blanket when I took photos of it - I couldn't have got a better pose if I'd tried! She's 7, and very funny. The blanket will be washed before sending on ^o^

I'm not revealing my full plan for the pet blankets, but I promise it is something very cool if I can figure out how to do it. I'd love to hear if there are any particular colours you would/wouldn't like for your furry friend. My cat has an attitude the size of an elephant, so much so last year she refused to sleep in her bed for over 6 months because we changed the blanket. Thankfully I know many cats and a few dogs who aren't as fussy, and with the cute idea I've got your animal will love the forthcoming blankets as much as I do! 

Now tonight was going to be spent reading, but what with having to get groceries for both me, my cat, and my birds, I'm going to settle with anime and...crochet! I may be able to finish the Desert Dewdrop Dreams blanket which you can see in the right menu -> Whoohoo!

Little beats a purr filled hug!