Manchester Mega Mela

 

 I took all these pictures in June at Manchester Mega Mela, as I didn't get around to sharing anything at all in June I thought I'd show these now.
I really like any sort of community celebrations, Melas in particular are a favourite of mine. There's music and dancing and lots of great food, bright decorations, crafts and celebrations of local groups. All the essentials for a great day out.

Bits and pieces

It's been a very long time since I've written anything here, there are several things I'd like to share but as I've just competed in a triathlon today I'm fairly weary so here are some oddments from the last few weeks.

Bonus picture of my tri team after we'd finished and got our medals!

Le Tour de France, Yorkshire edition

I've just got back from seeing le Grand Depart in Leeds (we'd hoped to get to Harrogate too but massive queues and overcrowding on trains scuppered that plan). I was really nice to see so many people excited but also made parts of Leeds impassable!
Looking through my pictures the cyclists mostly seem to be smiling and enjoying the sunshine, I'm very tickled to have so many pictures of cyclists looking directly at me! With all the people watching I feel very special.

These last two pictures are really making me laugh! It looks like they've just turned to look straight at me.

Quick crochet shawl

 

I've had this solitary ball of variegated yarn for a while, just hanging about. I'm not really sure why I bought it, there's not much that's possible with just one ball and though I like the colours, they're not my colours. I'm much more into blues and greens and purples and cheerful rainbow brights.

Seeking something simple and quick I picked up a large hook. The yarn band called for 4mm; I used 7mm. I'm crocheting a granny triangle. I've enough yarn to make a small shawl, not for winter but for nights camping in August when there's enough chill to want something comforting.

These pictures were taken last week and I've nearly finished now.

colourful granny square blanket

 Last year I made lots and lots of little granny squares with scraps of yarn leftover from making my ripple blanket. I've been working on joining them all together now for a little while. It's a lot of fun deciding which colours to join together.

Flowers all over the place

It's been a damp, grey May so far, these flowers are almost making up for it.

Beaded crochet necklace

I made this necklace for my mum for Mothering Sunday a few weeks a go and thought I'd share it here too.
I used a beautiful, sparkly embroidery thread made by anchor that I bought ages ago with no real purpose because it was so pretty.
To make the necklace, I tied the thread to the button I used for the fastening and then threaded all the beads, I wanted to have a variety of sizes and colours of beads so I used lots of different types. There are lots of different glass beads, some I bought in Prague on holiday in 2004, some came from a necklace that broke. There are some fimo beads that I made myself and some shells that came from a broken bracelet. This necklace has been a long time in the making!

I simply chain stitched along, adding beads when I felt like it until I got to what felt like the right length, then I created a loop by crocheting into a previous stitch and then crocheting into the hole- I don't think my explanation particularly makes sense but it's easy enough to do.

I went back and forth between the button and the loop to create separate beaded strands. I really like the finished necklace and I think my mum does too.