been a long time don't you think?

Thank you for all your kind words and positive vibes, believe me i have been touched by them.
I have come to finally realize that things do happen for a reason,
And what ever comes flying your way you have to deal with it, some can do this much better than others.
Sure I've had my fair share of downs quite a lot to be fair
 enough that if you didn't know me would find pretty unbelievable, but i'm here, not to dwell on the bad but to find closure and look forward to the challenging future!

I HAVE GIVEN UP SMOKING!!

oh yes thats a massive positive following a number of heart attacks in the family and my stepdad's quadruple heart bypass recently (i'd given up by then)   :)
but all pretty scary at the time.
So how long has it been urmmmm April 20th or there abouts twas  a saturday 10weeks or so?? hopeless with guesstimates,
and i feel good i don't allow smoking in the house anymore everyone has to go outside hehe even in the pouring rain :)
Which means that i can zoom through crochet projects! much quicker than when i was stopping for a crafty you know what, every other row!

Yes i have come to accept that it is much easier to switch off from normal day to day activities and pick up when things are not soo bad, i guess i'm a pro at the switching off thing, isolation seems to be  my best asset, an also be bad too, when all you have to argue with is yourself, when you are sat in a corner crying to yourself, when you feel totally alone, screaming to yourself  WHY ME!  
Good Lord if things happen for a reason to test your strength etc i consider myself well and truely being tested to the max.

So if i've been absent here and there soo sorry my lovelies i am pro at blocking out!
I have missed your goings on,
 i'm not going to promise to regularly update anymore as  i feel terrible knowing that i've worried people so if i go missing again just be assured i have difficult moments and that i'll come good at some point xx
So what have i had chance to do? well there was a charity pink day at work where i took a load of nic nak things to sell and raise money for cancer research that was fun heres a snippet here

just a small sample there was also bunting donuts more cupcakes etc but you get the gist :)
i also competed a baby blankie for my friend who has had her own medical problems with the pregnancy
she worried me something terrible too hugs my lovely  xx

baba due in six weeks :) xxxx
pics not great as my camera broke so got the best of what mobile phone has to offer, this was presented to her at a surprise baby shower :)

i also just finished a noahs ark mock copy for my nephews new boy :) i didn't have the pattern just used my imagination and had a go i will have to get the original pattern at some point as i had fun fun fun with it .

So that's me and my goings on i'm trying now to do a waistcoat! now that will be interesting as i've never challenged myself to garments eek

I apologize to anyone who has been let down by me, i can not change the past if only hey! but i can do my best to embrace the future xxxxx much love as always Amanda xx

in and out of hospital :(

hiya everyone just a quick note i've not been well :(
I've been rushed in and out of hospital up an down docs
and am beginning to lose a lot of faith in our medical system
as they can't seem to find whats wrong, i' on a process of elimination after
what they thought was appendicitus, ovarian cysts blah blah blah
i will ctch up with you all as soon as possible xxx

New Yarn New Afghan and a New Challenge hehe

Hello and welcome back to Manda's Challenges :)
A very warm welcome to all recent new follower's Thank you xxx
Today i want to share with you what i've been up to since finishing that lovely mahoosive friendship afghan :)
Can you remember me saying i was uber jealous of the American worsted weight yarn?
That the UK version Aran just didn't hold the same vibrant colourway's as our uber popular DK weight?
Well guess what arrived Yesterday!!

Hehe That's right a lovely massive box of American worsted weight yarn :)
On the Friday following my Birthday(payday) i decided that i would treat myself and set about finding a U.S site that would ship to England :) And i found one !! Red heart.com
I was super excited so many different fabulous colours bouncing of the screen i could happily have ticked one of every colour available hehe
But i settled on These 17 :)
What i chose was 10 colours of the red heart soft (now that is lovely and soft) and 7 of the red heart super saver ooh they're big 3 of them just under 200g  wow!! but a little on the scratchy side ooops I'm hoping they'll wash a little softer,edit~ thank you to everyone who has assured me this washes beautifully and soften's :)   but such joy opening the box and hunting through hehe
They were all in plastic sleeves but i had to caress them hehe and stand them up for the purpose of taking the pic haha
I still wished i had ordered more of some other varieties maybe but you know how it goes Money stops you in your tracks especially when you have tax and shipping added on awww :(
So What have i decided to do hehe
I spotted a gorgeous afghan on Ravelry by Pammy Sue called Good & Plenty.
It was just what i was looking for stripes different to the granny stripe yet super fast to work Perfect!!
My good Friend Kate over at The Garden Bell had worked it up ooh ages ago and it was now my turn to play  :)
Here's my progress so far ~

 It's going to be big!
I kept chaining until i was happy it would cover our double bed hehe

It's looking like summer berries! haha i think i may just have named it already hehe so we have blueberries and blackberries so far ooh time for some raspberries and strawberries hehe :)
I've had this week of work :) so i've been crocheting to my heart's content :)
I worked up some Challenge squares for Sibol and popped them in the post (they should arrive today hehe)

This one is for a special commemorative blankie  to Mark the 100th Sibol blankie :)

 This is a flower square designed by one of the Sibol Ladie's (Luna) for Sibol :)

 These are squares that a magazine (knit today) suggested readers to make and donate to maybe Sibol :)

And these were for fun because i love a flower square and Casey's flower she sent me inspired me to make a few for Sibol :)
Which bring's me onto the Challenge :)
I'm hoping i can get a few of my faithful friend's to join in here :)
Whilst Sue is busy over at Sibol HQ with assembling the challenge blankie's from this year and following the success of my friendship blankie she kindly asked if i'd like to set a challenge and assemble it for Sibol :)
Well of course i would i love's a challenge hehe
And the group has grown sooo much it would be my absolute pleasure :)

So here goe's The challenge i set hehe


As you can see Sibol squares are made to 6" that's 15cm x 15cm
25 of them are then assembled and the finished lapghan's are then  presented to Nursing home's to people that don't have many or any visitor's at all :(

Snowman themed :)

For the adventurous pictures of snowman :) snowball’s throw in few all white textured squares maybe the odd granny
let your imagination run wild :)

REQUIREMENTS: We need 25 6” squares to make a blankie with that in mind it would be ideal for 25 people to be willing to send in a one off snowman themed themed square to me!
YARN~ Acrylic please
Are you interested?
Wouldn’t it be nice to add an extra blankie that can then be shipped to Sibol HQ in time for the distribution :)

So far to date i have 18  17 16 open spaces so if you'd like to become a sibolette and help out with a very worthwhile Charity please do leave a comment  we'd love to have you on board and bring smiles to many more lonely eldery people this Christmas xxx
If you are a member of Ravelry you can follow the link directly here if not feel free to join it's free :)
All squares donated are pictured and finished afghan's also over at Flickr on the Site here and on Ravelry too, you've seen me have fun creating squares care to join me :) xxxxxx

Thank you for visiting until next time take good care of yourselves much love Amanda xxx

STOP PRESS hehe
our first square has arrived from Lallyloulou lookie isn't it a fabulous square to kickstart this Challenge :)

~~~Tadahh ~~~ :)

Hello and welcome back to Manda's challenge's :)

Yay!!!! pure and simple Yay!!  haha

Oh boy have i been waiting for this day for a long long time :)
My First ever completed ~ ends nowhere to be seen ~ large mahoosive Afghan for Me!!!! yay!!
And with a little help from my Friends :) i present to you my My haha Friendship Afghan :)
                                        Rainbow Kisses

Isn't it BeAutiFul :)


I can't help but feel happy happy every time i look at it and i have looked at it often hehe 
I've had it spread out on the floor more time's than not haha just staring at it looking at everyone's fabulous squares :) 

I've fell blissfully asleep on the sofa several times with it draped over me since Friday hehe :)
And worked on it quite happily completing the border (i hope I've made you all proud with my choice of bordering ) :)

The bordering a simple chain 3 sc :) it matched with the joining technique :)
I promised a colourful border hehe what better than a rainbow :)
The story behind it :) 
Way back in June 2010 i joined a granny square swap over on Ravelry. It meant exchanging 4 squares a month following a short description of favorite colours etc  mine was a love of rainbow colours and flowers hehe
Unfortunately in May of this year unknown to me at the time as i wasn't actively online The group closed :(
Due to parcels not being received etc I at the time was missing 3 swaps worth :(  so it was quite understandable as to why it had to come to a close .
August of this year i spread my received squares out and asked for help from my online friends to help me complete it :)
The response was absolutely fabulous!! It meant i could add an extra row onto the afghan :)
I played with all the squares as they arrived photographing them placing them into the design several times hehe I settled on a design of granny/pattern Flower it was perfect, the mix was spot on and no one realized it not even me until it came to playing with them on the floor :)
Worsted weight and Dk were used happily together i do love the American Worsted weight it comes in so many gorgeous colours compared to uk aran equivalent.
I simply can't thank you all enough for making this afghan a reality  xxx
Who'd have thought my first big afghan would be sooo special mwah xxxx

This is my 3 seater sofa  so you can see it's plenty big enough for me to snuggle up with :)

Wrapped up in Rainbow kisses from  my friends mwah xxxxx 


Thank you to all involved it's been a fantastic journey and i love it!!
And guess what i'm going to do it all again hehe with the Sibolette's (a sibolette is a person who has made charity squares for Sibol see the direct link pic above on the right ;) and is a member on Ravelry where the Sibol swap is taking place :)

Thank you until next time take good care of yourselves xxxxxx much love Amanda xxxxxx 

OoOoh so exciting! :)

Hello my lovelie's and welcome back to Manda's Challenges :)

Lookie!! :) click the pic for an enlarged view!!

Isn't it looking absolutely fabulous!!!
I'm sooooooo excited :) i have a grin as big as a cheshire Cat!! haha
Yesterday i had a fabulous packet waiting for me when i returned home :) lookie

The lovely Lucy over at Lucyinthesky sent me the last of the squares :)  with a little note saying better late than never :) Let me tell you Lucy that this was the most perfect timing ever as i have just broke up from work for a week :) so it's perfect for me to crack on with all wip's :) still grinning xxx

48 fabulous squares from all my friends from all over the world :) i'm loving it totally loving it!!
The last 3 rows have been added and now i must set about tiding up all those ends and add a most gorgeous colourful border and i can't wait hehe :)

My first ever Afghan tadahh for me is on the horizon how exciting !!
The progress pics :~

 More pincushion's were made and mailed out :)

And a couple more are being made too :)

Right i'm soo sorry but i can't hold my excitement and must dash to tidy those end's :) hehe

Still Grinning :) bye bye for now :) xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
E.t.a.
End's loving tidied now for the border :) xxxx 

More fabulous squares and a yearly day trip :)

Hello and welcome back to Manda's challenges :)
I have a very special treat for you today! hehe
I have had an exceptionally busy week at work and all because of one event that takes place each year for a few days...
The Great Dorset Steam Fair!
Being the nearest Supermarket to the event, people literally flood to get their goodies for their stay or for the day so i've been run of my feet trying my hardest to keep up with the demand haha
Bu first let me show you what arrived during the week i was soo excited :)
i can't tell you how happy i am to have such a fabulous response to help complete the friendship afghan that i've had in the pipe line for over a year!

Lookie at what arrived from Karen's Krafts ...

Karen wrote  beautiful note how she was concerned she hadn't been crocheting long, Karen let me tell you they are fabulous and you have nothing to worry about at all! with work like this my lovely you will produce some amazing work!!
And Secondly a gorgeous square by Caseyplusthree :)

Isn't it stunning! Thank you Casey i love it!
They will look fabulous alongside the others don't you agree :)
I did make a start on it last weekend and i thought i might be able to work on it again this weekend but the week has been so hectic i'm happy to chill today! and fill you all in hehe
My Birthday was Thursday and i was kept super busy at work! i did joke that i would put up some bunting hehe but with it being a fresh Deli i didn't of course but there is a brilliant position above my counter that it would have looked fabulous! awww to dream haha
My hubby bought me a mobile phone!! isn't he sweet and a blackberry too i have been spoilt :) mwah xxxx
Right back to the steam fair hehe
I am very lucky that his event takes place around my birthday each year so it has become tradition to go hehe
This year i hoped to show you as much of the sights as possible but it's soooooo huge it has not been possible :( you certainly need a couple of days to take it all in haha
First part of the view as you arrived ... this is only a possible 3rd !!!

I've blurred the unsuspecting car regs hehe

 A miniature stem fairground attraction

 mini steam engines

 Rare pic of me enjoying the atmosphere donned with the traditional hat hehe

more steam engines hubby took these :)

This fella was extremely brave whilst this monster truck circled him in the air!!

 Washday blues hehe from yonder years

more organs playing music through out the day

 The massive fairground

No i didn't go on any they're far too scary haha

 i love snapping the big wheel each year

 we sat in front of this beautiful organ for a bite to eat :)

The programme's of the night time attractions  on the big show stages all run/powered by massive steam engines

This is the show stage we decided to sit and watch amongst several that were available

 These guys were soo funny doing a beyonce interpretation

 And the grand finale with all involved

A very poor shot of one of the lines of steam engines showcasing their engines from all over the world! they really are magnificent !
Hope you enjoyed my trip with me...... until next time take care my lovelies xxxxxx