Monday 30 April 2012

Living Creatively

Good Morning Lovely Readers and here in Suffolk the sun is shining - hurrah!!! A warm welcome to new follower bcarillo54.


Creative Living means two things today:
First of all, thinking outside of the box in terms of food - following our dear friend's heart attack last week, I have made yet another resolution to be more healthy and so this morning starts with a wonderful smoothie:




Take a selection of gorgeous fresh fruits:
banana
apples
pears
oranges
mango
black grapes
pomegranate juice
baby carrots (okay I know this isn't a fruit!)
These were just what I happened to have in the house.

Add a generous helping of superfoods:
maca
lucuma
he shou wu
suma (Thank you The Smiths)
bee pollen
mesquite
purple corn flour


Whizz!

Drink and enjoy!

If you would like to know more about any of the superfoods I use, have a look at Rob from Funky Raw's site:

My second creative outpouring is my new crocheted cardigan and I am so pleased with it - all you amazing crocheters out there, just to let you know - I LOVE CROCHET!!!!  I am hooked .... no pun intended! And I also love Nicki Trench's books - they are easy to follow and the items turn out as expected. That reminds me, don't forget my give-away at the top of one of Nicki's lovely books!


This is the pattern I chose:

And here is the end result. You work this cardigan from the neck down and I must admit it took a few goes to get the hang of the instructions from the yoke down, but once I did the cardigan was finished very quickly. At the end of the yoke section, you do a row of double crochet including some single chains - these chains later become the arm holes. You then continue with a shell pattern ignoring the chains, which are picked up and crocheted later, making the sleeves. Simples!

Add little flowers......

I am off to find three little buttons.............

I used 100% cotton instead of the recommended Rooster Almerino Baby and a 3.5 hook. The garment took 2 100g balls at £3.99 each, so under £8 to complete. I used Wendy Supreme luxury cotton double knit. Knowing that using the cotton, the cardi would turn out bigger, I followed the instructions for the first size and ended with a garment age 6-12 months which was what I wanted.

Have a splendid day

Love Mrs Thrifty
xxx




15 comments:

  1. Wish we had some sun - it's still raining & windy here...

    Your smoothie sounds great, we've got lots of carrots in - so might just get juicing. We like carrots with apple, fennel & ginger.

    Hope you like the suma!

    Kay :)

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  2. Hello:
    We are so pleased to read that, at last, you have some sun. From all that we have heard, the weather in the UK has been absolutely dreadful in recent weeks. Here it is already 30C and our windows are wide open.

    Healthy eating is, as we are sure you do in fact know, so very important if one is to remain fit and well.

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  3. Oh I am in so search of another good deal on a blender, since I stripped mine *sigh*. I love the little sweater,as it is so sweet and the colurs are some I would like. xxx

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  4. What a sweet sweater! Lucky little gril who recives it.

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  5. I have never heard of most of those superfoods...except the fruits of course! Do you use them to treat things or as preventatives? The little cardi is so sweet...and I do love pale grey. I am in Suffolk too this morning and despite a very flooded pond, things are definitely looking brighter! Jill x

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  6. That little jacket is SO sweet. The buttons finish it off beautifully! Have a good week! Jx

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  7. I love that little jacket its beautiful, just the kind of thing I love to make :)

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  8. Thank you for the sweet welcome. The sweater is precious. I can crochet, but I am really more of a knitter. You may convert me. Bonnie

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  9. Thank you for all your comments - always much appreciated.
    The Smiths - going to try your recipe today - sounds delicious.
    Jane and Lance - today it is raining AGAIN, but hey, at least we had a day of sunshine.
    Thanks Cindy - sea-like colours suit don't they
    Thanks Debby - I have really got this crochet bug bad
    Thanks Stocki - you were one of the people who inspired me to start crochet! Superfoods can boost immune function and general health and they can also repair. Maca is an adaptogen which seems to go where the body needs it and work its magic. It's great during the menopause which is why I have been using it. Rob at FunkyRaw does have further information.
    Thanks Jan - you too
    Thanks Linda - I have seen some of your lovely makes
    You are welcome Bonnie - thanks for joining and do have a go at crochet. I adore knitting and it was always my thing, but I love how crochet grows so quickly.

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  10. Thanks for comment on my blog. My embroidery machine is a Janome Memorycraft 300E bought from Bambers

    [ website http://www.bambersew.com/]

    I am horrified to see how much they have gone up in price since I got my machine 8 years ago. It was expensive then. It is JUST for embroidery, I have a regular machine and an overlocker for other sewing.

    I wouldnt advise buying one unless you think you will be doing LOTS of embroidery. I particularly wanted the alphabet facility for school stuff, and also the freedom to download pictures from the PC to stitch.

    but DO email me if you have further questions.

    blessings x

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  11. The little cardigan is beautiful, you are very clever! I doubt I would be able to follow a pattern to be able to do that.
    Thank you for your comment on my blog about family history.I think you should do a post about it, I find it all endlessly fascinating and follow quite a few blogs who are fellow genealogists.

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  12. What a beautiful cardi!

    You are so talented.

    Those nikki french books are very popular aren't they!

    Sft x

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  13. Hello! I'm sorry I haven't got around to leaving a comment & to say hello until now! I found your blog the other day and am pleased I have! Mmmm the smoothie looks delicious! Crochet is something which I would love to take up, I just love it and the cardigan you have made is beautiful! Have a lovely day!! Marina x

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  14. Lovely cardigan those tiny flowers are just the right but extra to it.It is also the right something I could do for a little present for a friend's daughter who is expecting. I have made a note of the book and am off to search through Amazon Spain to see if I can get it here.

    Keep well

    Amanda x
    at Crafty in the Med

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  15. Gorgeous wish I could make one xx

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