Spring is definitely in the air and I unashamedly love this time of year.

This is my second full year of knitting and getting more crafty. So I don't have much experience, but last year I certainly felt my knitting habit hit a bit of a drought as the mercury levels rose. For example, the garden was in need of some serious tidying up and with the sun making an unapologtic appearance all day, it seemed wrong not to spend most of the day outside, rather than with my knitting needles.

However, I am determined to keep up the knitting throughout this season and I've thought of a few things to help me do this:

Firstly, I'm going to keep some smaller projects on the go, which should be quick and not require too much attention, hopefully reducing the risk of a UFO. A great example are knitted flowers,. They do require concentration, but they can be picked up/put down very easily. My latest flower is the daisy. What do you think?

Second, I'm planning to use a lighter yarn. At the moment, in a top-secret (for the time being) project, I am using a gorgeous, sumptuous but lightweight merino wool.

Thirdly, my secret project involves using super bright colours which does help me retain my interest, rather than the chunkier, darker wools for the winter knits I have been used to.

Finally, I am not restricting myself to knitting in the house. I keep a knitting project wrapped in a cloth bag in the car for long journeys. I'm also keen to start knitting outdoors if the weather permits...

Do you have any tips to keep you crafty during the warmer days and lighter nights?

ps: there are two reasons why I've been a bit slack with this blog lately. Their names are Ally and Oreo. Aren't they pretty?

So our lovely friends Amanda and Vince came over one evening recently, bearing gifts of home-made bread, key lime pie, stunning flowers (as only Amanda knows how) and two books on how to make knitted flowers and cakes. What a very lucky hostess I am!

Since I've been close to home for most of the week, I was able to spend a bit of time creating my first knitted flower. Well, it's my interpretation of a water lily.

For a first attempt, I'm quite impressed with it. It took a good few hours to do this over one evening and an afternoon. One of those hours was spent yelling at myself for being silly as I tried to learn how to knit "through the back loop" (using You Tube videos) and increasing by working into the front and the back of the stitch. Simples! Not quite for me as I've had the concentration span of a newt this week.

Now I have got to grips with these new stitches, I reckon I could make one of these up in an evening.

The scale is difficult to sense from the photo (apologies for the quality, it's not up to Mr Swain's standards but I was impatient to share this with you). It measures approximately 11cm and would make a pretty Spring corsage on a coat or hat.

Let me know if you're interested in one for your Spring wardrobe. x

I would post a picture of my latest project, but I am ashamed to say that it was a disaster, when it really should have been so straightforward.

I have a good excuse for my distraction. Last week, Col and I took the week off and my sister's three kids came to stay with us over half term. The week flew by in a fun blur of Temple Run, Monopoly and chlorinated swimming pools. By the end of each day I barely had the energy to lift my knitting needles and when I did, it went so very wrong...Firstly, I slipped a stitch and hoped it would go away (it didn't). Second, I messed up on some pretty basic 2x2 rib (not pretty). Third, I lost one of the knitting needles for two days.

It was not my finest hour.

Meanwhile, Col has been nagging me to finish his scarf, but I think he should be grateful that I didn't pick it up last week...

As for last week's attempt, it's about to be frogged! Here's to a more productive crafty week.

x