A Tablet Case and Bank Holiday Fun

This is Steve's Sleeve, a pretty stylish little tablet case from Wool and the Gang who, a weeks ago, very kindly sent me a kit to try out. While I'd heard of Wool and the Gang I hadn't bought any of their products before so I was intrigued. 

The kit was well stocked with all the materials you needed for the case plus hook, darning needle and pattern, which I have to say was very well written and easy to follow (although it is written in US terms so be aware of that).

The whole case was easy to make, just rows of double crochet stitches worked in a spiral until you reach the desired size, and it required more of my concentration to stitch the leather flap onto the back of the case than it did to crochet. 

The blanket stitch is not hard, but I wanted my stitches to look as even as possible, not easy with the thick yarn.

This is the finished sleeve. I really like the simplicity of both the pattern and the design; no flowers, no pompoms, no embellishments - although you could easily add some if you wanted to - just the texture of the yarn and leather and the solid blocks of colour. I like the way it's not aimed at women or men, but is just a really useful thing to have.

Little details are there in the small metal tag provided, which is kind of half stitch marker half safety pin. 

It's a cosy home for a tablet and we use it all the time. Things are endlessly dropped in this house and not always by the children, so the cover is useful.

I know I said I liked how unisex the design was, but it occurred to me that this would be a great gift if you really wanted to crochet something for a man or teenage boy, and I think it would be well received. 

Thanks for the kit Wool and the Gang, I really enjoyed making this. 

Wool and the Gang are offering a 20% discount (excluding postage and gift cards) on all items on their website using the code below, valid until 31st May 2016.

20%HAPPYHOUSE

Happy Shopping!

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Thank you all for your kind comments on my last Colour Collaborative post. I will try to respond to the questions soon. I hope you've had a nice bank holiday weekend? Ours has been alright - it's swung between relaxing and productive, lazy and busy, grumpy and happy, wet and dry. Saturday morning the four of us went to Chichester with nothing more urgent on our list than to go to Waterstones and get a coffee, and we did all that plus I had the biggest, most delicious apple doughnut I've ever eaten. It was about the size of my hand. In the afternoon my parents came and picked up Bella and Angus leaving John and I child free for a few hours to decorate. It was a nice afternoon - we played music, there was barbecue pulled pork chuntering away in the slow cooker, we didn't have to tell anyone to stop bickering. The children were returned to us at bedtime, fed and watered, and with a parcel of cakes my mum had baked that afternoon too. 

On Sunday we wanted to visit the Portsmouth Rural and Seaside Show in down Southsea. The sun was shining and we decided to go out early and treat ourselves to breakfast first at a favourite place down on the seafront. Well, the whole morning was almost derailed by the shocking and devastating discovery that they have taken their Eggy Bread off the menu and replaced it with a bagel with peanut butter and banana. I mean seriously, why would you do that? Their Eggy Bread (French Toast to my American friends) was the sweetest, gooiest, fluffiest thing you ever tasted and we'd all been talking about it in the car on the way there and saying how we were missing our weekend breakfasts at home and how we were looking forward to it. Oh my goodness. Angus actually cried when he realised it wasn't on the menu. John looked sad and ordered a Full English but I could tell his heart wasn't in it. Bella stoically chose something different. I ordered Eggs Royale and it was sublime I have to say, with homemade hollandaise sauce, so good. But gosh it was stressful. This is what happens when you don't have a kitchen! Food gets blown out of all proportion. Anyway, it all looked up from then on and we had a lovely morning pottering around the seafront and watching Sheep Dog Trials and Shire Horse Displays and the like. We spent the afternoon decorating, again, then went to my parents' for dinner in the evening. They have really looked after us this weekend, what with childcare and feeding us and just generally being brilliant and supportive. 

Today, I...wait for it...did some more painting. We're almost there with the decorating now, but the kitchen is still very much a work in progress (no worktops or cooker or flooring) and I have lots of photos to show you. I'll do another kitchen update soon. Have a lovely week you lovely people!