One a Day....Tuesday Tally #4.....and a little update....

When in doubt........Do nowt!!!!! 

That's what my Nana used to say! I'm afraid though, that doing nowt tends to make me feel a bit antsy in the pantsy. I am not a one for sitting still with idle hands, no, not me. So when I found myself this week with only my one a day on the go, I began to get rather ansty indeed! Yes there was much pacing in and out of my craft room to look through books, stare at the wool stash over and over hoping that it had multiplied, re-browsing my ravelry queue and even rummaging through the frogged projects, that I later found I had really frogged for good reason! Sigh! 

Not that I am not enjoying my one a day project, I am really getting into the swing but I need a bit of variety and after crocheting this rat hammock and getting rather sore hands as crocheting with old sheets is a bit hard yakka,  I wanted to knit! Of course though, I only have two balls of each colour in my gifted stash and they did not really go together so I would have to make something small......or go wool shopping....its only a click away..hehehehehe!!!!!

My poor man does not understand "But you have a room full of wool in there!" Yes dear, but they are all odd amounts and not suitable for anything I feel like knitting right now! Geeeeezzzzzz!

So with that said, and after re-frogging one little jumper that I remembered I really did not like, I came to the conclusion that I would NEED more wool. HEHE! So, I re-looked through the patterns and decided that I would buy wool to make myself a cardigan for next winter, also buying in the process an extra ball for my one a day project and a nice big ball to make a baby sweater AND some cotton which I will find a use for later. All 200g balls so enough to be happy with.

Next I pulled out the 2 ball lots which are only 50g each and started a little sweater from the itty bitty baby book and although I am dubious the 2 balls are enough, I am trusting the author and giving it a whirl leaving the sleeves till last just in case (I will make a vest if I run out).

I chose another vest for the two brown balls from the Debbie Bliss baby book AND I started a crocheted neck warmer with an odd ball of something very squishy and Alpaca-ry (is that a word? LOL) that I found in my stash, that one will be my handbag project.  (I will post more info on each of these as I progress and take some more pictures.)

Oh and I forgot, I also ordered another ball of the Apple Green Merino that I thought was too bright for my one a day, I did end up using some of it but I found the best toddler jacket in a library book and thought of it straight away. So I will be making that one for my niece as well. So hopefully my antsy hands will be quite busy for a while.

Now back to my ONE A DAY update. The squares are coming along nicely and I took the time the other day to notice that I had more circle centres than squares, so started on some square squares. I am varying the colour schemes as I go so hopefully in the end I will lay them out in some sort of fashion as to look nice. (please excuse grubby table, I took these pics half asleep this morning and did not realize the kids had left the table a little worse for wear last night. Hmmmm) ...

And so we now have around 30 or so squares. I think I need 64 to get going so I better start blocking them soon or I am going to be going block crazy when the time comes. Then I have to decide whether to sew or crochet them together. I am leaning towards the crochet idea for more character and bulk but not 100% sure as yet.

For more One a Day catch ups.....head on over to Gingerbread Girls place and check out all the links!

Hugs and smoochies all, have a wonderful week! xoxoxox

Up-cycled renovations....

Today my daughter got a new cage for her pet rats. It came with ramps and food bowls but needed a few homey affects.

So we ripped up an old pillow case and I crocheted them a little hammock. We wanted something cotton, not too easy to chew, and strong enough to climb and snuggle on.

In winter we make them little wool sacks to hide in but it gets a bit hot here in summer. Hence the cotton. Its basically a triangle in SC and then a little white around the edges and to make the ties.

My daughter used the left over strips of the pillow case to make a rope and added beads and things to play with so nothing was wasted. She added some beads, a bracelet and used an old ear ring too.

Rats like to have lots of different things to play with and chew and they have been having a lot of fun today in there new house.

Who is ziss leetle fuzzy being......

standing by zee vine and pizzzzzza?  (We see you little one turn around.....)

Eeeekkkkk  IT   izzzz  only IIIIIII!!!! HANDMADE IS LOVE DISPLAYED my humans! I wassss crocheted by the mama and embellished by zzeeee verrrry leeeeetle girl! Yes I was.........:-) Am I not the most handsome phone cover you have ever seen? I think so! Yes I do!

Yeah..... Aunty Karisma thought so too! Thats why she posted these pictures of me! She totally loves it when her little friends go ahead and get creative. And you know they are far cuter than me! Just sayin' ........Aunty K, is such a push over for cute kids......especially ones that create critters like ME and look like this.....

Le.Sigh..........

Honeycomb Cardi....complete....sort of..

Well I finished up the honeycomb cardi last night and I must say I was not impressed. I did not bother to even block it as I knew it would not make much difference overall.  The pattern itself was easy enough for me to follow, I think though that beginners may have found it a little hard. 

So what was the problem you ask? Well.......two small factors.....first the arms. The pattern called for picking up the stitches and knitting downwards. I have never had a pattern go this way before but thought "OK, not a bad idea" However, I picked up the exact amount of stitches it said between the exact measurements and it looks way to narrow for my liking. Generally a sleeve increases quite a bit on the way up. This one only decreased 3 times. Yeah I know I could have pulled it apart and redid it, but I was kind of over it already! sigh!

The other thing I was not too fussed on was the lack of button holes. I think buttons are a must on a baby cardi, but thats just my opinion. I don't think a 3 month old wears a cardi as a fashion statement, more for warmth! Hmmm

With that said, the pattern is really nice, the wool was lovely and maybe I will try it again at a later date making the arms a bit wider and yes adding some button holes too.

And now that this one is out of the way, its time for something new! Yay! (Or maybe I should finish the four frogged projects that are lingering.....hmmmm....nah! New sounds like a plan!) 

Have a wonderful day! 

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

One a Day......week 3...

This weeks Tuesday Tally is brought to you from our second back yard. Down in the sand......

Where the ocean meets the earth (and the crochet work basket).....

 

Who is never afraid of a little sand as it is used to sharing space with many strange things............

Like Oranges for poor disgruntled lonely homeschooled boys who miss their friends because they have been sick for weeks on end and kept apart......

Yes we have been in much need of pure salty sea air to clear our bodies and souls of germs that seem to be seeking us out lately. So this week there were a few squares whipped up  down amongst the rocks while small children played and women nattered.

And of course on this day while one boy sadly told his mum of his loneliness and missing his best friend who is recovering from whooping cough, while he himself has just caught yet another fluey type bug off his siblings when he was almost better, after weeks struggling with a chest infection. It is a vicious circle, one which I am struggling with myself.  It certainly has been an emotionally draining roller coaster down here to say the least. 

But life goes on, and so does the drama of these shabby little squares........which have accumulated despite my misgivings and lack of yarn.....

Despite my randomly ordering three huge new balls of varying colours that I thought might work....

.

Only to find that they are in fact slightly thicker yarn and they make the squares come out bigger.  And the green is too bright compared to the lighter green I used already. Sigh......(It is however, nicer to crochet with as it has just a little tighter weave and holds better.)

So I was left in yet another dilemma, should I start all over and use the thicker yarn? Should I just use the yarn I already have? Should I re-order more yarn in 5ply which is more likely to fit with the brown merino I am using already? (problem being that I have a trip coming up and it might arrive while I am away...arghhhhhh) Oh my friends, the choices were doing my head in!

So with much thought and deliberation and never really coming to a complete stand still. I decided that since I named this the Shabby Chic coat anyway, and since the colours so far actually go quite well together. I am just going to keep making those squares and I will make the bottom row in the slightly bigger ones so it has that little bit more flare! And do you know what? If it does not work out perfect, who cares? I will have a new house coat instead of an outdoors one! Worst case scenario, I will turn it into a rug! LOL

And YES, of course I am going to order more yarn when I get back. They so kindly sent me a colour sample chart and I have to say that I can see quite a few more projects coming up in the near future! Yes I can! 

I hope your one a day adventures are going far more smoothly than mine! 

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

One a Day.......week 2 update

There has not really been a lot of progress on my one a day project. You see, I still am not quite satisfied with my wool. I am however awaiting a sample sheet and a few balls of wool this week that I hope will set my mind at ease. For now I have been playing around with different patterns to see which ones I like and which ones I will actually use.  And while I do like some of the colour combination's, they are not going to work for the whole coat as the wool I used is variegated and will certainly not do for the bottom part of the coat. So I am still a hunting!

Around here the consensus has pretty much been.....oh....use them all. And it would probably work if I had all the right colours.  But for now I am not sure, I quite like some more than others and I am not too fussed on leaving it at the actual pattern, which is this......

as it does not really stand out so much with this very soft wool. I guess it looks better in the pictures and may look better when put together, but I am not sure.  So I thought I would try some circles as well.....

I really like the one in the middle and I am noticing that the colours don't quite look the same online as in real life.  The colours are all shades of green and brown so far and a little darker than they look here.

Anyway apart from this I have been working this week on a little cardigan which I called Honeycomb Cardi. There are now 3 babies coming along amongst my friends so lots of garments needed for new babies. I am aiming to make at least one garment a week, mostly small so should be able to wing it.

Hopefully I will have this finished by next week! For now I am off to crochet my square for the day!
Right after I finish checking out all the other posts..OH MY.....so much creativity! I can't wait!
If you would like to check them out too, go on over to Gingerbread Girls blog and check out the list!

Happy Crafting everyone! 

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Great Wool Online

I thought I would share a couple of links for great wool shops online that I found yesterday.   They are very different but I like them both for different reasons.......

First off  The Bendigo Woollen Mills in Victoria, I accidentally discovered the site while search for pure Australian Wool to buy as I had been having trouble finding colours that I liked locally. I am wary buying online due to the fact that the colours never seem to look the same in real life.

When the wool is also pricey it makes one a little wary I guess to take the plunge. This shop sells huge 200g balls of wool at very affordable prices. If your anything like me and cannot stand it when you get a ball of wool with a gazillion joins in the ball you will understand that this claim of no joins sucked me in straight away. Thats like four balls of wool with no joins! I hope its true, I do , I do!!!!!

Now I decided to buy 5 balls of wool in different types so I could check it out and see what I liked. I chose them went through the order stage FREE POSTAGE if you spend over a certain amount and then it would not accept my payment. I sent an email and did not expect to hear from them till at least the next day (or longer as has been my experience with othere online stores before). It was also close to closing time so when I got a call back within 20 minutes, by the most helpful lady, I was hooked I tell you. I think this may be my new wool store my friends. She not only filled my order and took payment over the phone, but informed me that two that I had chosen were out of stock and offered to send me sample cards so that I would not keep buying willy nilly colours just to check them out. LOL

So GREAT customer service, huge balls of AFFORDABLE pure Merino wool AND cheap to no postage. I will update you on what I think of the wool later but I sure do have a good feeling about this one! Yes I do! :-)

The other store I stumbled upon is a much smaller operation but very much what I think a lot of my friends would also love.


AUSTRALIAN ORGANIC WOOL  

Absolutely scrummy hand dyed wool OR you can buy the hanks undyed and do it yourself! Love it! A little dearer than the Mill Store but of course well worth the very reasonable prices. I am also quite partial to the colours of the wool. Very nice my friends, very nice!

Anyhow I just thought I would share my finds and of course save these links so I don't lose them. I do believe I will be using both for my future wool shopping adventures. I have so many projects queued up and thats not including the ones on Ravelry.

Happy crafting everyone! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox
PS. Will try and post a One a day update later. I need to take pictures! :-)

So......

I may have gone shopping........

but in my own defense, this.....

and this....

and even this......

came in the mail this week. And while I was totally out looking for wool for my one a day project, I could not help but sneak in a few more. And my mum gave me a few of those balls too, so of course I had to start another project. I chose one from the last book and have made a start today......

Not very exciting so far as the back is in stocking stitch but the front is going to be a bit more lacy so more interesting. Will update you later. I am calling it the honeycomb cardi and knitting it with some of the wool mum gave me. Holiday pure wool in 8ply. Its lovely and soft, so nice to knit with. :-) Thanks mum!

I have of course made a start on my granny squares but am finding that I really need more solid shades as I bought some variegated wool thinking it would look nice but the squares are too small for it to take effect so the colour variety is not enough right now. I will keep looking. I am hoping some of my friends might have some scraps they can pass on to me. The picture above is some of the wool I have been using. The brown and cream are Moda Vera Merino and the others are Sean Sheep pure wool.

That said, these baby books are soooooooo yummy! I have already been shopping about online for MORE wool! The last book calls for Cascade 220 superwash which I have never used but I am amazed at the amount of colours it comes in so of course am going to have to order some!

Oh and just in case you are interested and all, I also picked this book up at an opshop for 50c. Bargain much? It looks like it sat on someones shelf and was never used. The pages inside are perfect. I must endeavour to make at least something out of it. LOL I also have a lot of these types of books which seem to decorate my bookshelf rather than get used. One day I hope. Maybe when the kids are all grown.

Have a lovely crafty weekend all. Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Vintage Blues

And the last of my "stuck in the house for weeks" projects....Yes the sun is shining and I am about to go OUTSIDE to play...........

Vintage blues..........

So called because it was another of my little op shop finds and has some gorgeous vintage baby outfits in it......this one took me a few days to finish, including unknitting several times as I was not really with it and not really paying attention.

Managed to pull it off in the end though, fuzzy head and all.....I just need to add some buttons......

Nice and quickly completed in Patons Baby 4 ply on  3.75 mm needles.

One a Day........

A few days ago I scored this vintage book from an Op Shop for a grand old 50 cents. There are some great knitting and  crochet patterns in it and I can't wait to get started......

When I read about the one a day challenge over at Crochet With Raymond, I popped onto Ravelry and signed up. My only problem now is choosing 20 balls of yarn and of course keeping it cost effective. Oh my! Decisions ... decisions.....Here is what I plan to make.......but I am thinking in more earthy colours so that I will actually wear it..... I am not a great fan of black and the colours here are a little too busy even for me.......

The idea is to make one square a day or do one row. So you can still work on a gazillion other projects (which is pretty much the way I do things) and manage to finish a larger project as well. I love it! Heres hoping I can actually pull it off! My stash of odd balls has mostly been used in blankets so I will need to buy all the wool for this project. 

Not being a great fan of acrylic I am wondering if anyone has used the Patons Smootie at all? I found it somewhere quite cheap for a 10 pack and am wondering if it would suffice for the main colour and then I could use pure wool for the other parts. Not sure. I don't want it to weigh a tonne but I would like it to be durable and easy to care for. Hmmmmmmm! 

There is also the problem with buying online that the colours do not always look the same in pictures as they actually are. Would hate to end up with a great big stash of wool I don't like. Maybe I better just head down to Spotlight or the the local wool store. Wish me luck! 

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

PS (Local friends and family) : If anyone has any unwanted scraps in earthy colours eg...greens and browns that you don't need, I would love to use them. :-)