Karisma's Kraft

Pay It Forward No 4 - Take your pick

2012-02-23T08:43:00.000+11:00

This pay it forward gift was supposed to be the easiest and quickest gift out of the five. But me being me, well.....I could not make up my mind just which gift to give. Ahhhh decisions...decisions!

A gift is something that one gives from the heart. It should be chosen with the person you are giving it to with thought and loving intention. It is with this in mind that I choose not only the yarn for the project, but the pattern that I will use. Next I try to sit quietly and use this time as a sort of meditation where I think happy loving thoughts so that a lot of love goes not only into my projects but to the person that they are destined for.

Usually this plan works well for me, but sometimes the "too much thinking" vibe kicks in and I begin to worry. Will this person like this? Is it good enough? Will they like the colours I chose? Will they use it? Will they wear it? etc etc etc

Now in this case, I really don't know the lovely lady my gift is intended for, other than a few words here and there on facebook. So initially I delved into my ever growing stash and pulled out this scrummy ball of Alpaca and hooked up an easy cowl pattern. I got about halfway through this when I recalled that this lovely lady had recently become a Vegan and wondered if she would like it after all? Oh Oh! A quick email sorted this out and we decided no thank you. Cotton would be better.

I finished it anyway as I had already started I thought why not? It turned out quite nicely and I kept it to a simple size so it can double up as a headband/ear warmer. I love these! :-)

NEXT I found some 4ply Organic Cotton and decided to double it up and knit the Zakka Neck Warmer. I quite liked this one, and I could see all my girls loving this one, but then I thought, I wonder if N will like it? Maybe she does not like lacy vintage looking stuff? Yikes. See, too much thinking again.

I had really wanted a nice wooden button on this and had a fun day scouring op shops and button stores with no luck but I did find this cute flower wood like button and went with that........ Now as pretty as it is, I don't think its going to keep one WARM.......

So I got those knitting needles going AGAIN and I found some cotton blend from Yarn Bee. This one is a mix of cotton 47%, Acrylic 39% and Polyester 14%. This time I decided to get creative and make up my own pattern. (I will post it for you later). It is really soft and offers a bit of warmth as well. AND it SPARKLES! :-) Yeah, I quite like this one, even if I do say so myself. LOL I think this one is my favourite. Do you like it?

Yesterday I decided to have a go at making a fuzzy warm chunky style crocheted cowl. Just in case, none of the above was suitable. This one was a really quick project and I think its a bit too big. Well, it is on me. Looks kinda like a big clown collar on me. But when pulled back so it fits and rolled down, it looks quite nice. So a smaller version would probably be better. This one is 100% Acrylic. Sorry I don't have a picture with one wearing it right now. But it sits over the shoulder and round at the front.

I was very tempted to make yet another one but I was reminded that one baby I intended to knit for is due this week and I have not yet made a present. Woops. I better get cracking with the baby goods.

So Miss N, if you would like to choose which one is grabbing your fancy I will send it along ASAP. I hope you like at least one of them. ;-) I had loads of fun making them all.

I will try and write the patterns up later today or tomorrow for the rest of you. Love and Light to all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Knit Knit Knit -

2012-02-22T07:37:00.000+11:00

If you feel you want tooooo ooooooo oooooooo! Knit Knit Knit if you feel you caaaaaaaaaaaaaan! Ah ah!

Oh hello! Don't mind me! Just singing on my way past as I pack the children off to school (which they have decided is Stupid! With a Capital S! But they are giving it a good go anyway!) And as we are off for a long round car trip today and I don't have time to show you all those promised cowls right now, I thought I would show you what I got up to yesterday. Well part of it anyway. I did make another cowl too. ;-)

Yes I casted on yet another sweater for myself! I know, it was not on the list at all BUT (Neither was the yarn my friends!) I just happened to be out looking for some fabric when the lovely Spotlight ladies announced that ALL the reduced yarn was going for $1 a ball for the next 5 minutes only! Who could resist such a delectable offer???? Not me! Thats for sure.

Amongst the huge bag of yarn that made it home with me was 13 balls of Patons Jet in this flecky looking blue and green. I as not quite sure how it would look knitted up but it was ONLY $1 instead of nearly $7 a ball and I have wanted to try it for ages as I have a pattern book which I also bought at a sale a long time ago. Anyway's I like it! Yes I do! I was rather pleasantly surprised to learn that it is 70% Alpaca and 30% wool. And here I was all this time thinking it would be an acrylic blend of some kind! Nah Ah! So even more of a BARGAIN don't you think?

It is extremely lovely to knit and I am looking forward to wearing it it winter.

Have a beautiful day everyone! I must run! Child whinging at me for some pencils! Love and Light!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Purple Pea Matinee Jacket

2012-02-20T09:07:00.000+11:00

I spent a good part of my sit down time working on this little cardigan on Fri/Sat in between working on a few other little goodies. I wanted to try out one of the vintage patterns from my Family Crochet Book and chose this one as a first go.

I have to say I was a bit wary of the pattern as it was quite odd to say the least. Changing hooks mid skirt had me looking at it funny. AND it had you leaving gaping holes for the armholes and well it was all a bit odd in my books. The sleeves were sewn up leaving four rows open and those four rows folded across the gap to give it a big armhole.

That said, I followed the pattern to a tee and behaved myself although I do believe I frowned a fair bit going on the comments of those around me.

This picture shows the colour a bit better....

I used Purls of yarn acrylic 8ply in a purplish variegated style colourway which I really did not love at all. I am not the greatest fan of acrylic as we all know but this was actually really nice to crochet with, I just did not like the colour at all.

I nearly did not give this to my niece on her birthday yesterday as I did not feel it was up to my usual standard. I wrapped up her new fairy doll and the other little jacket I made last week and stuffed this one in my bag to show her mum........who by the way LOVED it! Go figure!

Miss Peanut also loved both her new jumpers and insisted on trying them both on in the stinking summer heat. LOL We did not take a picture as it was too hot. She ended up wearing this little get up instead......

Her favourite present of all.....her new slippers from nana or soooz as she calls them and her Dora Tutu. She is the only 2 year old I know who prefers clothes over toys. Xmas was much the same, her trying on her new clothes and ooohing and ahhhing over them. Such a cutie!

Hope you have a wonderful week everyone! I have a bunch of cowls to show you soon and another bag!

Hugs and smoochies xoxox

Herrrow........

2012-02-17T08:35:00.000+11:00

My name is Charlotte and I have a new jumper but I am not so sure that I want to stand still so you can have a nice picture of me in it! I really don't see the purpose of this flashing contraption in my face, it is not a fun game, no it is not!!!

(Please excuse stray threads, Karisma forgot to weave in a couple before she tried it on me! Woops!)

I would much rather have a scratch...

Check out what's in the carpet!

And play with feet.........

Hey! Can you do this? I am so clever! Yes I am!

Sitting still and modelling though? That is clearly NOT my forte! Nah- Uh!

I do so like my jumper though, it is very warm and snuggly, yes it is.

See you next time! Puppy love from Charlotte xoxoxo

Pampered Pooch - Pay it Forward Gift #3.1

2012-02-12T11:28:00.000+11:00

One guess who this one is for - yes the young lady who did not quite get the "one gift per person" rule of pay it forward Handmade. AKA my oldest daughter who asked for a jumper for her puppy, a matching hat AND a lace collar for herself. LOL

So after much scouring the internet and puppy fashion books, I finally ended up just winging it and making up my own pattern. (ok I was a little impatient and wanted to make something straight away, I still plan on making one from the internet but am going to have to tweak the pattern to get it to fit).

Charlotte is a Chihuahua and although she is quite small she is still growing rapidly so I was a bit dubious about sizing etc. Anyways, I came up with this little coat, and could not resist sprucing it up with a bit of garden flair. I called it the orange blossom puppy coat and it is made with Basics pure wool in orange and a little yellow and green (Bendigo Wool) for the flower.

Note, that I did not add ribbing around the leg holes. The reason for this is that our dear departed Chihuahua/Australian Terrier cross used to only like to wear coats knitted this way. The ribbed ones used to drive her nuts and she would rip off her jumpers. So I always made them like this.

I will have to take a picture of Charlotte in her new coat when she comes to visit. Fingers crossed that it will fit her.

Hope you are having a Happy Weekend.

Hugs and smoochies xoxo

Lavender Ruffles (Quick Whipped Up Ta-dah)

2012-02-09T20:02:00.000+11:00

I have been a bit lazy around the house this week, moping I think as my boys have gone off to school for the first time in over 5 years and left me by myself.

I have been reading the Hunger Games series and of course thrown in a little knitting, cooking and crochet in between. In utter boredom a couple of days ago, I decided to unravel a frogged jumper and decided to use some of the wool to whip up something quickly. I ended up finally making the ruffled Hexagon Baby Cardigan from Yarn Tails, in its full glory.

I have made several of these little cardigan's before but never added the ruffles. It really does jazz it up a bit though, I must say. The wool is Patons Tasman (an acrylic blend) in white and purple. I used a 5mm hook and 3 heart buttons to finish it off.

Please do excuse the lighting in the pictures. I had a bit of a hard time trying to get the colour right then finally gave up. So although it looks dark in some and blue in some, it is actually more of a lavender colour in truth.

I think it turned out pretty cute in the end and it was so quick and easy to whip up! Not sure yet who I am going to give it too. It was not one of the projects on my long to do list. Woops!

Ah, but its always nice to whip up a something just because you feel like it. Don't you think?

Love and Light to All,

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

African Flower Bag - Ta Dah (Pay it Forward Gift #2)

2012-02-07T18:24:00.000+11:00

When I joined in the "Everything CAL" group on Ravelry, I was quite excited at the prospect of the mystery CAL idea and then I found that it really frustrated me as doing one or two rows at a time and trying to remember to check in each day did not really fit in with my schedule etc.

So when it was decided that we would begin a complete project all together, I was much happier and even a bit excited when the African Flower Bag was chosen as the project. I had been eyeing off those African flowers for a while but had no desire to make a huge blanket. The bag was a perfect way to try them out and it was a lot of fun to make ..... mistakes and all.

After surveying the colours of cotton I had available, I immediately thought of my friend Marie and decided that this project would be my pay it forward gift to her. I had this inkling that it would be just perfect for her. (And from her reaction when I posted it on facebook the other day.....I think I was right...phew.... Her "OMG....I LOVE IT" was a good indication that I chose well).

Can you spot the mistake?

I found the pattern quite easy to understand, my only problem was that with a lot on my mind the past couple of weeks, I failed to notice that one of my flowers had one petal too many!!!! I only realised after I had already sewn them all together and started on the bag itself.

I decided to leave my lovely mistake as well, it would have taken so long to undo it all and really once the bag is being used unless someone points it out, you probably would not even notice. (No one around here did anyway!)

When it came to the base my 9 rounds were far too small so I added a few more. And even MORE increases, then it looked a little like this......

Buts thats okay! Now we were talking, and since I was on a roll for changing things I just went ahead and made the handle wide and open.

AND I did not make the lining as I thought to myself, I would not want it as it would restrict the amount of stuffing stuff in it! LOL So I checked with my friend and she also said she likes to stuff her bags too. Just look how much yarn one can stuff in there! Six 200g balls and there is still room. :-)

Ahhhh what a lovely project this was, made from lots of different left over cotton and some new black and dark purple too! I have to say that I will be making myself one of these, once I get over my HUGE to do list that is.

Can you see my mistake in this shot? LOL

I really enjoyed making this bag, although I was a bit unsure of the colours and even the layout of those colours. Not for me! But so far, everyone thats seen it in person LOVES it! I think it is very MARIE but not so much KARISMA! LOL Now if it was green????????? It would be SOOOOOO MINE! I can't wait to hand it over to her on her .......

Made with LOVE by Karisma for Marie..........

Peace, Love and Happiness to all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Versatile Blogger Award

2012-02-04T11:37:00.002+11:00

The beautiful Kashi has bestowed yet another award upon me, apologizing in advance lest I not love her anymore. LOL I am of course most grateful for my lovely award, and whilst wondering why I might not love her for giving it to me I scrolled to the "pass it on to 15 people" part! A-hah!!!! This explains it all!

Yes, we all know I am rather lazy at that bit and have been known to say "if you are reading this, consider yourself awarded" and YES, we all know I did that last time because..... well, this is a pretty new blog and I don't really know that many people in these circles yet AND you all beat me to the giving it to each other part.

SO......... I thought I would shock you all and actually pass it on to 15 different people.... even if I have to go and award people via my other blog to do so. But first we need to get down to the knitty gritty part of EARNING our award! Yes my friends, it does not come for free this one, we must cough up 7 random things about ourselves to earn it! Hmmmmmmm

Here are Da Rules......

1. Add the award to your blog.

Ta- Dah....

2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.

THANK YOU LOVELY KASHI!

(Yes really, thank you for getting me to spend my whole Saturday morning in front of the computer writing this post. And please excuse the lateness of my African flower bag which is sitting around waiting for me while I do this. LOVE you Kashi <3)

3. Mention 7 random things about yourself.

ONE

I like to walk barefoot upon the earth. And take pictures of bare feet on the earth...maybe I have a bit of a foot fetish? Hmmmm

TWO

I met my husband when I was 14 years old. After five children and all these years, we still manage to annoy each other on a daily basis. Opposites really do attract yk? I still think he is cute even when he goes a bit feral. LOL

THREE

I love a good thunderstorm! And no I don't run for cover when I see one coming....I take a picture so it will last longer! (Then I go console my dogs coz they really don't share my passion for a good storm at all)

FOUR

I like wine MORE than I like chocolate! (I know......shame on me!!!!!)

FIVE

HORSES and I really don't get along. I love them and all but really? Go read this post if you want to learn more and laugh at me in the process!

(After reading this post myself I would like to add that I HAVE in fact been on a horse since I wrote that. The horse and I had a lovely ride and chat, really we did!)

SIX

The only thing in life I really can't stand is NASTY. So if you don't want me to like you, go ahead and be nasty!

SEVEN

I LOVE everybody and everything that breathes!

4. List the rules.

1. Add the award to your blog.

2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.

3. Mention 7 random things about yourself.

4. List the rules.

5. Award to 15 bloggers.

6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

5. Award to 15 bloggers.

Ok not quite 15 but I tried and my fingers are really itching to grab some yarn. Later gators!

Oh and here's a bonus

EIGHT

My attention span is not very long! haha~

6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

Oh Okay then, then really Im going! So much to do...so little of the day left.

Thanks Kashi!!!!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxoxox

Love and Light to all

Pay It Forward Gift Number One

2012-01-24T10:53:00.000+11:00

Well, as you can imagine, with all those projects lined up, since I left you last I was feeling a bit swamped and unsure as to whether I would actually get anything finished. Flitting from one project to another between little scraps of time as I have been extremely busy with household and garden chores in the last week before our "holiday" time finishes. I was pretty much doubting much would be achieved at all.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to whip this little project up in hardly any time at all. Always lovely to have a ta-dah between all the chaos, don't you think? So without further ado......

Ta-Dah -

HELLOOOOOOOO KITTY!

This is the first of my Pay It forward gifts to be completed and it was requested that a beanie be made for my niece Jazzy. I wanted something cute but quick as obviously I still have so many other gifts to make as well. I can't really share the yarn as I have no idea what it was other than at a guess 10ply Acrylic. (soft of course or I would never have touched it). The edging is wool though and left over from some long forgotten project in my scrap yarn box. Same goes for the eyes, nose and bow. All in 8ply.

I mostly followed the pattern, but I changed hooks after the increase rows to a larger hook as I was wary of the size. AND I made the ear flaps a couple of DC's smaller. I also used 12 strands of wool to make braids rather than the suggested chains. All in all, I was extremely happy with the results. So just a few small changes. LOL

If you would like to make one too.......here is the link to the lovely pattern.....

Crochet Creative Patterns

Awwwww Doesn't my little fairy look cute in her cousins new hat?

Hey! What do you mean its NOT for me? How rude!!!!!

Have a beautiful week everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

The To Do List 2012

2012-01-19T08:20:00.000+11:00

Are you one of those people who tends to "bite off more than you can chew"? I certainly am and in my usual fashion this week, signed up for a few things I probably don't really have the time for. Why?

Well I have quite a few projects on the go that are not finished. I promised myself wholeheartedly that I WOULD FINISH THEM ALL before starting anything new. But you know how it is don't you. When one has a yarn addiction there is nothing quite like hooking or casting on yet another project.

So here is my list just for the immediate future.....

NOT FINISHED

* Trinity Lace Shrug (which is annoying me a bit right now so is sitting aside)

* Eucalyptus dreams Cardi (which I have not picked up for weeks because I keep casting on other smaller knits. Woops. I am onto the second sleeve though. Which is better than nothing).

* Awesome Hoodie (which was frogged so long ago, I almost forgot about it. While I was loving the wave pattern, the sleeves kept on coming out wrong and I got fed up. I really want to finish it though as its really cute! )

There are several other little projects that I am not going to bother showing as they have been waiting for so long I will just go with the thought "I probably won't have time anyway".

MUST DO'S (you know promised stuff to others)

* Several knitted baby hats (on order)

* Baby Cardigan in Moss Stitch (see right)

* Long Jumper for second daughter ( Pattern yet to be decided but must be done for July)

* Baby cardigan or jumper for my cousins baby

* Baby blanket for nephew (think this will be my next one a day project)

*Jumper and beanie for daughters puppy

*Jumper for my dog Miko

* Green beanie to match my scarf.

* 5 pay it forward gifts

I joined the pay it forward on facebook thinking it would be easy to come up with five little gifts in a hurry. Then someone asked if they could make a request and so silly me said SURE. So guess what, here are the requests.

* One cowl (she picked a really easy one but I think I will make something a little nicer)

* One dog jumper and beanie (yes daughters orders and then she wants a knitted Lace Collar for herself too. I think the one gift part did not reach her ears. LOL) Neither of these two offered patterns with their orders just Etsy pictures LOL

* One beanie for my niece (I am thinking of making a hello kitty one)

* The other two have kindly left it up to me. I have not decided as yet what to make for one of them, but think it will be something warm for winter.

As for the last one, her comment was "I will leave it up to you as I know how busy you are" And because she was such a sweetheart I decided to make her the African Flower Bag as I am taking part in this CAL on ravelry to make it and thought this would take care of two things at once. Here are the colours I am using...... I had to restrain myself from buying more supplies as I really need to use up all my stash. I am not really fond of the pink one but not sure if I have enough of the other colours to go on with so we will see.

This is the pattern I will be using for the baby blanket for "One a Day". I have loads of soft acrylic yarn that was given to me that I thought I would never use. I have a bit of an acrylic phobia, ick but hate to be wasteful.......I had to copy this from a blanket I bought at a fete really quickly as my daughter took the blanket home last week for her puppy. The main part will be pale blue and the inner parts in all different pastels etc.

Now of course this is the bare basic list. I have my eye on so many other projects its not funny and I probably would have ordered the yarn for them all, but we have a homeschool camp coming up and I need to pay for it so am behaving myself for now. My book list is also growing longer each day. I really love several Interweave books right now that I really must have. LOL

Now at the risk of overwhelming myself with far too many things to do. I am off to start the day! What are you planning to make this year?

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Moss Scarf.......Ta-Dah

2012-01-17T12:01:00.000+11:00

Hello my lovelies, How are you fairing on this glorious day?

I was just about to post about all the things I have managed to queue up (the delicious tangle of yarn and over taxing oneself with a huge TO DO list), when I thought. Nah, I will show them a little Ta-dah first. Far less stressful you know?

I may have mentioned my little project that has been accompanying me in the car, back and forth to the airport, to the beach etc. You know, one of those projects that requires no pattern, no patience and just a little bit of love and togetherness to get it done?

And in between reading the Traci Harding, Mystique series and trying to catch up with a gazillion other things, like overdue housework, gardening, planning homeschooling activities and trips and stuff for the term..... I actually managed to finish something. Wow.

I also managed to start a few other things, but lets just not go there right now. Okay?

I pretty much just made it up as I went and decided to stick with a simple repeat so that I would not really have to think much. I know lazy, but the effect turned out quite nice!

Here is the pattern I ended up with.....

I used a 5mm hook and Sean Sheep pure Australian wool (which is a quite rustic type of wool in the sense that it is spin quiet thin in some places and practically not at all in others. So you get a bit of a chunky look in places).

Start: Make 22 chain and turn.

Row 1: SC into 3rd ch, and to end.

Row 2: ch 3, DC in next and to end (Keeping a total of 20 across at all times)

Row 3: ch 2, SC across 19 stitches to end. ( I always use a ch 2 for a sc row start as it gives a neater stitch at the end).

Row 4: Ch3, DC in next st, (ch 1, skip next sc, DC in next sc) rpt to end.

Row 5: Same as row 3.

Rpt rows 2 - 5 to desired length ending with a row 3.

I went around the edges with a small wave pattern repeat of hdc, DC, hdc into one stitch, skip one, sc into next skip one and repeat. All the way round adding an extra sc into the corners. Twas quite the relaxing project indeed. Shame the rest of my list is not so simple! haha!

Meh! Lucky Im a laid back type of girl hey?

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY MY FRIENDS!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Beautiful Blogger Blanket Details

2012-01-13T16:51:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post to let you all know the details for the squares I sent off as my contribution for the Beautiful Blogger Blanket.

I used Panda 8 ply Cotton in Purple. And the pattern is from The Family Crochet Book which was published in 1972 (second edition). I ended up choosing a pattern from this lovely vintage book, which I scored in an op-shop. Being a Motif that was actually intended for use in a cute little apron. I really liked it so decided to go with that one.

And these are the squares I sent.......

I am really looking forward to seeing the whole blanket when it is completed. I am sure its going to be amazing!

I have some other projects I would love to share, but not prepared with pictures at the moment. One of my projects is giving me grief. I might need to ask advice if I can't work out whats happening with it. For now I am about to cook the dinner and then do some reading.

Hugs and smoochies all. xooxoxox

Little Hats......Gum nut style........

2012-01-08T08:30:00.001+11:00

I have been in the midst of a bit of a hat making frenzy for the past week or so. After posting my Berry Cute hat on facebook, it was requested that I make some baby hats in gum nut colours. For those of you who are not familiar with gum nuts. They are the basically the seed/flower pods of gum trees. And they look a bit like this......

They actually start off green and then they sprout flowers in all shades of yellow, orange and red. Then when the flowers fall off and the seeds dry out they turn brown or grey and go very hard on the branch before falling. They are rather harsh on ones bare feet if you don't see them.

(Both photos, borrowed from here. Go check out the other lovely pics :-))

Author, May Gibbs wrote stories about little gum nut babies and as such, it is often an incentive in the land down under to create little gum nut looking hats among the yarn obsessed natives. Or at least among their non yarn obsessed friends and family who like to put in their orders for cute little baby things and even though they tend to mix up gum nuts and acorns (yes I take this very seriously people) I manage to come up with something to suit the individuals and have loads of FUN doing it!

So my friends, how does one make a gum nut baby hat with out a pattern? Well, it turns out I actually DO have a pattern but I am not at all fussed on the actual hat. After consulting google, I noted there is a May Gibbs knitting book floating about and I was all like....hey, I have that book somewhere (yes another little op-shop find that I am yet to actually use. Woops)......

I have to say though, that I was not terribly fussed on the hat. (Woops I said that already!) While it does look very much like a gumnut baby hat, the hat is designed for bigger children and was not quite what I had in mind. It is very cute though, and there are some other patterns in the book that I now have my eye on. Maybe I will make them soon. :-) I do know how to make a short story long don't I? haha

So as I said before, I wanted my hats to look like gum nuts...real gum nuts.....so I started with a just brown version of the Berry Cute hat and went from there......

Stocki, do you like my improv baby heads? hehe!

While it does look kind of like a gum nut, I was, in my usual fashion, umming and ahhing and wondering if I could come up with something better.

And being on a bit of a roll, so to speak, I decided to create a crochet version as well. And yes, I just made it up as I went along and I worked from the top down.....

.......with the assistance of my "sometimes" helpful little friend here....

We managed to come up with this......(Oh look!!! An almost baby!)

I quite like the look of this one, but most of my friends so far have preferred the softer feel of the knitted version. I have orders for that one in green and brown. And I think I am going to have to make an acorn at some stage too. LOL

Meanwhile, in my travels this weekend, I played with some variegated wool and am thinking about whether to try felting it or not.....not sure yet as I quite like the stripy effect on this one. Not very gum nutty but cute all the same. I might add some tassels to the end. What do you think? Hmmmm

And of course, after all that, I remembered this little one that I made a couple of years ago. The flower version of the gum nut hat. I can see this one in authentic colours now, can you? I am going to have to make it for sure. (This is from the Patons book, Designer knits for tots).

I totally stole this picture from my ravelry page. Lazy much? And then I remembered that this little outfit had in fact been returned to me to keep for my daughter when little Miss Jazzy here grew out of it. She is nearly 5 and starting school this year! Yikes. So I took a quick picture just for you!

Not quite the same without the cute little head in it hey? Now I am away my friends. Its a beautiful sunny Sunday morning here and I am planning on spending it outdoors. Love and Light to you all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Harmony Cowl - Ta Dah

2011-12-31T08:57:00.000+11:00

This is my second daughter Meagan, showing off her Xmas present from mama.

Made from Moda Vera Harmony, doubled up to make it chunky. Crocheted using a 5mm hook. This cowl is supposed to be long enough to wear over your head as well. Unfortunately, I ran out of wool. I had five balls and used about 4 and a half. And while it fits over my head, it kind of looks like a hijab instead of a cowl. LOL. Meagan is taller than me and also did not want to squash her bow so please excuse my goofy head.......

It definitely could use another section if worn in this manner so that it bunches more at the bottom.

Meagan lives down in Melbourne, where it is much colder than here so she will use it as a neck cowl and maybe pull it up if freezing. Unlike her little sister who poses readily for the camera, this one pulled faces and sighed a lot. haha! Just love this, get on with it mum already! Enough!

Sometimes mothers are annoying, hey?

Do you like her bow? Her big sister, Ashlee made it. She sells them on Etsy along with loads of other creations. They are quite popular along with the little bow rings she also makes. Here is a link to her store, if you would like to check it out. Whispy Love

Oh and here is my little faerie, Gemma, wearing her xmas hat.

I decided not to sew eyes on after all as I thought it looked a bit too cutesy like that for an adult. She loved it! And unlike her father who insisted he could not see any owls on this hat, she saw them straight away and was very happy!

Once again, Happy New Year! And for those who are wary of 2012, don't be, its not the end, its merely the beginning again!

Hugs and Smoochies all xoxoxoxox

Berry Cute Hat

2011-12-31T08:25:00.000+11:00

I whipped this little hat up the other day as a nice little change from knitting furiously away at my Eucalyptus Cardigan. That, by the way, is coming along nicely after several run ins with boys who don't know how to sit on a lounge that has knitting on it. Lets just say, many argghhhs later, I am remembering to put it up high before leaving it now.

This little cutie was discovered on ravelry, and here is the link to the pattern over at Pea Soup. This little hat was delightful and easy to make. The instructions are easy to follow so great for beginners as well.

I used some of the left over wool from my Lotus Cardi. (Bendigo Woollen Mills - Luxury- Lotus) and a little bit of green (Bendigo Woollen Mills - Rustic - Elm). I knitted it in the round on as set of four 4mm needles.

After posting it on facebook last night, I was asked to make one in gum nut colours. Funny as I had thought of making gum nut hats before but never got around to it. Here is some incentive I guess. Lucky for me, the colours of the bush are among my favourites hey?

Wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR! Keep safe and happy!

Love and Light,

Hugs and Smoochies xoxoxox

A Gift for Mama......

2011-12-29T07:36:00.000+11:00

A Christmas Ta-dah from Ashlee.........

Its so funny, whenever Ashlee and I make gifts for each other, it often comes with the comment...I so wanted to keep this one for myself.

Well, lucky for me, in this case......I had not yet given her the other gift I had for her which was a little wooden box decorated all sewing room like and filled with a set of crochet hooks because on her previous visit she was trying to take one of my hooks home with her. She might have just kept it after all. LOL I think she will be making another one for sure now though.

It is so beautifully quilted, and the inside has so many hook holes that there is plenty of room for MORE.....YAY....

Last year she gave me several little purses that I keep my hooks and other little bits and pieces in but this one is just beautiful. I love that I can now lay it out and immediately see all the hooks instead of rummaging through the small purses. Although I do love my purses too because they are very easy to pop in my bag. And I still have more hooks floating around with projects on the go, that is why the smaller hooks are sharing space.

I do so LOVE this gift! How lucky am I? To have such creative children is truly a blessing!

Today we are taking our other daughter Meagan to the airport as she is flying home. (insert sad face). Its been so lovely having her home this week. Sadly, she has to go back as she has work. So she cannot stay to see in the new year. We are all going to miss her BIG time. Its always harder the first few weeks after a visit. I wish she did not live quite so far away. Although Ashlee lives out of home she visits every other week so at least we squeeze in some regular hugs. Sigh. ....

Until next time, my lovelies......take care..

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

Ta-dah.....

2011-12-27T08:55:00.000+11:00

Remember the doily secret I promised to reveal after Xmas?

Well, Xmas has been and gone. I hope you had a perfectly beautiful one. AND the gifts have been given away so now I can show you just what I did with these. First I lovingly grew some herbs in my garden. Then I harvested them, dried them and stored them in recycled Coffee jars. I have a bit of a soft spot for these jars, they come in all sizes and are most useful. I decorated the jars with some pretty stickers and made some labels.....then, I popped a doily on top to make it pretty.......and tied it with a ribbon...

I popped in a little herb strainer.......Gemma added a little ribbon to this too. ;-)

Then I put it in a pretty box and added a floral headband and some pearl and flower bracelets.....

It looked very pretty, don't you think?

Next I wrapped it all up in cellophane and tied it with some curly ribbon.

This gift was for my oldest daughter, Ashlee. SHE LOVED IT!!!!! Phew And I had so much fun putting it together. Now I just have to convince her to actually open it and use it. LOL She did not want to undo all the prettiness.

Have a great day all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Two sleeps to go! Two sleeps to go!

2011-12-23T07:32:00.001+11:00

And the tree is as dressed as it will be this year. And presents are growing daily underneath too. Its been a busy couple of days. Fingers crossed I managed to stamp out the sick vibes in the house. No more victims have been claimed so far and we managed to spend a couple of days with our oldest daughter and her puppy visiting and picked up our second oldest daughter from the airport.

Its been all about family visits this week as my sister and her family are also staying at my mums. Yesterday we had fun playing charades and just hanging out indoors as the weather has not been kind to us at all. Still raining and more like winter than summer around here.

After my girls departed, yes the oldest stole the other one and they headed down to Sydney, to stay at her house for a couple of days as they "need" to go to the Harry Potter Exhibition you know before it ends. My poor faerie girl has to work today though so she misses out. :-( Originally the plan was all three girls would go together. But as free tickets were organised, it had to be today.

Left all alone, after such a hectic busy week, I consoled myself by whipping up a little cupcake....a yarn one of course! (please excuse crappy picture, I uploaded it to facebook via my phone then copied it...I know...very tacky indeed.. but it is rather early in the morning and clearly I am not in the mood for a photo shoot right now).

I also managed to do a few rows on my Eucalyptus Cardi and the scarf I told you I was working on. Projects on the Go! (Gotta love em) And yes it really is a day for tacky pictures isn't it? hehe! I am sure you will forgive me and even the tacky handle on my much loved bag there, must replace it, but never seem to get around to it. Its just one of those bags one cannot throw away you know? The fabric is too darned loverly!

I did take a picture of my very first attempt at felting, the heartfelt ring by Tiny Owl Knits....later on I did felt it a bit more and while the ring itself looked better and more like felt, the heart took a slight beating. It kind of looks more like a little bear head now (bahahaha) and I could not find my little snip snip scissors. I think I am WAY overdue for some cross stitch time. I am sure to find at least six pairs amongst my cottons and aida. Hmmmmm That said, I probably won't make a habit of felting, especially if it requires using my hands to roll with. Soap and my hands do not mix, I have terrible dermatitis and this little baby made it flair and hurt. It was fun to try something different though.

The house is so quiet that I could sit here and chat for hours, but I have a little laundry to take care of and then my sister in law is coming to collect me and take me off to an aged care home where we are going to make like Santa and give out some gifts. I am very much looking forward to this part of Xmas.

Have a beautiful SUMMER's day (or Winter as the case may be) my lovelies! (Ahem can someone please turn on the SUN?) Happy Yule to those who celebrate and Happy Xmas Eve Eve to the rest of you! May LOVE and LIGHT surround you on this blessed day!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Christmas Cheer is finally here.....

2011-12-19T20:23:00.000+11:00

Well, its about time hey? We have had a bit of a hectic week with sick children at our house. There is a virus going around amongst friends and it seems to wait about 3 days between victims so is dragged out a bit. Upset tummies, and late night/early morning vomiting has been the go, followed by chest and/or stomach pain for the full next day. And of course fevers that don't want to break. Not a lot of sleep between us all either.

Lets say it has been a messy, tiring experience all around. And for children, not a fun way to start the pre-Christmas week. So far, there has been NO Christmas baking around here. We are hoping that the rest of us do not get it as well. In between bouts we have made a few frantic trips to the shops to try and buy presents and any time not spent cleaning has seen this mama busy creating gifts as best she can.

So lets get with some cheer shall we?

Angel's are hanging with bells and hearts......

Little stockings are awaiting candy fillings, so many of them too.......

Even the Golden Snitch is hanging around.........

I would show you the whole tree...but...well....its not done yet!!!! LOL Seriously I hung just a few decorations last night in between stroking a sick child and trying to get fluids into him. The tree will get done before Christmas, I promise!

Today was spent getting our second oldest daughters room cleared and ready for her arrival on Wednesday night (she lives in Melbourne so needs to fly interstate to get here) and the afternoon was spent madly crocheting away between all the other stuff which we are trying to pretend is not happening.

Positive thinking I say! Speed crochet for a little secret project.........

Interesting hey? I ended up making three and they turned into these......

I can't show you what I did with them just yet as it will spoil the surprise. But I promise to show you after the big day! Its a gift and I don't want any sneaky peaking from my girls! I am also working on a scarf this week as its something I can keep in my bag when I am out and about.

Hope everything is going smoothly in your neck of the woods! Take care my lovelies. Keep well and happy!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Bloggy Love Time

2011-12-17T09:26:00.000+11:00

I have been blessed with a couple of awards this week and thought I had better hurry up and pass them on before its next year already! (and ok, I admit that I received this same award on my family blog earlier this year and in all my traveling and lack of blogging forgot to pass it on! :-O)

With this blog being so new, I feel honoured that not one but two people thought of me this week.

Big thank you's to both Shelly from all4meggymoo and Barbina from Little Things Made With Love who both passed me the Liebster blog award. Its all about sharing the LOVE which is nice!

This award was originally designed with new bloggers in mind. The idea being to pass it on to someone with less than 200 followers, linking to each recipient so that others might visit their blogs as well. Therefore not just passing on an award but sharing the love of bloggy friendship and meeting new people at the same time. A lovely idea indeed!

According to google translation, the word Liebster means "dearest". With the passing of this award however I have learned it also means, "dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome". (Thanks Suzanne ;-))

(The original rules that came with the award, I copied them from the old link)

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

2. Link back to the blogger who awarded you.

3. Copy & paste the blog award on your blog.

4. Pick five other blogs worthy of The Liebster Blog Award.

5. Let the Top Five know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

Whether you choose to follow them or not is entirely up to you. I however am not so great at following "Da Rules", and since clearly I get to give out 10 (or 15 since I never gave out the first 5) I do believe that I am going to bless ALL of you with this award.

YES this means YOU! If you are reading this post, please accept this award from me with LOVE. And pass it on to your friends as you see fit. Don't be shy now!

Sorry, for not naming you individually but as I started to link to each person, it was going to take me all day and then I would not have any time to come visit you now would I?

As for sending you on to new blogs, I thought that I might share one a week with you once xmas has passed. That way I can tell you why I love that particular blog and pass on an award that I will design myself. Please visit some of the people in my sidebar links for now if you don't do so already.

Love and Light to all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

And the countdown begins.......

2011-12-13T09:27:00.001+11:00

Each year as the inevitable dawning of that ONE day where everyone seems to feel obliged to give gifts a plenty and pretty much go silly over. I find myself feeling less and less enthusiastic over the whole idea in the first place.

I try to love it, I really do. But when I find myself stressing over what to get for who and whether or not they are going to like it, and meanwhile I see seemingly "intelligent" women consulting long lists of what their little darlings MUST have and panicking when one thing was not available. Making phone calls mid shop to decide what to do and even "googling" for a better price while being shoved out of the way by some other frantic mother who clearly NEEDS that toy more than she does. I find myself NOT liking it much at all.

The other day I was even asked advice by a granny who had a printed email with pictures of the EXACT toy to get for dear little "precious' if I thought it was suitable for the kid. Seriously? The kid should be grateful that granny was getting him a gift at all. The mother should be ashamed of herself for asking for such an expensive gift for him! And not one thing, but three very expensive items went into that trolley for the one child. I hope poor granny was not trying to exist on the old age pension!

And then, there was the tongue biting moment when a woman behind me, dragging small kids in tow, offered to rip her childs arm off if he did not walk a bit faster and stop whinging for "f's" sake. Oh my! My passive gentle self was a bit ready to RIP her arm off among other things I tell you. Its called a baby sitter lady!

I am awaiting some eyes!

Now I am not entirely Bah Hum Bug about the whole thing, I quite like the whole family togetherness part and the food of course! I think it is more my aversion to shopping that is the problem and sharing personal space with such individuals as those mentioned above, I guess.

So in my usual fashion. I found myself running home and panicking, yes panicking over how quickly I might "make" some last minute gifts. Because clearly this shopping centre business is really NOT for me!

Yikes! Not sure if there is enough yarn to complete this one! Might have to compromise!

And my usual habit of gift giving when ever I feel like it as opposed to waiting for a "special" day has my craft cupboard looking a little bare other than "baby" things. I thought if I could make "one a day" I might just have it covered. Lets just say that has not panned out. My projects were taking more like three days each. But I did manage to do a little and come up with some ideas for other gifts.

And my wanting to curl up in my own cocoon of things I love like, yarn, books and herbs found me remember things like this....

Pressed Tansy Leaves

that I had previously pressed ready for a little gift idea I had quite forgotten about! And for things such as these.......

Elder flowers!

Mint

...which will be added to jars, hopefully labelled with a little artistic flair as a gift for someone who keeps asking me for dried herbs from my garden. I thought I might also pot some herbs but see how I go for time.

Its going to be a very busy and full week, thats for sure. Today I have an English/History class to teach the boys have a metal work lesson to attend on Thursday which is a bit far away so takes a chunk out of our day. I think we will make that our last day of "school" for the year or I doubt I will get much done at all.

Hope your holiday plans are going smoothly! Much love, hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Trinity Tuesday!

2011-12-06T11:21:00.000+11:00

I started another crochet project last week. The Trinity Lace Shrug (details here).

I had initially thought to do it as a One a Day project as there first medallions to be made......BUT....

As I did nine in one sitting, I just kept on going and it was not until I reached the lace panel part that I realised as it wrapped way too far around me, that I had in fact used the wrong thickness of yarn. Woops! I took off two medallions and continued anyway. It will be good practice, if nothing else. LOL (I stretched it a bit so you can see the pattern..)

We will see how it looks after blocking. I am leaving it for a few days now, while I work on a couple of little projects, hopefully to give as xmas gifts. I have been very slack in this dept this year. Last year I made lots of little presents. This year I have just not had the time.

Have a lovely day all! I am off to snuggle on the couch and cast on some knitting!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxxo

A Beautiful Blanket Competition & Crochet Along

2011-12-05T09:09:00.000+11:00

The lovely, Jill from "Stocki" is hosting a most wonderful Crochet Along and Give Away for all you Crochet Lovers out there. The idea is for each of us to send in one or more granny squares to contribute towards making a "Beautiful Blogger Blanket for 2012".

Once she has received all the squares, she will join them all up and then everyones names will go into a draw and One Lucky Contributer will WIN the Beautiful Blanket!!!!! If you win, you can either keep the blanket for yourself or give it to someone else as a gift. What a wonderful idea!

Initially I jumped at the chance just to join in. I thought, how lovely for all of us to make something beautiful together. And then when I realised the blanket was a prize at the end of it, I knew straight away just WHO would be receiving it if I was lucky enough to win.

There is a certain little girl, who lives all the way on the other side of the planet. I have never met this little girl but stumbled across her mama's blog years ago when I first started our homeschooling journey. I found support, inspiration and a great sense of love that helped me remember certain things that I personally believed in, and had maybe forgotten over time due to living in this modern world of ours.

I won't go into more detail than this for now, but this little girl got very sick. And she is still fighting for survival every day. She is so brave and like many children who get sick, taking it all in her stride. She is one amazing little girl!

So with her in mind, I began looking for ideas for my contribution to this blanket. I wanted to make something that represented nature and her favourite colour. Yesterday I whipped up these two patterns....

This one is no good. I don't quite get the logic of the pattern. It does not actually square off on the corners and as the white cotton was a bit thinner, I doubled it. Now it is a little too bulky to join up. So no, I won't be using that one. Although, I do very much like the flower. Maybe I will use it for something else.

This one, I quite like. What do you think? I need to tweak the pattern a bit in the border row. The start and finish did not tee up. I re-read the pattern and I had not read it wrong. I think they must have printed it wrong though. So I will fix it on the next one.

I plan to try out a few more ideas before making a decision. December is not the best time to post things overseas so I will wait till January to send mine off. This gives me a couple of weeks to play around with patterns too!

SO, do you know someone you would love to present with A Beautiful Blanket? Can you see yourself wrapped up in its loveliness? If so, pop on over to Stocki's blog and sign up! Go on! You know you want to! And Good Luck! I can't wait to see all the lovely contributions and of course the finished blanket!

Thank You Jill for thinking of such a wonderful idea!

Hugs and Smoochies xoxoxoxo

A Bush Faerie Tale

2011-12-03T13:29:00.002+11:00

Once upon a time, in the Australian bush, a bush faerie heard the call of the colours of nature around her. She loved the colours so much that she wanted to enjoy them all the time. She wondered if she could freeze time and make the bush stay that way forever?

Unfortunately, mother nature had other plans! With the changing of the seasons, the colours changed an awful lot. And in the summertime especially, the bush became very dry, very quickly. The colours changed rapidly and no matter how hard the little bush faerie tried. She could never capture them quite quickly enough to hold them all together at once.

One day, as winter was approaching, and the little faerie was looking down at the ground beneath her toes, she wondered if maybe she wove together the colours just a little at a time, could she then, save them all at once?

If she could just breathe them in, one by one, she may just be able to capture them and weave them together. And so thats what she did....she added a little more each time and slowly began to capture them all. She draped them around herself and giggled with joy!

And slowly the colours in all their beauty were becoming a part of her.

Sometimes they would change while she was weaving them and she would get a little frustrated. She wished that they would change back so she could catch them once more.

But she knew in her heart that just like the seasons change, so it must be with her colours. And even when the colours began to fade and she could only find a little of each. She worried that she would not be able to capture enough to wrap herself in completely.

She remembered.....

That if she would but accept them, the way they were, she could be happy, no matter what colours she managed to capture. No matter how much of herself she covered.

And so, she continued to breathe them in and soon she was surrounded in the beautiful colours of the bush and she danced and she twirled as only a bush faerie would.

And she wondered why she had ever doubted herself in the first place.

Because the colours in the bush are beautiful, no matter what time of the year you see them. And no matter how short the time.

And as she rested and wondered what she would do next. She remembered the animals and she wondered, "Could I catch their colours too?" "Or should I venture out of the bush, where the humans are? I bet there are many more colours out there?"

But then she thought, she would take a rest. And concentrate instead on feeling the earth beneath her feet and the wind in her hair! Because sometimes my friends it is far better to just enjoy the colours rather than try to catch them. Don't you think?

I wonder what colour the wind is? Hmmmmm.........

Thank you for listening to our story!

And oh yeah TA-DAH! hehe!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxxo

Lotus Spring Cardi - Ta-dah!

2011-11-26T14:22:00.000+11:00

Ok I can't remember if I even mentioned I was knitting this one...but I did....so here it is......Ta dah.....

The plan was to crochet some bright coloured flowers and add them to the front panels, however, I did not have any bright coloured wool to use so I opted for the lamb buttons instead .......

and just one little flower on the bottom...........

What do you think? I am pretty pleased with it......

And No...I did not block it this time...I was far too impatient to get it finished.

The wool is from Bendigo Woollen Mills (link in my sidebar) - Luxury 8ply in Lotus 322, it was extremely squishy and soft and most lovely to knit with. Used about 2/3 of the ball.

The pattern is FREE from Playmouth Yarn (click here to find it) and was very easy to follow. Knitted from the neck down it is a great pattern for beginners. Too easy! I think this particular little cardigan has limitless possibilities for decorations too.

The flower: made up on the spot. Ch3, join (sc, hdc, dc, tr, dc,hdc,sc) in to circle 5 times with a slipstitch between each. Sew button in centre.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Dream a little dream........

2011-11-14T07:47:00.000+11:00

.......Of Eucalyptus and leaves...... I so love the smell of the bush when the rains have just stopped and the leaves are all emitting such a gorgeous clean smell. Although the winter season is finally leaving us behind and the smells are more of wattle now.

This project was started at the tail end of Winter, the beginning of Spring when the smell of Eucalyptus was strong in the air. And how could I resist buying some yummy yarn which was aptly named Eucalyptus in colour?

I chose a pattern that once on the go would be easy to knit as a sideline project and not too quick to finish so I would always have something to do. The wool is 5ply so very fine and while I do so love the feel of the wool I am a little unhappy with my choice of an all in one knit as the round needles are not so friendly on my hands. This has come as a bit of a shock to me as when I was younger, round needles were my absolute favourite. Its just that my hands are finding it hard to hold the tension. stiff joints you know? Ah well, considering that, I am still chugging along with it and my daughter tells me she cannot see a thing wrong. I of course CAN........but imperfection seems to be the norm lately round here. LOL

I am up to the sleeves now and in the process of trying to decide what to knit next. I know I chose a few projects earlier but I don't have the pattern yet for one of them and I keep looking at all this wool and thinking to myself......You really need to learn to choose the pattern first woman! BEFORE you buy the wool! Really you do! Ha Ha!

Now that would be the sensible way to do it! But who ever said I was sensible? Hmmmm

Hugs and smoochies all!

Have a beautiful day!

X O X

Daisy Melon - a little Ta-dah......

2011-11-11T18:06:00.000+11:00

I finally got around to putting the finishing touches on my Daisy Melon cardigan. I probably should have pulled back the flower and remade it as the cotton used was a bit iffy but I was a bit over it so did not bother.

I kind of like the wonky look of it anyway so am keeping it for a sample unless one of my friends claims it in a hurry. The pattern was easy to follow and I learned something new. "How to make I-cords". In all my years of knitting I have never come across them in a pattern I have used. Such a simple, effective idea!

Next time also, I think I will sew the stem further in so it pulls the fronts overlapping. Hindsight is a wonderful thing hey? LOL Overall, not bad for a little project made from two small balls of gifted wool and scraps!!!!!

Ashlee creates........

2011-11-09T06:36:00.000+11:00

My oldest daughter Ashlee has entered a competition online and would be most grateful if you could take the time to vote for her dress. She designed the dress herself, made the pattern and sewed it using fabrics from Spotlight who are hosting the competition. She also made the flowers for the wreath headband that she is wearing. Its a little hard to see the fabric in the picture but it is very Christmassy indeed.

The competition is hosted on Facebook, so anyone with an account can enter and/or vote. If you would like to vote for Ashlee you just need to click the vote button and your vote will be registered. For some reason on some browsers, it won't work. In that case, click on the "like" button first and then vote. Too easy!

Here is the link to the page..... Spotlight competition.

We would be most grateful if you could find it in your heart to vote for our beautiful creative girl!

Much love, hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Pattern pinching.......LOL

2011-11-07T08:37:00.001+11:00

I forgot to mention, that my bargain shopping at the school fair the other day, also found me buying a rather old looking baby blanket which had a few marks on it and even some fraying in the border. Cost = again only $1.

Now why would I buy this I wonder? Well, I remembered that frogged purple and white child's jumper that is sitting in my craft room surrounded by plenty of left over wool and immediately thought.....ooooh....I can make this for my next one a day project.

I just need to copy the pattern and I'm sorted. So after two washes.... yes, it took a bit of elbow work to get it clean. I found a lovely babies blankie underneath which I will give away once I have mended it and am finished with my pattern pinching!

The blanket while looking quite nice is made from a yucky acrylic yarn. Not as soft as I would prefer for a baby, but would be a nice lap rug for an older toddler or child. It has a few random white squares at one end. So I can just imagine the frustration at running out of the pink wool. It must have been a join as you go project as one would have thought the white squares could have been placed strategically so they looked like they belonged???? Who knows? Someone obviously put a lot of love and effort into this blanket so I will make sure it gets plenty more love in its lifetime!

What creations are you planning for this week?

Love and Light

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Score...........

2011-11-05T08:42:00.000+11:00

I should probably stay away from second hand books for a while. I mean really, I am getting quite a stash happening and am not sure I will ever be able to use them all.

Of course though, whilst visiting the local school fair, I could not help but notice these lovelies piled amongst the old toys and books. And I mean REALLY would you leave them there when they were only $1 each and the two hard cover books were brand spanking new inside like they had never even been read?

No? Me either! The one on the left is one I have wanted to buy for a while but never got around to buying, so I was pretty chuffed to find it there to say the least. The middle one is full of lacy loveliness. With loads of lace collars and edging ideas. My fingers are itching with excitement!

The last book was purchased with the thought of me finally getting around to trying embroidery. Well Im not sure when I will find the time but I am hoping to get around to it ONE DAY! If not there are plenty of other needlework things to do in there. :-)

I also bought this cook book as it has loads of yummy sweet recipes and even a few interesting food ones. I have been planning for ages to have a go at making one of those altered books but thus far have not had the heart to do it.

I am such a book lover that the thought of tearing out pages, covering them with glue and such, kind of puts me off. However, I am all for the idea of having a book that is FULLY useful. I have so many recipe books that go largely unused and numerous favourite recipes on pieces of paper or online that I would love to put together in ONE book. So its going to happen eventually, as soon as I get my head around it. And of course find a spare 100 hours or so. :-)

My knitting and crochet projects are coming along well this week. There has been knitting in the car, even though I said I would not do that again. My first One a Day project is almost complete and I have been working on the little Melon Daisy cardigan too. Will try and do a picture update soon.

What have you been up to this week?

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Love Karisma

Tuesday Tally No. 8

2011-11-01T16:24:00.000+11:00

Hello my lovelies!

I can't believe its Tuesday already! Well, actually I can, its been such a busy week and now instead of presenting you with my big Ta-dah, which was the plan, I am once again giving a little update as my "blanket" (insert cheeky smiley face) and myself did not really have much time for each other this week.

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments last week. I honestly did not think that many of you thought I was making a blanket! I have to admit though that I can see why you did. My daughter was quite horrified with the fact that it is not a blanket after all as she also thought it was a lovely blanket but she is not so sure about one wearing it! Ewww mum!

This project, much like my life this year has not always gone as planned. First, I could not get the wool I wanted, then the colours were not working the way I wanted. Of course when I got to the joining stage I realised this "blanket" was not as long as I thought it was going to be! This was the first thing that really irked me! I was hoping it would reach down below my knees and I probably should have made an extra row of squares. But then I realised that the picture in my book has in fact cut off the bottom of the models legs so I have made it right anyway. I have to admit to wondering whether it would pull down once the rows at the bottom were added. It did not!!! Oh well. I made it myself and I shall wear it with pride! (or with a whole lot of love anyway! :-))

Have you guessed what it is yet? Im sure some of you are just thinking OMG she is NOT going to wear that is she? LOL But as I have often been likened to a tree with my choice of clothing colours, I most certainly am! Its not a jacket, or a poncho, but it is an item of clothing! And if it turns out half decent, I might just make another one in a longer style with less colours! :-)

Hopefully by next week I will have finished off all the edging and can take some pictures for you! For now, go on over to Gingerbread girls house and see what everyone else is up to!

Have a wonderful craft filled week. Take care!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Tuesday Tally #7

2011-10-26T09:33:00.000+11:00

This weeks One a Day update comes to you from our homeschool classroom where one mama sat, baffled by the workings of two young Male, so called...logical minds (which lately resemble the workings of a not so dormant volcano that may erupt at any moment without warning!) and tied up some loose ends.......all the time trying to stay centered and at peace with the ebb and flow of their firey moods.....

and while two boys first read some of these......

then worked on some of this......after designing coats of arms for their fictitious countries.....

and then explained to their mama how they were doing math with these......

Four digit addition and subtraction you know.....and please stop asking question while we are working it out in our heads, we will forget where we are up to! (Well why pray tell, don't you write it down on paper??????)

.................with the required 64 squares complete, this One a Day Project somehow moved on to a new stage.......

Where squares were crocheted together, without blocking first.......

and loose ends were all tied in........

And then something new began to happen........something different from before.........

And rows became the new One a Day requirement.........

And now I bet some of you are wondering what on earth this woman is up to! Those of you have been commenting on my "blanket"! I have to out myself and let you know that I am in fact NOT making a blanket. I would have told you straight away but the giggles were upon me, as you all reminded me of my man who tends to scroll through and look at the pictures on my other blog and assume many things that are not! LOL And as last weeks pictures still did not seem to give it a away, I just could not help myself. Its okay, I totally understand that when checking out a huge lists of projects, time is of the essense and coming across a chatterbox like myself is likely to have anyone scrolling through the pictures instead.

And just look at how long this post has become! Oh my! What are you still doing here? Go on over to Gingerbread Girls place and check out all the other updates!

What? You don't think Im going to tell you what it is now do you? I think I will string it along for another week. Oh I am awful! And anyway, those who scroll have already left by now and the rest of you totally know what I am making. hahahahaha!

Love and Light to all,

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Off the block.....

2011-10-25T10:39:00.001+11:00

Just a quick update as to what I have or have not been up to this week. Its been a bit quiet on the knitting and/or crochet front as we had a lot of visitors and family outhings on the agenda.

Daisy Melon is now off the block, wetting it was what it ended up taking to get it to work. I however, am not 100% sure I like the whole blocking experience. I can see how it might be useful in lacework and it did flatten down the rolly edges but I don't really like the whole flat look it ended up giving AND I found in the back of my pattern book that the author of this pattern does not like to block at all either so I felt a little better about my messy, just do it, attitude. So it looks neater but extremely FLAT....

I had a go at making the flower, (not yet finished) with some left over cotton. Will see how it looks but might make it again in wool. The pink is a bit too thick.

Eucalyptus dreams is coming along nicely, I have not picked it up much this week. But as its at the plain knitting stage its quite easy to leave it for a bit. I did not take a picture today, will show it another day.

One a Day is up to the joining stage and almost ready for the next section, the bottom which is different! Will show this tomorrow. ;-)

And then there are these.............Ribbit.....Ribbit.....Ribbit.......

I really should finish this one and it could probably do with a block as its been rolled up in a bag for years. Yep, one of those never finished, lost interest projects that has been pulled out so many times its not funny! Seriously though, it just needs half the neck band knitted and sewn up. Lazy me!

And maybe I should not mention these ones.......you can see how much attention they get........my bad......

the green and white one was frogged as the baby it was intended for did not see earth side. The other one was started when I had no other wool and is acrylic, I just did not enjoy the feel of it, so frogged it became! Maybe I will just undo them and make something else. Maybe!

Hugs and smoochies all! Have a beautiful day!

Another one for the to do list......

2011-10-20T07:29:00.000+11:00

With all my talk about Vintage pattern book finds lately, I had to have a laugh when my man was cleaning out his office and old bookcase when he came down stairs and presented me with three very old knitting/craft books that I must have filed up there many many moons ago.

They were all from the 80's and two of them I think I will pass on as I really don't find any of the patterns appealing which is probably why I forgot I even owned them. But this one..........well, this one is full of interesting little gems....not all so much my usual choices of craft but interesting ideas, none the less.

After a quick look through I decided it was not only a keeper but just look at this adorable pattern.....

I am so going to have to make this one, the only problem is that it calls for 3ply wool. I have not knitted with 3 ply for many many years and do not have any at the moment. Its really not so popular these days and my favourite wool supplier only has it in white or cream. So I am wondering if it is worth the risk of using 4ply wool and smaller needles. I know it could work but I also know it will not have the same fine texture as 3 ply. Hmmmmm.

Well, I certainly have time to think about it before starting. With all the unfinished projects I have on the go. It will have to wait a little first before I get started. I so want to to make it right now, but I know if I do, something else may end up frogged. And we can't have that now can we? LOL Oh the temptation is too much for me!

Have a beautiful day everyone! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Tuesday Tally # 6

2011-10-18T07:53:00.002+11:00

Well, #5 really but I should be up to #6 by now. With all our gallivanting I missed last weeks Tuesday Tally because we were computer free, all week! We were too busy visiting theme parks where it was the mission of my children to get me on as many scary rides as they possibly could.

It was my mission though, to complete my one a day squares AND a few rows of my knitting as well. So to do this, I was up at 5am every morning, sipping coffee, watching the sunrise then curling up on a cushy couch and doing just that. It was quite blissful really! Well it was until the last night when we had a little accident. For those who do not follow my blog you can read about it here.

Of course I did manage to sort it out and although I have not had time to crochet in the past couple of days as we had to catch up on some homeschooling and some much needed spring planting. I aim to make extra squares today. I will soon be ready for the blocking stage and am not sure yet whether to block the squares individually or sew them up then block it. Hmmmm. Next weeks Tuesday Tally though should be a little different! For now, here is what I have minus a few that I decided not to use......

And yes there is an odd one in there! Thanks for noticing! Not sure if we will be using that yet either, but I just had to leave it there to annoy the man who keeps commenting on my lack of uniformity in this project! Bahahahahaha!

Now if you want to see some more woolly goodness in the "One a Day" Tuesday Tally projects, go on over and visit Gingerbread Girl and check out everyone elses links.

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Ahhhhhh......

2011-10-17T11:46:00.000+11:00

The sound one makes when all is well again in the land of Eucalyptus dreams........

The multi-tasking mama...maths lesson going on in the background whilst knitting and reading blogs at the same time! hehe!

Progress is happening after our little mishap, I found that after a break and un-knitting just half a row, I was able to fix the dropped stitches using a crochet hook quite easily. Amazing what a difference it makes to have a calm and centered mind at the time. I am enjoying knitting this cardigan despite the little problem but am finding knitting on the round needles is a bit hard on my hands. I have not used round needles for years, I used to prefer them when I was younger but I am finding that the tension is a bit loose as I cannot grip them tightly enough. My joints are rather stiff in my fingers these days. Think its about time my herby self put amends to that.

That said it is coming along nicely enough considering, so I am not overly concerned about the finished result just yet. And this was casted on with the intent that there is no hurry to finish as it will be for next winter. I have several other things that will probably interupt the progress along the way as they will be needed sooner. And now I must set it aside as we are off to swimming training soon and I have a hungry boy on my hands.

Take care all, happy creating!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Medallion Pattern

2011-10-14T11:59:00.000+11:00

Shared from the Womans Day Complete Book of Handicrafts published in 1973 and scored for the grand old cost of $2 from an OpShop. (pattern shared by request of Stel, ENJOY!)

Please note: These patterns are using British terms for the stitches.

Medallion

Work 6 ch. and join into ring with a sl st.

1st Round: 2ch., work 23 tr into ring. join with sl st. to 2 ch

2nd Round: 4ch, 1tr. into same st as sl st, 1 ch..*miss 2 sts, (1tr, 2ch, 1tr) into next st, 1 ch; rep from * 6 times, sl st to 2ch at beg of round

3rd Round: 2 ch, (1tr, 2ch, 2 tr) into 1ch sp, *1dc into 1 ch sp, (2tr, 2ch, 2tr) into next 2ch sp; rep from * 6 times, 1 dc into last 1ch sp, sl st to 2nd ch of 1st 2ch st.

4th Round: * (3tr, 1 ch, 3tr) into 2ch sp, 1dc on dc of previous round; rep from * 7 times, sl st to join, fasten off.

Snowflake Star

Work 6 ch and join into a ring with sl st

1st Round: 7ch, (1dtr into ring, 3ch) 7 times, sl st into 4th of 7ch

2nd Round: 3ch, *miss 3ch, (1tr, 6ch, 1tr) into top of dtr; rep from * ending last rep. miss 3ch, 1tr into 1st dtr, 6ch, sl st into top of 3ch

3rd Round: * (3tr, 5 ch, 3tr) into next ch sp, 1sl st into 2nd tr; rep from * to end. Fasten off.

Happy Crocheting!

Arrggghhhhh........

2011-10-14T11:14:00.000+11:00

To say "Woops...I did it again!" might be a bit of an understatement.......

Notes to self:

* DO NOT try to knit in the car while travelling at high speeds when the road is rather bumpy and your wool is rather slippery (just sayin')

* DO NOT leave your knitting sitting unattended on the lounge when Zak is around and might sit on it, or kick it or just knock it a bit AND you already know the wool is rather slippery.

* DO NOT try to fix it while you are feeling annoyed at him, or more so yourself for leaving it there!

* It would also probably not be best to try to fix it without unknitting the over 1,000 stitches you know you are going to have to undo if it does not work after you have downed a couple of glasses of wine.

* DO NOT try to do the unknitting in the car on the way home! What were you thinking woman????

You will be glad to know that after quite a few stitches slipping off after a considerable bump in the road and me finally letting out some expletive I would not normally utter. My man insisted I put that down RIGHT NOW and enjoy the scenery instead! For once I listened to him, well for a little while and then I pulled out my crochet hook and make a few granny squares instead!

This one did not make the cut! I forgot to do the corner. A little distracted by Mr Policeman who pulled us over for going a little bit too fast whilst attempting to overtake a caravan!

We have just arrived home from six days away in sunny Queensland where we were rather adventurous and spent all our days at theme parks riding scary rides. I was up with the sunrise each morning and managed to get my one a day square in and several rows of my knitting too before heading out for the adventures of the day! It was fun! Except for that last night when the mishap occurred. I am planning on trying to fix it again later today after I catch up with a bit of housework. Turns out my older teens did not keep up with it. What a surprise! They apparently thought we were coming home a day later! LOL ;-)

Hugs and smoochies all! xoxoxoxo

Wassup Wednesday!!!!

2011-10-05T20:48:00.000+11:00

Hey! Did you miss me? Probably not as much as the folks that follow my other blog which has been sorely neglected these days! Yikes I really am getting slack with this whole blogging shenanagins.....I totally missed my Tuesday Tally update yesterday. My bad! But in my own defense its been a busy busy week around here. I will say that I did not reach my 7 squares this week, more like 5. But I did weave in ALL the ends and am going to try to do it as I go from now on.

I did have my very first go at blocking....LOL...after not being able to buy a blocking board and getting impatient, I just went right ahead and took over the ironing board (which I rarely use anyway) and measured as I went.

Then I tried to steam it....hmmmmm......lets just say it is still there having a lovely time while I periodically remember that I cannot find the water spray bottle (probably because I keep filling them up with herbal concoctions that I have a tendency to brew).

So while I was waiting for that to happen, I realised I needed a hat to take to QLD, apparently I might get sunburned if I don't wear a hat??????? GEEZ..whats wrong with my headband and a pair of sunnies? Well, we shall see......I found a pattern on DROPS and was not fussed with it (no offense to anyone) I did use the same increase etc but made up my own pattern panel.

Do you like it?

I am not quite sure that I do, but my son and I had a great giggle when he took on the photography position. He took several shots of the back of my head and the top when I turned and posed and we both cracked up laughing......please excuse my messy hair....it does not like the brush much.....

I spent a little time trying out some small patterns from a new vintage book I scored at an op-shop (thrift store).........and of course drooled over several other projects I am just going to have to try......

I continued work on the neck warmer in the yummy scrummy wool which turns out it yucky yucky colours....boo hoo.......not to my taste at all but I am sure someone will want it round here.......

And then I decided to cast on for my cardigan and came a thud an hour or so later when I realised I had casted on for the jumper, NOT the cardigan which was worked all in one piece.......so......after admiring my lovely handiwork so far.......undone it all came and today I started again.......251 stitches all ready and on the go......after very careful checking, measuring AND counting stitches twice over.......

So you see, squares and general life activities aside, I still have been rather busy (and today I was so tempted to pull out one of my cross stitch projects BUT controlled myself as I know if I do, I will get too obsessed with it. I do that once or twice a year....a bad habit of mine).

Sorry to make this such a long post but my squares, my knitting and I are heading off on a road trip this weekend so we will probably miss next weeks Tuesday tally as well. We will try to remember to take photos!

Have a wonderful week all. Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

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

2011-09-27T09:07:00.000+10:00

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....

2011-09-24T15:31:00.000+10:00

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......

2011-09-23T20:53:00.000+10:00

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..

2011-09-22T10:08:00.000+10:00

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...

2011-09-20T07:41:00.000+10:00

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

2011-09-14T19:32:00.000+10:00

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

2011-09-14T09:11:00.000+10:00

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......

2011-09-09T18:43:00.000+10:00

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

2011-09-06T11:35:00.000+10:00

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........

2011-09-06T11:22:00.000+10:00

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. :-)

Baby Blushes.......an improvised design........

2011-08-29T17:34:00.000+10:00

Will post the pattern a little later.

Hugs and smoochies xoxox

Boottee's galore.....

2011-08-26T12:47:00.000+10:00

Well, its been a while since I posted here, while I have crocheted quite a few cotton headbands, other than that I have not had time for much creating in my travels so the past couple of days being stuck at home with the flu I have been knitting away at some easy knits......

After my friend telling me how her babies pair of these boottee's I made were her favourite as they don't slip off the babies feet and they are small enough to actually fit a newborn. I thought I had better make some more.....they are all made in acrylic blends and are from the basic Bernat pattern . I can recommend them as a quick and easy knit. I made all of these in the past two evenings.....

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I changed the front section in some pairs, this time I left the front but in the green pair I decided to add a pattern and a frill finish, just to say how it looked. I am thinking whether or not to add ribbon but really it does not need it to keep the boottees on....

The hats were really easy too and are a free pattern through Bernat too. I don't have the link right now but its at www.bernat.com/glossary and is called Bernat Softee Baby if you want to try it. I made the first one a little different using smaller needles and two less rows of stocking stitch between holes. The green one was made with bigger needles and I added a little point at the end. The basic pattern is very easy and straight forward to follow.....

So would you like to meet my new little babies? Sure you would......gotta love it when their mamas send me pictures on my phone. It really makes my day.

This is Logan my nephew, sporting some Aunty K' knits..... he looks so tiny here but he is a chubby bubba now at six weeks old....I will have to knit him some bigger clothes.....

And here is my little friend Natalie Grace who arrived at home weighing a tiny little 2 kilo's. She is sporting some Aunty K knits and crochet too......see she is wearing a pair of those boottees... the first pair that I made I do believe :-) Being the first girl to come along in ages, she scored quite a few knits from Aunty K.....these are just some of them......

Ahh they are so adorable these babies don't you think? I do! :-)

I am still waiting on the arrival of two more babies, one friend is expecting a little boy and my sister in law overseas is having a little girl. So back to my knitting!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Purple baby sling....

2011-07-06T09:19:00.000+10:00

I finished this a while ago and was going to wait till I made a motif or had a baby to model in it before showing it, but the motif I had in mind did not quite work out AND my friend and I decided to use a dolly model instead. She is a bit small but it gives you the basic idea. Of course with a real baby inside the sling will look bigger!

The sling is for my sister who is due with her first baby in 3 weeks. Her partner will be carrying the baby in the sling too, so its a bit longer than it should be on me. If it does not fit him properly, I will adjust it when the baby is born. I am flying down to Melbourne with my boys in a week and a half to hopefully be with my little sis for the birth. We are praying he does not come early!

Oh how I miss my baby wearing days! Sometimes! LOL I am so loving the crocheted slings though as I never had one like this, and I loved carrying little peanut around in the one I made for her! They are so cozy and comfy! And NO, I don't see any more babies in our future. Looking forward to some grandkids one day though!

Happy crafting everyone! Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Friday night wonders......

2011-07-02T17:55:00.000+10:00

One has to wonder if one is getting on in age when one spends a Friday night, curled in front of the fire creating little knitted and crocheted wonders. Hmmmmm? Nice results though........a couple of extra's to go along with the golden dayz gift package....

Might just have to do something similar tonight! All my girls are down in Melbourne celebrating my second daughters 21st. Wish I could have been there but I am going down in a couple of weeks to stay so can't complain! Hope they are having a blast!

Rainbow baby.....

2011-07-02T17:51:00.000+10:00

Nice quick little project inspired by Debbie (click here for pattern link), found on Ravelry. I had a bit of left over rainbow wool that I wanted to use up and this was super easy. Did not quite understand the underarm instructions but went ahead and used a standard approach and it worked. I also made it a tiny bit longer. All in all, very quick and easy to whip up. I made this one this afternoon.

I chose some cute little apple buttons to finish it off......

Spent a lovely afternoon, outside in the sunshine, crocheting with my friend Kel. Hope you all are having a good weekend too!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxo

Fingerless gloves.....

2011-06-24T10:16:00.000+10:00

Those who follow my main blog may remember me making a gazillion pairs of these gloves last year for cold hands...they proved so quick and easy to make and so popular that I have to admit to getting pretty sick of making them after a bit.

BUT with an impending trip to Melbourne in the middle of winter coming up in a couple of weeks, Zak was dismayed to find he could not locate one of his custom made green gloves, so he asked me to whip him up another pair pronto! And I did, in one evening which was great!

He chose the blue acrylic wool, so I am not sure how long they will last but as there is plenty more of it, I guess it does not matter. I much prefer to make gloves with pure wool as it is much warmer and tends to last a lot longer before pilling. Oh well, we have one happy customer and thats what counts! Zak! Do you think you could put the book down for a minute and show us your gloves?

Thanks lovely!

Now here's hoping he does not wear them out before our trip! They have not been off his hands much these past two days.

These gloves are so easy to make and are basically a square folded in half. As there is no thumb piece its a great project for a beginner to try!

I found that 36 stitches wide will fit most pre-teens to small adult hands. Using 8 ply wool and 4mm (size 8) needles, I casted on 36 stitches and knit 2 purl 2 for a couple of inches or desired lenght for cuff. Then work in stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row till it covers the hands just below the knuckles. Then work another inch or so of knit 2, purl two for the rim. Sew the sides leaving a small gap for your thumb. Too easy!

Of course you can play around with different patterns and lengths according to what your recipient prefers. I have made these in many different patterns and lengths, but the standard ones seem to be the most popular. More practical I guess?

Today I am hoping to get stuck into another of my UFO projects, but not sure how that will pan out as I am itching to start a new one! LOL

Happy crafting everyone! Wishing you, a peaceful and joyful weekend!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Golden dayz.......complete...among others things...

2011-06-22T14:36:00.000+10:00

Well I actually finished Golden Dayz a few weeks back but have only just got around to sewing on the buttons....it turned out very nice and snuggly. The cabling in the arms is actually made seperately and then sewn on which I was not too keen on but it did turn out nice in the end...

Getting a decent picture has proved a bit of a mission, could not seem to get the lighting right..oh well...these will have to do!

Also of late, I have been working on a little crocheted jumper in 4ply pure wool, which I finished today......

And some boottees....blue ones...awaiting some ribbon...

And yellow ones......

I still have several UFO's I need to get done but for now am looking at making some gloves for my son as he has lost one of his old ones, and a couple of hats for babies who are on the way. Hoping to get them finished quickly as I am leaving town soon!

Hugs, hope you are all well xoxoxoxox

What is this......

2011-06-07T09:24:00.000+10:00

.....Creeping out of my new up-cycled basket, kindly gifted to me for my birthday by my lovely friend Kel?

Hmmm is it a square? A soft, warm, woolen square?

Well it could have been and orginally it started off as intending to be a pair of hand warmers BUT as the colour scheme was looking so lovely I just kept going until I ran out of my ball of scrummy yarn and decided it would make a most lovely, warm head band or head warmer so to speak.

Now for the photo shoot, some taken by Meagan and others by oneself! Could not settle on which weird or wonderful ones to share so here is one from each angle.....

The side view......(the intention is to cover the ears and keep ones head warm without having to squash all ones curls like a beanie does).....

And the back view.......

AND another side/front view.....

And the token goofy shot...just for good measure....

BUT WAIT theres more.......with an impending trip to Melbourne in the middle of winter on the cards. I have been looking at ways to downsize luggage but still keep warm! So this little baby is also going to double up as a neck warmer! It fits just lovely and is ooober warm so I think I like it!

These were both self portraits so please excuse the tacky pictures. LOL

And that is all! There isn't any more! Would you like to know the pattern? Its very easy!

I made 35 chains, then sc into the 2nd chain and all the way across, turn and do the next row in dc. Work in alternate rows until desired length (eg. to fit slightly stretched around your head). I worked the last two rows in sc only and joined by slipping through each stitch with a wool needles. It leaves a flatter seam.

Hope you are keeping warm where ever you are.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Crochet moments...

2011-05-26T19:37:00.000+10:00

My sister asked me to make her a baby sling for her baby who is due in July. As cotton is not in demand now due to the cold, I was a bit dubious if I would be able to find enough of the right colour to pull it off. So it was with great pleasure, I found, upon raiding the local wool shop, that not only did they have just enough balls BUT just the right colour! The very dark blue cotton looks quite purple in the light, which is one of the colours I know my sister would like. (Well her partner does anyway).

Of course I cleaned out the bargain basket and eagerly began crocheting away. :-) So as we see, I have yet another project on the go! Don't judge me okay? I will finish them all! Yes I will. :-)

Being pretty housebound this week as I have been unwell, I have also managed to whip up this little crystal beaded bracelet from the "Hooked on Crochet" book. Of course the pattern called for smaller wooden beads, but in my usual fashion I just went ahead and used what I had. And while it does look sweet on the wrist, I had hoped to make it into a necklace and found that the crystals are a wee bit heavy so it does not sit quite right. Now that I have the idea in my head, I think I shall design some patterns of my own and make them up with the crystals further into the pattern rather than on the edge.

The crystal beads are rose quartz and jade......very pretty.....

I also whipped up yet another pair of those granny slippers on order for my daughters boyfriend, who wanted a "bright" pair. LOL, so much for me being over it hey? Thankfully, my son has now demanded "real" socks so I am aiming to knit my first pair on 4 needles. I have never tried that yet after all these years of knitting. Since knitting these I also added a row of blue to the back square edging. (I ran out of red).

I also made some progress on the purple toddler dress which gave me a little grief when it came to the neckline. Will share that in another post when its finished. Hope everyone is having a lovely crafty week!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxox

Peanut Purple Pants.....

2011-05-21T03:22:00.000+10:00

I made this jumper in 2009 whilst my niece, little peanut was still nice and snug in her mama's tummy. I had previously made this for my other niece Jazzy in white in a newborn size and it was so sweet. I decided to give it a try in a bigger size and in some more daring colours......and was not disappointed with the results. I have to say, I LOVE this pattern, it is so sweet!

And now that her ladyship has finally grown into her jumper, I could not resist snapping a few shots to share with the world.

Here our little poser is dancing and strutting her stuff in her "teenage butt pants" (For the record, I intensely dislike jeans on kids under the age of about 4, they drive me insane, this pair was no exception when they were falling off her butt all day...LOL.. I swear her mama deliberately put them on her to stir me up...thankfully, she was changed into a much more appropriate pair of soft overalls, not long after these pics were taken)

SMOOCHIES XOXOX

This child is in no way camera shy, in fact she will stop what she is doing, pose, smile and then scrunch her face as the flash goes off, model in the making?

That is of course, until she has had enough, at which point .... well... ENOUGH Aunty K, look out or I will eat you.....GRRRRRRRRR......

She is of course a handful and a half, lucky she is so freaking adorable hey? I just love her to bits!

Hugs and smoochies all, xoxox

Lambkins slippers,

2011-05-20T11:51:00.000+10:00

Ok so, the pattern says its supposed to be a dog, but I thought they look more like lambs.....too cute! Mine however have turned out looking like bears, LOL ......Oh well, they are still cute!

I found the pattern on Ravelry, a free pattern offered by Pikay94 Linxs and have realised after looking again that I did the ears wrong on the face. I had printed out the pattern without a picture and did not remember how it looked exactly. I have not yet added details to the face. Here is the baby of our family modelling them for you, little poser.......

I used Patons Jasmin, 5 ply crepe and ended up making the slipper all in blue as I did not have a contrasting colour in the same ply. Love the way they turned out and I will probably make them again with different wools. Now we just have to decide who to gift them to, somebodies feet are a tad too large.....

Have a wonderful, crafty weekend all, Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Unfinished business....

2011-05-19T16:14:00.000+10:00

I really must stop procrastinating and finish off all these little projects! In my usual fashion, I just keep starting new ones. The golden dayz cardy is awaiting a neckband and some buttons, the chunky purple toddler dress needs sewing together and edging and buttons, the hexy cardy just needs to be put together, the green one needs finishing.

Oh and then there are the bootees I started last night, and several pairs of slippers to be made, and as I have so much scrumptious wool floating about in baskets, I guess I should step away from the computer and get cracking hey?

Well I did manage to finish something..........granny square slippers take 2, this time made the same as the original plan called for.......complete with large square sole and front and back flaps.....after making the two pairs I have to admit to being kind of over it....not really to my taste......oh well, they are lovely and warm.

Happy crafting everyone!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Granny Square Slippers - take one...

2011-05-12T22:14:00.000+10:00

I always like to carry a little crochet around in my bag, just in case you know? Don't want to be caught out with idle hands at all. So the other morning when I was off to meet a friend at the beach and I did not have a small enough project on the go, I threw some wool and a hook in my bag and thought I would just start a granny square.

Unsure of what to make with it, my friend reminded me of a pair of slippers I had found at an op-shop a while back. They were not the nicest colour but the ingeniousness of the idea caught me and I bought them home and filed them away with my stash and then promptly forgot all about them. So with them in mind, I churned out a few granny squares and then could not find the slippers. I went searching on Ravelry and found lots of granny square slippers I would like to try but not the ones I had.

Anyway, after beginning my own design and halfway sewing them, I did find one slipper and noted that it was a bit different, having another panel and fold down flap at front and back. Also, It had one big square as the sole and sides. I had made six small squares for each slipper.

This is my first go and although I think I would prefer each square to have a multiple colour scheme, I thought I would finish these anyway and I think they actually turned out quite cute.

The patterned wool is much lighter in tone than the pictures show and is a very warm looking colour. I am happy with this, my first attempt and found a similar pattern on Ravelry which I will try later. As I have a few people awaiting slippers, I am sure to try each of the styles have have found.

The Front...

The Bow...

The back....

The Cozy Toes.......

Hope everyone is having a lovely week!

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

And another one bites the dust.....

2011-05-04T21:31:00.000+10:00

Do you know how long in crochet terms it takes to get from Melbourne to the central coast of NSW?

No? Well, it takes about this long......

It was rather comforting to keep my hands busy on the long long trek home...the camera does not really capture the colour so well, but this is a green cotton that I picked up for 50c a ball. Very lovely to work with.......

We made a few stops along the way, of course but I managed to finish most all in one day! And its taken me another week to finally get around to sewing it together and putting on a BIG button, which disguises a plastic press stud.

This is the same pattern I used for the Sea Shell wandering vest but this time I used a 5mm hook and it came out bigger.

I have to say though, I am not to happy with how it made the arms wider! I tried sewing it together a little but did not like it, so undid it again..... token self portrait....my arms are far too short for these type of shots.....

As I am keeping this one for myself, I am not too worried about the arms and will just WEAR it! LOL

I have not had a lot of time for my crafting this week. Trying to get back into the swing of homeschooling routines and catching up on housework, shopping and gardening has been keeping me very busy. I did manage to also sew up the edges on Golden Dayz.....it still needs some cabling for the shoulders and the neck band and buttons. And no, I did not "block" it at all. I honestly have never tried that with anything. Maybe one day I will learn......

For now, have a wonderful week all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxox

You Hexy Baby...you drive me crazy.....c'mon..

2011-04-20T09:06:00.000+10:00

Na Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na Na Na Na...........

Oh hello, don't mind me, just singing along to myself while I finally think about posting my Hexy Baby adventures. So if you are visiting here, it probably means that I have finally fessed up and told you that I have started this blog. I thought it would be easier to keep track of all my crafting adventures and leave room on the other blog for the family stuff. Anyway, this post is supposed to be about Hexy so here goes.....

I found this pattern on Ravelry a few weeks back and was so happy with the simplicity of it that I have been using up my scrap balls of wool and making several of them to add to the ever growing pile of baby goods waiting to be gifted.

It is such an easy but clever idea and you can leave it plain like I have OR you can go ahead and add embellisments or ruffles like this one by epspins (which is whom I visited for the basic pattern, when I have some matching colours I intend to give her version a go as well, it is so cute!)

I kept mine plain for two reasons, one being that I have made them to fit newborns so was looking at comfort more than looks, and secondly as I said before I am using left over wool, so the colours are basically what ever I can find in the stash that is not reserved for something else.

So how do we do it? I used a 4mm hook and 8ply wool (for the most part), although the pink variety is in all pure wool, the others have several different types of wool blends and acrylic/nylon blends as well as the pure wool varietys. You can click on the link above for epspins to follow her, most wonderful directions but keep in mind if you want the newborn size just don't make it so big. But basically.......

We make two hexagons......

Fold them in half......

And sew them together........

Next you can either add your ruffles etc OR I just did a row of single crochet all the way around the edges. Then I slip stitched into the 2nd dc set on one side and made 4 chains, slipped in again a couple of stitches over to make button hole. Slip stitch along to the 2nd dc set and rpt. Then add buttons. Obviously depending on button size you can adjust to fit.

This is a perfect pattern for beginners, and you could have a of fun making different varieties, styles or colours.

And that is all. Why are you still here? Get on with it already! Yes, Jodi this means YOU, I do believe you have the hang of the square by now. So get cracking! LOL

Hugs and smoochies all,

Have a beautiful day! xoxox

Golden dayz.........

2011-04-14T09:24:00.000+10:00

Casting on.....

Yesterday I realised that with all my crocheting pursuits lately, I had not set wool to needles for geez.........at least 4 weeks! Wow! So I quickly remedied this problem and started on a soft little cardigan.

I like to have a bit of variety happening in the creative dept at all times! It's a gorgeous bright sunny day today, the birds are singing, the children are happily playing, and hopefully a bit of beach or park time will be on the cards for later.

Have a beautiful crafty day all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxoxo

Sea Shell Wandering.....

2011-04-12T21:12:00.000+10:00

I whipped up this little vest this week. It was at first intended to be a cardigan for myself, BUT when I was half way through 2 things came up. One was the fact that a friend was having a birthday, the other that I made this a little small. As I had planned to make something for my friend anyway, I decided to change things half way through and make her a vest instead.

The main bodice of the pattern is for the Mesh Trellis cardigan from the "Crocheted Gifts" book by Kim Werker. I had borrowed this book from the library a while back and loved it so much that I went ahead and purchased a copy. :-)

In my usual fashion of not following instructions to a T, I used the wrong sized hook and different yarn. I mean really, who cares right? Turns out this is why it was a little small. But thats ok, it all worked out well in the end.

The yarn I used was Patons Washed Haze (cotton blend) in Coral. I picked it up for a bargain price of just 50c per ball. A very lucky find. I think I used around 5 or 6 balls. I forgot to count.

The pattern was a delight to work with. Very easy to follow and I loved it so much, I will for sure make it again. Both in a cotton vest and as a full cardigan in wool. I changed a couple of things in the pattern. One being the reverse sc along the edges. I just used a sc edging instead. I also added two rows of sc around the sleeves to give it a bit of an edge, even though it looked nice without it. I would probably next time not bother with the bottom edging either. It really did not need it.

The reason I made an open style vest instead of a cardigan is that it will be to wear over a loose top as my friend is expecting a baby very soon. I thought it would be far more comfy for a nursing mama to wear and she is lucky its a bit snug for me, lol, I love it so much I would have been rather tempted to keep it for myself.

Of course it is a very rare thing for me to keep my projects for myself. It is far more fun giving them to others.

Have a wonderful day!

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

Hello

2011-04-11T21:37:00.000+10:00

Welcome to my new craft cupboard. I thought since I was forever creating little things, I might as well have a special place to put them instead of among all the homeschooling, family posts and gardening etc. And this way I can add all my lovely crafty links in the side bar and you will be able to see them too.

For those who are new to my life, I am a mama to 5 gorgeous children, 3 grown girls aged 22, 20 and 18 and 2 boys aged 13 and 12. We homeschool, try to walk softly on the earth and enjoy being creative as a natural part of life.

I have been knitting since I was a child and have only in the past year learned to crochet "beyond the square". Yes I could crochet but I could not follow a pattern or make clothes etc. Lately I have turned into a bit of a crochet machine. I LOVE IT!!!!

I also love to cross stitch but don't have as much time to concentrate on it these days. I hope to pick it up more when my children are grown. I still make time occasionally but do not tend to finish many projects, mainly because the 5 I have on the go are rather big.

I enjoy sewing a little, but am no expert. I made clothes for my girls when they were little and pulled the machine out occasionally over the years. But I am more of a simple sewer and don't have a great deal of interest in it. My oldest is a fashion designer so I give my sewing to her these days. :-)

My average day is divided between gardening, studying (currently, herbs and edible weeds), homeschooling, family, friends, cooking, cleaning, crafting and looking after pets. I guess I am always busy but I love it!