Off the block.....

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......

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

 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......

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

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........

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!!!!

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