Back after busy month

Can't believe its almost a month since I wrote a blog post. I've had a very busy three weeks away at Forster/Tuncurry on the NSW north coast attending to some important family business however I did manage to get away for a couple of days to drive up to Port Macquarie and meet up with a dear 'crafty' friend, K who brought a blanket she'd just finished to show me - isn't it gorgeous ....

I love the braided edging - apparently it took forever to do but its so effective.

While away I didn't do much crochet or knitting but I do have a finished baby blanket to show you.
 

I bought the pattern from JustCrochet and decided to use the specified yarn which was King Cole Superball 200. The yarn is self-striping and it took just over 200g for the blanket.

It seemed sensible to buy a few more balls while I was at it because the seller offered flat rate shipping so I am now working on another blanket in shades of blue with white, using another one of JustCrochet patterns.

Earlier this week I spend three days in Sydney attending a computer conference which was amazing !!  So much interesting information from excellent speakers. I was lucky enough to win a flip video camera in one of the lucky door prize draws and here's my first attempt.  Madison is totally bored with the whole process and perhaps a little camera shy !!!  Not sure how this will show up when I hit 'publish' as it looks a bit strange here. The original file was 26MB and I got it down to 5MB by resizing in Windows Live Film Maker.  Might have to play around with some other software if this looks yukky.

Whilst away I've kept up with everyone's posts on my blogroll and have enjoyed hearing about your crochet, your travels, your families etc. etc.  Isn't it marvellous how computers have changed the way we live these days?  I've made some wonderful 'cyber' friends since starting this blog a few years ago and I just want you to know how special you are to me and how much I value your friendship. Now that my routine is back to normal, I'll try not to leave it too long between posts.  Thanks for visiting.   xoxox

Free Pattern - "I Feel Pretty" ladies hat

Since my last post I've been busy getting this pattern written and tested and now I'd like to share it with you.

"I Feel Pretty"

Size: Ladies

100g 8ply yarn
4.50mm hook
Aus/UK terminology

Abbreviations:
ch - chain
htr – half treble crochet
ss – slip stitch
beg – beginning
dc – double crochet
tr – treble crochet
sts - stitches

Note:
Beg ch 2 counts as first htr in every round.

Round 1 - Commencing with a magic loop, ch 2, 11 htr, join with ss to top of beg ch2 (12 htr)

Round 2 – (ch2, htr) in first htr, 2htr in next htr and in each stitch around, join with ss to top of beg ch 2 (24 htr)

Round 3 – (ch2, htr) in same place as ss, 1htr in next stitch, *2 htr in next stitch, 1htr in next stitch* repeat from * to* around, join with ss to top of beg ch 2 (36 htr)

Round 4 – ch2, htr in each stitch around, join with ss to top of beg ch2 (36 htr)

Round 5 – (ch2, htr) in same place as ss, htr in next 2 stitches, *2 htr in next stitch, 1 htr in next 2 stitches *  rep from * to * around, join with ss to top of beg ch2 (48 htr)

Round 6 – ch2, htr in each stitch around, join with ss top of beg ch2 (48 htr)

Round 7 – (ch2, htr) in same place as ss, htr in next 3 stitches, *2htr in next stitch, 1 htr in next 3 stitches* rep from * to * around, join with ss to top of beg ch2 (60 htr)

Round 8 – ch2, htr in each stitch around, join with ss to top of beg ch2 (60 sts)

Round 9 – (ch2, htr) in same place as ss, htr in next 4 stitches, *2htr in next stitch, 1 htr in next 4 stitches* rep from * to * around, join with ss to top of beg ch2 (72 htr)

Round 10 – ch1, dc in same stitch as join *tr in next stitch, dc in next st* rep from * to* to last stitch, tr in last stitch, join with ss to beg dc, ch1, turn

(NOTE: for remaining rounds you will be alternating dc in top of tr from previous row and tr in top of dc from previous row, always ending each round with a tr.)

Round 11  –*dc in next stitch, tr in next stitch* rep from * to * around [ending with a tr] join with ss to beg dc, ch1, turn

Repeat round 11 till hat measures 18cm (7”) from top of crown.

Next round (right side) – ch1, dc in same stitch and in each stitch around, join with ss to ch1, do not turn.

Repeat last round 2 more times.

Finish off.  Weave in ends.

Embellish as desired.

© Dorothy Silver (2012)

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I'll be away for the next two weeks and will try to post to show you some of the beautiful places I'll be visiting but if you don't hear from me you'll know I'm having too good a time.  :) 

Baby Hats and Butterfly

Firstly, I must apologise for being MIA for two weeks - guess life must have got in the way of my blogging !  I have enjoyed reading everyone else's posts though - its my morning ritual now - sit down with the morning coffee in one hand, iPad in the other and enjoy reading about your adventures in both craft and life.

My go to favourite when I'm not inspired to do anything else, is baby hats and I've made a few charity ones over the past week or so. I want to make a few more in other baby colours before sending them off. The original pattern uses American WW yarn and the size is for a 6-9 months baby however as usual, to work with our Aussie yarn, a few modifications had to be made.

These should fit a newborn and for my Aussie friends, I used 8ply (Big Baby 8ply or Magnum Soft 8ply) with a 4.50 hook. Added another round of the pattern before starting the sc border, then did an extra round after that to give it a kind of picot appearance (sc 1ch in each stitch around). You can find the original pattern here and you'll need to scroll down past the jacket pattern to find the one for the hat.

Another project I enjoyed was this puff stitch ladies hat which I will be donating to our CWA craft stall coming up in November. For the life of me I can't lay my hands on the pattern for this one but it has to be around here somewhere. Yes, there were modifications but if my memory serves me correctly, the pattern used sport (DK) yarn so the changes were minimal. I used Bendigo Woollen Mills 8ply Classic and a 5.00mm hook.    

The only other little item I'd like to show you today is this cute little butterfly -

He (or she) will be winging its way to the Holocaust Museum in Houston, along with others being made by members of our Knit4Charities group. Although this is not a group project, one of our members is co-ordinating a contribution from us.  In an effort to memorialize the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust by the Nazis, Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies for a special exhibit next year. I understand they are pretty close to the 1.5 million target but K thought it would be a nice idea for a few Aussie butterflies to be included.

On a final note, I was saddened to read that Alice is closing down her "Crochet with Raymond" blog. It was always bright and cheery, very inspiring and so colourful. It appears Raymond has left home and Alice and KB are devastated. The link to Alice's post explaining everything is here.  I'll sure miss Crochet with Raymond as I'm sure many others will too.

Hope you enjoy the coming week.
xoxox

Yarn Snobbery

I think I'm becoming a yarn snob !!  Whether that's a good or bad thing I don't know. Last week I made a toddler's vest and it was undoubtedly the worst thing I think I have ever made. Was it the yarn, was it the hook, or was it me ? I used a cheap acrylic yarn from the $2 shop and started off with my KnitPro crochet hook. After persevering with the back which was a nightmare as the yarn kept splitting, I decided, after about a quarter way up the front, to change to my Etimo hook and that seemed to make things a little better. Anyway, I'm now thinking that even for my charity projects, pure wool will be my preference in the future.  And no, I'm not going to show you the vest from hell.

I'm starting to think about items for a stall our CWA branch is having at the end of November - here are a couple of things I whipped up on the weekend ..

The smaller of those stockings will take a pack of lifesavers nicely but I think I'll fiddle around a bit and try to work out a size in between those two. We had a brainstorming session on Friday and these items were a few of the suggestions. I'd be interested to hear from any of my lovely 'bloggy' friends (yes, that's you) if you've discovered anything that sells really well on a craft stall.

Spring has sprung here (at long last) and we're having some lovely warm days. My plants are blooming profusely and look good.  Not being a 'gardener', I don't know a great deal about what's what in the plant world and tend to get Azaleas and Rhododendrons mixed up.  Here are a few pics of some of my plants - can you identify them for me please?

Finally, here's a little plant I bought last year - I think this one is an Azalea ..

Thanks for visiting.
xoxox

Quick update

Its been a busy and exciting weekend for us.  My grandson's footy team played their Under 10s grand final yesterday at the Canberra Stadium. They were runner-up but it was a close game 18 to 16. My two daughters and I braved the 9am start but the weather was kind to us - no wind, nice and warm. (That's him ... No. 15)

Today was the club's presentation day which wound up the 2012 season. Had to pop in to show Nanna his goodies on the way home.

On the crochet front, I'm still working on the baby's blanket and hope to have it finished this week. Here's the progress pic I promised.

I like the way the yarn is doing all the work here and even though it acrylic, its very nice to work with.  I also started on the little vest I mentioned in my last post - also acrylic but its the acrylic from hell with knots and fuzzy bits !!

Hope you all have a lovely week and happy crocheting (or whatever)
xoxox

New Crochet Book

If there's one thing that our local public library does extremely well is to get some excellent crochet and knitting books. I don't know the procedure for procurement but it may help that the librarian at the branch I borrow from is a knitting enthusiast. In any case, this book just begged me to take it off the shelf and I'm so glad I did ..

Its another great book by Nicki Trench, published 2012, and contains 35 patterns for 0-3 year olds covering abilities from beginner to enthusiast.  I must confess that sometimes I copy patterns from books but there were just way too many I wanted from this book so I ordered my own copy from the Book Depository. I'm thinking this little vest would be cute over one of those grow suits (might be known as something else these days) .. and will be good for charity donations.

This is nice too ..

(Just had a preview and the scans of the book didn't turn out too well - will have to fiddle around with my new printer and see if I can adjust the settings).

I'm making reasonable progress on the baby blanket using that yarn I got from Ireland.  I love the way the stripes are working out and will take a photo of it for my next post.

Tomorrow I'll be spending all day at the Canberra Institute of Technology learning "everything I need to know about my iPad".  I've had mine for 2 months now and love it but I decided to do this course as there's probably much more it will do that I haven't worked out yet.  Unfortunately I'll be missing out on my grandson's birthday party but Monday is the big day when he actually turns 10 and I've been invited for dinner so we'll be able to celebrate then. Shame I won't be able to have a go on the jumping castle along with the 15 other kids!! :)  Gosh it only seems like yesterday that I was crocheting the little matinee jacket he wore to come home from hospital !!

Happy Birthday Ryan

xoxox

KAL reveal and a UFO finished

What a beautiful day .... spring has arrived here in the national capital of Australia and the sun is shining (at last).  Its not all that warm in the house, even though the central heating is still running, but I just went outside and it is beautiful.

The KAL square for Meg has finished and here is the result - I think its very pretty and with all the other squares done in blue and white, they will make a beautiful blanket. If you'd like the pattern you can find it here.

Another finished project is this little bag that started as a mystery KAL (knit-a-long) at the Knit4Charities (K4C) conference in June 2011.  Here's the front ..

here's the back ...

and when you stand back, this is what you see ..

I'd never done illusion knitting before (sometimes called mosaic knitting) and must say its quite fascinating and fairly simple.

Having finished these projects has made me feel less guilty about what arrived on my doorstep this morning .......

Those are 200g balls of King Cole DK which I bought from a supplier in Ireland. They are destined to become baby blankets and I'm itching to get started. The balls on the right are for this.  I thought Heather's blanket was so pretty that I wanted to do one in the same colours.  Haven't decided what pattern I'll use for the blue and white yarn.

I'm off now to do some shopping at ToysRus ... my grandson is turning 10 next week and he wants one of those 'retro' skateboards (like mummy had) - also think I might get him an iTunes voucher so he can buy whatever he likes with it.

Speaking of shopping, went to the supermarket on the weekend - can you believe this?

 ALREADY ?????

Have a lovely week.
xoxox