Just a few little things

I am currently working on a scarf and am so happy with the way its turning out. I'll show you a pic in a few days when its finished. As usual I've also been fiddling around with some little things - you know, 'have hook must crochet'.

Some of my crochet topped kitchen towels are looking the worse for wear and are destined for the bin. Such a shame though to be throwing out some nice crochet. So, in future I've decided to use these little hangers which, hopefully will last for ages.

With Valentines Day just around the corner, the little hearts are popping up all over the place. The pattern for this one was posted by one of my friends on Facebook this afternoon. Its quite a sweet heart and only takes about two minutes to make.

Another one of my favourite heart patterns is the Scandinavian Heart Ornament by my dear friend Teresa Kasner. Here's the link to the excellent tutorial for this lovely heart.

Don't forget to pop over to Teresa's blog where you'll see some beautiful photography and lovely crochet.

Vegemite, Hills Hoist and Chiko Rolls

You could also add 2 stroke lawnmowers, the bionic ear, black box flight recorders, boomerangs, wine casks, dual flush toilets and many many other amazing things ... they're all Australian inventions. Tomorrow (Jan 26) is Australia Day, the day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future. I'd like to wish all my Aussie mates a bonza day - oh and put another chop on the barbie.


Haven't much to report on the crafty scene - just a former St.Dalfour jam jar turned into a place to keep my knitting needles ..

My craft room is looking vaguely like itself again but I'm so frustrated as I can't find my beautiful 8ply cotton anywhere and I NEED it for something I want to make. Now things just can't simply vanish, especially when they're inside a big crate so it looks like I'm going to have to unpack everything and hope it turns up. On the other hand, I could just go in there and grab a few balls of 8ply/DK and make something else. Yes !! That's what I'll do. Problem solved (for now).

PS .. Do you like that gorgeous sock yarn (hiding in this pic) I bought yesterday? Had intentions of TRYING to knit a pair of socks using the magic loop (can't master DPNs) but while browsing the net today, came across this book which I've ordered from the BookDepository. Hopefully crochet socks might not be so daunting.

Year of Projects update

I'm starting to feel a bit 'hatted' out at the moment and think my next project will have to be something different, just for a change. Over the weekend I made numbers 16, 17 and 18. This child's hat was made from that multi coloured yarn I showed you in my last post.

There's quite a bit left on the ball so I may try something knitted later on, just to see how the colours work with knit fabric. Nos. 17 and 18 are baby's hats - probably premmie size.

While I was sorting my craft room before Christmas, I came across these two little 'treasures' of mine that I've been meaning to show you. I've placed a crochet hook beside them so you'll get an idea of their size. Both are little brooches - one a tiny metal crochet hook and yarn that I think I bought on eBay many years ago, and the other is a little thread 3D angel I received (also years ago) from a crochet friend in America. Aren't they gorgeous? I love them.

Before I finish this post, I want to give you a recipe for pumpkin scones. This recipe was made famous by Lady Florence Bjelke-Petersen who was the wife of a former Premier of Queensland in Australia. I think in some circles she was more famous for her scones than being the wife of a Premier. I'm not a lover of pumpkin as a vegetable on the dinner plate but these scones are delicious.

Flo’s Pumpkin Scones

1 tablespoon butter
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup mashed pumpkin
2 cups self raising flour
Put butter, sugar and salt in mixer, then add egg, followed by mashed pumpkin. Finally add by hand the sifted self raising flour. Do not handle mixture too much. Cook in a very hot oven – 225-250 degrees C for 15-20 minutes.
NB. If the pumpkin is very dry, you may need to add 2 tablespoons of milk.

Just remembered one more thing!! Red Heart has a new free eBook available featuring 25 afghans/throws. If you'd like a copy here's the link. It contains one of my favourite patterns - the Reversible Hungarian Blanket (aka Wool-Eater aka Bavarian rug) along with some other lovely patterns.

Guess what

Its called 'stash enhancement' and yes, I did need it !! Well maybe NEED might be too strong a word but I did think this was pretty and since I'm making baby things at the moment I did have a very strong desire to buy a few balls - plus, you simply just cannot go into the city and come home empty handed. Can you ?

I've been keeping a record of the number of hats I've made in a little notebook, and I made a little mistake in my last post. These are actually numbers 14 and 15 ..

After an overnight temperature of 1.6 degrees celsius on Wednesday night (middle of summer) which was the coldest January temperature since records started back in 1939, the sun is now shining and today was a very pleasant 27 degrees. These little carpet roses are still doing well and look so pretty in my front courtyard but I couldn't resist bringing these few inside to brighten things up a bit.

Have a lovely weekend.

First FO's for 2012

Its hard to believe that we're already a whole week into 2012. Its been very quiet around here and I've had plenty of time to be productive but instead of taking that opportunity, I must admit I've been a bit lazy and have just been vegging out !! If I'm going to achieve my personal goal of 50 hats by end of June, I really must get a move on as there will be other projects I'll want to be doing in between.

My first FO for the year is a favourite pattern of mine - the Addison hat by Julie A Bolduc (free pattern here)

Of course there were the usual necessary tweaks because of our Australian yarn. This is hat number 11.

Moving on ... Knit4Charities had their first KAL (knit-a-long) a few days ago which was a lot of fun. We were told to use either pastel or happy bright colours but had no idea what we were making. A certain number of rows were emailed each day and of course there was a fair amount of speculation going on as to what we were doing. Turned out it was a pair of booties ..

Did you notice hat number 12 in that pic? Couldn't waste that left-over yarn. By the way, the colour in the second picture is correct - the lighting must have been a bit off in that first one.

This little set will be donated to the Miracle Babies Foundation (Tas).

Hmmm now, what to make next ?? A cat blanket, dog blanket, try out a square pattern, more booties ?? I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not so sure. Oohh I can hear "Greensleeves" so Mr Whippy must be in the neighbourhood. Perhaps I'll have an ice cream.

Welcome 2012

Fireworks Sydney Harbour January 1, 2012