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