Hooks 'n' Needles

I bought myself a late Christmas present which arrived this week and am thrilled with it - almost as good as my Etimo hooks and they only cost me a total of $8.54US, (around $11 Australian) for the whole set, with free postage from China. How good is that?

If you want to get some, just email me (address in my profile) and I'll let you know where I got them from. The handles are soft and the shanks are lovely and smooth.

Further enhancements to my 'tools' collection are these beautiful knitting needles that were going to be disposed of by our CWA craft group last week. I offered to buy them but was told to 'just take them' so I did (thank you very much) and I can tell you, they will be treasured.

On a pair of these needles at the moment -

Can you guess what I'm making? Maybe I'll reveal in a day or two. However, I selected an item from my UFO drawer and finished off this lovely little baby's sweater from Marianna's blog. If you're not familiar with Marianna's patterns, have a look - they are incredibly easy to follow as she writes her patterns row by row (literally) so its hard to make a mistake.

Before I finish, I have to share a pic (well two actually) of our little man Oliver who is growing up so fast. We celebrated Australia Day on January 26 and he wore his special outfit and figured it was worth one of his lovely smiles.

And finally, here's one from his Christening Day which was on January 4. The gown he is wearing was the ribbon lace train from my wedding dress (1972) and was made into this beautiful family heirloom by my very good friend Gwen who now lives in the UK. The gown was worn by both my daughters on their Christening Days.

That's it from me for now. I was going to share a nice recipe with you but I'm hoping Pammy Sue is 'test cooking' it for me to make sure my daughter could remember how she makes it.

Till next time
xox

The Lamp

This really tickled my fancy and I just have to share it with you ...............

A woman enters an antique shop and finds what looks like a magic lamp.

She starts rubbing it and, surprise, surprise, a genie emerges in a puff of smoke.
The genie says he can fulfil the woman’s most profound wishes.
She looks at him and says she desperately loves her husband. Will the genie grant the following wishes:

- that he will have eyes only for me;
– that he looks at me with interest;
– that I will be the only one in his life;
– that when he gets up in the morning he takes me everywhere he goes.

Suddenly,

* * * POOF * * *

The genie turns her into an iPhone 6!

Happy New Year & Page 1

I keep seeing messages all over the internet (probably mainly Facebook) that say today is the first page of a 365 page book so I figured I'd better at least write something!! Life has been rather hectic here lately, with the arrival of my new little grandson Oliver, then all the rush and bustle of Christmas shopping, a couple of parties, the pending arrival of overseas visitors ... and the list goes on. Somehow I managed to survive and at the moment its just me, 2 dogs (one being my DD's Pug who is being puppy-sat while they're away), and one cat. Everybody will be home again on Sunday morning, and at 5pm baby Oliver Edward will be Christened, followed by a small family celebration.

Although I've had plenty of time since Boxing Day to do some crochet and/or knitting, not much has actually been achieved. I'll give you a peek at two projects I'm working on (slowly) and hope to have at least one of them finished in the next few days. Firstly, a scarf that I've been doing on and off for about a month or so - using Red Heard Boutique Unforgettable in the Tidal colourway.

As you can see, I haven't got really far with this. I also get the urge to knit occasionally and last night I started this hat which will be going to Beanies for Babies and Kids at RCH, a charity that I support.

I haven't used this pattern before and wanted to see what it was like. The hat is worked sideways, is quite stretchy, so size-wise it should be quite versatile.

And, just because I can ...........

A butterfly - complete with the hair of the cat !  Can you spot it?

Back in September when I was in Tuncurry, on the mid north coast of New South Wales, I was really impressed with some of the decorations in the apartment I was renting. So much so that I took note of the website and bought myself this little plaque that was on the bedside table.

Cute isn't it? The little owl in the corner is 3-D. I also bought a set of coasters but forgot to take a photo so I'll have to show you them another time.

It seems the rest of the universe has received their copy of Simply Crochet Issue 25, except me. I've emailed myfavouritemagazines.co.uk twice and am still waiting on a response. I've been a subscriber for well over a year now and have just paid in advance, for another 13 issues. Not impressed!!  I saw the gorgeous Cowl Poncho that Pammy Sue made from it and loved it so much I thought I'd make one for myself. In desperation I purchased a digital single issue of the magazine yesterday for .99 cents via Google Play but now have to wait till I can get to the shop to buy the yarn I want. Naturally, I just can't seem to find what I need in my room full of yarn here !!  I bet you can relate to that.

Well, I think that's about it from me for now - other than to wish you all a wonderful new year and hope that 2015 brings you much joy, good health, happiness, yarn and lots of time to do whatever makes you smile. My only resolution made this year is to finish off all the chocolate left over from Christmas and I know I won't break that one.

Bye for now.
xox