Great Granny

Hello everybody - hope your week has started off well. Its been a lovely warm day here and I'm really looking forward to Spring although this little hiatus will no doubt end and the cold weather will return for another month or so.

I've been going through lots of patterns and visited many internet sites on the weekend trying to find something to inspire me but the only thing that I really want to do is make a granny square blanket.  With my history of getting bored with projects that take a long time I think it will be a baby's blanket for charity.  I'm thinking of using the pattern from BobWilson123 - its the one on the right in this photo. I made these two squares yesterday for the September Australiacrochet square exchange.

There is no written pattern but if you look at the video and take notes, its very easy. I like the way the second round looks like little hearts ..

I'm thinking that 4 round squares and the join-as-you-go method might be nice. What do you think?

My need to knit will be satisfied later this week. On Thursday, members of our Knit4Charities group will be taking part in a KAL (knit-a-long) to make a square (to be made into a blanket) for one of our dear friends who has terminal cancer.  The KAL will run over three days so hopefully I'll be able to show you a pic next weekend.

The need to knit

I've been in a bit of a slump this last week or so and really didn't know what I wanted to make. At one stage I had an urge to knit and have ended up with one bootee (yes, the single 'sock' syndrome) and one mitten which I think might be a bit small so it will also remain 'single'.  You'll see a glimpse of the mitten in this pic of some squares that I managed to make for one of the charities I support.

I still have that urge to knit something and because I enjoy quick and easy projects, will probably end up making a hat as they're always useful as donations.  These two crochet ones are also on this week's FO list.

The one on my model is done in double 8ply on a 6.00mm hook - because of the post stitches, its quite chunky so should be very warm.

Had lunch with my friend L earlier this week. She is having a birthday on Saturday so I put together a gift bag full of 'girly' things including some gorgeous Canterbury Rose products. I edged this washer to go with them. Happy birthday my good friend.

Another blast from the past to finish this post.  Our first Pug litter - born in the early '80s.  (One of my hobbies around that time was basket making LOL)

Thanks for visiting.
xoxox

Crochet n Craft Catch-up

Haven't posted for two weeks so thought I'd better pop in and give you a quick catch-up on what I've been doing.

Finished this little MyChelle cardi designed by Bev from One Yarn After Another and am very pleased with how it turned out.

Bev's patterns are very easy to follow and are well written. You can find the MyChelle pattern here.

Something else I want to show you is this gorgeous Mobius cowl which was an exchange gift I received from a dear friend, Jenny F from Bungendore. I love the colours.

I've never made a Mobius but will have to try one soon.  If I can turn one out half as good as Jenny's then I'll be happy.

We had the Craft and Quilt Fair here in Canberra last week. Of course I was there bright and early on the first day. So pleased that I booked in straight away for the Prudence Mapstone Tunisian lace workshop as in just 10 minutes after the doors opened, she was booked out for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was an enjoyable workshop - we started a scarf using a beautiful chunky alpaca yarn.  Here's mine ..

Of course I went crazy and managed to do a bit of damage to the plastic. Here's just a couple of the things I bought.

The little ceramic beads are for a crochet jug cover. They're cute aren't they?

The quilts on display were stunning - I loved this prize-winning one depicting the Melbourne Cup in earlier days -

For my overseas friends, we have a horse race here in Australia on the first Tuesday in November every year - its called the Melbourne Cup and is known as the 'race that stops a nation' because just about everybody stops whatever they're doing and watches the race on telly. At the track, you'll see the ladies all dressed in their finest complete with the huge hats or fascinators, some gents are in dress suits and champagne flows freely at the Flemington racecourse in Melbourne. Workplaces sometimes have special lunches, people flock to clubs to watch the big screen and at about 10 minutes to 3 everything stops for the big race.

Finally, these are for my Australiacrochet squares exchange partner for August.

Thanks for visiting.

Fun and Games

While the Olympic Games are on in London, members of Australiacrochet have been participating in our own Winter Games fun by having an exchange where you make something 'winter' related for your partner. We asked our partners to indicate what colour they would like and my partner said 'pink but not soft pink or baby pink - more like fuschia'.  Originally I was going to make a pair of fingerless gloves but somehow I didn't think bright pink gloves would look that great so decided on a slouchy hat instead.

The pattern is called Phannie and is available as a free download on Ravelry. I used 8ply yarn with a 4.50mm hook.  I added an extra increase round and another round before starting to decrease as I wanted the hat more 'slouchy' than what the pattern indicated.

I'm happy with the result and I hope my partner likes it too.  This will be winging its way to one of our US members later this week.

I've had a couple of nice surprises this week - in today's mail was this lovely square from Jane of Papillongold  ..

Jane calls this the Crocodahlia square and as you'll see, those pretty petals are made using the crocodile stitch.  I think its gorgeous. The centre is brown and the outside is crimson but the lighting couldn't have been right as the colours look the same in this pic.

Thank you very much Jane for this unexpected and lovely surprise.

My daughter has given up sweet treats (well actually she's on a diet but wouldn't like me saying that - hope she doesn't read this post) ... anyway, a few days ago she was given this rather cute box ..

and inside .. THE most delicious chocolate biscuits which she has given to me. I've restricted myself to just two a day which I enjoy with a nice cup of freshly brewed coffee in the afternoon.  And if that wasn't enough, the next day she was given this decadent cupcake which I had to devour as desert that very same night as I didn't want it to go stale :)

What do you reckon?  Maybe I should 'give up sweet treats' for awhile too now.

I have been frogging a bit today - I decided the yarn wasn't doing justice to Bev's My Chelle baby sweater so it got pulled out and I started again with a much nicer mint green 4ply wool. If you're looking for a really nice pattern, try this one.

You've met Madison before but haven't actually seen her in action. My daughter bought her a new plate the other day (its now been confiscated for reasons that will become obvious if you look at this short video).

This is how she lets us know she wants food !!

With tomorrow being August 1st, as an animal lover it would be remiss of me if I didn't wish all the horses a very happy birthday (southern hemisphere horses that is) ...

Thanks for visiting.
xoxox

Year of Projects Update

Goodness me, the start of another week !!  They seem to go by so quickly these days - so much to do and so little time.  I've only actually finished one project this week and it's not on my 'list' but I was inspired by Bev from One Yarn After Another blog to try this pattern that I've had on my WIM list since seeing it on YouTube a few months back.

This is such an easy pattern - here's the link.  The back looks like this ..

I'm still plodding along with that dreadful Noro yarn project - the only good thing I can say about this yarn is that the colours are nice. After starting and frogging about four or five different projects with this yarn I eventually decided on the Baktus scarf and to be honest, will be glad when its done!  I'm not liking this yarn at all.

Do you remember a post or two back, me telling you about my new square knitting needles?  Well, I have to say they are fabulous and I've ordered another three sizes from the seller in USA.  They are made by Kollage, are supposed to be easier on your hands and ideal for people with arthritis, carpal tunnel, or stiffness in their hands and fingers. I don't have any of the aforementioned but these needles are a delight to use and seem to make more uniform stitches.   Oh, that reminds me, I did finish another thing this week - a square baby's hat on my square needles ....

Colour correct in next picture.

If I am ever going to finish my Wool Eater blanket, I need to get on with it !! To motivate myself, I'm aiming to work on it every day (even if its only for a short time) and to post progress pictures here each week.  Please with me luck - this blanket has been a WIP for way too long.

Thanks for visiting

xoxox

Blog Birthday & Year of Projects update

Today is our 4th birthday .. let's have a party ....

Please help yourself to some goodies ...

It doesn't feel like 4 years ago that I decided to join the world of bloggers and I must say how happy I am that I did make that decision. I've made some wonderful blogger buddies, love visiting your blogs and always enjoy your comments.  Thank you all for your friendship.

Today is my first Year of Projects update and I actually have one finished item from my list.  This is my 'family member birthday gift' and I'm going to be very cheeky here and claim these for myself as it was my birthday last week and I really like these Mitts in Seed Stitch ...

As usual the colour isn't quite right - they're a darker blue - more greyish than this picture. I used Cleckheaton Country 8 Ply Heathers (col. 1924) and they only took one 50g ball. 4.00mm square needles (yes, square needles and I love them).  I'll be making more of these mitts as I still have another gift to make and these are quick and easy.

Now to decide what to make next - or perhaps I should finish a UFO.   Hmmm !!

Have a great week.
xoxox

Little Birdie

This is for Pammy Sue and anyone else who might want it ....  my interpretation !

Little Bird

Make a magic ring and work 16 dc into it. Join and close the ring.

Next round - 2ch, HDC into next stitch, DC in next stitch, 2DC in next stitch, 2HDC in next stitch, 2 SC in each of next 3 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch, 2DC in next stitch, 2 TR in each of next 3 stitches, 2 DTR in next stitch, 1 DTR in next stitch and finish off.

Heart

Chain 4 and work all stitches in the first of these. 3 TR, 3 DC, ch 1, 1 TR, 1 ch, 3 DC, 3 TR, 2 ch then slip stitch.  Sew heart on to body.

Embroider eye with black yarn.

Beak - join yarn 2 stitches below eye and slip stitch back into same place.

NB .. I have added 2 extra DTRs to the written pattern as I thought the tail would look better a bit higher than how it is in the pictures.

I got the heart pattern is from somewhere on the net but for the life of me I can't find where it came from.