Started & Finished.... Job well done!

So you may remember that I started a project... it started with this yarn....

and this chain......

Which then lead to these single crochets.....

and this is where I created the next panel.....

then this the third pink panel and then the fourth blue panel is created.....

and then the base is sewn up....

and the top is crocheted.....

and Voila!

It's finished!

And um, yes, I have already started another one!

For the full pattern details, click here.........

It's a really easy pattern (it's basically 32 across, 32 up and taper off) and looks great too!

Overheard...

I overheard 2 kids on the weekend - they were drenched from head to foot & covered in wet sand (fully clothed) running from the beach to the changerooms saying..
'That was Totally Awesome"

Cool!
I wish I could be a kid again and experience a "Totally Awesome" experience....don't you?

Daisy power

Take one plastic daisy thingy-me-bob....

Make 1 magical daisy....

 

Make another daisy attached to this, then another, then another...

Put them all together and it supposed to equal a shawl....but I don't wear shawls....so I am thinking of turning it into a wall hanging cos it just looks so dreamy!

Don't fret - it's fairly easy to do ..... I will make a tutorial in the coming months for you to try it out too!

Weekend fun

Had a brilliant weekend here in Melbourne - Saturday was a sunny, warm blustery type of day, Sunday was blustery, a little rainy but still lots of fun!

So much for the weather report... here's what I did!

Hot chocolate on the Yarra.

Trip to the NGV to see the Dali expo.....stood in line at the NGV - don't mind waiting to buy tickets when it's just so damn pretty!!

I think I am the only person in Melbourne who actually forgot take a photo of the cool Dali sign on the outside of the building!

But I loved this painting so much, that's why I bought the book.

A quick stop at Lincraft to buy some cheap yarn so that I can start a new crochet project.

As soon as I got home, it was straight to the couch to curl up with a cuppa & my crochet hook.

And that's where I stayed for the rest of the weekend!

Rubber delight

I got a little excited by the postie today, he (or she!) delivered my long anticipated parcel - my rubber block!

My what? I hear you ask..... it's a block of rubber - a rubber blank - for designing your own rubber stamps! 

Brilliant! I have been trying to get my hands on some of these for a long time, I tried to carve stamps from lino but it just not quite the same as rubber!

I bought this from The Haby Goddess - check out her shop cos it's the coolest shop in town (or on the web actually!).

Searching for a good yarn,,,

I'm addicted to new projects - I was going to start another one!

So, I dived into my wool stash to hunt for the perfect yarn.... and guess what, to my suprise, there wasn't the 'right' yarn.

BUT.... whilst I had my head down & bum up in the cupboard, I found 3 more hidden stashes!

Question....Do I hide these from myself or does the evil fairy come in at night and do this?

I found this....

Yeah, good question - what is it?!?  It's a whole pile of lime green granny square centres with the odd bright colour thrown in, trust me - the photo does not show the injustice of how lime green the squares are! Some has been stitched into rows, was I going to make a tiny blanket? When did I start this? Why did I start this? Why lime green? The questions just go on & on...

And then I found this paperbag.

In it was a very cute stash of fabric squares, all rolled up. I remember buying them about 5 years ago, but why?

Why did I buy them? What was I going to make? How did they end up in the cupboard hidden in a bagful of yarn?

But wait, there's more..

Then there was this bag.... another pile of yarn that I had bought with specific projects & patterns in mind. But they never got made! Suprise, suprise! I think the reason why they were never made was because of that P word, you know.... pattern.  Me & patterns, ughh, I shudder at the thought!

So back to why I was in the cupboard... I found a cute 'pattern' for a crochet bag - it looks so easy, 4 triangles sewn together - easy peasy!  But no yarn to make them.
Check out the pattern on the Knitting Daily website

The bad news is that there is no yarn store near home or work - I would have to go out of my way to buy the yarn to start the new project.

The good news is there is no yarn store near home or work - I would have to go out of my way to buy the yarn to start the new project!!

Great books, Great Memories

Every school holidays, for me, was spent doing the same things..... reading & re-reading my favourite two books in the whole wide world!

I grew up in the country, in a small place called Myalla. The local town was 20 minute drive away and back then, you didn't drive to town unless you had to do the fortnightly grocery shopping!
So during school holidays, there wasn't much to do and I relied on the one constant thing that there was - reading. And delving into the bookshelf were the classics of all time: The 101 Dalmations and Wizard of Oz.

Now, these books weren't bought especially for me, they were hand-me-downs as was everything else - but I never cared about that, because as soon as I had opened them & started to read them - they were my world!

The Hundred & One Dalmations, looking at this book now as an adult with the worn front cover and sketched drawings on the inside - I see myself curled up on the bed reading it on a summers day.  Opening the front cover, I realise that it was printed in 1975, hey, it's a year younger than me! 

I loved the sketched drawings so much, here are a few below....

 

  And there has never been a more hated character than Cruella de Vil.

And you just can't go past the back cover without wanting a dalmation puppy of your very own!

 

The Wizard of Oz took me off to a fantasy place that I couldn't ever imagine existed.

 

This book actually belonged to my brother! I just checked the inside cover - it has his name plastered all over it - but he's not getting it back!  The book doesn't tell me when it was printed - I'll have to guess it was before 1974 going my brother's childish handwriting.

 

It is also full of adorable sketches too!

I also started to learn craft from my mother - she started a love that would last a life time.

I learnt to knit, crochet, spin, dye wool, macrame (well for me, a knotted mess), weaving and lots of new barbie doll dresses were made too!

From my dad, I learnt woodwork - many an hour spent in his shed carving timber into odd shapes!

What crafts did you learn in your childhood?