Something Crafty This Way Comes...

Even though things have been pretty much up in the air over the past few months, I've still managed to make time here and there, for my favourite hobby.....Crochet!

And I've also taken another leapt into creating things with felt and embroidery thread.

Rather than go into the tedious details of everything I've been doing, I think I'll just show you :) 

These two cuties are from a pattern called "Mama & Baby Owl" by Esbelotta. I saw the pattern on Etsy and just had to have it. I think they are gorgeous and I love the way they turned out.

This strange little fellow is from a pattern kit I purchased at our local craft store, Spotlight. I played around a bit and changed the colour combinations and "rebel crafted" the eyes differently. I think it's pretty cute!

I decided that I was in need of a new holder for my mobile phone and came across this cute pattern in a new book called "Happy Stitch" and just had to make it. It's the perfect size for my phone and everyone that's seen it so far, has commented on it and wanted one of their own. I told them that I'll gladly take orders lol.

Another sewn project......it's a cute little bag that I put together made from felt and artificial leather. Everyone of those "feathers" on it's belly are hand sewn, as is the rest of the bag. It was a long tedious job with all that sewing, but I'm happy with the end result. It isn't the biggest in size, but it's perfect for holding all my USB drives and iPod and Kindle cables and it currently hangs on a hook above my desk :)

Yes! I know they are all Owls! lol

I promise that I have been working on other things that aren't owl related, but I can't show you at the moment because they are gifts that are still waiting to be delivered to their new homes. Can't have the intended recipients finding out what they are getting before they receive them!!

So I guess you'll just have to stay tuned for those! :)  

In The Mood For Crochet?

I'm lagging a little behind on my progress with the Mood Blanket Challenge, but only because we are experiencing a heatwave here in Victoria this week. The past 4 days have been 40°c+ and the A/C is struggling to keep the house cool enough to do anything. There has been so much going on around here this week, that I haven't really had time to pick up my hook.

Besides the extreme heat, we have had thunderstorms that had very little rain but a lot of lightning and thunder which has sparked some serious fires. The closest one was on Wednesday night, only 10kms from our house! It was a very restless and stressful night waiting to see if they were going to get it under control. Lucky for us that they did. The CFA (Country Fire Authority) do a marvellous job protecting us and they do it all as volunteers. They need to be better recognised for putting their lives on the lines to protect ours!

Anyway....back to my blanket progress....
I decided that I didn't want to use white squares in my blanket as I had originally intended, so I had to go and get a new colour to replace it, I decided on light teal. The white is now going to be used to edge my squares and make the border instead, which will hopefully make the colours pop. So far I have 12 of the 17 squares done.

I'm really liking the way that the colours are coming together. As you can see, my moods have been varied since beginning the project and I'm happy to say that there are more "good" days than "bad" days so far :) 

I haven't really made a firm decision on how I'm going to join the squares yet, at the moment I'm tossing up between 3 different ways - sewing them together with a whip stitch, single crocheting them together (through the back loops) or maybe doing a braid join. I guess it will all fall into place at some stage, but hopefully sooner rather than later because I don't want to have to sit and join 365 squares together at the end!! 

I'm seriously lagging behind on other projects too, it's my sister's birthday in 3 days and she has requested a scarf (why anyone would want a scarf in the midst of summer is beyond me lol)  and an owl, and I haven't even started on them! She lives 400km away and I will need to post them, so I think I need to get myself busy with those and get them in the post to her so she doesn't think that I have forgotten her. I know they won't make it there on time, EEEEEK! why did I leave it so long!!!

I guess I should start looking through my pattern stash to find something cute but quick.

'Til next time...

Crochet Mood Blanket Update

I've had a change of mind with the pattern that I had originally chose to do this challenge. I just didn't like the size that the squares were, they were too big for my liking. I may have to re-visit the pattern at a later date and use the squares that I have already made to make a smaller lapghan.

So, off I went on a hunt and found a pattern that I really liked and thought would fit the bill perfectly. I decided to use the Good Cause Afghan because I thought it suited the meaning behind the whole challenge.

I have to confess that I love working with cotton yarn, so much more than acrylics, so I delved into my stash and came up with 10 balls of Bendigo Woolen Mills cotton in 4 ply and set to work picking colours to suit moods and adding them to my journal.

I decided to also use a much smaller hook (2.25mm) and I am really loving the way that it is turning out so far.

These are the first 5 days squares that I have re-done so far, assigned with new colours for each mood of the day

I picked up a cheap little journal at a local store for a couple of dollars and set to work taking sample cuts from each of my colours, this is what I have come up with for my mood/colour chart. 

{Please excuse the owl coaster that is photo bombing, the page wouldn't stay open so I could get a good picture!}lol 

I've segmented the book into sections, the first half has the mood chart and on the following pages, I am listing each day and the mood I was experiencing. I've allowed enough pages for the whole 365 days. The rest of the book will be used to document why I was feeling the mood on that particular day. It will be interesting to look back on it at the end of this journey and see what my year was like :) 

While I was doing all this re-organising of how I was going to do this challenge, I wondered where on earth I was going to store all these squares as I was making them, then I remembered that I had bought a cute little case on clearance and had it stored in the craft room. So, out it came and has officially been delegated the task of storing the squares and journal.

It doesn't look all that big, but in real life, it is actually quite deep and I don't think it will have any problems at all holding the 365 squares that I have now decided to make :) 

Here's an inside view... 

so much room for activities! 

I have to say that I am quite excited about this whole project now, even more than I was before and I'm looking forward to seeing how this whole thing turns out at the end of the year :) 

Crochet Mood Blanket 2014

I stumbled upon the Crochet Mood Blanket 2014 challenge on New Years Day and knew straight away that this was a project that I wanted to do.
The rules are simple.....
You can crochet or knit one square or row a day or week in a colour to match your mood.
Depending on the size blanket or even how many you want to make at the end of the challenge, will help to decide on how often you do the squares or rows.
I was going to tackle the 365 squares, but the square I chose, is quite large, so I don't know if it will end up being 365 - I may have to change my train of thought and only do 52.
I chose to use the squares from Bear's Rainbow Blanket by Purl Soho - which is a free pattern.
I am making it in 8 ply acrylic - because that is what I have the most of in my stash - and I'm using a 4mm hook.
I've made 2 squares so far - a blue and a green. I will be edging them all in an Oatmeal colour and I may use some of the colours for the border or I may just keep it simple, I'm not sure yet, but there is plenty of time to figure that out :)
I've decided to join as I go, because I know that nobody likes joining at the best of times and the daunting thought of possibly having to join 365 squares together at the end, is something that even I am not keen enough to do! lol.
Here's my first square....

I've decided that rather than match my mood on the day, I will be working with the first colour that jumps out at me from my stash. I'm also keeping a journal of the colours and days and making notes of how I was feeling on the day that I made the square, which I will keep with the blanket(s) when I'm finished :) 

For those that are interested in doing this great challenge, there is a Facebook group that you can join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crochetmoodblanket2014/

There is also information available on Instagram: http://instagram.com/mummy_stacey which is where it all began. 

It only took one woman to have an idea and voice it, and it has gone viral. This lady thought that she would only get a small following, but it has grown so quickly and she now has 1,588 members in the Facebook group and a large following on Instagram as well!

It just goes to show how one small idea can bring so many people together!

I'll keep you updated as often as I can with this project. I hope you think about giving it a shot yourself :)