Back In The Swing Of Things...

I know that I said that I was going to try and update this on a regular basis, but time has just gotten away from me lately. Today I finally have some time to sit and actually spend more than 2.3 nanoseconds here, so I thought I would pay a visit while I had the chance!

I'm still plodding away with the Mood Blanket Challenge, I'm about a week's worth of squares behind, but I'm catching up. The hotter weather has finally started to disappear, it's still quite warm here, but nowhere near the 40°c+ days that we were having.

I've had yet another change of mind with the Mood Blanket squares and have decided that it was just going to be too plain for my liking. So I hunted through my stash and found a book with a variety of really nice square patterns, so I have been slowly working my way through, pattern by pattern and am going to incorporate these in amongst the "plainer" blocks.

The book I am using is called "50 Fabulous Crochet Squares" by Leisure Arts. There are some gorgeous patterns in this book and I plan on making all 50 of them :)

Here's just a small sample of them, from the book cover...

This is where I'm at for now with my squares (sorry for the picture quality, it was taken in a rush), you can see the squares from the book that I have made so far...

I still have some catching up to do with the "charity afghan" square - 3 each of the pink, light green and dark green, then I plan on getting back into the book and making some more of those gorgeous motif squares.

I'm still working these squares with the Bendigo Woolen Mills 4 ply cotton and am only just starting to make a dent in the skeins. They are 200g in weight, so I think that I am going to have plenty to see me through this project, and if not, I'll just have to pay another visit there to get more! ;)

In my last post, I mentioned that I was running behind on making my sister's birthday presents. I ended up just making her an owl (sorry I forgot to take a photo)in 4 ply cotton and bought her a cute little word art plaque that was all about sisters. She loved them to bits and they only arrived a day late. I'm saving the scarf to make in the cooler weather and will send it to her as a "just because" gift when it's closer to the time that she will actually need it and can wear it :) 

As well as catching up on the squares and my sister's gift, I took part in an amigurumi swap with another lady from one of the Facebook groups I'm in. I ended up making her an owl from Moji Moji's Rainbow Nesting Owls pattern (surprise, surprise! LOL) and a little kitty from Little Muggles - Violet The Kitty and she was very pleased with them. I didn't take a photo before I sent them, because I wanted to get them in the post quickly, but she did share a photo when she received them...

The lady had requested pinks and purples as her preferred colours, and this is all that I had in my stash at the time. I was quite happy with how they turned out. Although I didn't have any pellets to weight the bottoms so they don't quite sit as well as I would have liked. But the main thing is, she liked them :) 

In return, this same lady sent me an ami, it was the first one she has made and I think for a "1st timer" she did an excellent job. Of course, she knows me well enough to make me an owl!

The picture above is of the owl she made me and she said that it was from the Soren the Barn Owl pattern. I love it!!! :) 

I can't believe that we are already nearly 2 months into the new year! Time seems to go past so quickly these days!!

Anyway, looks like my time here for today is up, so I better get back to doing what needs to be done around here and hopefully the updates will be a little more frequent from now on :) 

Oh...and before I forget....

Another One Bites The Dust

Last night, I managed to get another project off my hook. I finished my throw that I mentioned in my last post. It's another Random Stripe throw, but in black, 3 different shades of grey and a warm yellow. I really like how it turned out. I think it looks masculine, which works well, considering it has found a home on the back of my husband's favourite sofa in the lounge room....

This is not how it is going to stay, the photo was actually taken with it just being draped here so that I could pick up all the colours to show you :) 

After finishing the throw, I was at a loss as to what to make next. I have been toying with a few ideas, but hadn't decided on one in particular. I finally thought it was time for another filet piece, but I won't mention the details about it yet as it is going to be a gift for a good friend and I don't want to expose it before it is delivered to it's intended recipient.

As well as crocheting the throw, I have been trying to teach my future daughter-in-law to crochet.  She had learnt the basics from her grandmother, but only knew how to do a granny square and that was all. She has been watching me making things for the past few months, since she moved in with us and has been begging me to teach her, and she seems to be getting the hang of it very quickly. She's made 2 things so far and can already see the improvement in the 2nd piece. 

I started her with this pattern, from Lion Brand...

This is the photo from the Lion Brand site....

And this is Amanda's attempt at it (this was the 2nd try at it)...

I think she did a pretty good job of it and even though the legs and arms are bigger than they are supposed to be, I still think he's pretty cute! At the moment she's working on a Narwhal pattern, learning how to create circles :) 

Besides the throw that I've just finished, I also decided it was time to make a new bag holder for my plastic shopping bags. 

I used a pattern from e-Patterns Central that can be found here: Butterfly Bag Holder 

I made mine slightly longer than the pattern called for, and I found some other butterfly appliques that I preferred, but I think it's still a little plain and am on the lookout for an applique pattern for a dragonfly to add to it.

This is the finished bag......

with a close up of one of the butterflies....

I really like the way they stand out, almost a 3D effect!

Before I go, I'd like to share a piece that my mother made a couple of years ago when she was a member of a local craft group and still living in her own home. I found this while I have been going through the process of cleaning up her house...I think it is gorgeous....

This now has pride of place on my bed among some other embroidered cushions :) 

Mum couldn't have it at the nursing home with her, and when I asked if I could have it, she said yes! It is something that I will cherish for a long time, because it was handmade by her. 

I'm debating about making a little lace applique of something to add to the centre, but I haven't found the perfect one yet......

'til next time....keep warm, or cool, depending on where you are on this great planet of ours :) 

Cooler Weather = More Time For Crochet :)

I don't seem to get as much time as I would like to get back here and update what's been happening, today I decided that I was going to do just that :) 

Last time I managed to sit and write, I mentioned that I had found a new love - Filet Crochet!

I've now completed 3 projects and love them all.

You can find the original blog post about my discovery here: 

Heart Filet Doily 

I mentioned that I was on to my 2nd project using this technique and was making a "Welcome" sign for my wall, I finally managed to get it finished and I must say that I love it.

I had to hunt high and low to find a frame that would fit it, some were too big and others too small, I decided to settle for a bigger one and here is the finished result, made with DMC cotton size 20 and a 1.25mm hook.

Please excuse my bird cage, it decided to photo bomb the photo! :)

As you can see, I chose not to block it - in hindsight maybe I should have, but I don't have any immediate plans to remove it from the frame and do that. Besides, the quirkiness seems to fit in well with our house lol.

After the filet, I decided that I needed to do one more project to satisfy the urge to know that I had got it right, and as I've mentioned previously, I have a "thing" for owls. So what better project to do, than an Owl Filet project!

This is the one that I chose to make: 

This one was made with the thicker 4ply crochet cotton and a 1.25mm hook, and I love the way it turned out. It is quite large and at the moment it is sitting on one of our coffee tables.

I have a few more filet projects that I'd love to do, but for now, I'm not in the mood for counting continuously and marking off rows as they are completed, so I chose to return to my real love, amigurumi!

I bought this pattern a while back and it has been sitting in my folder on the PC waiting for me to create it and I have to say I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and think it is one of the cuter projects I have done :) 

It's called "Guardian Bear" by the very talented "Esbelotta"

and can be found here:

Guardian Bear - Esbelotta

I love her patterns and they are so simple to work with. I have made another of her patterns in the past and blogged about it, here's the one I made previously:

Mama & Baby Owl - the first picture in the post :) 

I'm now working on an multicolour afgan, as the weather is getting cooler at nights and I decided it was time to make a bigger project. The fact that as it grows, it also keeps my legs warm, is another benefit :) 

It's a simple pattern made up of alternating sc and dc stitches and the stripes were created using the Random Stripe Generator

and this free pattern and I have to say that I am loving it.

I'm using similar colours to the pattern picture, but I would love to make another when this one is finished in a different colour combination. I think my next one may be made using: orange, grey, black and white :) 

Apart from all the crocheting, things are moving along nicely here, I'm back teaching I.T again this year, mum is doing well, the kids are all happy and life is good!

Keep smiling! :) 

Finally.....Reveal #2

A while back I posted about some "mystery" projects that I had been putting together.
Reveal #1 was done a while back, the Luigi and Yoshi amigurumi's, now I can reveal what the other 2 projects were.
They have finally been delivered to their new owner, so I can now share what I was working on....

The first one, which, if you've been following along, you would remember me showing you this...

 Well, now I can show you what it is :)

 It's a project bag  that was sent to a good friend in America! The whole bag was "rebel crocheted". I took a pattern for an Owl project bag and used the pattern for the body of the bag for this one. I then had to painstakingly create the face and legs. I didn't have a pattern for these, so had to do them from scratch. (The green dots on the face are actually pins that are securing the face onto the bag). I think it turned out pretty cute!

And what's a lion, without a tail!....

It's big enough to hold the yarn, pattern and pieces of a smaller pattern. You definitely wouldn't be able to fit an afghan project in this ;)

So, onto the next reveal......

You'll remember the teaser photo as looking like this....

Well, this is the finished project....

It's an angel lion, created for the same friend that received the lion bag. Can you see a theme happening here!!! lol

This is from the pattern called " Dalenna - Angel Of Courage" by  Gurumiorama (http://www.etsy.com/shop/gurumiorama)

I decided to 'rebel crochet' this one as well. The pattern called for a yarn mane, where pieces of yarn were cut in lengths and then attached to the head.

I decided to delve into my yarn stash and found a skein of eyelash yarn and then went through the process of crocheting this to the head, working in rows. I love the way it turned out :)

The wings were made with some silver lurex type yarn I had here and I used a silver pipe cleaner for the halo.
I had to make this for my friend, because it sums her up beautifully!

So that's it, that's what I've been working on and they have all now gone to their new homes.

As a side note: I'm still working on the Owl Tote and am close to reaching the finish line. I have the body of the bag completed and one handle attached. I just have to make the other handle and then decide whether I want to line it or not.

Stay tuned......

Reveal #1

Well, two of the projects I completed but couldn't share went to their new home this week. They were presents for my son's girlfriend's 18th birthday. She's a huge Super Mario fan, but prefers Luigi, so I made her a Luigi amigurumi (courtesy of Wolfdreamer) and a matching Yoshi (courtesy of Robotrish).
My son delivered them on Monday night, I couldn't do it myself, so got him to do it on my behalf and I recieved a message thanking me profusely and I was told that I'm awesome LOL
I'm glad that she liked them!
So without further ado....here they are.....

 I think they turned out pretty cute! I've already been asked if I can make other things and would I do so for other people :)
Excuse me while I go and deflate my head LOL

Stay tuned for Reveal # 2, which is still a while off.....