Catching up

Hello.  Once again it has been a long time since I posted on here so I thought I'd do a catch up post.

The usual things have been going on in life as they do and my days have been filled with crafting either knitting socks or crocheting blankets.  The garden is there waiting for me to get into when the weather warms up but for Melbourne this takes quite a while.  

We bought a second hand caravan from good friends several months ago so have been enjoying planning our first weekend away which is happening soon.  I'll hopefully have photos to share.  In the meantime here are a few of the things I've been getting up to.

Hubby and I enjoyed a day out visiting the Yarra Valley Dairy, one of our favourite places.

 

We saw the Wedge tailed eagle in the distance while there.

I made these bed socks for Mum.  Not quite a perfect fit.

Enjoying the colours of some sock yarn I ordered.

A skein of sock wool I hand dyed using camellia petals, melaleuca bark beetroot tops.

Knitting of socks in progress.

 

 

More socks.  This pair went to Genevieve.

  

Enjoying some colour in the garden.

Hubby and I cutting down branches from the old pear tree in the back yard.  Sadly the tree was diseased and all the wet weather didn't help so down she came.

Working on a stripey throw. Pattern found here.  Using colours from Lucy of Attic 24 cosy pack.

Five jars of yummy home made corn relish.  Delicious with a cheese melted toastie.

Rainbow lorikeets visiting this weekend.  The might be colourful but they are noisy and agressive, not my favourite parrot.

See you soon,

Anne  xx

My first pair of knitted socks

Where has the time gone since my last post when I mentioned I was learning to knit socks?  Well it's been taken up a lot by learning to knit socks, this pair in fact.

Now I'm sure if there are any experienced sock knitters out there you will see the mistakes and flaws but it really doesn't matter to me because I've learned a new skill.  My socks are comfortable and warm, a tad large but that's o.k. too.  

 

I must say that knitting these socks have been a life saver for me as I've been very much under the weather the past few weeks with a small operation and coming down with a nasty virus the next day that still wants to keep me company.  I've had to rest so much and sock making has certainly made this time pass more bearably.  

My thanks go to Christine Perry and her delightful blog Winwick Mum and her sockalong where she has posted in three weekly installments the sock making process.  The tutorials are explained in great detail in both written instructions and photos.  Christine has tutorials for knitting socks with either double pointed needles, large circular needles using the magic loop method or small circular needles either 30 or 23cm.  My first pair of socks were made on dpn's, my second pair are being made on 23cm circular.  My thanks too goes to all the wonderful ladies on the Winwick Mum Sockalong FB group for their encouragement and help.  Christine will be leaving the tutorials on her blog so if you want to join the sockalong or even just learn to knit socks, it's not too late.

So this is the yarn I'm using for my second pair of socks.  It's bright and out there, just my style and I'm really enjoying the process now I know a little bit more about sock construction.  I have quite a few balls of sock yarn (the stash) to use so I dare say I'll be knitting socks for some time.  :)

Stripey wanted to get in on the act in the very early stages of knitting my second sock.  He just wants cuddles all the time and I'm only too happy to oblige.  He makes a good hot water bottle on a cold day of which there have been many.

I can't leave without posting a photo from the garden.  Dew drops on the last of the autumn salvias.

Anne  xx

Socks

Have you ever made socks?  I'm giving it a go and joining in with the sock-a-long at Winwick Mum's blog.  Crochet is my preferred craft with wool but this looked like a really fun thing to do and the encouragement received from other people participating has been wonderful.  I've spent an incredible amount of time casting on, knitting, losing stitches, recasting on, many many times and getting very frustrated.  I finally set aside my first ball of sock yarn deciding it was jinxed and restarted the whole process with another ball of yarn I had.  I had success this time with a minimum amount of mistakes.

 
 I've chosen to knit with four dpn's which has been described as a bit like knitting with a hedgehog.  Hopefully progress will be good from now on.  If anyone is interesting in knitting socks (this pattern is from the top down), Winiwick Mum is leaving all the details, instructions and information up on her blog so you can refer to it at some other time.  There's still time to join in with the sock-a-long if you are interested.

Anne xx

Something cosy

It's cold and that has me thinking about cosy things like soups, casseroles and hot water bottles.  I used 8 ply acrylic yarn from my stash to crochet the hot water bottle cover below.  I started out with a pattern but got bored and decided to do my own thing which has resulted in a slightly wonky looking cover, a bit rustic but that's o.k. with me.

 I've been working on the granny squares below to make another hot water bottle cover.  The early morning autumn light coming in through the family room window was lovely and perfect for taking this photo.

We don't use hot water bottles at home as we have an electric blanket so the ones I'm making covers for will be used elsewhere.  Hoping to tell you about that soon.

Anne  xx

Winter days

Winter has finally hit Victoria and with a bit of a vengeance too.  Some days in May were quite mild  but now we have cold winds, rain and even snow in the high country which means the snow resorts will be breathing a sigh of relief.  

I've been making an effort this past month to get out and walk every day for my benefit and for my gorgeous Labrador Sophie.  Usually in winter I don't want to walk because of the cold so the purchase of some wet weather gear and making a few crochet items is helping to make walking more pleasurable.

Please excuse the quality of these next photos, it's a bit hard taking selfies when it's freezing and you can't quite get the angle of the camera right.

First up I made a scarf in an 8ply teal acrylic.  I chained 250 stitches with 4.5mm crochet hook, crocheted 2 rows of double, 7 rows of treble and then 2 rows of double.  I did a simple picot stitch around the edge to finish off.  This scarf started life as something else entirely but adjustments were made when I ran out of patience.

I'm thinking Stripey makes a better model than me.   :)

I rather fancied making a shawl or something similar to throw over the top of my clothes when venturing out.  I finally bit the bullet and purchased a pattern from Etsy that I fell in love with.  Big mistake.  Nothing is wrong with the pattern, it's wonderful but trying to find a similar yarn in the right ply was a nightmare.  I finally found (after spending about 1 1/2 hours in Spotlight) a yarn I thought might be suitable, Patons Midnight, an acrylic, wool, metallic polyester and nylon mix made in Italy.  The wool was heavily discounted at $5.00 for a 75g ball so it being the best affordable option for me, a purchase was made.  Trying to find a nice 12 ply yarn in this country for a reasonable price is rather challenging so I hoped my yarn which seemed more like 8 ply than 12 ply would suffice.  Of course the right hook size for the pattern wasn't in stock in Spotlight so I decided to wing it with 6mm hook I had at home instead of a 6.5mm.  I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to crochet but I did think to add more stitches to increase the size of the wrap.  My wrap is o.k. but it's not at all like the one in the pattern picture which looks soft and drapes beautifully.  I've opted not to use a button to secure it with, rather using a large kilt type pin I embellished a couple of years ago which doesn't show up particularly well in the photo.

Oh the joys of developing ones skills  :)

As our days are cold, gloomy and overcast I decided to bring a little colour into the house with these Camellias from the garden.

 
 I'm eyeing off the Daphne that will be in flower soon too so I can bring some of the fragrant blooms inside.

Have a lovely day everyone.

Anne xx

Studio update

Work is progressing on the studio.  We had a trench dug through the backyard, (urgh), so the power could be laid underground.  The electrician has put in the cable and wiring and hubby and I back filled the trench yesterday which was exhausting work.  Our soil is heavy clay and unfortunately we had over 30ml of rain dumped on it so it was much heavier to move.  Anyway it's done now.  We are waiting for a tradie to come and install the split system air conditioner.  Then the insulation and lining can be fitted.

Other things studio related have been happening too.  I'm making over an old stool so I have something to sit on while I'm painting at my easel.  I'll do a full reveal when completed.  My collection of scarves to turn into curtains has been growing, now washed and waiting to be assembled.

Here are a few photos related to studio progress.

I've also started cleaning out my craft stuff and am somewhat embarrassed to discover just how much yarn I have.  I don't think I'll be needing to buy any more for quite a while.  These are two huge old toy baskets filled and I have more stacked elsewhere.

I been making this box to mount on the toilet wall to store toilet rolls.  It was made under the expert tuition of hubby and I was even allowed to use his electric tools.  It is just waiting its top coat and then can be mounted on the wall.

It has been most satisfying to make something like this.

Anne  xx

:: 52 weeks of happy 15/52

Another week has passed and time to share four happy moments, a wonderful idea from Little Birdie

1.  Sitting outside in my PJ's in the warmth and cuddling Stripey.

2.  Buying some lovely yarn to make into a vest.  The light is terrible in my house now the days are shorter, so lousy photo.  Sorry.

3.  Helping hubby make green tomato relish.  One kilo of tomatoes yielded two and a bit jars of relish.  One in the fridge already being demolished.  YUM!

4.  Having breakfast out with good friends.  My Bircher muesli with yogurt, rhubarb jam and pistachios was delicious.

Wishing you all many happy moments this week.

Anne  xx

:: 52 weeks of happy, 13/52 ::

Here are four happy moments of many this week.

1.  Finish crocheting this little cardigan for my grand nephew.

2.  Making origami boxes for Easter treats.

3.  Starting this crochet blanket in bright colours for my grand nephew.

 

 

 4.  Grateful for good health and medical tests that are clear.

Wishing every one many happy moments this week and a wonderful Easter.

Anne  xx

In my neighbourhood and what my dog did!

 Yesterday when I was driving to yoga class I passed this front yard all decked out with Christmas hats and giant candy canes.  I didn't have my camera with me so went back today to take this photo.  The house is set quite a way off the road so I tentatively made my way up to get a closer look.  I think it's rather a cute idea. 

 

Last Sunday afternoon hubby and I went to the local movie cinema to see the latest Bond movie which we enjoyed immensely.  In front of the car park and on the main road through our local town was this fantastic yarn bombed tree.  I took the following photos today too.

 

 

 Someone has put an incredible amount of work into this display and I love the bird cage too.

Now to the DOG!!!

I love my dog, I really do, but sometimes I don't like what she does.  In the last six months (please bare in mind we are talking about a 10 year old dog not a puppy), she has developed some not so nice habits like getting out of the yard, trying to dig under the gate and upending my pot plants on the back deck.  I did wonder if she was letting me know she wasn't happy that I left her for two months in May/June while traveling in Europe and the times I've visited Western Australia this year.  (She's always been at home and with family members).  She usually sleeps out on the deck at night in a very nice sheltered and warm kennel but as I was feeling sorry for her, we started to let her sleep in side.  She then developed another bad habit of sleeping on our lounge chairs which is NOT allowed.  Perhaps you may think I'm harsh but she is a pale Labrador and Labradors shed two coats of hair.  We have fabric lounge chairs and her hair gets stuck in the fibers resulting in vacuuming taking 30 minutes for one lounge chair. It's bad enough having two white haired cats let alone a dog that when she wags her tail, she sheds enough hair to stuff multiple pillows and cushions.  

Yes, it's a bit of a long winded story so if you are still with me well done and thank you for your patience.  In my wisdom (not so wise I since discovered), I bought a lovely big brisket bone for her thinking it would keep her busy during the night while she got use to sleeping outside again.  It did keep her quiet and out of my pot plants but two days later made her very sick with diarrhea and vomiting.  I felt so bad for her but she had to stay outside the second night because she was so unwell.  Apparently not too sick to do this though.

The guilty party.

  She is well again thankfully after a diet of boiled rice and chicken but I'm still not going to let her inside at night because she will be up on the chairs again.  We've tried putting things on the lounge chairs to stop her climbing up, so much so that we had boxes, bags and other paraphernalia nearly up to the ceiling.  We tried putting sachets of smelly things unpleasant to dogs like eucalyptus and tea tree oil on the lounges, we even sprayed eucalyptus air freshener near the chairs but to no avail.  After I cleaned up the above mess I decided that I would pour a liberal amount rosemary essential oil over the pot plants in an effort to keep her from upending them again.  It has worked for the last two nights, so fingers crossed she is breaking a bad habit.

Never a dull moment eh?!

May you all have moments filled with peace and well behaved dogs (if you have one) in the lead up to Christmas.

Anne  xx