Well hello dolly

Yes it has been a while.

I'm still here and everything is just fine, no dramas, just busy. 

Well the truth is I've been on a fitness kick and really haven't had much time or energy for much else.

I have been crocheting though and made a beanie & scarf for my eldest son. A scarf & beret for my daughter and a beanie and still in the process of making myself a scarf.

She just loves her beret. It was meant for the Canberra Camp which is next week! But after completing it looks more suited to summer than a Canberra winter.

I have some exciting stuff to show you but I just haven't got around to taking pictures yet. My gorgeous cousin has sent me up a box of fabric & dolls that are incomplete from my very crafty aunt who sadly passed away not long ago. When I say Aunt I mean my mums aunt who made it all the way into her 90s. She always kept herself busy making things and I still have a ceramic bathing jug & bowl she made for me way back in 1982!

So over the next few months I hope to complete these dolls that have been hand moulded and painted by auntie Yvonne herself.  All they need is some hair and clothes and they will  finally be finished. 

But before that I have a camp to attend and also a baby gift to complete for a very special friend who's baby boy decided to join this party early .

Back soon i promise :)

Can just about smell the chocolate

It occurred to me only 2 days ago that we're going to be in Canberra for school camp... in WINTER and none of us have been through winter since Perth 4 years ago. Yes the twins want me to come on year 6 camp with them. Crazy huh... so i whipped out my crochet hook and made these.

He pulled that face knowing I wanted a pic for the blog, he dances to his own beat and that's cool i think.

SO with yesterday being good Friday and me happening to find a guy who owns a prawn trawler only a few weeks ago through my plumber, we have a mountain of fresh prawns to eat.

I thought we'd try something different for dinner.

Garlic prawns with Poh's Egg Custard. I was really going out on a limb here, I mean custard and prawns with shitake for dinner sounds disgusting but amazingly it was a hit and not just with the adults, the kids really enjoyed it too.

So now we wait patiently for the Easter bunny to arrive and ponder the effects of Lenten promises on their makers. It really is great to see the kids stick with their and funny what they chose to go without for lent. One gave up his bed and slept on a camp mattress and the other promised to be nicer to her brothers. They both did very well.

Happy Easter to you, time for the count down :)

My Creative space...

Forever nostalgic and trying to emulate the crochet creations of my beautiful Nana,  I hunted for the pattern online a while ago and saw it for sale but thought i could figure it out by looking at the blanket Nana made for the youngest. I was wrong. later stumbling across the pattern in an old Mon Tricot Book... again I could not figure it out!

So, when  my cousin hinted that I should try making one of these baby blankets a few weeks ago I thought I should give it a red hot go, She gave me  THIS link that has a video tutorial and so I sat in front of the PC with my soft cotton yarn and hook and followed and copied and paused and rewound and...

I think I've finally mastered it... the Mon Tricot call it harlequin stitch,Teresa in the tute calls it the square wheel stitch and others the wool eater. I call it Nana's crochet baby blanket.

Amazing what a sense of achievement it has brought, I could not be happier that now I can create what my Nana created for my children's babies and whoever may be lucky enough to get one before then!

Check out Kootoyoo for more creative spaces.

Craft book challenge April

Here is my April edition of the Craft Book Challenge. It's another gorgeous little creation from Scandinavian Stitches. It's a zippered pouch that is around double the depth of a coin pouch. Thought it would be perfect size for a tween birthday girl to put her treasures in. I think it would make a gorgeous 'just in case' pouch actually.

I made a couple of crochet flower clips to go with. Needless to say the birthday girl was happy and her mum wants to know where she can buy my stuff... I hear you loud and clear people and I'm working on it! promise :)

Ever feel like you're chasing your tail?

 I do, I feel like I've been doing it for a good few months now, well since the start of the year. And now it's time to stop the crazy and to start 'moving forward'... as our prime minister keeps saying.

So I'm doing just that. I hope to have my little etsy / made it shop up and running within the month. It's going to have a mix of  baby stuff like crocheted cardies and hair clips and little nappy covers and maybe dresses (not sure yet) along with some of these gorgeous pillowcases...

Are you chasing your tail? What's stopping you from moving forward? At the moment its the silly little banner needed at the top of the shop and wait for it...  time. I'm sure i can get one done if i could just spend some time sorting it out. Simple as that and I'm ready to get it all happening.

Have a lovely week xox

I'm grateful for...

The ability to create...

I taught myself just over a year ago how to crochet and this week I'm thankful for crochet.

I whipped up 3 baby cardigans this week and after they were done I found out 3 of my friends are pregnant... 2 of which had given up on even entertaining the thought of getting pregnant!

I'm also grateful for new beginnings... my daughters room has been uninhabitable since cyclone Yasi dumped her stuff a few weeks ago. She's bunking in with her twin brother, something they haven't done for over 5 years. It's been good for them. We now get to create a tween room for her.

I'm also grateful for quick sewing projects and the ability to make gifts rather than buying them.

See what other sweet peeps are grateful for this week at Maxabella Loves.

My Creative space...

Okay I'm just going to come right out and say it, granny squares look pretty yes but what a pain in the but to make. I had grand plans (again) of doing a granny rug but it quickly changed in to a pillow after it took longer to sew in all the threads than crochet the squares. I think in future the two tone version will be just dandy. My hat is off to the grannies and granny makers.

Some more creativeness can be found right here at Kootoyoo.

My Creative space...

This new year i have hit the ground running trying to finish off projects that were started a while back, then i decided the get some granny action happening seeing as i signed up to 'a granny a day' last year and well failed big time.

So I thought I'd start small and do a little cushion cover, i seem to be gravitating towards cushions of late... finishing off with grey edging and i might even try attaching a zip to the crochet... walking on the wild side hey!

Now I'm not the only creative person in this house, my husband Fox has made a massive scalextix table and track in the garage over the school holidays. It's been a perfect project to keep the boys busy while we've been house bound by the rain.

Trying to get a good shot in the dark of the lamp post because Fox made it ! I'm so impressed he's really trying to be creative and make accessories for the track by himself. He now has a production line happening in the shed and his track should have a bunch of street lights up by the weekend.

Now head on over to Kootoyoo for some more crafty inspiration :)

Teachers gifts

I don't even remember if I made teacher's gifts last year.... oh that's right I moved house last xmas and made quilts for the twins in the weeks before we moved... because that's what they wnated :)
So no excuse this year to whip up a little something for some absolutely lovely teachers. We have been lucky this time round with the kids loving their new school, making friends easily and having great teachers tooo. Can't ask for more than that now can you!



I came across this cute coffee cozzies tutorial and couldn't go past them.



While out xmas shopping yesterday I found some silver star tree ornaments and mini bonbons with truffles inside and thought they would go nicely with the coffee vouchers that all manage to fit inside the coffee cups. Now cross fingers they love a good cuppa!



And here is a sneky peek at the stocking I made for my swap partner in Selina's Great stocking swap of 2010. I had a lot of fun making it, I just hope my partner likes it too.

Toby's Blanket

It's finished and on it's way to the brand new owner as we speak.





So soft & spongy, i want to make one for keeps now.

To make this blanket -

Make a chain however wide you like in an uneven number.
Tr in the second chain from the end and in each chain to the end.
Chain 2 then Tr around the post, then do a normal Tr all the way to the end.
Repeat for as long as you like. It's that simple.

I started with 7 rows of main colour then 8 rows of contrast and continued doing 8 rows until the last colour and made it 7 rows . This was so the edging didn't make that colour band too wide at the ends.

After completing the last row of main colour make 1 chain then single crochet all the way around, slip stitch in first SC, 1 chain then turn and SC around again, SL ST then 1 chain. the edging is crab stitch, which is reverse single crochet. So instead of turning you SC from left to right . I had not attempted this stitch before but it's not hard, I looked up you tube and was away in no time. Thank you You Tube for teaching me the ways of the hook :)

I found it took longer than I had first thought and chose this one piece blanket to avoid sewing squares together. Trying to take a short cut and it back fired, hehe, oh well.

Also, the stripes were meant to be horizontal but when Toby decided to stun us all and make an early entrance into the world I changed plans and went for a bassinet / pram sized blanket instead.

My creative space

On the countdown to my newest nephews arrival in 5 weeks.

I'm crocheting him a waffle cot blanket to keep him warm in chilly Goulburn.

He will be my 14th niece/nephew but hopefully not the last.

Kootoyoo has a mountain of creative spaces, check it out. x

My creative space

More beanie making for our camping weekend. Meeka chose the colour to match her cardigan and I actually followed a pattern with this one.

But sadly it does not fit. It won't even fit Dmans head so I guess it's suited for a 1-2 year old and I just so happen to know a little girl who will be one next winter.

So it's back to the hook to whip up another...

Check out Kootoyoo to see what's going down in craftland.

Rugging up

Oh my goodness, who knew that North Queensland could get so cold? It's been freezing ... well in the mornings anyway and when I say freezing I mean 11 - 13 degrees celcius. So maybe not freezing compared to say Canberra but when you're use to 30 c days it really is cold. So, this week I have located my box of winter clothes (packed away when we left Brisbane) because we're going camping by a lake in the mountains this weekend and if we're cold here in the city, I can only imagine what it's going to be like there. Luckily I still fit my winter gear from last year but the same cannot be said for the smalls. So I got to crocheting a beanie for Dman. No pattern, just mixed up the yarn & crochet stitches etc. And ta da one happy boy who cannot wait to wear it & try out his new sleeping bag. I made a pompom for the top after fox said i should (he always tells me what i should do to improve my projects, bless him) and with inspiration from posies latest efforts but i think it looks better without.



And while we're on the topic, I went in to PomPom Rouge today and met Kristen who has a sweet little fabric/yarn shop & craft/sewing place out back. I think i'll be hanging out there a bit.

And now to make beanies for the big kids... i really need to find a pattern.

My creative space

This week I have made some crochet trim to go on a top for self stitched september.
It was a little tricky sewing it on because of the bulk, but I tacked it first which made it easier.



Thanks for checking in.

For mor creative spaces check out Kootoyoo.

Thanks for a good yarn

Recently sew mama sew had a massive giveaway day and I won some absolutely divine yarn from Johanna at Star-Cooked . It really is gorgeous stuff.

I was so excitied when it arrived that i didn't even take a pic of the yarn but got straight to crocheting an earwarmer for my early morning walks. I know I live in the tropics but it really does get cold in the mornings and my big ears catch the wind... :)

So I used Johannas yarn for the middle section with some grey yarn on the outside. Iv'e never made a headband before but it really was quite easy. Just do 60 chain then either single crochet or mix it up with a row of triple until it get's to the width you're after then sew the edges together. it's that simple.

Trying to get a shot of the head band... not so easy.






And I finally got the headband. Those colours are even more awesome in real life.

Thankyou Johanna, I love it. And thanks also to sew mama sew for holding such a fun giveaway. Next time I will have to get involved and give something away too.

Take care you xox

Morris the sensitive bear

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Little Morris is now complete. I finished him today during our craft morning. In my rush to get out the door (and take full advantage of the kid free time) i remembered, then forgot to put my copy of Meet Me at Mikes in my craft bag. I had already finished the crochet part and just needed to stuff him and put on his nose, arms, legs & head.



I think he looks cute, and already there has been great debate as to who will own him here...

Eenie meenie miney moe... lol

my creative space

Every wednesday morning i meet up with a bunch of crafty girls and a very lovely lady takes care of our kids while we get our craft on.
At the minute, apart from dreaming about what kind of quilt i'd like to create my other project is making some clothes. But not wanting to carry my machine to and fro, I thought i'd attempt to make Morris the sensitive Panda from Pip Lincolne's Meet Me at Mikes book so I had something to do this week.



Check out what's being created in crafty blogland this week right here with Kootoyoo

Amelie's Blanket

This is for a very special friends baby girl who is now a month old. There was a slight hold up with running out of yarn and waiting for more to arrive from Brisbane. But now it's all ready to be sent to a precious little bub.

My creative space

Amelie's Baby Blanket

Nearly finished, just putting the edge on and it will be on it's way...

The camera (or me) makes it look shiny, but it isn't at all.

More creative space's right HERE

Now I want a baby girl too

Early last month I started this little dress and I'm pleased now to say that it is finished.
It will be sent off for baby Amelie this week and now that some more wool has arrived in the mail I can get onto finishing her little blanket. I hope her mum likes it! I think it would look fabulous in black & white photos with a little teddy bear too. ... sigh.





I'm not the best on the photography front so they are a little blurry. I'll have to do a night class or something to hone my happy snap skills.

Was going to say, I hope you have a great week but then I realised it's Wednesday already so enjoy the rest of your week. :)