I have been feeling a little crafty lately but am trying to work out when and where to fit it in. My head is spinning with ideas and project that I want to make/create. I went fabric shopping the other day and came away with some bargins and the ideas are rolling around in my head non-stop. SO what's the hold up? Where do I find the space to get my craft on? I am in desperate need of my own space/corner/hideaway to craft in and I am stumped if I can think of how this is achievable in our little dwellings. So I will continue to mull over how to render this.
But in the mean time I have found some delight in couch sat crafts such as this little bunny amigurumi
We shall call her Milly. I need smaller saftey eyes but haven't been able to find any locally. I have an idea for her to be joined by some other little pals - I am currently working on a chick who shall be dubbed Rodger - and to make a mobile out of them for my sister Sha Sha who is due to have a little bubba in 6 weeks.
I am also throwing myself in the deep end with this embroidery project I stumbled across the other day. I fell in love with the idea and the fabrics on this blog post and am joining in the AugustStitchalong with this fat Quat I picked up at spotlight the other day. The idea is to stitch the fabric with your own personal take and cottons to make something more wonderful out of already great fabric.
I shall continue on my quest for craft domination while sitting at my pink couch and musing over ideas for where I can find my own little space in our house. I would love to know any ideas of where you find room or optimise space so that your craft creations can come to life, without having to lug everything out of cupboards, boxes, bag etc and then the task of putting it all away again :(
With sickness hanging around still I have had some time to sit and crochet. I love how quick crochet is compared with knitting. I think I am a little addicted.....
Here are two hats I made for little people we know this weekend.
Blue and brown bear ears made for friends little boy as we never got around to getting them a congrats baby present. Plus I think its cool to still be getting present two months later.
Modified bear ears pattern to make a straight beanie for a present for niece that was baptised on Sunday. I love this one so much I am seriously thinking of making them to sell somewhere like Felt. Just don't know if I have enough time to make enough things to add to a store? Or if my items are really up to scratch!
I found this sweet pattern online at Raverly but you can also get it from Bernat here. Squeak loves it and it fits him perfectly.
It was my second proper crochet project and I am super happy with it. I have lots planned for this pattern. I used Moda Vera Marvel Plain 8ply and a 5mm hook. The pattern is in U.S. terms but used this converter to figure it out in U.K. terms. I am starting a blue and chocolate one for a friends baby and I am going to attempt to also alter the pattern and make a straight beanie and flower. See how I go.......
If I can make this and am a very novice crocheter anyone can!
As I said in my last post I was hoping to get Jaybugs jacket finished by the weekend. Well it's Wednesday and it was all finished Tuesday. So I think that's close enough. I'm unsure how happy I am with it.
I love the colours but as you sew it together with the reverse as the right side it's a little untidy. I am a perfectionist and things that show the flaws are something I struggle with. My control on the world is having everything in its place and clutter sends me spinning. Its just a knitted jacket, I know...... But that but is still there. Jaybug loves it so I feel special to her. I guess I need to work a little more on the letting go of silly things, like the not quite perfectness of the jacket.
I am up to issue 3 of the Art of Crochet series. I am unsure how long I will buy it for as at $9.99 and 120 issues - I'm sure I can do a lot of really cool things with $1200! But it is really good the way the show you how to and I am enjoying the patterns that I have collected so far.
I have made 2 of the first 3 throw squares. I'm not overly fond of the fact my squares don't seem to be square. There is something I just am not doing right yet and I can't tell you how many times I have unpulled them and remade them..... As you can see below they curl in at the edges. Is my tension too tight? I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
I also took an Youtube tutorial on making flowers.
It was quite fast and I had to keep going over it. But I managed to get the general gist (I am learning this is important, not perfection of a pattern, to making it work) of it and have been making some flowers from my head.
I have visions of myself making super amazing block blankets (that's not going too well is it!), funky headbands and hats, just to name a few. I have made 2 head bands so far and am learning how to make adjustments to get them to sit/fit better.
I have been reading lots of crochet blogs to get ideas and inspiration. One of my favs is PaisleyJade and she has just put together this awesome How to crochet here. I love the colours and fun she brings to crochet and I aspire to her coolness of crochet.
There are 2 sets of terms that crochet patterns are written in - UK and US. I knew this as I had read it somewhere, about making sure you stick to what you learn in. But then the most helpful thing I uncovered was that US terms and UK terms use the same names for stitches but they mean completely different things! This is where I had spend hours getting confused previously. I found this conversion chart here which illustrates it quite well. Yeah, ok, I might seem a little crazy but this was a super big deal in my crochet learning world!
When looking for crochet books to purchase to help with my crochet coolness, I stumbled on this blog from thornberry and she has a page for her crochet library. It is quite a good idea as I have been able to google the books and find out more about them and if any of them would suit me.
After looking into one that caught my attention I decided I must buy it. I managed to find it cheapest at The Book Depository. They have free delivery world wide and with our $NZD being at the best time to buy I got myself my very own copy of 200 Crochet Blocks. It worked out to be roughly $24 including the charge for the credit card to buy from overseas. Over half the price I have found it online in NZ! It took exactly 7 days from when it was sent to arrival. I was so SUPER EXCITED the day it arrived.
I know this will be a fab addition to my brand new crochet library. I have so many fantastic ideas as I flick through this book. The colours are great and the patterns easy to follow. I just need to master some more skill first!
There is a amazingly beautiful blanket shown in here that I am just biting at the bit to make for Jaybug. Here are my first two squares - Lots of practice still needed to get them right though, but the blanket is enough motivation to keep practicing.
After such a great experience with The Book Depository I have my second addition to the crochet library on the way. I am eagerly awaiting its arrival!
Today I had one mission and that was to get my hands on a copy of The Art Of Crochet weekly series that has just been issued here in NZ. It has been available elsewhere for quite some time but only just arrived here. I had a look online and found that it was a 120 issue (Eeeek! at $9.99 a regular issue....) to complete the weekly square to form the blanket they make. So I have decided that for $3.99 for the first copy I would take a look and see what I think before deciding whether I might buy more.
For just $3.99 this week I have received 2 balls of yarn, a crochet hook, issue one and a starting out Dvd. Will let you know what I think once I get a chance to sit down and have a look inside.
I also managed to get my hands on a Jan 2011 Creative Keepsakes mag at our local recycled mag shop today for $2. I have in the past had wonderful Helen who has passed on her copies when she has finished reading them. But as she has excitingly moved to Aus on a new adventure I sadly have to get my own now!
Helen had some awesome pics on her post today with amazing pics of Bean in autumn leaves that made me have some fantastic scrapping ideas. I am looking forward to sitting down and getting out some things that have been away by themselves a little too long.....
I also got an amazing early Mothers Day present that Quack brought home from school for me this afternoon.
He was so proud of his very first handmade efforts
This is a picture of me out walking with the pram
Inside is a beautiful handwritten message:
I love my Mum because she takes us for walks and she buys me puzzles. I like my Mum because she helps me do my puzzles.
Love From Zac
(In the holidays we found on a walk our local bookstore had second-hand puzzles which we have been buying and doing together which has been lots of fun)
And inside it is filled with some of my favourite things!
Marshmallows and coconut ice - Yummmmm
Looking forward to sitting down tonight, once the kiddo's are in bed, with my new reads and some yummy treats.
So today I have for you Fab Feijoa Muffins! These are so yummy that they are just about all gone. They have a yummy sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar over the top too.
To start off with though I hadn't thought about the fact that although we have Feijoas coming out our ears so of you would have no idea what they are (as Tea so kindly pointed out.
So Feijoas are a fruit that grow on trees and fall when they are ripe.
They have green skin
and a soft white flesh inside.
If you cant get Feijoas any of the recipes can have banana added or any other soft fruit that you may wish to use. I opted to add frozen berries to my muffins too which help add a little bit of colour and flavour.
Also a project I have been working on is a Hooded Jacket for Jaybug. I wanted to get her a bright striped jacket from somewhere like Pumpkin Patch, then I found this awesome free pattern online from Spotlight.
So I have been working on this with some awesome Moda Vera - Marvel plain 8ply yarn. I found it at our local Spotlight store for $3.99 a ball (which I thought was really reasonable for 100g ball). There is a huge range of colours too which makes it so easy to get excited. It is an acrylic yarn which I find easier to wash with the kids.
So here is the colours I have chosen
So far I have done the back, two fronts and have just about finished the first sleeve.
But today I got a bit distracted when reading PaisleyJade's post with yet another one of her awesome crochet creations. When I mentioned in the comments that I have been wanting to learn she sent me a fantastic blog link with learning to crochet a granny square (So Helen I am learning to make them!)
The link was for Meet Me at Mikes at was super easy to follow with great video instruction.
So here is my afternoons distraction:
Round 1 and 2 completed and then I thought I better get the beef casserole in the oven otherwise there would be no dinner tonight and lots of explaining to do!
Completed 3 round granny square and even a colour change!
Sewing in all the ends
And completed granny square!
I am super excited and ready to make more. It was so much fun and heaps easier than I thought. But for now I really must get the Jacket finished for Jaybug. Granny squares awaiting may just help me get it finished super speedy!
