A doily, a bag and some tulips.....

In between bouts of gardening the above is what I have been up to over the last week or so.

First the doily, I am so pleased to have finished it as it has been hanging around for ages  I had made a mistake and kept putting off undoing some rows and starting again!  Finally I took myself in hand and finished.  Overall I am pleased with it.  It is actually more of a musky pink than the pink in the photo. Um I have not blocked it yet!

Over the last few days, I have been working on making a summer bag for myself out of some furnishing material scraps.

I added a doily I brought from the op shop for $1.  It took a bit of nerve cutting it in half, but eventually I got the nerve, and each side is embellished with it.

I decided it needed something more and so I crocheted two Irish roses in matching variegated cotton.  These I attached with a central pearl button.  When it was finished I decided it needed two roses  in the corners.

I even lined it with matching material that I had in my stash!  Err … Please don’t look too closely at my hand sewing!  The handles I took off an old bag I brought had the car boot sale for 50 cents.

Now, for some flowers from my spring garden, tulips this week.

Excuse my foot!

The pale lime is my favourite.

Have a happy creative week.  

Thanks for visiting.

Shawl and a Blast from the Past

Woo hoo!  I have finished Shawl no 1.  It has been on the go for AGES!  It’s the pattern South Bay Shawlette from Lions Brand, except as per usual I changed things, I used 4 ply and did some extra rows.

It has come out paler in the photo, so took it outside and let Lucy inspect it; I don’t think she is that impressed.  Could be I disturbed her with her late afternoon nap in the sun.  The top corner is about the colour it actually is.

That’s one down 2 to go.  Next week I hope to work on the mandala shawl, I've done all the mandalas I just got to work out the way to join them.

Any way I love it, so romantic!  This is the first shawl I have ever worn or had and I love it.  Age must mellow us in our opinions.

Here is a blast from the past.  I love to poke about in op shops looking for vintage china I collect and lately vintage table ware.  Recently I have scored lot of crochet cottons etc.   For example, I got 10 balls of ecru cotton no 3 for $5!  One ball cost about $9 here.

However this week I found this magazine and boy did it bring back  memories, both my grandmothers and Mum used to get this magazine.  This copy is a bit earlier than my memories but near enough.

The patterns were still inside.

Didn't they have slim waists then!  No wonder there were lots of ads for weight loss fixes!

Nothing has changed since 1957!  People were still worried about weight, nerves, depression, sleeplessness, etc.

I loved the ads but mainly I brought it for this little pattern of the girl’s cardigan, I love the hearts and I know a little girl who would love it – pink of course!

Anyway that’s it for today; hope you all have a good week and thanks for visiting.

Serendipity

I have just had one of those days where everything goes perfectly.  It didn’t look as if it would go that way as there was a heavy mist/fog and made me almost change my plans of going to the local car boot market.

As I really needed some eggs and other bits and pieces I girded my loinss and set off, (shanks pony style!) along the drive against the fence I have a grape vine and in the four years I have been here it hasn’t done very well.  However I had high hopes this year as it was heavily laden with pump fruit.  I just had to have a peek and a taste, bliss, lovely and sweet, Yay!  Enough for eating, giving away and grape cordial!

First I decided to go to the supermarket and pick up a back of kitty dry food as it was on special $7 as opposed to the normal $11/12.  While there I glanced in the meat section think of buying a small chicken for dinner as a treat.  But hey there was some rump steak on special – about $8 a kilo normally it is about $18!  Well my dinner was decided and the cats could have the trimmings as a treat.  Enough to freeze for another day also. 

 On to the market.  While I was buying my eggs from the egg lady I noticed that she had packets of Ernest Adams slices on her table, and my favourite ‘gooey caramel’!   They were only$2 or 3 for $5, normally they are about $5 a pack.  So guess what, yeah they were near their best before date.  But I am sure they will be scoffed well before that.  I have a few elderly shut-in neighbours, who love cake!

Then on to the nursery man to buy some purple sprouting broccoli seedlings (I forgot to sow the seeds).  He had some lovely begonias for $1.50...Isn’t it beautiful!

I was about to wend my way home when I espied a stall selling handbags etc.  Now I have been looking for a circular bamboo handles for a project for ages and no such luck.  Well my luck had changed, there was a hag with exactly the handles I wanted and only for $2.  This project will no longer be an UFO!

Later on in the morning I was tidying the dining room that acts as my craft/art room I saw my stack of fat quarters for a quilting project.  I wonder I thought ….. Yes!  There was matching material for the handle project.  Isn’t that a great match?

What is the project you may ask.  It is a carry bag for my Mum.  She is in a rest home in Perth Australia,(she has Alzheimer’s) my sister works at the Rest Home and tells me that she gives everything away, so it is difficult to find things to send her.  However she has one thing she will not give away her handbags or totes.  She will carry several on her wrist everywhere. 

When I was browsing the crochet sites a while ago I saw a wonderful pattern for a handbag at  colour in a simple life this one was made with waterlily flowers, absolutely beautiful!  It had bamboo handles and I thought that would be great for Mum!  The flowers were puff stitch and I thought it would be too bulky for Mum so I decided to do the African Flower pattern from Heidi Bears, which is hexagon shaped like the lily flowers.  

So I spent a pleasant hour or so getting the crochet side finished – mainly tidying all the ends, tomorrow I will cut the lining out and start on fitting it. 

Now I am as waste not want not person and I was looking at my pile of trimmings, um, they would make great stuffing for toys etc.  So out comes a bag to collect all future ends.  While on this bent I had a great idea for the scraps that are starting to build up with my crochet obsession.  I had really wanted to crochet my Mum a lap blanket, but my sister said she would only give it away!  I will crochet her a lap blanket, out of scraps and if she gives it away, it is no big deal, it probably would adorn some other souls lap. So I did a few, just tiny plain grannie squares.

The rest of the afternoon I finished reading David Baldacci’s novel, One Summer.  You need a hanky for it is a real tear jerker.  Totally different from his usual style, that man can write.

Just before I sat down to do this post I went out to pick some beans for my dinner, and thought I had better check up on the strawberries.

They have been cropping all summer – just enough for dessert or to have with cereal for breakfast.  I thought they surely would be finished now with cold nights.  But no, a bowl full for my dessert, with cream of course!

Well that has been my day, very pleasant with lots of savings to be had to boot.  Now I am off to cook my dinner, steak with mustard cream sauce ( deglaze the fry pan while the steak is resting, with seeded mustard and when the seeds start to pop add cream and cook till the cream is thick, pour over the steak) it is to die for. With potatoes and pumpkin and beans from the garden and strawberries after.  Now, isn’t that heaven!