A New Look

 

 

I am at a season in my life where I am quite unsettled!  So this week I took myself off to a local trampers (hikers) trail and lost myself in the quiet unspoiled beauty of our native bush.  Several hours later I emerged, happier and determined to stop my procrastinating about changes that I want to make in my life.  A lot has changed in my life over the last couple of years and I was trying to carry on as normal.  But lets face it, sometimes we have to accept the changes and reset our lives.  I think my lack of motivation was mirrored by my blogging - spasmodic and jumping about allover the place. I started this blog with the intention of blogging about a simple life in preparation for my retirement.  

At the beginning I achieved this then I learnt to crochet and I became obsessed with it and I just blogged about crochet.  Over the last year or so it has just become one of my hobbies along with gardening, cooking, art and reading.  Also, I am retired now.  I have actually found it quite hard to adjust, to slow down and smell the roses.

One good thing about lockdown was  that I did learn to stand still, appreciate the small things and take stock of my life.  Now that we are out of lockdown I am finding it easier not to be bustling about after other people, it is quite astonishing that you find out who your true friends are when you start to say "no" to requests. Like the friend, when I said no to helping her with a task as I was not feeling well, sent her husband around to mow my lawns.  That's a true friend, not like another when I said "no" who muttered and sighed and hasn't been in touch since!  I think that when I retired, I replaced work with running around keeping busy as I had all this time to fill!

Anyways, this morning while I was reading a blog that I follow I saw that she had changed the look of her blog and a bell went off in my head!  So I headed to themes and came up with this format, I think it needs a few tweaks, but I like it as it looks fresh and clean - no clutter!

Talking about clutter, that is something I have to work on seriously!  First on the list is my crochet supplies, I have wool and cotton stuffed everywhere!  I need to go through it all and decide what I will use and the rest be donated.  Second are my cupboards in  the hall, laundry and bedroom, likewise they are stuffed with odds and ends like old china, appliances, art materials, magazines, books, clothes you name it, I probably have it.  Thirdly, The Shed! 

So today, my first task is to attack the hall cupboard I want to turn it into an extended pantry over the next few months.  I am not a prepper but I want to have the security of knowing that I have a backup of supplies if we go into another lockdown or if I am ill or there is some other emergency.   I will do a post on this later.

 So here's to a new start......

 

 

 

 

The Garden

 

 

Spring has arrived, although it doesn't officially start till 1st September.  The garden is springing into life and the daffodils and jonquils give out their scent and bring a smile of the pleasures to come.

 

 

There is a lot of tidying in the garden  waiting to be done.  Planning of the summer vegetable garden.  There is still some goodies from the winter garden to harvest, mainly kale, silverbeet (chard) and some broccoli, along with the herbs coriander, parsley and rosemary. There is still plenty of squash and pumpkin stored away.

 This year I have bought 3 packets of wildflower mixes to sow.  One for the shade, one for the low borders and the other a more traditional mix for my wild garden down the back.  The other evening I was on U Tube and happen to notice the video below.

It is a tour around a glorious cottage garden in Sweden, it is so beautiful and the accompanying music is gentle and calming.  If you like visiting gardens do watch it. 

A miracle has happened, 2 days ago I got out my crochet hook and I have  started to crochet again.  I will post a picture next time. But for today I want to get into the garden.

Back Again!

 

Hi there, its been a long time since I posted last.  A lot has happened in my life and in the world!

I wont go into what has happened to me much as we all have our trials and blessings, and we all know what is happening in the world, lol.  I just hope that everyone is safe and well and as we say in NZ  "kia kaha" meaning "be strong".

I have not picked up my crochet hook for a long time due to an accident where I tripped over a dog!  I hurt my shoulder and elbow and it is taking ages to heal. But we are getting there. Slowly but surely.

Even though no crochet is being done I have decided to carry on blogging as I miss it, but my focus will be on the home front, cooking, gardening and other bits and pieces affecting my life, in  other words a diary.  And just maybe crochet one day will creep back in.

One sad piece of news is that my cat Ambrose has passed, one week shy of his 19th birthday. It hit me hard even though I was expecting his passing for the last few months of his life, he was my shadow and companion for all of those 19 years.

I want this post to be a tribute to Ambrose and the happy years he gave me.

Always the gentleman

Loved to snuggle up in crochet blankies

Favourite pastime finding a cushion to sleep on

With his sisters Peggy Sue and Lucy

He could never resist helping with crochet

With his best mate Peggy Sue

 

Rest in Peace Ambrose

Diversions

Not a lot of crochet has been done this past week.  I have been lured away from it by the garden and the urge to do spring cleaning, which in turn has led me to change around my lounge!  

The plants are growing so fast and there is so much to do in the vegetable garden that I have been outside whenever the changeable spring weather allows.  Also for some reason  I had the urge to give the house a purge of clutter and that leads to cleaning and now I have all rooms sparkling clean except for the laundry which I hope to do today.  The lounge I decided to change around and have also decided that it needs the walls painted so yesterday I got some test pots and now have patches of different colours on the walls! I have decided on a warm light grey.  I probably wont get to painting it  for a few weeks as a friend will help me and she's not free for a few weeks. Meanwhile I will do all the preparation, washing down the walls and sanding the woodwork and any undercoat.

I do have a finish to show you the Wispweave by Julia Hart.

 I did start another doily, this time one by Grace Fearon called Orion, I splashed out and bought an e-book of seven of her designs.  I love her designs as they are heavily textured. 

 I am using Scheepjes Sugar Rush, normally I would use a size 1.75mm hook but I had to change it up to size 2mm hook as my work was too tight. I hope to finish it this week as I find that a round can be accomplished while I am having a coffee break. So I need 15 coffee breaks, LOL.

I only manage a couple of rounds of Sacred Space and  a few rounds of B(lu)e  Happy cal. Looking out the window (its 7.30am Monday morning as I write this post) the weather looks very murky, so I have decided to devote today to crochet. and I think Wednesday is meant to be raining too.  So some crochet will be done without the garden calling out to me.

I have just taken a photo of the view I look at when I am sitting at my work table.  That is another diversion, I am surrounded my so many trees that I while away a lot of time by watching the birds, so very fortunate that I have a lot of native birds (Tui, Wax Eyes, Fantails) as well as the usual Garden birds.  

 Don't worry about the spots, its not snow, it that I need to clean my windows!

Well that is it for another week, this post is linked to the Year of Projects group  on Ravelry, click on image below to visit other yarnies.

New Starts

I think I have a case of 'startitis'. Over the last week or so I have started  2 new projects.  It wouldn't really matter but, I started blogging again to help me get my pile of wip's down!  Instead it is growing rapidly, LOL. Being a ctive again on Ravelry has put a lot of temptations my way. So I have decided to go with the flow, they all will get finished one day.

New Start No 1

 For a long time I have admired the patterns of Jen Tyler, however as they looked very complex I shied away from taking part in her Cals.  She has a current Cal called Golden Tea Block, a part of a series of mix and match of 4 blocks and extensions.  I want to make 3 cushions (pillows) for my lounge, and decided that the Hibiscus Block would be a good start, it is the 2nd block in her series. The pattern is addictive and quite challenging, it is certainly keeping me on my toes.  Luckily she has videos for all her patterns, which is a great help.

New Start No 2 

This block is the central block for the B(lu)e Happy CAL by Ineke Mooijenkind.  It is in its 3rd week, so probably wont catch up.  However as it is for a birthday gift for a friend in early December, I wont be far behind. She adores pinks and purples and no she isnt a young girl but well into her 80's!

I have been plugging away on the Sacred Spice Afghan, and hopefully will have finished squaring it up by next week. 

This post is part of the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry, head on over there to see what fellow yarnies have been up to.

 Have a great week and thank you for visiting.

Slowly But Surely

Hello everyone, hope you have had a great week! I have spent most of it in the garden, Spring has truly sprung.  Weeds and grass are growing at a great rate!

I have managed to get some crochet time in and I am making progress with the Sacred Space Afghan, I am behind by 2 weeks in the CAL, but there is no hurry as the blanket wont be needed till next winter.

Sacred Place

 

It is getting quite large, and is about to be  turned in to a square, which will be fun as each corner is done separately.

Summer months for me is cotton time as I find acrylic and wool sticky to work with in the hot hot weather. Doing small squares is not too bad though.  I have seen a Cal by Cherry Heart that looks interesting.  It starts October I think.

I discovered a cute square by Julia Hart of Draigona  called Wispweave, there is a whole series circle, hexagon, octagon and a triangle.  So pretty.....

The square just took me an afternoon, it was complicated, so repeats will be quicker I think.  I am thinking of making a runner.

Wispweave Square

 I used Scheepjes Maxi Sugar Rush, equivalent to size 10 thread and used a 1.75mm hook, the square is about 4 inches (10cm).

I couldn't help myself and started on the circle tonight.  The centre is the same as the square so that saved a bit of time. It will make a nice small doily.

Wispweave

 I hope to do some work on Eves Sunflowers this week as well as Sacred  Space.  I also want to make some washcloths as I seem to have depleted my stash.

I am joining Ravelry Yoppers group for this post, why not head over there and see what other yarnies have accomplished this week.

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely week.

A Finish

At long last I have been able get back to my beloved doilies.  For the last couple of years they have been neglect because my eye sight was not good enough.  However a few months back I had cataract ops in both eyes and I can see!  The surgeon said I could have been  registered as partially sighted!  It was a complete success I have 20/20 vision now, awesome.  So I pulled out some old wip's and finished one, frogged another and started an entirely new project. 

This one, a wip from a couple of years ago I got a chart from pinterest and looked on Ravelry but it is not on the data base.  It is done with no.10 cotton and  1.50 hook.

 This I had to frog back 10 rounds as I had made several mistakes, I have done three rounds and have about 10 to do, the pattern is from an English Womans Weekly circa March 1 1952!  It is a set and looks so pretty.

The other thread project I started yesterday - a table cloth.

 I am using 2 ply cotton in a ecru shade. I have about 4 more rounds in the motif.  The pattern is from a magazine called Crochet Fantasy No.1 this will be a long term project, lol.

A New Cal 

I dont really need a new cal, but this is special, an afghan called Fairytale and is based around fairytales, each round relates to the fairytale for that part.  Part one was the Little Match Girl. It is a leisurely cal as the parts are released every two weeks.

 I have been plodding away on my other projects and will update them  next week.

I have started another drawing from a photo I took of some flowers that were given to me last summer,and it is quite scary, as I want it to be hyper realistic, so   I squared it up in Photoshop and segment by segment I will work on it, in the photo you can see I hav e just started.

 After a beautiful start to Spring the weather has turned bitter and snow has come down to 500 metres on the Tararua ranges.  So it is snuggle up time and hunkering down in front of the fire with the kitties and crochet. 

 Ambrose has picked up this last week, and is gaining strength day by day.

Well that is all for this week.

click on logo to see other Yoppers projects/

FIRST DAY OF SPRING

Hello, it is the first day of Spring here, and the weather was a perfect Spring day, warm blue skies, a promise of the summer to come.

I haven't done a lot of crafting this week,  busy with 'spring cleaning' I am also doing a lot of decluttering as well and have manage to gift or throw out at least 4 big bags, yay!

On my work table, the Sacred Place only three rows done of Part 5, alas and half of one of the corner squares for Eves Sunflowers.

Going through my stash I discovered I gad lots of Paintbox double knit cottons and  somehow I found myself doing a hexagon from the Persian Tiles pattern that I had bought last year.  I had done 2 hexagons in Stylecraft Special double knit and did not like them, the colours were good but I thought that the whole afghan would be too flimsy. too many holes.  Well I decided to try the pattern in cotton and I have to say I like the result so I guess I have another project!  As if I need any more, lol. 

In the art field I have been drawing an apricot peony from a photo I took last year, I will post it next week and I finished a watercolour and ink painting of two owls.  I love owls.

 That's is all for this week, the good weather is meant to last till Wednesday, so probably will be in the garden tidying up and when the rain comes I will be crocheting trying to catch up on the Sacred Place Cal.

Ambrose having a nap, he has been a sick boy this week, he is 18 and every day he is with us is a blessing.  I know I am going to have to let him go soon, but while he is eating, washing and purring and having a little wander in the garden and in no pain I am going to give him all the love he deserves.

This post is part of the blog along Year of Projects group on Ravelry. 

A Finish

Lilliana

Woohoo! At long last I have finished Lilliana.  I started it October 2017, so almost 2 years. Admittedly, it had long periods in hibernation.

 The light is bad as it was a murky day and I was keen to take a photo. Will take a better one when the light is better. I am very pleased with it and it is adorning my bed.

 Sacred Space Cal

Just managed to finish Part 4 today, a day late. It is getting quite large now.

 Field of Flowers

My pile of motifs for the Field of Flowers Afghan  is growing 20 complete and 5  flower.  Yes I know those ends!

Eve's Sunflowers

Now that I have finished Lilliana, the next UFO is Eve's Sunflowers by  Catherine Bligh, I do like her designs!  Today I did one of the corner squares, it is so pretty. 
Here is the central square that is about 18 inches square.

 The central side motifs.

 The motifs above are complete so I just have the corner motifs which consist of 16 medium squares - not all the same thank goodness.
Here is the corner  square I did today:

 

 My aim with this UFO is to have it finished my the en d of September.

The other thing I did this week is to make a start on tidying my craft room, I pulled the sofa out and I am so embarrassed by all the yarn I have, I could open a shop.  A lot of it I know I will never use so next weeks job is to sort out what I dont want and give it to several charities in town, the pure wool to the library knitters group that knit for the newborns at the hospital, and the acrylic yarn to a local church group that knit squares for refugees via the Red Cross.

I am linking this post to YOP (Year of Projects group on Ravelry).  Head on  over there and see what fellow YOP'ers are up to.

 Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful crafty week.

A good week

Had a good week, first of all there was a yarn delivery! Now I have no excuse not to finish my WIP’s!

Liliana is coming on well, just started my final round yay! Will post pictures next week in all its glory.

I managed to finish part 3 in time for part 4 of the Sacred Place Cal.  She is getting quite large now.

Hanging head, I started another blanket, I was browsing patterns on Ravelry as you do, and found a pattern that sung out to me.  For ages I wanted to do a blanket on a flower theme but didn’t want it to be flowery?! Does that make sense? Well I have found it, and I couldn’t resist trying out the motifs. It is Field of Flowers by Catherine Bligh.

So pleased with them, also I discovered a way to beat the boredom of long rounds with stitches like back posts and puffs!  For some reason when the rounds of blankets are over 30 inches a side, I have great difficulty in getting them done.  Well, this week I would do about half a side and then half a motif of the Field of Flowers and then I could get back the long round with no difficulty!  It’s a win, win situation, I am getting ahead with the larger projects and I am getting motifs done, Yay.

I think that is about it for this week, I will leave you with a picture of one of my cats, Lucy.  I couldn’t find and she hadn’t come for her breakfast and she loves her food.  I went into my craft room and there she was peeping up at me!

 See you next week and thanks for visiting.

 I am joining the Ravelry group of bloggers YOP