Wrapped Up and Cozy

Monday morning, shivering in  front of the computer catching up with my favourite blogs, I espied Zooty Owls Crafty Blog Road Trip Scarf and I was hooked!  Thank you Zelna you are a star!

I didn't have any variegated wool in double knit, but I had a few skeins of 4 ply.  Immediately I set to and by the time I had to get on with the days activities a was a good way through.  (I used Zelna’s measurements  of 106 cm to adjust the number of rows)

By Wednesday it was finished bar the embellishments!  I had decided to do the final row in white to give it pop, and then added some white flowers to balance.

I so love it, I will be buying some double knit wool to make another. 

I do love variegated wool, to the extent I made another scarf from my stash, a cowl this time.  I am also in love with lacy stitches and found this one from a vintage knitting magazine.

It is 4 ply again, I find I prefer the lighter feel around my neck (might be a different story once the winter really sets in.

In the garden this week it is looking very green, so today I brought some pansies the small flower variety as I find that the big flower once don’t hold up to all the rain we have.

I have also started to collect polyanthus to have in pots by my back door which is a sun trap in winter, I like to sit and crochet on the back porch while I have my cuppa. Their colours are inspiring these days, they make you think of mandalas !  Oh dear mandalitis still rules!!

Once again I wish to thank Zelna at Zooty Owl, she is so generous with her designs and I have just noticed she has just published the pattern for the dahlia mandala! 

Today I am linking to Annemaries Link your Stuff

Have a wonderful week every one and 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.

Pretty As

Finally! I have finished this bag; it was inspired by the Big Fat Bottom Bag on Winks A Creative Being.  I didn't want a big bag, just a bag that I could carry small works in progress when I am on the go.  I loved the flowers which came from Eclectic Gypsy tutorial.  These are what slowed me down.  I could not get them right so gave up and the project went into the UFO Bag!!

This week I dragged it out and was determined to get on top of these puff flowers.  I changed the method slightly and there is a definite knack in pulling tight and getting the loops right.  By the end I could do them with my eyes shut. The old motto - if you fail, try and try again.

I got lucky and found the lining and old lace in a local op (charity) shop.  The handles came from an old bag I brought at the car boot sale a month or so back.  And the beads from an old necklace.  So, all in all a good frugal project.  The wool was from my stash as well.

I am very pleased with it and it is sitting waiting to be fill with yarn yumminess.

We are in the middle of a nasty storm that is creating havoc around the country.  Wind gusts up to 140 km in our area.

I took these earlier before the wind and rain took hold.

Across the road from me, I love rainbows, you can see the bad weather coming

A lovely bit of colour  by my back door on grey days.

I can’t get over this Rhododendron flowering in Autumn!  We even have jonquils flowering, the weather seasons are all to pot, poor plants don't know if they are Arthur or Martha!  Back inside and I see that Lucy has the right idea!

Oops sorry Lucy, didn't mean to disturb you!

I think I will follow her example and hunker down and let the storm ride over.

Have a great creative week and thanks for visiting.

Linking to Linda's May Stash Party.

http://lindacraftycorner.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/stash-buster-link-party.html

Sunshine at last!

Yay!

Sunshine Today!

We have had a dull damp week here in Kiwiland.  

Grey on grey.

I have craved colour, so last Monday pulled out an UFO – little birdies, a variation of Bunny Mummies and Attics 24 birds.  They were originally going to decorate my plum tree, but looking out the window and seeing the ugly grey washing line that the birds loved to poop over, I just had to yarn bomb it!

You can see own murky it has been.

I intend to add more birds and flowers and maybe even some butterflies!

Also I noticed that the birds are no longer sitting and pooping on it, no need to wash it down every time I use it, win, win all around.

This week I also have been toning down the colour bursts with a new project or two.

A few weeks back I talked about doing a white and red and green cotton bedspread, abandoning my lifelong desire for a crochet white one.  I have decided the materials and pattern would make it too heavy, so I gone down a size in cotton to No 3.  I am trying to make up my mind whether to do all white or ivory and ecru.  Or maybe both!!!!!  I love both so much.

Anyways, I had an idea; the popcorn stitch squares are designs that I have cobbled together myself.  (No doubt you will find these somewhere on the net, as crochet has been around for so long and so many people practice it I am sure someone has thought of these variations also.)  I thought that I could make it a CAL project and I could make a page with the patterns to the squares as I go. I found that Jules of Little Woollie did that for her CAL blanket and it was so much easier to go to the page than trawl through her posts.  What do you think?

I am so pleased that our weather has improved and looks set to stay way till next week.  There is still heaps of work to do in the garden before winter sets in for real.

See I will be able to view clearly these cute birdies from the house on horrible grey days.

Here are a few pics of my little slice of paradise.

I got a surprise when I saw this, it is a miniature rose that has forced its way up through the ferns.

Ambrose got stir crazy with the rain and took quick little strolls between showers, definitely a fair weather cat.

I can’t believe this one, I was tidying up by the greenhouse and amongst the weeds this orchid was in flower!  It usually flowers in spring.

Have a great week every one  and thanks for visiting.

A Ta-dah, Figs and Feijoas

A ta-dah today. 

I have finally finished the bunny I started 3 months ago.  

Well I had finished it but hadn't decided how to dress it. Poor thing has been sitting around in various places waiting and waiting…. Today, I got stuck in and hey presto!

It is a very happy little bunny now, she is so pleased not to be an UFO any longer!

She loves her flowers and sundress.

Especially her hat.

Now she has to pack her suitcase and fly to her new forever home in WA, Australia.  A little girl called Kendal, is eagerly awaiting her arrival and has promised her a special name and some new friends!

I enjoyed dressing the bunny and I have actually started another little critter, she will have her reveal very soon.  Another addiction?

It is a bit of a lean time in the garden produce wise, the summer crops finished and winter ones just getting under-way.  However, I am enjoying some fruits -apples of course, luscious figs and tangy feijoas.

The figs I have been eating as a snack as I past the tree.  Must try grilling some with honey drizzled over with yoghurt for breakfast.

I am rather pleased this year as it is the first time my feijoas have fruited.  They are one of my favourite fruit.  I don’t think you can get them outside of NZ, but they are a similar fruit to guavas from South Africa.

The flower of the bush is rather lovely.

They are ready when they fall into your hand when you touch the fruit.

My favourite way of eating them is to cut in half and eat with a teaspoon, I like them on the slightly under ripe as I find fully ripe is rather rich.  Also. they are lovely combined with apple in crumbles or cut up and used in muffins.

Well that’s it for today, I hope to be back with some other crochet bits and pieces this weekend.

Have a lovely day.

Mandalas and Shortbread

I haven’t had much time to crochet this week, but all my plans for what time I had went out the window when I saw Zooty Owls new mandala- starflower.  Oh my word it is glorious, of course I had to get going…..straight away!  She is so generous with her designs.

Perhaps it is fortunate that I didn’t have enough colours in cotton to do the pattern as I was forced to use what I had.  In doing so I have a wonderful new use for a Mandala – yep the mandala shawl!

left to right
firebird, rhapsody,  and magic

I went to my trusty variegated 4 ply wool (Patons Fantasias range) and used 3 colour ways – magic, firebird and rhapsody).

To create this beautiful mandala!  (I did have to break off the wool in places to avoid some colours I didn't want creeping in.)  I haven’t done the last few rows as I am not yet sure I want them in the shawl.

While I was crocheting away I kept thinking this would make a wonderful centre point for a shawl, thus the idea was born.

So out came the colour pencils and I have sketched out I want it to look.  2 – 4 more mandalas, two probably up to row 6 or 7 and 2 up to row 4.  With the surrounds a lacy stitch in the ‘magic’ colour way.  I don't know how to do the joining and lacy bits, but I am sure I will figure it out!

I am linking this post to Cosmos and Cottons Monthly Mand-a-Long  I will probably link the finished shawl to next month’s Mand- a- Long.

I have just realized that I have been blogging for 3 months and crocheting for 6 months, doesn’t time fly.   I had started this blog to talk about my crochet and crafts along with my other passions cooking and gardening.  Um… crochet seems to be taking the upper hand, and the cooking and gardening have been neglected.

So without further ado here is a recipe for yummy lemon shortbread.

Lemon Shortbread

Ingredients

200 gm (7oz) butter,

½ cup (4oz) castor sugar,

grated rind of 1 lemon (NB lime is nice too, or a mix.)

2 cups (8oz) plain flour sifted,

½ cup desiccated coconut.

Method

Beat butter and castor sugar and rind till light, Work in flour and coconut, but not over work!  Roll out to 1cm (¼ inch) thick and cut into shapes of your fancy.  Bake 20 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius , cool on tray. (the coconut gives it a lovely taste and is not quite the same without it)

I love Shortbread, in all its forms.  I started to bake it when  I was about 13 for my father as he loved it so much, then it was plain shortbread, now I have a tendency to add other flavours, such as this lemon  one or sometimes in summer I like to add English lavender flower seeds, or sometimes I like to add ground coffee.

The gardening bit, Lemons are one of my favourite flavours and would choose it over chocolate any day!  So of course I have to have lemon trees, I have two a Meyer and a Lemonade which you can eat as is!  They are starting to ripen up nicely and this year I planted a lime and I noticed that it has a dozen limes, Yay!

To finish this rather long post (I must try and blog twice a week so posts are not so long!)I have a photo of a flower that is by my front door, it has been blooming all summer and autumn, I have no idea of its name but I just love the green and wine colour of the flowers.

Thanks for visiting and I wish you all a wonderful week!