2010 crochet.....the year that was.....

..........knitted bunting 2010......


(Well, actually I only started crocheting in July so technically it's only half a year in review, but anyhoo......)

In the spirit of reflection that comes over me at this time of year, I though I would have a look at the projects that came and went in this exciting 'year of the hook', so I trawled back through my photos (I must get some sort of filing system happening in 2011) and found most of the crochet I managed to hook in 2010.

I was going to put them in order from earliest to most recent, but I mucked up the uploading, so they are in no particular order.....

soooo...... without further ado, I present "My Crochet 1/2 year!!!!"................in pictures.....
or "Things I Made or Nearly Finished"......

.....The Pippi scarf (finished)......


......Flower mobile in the making, and finished..........



......Flower garland hangy thingy finished, and lots of these flowers....



......Hexie grannys for a new rug, unfinished........


.......bibs......



......LOTS of buttons (so fun !!) finished but not doing anything!...........


....Lacy tablecloth, unfinished.....2011? hopefully finished.......


...Cute little flower grannys, not enough made yet to make into anything...



.....colourful sunburst rug, FINISHED!!!................

............more flowers........


.......african flower grannys and cushion cover, unfinished...............


.............and the very first finished thing, the red granny rug! ...............


Thanks for putting up with my little picture show, a bit self indulgent, but good to see that I did actually achieve a few things this year!
I think I've missed a few things along the way, but you get the general idea! I've had so much fun learning to crochet in 2010, it has certainly become very addictive and it is such a great creative outlet!! There are so many gorgeous things out there to make, I can't wait for the new year and all the great projects it will hold!

I am definitely including a few crochet related resolutions for the new year.... but more of that later!

I hope you all have a lovely New Year and see 2011 in with someone special!
See you all in 2011!!

Christmas Day 2010

....Well, I know it is already 3 days ago, but I have been a bit slack with the blogging, so here is my Christmas day recap! This is how the table and room looked before everyone arrived.....


......here are the boys with a couple of there Christmas weapons and new clothes, they were very happy with the offerings that Santa left, so score 1 for him!....


.... and here we are all hoeing into our lunch! I cooked a big shoulder of pork on the bone that cooked on a very low heat (120degrees c) for about 10 hours ( I put it in the oven at 3.30 in the morning!) so it just fell apart and was yummy, (excellent crackling!!) and we had delicious prawns on the barbie and oysters for starters, and mini chocolate meringues with berries and cream and strawberry sauce! Sooooo lots of eating!!



I think everyone had a nice day and the kids went mental with all the presents and lollies and special stuff, which is to be expected I guess! It was great to have all the family together, my grandpa is 92, so it was good to get him down for a visit, it doesn't happen that often, so it is nice that everyone makes the effort at Christmas time!

The leftovers are almost finished and the house is nearly back to normal, so I guess Christmas is over for another year! It is such a fun build up for a big day, kind of going to miss that until next year.

But now I am thinking about all the possibilities of the new year, about fresh starts, a lack of procrastination, and how to achieve a few goals in the next 12 months - I can feel some resolutions coming on!!

Are you doing something fun to see in the new year? We are going to a party and will definitely be having some fun!!

I am going to make a list of resolutions and will post them soon, so I have a much better chance of keeping them if I put them down for all to see!! (That's the theory anyway.)

Have a great day, bye for now!

Christmas eve!!!

Only one sleep to go! Yay!
I love Christmas Eve almost better than the actual day, there is so much anticipation and the whole family is kind of extra hyped and excited and happy! I have tried to decorate our family room this year to make it feel a bit more special, as I am hosting Christmas lunch tomorrow for my family ( 16 people, so not too big).
These are some pictures of my twiggy table centre with hanging decorations that I crocheted. I like the little granny christmas trees, they were so easy and I think look really sweet! Thanks to the Royal Sisters for the great pattern. Also hung up the snowflakes that I showed you before.


I also made a couple of Lucy at attic 24's lovely decorations, they took a bit more time but were fun to make.


This is a corner of our family room with our wonky Christmas tree. ( excuse the mess, I think I was about to do a bit of tidying up after these photos) I have strung paper balls across the room and also my knitted buntings, although I could have done with more of them.



I love my paper balls, especially the dotty ones! Not traditional christmas colours, I know, but still festive and partyish I think!


Finally, I tried to take a shot of the second scarf I made for my other sister, it's a bit dark, but I think you can get the idea. I hope she likes it!

So I hope you all have a great day tomorrow and actually have time to sit back and enjoy all the hard work and fun effort that goes into the Christmas festivities, and I hope Santa brings you something special!!

Merry Christmas and thank you all for having a look at my humble blog. It's been fun 5 months!

Christmas swap arrives!

Isn't the bloggy community ace? I took part in the Christmas washer and tea swap organised by Jodie at Jellywares recently and sent my parcel off last week, so I hope it arrived where it was supposed to! ........and yesterday I received my parcel in the post, and I was a very lucky girl!
Look at the lovely goodies that were in my swap package that came from Kylie of Indigo and Quince, I feel very spoilt!


......delicious tea - china lychee (sounds interesting!), Chai (yummo) and some gorgeous love heart compressed tea which I have never seen before so can't wait to try it!
......Also got some lovely Bloom paper soaps a great extras bonus pressie!


....and check out the beautiful christmas tree washer Kylie knitted for me, isn't she a clever thing!


...... I love this card that came with it, so cute! Straight to my pin board with this one I think!


Soooo..... thanks you so much Kylie for the fantastic swapping stuff, you're ace!

Swaps are so fun to take part in, I love putting together the parcel and sending it off, kind of hoping my swappie likes it , and then it is so fun to get a parcel in the mail!


Hope the Christmas blur is starting to slow down a bit so you can all enjoy the holidays and our very cool (so far) summer!

I have made a table center thingy for Christmas that I will try and photograph today and post tomorrow ( or whenever I can squeeze a turn on the computer from my boys who are such computer hogs!). It is nothing too special, just a bunch of sticks with dangly things off it really, but I think it looks kinda cute.
Have a good day!

Catching up.........

oops! Over a week since my last post, that time just flew! It has been quite busy round here recently and I don't feel like I was home that much last week, and when I was I had lots of things on my to do list, and blogging got put on the do-it-later list! I think there would be lots of you like me at this time of year, there seems to be so many get togethers and end of year things to do, that normal routines go out the window!

Surprisingly then, around all the Christmas parties and end of school things, I have managed to do a fair bit of creating.....


.....these are the start of some more knitted bunting, this time just in cool colours (maybe for a little boy)....


.......I have made another Pippi scarf that is nearly finished, this time with a blue edging. I'm trying to finish it for a Christmas present so I have been clickety-clacking with the needles like a mad woman!



......also had a go at a couple of the super cute decorations that Lucy from Attic 24 showed us how to make. So just got to finish them off too, and then they might go to teachers for chrissy pressies. ( only got a couple of days left for that one, so it could also just be a box of choccies!)


.....and I made a couple of Christmassy washcloths for the Christmas swap I signed up for over at Jellywares, I hope my swap partner Likes them! Got to get them in the post by tomorrow, so have to get cracking on the finishing off there too! Yikes!

Hope you are all having a fun time at this stage of the year, I find it is very hectic and busy, but also very exciting and joyous and there are the summer holidays just around the corner! Yay!!
Ok, got to run! Have a great day!

at my house.....

...... we are getting plenty of delicious berries. The raspberries are favourites with 2 of my boys, hence the rest of us are not getting many tastes. I am being a mean mummy now and making them pick them into a bowl so at least some make it inside to be shared. It has put a stop to the gorging race they were having in case one ( heaven forbid!) got more raspberries than the other.....

.......We are looking forward to the last few weeks of school.....




.......I am baking up some sweet stuff for the end of year picnic at the Primary school tonight.....

.......I am playing in the semi finals at tennis tonight as well, B grade Mixed tennis rocks!...

.......Can't wait to try some of these little crocheted decorations that Lucy of Attic24 fame has made up. Her patterns are always so lovely, I hope I'll have time to whip up a few for the boy's teachers for Chrissy.....

.....plus I'm trying to finish another Pippi scarf, plus I have to make a xmas washcloth for a swap I've joined over at Jellywares, and I'd like to make some more bunting too.

Soooo... a pretty busy week and that's just the start of it!

What are you up to this week? See what's happening at other people's houses over at Lou's place.

Pippi scarf.......

Hi there!
Here is my finished Pippi Scarf, named after the wonderful Pippi Longstocking! How funny is it that I had this name planned for the scarf from the start as this was the feel I was trying to get, and Kate and Clara who commented yesterday said it reminded them of Pippi Longstocking! Great minds think alike I guess! haha!
Excuse my messy chook yard in the background, I probably could have found a tidier place to photograph her.


Close up of flower detail. I added the crochet edge to tie the whole thing together visually and to stop the edges curling in, I think it has worked out pretty well.


Trying to show you the whole thing at once, quite tricky! I have decided I love working with cotton, it's so soft!


How about draped through a tree? I am really pleased with the colour combos, my sister saw it this morning and said she'd be happy to get one of these for Christmas, so might make a couple more!



Just thought I'd show you the strawberries I picked from our garden yesterday - how luscious do they look!? (They tasted fantastic too!) The strawberry patch is really starting to produce the goods now! Yay! Now if I can only keep the birds at bay we might get a lot more bowlfuls.
Have a great day!