Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Day 3 - Stash storage, or lack of.... KCBWDAY3

OK....today (tonight) it is all about stash organization and storage I think.
I don't actually have any system or special space for all my yarn. I do have a lot of yarn, it seems to be breeding in bags and behind the couch!! It is in baskets under my work bench and in big plastic zip up bags that used to have doonas in them.

I tend to keep my favourite colours in the baskets, and the bags have wool I've bought and then forgotten what I intended to do with it. I don't have that many books or patterns yet, but I keep the few I have on the coffee table so I can look at them whenever I want.

I am quite the impulse shopper, so often come home with way more wool than I need/or have ideas for, and this is allocated to some future point when I have a great idea for just that type of beautiful wool! (Quite often I find I have already got lots of the same yarn squirrelled away, because I was thinking the same way 6 months ago, and have forgotten all about it!!haha)

I have decided for this reason to get out my stash and look at all the beautiful wool and get reinspired and reacquainted with what I have, I am sure there are plenty of projects to keep me going for ages!!

Sorry there are no photos today, I've left it too late to take any but I will take some of my stash and show you another day.
Have a great day!!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Skill +1up 2KCBWDAY2


I think the most challenging technique I have tried to master to date is fairisle colour work. I made this owl with the patterned tummy and it was my first attempt at fairisle. I think I learnt a lot from the experience, and having read more about it, I realise that things I thought I was doing wrong, like creating a huge tangle of threads at the back that had to be untangled every few rows, was actually quite common and part of the whole experience. Next time, I will make my pattern less complicated, and hopefully won't get in such a mess!


This time last year I did not know how to crochet at all, so I am pretty happy with how my crochet skills are developing, I am giving pretty much anything a go, and it seems to be working out ok. There are lots of techniques I haven't tried, but I tend to be more project driven, rather than technically driven, so if I see something I want to make I will learn a new technique if necesary to complete the item.

I find I tend to stick to projects that are quite small or done in multiple modules and then put together into a finished piece, like blankets, toys, garlands and buntings. I think I should give some clothing a go soon, as I have found some nice patterns to try. The commitment needed for clothing scares me off a bit, I have so many unfinished projects on the go, but I think it would be good to try and complete something to wear.


Hope that wasn't too boring for you all! I am making a couple of softies at the moment and hope to have pictures soon to show you all!
See you tomorrow

Cotton, lots of cotton....

A Tale of 2 Yarns.... ok, this was supposed to be posted yesterday on the first day of the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, but the computer threw a tanty and I couldn't use it at all! We have made up now and everything is sweet again, so I'll just have to cram yesterdays topic in with today's.

Sooo...one of my fav yarns at the moment is the lovely 8ply pure cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills, it is lovely to use and has a nice drape to it. I know it's nothing fancy, but so useful and soft, my only problem is the colour choices are a bit limiting, nothing too bright and there are a few shades that are definitely a little nana-ish.


Having said that, there are still some nice colours to choose from, and I am always on the look out for bright colours in pure cotton that is 8ply, sometimes I buy two balls of 4ply and use them together, which works ok.


I also really like Colorworks 8ply merino wool, it is really soft and pleasant to use and has some great colours! (Colour is often a first requirement for me in my yarn choosing!!) I am happy when I have a nice little stash of Colorworks, because it is often my 'go to' yarn, so I try to keep a few balls of my fav colours on hand most of the time. ( Unfortunately they have just discontinued my fav green, so am stockpiling this colour when I come across it in the shops)

I don't really like using acrylic yarns as I find my hands get clammy and hot and then knitting and crochet are no fun at all!!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Knitting and Crochet Love Fest .........


I was having a little surf around blogland the other day and came across 'The 2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week' launch page here.
Sounded right up my alley, being the complete knitting and crochet tragic that I have become, I couldn't resist joining in, and, guess what, it starts tomorrow!!

So from the 28th March till the 3rd April, each day there is a topic to talk about on our blogs, relating to knitting and crochet, of course, (so if it all starts to sound a bit too nana-ery, feel free to skip me for a week haha !) but I think it will be fun, and hopefully, maybe, entertaining and inspiring and interesting, etc!! I know I will look forward to see what other yarny people are blogging about!
Having said that, I don't really know what I'm going to say tomorrow!

I went on a bit of a yarn shopping spree on Friday, so I might show you what I bought, lots of potential for gorgeous things !!

I have been busy making a few things in between the usual family life things, so I hope to have some new finished projects to ta dah soon.

See you tomorrow for Day 1 of 'Knit and Crochet' love fest!!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

My Creative Space........


....still finishing this crochet edge on my Pippi Scarf!!
You must all be sick of seeing the same WIP! I promise I won't show it again till it is completely finished. haha!
Did sit down this morning, no boys, no TV and got a fair chunk done, so it shouldn't take too much longer if I just get on with it!


Probably one of the reasons it takes me so long to finish off is that I start other fun things along the way, like these little flower squares, pattern from the lovely Rosehips blog here.
Planning to make 16 and then granny them together and make a little cushion cover.



Check out more creative places at Kirstys place here.

Have a lovely creative day!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

New books and inspiration.....


Hi there!
How is your day going, I have been home today looking after my little niece who was sick and not at school, while my sister worked. ( I think my niece may have just been sick of school, because she perked up miraculously once we had done the morning school run!! hehe)
Anyway, we had a nice day together. I showed her my new knitting and crochet books 'Dream Toys' by Claire Garland and "Amigurumi Animals" by Annie Obaachan, and she found a few new favourite things for me to make!


"Dream Toys" is a great book, I have borrowed it from the library before and made this gorgeous mermaid for my niece's birthday last year. It turned out really well and looked a lot like the one in the book (different colours of course!).There are a lot of other lovely toys though, so I have been trying to find it in bookshops for ages. I couldn't believe it when I'm browsing through Lincraft, who were having a big book sale, and there is was, a pile of "Dream Toys' just waiting for me!! It was meant to be! So happy with my shopping!


How cute is this unicorn! This is what Bianca wants for her birthday this year, I think it will be fun to knit. I had better add this to my 'to do' list, which is getting longer by the day!


This is a cute little amigurumi bear, from the other book. It is another nice book, with some cute little animals, but is a bit less special than Dream Toys. I thought it might give me some good tips on improving my toy crocheting and it does have a nice amigurumi gallery at the back, also might give a few of the little guys a go, and see how hard they are to whip up!


Just about finished my new softie, sewing up hopefully tomorrow or the next day! Show you later in the week!

Do you have a lot on this week, are you flat out running around catching your tail, or is it going to unfold in a lovely civilised manner to be savoured and enjoyed?
I think my week is going to be nice and cruisey for a change! hehe.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Saturday happenings.....


Just a quick post today.
Pretty standard Saturday here, Gary at golf, kids mucking around on the computer, X boxing , getting ready for sleep overs at friends places, cooking, gardening, etc.
My friend and I are having a trash and treasure stall at our local market tomorrow, so I am trying to have a bit of a clean out, books, clothes and other stuff that clutters up our life. I caught a bit of the show 'Hoarders' on TV the other night, and I am trying to keep in mind that it is all just 'stuff' and I still retain the memories and good associations that all my 'stuff' embodies.


Meanwhile I am finishing the body pieces of my next softie and hopefully crocheting the edges of my nice stripey scarves ( creating lots of brand new 'stuff' !! lol).


These are destined for my new shop that is coming just around the corner! ( I mean that time wise, not literally around the corner from where we live !) haha!

Anyhoo....got to go now and feed the hoard(er)s....enjoy the rest of your weekend!

My Creative Space....hooking along....


....here's my creative space today.... I sat down with the kids after school and hooked a few rows on my new softie.....


.....tried a new (to me) technique with edging my granny, and think it is an improvement.....still working on a pattern, trying out different things, slowly getting there....


...loving the granny goodness.......

Lots of places to get inspired by over at Kirsty's linky thing here........
Have a great day!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

New things in the workspace....


soooo.... I have been a bit slack on the blogging thing recently, life has been busy and there is so much devastation around with natural disasters in Japan and New Zealand that I haven't been in a terribly creative mood......but I have got back into it today.

We went down to Geelong to visit Gary's dad for the long weekend, which was fun and a nice break, I took my knitting and got a fair bit of a scarf done, till I reached a bit with limey green and hadn't bought the colour with me, doh!

I thought I'd show you my supposed work space, which I have recently tried to spruce up a bit, to encourage me to sit there and be creative!
It looks a bit of a mess, but this is actually pretty tidy for me.

In the photo above, you can see my 'inspiration board' with a few pretty pictures pinned on it. I went through a little phase of buying gorgeous inspiring cards with images that I like, the only problem is I keep having to use them for emergency gifts that I forget to buy cards for!



Now I come to the things that prompted this post - my new green and red storage baskets!
Aren't they lovely? I treated myself when I checked out the Geelong Spotlight, I really like them, and they are practical too!


.....and from another view...


Wanna see what's in them?

....perfect for crochet cotton (14 balls in there), and some lovely multi coloured wool that I couldn't resist, also from Geelong Spotlight. (they had a lot of different stuff to the one close to me).
I think a couple of bright, crazy stripey scarves would look great in this stuff.

I have a couple of new ideas floating around the old head, and just need to knuckle down and give them a go, I think I am worried they won't turn out like I am visioning, so am putting off trying. How stupid, just do it woman!! More on these at a later date!

Oh, something else, I am thinking of starting a knitting/crochet group locally, so if anyone lives on the Western Port side of the Mornington Peninsula and would like to get together, stay tuned! or give me an email. Maybe a Brown Owl Group ?

Ok that's about all for now , I am going to try and post more often I promise, but my life is pretty boring, so you have been warned!! Haha...

Have a great day!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

My Creative Space...flag bunting/ flapping beach houses


Finished off the blue green flag bunting that does look a lot like upside down beach houses.
Tried to get creative with taking the photos, and failed miserably, hanging things are so hard to photograph well! So gave up, and you now have these pretty pathetic photos to show you the loveliness of this bunting! ( I am still not over bunting and garlandy things!)



Lots of other creative spaces at kootoyoo today, have a look and get inspired!!

Talk again soon, have a great day!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

More things to dangle....


Hello, how has your day been?

I have had a nice day with my little niece, crafting and visiting the Community garden and doing a bit of shopping.....

...and this is what I have been finishing off today. These little flags are for a lovely bunting, another hanging thing, I seem to be drawn to them! I have limited the colour palette for this one, trying to be a bit more boyish with the blues and greens, but I still think it looks nice and fresh and appealing. They look a bit more washed out in the photos than in real life.


I have stitched all the circles onto the plain flags and I think it has come up quite well.
I have crocheted a rope to join them all together, and they are all finished!
Should have a ta da picture tomorrow.

Have a great day/night!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Winner....


Hello!

Today is the day I pick the winner in my give away, so I wrote down everyone's names on little pieces of paper and put them in a bowl and gave them a bit of a shuffle round and pulled out a name

KILLIECRANKIE FARM


Then I looked at her comment to see what she preferred and she said either would be good, so I am giving Eddie Owl to Lee of Killiecrankie Farm, so congratulations!

Then I thought, I might as well give the dangley garland away, so I pulled a few other names out till I found one who wanted the garland, and that name was

JACQUIE

So Jacquie will get the garland and Lee will get Eddie Owl!
I will be in touch for mailing details, ladies.

Thank you all so much for entering my give away, all the lovely comments were very appreciated, I'm sorry I can't send you all something!
I will do another one when I can think of an appropriate mile stone!

Hope your day is going fine!
See you soon!

( It is such a nice day here I am going to jump on my bike and ride into town to do my shopping, very energetic of me, don't you think!)

Thursday, March 3, 2011

My Creative Space........pretty little jars...


....today I am enjoying making these jar covers, I like playing with the colours and I'm happy with how these 2 have turned out. I am imagining a nice little collection of different size jars and colours sitting on my dresser, maybe with a posie of flowers.....

It is good practice for my single crochet, I am still having problems knowing which stitch exactly to slip stitch in to join the rounds, but I am slowly getting better.


I have found some interesting tutorials showing different techniques for joining rounds to minimize the seams at the join (sorry, I didn't note the names of the sites so can't show links, I was just having a bit of a surf and hopping from one place to another)


It seem that there is no one correct way of doing things when it comes to joining in the round, people have lots of different ways and just do what they like best, so it is more art than science!
I am going to try a different technique in my next one and see what looks best.
I love learning new stuff and trying out a new method!

You might recognise the colour schemes here, I am still using my Bendigo cotton, I love this stuff!!


My give away is still open if you want to join in! Please do, the more the merrier!

Have a look at Kirsty's place for more creative spaces!
Have a great day. J