Noro Ripple Pattern Scarf

I forgot to post about this...  This is one of my first proper Crochet projects.  I started way back before Christmas, then I  had my dreadful Crochet Injury and was forced to stop.   After following my strict physio regime I was able to start hooking again and got it finished in time for the cooler months.   It is made from Noro Taiyo Sock yarn using this  Noro Ripple Pattern.   It was very addictive, I struggled to put my hook down and felt completely lost when it was finished.

It turned out better than I had hoped and I love the colours.

Crafters Block

I've been pretty luck so far (touch wood) this winter, I haven't caught any really bad colds or flu's. However I have a niggling case of Crafters Block that just wont go away.   I am between projects, I have lots to start, I have everything I need but I just cant get excited enough to actually get started, why does that happen???

30 Little bags to sew up as part of a project for Brownies.

Heaps of yarn and hooks but I cant decide what to make,
 I have too many options.

Fabric for Miss S's Alice in Wonderland Book Week costume.

Gorgeous Chambray for a skirt with Liberty Hello Kitty fabric pockets (also for Miss S)

Chocolate Cake with Piped Ganache

Ms M has just had her 11th birthday.  As I have blogged about before, my kids have ridiculously high ideals for how their cakes should be.  They are difficult to fob off with something I would find easy to make and I don't always meet their expectations.  This year M wanted a Mud Cake like the one from Jocelyn's provisions.  Jocelyn's mud cakes are so fancy and gourmet that they cost $17.50 for a 12cm small bar cake.  I agree they are sublimely delicious but cost prohibitive for 12 children to eat.

Here is my go, its just a standard Mud cake recipe but I am most excited about the Ganache icing.  I have always been intimidated by Ganache (even spelling it freaks me out!)  We had a crazy couple of days before the party and there was just no time to think let alone master a Jocelyn cake.  I only had an hour and a half on friday morning to ice the cake and that was in between getting everyone ready for school.  I used half of the ganache just as it had cooled to join the two cakes and to do the top.  I whipped the other half to pipe the sides with.  The whipped Ganache was a disaster and wouldn't hold its shape and I couldn't get it to whip any further.  Before I knew it we were out of time and I just had to put the whole lot into the fridge and walk out the door.

When we got home later in the day (and 30 mins before the friends were due to arrive.)  I pulled it all out of the fridge to find it had set beautifully! It was just too warm  to whip properly in the morning.  Phew so I quickly troweled some around the sides and used up the rest with some slam bam piping.

I reckon with bit more time and a less crazy schedule
to work around I could do this cake properly.

It tasted pretty good to me. 

Afternoon Tea party snacks

Augusta Shawl - Love

I am a tad excited, I think this is my favourite thing I have made so far!!!  It is the fantastic Augusta Shawl by Andrea Mules   and the pattern is available for free via Ravelry, just click on the link.  Its really easy to make and great for a beginner.  I used my favourite Cascade Ultra Pima fine with a 3.5 hook.  I actually started off thinking I would just use the white grey and purple but I kept wanting it bigger and bigger,  I got greedy.    The colour scheme also evolved as I went along, I don't usually wear these colours but I love them together.   All up it used a total of 7 skiens which although a bit extravagant is well worth it to me.

I don't wear it like this but it shows how big it is.

Its a lovely pattern, each colour band is one skien.
The bands get thinner as the arrow point widens. 

Crochet Hat in Araucania Patagonia

While recently visiting my friend, Ms S, she suggested we nip down to her local yarn shop.   What a great idea, so we left the Daddies with the kids and dashed off as fast as we could.  The yarn shop was very quaint, with an interesting mix of things.  Some acrylic things that have possibly been there for  many years mixed with skeins of  brand new, cutting edge organic fibre combos.  I found this fantastic cotton skien - called  Patagonia by Araucania. It is hand dyed in Chile and comes with a detailed four page tag attached.  Telling stories of fair trade, ethnic origins and artisans, I just loved the colours and texture.   

I had visions of making winter hat for myself but ran out of yarn so Miss S scored it.  It was really quick and easy, all done in single crochet,  just keep going around in a spiral Amagarchi style.  Plus a couple of crochet flowers because Miss S and I love embellishment.

Perfect fit

It also matched the purple snood/cowl I knitted for her.
Its one of my first forays into knitting!

I don't know if you can get a feel for it from these photos but here in
Brisbane its a bit too hot to wear all of this during the day.  Miss S is
actually wearing her fur vest, snood and beanie over a sun dress and bare feet.
Bless her.

The Ghastlie Quilt

Two years ago now, I got this fantastic fabric "The Ghastlie's" by Alexander Henry.  I thought it was so special, so precious and inspirational....  so I stashed it away in my good fabric pile, never to be touched or used!  How crazy is that.  Anyway I have been conquering that stashing instinct and thought blow it I will make a quilt and use it all up in one go!  Reckless I know.

It's Miss M's birthday and she loves all that goth/scifi/victoriana styling, so a Ghastlie quilt for her it is.  See lucky I held on to the fabric for a few years so she could grow into it.

A Side 

Detail

For the B side I thought I'd go a bit more pretty and versatile.  Plus I used some gorgeous stashed Liberty floral that wasn't quite enough to make a dress with.   I know its not really what some people would call a quilt, its a bit of a cheats quilts, really big pieces sewn together, more of a throw really.  I learnt alot from making Miss S's quilts and got some good tips in a comment from Debra.  Thanks Debra I tried it your technique and it worked really well.

B side

Detail

P.S. A few people have told me it was very tricky to leave a comment on my posts.  I have had a play with the settings so it should be much easier now.  Please feel free to leave a comment, I love comments. 

Crochet Shrug Finished

I have been meaning to put up the pics of my finished Shrug!  I finished it about a month ago and have worn it quite a bit.  It is the Granny Square Shrug from the Crochet Modern Vintage  by Panda.  It was an easy pattern and came with the crochet diagram as well as the written pattern.   I thought the hard part was choosing the colours but for me the hard part was the monotony of all that plain black granny crochet between the granny squares.

Front

Back (gawd that looks like 80's hair) 

This shot looks a bit busty, apologies, but its meant to show the side view 

This is me trying to look all interesting and alluring like the model in the pattern.
I am pretty tall/big person so always need to adjust patterns for length and this was no different.  Instead of having 8 squares on each side I have 10.  This is an easy change to make and I guess you could make it smaller the same way too.

This super easy pattern is more or less a rectangular lap blanket
joined together at two ends to make enormous arm holes.

Nanna Knit Re-style

Twenty years ago when I was doing my "Grand Tour" based in the UK, my Nanna made me this stunning cardigan.   I lived in London and Nanna lived down near Brighton, so on weekends I would go down and get some Nanna love.  We would go day tripping with my Aunt, to all sorts of lovely places.  One day trip we went to a wool store, Nanna said to choose a pattern and wool colours and that she would make it for my birthday - fantastic!

   I love this pattern, the colours, the texture.. I absolutely love this cardigan.  Nanna's skill and talent blows me away every time I see it, but I have never really worn it.   It has always been an unflattering fit and never been comfortable.  This is not my Nanas doing, I remember her saying at the time it wasn't really the right shape but as I wasn't available at the time for fittings she just followed the pattern.

Never the less I have always loved it, I have taken it all around the world with me, moved it from house to house and would never part with it.  I would however love to wear it!  So I decided to reshape it but I was so worried that I would ruin it, would it be sacrilegious to cut it?  After much deliberation I decided Nanna would be much happier if I was actually wearing it than just appreciating it in my draw. 

The Arms are slightly too short and shaped like Bat Wings.
The length is too long for a cardigan & too short for a jacket.

The neckline in very high and it looks dreadful buttoned up. 

What were we thinking with those buttons!!!

The stitch work is amazing, my Nanna was so talented.  

I gave it a good Soak treatment.
 Then as soon as it was dry pinned it to shape, cut out
the excess knit and re-sewed the seems.  

I removed the buttons completely, took in the arms and reshaped
the neckline into more of a V.
The neck still isn't perfect but with a scarf you can't tell.
 The length doesn't seem to matter now.

I delighted with the outcome and so relieved I didn't wreck the whole thing!
I love it now and I wear it all the time.

Never Trust Quiet Children

I had one of those lovely hours the other day...  a bliss full of hour of piece and quiet.  No noise from the children, no disturbances,  no being asked to adjudicate spats.  So I spent some quality time crocheting with my feet up.  

In the distance back ground I could hear the joyful sounds of children engaged in creative play, happily enjoying each other company. I was doing Mummy air punches.  I should have known better.

This is why they were so happy, they had got into my Yarn Stash!  A wool wonderland had been created for the La La Loopsie dolls.  I guess it could have been worse, at least they hadn't unraveled or cut anything and I still got an hour of crochet time in.

Interpretive Fruit

You've heard of interpretive dance, well this is our interpretive fruit.   Imagine the fruit, feel the fruit, be the fruit!

Master B's Prep class have a shop corner this term and all the children were asked to bring things in for the shop, but no real food.  Master B really wanted to take some fruit, we don't have any fake fruit so he suggested we could make some.  We had one of those afternoons where the schedule goes out the window and we just make stuff.   Some kind of dinner is thrown together at 7pm and I am not sure if the children had a bath - very fun.

Miss S and Master B decided what fruit they wanted, drew some pictures and then picked the fabrics, I did the sewing.  We tried to use different textures which worked out well as these were pretty much the most suitable fabrics anyway.  They are very rustic and I hope they don't freak out any fruitaphobic children.

Corduroy Apples (Do you remember this fabric Mum and siblings?
Its from the mega roll Mum had when we were kids.
 We had a whole house worth of soft furnishings made from this.  We had curtains, couch covers, mattress protectors, camping equipment and even a surf board cover...)

Felt Pineapple

Tea Towel and Felt Grapes

I forgot to photograph the Bananas, they are Flannelette
left over from Miss S's Jane Austin dress.

Felt and Ric Rac Cherries
( I was getting really sick of sewing by now, so very sloppy stitch work, sorry.) 

Lyrca Knit Pears,  these are my favourite.

Yarn Stash

Now that I am really good at managing my fabric stash and no longer hoard I have started to stash yarn.  I am not sure how healthy it is but its' just so lovely.  

How gorgeous is this colour combo of Cascade Ultra Pima 

Or this combo of Ultra Pima, I am thinking of making a wrap for me.

The other Cascades in my collection, it is my
favorite yarn to crochet with, its 100% Pima Cotton

This is the left over yarn from my shrug,
I think I am going to knit with this but I dont know what yet.

Noro Kureyon, 100% wool, awesome for little projects and felting.

Noro sock yarn - I dont have any plans for this.
  I just adore the peacock colours and had to have it, are they the words of an Addict?