WIP Wednesday 22/12

I have had a reasonably productive week this week, finishing a tea cosy (http://rosescrafts.blogspot.com/2010/12/finished-new-tea-cosy.html), a couple of book marks which I didn't photograph, and a bear (http://rosescrafts.blogspot.com/2010/12/teddy-bear.html).

I also made good progress on the arm rest covers for Sue.

The crocheting is finished, I just need to sew in all the ends (about 108 of them - the price I pay for doing such small squares). I did consider handing the to Sue as they are and letting her sew in all the ends, but she refused and told me she would only accept them once they were finished.

Sue has been making progress on the pink blanket but didn't take any photos so I can't show you.

That's it for the craft. On another note, we went on a Christmas lights tour around Albury this evening and saw parts of the city we hadn't ventured into before, as well as some very impressive lighting displays. There didn't seem to be as many streets where everyone gets in on the act as I've seen in other cities but there seems to be plenty of people will to make the effort. I've thought about it but we just don't have the street frontage so there seem to be little point.

Since we will be away from home for a week there won't be a WIP Wednesday post next week (or any other posts for that matter) so I will wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! God bless you all.

Teddy Bear

Another project completed and off my to-do list.

Sue seems to think that the snout is a bit big but it was made in accordance with the pattern. I think I could have made him a little happier but I'm not sure how. I did the embroidery to match the picture but he looks quite sad. Maybe if I straightened his mouth out a bit.

The Journey to Bethlehem: Renew

The fourth week of advent.

The reading for this week came from Luke 2:1-7.

Jesus came to renew us.

Romans judged people by what they did and what they possessed. Do we still do that today?

It doesn't take long for reputations to take a dive (eg Bill Clinton, Hugh Grant, Tiger Woods, etc).

God does not judge us according to what we do or have done or by what we possess.

The week that was #9

This week has seen the usual rounds of gym, crochet, band practice and other activities although it didn't finish on a very high note.

I managed to finish a few projects - a tea cosy (http://rosescrafts.blogspot.com/2010/12/finished-new-tea-cosy.html) and a couple of book marks - and do a little work on the bear and Sue armrest cover.

This morning I went out to Thurgoona to try and sell my wares but it wasn't a good day. I did manage to sell one of the tea cosies which covered the cost of the stall, but the weather was atrocious. Shortly after getting the gazebo and the table set up we had a first shower which meant I couldn't hang anything from the gazebo, which is a pain because I don't have enough table space for everything. when the sun came out everyone thought that that was it for the rain so we finished setting up and settled in. I even managed to do a couple of rows on the crest before the next shower came through, this time with a bit of wind, so I had to hold down the gazebo. We got another hour of sunshine before the rumblings of thunder could be heard and that is when I decided that enough was enough and started to pack up. I managed to get most of the gear into its plastic tubs before the storm hit but quite a bit got soaked (including me) and I needed some help preventing the gazebo from going east.

After getting home and getting out of my wet clothes and into something more comfortable we received a message indicating the the Community Carols had been canceled (no real surprise there except that we had originally been told that there was an alternative venue in case of rain).

Maybe I should have guessed that this wasn't going to be a good day when the light bulb in the study blew when I went in to do my morning reading.

Well, the next market isn't until February (unless I can find another one somewhere in the meantime) so all the Christmas gear that I didn't sell this year will just have to get packed away until next year. I just hope I can find it when the time comes as I seem to have a habit of forgetting where I put them.

Richard.

Finished - new tea cosy

I could have probably stuck some more flowers on it but I think this will do this time. We'll see how the shoppers like it Saturday morning.

Apparently I missed a couple of Sue's blankets yesterday making it 9 blankets she has on the go at the same time. She says she is going to frog these anyway and use the yarn for matinée jackets.

We had our last band practice for the year tonight. While we will continue playing on Sunday mornings, we won't be getting advance notice of what we're playing. Practice resumes in February. We will also be playing this Saturday evening for the Community Carols.

WIP Wednesday - The UFO list

Today I took photos of all the UFOs I could find except one. I couldn't find my latch-hook rug (probably in a box in the storeroom) and I didn't think it fair to show Sue's unfinished latch-hook if I wasn't showing mine, so, without further ado, here are the UFOs in order they are likely to get finished. First mine:-

This first one is a tea cosy that I'm making for Saturday's market. Since taking this photo I've managed to stitch it up and start on the flowers that will adorn the top.

Once I've finished the tea cosy I will probably make a couple of bookmarks to replace the ones I gave away this afternoon (it was a Christmas Party for people who make use of the pool at the leisure centre where Sue and I exercise).

The next job to be finished will be the following conglomeration of bits.

When finished, this will be a teddy bear. It just needs to be stitched up and stuffed.

This is one of two projects that I carry around with me to doctor's and Chiro offices. I have to get this one finished soon so that I can reduce the nagging from Sue as these are going to be arm rest covers for her armchair. She was getting jealous because I had a pair on my chair.

This is the other project goes with me whenever I go out. It's a bonnet to go with a jacket that I finished last month in Beechworth. Once I finish this I will need to make a pair of booties to go with the ensemble.

This was originally started as a possible entry into the Royal Canberra Show, but didn't get finished in time for this year's show and won't make it for next year's either as entries have closed already. I'm hoping to have it finished in time for next year's Albury Show in October. This is the first item I have ever made with two colours and I'm having a few issues with it.

This is the Rose Clan Hunting Tartan and will be put on hold until the weather cools. Blankets like this just aren't real good to work on in 30°C temperatures.

This is a baby's jacket that Sue knitted that she has now handed over to me to finish. Unfortunately, she hasn't given me the pattern, so I can't do much with it.

And now for Sue UFOs.

This is the start of the pink baby blanket to match the blue one I posted the other day.

The following are various blankets that Sue has started and may complete someday.

That's seven blankets all up, and I keep telling her that blankets don't sell very well and that she should stick to baby's clothes as they do sell. Of those there is one that I could end up finishing myself as it is a simple crochet pattern that I've done before. I think I'll leave all the knitted ones and the tartan (Murray of Athol for those that are interested) to her.

That's it for the UFOs. Next Wednesday I will restrict this list to those UFOs that have seen some progress during the week. Any that get finished will be published separately.

A bedspread and a blanket

When Sue first showed me the pattern for a bedspread she wanted me to make I first wondered where we were going to get 4300 grams of yarn all from the same dyelot, so we decided that I would do it in 4 shades of brown, that way we would only need 1100 grams of each, which is much easier to source. Here is the result.

We have had several favourable comments about it but it usually doesn't come out until the real estate people want to do an inspection. It's amazing how tidy our bedroom looks when the mess is hidden by a bedspread :).

Since we went for the cheaper acrylic option, I didn't actually need 4400 grams of yarn. I may have needed that much in wool, but acrylic is so much lighter, so we had quite a bit left over. Some of the leftover went into a blanket which now covers the lounge.

This is another of Sue's creations using the knitted magic square.

If you have been watching my previous blog posts you may even recognise that these are the same colours as used on one of my scarves. We had quite a lot of yarn left over!

A baby's blanket and a couple of tea cosies.

Both Sue and I finished items on Saturday, and then I finished another today, so here are the photos.

I figure I'll do Sue's Baby's Blanket first.

This was quite an achievement for her as she didn't have a pattern. One of our neighbouring stall holders back in Canberra had a finished item on her stall and Sue liked it so much she decided to copy it, but rather than get the pattern off this other lady, she worked it out for herself. I think the border still needs a little work, but I'm quite impressed that she was able to it. She has modified the pattern a little and has started making another in pink.

I originally got this pattern from another of the stall holders but I seem to have misplaced it so I had to make this from memory, which isn't particularly easy for me as I usually forget things quite quickly. I do, however, remember that the pattern called this a "van dyke".

And, just to show I'm quite versatile, I found a pattern for a "Rosey Cosie" and tried my hand at make it.

It is made from the top down. I did have a few issues with the pink around the base as the pattern got a little confusing. I wasn't sure if the "next stitch" was the one after the last dc or the one after the "fptr in the 4th stitch from hook". It didn't look like it was going to work too well going into the stitch after the fptr so I interpreted the pattern to mean the stitch after the last dc. I think it worked out OK.

I am currently making another cosy, but this time from a pattern that I kinda made up myself using the "leafhopper stitch" that I found in my copy of "Crochet Stitches". I decorate it with roses, the pattern for which I found on the web. I would like to get 2 more cosies done before Saturday as we have another market at which to try and sell some stuff.

Third Sunday in Advent

The scripture for this morning's sermon was Ephesian 2:1-10.

Advent is the season of coming.

Christmas is all about giving gifts and God gave the greatest gift of all, but a lot of people don't want to receive this gift.

How would you feel if someone didn't want the gift you offered them? How do you think God feels when people refuse to accept His gift?

Life with Jesus is an exciting journey.

Unlike Santa, who makes lists of those naughty and nice, you can never be too bad to receive God's gift.

The week that was #8

I had another week of the usual business in Lavington this week. Managed to crochet a few towel tops and started on a tea cosy in between going to the gym, shopping, band practice and looking after Sue.

We both managed to finish our projects today, Sue's project was a baby blanket that she started some time ago, and mine was the tea cosy that I started on Thursday. I will have photos of both sometime next week.

I have been thinking about what to do with this blog now that I have showed off all the things that I and my wife have made, not that we won't be making more but because I don't know that I will have finished articles every day of the week. There are at least three items that I need to get photos of, and I probably will have a couple more tea cosies done this week, but what then. I have decided that I will post pictures of any completed items as I complete them but will also post pictures of my uncompleted projects, so, on Wednesdays, I will be doing a WIP Wednesday post (I know it's not original) so be prepared to see a few UFO pictures this week. Next week I will only post pictures of those WIPs that have actually progressed as I sure you don't want to see the same pictures over and over again.

I was reading a blog last night that asked the question "Why are you proud to be you?" and while I gave the answer "Because I know that I am loved just the way I am" I have been thinking that I should have given a more complete answer and included who I was loved by. I could go into a big list of family, friends and church people but that wasn't really what I was thinking about at the time. I think the main reason I didn't include who I was loved by was because the blog I was commenting on was written by someone who was obviously not a christian and the person I was thinking about was God, so  the complete answer to the question is "Because I know that I am loved by God just the way I am!".

I hope you all have a blessed week.

Richard.

Latch Hook Rug

For one of my birthdays when I was much younger (18 or 21) I received a latch hook rug kit. I quite enjoyed putting the small rug together but didn't think much more about it.

When I was in my thirties I moved to Melbourne and found myself with quite a bit of spare time and also found a shop not too far away that carried rug wool and canvas so I decided to try and design a rug. I quite like spirals and circles, which don't translate particularly well to a medium that is based on squares, but I thought I would try any way. This is the result.

I have had a few issues with the canvas tending to fall apart at the edges with the corner being particularly problematic. I think I may have even glued some pieces into place.

I have started another rug (about 20 years ago) featuring six spirals, but, due to being busy with other things (like stuff for the markets) it has been neglected for the last few years. Sue decided to take up latch-hook a while ago and we were both doing it for a time, but neither of us has touched our creations (except to pack them for moving) for quite some time.

More Christmas Towels

I really like the way these tricot towels tops turned out. I think the red, green and white really stand out, and it's definitely a good substitute for the red, green and white variegated cotton which seems to be hard to come by at the moment.

Anybody else like this effect or am I the only one?

More towels

I said that I would show off a few of my tricot topped towels and here they are.

Some of them only use one thread.

And some of multi thread ones don't look particularly special.

But  some do show the effect of the three different coloured yarns quite well.

I quite like this one with the variegated green, variegated red and plain cream.

 

I even did one in normal crochet with three different colours and it turned out quite well also.

I'll see if I can find some more to show tomorrow.

Run out of Photos

Well, it had to happen, I ran out of things that I've photoed for showing off and now I have to start thinking about what I going to do with this blog.

I do have a couple of items that I can take a photo of and show everyone, but that will only be good for a couple of days.

I could just stick to my saturday "Week that was" and Sunday sermon posts with the occasional craft post but that doesn't seem like a particularly good idea.

Maybe I could do a run down on my UFOs, complete with pictures.

I could keep everyone up-to-date on projects I'm working on but I'm currently working on towel tops and I can finish several of those in a day. I will be showing the tricot tops in the next couple of days, I just need to resize the photos so they're not too big. I have also finished my Christmas towels so I will take some more photos. I am particularly pleased with the way the three colour tricot tops have come out.

I have a queen size bed cover that I want to take a photo of but I need the bed to be vacant so that I can spread it out, and there is a blanket that Sue made that is currently draped over the back of the couch that I think is pretty good, and a latch hook rug that I made years ago when I was into latch hook. I'll try and get photos of these in the next few days.

Toddlers Sun Hats

These are another item that usually get people stopping and looking, especially if they have toddlers. I have had to custom make some of these as making them to the pattern doesn't make them large enough for some children's heads, but it isn't too difficult to adjust the pattern.

The Bethlehem Journey - Hope

This morning's sermon continued with the Christmas story and was based around John 3:16.

In the words of Max Lucado "He loves. He gave. We believe. We live."

Many put their hope in other things - money, possessions, etc - but until they put their hope in Jesus, they are not complete.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 NIV

This is the greatest gift anyone can receive.

The week that was #7

I finished the every day printed towels and started on the Christmas prints. I will take photos of the tricot tops that I've made using multiple colours of cotton just so you can see how they turned out but I'll leave that for next week.

I have been to the gym 3 times this week and I'm really feeling it across the shoulders. I do hope that means that it is doing me good.

Sue also went 3 times this week but didn't finish her session yesterday because her knee gave out. When I got down to the pool I found her sitting on the steps waiting for me to help her out.

We didn't get the showers and storm that were predicted today so we actually managed to get a couple of loads of washing out and dry. This is the first day for some time that it hasn't rained and the prediction every day this week has been the same, "shower or two, possible storms", and looking at the rain prediction map, it's going to be pretty much the same for the foreseeable future, although Monday might be dry. The problem with all this moisture around is, with the increase in temperature, it's getting quite sticky. Since I know it's going to get hot, I would prefer it to be a dry heat.

I can't take anything off my to-do list yet even though I finished one lot of towels as the first item is "hanging towels" and I'm still working on "hanging towels". I might change my priorities once I have finished the Christmas towels as I really need to get some tea cosies done.

The first Christmas Dinner of the Season

No craft tonight as we just got back from dinner and it is quite late.

We went to a Chinese Restaurant in Beechworth with a group from church and a good time was had by all (and not a drop of alcohol in sight).

Scarves

Once again my blog is late because I forgot to do it last night.

Today we have some scarves without matching beanies.

A couple crocheted by Sue.

One knitted by Sue.

And a couple in tricot made by me.

I did these the the tricot knit stitch to see how many people I could fool. Most people don't seem to believe me when I tell them that they're not knitted, but I didn't fool the judges at the show, although they didn't give me a prize for the one I entered.

Duchess set

The pattern for these say that they are a Duchess set, but I didn't really know what a Duchess Set was until recently.

I originally made 2 of each of these, although a Duchess Set is actually 1 large and 2 smaller doilies used on dressing tables. I never did get anyone to buy the set, but I did sell the 2 large doilies and 1 of the smaller ones, so now I need to make another large one and another small one to have a full set. I might get onto that when I get through my to-do list, which could be about this time next year, but I wouldn't count on it.

Baby's Helmets

I'm not sure why these are called helmets but Sue assures me that that is what they're called.

They are both made by Sue, except for the flower on the second one, which was made by me. For some reason Sue trusted me to crochet the flower more than she trusted herself.

I think I'm getting close to the end of the items I have made and will soon have to start talking about other stuff, like what I'm currently making.

Hanging Towels

These are always a good seller and I have made many. Here are just a small sample.

These are actually terry towelling tea towel, but they work quite well as hand towels, although the material is a bit thin. If you look closely, you will see that one of these isn't done in standard crochet. I've been experimenting with tricot.

I generally try to match the colour of the top with some part of the towel and I think some look better than others.

At this time of year I bring out the Christmas towels.

I will be doing some more of these shortly as I have a market coming up in a few weeks.

And then there are the plain hand towels. These are thicker and more suitable for some purposes. I generally try to have a few darker towels as there are some people that like to have these for greasy or oily hands since they don't show the stains like paler towels would.

I think the effect of tricot with variegated cotton is quite good.

I have also been experimenting with different coloured cottons in tricot. You can have up to 3 different cottons on the same project. I don't have any photos of those at the moment but I'll try to take some before I sell them.