The believers prayer Acts 4:23-31

This passage describes the events that followed Peter and John's interrogation by the Sanhedrin after they cured the lame man at the beautiful gate.

The prayer shows that the followers recognised that God is in control and is faithful in fulfilling His promises for all that believe. So, why are we surprised when God answers prayer?

Power can be released in our lives when we pray with boldness!

How big is your God?

The week that was

I finished the crocheting of the first of Sue's armrest covers, just need to sew in the ends (lots of them) and received an order for some doilies which will also be used as armrest covers, so I'm going to be busy for a little while, just need to find the right yarn.

On another project, I started weaving in the chains on my tartan rug, but will have to put that on hold for a little while (orders take precedence).

My efforts with preparing the photos of our stock for market is still ongoing. Prepare to see a change in the look of this blog when I finally get all the photos processed as I plan on using some of them in the header.

My OHN trainer (http://rickroseaus.com) has set me some homework for this week. She wants me to add an RSS feed, read up on forums and advertise this blog on twitter (Moriarty1958). I'm not entirely convinced that that website is actually going to earn me any real money as the only people I have been able to advertise to seem to have there own similar website.

Heather Hippo

Here is another of the many toys that I have made.

This one seems to attract quite a few lookers but has sold as yet. I may have put her up on Etsy (when I get a round tuit).

Hearts bookmark

Another little project that I like to make. I usually try to have a few of these on hand as they sell quite well.

Toy frog

This lovely little frog has been sitting on his lily pad for quite some time now. Quite a few people look at him sitting there, admire him, laugh at him, but no one wants to take him home. Maybe this little guy will be one of my first listings when I finally get around to opening my Etsy shop.

Fan bookmark

This is one I'm quite proud of. A woman in our craft group had one given to her and was asked if she could make a copy of it, it was then passed onto me and I've been making copies and selling them ever since. I haven't written down the pattern but I have dictated it to a friend.

Hannah

Another typical Sunday.

The message at church this morning was about Hannah, the mother of Samuel, how she prayed earnestly for a son and had her prayers answered.

We should should do likewise, pray earnestly for what we want, and maybe God will give us what we need (which isn't always what we ask for).

The week that was

This week has been busy with unpacking (it seems to be an ongoing thing with us), sorting out the yarn cupboard, sorting out the craft stall and crocheting.

Sue (my wife) and I finally got to band practice on Thursday night only to find that everyone else, except the deputy bandmaster, failed to show up so practice was canceled.

Yesterday, we went and bought a gazebo on the basis that we need some shade for our craft stall, then yesterday afternoon we packed all the stock, tables, chairs and the newly acquired gazebo into the car and headed out to Thurgoona to see if we could sell anything. Thurgoona is about 10 minutes north of where we live, so it wasn't a huge trip. One of the Christian colleges was having a fair and included an area for people to set up stalls.

The afternoon was successful on one level, we sold $44 worth and only had to pay $10 for the privilege, however, it's a long way short of the $189 it cost for the gazebo.

I also managed to complete a couple of items that I had with me and they were added to the stock. Photos of the Baby's coat and the scarf will follow at some time in the future.

When I was sorting out the stock for the sale I managed to take photos of everything, unfortunately it was with the camera in my phone and the pictures aren't the best quality, but I'm still going to show them in future blogs. Some day we may find our digital camera and take some decent shots.

Candy baskets

Another colourful little gift idea that I tried out. I did eventually sell them all but I don't think I'll be making any more.

Bunny candy pouch

This is a fun little item I made especially for easter. It was going to be stuffed with a chocolate egg but it was too warm at that time of year so it had a couple of toffees in instead.

Boys keepsake pouch with flies

I quite like this one and it has proven to be quite popular, and not just for boys.

The idea behind this is that boys tend to pick things up and put them in their pockets where they can damage washing machines. By encouraging them to use this pouch instead you can save yourself the trouble of going through pockets before washing (hopefully).

Knitted Baby's Jacket

I thought it was time to feature another of my wife's creations.

This jacket is one of her favourite patterns as it is done in one piece, knitted side to side, casting on stitches at the start of each sleeve then casting them off again once the sleeve is complete.

The cuffs and neck  are achieved by only knitting the full row every second time (3rd and 4th rows).

The picot edging is crocheted on when the knitting is complete.


This is one knitted pattern that I think even I could do, although my knitting is nowhere near as neat as my wife's.

Two Pandas

I probably should have take the photo of these without the price tags on them but, since they have both been sold, it's too late to take new pictures.

I quite like making toys and have made quite a few. They're like the only children I'll ever have so it was a little disconcerting when I found out that one that I sold was placed head-first into a bag. They didn't even allow him to see where he was going!

The patches around the eyes on these are the only bit not crocheted, they are felt.

Love the Lord your God with all ...

... your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”Matt 22:37-40

Today's sermon was all about love and was based on the passage that surrounds the above quote.

Basically, I interpret this to mean that I should love everyone that I come into contact with everyday and they are all my neighbours. There is nothing there that says I have to like them or what they do, but I must love them anyway.

Another week has finished

There wasn't much excitement this week, haven't finished any projects although I am making progress on the tartan rug. There is still a lot of unpacking and sorting to do, and with each bag or box unpacked I get closer to sorting out the yarn cupboard and the storeroom.

Our explorations this week took us to a nearby Army Base where we found our Credit Union. We closed a couple of accounts and got information about how to make transfers into our joint account.

We then checked out the Bowl in Wodonga. While it is a very nice bowl with synthetic lanes I'm still thinking of joining a league in Albury as the wooden lanes are likely to help keep my average down (which will help when bowling in tournaments) :).

We also found Spotlight and checked out the layout of the shop so that we can find what we need when we need it (not that we need anything in the way of yarn right now). I may need some fine cotton soon as I have a pattern that requires 50 gauge. Might enter it into a show if I ever get a round tuit.

There is a shop in North Albury called K2TOG so we called in there to check it out. The lady that runs it seems quite helpful and pleasant. They have a sit and knit session on a Tuesday afternoon and lessons one day a week (although they will be stopping those shortly because of Christmas). I don't really need any lessons but might drop in for a bit of knitting and a chat sometime.

Child's knitted Beanie and Scarf

This is on of the few things that I knit, because it's quite simple. It's a straight knit 4 purl 4 rib with no shaping in the beanie, you don't even need to cast-off as the top is simply gathered by threading the yarn through the stitches as you take them of the needle.

When we first started the stall all the knitted items were done by my wife and all the crocheted items were done by me, but then my wife decided to crochet a scarf and some blankets and I started knitting toys, beanies and scarves.

What do you say to an angry witch?

This particular toy didn't even last one week.

One of the friends of the market's organisers took one look at this and insisted she needed to buy for a friend of hers and bought the first day I had it on the stall. My quickest sale ever!

And to answer the question in the title, according to a joke I read, the answer is "ribbit". I'll leave it up to the readers to figure out why :).

Colourful Turtles

I was once told that I wouldn't sell any toy priced over $30. This large turtle proved that wrong!

The first day that he appeared on the stall, a friend rolled up in her wheel chair and asked for 2 to be made special, one with a pink shell and the other with a blue shell, and gave me a couple of months to make them. Since I had a $40 price tag on this one I couldn't refuse :).

They each took just over a month to make, and that was while I was still working full time.

The first one I made only lasted anther week on the table before it was sold, so there are people out there willing to pay good money for this sort of thing.

Knitted Baby's Top and Knickers set by Sue Rose

I was thinking about showing off a queen size bed cover I made but I haven't taken any photos of it yet, so I decided to show off some of my wife's work instead.

My wife really is a very good knitter but doesn't often knit things that we can sell so I figure I should make the best of it when she does.

This is one of her favourite patterns for babies outfits and she has knitted a couple of these in different colours, and they always sell well.

There seems to be quite a demand for baby's clothes and both my wife and I make quite a few items for the stall.

A Hexagonal Tablecloth

This was one of my bigger projects and took 11 years to complete.

I will admit that I didn't work on this full time because, not only did I have a day job, I also started 2 other big projects at the same time. This is the only one that was completed. The work that I had done for a crocheted blanket has been passed on to someone else to turn into knee rugs for needy people and a latch hook rug is still waiting to be completed.

This tablecloth is my own design and features roses and butterflies with hearts in the border and is in 20 cotton. The outer rows were taking upwards of 6 hours to complete, but I generally only worked on it for one hour at a time.

I often use this tablecloth as an example of my work, showing it off to every new craft group that I join (usually my wife tells everybody about it then they insist on seeing it) and caused quite a stir when I first took it as the group weren't expecting a guy to join them, let alone one that could do such fine work.

When I started the tablecloth I didn't need glasses, but, since finishing it, I now need glasses for all close work.

The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-31 was the passage used for today's message. My understanding of this passage is that you must value following Jesus Christ above all else in order to get to heaven.

Today was quite a slack day for us, after going to church this morning we sat in front of the TV crocheting. Both my wife and I are working on tartan rugs at the moment (at least until I can figure out where and what to sell). Her's is the Murray of Athol and mine is the Rose Hunting. I do have the yarn for the Rose Dress but I can't find the pattern at the moment. I'm sure it will turn up in one of the many boxes yet to be unpacked.

I have been doing something unusual this last week, bragging about my prize winning crochet. I usually leave the bragging to my wife and others who have been quite willing to do so. I will eventually get around to posting pictures of my current projects (of which there are many) but I still have many completed projects I want to show off first, I just need to find a camera so I can take some pictures.

Some picture can be found at Crochet Cafe. Unfortunately, the page doesn't appear to be available at the moment so I won't give a link just yet.

This week in review

This week has been quite busy with very little craft work and quite a bit of unpacking and sorting, and we have managed to get to the yarn cupboard yet.

We now have Mystar setup instead of plain old Austar, so we can now record all our favourite programs and watch them at our leisure.

It hasn't been all hard work as we have taken quite a bit of time out to keep up with events in Delhi. It has been good to see all the Australian medals, especially the gold. :)

Prize winner # 5 - Australiana table runner

This is the last of my prize winners and is my own design.

This table runner is approximately 4' x 1' and is filet crochet in 20 cotton. All the flowers, animals and the Harbour Bridge designs were taken from a book that featured jumper pattern for each state and territory in Australia. The kangaroo and emu at each end had to be modified a little as they were a little too big in the original pattern.

Next week I will try to get pictures of some of my other projects, including a hexagonal tablecloth that I made over 11 years.

Prize winner # 4 - Tricot blanket #2

In my second year of showing I was told that I would have to enter my craft into the "Professional" category as I was selling the end products (even though my stall was at a charity market). I enter 3 items and received a first and second prize. First prize was for my second tricot blanket.

This one differed from the first in that the centre creases all went the same way (as per the knitted magic square blanket) and that the border was done in tricot (I figured out how to go around corners).

Prize winner # 3 - Bells & Bows

The third and final prize winner from my first year of competition was a piece from a pattern provided by a friend. This friend gave me the pattern expecting me to take 6-12 months to complete it and was quite surprised when I had it complete within 2 months.

This piece of filet crochet won third place in its category and is done in 20 cotton with a 1.25mm hook. I have worked with finer cotton but usually avoid it due to my eyesight not being what it used to be.

Prize winner # 2 - Tricot Rainbow Blanket

I decided to continue with my prize winning crochet today. Eventually, I will get on to current projects.

This is the first of 2 tricot blankets I entered into the Royal Canberra Show and the second of 3 prize winners I had in my first year of showing.

It's based on a knitted magic square pattern that my wife found, although the knitted version has all the diagonal creases going in the same direction. This was my first attempt at this style and I couldn't figure out how to get it to match the knitted version. The border on this one is standard treble crochet (US double crochet).

Study setup

I was going to continue with my prize winners today but the business of unpacking and setting up seemed to be more important.

Today was spent between setting up the study and watching the Commonwealth Games (I probably should have spent less time watching and more time doing), but I now have a proper desk for my computers and only need to unpack and find a home for all the things I used to keep around my desk. I don't think it will all fit but I can certainly try to make it.

Another Sunday

Today's message at church was based on the passage where Jesus washes the disciples' feet.

On another note, we started sorting out the study. As a result, we have boxes all over the unit, and one desk made up and in place. 2 returns and another desk still to be done, and a cupboard to be moved in.

Exploring the area

Being new to the Albury-Wodonga area, we decided that we would go exploring today. We also heard that there were a couple of markets on today and that one of them may be suitable for selling our craft.

We started on The Causeway, checking out the Farmers' Market. Lots of fresh produce, meat cheese, wine, plants, etc, but no craft.

We then drove up to Beechworth (40km away) and found a lolly shop (one of our weaknesses) and a bakery as well as a few other shops but no markets. There was a sign on the way in that indicated that there would be markets tomorrow but that doesn't suit us as we like to go to church.

On the way back home we called in at Office Works and bought some new desks and Bunnings to pick up a few things that we need, some of which were to replace items that got left behind in the move.