Sunday, July 31, 2011

International Day of Prayer for Children

The reading for today came from Mark 10:13-16.

Jesus got angry with the disciples when they tried to turn the children away. They thought that Jesus was too busy to deal with children and that children weren't important enough for Him to have to deal with so they tried to hinder the children form getting to Him.

The disciples not only hindered the children by shooing them away but also by their example.

Do we hinder the children by either shooing them away or setting a bad example?

We are Christ's representatives to the world. We need to be Christ to those around us, especially the children.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

The Week That Was 30-07-2011

This week has been a bit of an up and down affair. On the upside, Sue came out of hospital on Tuesday and was doing quite well. On the downside, she was testing out some exercise equipment on Thursday and something in her right leg went SNAP and left her with pain in the quad. She went to hospital and had it x-rayed but it looks like the only damage was ligaments, tendons or muscle.

A few weeks ago I started experiencing some discomfort in my left shoulder which I put down to the amount of crochet and knitting I was doing while visiting Sue in hospital. I had already arranged to see my massage therapist so I figured I would let her have a go at it before doing anything else. On Sunday morning the problem escalated into outright PAIN and I have been unable to get it comfortable ever since. I visited the chiro on Monday and got everything adjusted but that didn't seem to help so it was off to the doctor. He sent me off for an ultra sound and I'm now waiting on the results. I do hope my next visit includes a script for painkillers as I'm having trouble sleeping at night.

I have still managed to do a bit of crochet and knitting in spite of the pain. I finished off the toddlers jacket and the crochenit blanket, started on my hoodie and a panda, made a robot and set aside the yarn for my next crochenit blanket which I plan on making in long rows with white and whatever colours I have in my stash that I think need using up.

I think that's enough for this week.

Richard.

Friday, July 29, 2011

FO Friday 29-07-2011

A couple of my major projects were so closed to finished thins week that I decided to get stuck in and finish them so that I could show them off today, but first I'm going to show you a small one that only took a few days to make.

A Pink Robot
This is to replace the blue robot that I sold at my last markets.

I finished the crochenit blanket.

Crochenit Blanket - front
Crochenit Blanket - back
I decided to do a relatively simple scallop edging instead of the fancy edging called for in the pattern, mainly because I didn't think I had enough yarn left to do the one int the pattern after adding more patches to make the blanket bigger.

I added the finishing touches to the Toddlers Jacket this afternoon.

Toddlers Jacket - tunisian crochet - pattern by Ellen Gormley (GoCrochet)

Someone on Wednesday asked to see a close up of the stitch but I'm not sure that my camera is very good at close ups, but here it is.

Close up of Tunisian Cross Stitch
I got a few comments and queries about the towel hangers that I showed last Friday so I figured I would try to answer the questions  this week. Here is one of the tower hangers with a towel.

Towel Hanger with Towel
The pattern is called Cristmas Rose Towel Ring and is written by Pricilla Hewitt. It is available as a free download. The rose is crocheted to one ring just over halfway around then the second ring is added and the round completed over both rings allowing a towel to be threaded through the ring. The ties enable the towel hanger to be hung on almost any handle.

For more FO Friday goodnees, check out Tami's Amis.

Richard.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

WIP Wednesday 27-07-2011

This week has been kind of a blur and I've forgotten if I've worked on a couple of objects or not. If I work on them before next Wednesday I'll try to remember to show my progress. In the meant time, here are a few objects that I know I've worked on.

A Knooked Beanie
I've almost finished this one, I'm on the decrease rows now.

Toddler's Jacket - Tunisian Crochet - Pattern by Ellen Gormley (GoCrochet)

I don't  have much more of this to do either, just a few more rows on the second sleeve then sew up the sleeves and it's done.

Panda
This is one that I've just started. It may not look like much just yet but this is the start of one leg of a Panda.

A Hoodie for Me
This one doesn't look much like a WIP as I have really started it yet. This lovely parcel of wool arrived on Monday morning and the contents will become a hoodie for me. The parcel contained 8 200gm balls of Blue Denim Luxury wool.

That's about it from me. There were at least 2 other projects that I worked on in the last 7 days, but, since they've been completed, you don't get to see them until Friday. For more WIP Wednesday goodness, visit Tami's Amis.

Richard.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Prayer

The reading for this morning came from Matthew 6:9-15 and 25-34

Jesus gave us the Lord's prayer as our pattern for praying. Prayer is is our "Royal telephone", our special line to God. You will never be put on hold or get a busy signal on this phone line. He is always there for us.

As our pattern for praying, the Lord's prayer has several parts.

"Our Father, who art in heaven" shows us that we need to acknowledge who God is.
"hallowed be thy name" - God's name should be honoured and not abused.
"thy kingdom come" - may God reign in everyone's life.
"your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" - we need to be doing God's will just as Jesus did.
"give us this day our daily bread" - provide us with all we need especially spiritual food
"forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" - as Jesus forgave, so must we. We don't get a free ride into heaven.
"lead us not into temptation" - steer us away from those this that tempt us to sin.

God should be our dearest friend and the first person we call on in time of trouble. Be anxious for nothing but trust in God always.

Richard.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Week That Was 23-07-2011

This has been another busy week with a lot of time spent at the hospital visiting Sue. All this time spent at Sue's bedside has meant that quite a bit of work has been done and one project has been completed with another almost complete.

Sue managed to get permission to get out of the hospital on Thursday to go and visit her chiropractor as she was in considerable pain in her neck back and hips. All this sitting and laying around in hospital beds just doesn't seem to do her much good, and now that she has 2 good knees she is finding that more pressure is being put on other parts that aren't in good shape. Hopefully, once she recovers from her op, she will be able to do something about her weight and take some of the pressure off her hips and back.

Sue had another outing from the hospital yesterday when she was brought home by the Occupational Therapist who wanted to look around the home and see how she coped with everything. He was quite pleased with how she only leaned on things to get her balance and not put all her weight on them for support. She will still need my help with a lot of things and I guess I will be doing all the housework for a while yet.

After finishing a few items this week it's time to review my to-do list so here it is.

Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

2 Small Toys
Pink Baby's Sunhat
String Bags
Set of Wine Glass Socks

Current Work In Progress:

Rose Clan Dress Tartan Rug
Tunisian Crochet Blanket
Crochetknit Blanket
Knitted Scarf
Toddlers Jacket

Things I'm itching to get started on:

Jumper (sweater to you Americans) for me - I've ordered the wool
Doily in #40 cotton
Tunisian Crochet Dishcloth (for tutorial I want to write)
Crochenit Cot Blanket (I want to try a method for doing rows that are longer than the hook)
Crochenit Knee Rug (same as Cot Blanket and will also use up some of my stash of 8ply)
Crocheted Slocks
Something from my "99 Granny Squares" book
Something in Tunisian Crochet Lace (I'm thinking of modifying Ellen's Jacket pattern by substituting a lace stitch in the main body of the pattern)
Something from Ellen's new book.


That should be more than enough to keep me busy for a while.


Richard.

Friday, July 22, 2011

FO Friday 22-07-2011

It's Friday again and time to show off my finished objects. I've been spending quite a bit of time at the hospital lately and haven't managed to do much at home. I have mad a lot of progress on my larger project as I have tried to take a different one with me each time.

I have managed to make a couple of towel hangers.

Front of "Christmas Rose" Towel Hanger in variegated pink
Reverse of Pink Towel Hanger
Front of "Christmas Rose" Towel Hanger in cream
Reverse of cream towel hanger
I have also managed to complete the "2 for the road" scarf.

"2 for the road" Scarf
I don't plan on replacing the scarf in my project bag, at least not until the order that I placed with Bendigo Woollen Mills has arrived and I can start making myself a hoodie.

I don't know how much progress I'm going to be making on my large projects from here on in as Sue comes out of hospital on Tuesday. I expect that I will be concentrating more on replenishing the craft stall stocks so I should have at least one item to show next Friday.

Check out Tami's Amis for more FO Friday goodness.

Richard.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

WIP Wednesday 20-07-2011

I've been a bit tired the last couple of days and haven't been working on much while at home. I have been quite busy while I been out visiting Sue in hospital though.

The knitted scarf is progressing well and I've started a new ball of yarn. I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to need all the yarn I have available for this but I don't know what I'll do with the left over. I'll see how long it gets when I've finished this ball.

     
Knitted Scarf in Red Heart Boutique "Blue Ocean"



The crochenit blanket has been sewn together and I've started on the border. I've decided not to go with the border that is described in the pattern as I don't think I have enough yarn. Instead I plan on doing a couple of rounds of dc (US sc) and a scallop edging.

Crochenit Blanket
Another square has been added to the mitred square blanket.

Mitred Square Blanket
I've done a few more rounds on the knooked beanie. I'm still thinking that I would be faster at knitting and may give up on future knooking projects, unless they use a mixture of knit and crochet stitches.

Knooked Beanie
I've added at least one more section to the "2 for the road" scarf. I'm almost out of wool for this, I think one more section will do it and then I'll call it finished. For those that are interested the wool is from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I think it was a discontinued line as it was in their bargain area but I don't have the details any more.

"2 for the road" Scarf
And last but not least, I'm currently working on the second sleeve for the toddler's jacket. I probably should have done a swatch as it's turning out slightly smaller than the pattern calls for but it should still be OK for a 1-2 year old. Once the second sleeve is done I will just need to sew up the sleeves and it will be ready for market.

Toddler's Jacket
That's it for my WIPs. Check out Tami's Amis for more.

Richard.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

New Command

Lynda gave me her sermon notes today so I could give you the full sermon but I'll try to cut it down a bit.

The reading for this morning comes from John 15:12-17

Some translations use the word "ordained" instead of "appointed" in verse 16. The word "ordained" comes from the word "ordered". God says "I have ordered you to  bring forth fruit". He set us apart from others and chose our direction.

Are you so accustomed to everything going wrong that even if things are fine do you go looking for trouble? Some people do. We need to try to remember that God is in charge and that we should trust Him in all things.

Most people know the poem "Foot Steps" where in times of troubles there is only one set of footprints. God carries us when we think we have lost the battle, He pushes us when we run out of steam. "The steps of the Godly are directed by the Lord, He delights in every detail of their lives" Psalm 37:23.

God has not brought us this far to abandon us, He has appointed us to produce fruit that will last. Because He wants us to be fruitful "no weapon turned against you will succeed ... These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord" Isaiah 54:17.

Are you serving God to the best of you ability? Lasting joy and success - that's God's  plan for you. God never speaks something over your life and lets it fall apart. We can trust in His word because He is faithful. He gave us a new command, to love each other has He has loved us. Lets start loving and trusting today.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Week That Was 16-07-2011

A very different week this week with at least 2 hours each day spent at he hospital visiting Sue.

Sue is doing quite well in some respects but not so well in others. Having her knees fixed seems to have put a great deal of strain on her hips and she has been complaining of serious pain in her right hip. Her chiro made an unauthorized visit to the hospital a fixed her up but we don't know how long that will last. She need to be able to bend both knees at to at least 90 degrees before they will let her out of rehab but she is struggling to get past 80 at the moment.

Today was Sue's birthday so I wrapped up a present for her, bought her a cake and we ordered some takeaway from our favourite chinese restaurant and had a little birthday celebration  at the hospital. Not exactly the best environment for a party but maybe we'll do something special when she gets out.

Since there isn't much we can do at the hospital other than sit and knit and/or crochet while chatting, I have been quite productive this week as can be seen in my WIP Wednesday and FO Friday posts. I should be able to complete my "2 for the road" scarf and my crochenit blanket shortly (finished stitching the blanket together this afternoon and now only need to do the border).

I'm thinking that once I get a few of my projects finished I might try and restrict myself to one project for each discipline. That is, one crochet project, one knit project, one knook project, one tunisian project and one crochenit project. This means that I will only have 5 projects on the go at any time instead of the 8 that I currently have. There is, of course, an exception to this rule as I still need to replace things I sell and orders always take priority.

Richard.

Friday, July 15, 2011

FO Friday 15-07-2011

I have a few small item to show you today.

Another jug cover.

Medium Jug Cover - cream with green beads
Several bookmarks.

Fan Bookmark - variegated yellow
Fan Bookmark - variegated green
Cross Bookmark - pale green
Cross Bookmark - yellow
Cross Bookmark - cream
And something completely different.


I actually made more than 2 dozen of these but these were the only ones to get photographed. I took a couple in to Sue in the hospital but she found them to be too sweet. Guess that means there are more for me. :)

For more FO Friday goodness, check out Tami's Amis.

Richard.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

WIP Wednesday 13/07/11

This week has been quite different for me. I have spent quite a bit of time in waiting rooms and in the hospital with Sue, who has started physiotherapy and is starting to make use of her new knees. I have managed to take most of my projects into hospital with me and spend quite a lot of time working on them so here are the results of my labours.

A few more rows have been added to my tartan rug.

Rose Clan Dress Tartan Rug
A couple more squares have been added to the Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket.

Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket
My 2 scarves have grown.

Knitted Scarf

"2 for the road" Crocheted Scarf
One sleeve on the Toddlers Jacket is almost complete.

Toddler Jacket
This is one of Ellen Gormley's (GoCrochet) patterns for those that are interested. The details can be found on my Ravelry projects page.

And last but not least, I'm almost ready to stitch together the crochenit blanket.

Crochenit Blanket
Just one more patch and it will be ready for the next step.

Since Sue is expected to be in Rehab for the next couple of weeks I expect that I will get quite a bit more progress done on these projects. I also have a few smaller items ready for FO Friday.

For more WIP Wednesday goodies go to Tami's Amis.

That's it for me.

Richard.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Kingdom Attitudes #7 & #8

The reading for this morning was from Matthew 5:1-12

Kingdom Attitude #7 - Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.

What is a peacemaker? A peacemaker is not someone who wants peace at any cost. People who bottle things up and brush problems under the carpet are peacefakers.

Peace means reconciliation. A peacemaker is someone who is willing to chase peace at any cost. Jesus paid the ultimate price to reconcile us with God. True peace can be hard and painful. We need to resolve conflicts not run from them.

People can see our relationship to our parents and grandparents by looking at us. Can they see our relationship with God?

Kingdom Attitude #8 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Persecution happens when two belief systems clash. Do you get ready to fight or flee when confronted by other beliefs? Jesus tells us to rejoice in these situations because "great is your reward in heaven' (v12).

We live in a world where people live for themselves, look to accumulate riches and simply have a "good time". They don't believe that they will have to answer for their actions, they don't believe that they will have to pay for their short term pleasures for the rest of eternity.

Life is short, don't waste it of frivolous pleasure, spend it wisely.

Richard.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

The week that was 09-07-11

This week has been quite busy and quite stressful with pre-admission on Tuesday, rushing around for various appointments in preparation for Sue's op on Wednesday then back to the hospital on Thursday for the op.

The good news is that Sue has come through the op with no serious problems. Of course that means that the hard work now begins as she needs to strengthen her legs and get them working as quickly as possible. It also means that she will have to endure serious amounts of pain before things get better, but at least she has two good knees to work with now.

All these trips to the hospital have meant that I have spent quite a bit of time on various projects and a lot of progress has been made as everyone will see next Wednesday. Unfortunately, I have been neglecting other things and have fallen a bit behind in some areas. I think those things will just have to stay that way until Sue comes out of hospital and life returns to something approaching normality (what is normal anyway).

I almost forgot to mention the "Craft Alive" show that I went to this morning. I found it to be somewhat disappointing. There was the usual woodworking displays and lots of retailers (not all of them crafty). There appeared to be tables set up for some sort of classes but nothing seemed to be happening while I was there. There appeared to be a number of stalls aimed at quilting and some of the other usual stuff but no crochet, tapestry, leatherwork or lace. There was a lady with some  wool and other yarns knitting a scarf with some of that mesh yarn but that was about it.

Crochet class had it's last session for this term and will be resuming in August, and we won't be going to markets now until the 3rd Saturday in August which means that I will have extra time to work on my to-do list which looks something like this:-

Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

Fan Bookmarks
Large Cross Bookmarks (I didn't sell any today but discovered that I only had one left)
2 Small Toys
Pink Baby's Sunhat
String Bags
Set of Wine Glass Socks

Current Work In Progress:

Rose Clan Dress Tartan Rug
Tunisian Crochet Blanket
Crochetknit Blanket
2 for the road Scarf
Knitted Scarf
Toddlers Jacket

Things I'm itching to get started on:

Jumper (sweater to you Americans) for me
Doily in #40 cotton
Tunisian Crochet Dishcloth (for tutorial I want to write)
Crochenit Cot Blanket (I want to try a method for doing rows that are longer than the hook)
Crochenit Knee Rug (same as Cot Blanket and will also use up some of my stash of 8ply)
Crocheted Slocks
Something from my "99 Granny Squares" book
Something in Tunisian Crochet Lace (I'm thinking of modifying Ellen's Jacket pattern by substituting a lace stitch in the main body of the pattern)
Something from Ellen's new book.


I have managed to take a couple of items off this list but have added another one thanks to one of the ladies in preadmission clinic.


Richard.

Friday, July 8, 2011

FO Friday 08-07-2011

Another Friday has arrived with more FOs for your viewing pleasure.

Firstly, as promised, Sue's cape.

Sue wearing her cape
The only things I've managed to finish this week are jug covers, three of them.

Medium Jug with Yellow Beads

Medium Jug Cover with Pink Beads

Medium Jug Cover with Blue Beads
One more of these jug cover and I will be able to move onto other things.

For more FO Friday goodness see Tami's Amis.
Richard.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

WIP Wednesday 06/07/11

Another load of WIPs for your enjoyment.

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time with Sue ate the hospital as she was there for her pre-admission clinic. During that time I managed to do the edging and button hole as well as part of a sleeve on the toddlers jacket.

Toddler Jacket
I also added a section to my "2 for the road" scarf.

"2 for the road" scarf
I started on the next section while waiting for Sue to have a chiro adjustment.

Last Friday I managed to add another square to the Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket.

Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket
I have also managed to make a few more patches for my Crochenit Blanket.

Crochenit Blanket
Just another 5 1/2 patches to go and I will be joining them and crocheting a border.

On Saturday, we had our monthly knitting party at Spotlight and I started a knooking project.

A knooked beanie.
This is my second attempt at knooking and I think I'm doing OK. The ribbing is a bit looser than I would like but the rest of it is going quite nicely.

And lastly, I managed to add another 20 rows to my knitted scarf.

Knitted Scarf
I think I'm going to have to limit how many projects I do at one time as some of these are just taking so long. I even have one project that isn't progressing at all.

Since Sue goes into hospital tomorrow I will need to decide which project I will be taking with me to do while sitting in the waiting room and on my many visits over the next week or so. Maybe I'll take a different project each day so that they all get a bit added to them.

I will be back on Friday with a few FOs, including Sue's cape. If you want to check out more WIPs, have a look at Tami's Amis.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

The Storms of Life

The reading for this morning came from Matthew 5:1-8

Kingdom attitude #5 - Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.

The first 4 beatitudes deal with our relationship with God, the remaining deal with how we should relate to other people.

Mercy is not sentimental, being merciful doesn't mean feel sorry for other, it's not about good deeds, it's about salvation. In the Bible, mercy is used to describe God's relationship with people. To be merciful is to think of others with the same attitude as God thinks of them. Don't hold grudges, don't criticise, love everyone just the way they are.

Kingdom attitude #6 - Blessed are the pure in heart.

Being pure in heart is just that. God demands an internal cleansing. To be pure in heart is to be like Jesus.

Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do. Everything we do must be an act of worship.

Richard.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The week that was 02-07-11

This week has bee dominated by two sick computers. One (which contains shared files) has failed and I don't know whether I can resurrect it. I still have a couple of things to try with it. The other appears to be in the process of failing, it keeps shutting down at odd intervals. The problem appears to be somehow connected with the mouse as it slows down and the buttons don't seem to do what they're supposed to. Looks like we will be spending a tax refund on new computers this year.

Apart from the computer problems everything seems to be going swimmingly. Sue is getting excited about her operation and most of our crafting efforts are progress well. I tried my hand at knooking this week, and my first effort failed miserably, however, I tried again and seem to be making better progress with my second effort. I'm not sure that I can knook faster than I can knit (I'm a pretty slow knitter) but I think it may be easier to knook in the round than knit in the round.

Today we went out to lunch to celebrate Sue's birthday which is in a couple of weeks time. Sue decided she wanted to celebrate today as she is scheduled to go into hospital on Thursday and isn't supposed to get out until after her birthday. While hospital isn't the best place to be on your birthday Sue isn't going to knock back the surgery date as she really needs to get her knees fixed.


That's about it for this week. Hope your week has been better.

Richard.

Friday, July 1, 2011

FO Friday 01-07-2011

Time to show off the objects that I've finished this week. I would show off some of Sue's but she hasn't finished anything for a while, although it looks like the cape will be finished on time for her hospital stay.

First off is another jug cover.

Medium Jug Cover in variegated pink with pink beads
I still need to do more of these so expect another couple to appear next Friday.

Fan Bookmark in variegated pink
While I had the variegated pink #20 out I thought I might as well make one of these. Hopefully I will have a couple more for next week.

Knitted Beanie in shades of purple and cream
A young girl bought herself a pair of gloves from a neighbouring stall-holder and want a beanie to go with them. I do hope that I've managed to match the colours used and make it the right size as I won't see her until August as that particular market is only every second month. If I've got it wrong she will have to wait another 2 months for a replacement unless we can make alternate arrangements. I'm thinking that my knitting must be getting faster as this only took me 4 days to make and I'm sure others have taken weeks.

That's what's been on my hooks and pointy sticks this week. If you want to see more FO Friday goodies just check out Tami's Amis.

Richard.