FO Friday 30-09-2011

There seems to be so much work not being done around here. We still can't get the car in the garage, and after the storms we've had this week it's a bit of a worry.

Anyhow, between reading emails, playing games and going to the gym, I have managed to do a bit of crochet and finish a couple of items.

The first finished item is another bag.

Shopping Bag in Pouch

Shopping Bag out of Pouch

I'm not entirely sure why the colours are so far off in the first photo, could have something to do with the weather, it being overcast and all.

The second item is the Baby's Sunhat I showed the start of on Wednesday.

Baby's Sunhat

This will go with the with the pair of booties that I already have on the stall and replace the one I sold about a month ago.

That's all I have for you this week. Check out Tami's Amis for more FO Friday goodness.

Richard.

WIP Wednesday 28-09-2011

It was a dark and gloomy day today and, up until about an hour ago, it was bucketing something fierce. I still managed to get photos, even if the colours are a bit off due to using the flash.

Here are the objects I have worked on this week.

Another square was added here.

Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket

A couple of rows have been added here.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

Some more rows added here.

Front of Hoodie

A few inches added to this.

Knitted Scarf

I'm not sure how long I should make this scarf. It's almost 6' now but when I tried it around my neck it's still not long enough. I still have an unused ball of yarn to add to it so I'll keep going.

A new toddlers jacket has been started (I know, with all these ather projects on the go, why would I want to start another?).

Toddler Jacket in Tunisian Crochet

I also started a baby's sunhat this week.

Pink Sunhat

This is one of my quick finish projects for the market stall and while I don't expect to have it finished for Friday it should be finished before next Wednesday.

I also started and finished another bag since last Wednesday so I have something to show on Friday, and I picked up some yarn in Christmas Tree Green so I can start making Christmas trees.

For more WIP Wednesday goodness, check out Tami's Amis.

Richard.

Being Marked by Holiness

The reading this morning came form Ephesians 4:1-7

There is a calling on the life of every Christian, not just pastors and officers.

The Bible says:-

We are called to belong to Jesus - Romans 1:6
We are called to be saints - Romans 1:7
We are called to be holy - 1 Peter 1:15-16
We are called to live holy lives 1 Thessalonians 4:7

What are the marks or characteristics of this calling? Just like cattle that have been branded so that people know who they belong to, we Christians should also be marked by holiness.

The characteristics of holiness are:-

1.  Humility - we are to have the mind of Christ
2.  Gentleness - like a beast that has been trained and is under control we need to let the Holy Spirit take complete control. A gentle tongue can break a bone.
3.  Patience - this is the opposite of being short tempered. We need to show patience when dealing with other people.
4.  Forbearance - we need to bear with one another in love.
5.  Unity - we need to make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit.

The Week That Was 24-09-2011

I feel a little guilty about not posting a weekly update last Saturday, but we hadn't really done anything special except attending the YP Anniversary Concert on the Saturday night and I'm sure you don't want to hear the same boring story every week.

This week, however, we have done something different. We went out to the Henty Machinery Field Days which are held this time every year about an hour north of where we currently live. This was the first time we've ever been but I don't think it will be our last. We didn't see many of the exhibits as we were there to help out on the Salvation Army table that was set up as part of NERRCS (North Eastern Riverina Rural Counselling Services). We spent the day handing out bags of goodies to any kids that came in and generally chatting with people as they came in to check us out. The Temora Historical Society kindly put us up in their shed, which seemed a much better idea than being under a tent in the blustery wet conditions.

When we got back home we discovered a nasty surprise. A gas company had sent someone out to plug our supply because we didn't have an account with them and they owned the metre. It seems that they conveniently lost the paper work requesting that the supply be transferred to our preferred supplier and were now demanding that we open an account with them. We had a chilly night without heating or cooking facilities so weren't particularly happy about this.

The gas was reconnected the following day and we had a gas heater service man come in to look at our heater. This was something that had been arranged before we moved in. It turns out that the heater that was installed in our unit was one of a particular model that was supposed to have been modified about 13 years ago as it had been discovered that it was a cause of house fires so it was disconnected. We weren't keen on spending another chilly night without heating so Sue made a phone call to our CO to see if he knew of anyone that had a spare heater that we could borrow. Lucky for us, one had been donated last Christmas and was still at the church, so we used that for a couple of nights.

Yesterday, the landlord arrived with a new heater and a couple of tradesmen to install it, so we're all cosy and warm again.

Last night was our Sally Gap Fillers night out and we went bowling.  There were about 13 of us there and most bowled 2 games but Sue and I only bowled one each. Sue bowled a respectable 136 (respectable for her) and I bowled 145 (a bit poor for me, but I couldn't let Sue beat me). One of the girls there left a split and her father offered her a ride on the elephant if she could spare it and somehow (using 2 balls) she managed to do just that. It was a fun night.

We were supposed to go down to Benalla this morning but, due to a lack of petrol and money we had to cancel. We could have probably gone down and taken a chance on sell enough to pay for petrol for the return trip but decided not to risk it. We haven't failed to cover our costs any time we've gone down there but there's always a first time. We really need to find another market close to home as the 240km round trip to Benalla can be quite expensive.

Well, it's been quite a busy week for us, and I even managed a bit of crochet time (check out my WIP Wednesday and FO Friday post to see what I've been working on). Now it's time to say goodnight for this week.

Richard.

FO Friday 23-09-2011

For those that commented about my long term projects on Wednesday, I do also have a few small things to make and my finished object for today is one of them.

Shopping Bag in Pouch

Shopping Bag out of Pouch

I should have another one of these done for next week.

Thank you for all the lovely comments about my Wine Glass Socks last week and yes, I do have a pattern (actually, I have 3). I have been thinking of doing up the patterns for these as PDFs and putting them up for sale but I've been having trouble with my tuits lately, especially the round ones. I do have a couple of these as finished objects available in my Madeit store if anyone is interested in purchasing them already made.

That's it for this week.

Richard.

WIP Wednesday 21-09-2011

Another Wednesday is here and it's time to show off my progress.

Another square has been added here.

Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket

A couple of rows have been added to a cot blanket.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

And the front of my hoodie has been started.

Front of Hoodie

I have worked on one other item but that one is finished so you will have to wait until Friday to see it.

As usual, check out Tami's Amis for more WIP Wednesday goodness.

Richard.

Be a doer not a gunna

This weekend has been our YP anniversary and we were entertained by the Sunday School and Mainly Music teams last night and today we were lead by the Junior Soldiers. Today was also Junior Soldier Renewal.

The reading for today came from Mark 2:1-5

This passage tells the story of a paralytic man and his friends and how his friends never gave up in spite of all the obstacles, they even risked their own health by digging through the roof of the building in order to get their friend to Jesus, and as a result of this their faith was rewarded.

Do you have a list of things you're gunna do? Like these friends, we should be doers, not gunnas.

FO Friday 16-09-2011

It's the end of another week and time to show off my finished objects. I probably shouldn't have waited so long to take photos today as I ended up doing it indoors with artificial light and the colours didn't turn out quite right. That'll teach me for being slack.

Wine Glass Socks - white with a coloured band

Wine Glass Socks - cream

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

Richard.

WIP Wednesday 14-09-2011

Another Wednesday has arrived and plenty of progress to report.

A few more rows have been added to the crochenit cot blanket.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

A few more inches have been added to my knitted scarf.

Knitted Scarf

I'm not sure how long to make this. If I use up all the yarn it may rival Dr Who's scarf from the Tom Baker days.

Another row of squares on the tunisian crochet mitred square blanket has been completed.

Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket

I don't have enough of this yarn to make 2 more rows so I will have to call it quits after the next row.

The back of my hoodie is complete.

Back of Hoodie for me

Time to start working on the front.

I did also make some progress on the tartan rug but not enough to show in a photo. I'm having some trouble deciding how big to make it as I don't think I have enough yarn to do a full 2 repeats of the pattern.

The other things I've worked on this week are complete so you will need to come back on Friday to see them.

Check out Tami's Amis for more WIP Wednesday goodness.

Richard.

Being Marked By Prayer

This morning's message was a bit different in that it came from DHQ. Apparently, all corps in the division got the same message on DVD which is quite an interesting way of delivery it.

There was no reading as such but Luke 11 featured in the talk. And now for my copious notes.

People are marked by many things - drugs, success, failure, etc. As christians, our live should be marked by prayer.

In Luke 11 one of the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and He gave them The Lord's Prayer.

Prayer shouldn't be all about ourselves, should be us giving God our "shopping list", but about His kingdom.

One thing we're told in Luke 11 is that we should ask, seek and knock but to be persistent about it - keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking. William Booth said we should "pray like everything depends on prayer"

Don't go to God just in times of emergency but all the time. Be in constant communion with God.

The future depends on us waiting for God!

The Week That Was 10-09-2011

We're slowly getting things organised here with plenty of unpacking to do before we get to park the car in the garage. Both our new neighbours are moving out shortly so we don't have to throw our empty boxes out, we just pass them on to the neighbours.

Other things are starting to get back to normal, Sue is back in the pool on Mondays and Wednesdays while I'm in the gym. She is also trying to get into the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays which means I get to have 3 or 4 gym sessions each week. We skipped Thursday this week due to appointments.

I finally got the rest of the money through for the tea cosies that the woman from Newcastle wanted so I sent them off. I received an email a couple of days later indicating that she really liked them. Maybe she will show them off to her friends and convince them to have a look at what I have available. You never know, I might get more sales out of this.

I received surprise email the other day and the best way to tell you about it is to show you.

It seems that someone thought my sausage dog looked like a corgi. All I can say is that they must have some pretty strange looking corgis around there.

Today I was in Myrtleford trying to sell my wares and had a pretty good day. I even remembered to remove one item that I sold from my Madeit store to try and avoid selling it twice. Today's sales didn't really affect my to-do list but I've decided to add a few items due to it being just over 3 months until Christmas. I figure if I give my self 3 months I should be able to get something finished.

So, my updated to-do list now looks like this:-


Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

Pink Baby's Sunhat
String Bags
2 sets of Wine Glass Socks (sold one today)
Some Christmas trees (I've copied the pattern to my e-book reader in readiness)
Some Christmas angel ornaments
Some snowfakes (we don't usually have snow at Christmas time but I figure I can have some fake stuff)

Current Work In Progress:

Rose Clan Dress Tartan Rug
Tunisian Crochet Blanket
Crochenit Cot Blanket (trying a method for doing rows that are longer than the hook)
Knitted Scarf
Toddlers Jacket (currently on hold due to not have enough of the yarn I had chosen for this. I need to finish unpacking my stash to see if I have anything suitable in there)
Jumper (sweater to you Americans) for me

Things I'm itching to get started on:

Doily in #50 cotton (I've had the pattern for a while)
Tunisian Crochet Dishcloth (for tutorial I want to write)
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.
A doily from an old pattern book I bought today.

Will I ever get through this to-do list? I beginning think that I never will.

Richard.

FO Friday 09-09-2011

It still doesn't feel like I've achieved much this week although I did manage to make a few things, and here they are.

I made a bonnet to go with the coat that the neighbour wanted.

Baby's Bonnet

Then I made a pair of bootees to complete the ensemble but realised that I used a hook that was 2 sizes too big (should have read the pattern instead of working from memory).

Baby's Bootees

So then I got out a smaller hook and made a second pair of booties.

2nd Pair of Bootees

And just to show what a difference using the wrong hook can make I took a photo of both pairs side by side.

Two pair of Bootees done to the same pattern but with different sized hooks.

I'm not sure what's happened to the FO Friday post over at Tami's Amis but I'll try to come back later with a link.

Richard.

Edit: Tami's Amis appears to have been delayed due to a power outage but has been posted now.

WIP Wednesday 07-09-2011

Looking back at this week I don't seem to have done much. Of all my WIPs only 2 have seen any progress this week. I did manage to finish a Baby's Bonnet and some Booties but you will need to come back on Friday to see them.

So, without further ado, here are the items that have progress this week.

Tunisian Crochet Mitred Square Blanket

 Another square has been added. Only 8 more to go and then I finish off the border.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

Another couple of rows complete. I ran out of the pink I was using and switch to an aqua. I'm hoping to use up quite a but of my 4 ply stash with this one.

That's it from me for this week. Check out Tami's Amis for more WIP Wednesday goodness.

Richard.

Joshua

The reading this morning came from Joshua 24:1-15

Joshua took over from Moses as leader of the Israelites. This was the start of a big change from nomads to settled land owners. The book of Joshua also describes the battles that were fought to take over the land.

Joshua called on all the leaders of the tribes of Israel and called on them to serve the Lord, reminding them of all that He had done for them up to that day. You would think that the choice to follow God would be easy for them but the Old Testament tells us otherwise.

The Bible tells us of the power of making the right choice. Time is short, no one knows when their life will end. NOW is the time to choose! Tomorrow may be too late.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

The Week That Was 03-09-2011

We've been quite slack this week, only unpacking a few boxes and bags. I think I've spent far too much time paying games on the computer instead of doing what I aught to do. The game that has been taking most of my attention is a little thing called Simutrans which is available as a free download.

I did manage to get to the gym twice this week so I'm still getting my exercise, and Sue restarted her Aqua-aerobics after the physio told her it was OK. She plans on joining me in the gym when she's not in the pool so I will probably end up going 4 days a week instead of just 2.

Sue has been trying to add a few things to my to-do list this week. One of our neighbours has a pregnant friend or relative and Sue wanted to sell her a coat, bonnet and booties set but I sold the bonnet and booties last Saturday so of course I can make more, then on Thursday night she volunteered me to make 22 bookmarks as presents for the Watoto Choir that will be visiting in October. I think I'll discuss that one with the CO before I start on them.

Thinking about my to-do list, apart from the bonnet and booties that I've been working the last couple of days, I haven't made any progress on getting through it, and even the bonnet and booties is causing trouble as I forgot which hook I was supposed to use for the booties and they came out bigger than they were supposed to. I guess it pays to read the pattern once in a while just to refresh my memory, but it's such a simple pattern.

I have almost all of my yarn unpacked now although I know there must be another bag of 8ply somewhere as I have an empty basket. I'm sure I'll find it eventually.

That's it from me for this week.

Richard.

FO Friday 02-09-2011

As promised earlier in the week, here are the two tea cosies I finished.

I'm still waiting for the money to come through before I post them off to the buyer.

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

Richard.