FO Friday 30.11.2012

It's Friday again and time to show off what I've finished this week.

Medium Jug Cover with Orange Beads

Medium Jug Cover with Yellow beads

Medium Jug Cover - Variegated Blue with Blue Beads

Just three jug covers this week. This should bring my stock of medium jug covers back up to acceptable levels. I still need to make some small ones as I'm running a bit low on them.

Check out the links in the sidebar if you want to see what everyone else has been making.

Richard.

WIP Wednesday 28.11.2012

Hello and happy hump day. Things seem to be slowing down a bit as we get closer to Christmas and summer here in Rose Manor. I've only managed to work on 3 of my WIPs this week.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

 I managed 3 rows on this before my E-Book Reader started complaining of a low battery. I'll have to remember to charge it up before Friday.

Box Stitch Baby Blanket

 I think I managed about 1/2 a row on this on Friday morning.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley (GoCrochet)

A couple of rows were added to this.

This Friday is the last day of term for the crochet class and next Wednesday is our Christmas break-up for Craft'n'Cuppa so progress of these may slow down a bit for a while while I concentrate on building up stocks for markets. I have 3 items finished this week but you will have to wait until Friday to see them.

To see what others have been making just check out the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Prayer

It has been a while since I posted the Sunday sermon here but this morning's sermon was quite powerful and I thought it should be shared. Our officers are away this week so the meeting was lead by the band with Kelly, who plays trombone along with myself and her father, doing the message. Kelly used a you-tube video during her message and I asked her afterwards if she would send me the link so that I could include it here. She sent me more than that, she sent me the entire message, and here it is.

Prayer

Who has ever been labelled? Good or bad? I have noticed that most labels given to people these days are not of a nice nature. Why is this? Is this because we live in a judgemental society where the first thing we do is judge others and label them? How does this help us – does this make us better people, does it make you feel better? In Romans 12 verse 14 says “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” It also says in Deuteronomy 30 verse 7 “The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you.” So what this is saying is that we simply smile and pray for the person who is persecuting us and DO NOT retaliate, God will look after the situation – sounds quite simple, we tell our children not to say nasty things back, but is it that simple. It really is about being the ‘bigger’ person.

While preparing this morning’s message, and searching for inspiration, just when I was about to give up, my son came to me with what he and I believe was a message from God. He has asked me to watch a clip on YouTube, which he felt everyone needs to watch. Before I show you this clip, I need to find out how many of you have ever heard of Justin Bieber. What comes to mind when you think of him or hear his name?

I simply asked the same question on a public social forum, and these were some of the responses I can share with you. Justin Bieber – young; “Bieber fever” or the craze that is him and his music; singer; boy; gay; blonde; cute kid; hairstyle; eeewww; and ‘does nothing for me’. Not all nice labels. But do any of these labels really tell you who Justin Bieber is? Well, yes, he is a singer, and that’s about it – there is more to this talented young man than superficial labels. Justin Drew Bieber is an 18 year old Canadian singer-song writer who was musically discovered in 2008. He is a Christian and he said he has a relationship with Jesus and talks to him and that Jesus is the reason he is here. He is the only son of Jeremy Bieber and Patricia Mallette. His parents were never married, and she was only 17 when she fell pregnant with Justin. Everyone tried to talk her into having an abortion, which is where Justin’s strong opinions on anti-abortion have been formed. Justin has a stepfather, Bruce. He also has two half-siblings to his father. Why am I telling you this you might ask – it is to simply point out that, while he is famous and people have labelled him, we do not actually know who he is. As a friend on Facebook pointed out “So many people dislike the guy and yet they’ve never met him.”

The YouTube clip that my son wants to share with you is a Justin Bieber song titled “Pray” and these are the lyrics:

I just can’t sleep tonight

Knowing that things ain’t right

It’s in the papers, it’s on the TV, it’s everywhere that I go.

Children are crying, soldiers are dying, some people don’t have a home.

But I know there’s sunshine behind that rain

I know that there’s good times behind that pain

Hey, can you tell me how I can make a change?

I close my eyes and I can see a brighter day

I close my eyes and pray

I close my eyes and I see a better day

I close my eyes and pray

I lose my appetite, knowing kids starve tonight

Am I a sinner, ‘cause my dinner is still on my plate?

Ooh I got a vision to make a difference

And it’s starting tonight.

I close my eyes and pray for the broken hearted

I pray for the life not started

I pray for the ones not breathing

I pray for the souls in need

I pray, can you give ‘em one today?

So now, I want to look at different aspects of this song.

Have you ever not been able to sleep or wake up in the middle of the night? Someone told me recently that I should use this time as a time to pray. If you don’t know who or what to pray for, then ask God for a name. You may not know the name you are praying for, but rest assure, this is God’s moment and this person needs prayer. Romans 12, verse 12, New International Version says “Be joyful in prayer” – the New Living Translation says “Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying”

The third line in that song says “It’s in the papers, it’s on the TV, it’s everywhere that I go” – this line is so true. So much of today’s news headlines are made up of heartache. Again the Bible says in verse 13, “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them.” For some people and situations all we can do is pray for them.

The next line – “Children are crying, soldiers are dying, some people don’t have a home” - this is an example of the previously mentioned heartache. But what can you do? You can sponsor a child in a developing country; you can send greetings and messages to soldier fighting on our behalf for peace. And you can Pray.

When Justin sings “But I know there’s sunshine behind the rain, and good times behind the pain” He is displaying his faith in God to make things right. How does he do this – “He closes his eyes and he prays.”

In the second verse of the song he talks about losing his appetite knowing that kids in the world are starving. And also the fact that while we leave food on our plates, does this make us sinners. When I first heard the third line of this verse – “I got a vision to make a difference, and it’s starting tonight” – the first thing that came to my mind was Michael Jackson’s song “Man in the Mirror”. This song was also about making changes and differences in the world, and the best person to start with is the person staring back at you in the mirror. While researching Justin Bieber’s songs, I discovered that he was influenced by this same song, which resulted in him wanting to make a difference and how he came to write this part of his song. Bieber said the following about his song ‘Pray’ – “It’s a very uplifting song, very motivational. It definitely comes from the heart. It’s very beautiful. I definitely thought of Michael Jackson’s ‘Man in the Mirror’ when I was writing it.

The final verse of this song lists some of the things or rather people that Justin prays for, and we could take a leaf out of his book. He, we can pray for the broken hearted. The life not started or unborn babies, those not breathing or those who have passed on – we can pray for those left behind and for the memories we share. We can pray for souls in need, everyone needs prayer. And then Justin offers a challenge – can you pray? Can you spare a few minutes or even seconds to say thank you for the things you have in life, for your family and friends, to pray for the sick, the lonely, and the poor.

If you don’t know how to pray – talking to God is just like having a conversation with anyone, it doesn’t have to be fancy, just tell him what you’re thinking and what is on your mind and in your heart.

You can view the video clip that goes with Justin Bieber’s song, Pray by clicking this link. Please open your minds and your hearts and hopefully after watching this clip, you will not only be encouraged to pray, but also have a different opinion about Justin Bieber. 

God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer. The most important part of prayer is listening and waiting for God’s response.Let us pray – Lord, we do pray for the broken hearted, the crying children, soldiers, and the homeless. We pray for people both within our church community and out that are unwell. May you help us to make a difference in this world, starting with our community. Help us to pray and to be able to hear the answers to the questions we seek. In your name we pray, Amen.

My Copious Comments

The only comment I am going to add to this is Amen.

May God bless you richly this week.

FO Friday 23.11.2012

After another busy week here in Rose Manor, where I've managed to work an about nine different items and hand in one of my assignments for college (there are about 8 and that didn't get done), I've also managed to finish 3 of those nine items. What's more, I made all 3 within the week between WIP Wednesday posts, so I didn't even show progress reports for these 3. Here they are.

Ankylosaurus - by Planetjune

 This little guy (approx 6" from nose to tail) took all of 3 days to make and is the first of several dinosaurs that I plan to make.

Decorated Christmas Tree

 I actually finished crocheting the tree last Friday afternoon but didn't get the decorating done until Tuesday afternoon.

Fan Bookmark

This one took me all of 3 hours Tuesday evening.

There are plenty more items on my to-do list but I can now count a couple of items as done.

If you want to see what everyone else has been working on then checkout the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

WIP Wednesday 21.11.2012

Another Wednesday is here and time to show off my WIPs. I've been plenty busy here so there are a few things that have been worked on this week.

Medium Jug Cover

 I started this one last night after finishing another project. I know I have more than enough projects to keep me going but I need a few of these to replenish my stocks.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

 I'm making good progress on this one although I still have a long way to go. Another couple of sessions and the Kangaroo and Emu will be complete.

Box Stitch Baby Blanket

 I know, you can't see any progress on this, but it has been worked on.

Toddler's Jacket #4 - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

 I've added a couple of rows to this one.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

 And a couple of rows to this.

Charity Blanket.

I started doing a scalloped border on this but I don't have enough yarn. I guess I'm going to have to frog that and just do another row of dc (sc to you Americans).

While you may think that working on 6 projects at a time is a little excessive, it gets worse as these aren't the only things I've worked on this week. I've managed to complete 3 other items which I will show off on Friday. I also have 2 other projects that I haven't worked on for a while and will get back to shortly, as soon as I've restocked my market stall.

In the meantime, check out the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been working on.

Richard.

FO Friday 16.11.2012

Well, it seems that some of my readers were quite impressed with the progress I showed on Wednesday even though I only showed progress on 4 of my 8 WIPs. I wonder what sort of reaction I'm going to get from showing the things that I finished this week while still making progress on those 4 WIPs.

Here are my finished items for this week.

Drink Bottle Cosy

 One of the ladies in my bowling league was eyeing off the drink bottle cosy that I was using so I offered to make her one for a price. She told me she wanted hers in blue, pink and purple so I whipped this one up last Saturday.

Dragon #2 - Design Your Own Dragon Adventure by FreshStitches

 I got this one finished ready for markets tomorrow. I think I'm getting better at the colour changes and positioning of the appendages.

Dragon #3 - Design Your Own Dragon Adventure by FreshStitches

It seems that these are quite quick to knock out. This one only took about 9 hours.

And just to show that I'm not the only one busy here at Rose Manor, here is something my wife made this week.

Child's Beanie

It's a bit too small for the heads I have available but it took less than a week to make.

You can expect more multiple finishes over the next few weeks as I try to replenish stocks of some of my small items like bookmarks and jug covers. I also hope to have a couple of dinosaurs done before the end of the month.

Check out the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been working on.

Richard.

WIP Wednesday 14.11.2012

Well, it seems that customers are dictating my crochet efforts of late, which is probably a good thing because it means that I'll get paid for it. On the other hand, it also means that I have less time for my other projects. Ah well, I still managed to spend some time on a few of them.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

 This is one of my Friday morning crochet class projects so it will be making more progress this week.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

 I've made another colour change on this one. I found the variegated yarn that I had used earlier and it seemed appropriate to use it again now.

Box Stitch Baby Blanket

 As this one gets bigger it's going to be hard to see the the progress, but some has been made.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

I've got past the arm holes and now get to work straight down on the body.

There has been plenty of other progress but those items are finished so you will need to come back on Friday to see them.

Checkout the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been making.

Richard.

FO Friday 09.11.2012

Last time I was at the markets in Myrtleford I had a few people interested in my drink bottle cosies, however, as usual, I didn't have the colours that they wanted. Fortunately, they weren't backward in coming forward and telling what colours they wanted. Both the ladies that told me told me that they wanted Collingwood colours which are black and white vertical stripes. Since I will be in Myrtleford tomorrow I figured I had better get them done, so here they are.

Drink Bottle Cosies in Collingwood Colours.

 In the meantime, Sue's needles have been busy and she made a pair of booties.

Knitted Pink Booties

She did most of the knitting for these while at the show last Friday and Saturday.

Checkout the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been making this week.

Richard.

WIP Wednesday 07.11.2012

Greetings all. We've had some extra time to knit and crochet this week in Rose Manor due to spending some time in the craft pavilion at the show. They need someone there all the time to make sure that everyone does the right thing and just looks at the craft items. While we're there we figure we might as well do some work, so there has been plenty of progress on my WIPS.

AustralianaV2 Table Runner - designed by me

 I'm making good progress on this one. I'm still working on the designs for each state so I may get a few of these done as well as redoing version 1.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

 Almost finished the yoke so the rows are getting too long for the cable.

Box Stitch Baby Blanket

 I found another ball and some oddments of the yarn I was using so I may actually have enough to make a decent size blanket.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

 Getting ready for another colour change.

Charity Blanket

 I discover that I didn't have enough squares in one colour to make another row so I've started on the border.

And now, one of Sue's WIPS.

Child's Knitted Beanie

Both Sue and I have finished items this week so check back on Friday to see what they are.

As usual, check the links in the sidebar to see what every one else has been making.

Richard.

The Week That Was 03.11.2012

It has been another busy week here in Rose Manor, topped off by spending time at the Albury Show. Unfortunately, I'm still way behind in my study and it's starting to look like I won't be able to complete all the work in time so I'm working on doing as much as possible to give myself a head start for next semester.

It seem I made a small mistake with last night's post as I didn't just win the 3 first place prizes but also a second place prize. I didn't get a photo of the item in situ with its prize ticket but it was the "Squares in Squares" Blanket.

Squares in Squares blanket as previously shown in an FO Friday post

This means that 4 out of the 6 items that I entered received prizes.

Since I have reviewed my to-do list in quite a while I figured it was time to do so, so here it is.

Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

Bottle Cosies in more team colours

2 String bags

Teapot Cosies

Fan Bookmark

Tea Towels

bag holders

Medium jug covers

Sunhat and booties (white)

Tommy Turtle

Koala

Owl

Pineapple Angel Bookmark

Dragon (the one I'm currently making is already spoken for)

Current Work In Progress:

Rose Clan Dress Tartan Rug
Crochenit Cot Blanket (trying a method for doing rows that are longer than the hook)
Toddlers Jacket
Jumper (sweater to you Americans) for me
Dragon (Freshstitches Pattern)

AustralianaV2

Charity Blanket (got given a half finished blanket and now I'm finishing it)

Bottle Cosies in Black and White (a couple of ladies showed an interest last time I was in Myrtleford)

Things I'm itching to get started on:

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.

Banner for Stall

Table Runners for each Australian state and territory (current;y trying to design the ACT one).

Tunisian Crochet Intarsia Table Runner

Spiral Blanket (saw one on the internet and figured I could have a go at it without the pattern)

Dinosaurs (just bought the pattern from PlanetJune)

The charity blanket is almost finished and I now have the wool to finish my jumper so I will hopefully be able to get working on some of these things that have been idle for a while.

I think that is all the news for this week.

Richard.

FO Friday 02.11.2012

This an FO Friday with a difference as I haven't actually finished anything this week. This weekend the annual Albury Show is on and I entered 6 items in the Arts and Crafts competition and today I got to see the results of the judging.

I didn't win just one first prize ...

Intarsia Table Runner

 ... or two first prizes ...

Pair of Baby's Booties

 ... but three first prizes!!!

Daffodil Teacloth

Of course, this means that the other three entries didn't win anything but I'm quite pleased with the results none the less. Astute readers will notice a minor spelling error on the cards as my surname is 'Rose' not 'Ross' (it seems that when I filled in the form my 'E' looked like an 'S') but I don't really care about that.

If you want to see what everyone else has been up to this week check out the links in the sidebar.

Richard.