Friday FOs - 31.05.2013

It's time to show off my finished objects for this week and, since I've had a little trouble finding the time and energy to crochet this week, there are only two. No towels this week as I only work on them if I've already worked on all my other projects. So, here are my FOs for this week. It was a bit dark and gloomy when I took these photos so they're a little out of focus, maybe I should have used the flash.

Trauma Teddy #10

Another Trauma Teddy done. I'm still holding to my target of one per week but I will have to stop soon as we will be packing up the house and moving everything into storage before we head off on our holiday.

Old Style Amigurumi Monkey

I had made a mistake with the eye surrounds and had to re-do them, which wasn't easy considering I had already attached them.

I'm sure I'll have something finished for next Friday, even if it's only a Trauma Teddy. In the meantime, checkout the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been making.

Richard.

ETA. I just checked my my tally of finished objects for this year and I'm up to 47.

Thursday Thoughts - Blog Awards

I was awarded the Liebster Blog award this week and my first thought was "Wow, someone thought enough of my blog to give me an award", then I looked at the requirements and wondered how I should answer all the questions and who I would pass the award onto. Thinking about it a bit further I saw parallels with the chain letters that seemed to be quite popular about 30 years ago.

So, are all these blog awards just a modern version of the chain letter or are they something of value to be cherished?

While I;m sure Crochet Addict gave me this award with all good intentions I'm going to treat this as a modern version of the chain letter and do much the same as I did when I received one of them, nothing (sorry Crochet Addict).

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 29.05.2015

Well, this week has bee a little different. I haven't done as much crochet as I would normally do. This is partly because we have been busy with Red Shield and partly because I've had a couple of slack nights when I didn't really feel like crocheting. As a result of this, only six of my WIPs have been worked on and, since one of those is now finished, I only have five to show you tonight. Here they are.

Woollen Baby Blanket - Square 51 from "99 Granny Squars to Crochet"

Another square completed. I only have about 8 weeks to complete this, 5 before we go away and 3 after we get back, unless I take it with me, but I was planning on do other things on this trip.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

I think I'm making good progress on this one. It's another one that I would like to have ready for the show but I'm not sure if I'm progressing fast enough.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

Still working on the first side of the border. A couple more rows and I will be able to switch to the other side.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

This is one I took with me to work on while sitting at Bunnings. I'm still not sure about the length of the yarn I'm using. I may have to shorten the sleeves.

Tunisian Spiral Blanket

Another one that's growing slowly, but it is growing.

I'm yet to pick out the yarn for my next baby's clothing project but I expect I will be starting that this week. I also have to pick out the yarn and pattern for my next stuffed toy as I finished one this week (I will be showing it on Friday), and I still have a bit of work to do on the other toy that I'm making but didn't work on this week. If I get stuck in tomorrow I may have another FO for Friday, but you'll just have to wait and see.

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

Richard.

Monday Mayhem - Sport 1

I first starting playing my first sport as a child, except it wasn't really a sport, just a game I played with my brother. A lot of people still don't consider it a sport because there is no real physical effort involved. It is actually a game of skill. Darts.

All through my teenage years I remember having a dart board hanging up somewhere either in the house or on the back fence. I also remember getting trounced by my brother as he was so much better than me However, we were both surprised one day when we found out how good mum was.

Mum came in from hanging washing and my brother and I were playing a game which involved one of us hitting as many bulls-eyes as we could until we had hit ten, while the other tried to amass as big a score as they could (without hitting bulls-eyes). Mum asked to have a go and since I wasn't going to well I figured she couldn't do much worse than me so I let her have my turn. It was my turn to hit bulls-eyes. Mum put all three darts in the bull, two in the outer and one in the inner.

I did play competition darts for a while in Canberra and Melbourne but gave it up not long after I went into uniform. Apart from the idea of a uniform salvationist going into drinking establishments for something other than collecting donations just didn't seem quite right. I was never a great dart player anyway, I ranked myself as average with patches of brilliance.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans 25.05.2013

Another busy week has come to a close with quite a bit of our time spent collecting at Bunnings. It has given us some crafting time as it can be quite boring if all we're doing is sitting there.

Everything else was business as usual, Craft'n'Cuppa on Wednesday, Crochet Class on Friday, just the usual run of the mill stuff.

Sue has been getting excited as it is now less than 7 weeks until we fly off on our holiday. I don't know how we're going to keep everybody up to date but I guess Facebook is going to be used a lot. I will try and get a blog post done every now and then so all my readers will know that I'm still alive.

On another tack, winter isn't far away here. The temperature hasn't dropped below zero yet but we have had a few foggy mornings. It still gets quite warm when the sun manages to break through.

That's about it for my somewhat boring life this week. I hope you all had a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs 24.05.2013

Well, I managed to get one of my WIPs finished yesterday so I can show it today,  I also managed to make something yesterday (I kinda had to) and I have my usual FOs. Here are my FOs for this week.

Baby's Boottees

This is the project that I kinda had to make yesterday as it needed to be in the post as soon as possible. The reason for this is that I received an email form Madeit telling me that someone had bought an item from my shop. When I checked what the item was I realised that I had actually sold it at my last market, so I had a choice of refunding the money or making another. I figured I would be able to make these in a few hours so that seemed to be the obvious choice.

Hanging Towels

I've managed to make another couple of hanging towels this week. I still have a lot more to go so I expect to be making these for a while.

Trauma Teddy #9

I'm still going strong with these. I have about 6 weeks before I will have to stop as we will be flying out of the country in just under 7 weeks.

Baby's Jacket, Pants and Hat Ensemble

Any seams that needed to be sewn up have been and all the ends have been sewn in so this one is ready for sale (as soon as we get back from our holidays).

Well, that's it from me, check out the links in the sidebar if you want to see what others have been making.

Richard.

Thursday Thoughts - Having Fun

Before I joined The Salvation Army my fun revolved around drinking alcohol, playing games on the computer (some of which were R rated) and doing some quite silly things. I still play games on the computer but none are R rated these days and I find I can more fun sober than I ever did drunk.

There seems to be a general mindset in our society, especially among the younger generation, that if your not getting drunk your not having fun. I can tell you that it's just not true.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 22.05.2013

There has been quite a bit happening around Rose Manor this week and not all of it to do with crochet, but more of that on Saturday. Today's post is all about WIPs so here they are.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

My progress on this is getting a little less visible, but progress has been made.

Baby's Jacket, Pants and Hat Ensemble

All the crocheting has been done, now all that's left is sewing on buttons, sewing in ends and trimming the elastic. If I get stuck into this tomorrow it will be ready for Friday.

Baby's Boottee

While I was collecting the lady I was with mentioned boottees so I decided to show her my favourite boottee. It took about an hour to make this one so now I need to make another so that I have a pair.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

Still working on the first side of the border. It's slow going on these long rows.

Koala - designed by Planetjune

The body and the arms are complete, now for the legs and the assembly.

Amigurumi Monkey

All the parts of this are finished. Just need to stuff those bits that need stuffing and sew him all together. I could possibly get this one finished for Friday as well, if I get myself motivated.

Tunisian Spiral Blanket

One good thing about working with a self striping yarn, it's very easy to see progress.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

I guess the "visible progress" also works well with filet as new elements get revealed every few rows.

Woollen Baby Blanket - Square 51 from "99 Granny Squares to Crochet"

I've reached the half way mark. Just 18 more square to go.

One good thing about sitting at a table collecting money for charity, there is plenty of time to crochet.

To see what everyone else has been working on this week, check out the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Monday Mayhem - Marriage #2

I met my second wife at a combined church meeting although, at the time, there was no real spark between us and we didn't know at that time that we would be together.

We were also Ten Pin Bowlers and saw each other on a Monday night at the bowl. Sue was in the early league and I in the late so I was arriving at about the same time as she was getting ready to leave. I was also bowling in a Wednesday night league. Sue stopped bowling for a while so she could study and when she returned to bowling the league that she had been bowling in had folded so she joined a league on Thursday night. About that time the Wednesday night league that I was bowling in also folded and I was invited to join the Thursday night singles league, so once again I was arriving at about the same time as Sue was preparing to leave.

In the meantime, we still saw each other occasionally at combined church meetings. Unfortunately, my congregation at The Salvation army stopped getting notifications of the combined services and I stopped going to them, however, one Thursday night, sue decided to invite me to one and from then on our relationship blossomed. About a year later we were married.

I can't say that our marriage has been all smooth sailing, but then, who can? There were problems with custody of Sue's son, there were issues with his school, there were financial and health problems. When Sue's son left school he went to live with his father full time and we hardly ever hear from him, so it was just the two of us. There were things that Sue did that kinda irked me and there were things that I did that kinda irked Sue, but it was Sue that decided she couldn't live with and so she ran away. It was about 7 years into our marriage so I told everyone that she had the seven year itch. A few months later she had a change of heart (I think she decided her need for me outweighed anything about me that she didn't like) and came back to me and we've been together ever since and this year we celebrated 13 years of marriage.

I think that's enough for this week. I'm starting to run out of things so I'm not sure what next weeks post is going to be about.

Richard.

Sunday Sermon - Boundaries

Today is Pentecost Sunday and our scriptures for today reflecting that. The first scripture reading came from Acts 2 1:21 which says:-


The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “‘In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[c]

The Second came from Genesis 11:1-9

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Boundaries can define properties. They define what is the owners responsibility and what is the responsibility of others.

We also have personal boundaries, things that we are responsible for personally.

As children we learn boundaries and responsibility. We all need to take responsibility for our own actions. If we take responsibility for the actions of others we stop them from taking that responsibility themselves and can slow their growth.

When people had one language they worked together and helped each other. They didn't want to spread out and separate. God wanted them to spread out over all the earth.

People's agendas are usually to do what is best for themselves, they are self centred, not God centred. God will always confuse human plans when they don't match His own. Those that are self centred are in rebellion against God.

Is your agenda contrary to God's? Only when we are God centred will our agendas agree with God's.

May God bless you richly this week.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans 18.05.2013

After the launch of the Red Shield Appeal for this year last Saturday, this week has seen us get a little busier than normal.

We started the week collecting at Bunnings (a local hardware store). Bunnings have kindly allowed The Salvation Army to have collectors there every day for the whole two weeks of the appeal and Sue volunteered to look after the roster. Of course we had to be the first with our names on it.

On Tuesday we were guest speakers at Home League. For those that don't know, Home League is part of The Salvation Army's Women's Ministries. Basically, a group of women, with nothing better to do, get together to have a cuppa, sing a few hymns and listen to someone interesting or go on outings to places of interest. This week they wanted to hear about Sue and my interest in knitting and crochet, see some of the things we have made and hear about our interest in craft markets. By all accounts, they enjoyed hearing what we had to say and we even sold a couple of items.

Tuesday afternoon I had an appointment with the Dental Prosthesist to check the fitting on my new dentures. The next time I go in, which will be in a couple of weeks, I should have my new dentures and have all the gaps in my mouth filled in. It has been a while since I could say that I had a full set of teeth so it will be a little different for a while.

On Wednesday we had a little mix up with the roster of collectors. The guy that was rostered on got there earlier than expected and got most upset when things weren't there for him to start. It seems that Sue got the time and arrangements mixed up. She thought he was supposed to start at 11.00am and work with me and he thought he was supposed to start at 10.00am and brought his own partner for the duration. The CO planned on taking over as soon as he finished with a meeting that he was part of and that meant that someone was needed to fill in for about half an hour, something that I was quite happy to do.

On Thursday we went to the doctors to find out the results of our blood tests. Sue's was OK this time although she had gained a little weight. For me, apart from the fact that I had also gained weight, the story was a little different. It seems that, as well as my cholesterol being a bad mix, I also have liver and prostate problems, which lead to further test testing. For the liver, it means going for an ultrasound to check to see if I have gallstones. I don't think I need to tell you what further testing was for the prostate. Needless to say, it wasn't comfortable.

Friday, apart from the usual crochet class (which none of the students attended this week), the Mirrumbeena Melody Makers (a little singing group that I'm part of) had a concert at Borella House (a old peoples home nearby). The residents not only got to hear us sing, they also got to hear me play a couple of tunes on my trombone. Everyone seemed to enjoy the concert and even said a few good things about my playing, so all was good.

Most of today was spent back at Bunnings, but this time we weren't just rattling collection boxes. We were running the barbecue. Bunnings Barbecues are a great little fundraiser. Bunnings provide the barbecue, gas, gazebo, tables and customers and we provide the rest (although the customers aren't guaranteed). Today was a great day. During the time that I was there, we had trouble keeping up with demand. People were buying sausage sandwiches quicker than I could cook the sausages.

So, that has been my action packed week this week. Next week doesn't look much different, except we won't be doing another concert, we both have appointments with the chiro, and we have Craft'n'Cuppa to look after as well as everything else.

I hope you all had a good week.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 17.05.2013

As busy as I have been this week, I only have the same things as FOs as I've been showing you for the past few weeks as I haven't finished anything extra this week. Here are the latest Trauma Teddy and Hanging Towels.

Three Hanging Tea Towels

I managed to finish an extra one this week.

Trauma Teddy #7

I don't think I will get another Teddy out of what's left of this yarn so next week's Teddy should at least be a different colour.

That's all I've finished this week. Check out the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been making.

Richard.

Thursday Thoughts - What's the Hurry?

This one was kinda brought on by something that happened this afternoon. I was driving to a doctor's appointment when I was overtaken by a couple of cars, driven by people who have no regard for speed limits, only to catch up to them at the next set of traffic lights.

It doesn't seem to matter where I go, whether it be a large city or a small town, there always seems to be people that are in some much of a hurry to get no where fast. It used to amuse me to watch people tear off from one set of traffic lights only to be stopped at the next.

This hurrying isn't restricted to roads. We live in a society that wants everything now, they are not prepared to wait. Because of this, manufacturers don't have time to make things right, they're in too much of a hurry to "get it out the door".

All these things have a flow on effect and can degrade our quality of life. We need to take time to get things right. We don't need everything straight away (we may want it but we don't need it).

Slow down, take time to smell the roses, relax and life can be co much more pleasant.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 15.05.2013

It has been another busy week here at Rose Manor with progress on all my WIPs and and new project started. Here is what my WIPs looked like at about 1:30 this afternoon.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

I'm making pretty good progress with this, although I'm using a different yarn for this and I the balls don't appear to have the same length of yarn that my usual yarn does and I'm not sure if I'm going to have enough to do full length sleeve. I guess that's what I get for buying the cheapest stuff I can find. But it is a very pretty yarn.

Baby's Jacket, Pants and Hat ensemble

Finished the crocheting on the pants and started on the hat. I should be able to have the whole ensemble finished completely for next week's FO Friday post.

Koala - by Planetjune

The latest addition to the WIPs list. My progress on this one indicates that this could also be finished for next week, but don't hold your breath.

Woollen Baby Blanket - Square 51 from "99 Granny Squares to Crochet"

Another square done but I didn't have my needles for sewing in the ends so I will have to do that later.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

I'm over the half way mark on this one. Once I get this one finished and ready for the show I will get back to the one that got stained, and then maybe make another from the version 1 pattern.

Tunisian Spiral Blanket

I've made a little more progress on this one. There's something about this yarn that I just don't like and I will be kinda glad when I get this finished.

Amigurumi Mankey

The body is now finished. Time to give this little guy some arms and legs.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

You can actually see the border on this now. That must mean that I'm making progress.

That's all 8 WIPs. I'll be back on Friday with my FOs. In the meantime, check out the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else is making.

Richard.

Monday Mayhem - Marriage #1

As the title might tell you, I've been married more than once.

My first wife (Amanda) was my best friend's wife's half sister, so you can probably figure out how we met. We didn't hit it off at first, in fact she wasn't at all interested in me and I only really had a passing interest in her.

A couple of years down the track and we got a bit more friendly toward each other and even shared a bed one night, but only to sleep in, nothing else happened that night.

Another year on and I had moved from Canberra down to Melbourne. I made quite frequent trip back to Canberra and on one of those we got together again, and this time we went quite a bit further. She and her 3 year old son ended up travelling down to Melbourne with me and we spent 2 weeks together and it was very pleasant. After the 2 weeks were up we decided to part company and I drove her and her son back to Canberra.

A few years later and I was less than satisfied with my job. I had considered quitting and joining with my housemate in a business venture. In the meantime Amanda had recently broke up with her latest boyfriend and wanted to get out of Canberra for a little while so she once again came down to spend a couple of weeks with me. During that 2 weeks everything seemed to change. I had another reason to quit my job, this time so I could go back to Canberra, and I did just that.

At the start of our relationship Amanda did things to me that were most pleasant and I really enjoyed our time together, but, over the a period of about 9 months (during which we were married) she seemed to change. She did less for me but demanded the same attention from me that I had given her from the start and the relationship started to feel to much like hard work. The tension increased between us until it reached breaking point and she kicked me out. Eventually she hooked up with someone else and filed for divorce.

I only saw her a couple of times after that. Officially the marriage lasted for 2 years. So much for marriage number one.

Richard.

Sunday Sermon - Hagar

We had a different style of sermon this morning and I didn't take any notes. Our CO got dressed to make herself look as much like an Egyptian maidservant as she could and told the story of Hagar from Hagar's point of view. Some of Hagar's story can be found in this morning's scripture reading which comes from Genesis 16.


Hagar and Ishmael

16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.

9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”

11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:

“You are now pregnant
    and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
    for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
    his hand will be against everyone
    and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
    toward all his brothers.”
13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

May God bless you richly this week.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 11.05.2013

Well, it's been two weeks now since I did this one. I didn't get to do this last week because we wnt to Wagga Wagga for a concert and got home quite late. Wagga Wagga is about 1 1/2 hours north of here so it wasn't that much of a drive but we didn't leave there until about 9:00pm and I didn't feel much like posting by the time we got home.

So, what did we do this week? On Monday we went to the pathologist to give samples of our blood and other fluids for testing. Sue has to do this quite regularly as she is diabetic and I do it once a year as part of my yearly physical. We'll be seeing the doc shortly to see if there is anything we need to be worried about. With me it's usually all fine except my cholesterol, which isn't high but the mix is wrong (it seems I need an oil change).

Last night we went out to dinner with a group from church. This is a regular occurrence but last night was a little bit special as one of our friends had a birthday so we got cake as well. We went to a chinese restaurant that we hadn't been to before but I'm not sure we'll go back unless it's another organised function. It didn't compare well with the one we go to quite regularly.

Today we had the launch of the Red Shield Appeal so we headed of to town with our instruments and joined in with the rest of the band. Unfortunately, Sue forgot what time we were supposed to get there and even though I tried to tell her we were supposed to get there at 9:45 she insisted that she was told 10:15. I gave in to her because she generally has a better memory than me. As a result we were half hour late. Ah well, better late than never.

The rest of the week was pretty standard. I walked around the park a couple of times, we had our regular Craft'n'Cuppa Wednesday afternoon and I was ready to teach crochet on Friday morning (pity there was no one there that wanted to learn).

Now that I've finished a couple of items and had a couple of sales it's time to review my to-do list. Here is what it currently looks like:-

Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

Bottle Cosies in more team colours

2 String bags

Teapot Cosies

bag holders

Koala

Small Bunny

Dragon

Robot

Wine Glass Socks

Current Work In Progress:

Crochenit Cot Blanket (trying a method for doing rows that are longer than the hook)
Toddlers Jacket
AustralianaV2

Baby Blanket using Square 51 from “99 Granny Squares”

Trauma Teddies

Tunisian Spiral Blanket

Hanging Towels

Monkey

Baby's Jacket, Pants and Hat Ensemble

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 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 (currently trying to design the ACT one).

Tunisian Crochet Intarsia Table Runner

Dinosaurs (bought the pattern from PlanetJune)

I think it's time to promote the koala to a wip.

Well, that's it for this week. I hope you all had a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs 10.05.2013

I have a few FOs for you this week, one of which some people have been looking forward to seeing (if comments on my Wednesday WIPs posts are to be believed). Here they are.

Tommy Turtle

This is the one that people have wanted to see finished. Well, here it is. Eventually he will be available in my shop but not until after we've been on holidays.

Hanging Towels

I still have plenty of towels to make up and I'm sure it will help to have spares when I next get to the markets.

Trauma Teddy #7

I'm kinda losing count of these and will have to check what I have taken pictures of to actually work it out. I have 5 shown on Ravelry but I'm sure there's another one that needs to be added.

Cup Cosy

I finished the cup cosy and put it to use. As you can see the cup is a little worse for wear after it fell out of my bag last week.

That's all of my FOs for this week. I'll have to review my to-do list now to see what item I'm going to make next now that the turtle is finished.

To see more FOs just check the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Thursday Thoughts - Love of Money

The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

I think that the love of money and possessions is the biggest problem in the world today. We live in a world where politicians vote to give themselves 11+% salary increases while trying to prevent others from getting 2.5% increases. We live in a world where 1% of the population is in control of 99% of the wealth (and quite a large portion of the 99% are trying their hardest to be part of the 1%).

People complain about "Global Warming" and petrol prices but if we weren't so in love with money and possessions these other things would be a problem at all.

It's just what I think.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs 08.05.2013

Well, it's been another busy week here at Rose Manor, especially in the crochet department. I've actually worked on 11 projects this week. Here is the status of my WIPs as at 3:30pmAEST.

Woollen Baby Blanket - Square 51 from "99 Granny Square to Crochet"

One more square added.

AustralianaV2 Table Runner - designed by me

I'm making quite good progress on this although it is yet to be seen if it will be ready for the show this year.

Tunisian Spiral Blanket

Pat wanted to know what yarn I'm using for this but I don't actually know as I have lost the label. All I can tell you is that it is a boucle yarn and it isn't very pleasant to work with. It feels great but the stitch definition makes it a little difficult to figure out where to put the hook sometimes.

Amigurumi Monkey

This one is starting to take shape. I'm almost done with the body and will start of the arms shortly.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

I've finally finished the main body of the blanket and started on the border. I've picked up the stitches along the side and am just going to continue with the crochenit using two strands of white.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

A few more rows have been added to this one so it is growing.

Baby's Jacket, Pants and Hat Ensemble

One leg of the pants has been done and the second started. If I make as much progress next week this one will be just about finished.

Trauma Teddy #6

I don't usually show any progress shots of these as they're usually done before I post but it was in my bag when I was taking photos so I thought I would give you  a look at the makings. It is now finished so you will see it again on Friday all made up.

Coffee Cup Cosy

The eleventh project for this week is a cosy for the cup I use on Friday mornings. It fell out of my bag last Friday and the handle broke off and I needed some way of holding it when it is fill with hot tea. This was also finished this afternoon so will appear again on Friday along with my other FOs.

The astute among you will note that there are only nine projects shown here. That's because the other two were completed before this afternoon's photography session so you will have to wait until Friday to see them.

If you want to see what other people have been making just check out the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Monday Mayhem - Further Education Part 2

The comment I got on last Monday's post suggested I should write a book but I'm not sure anybody would actually pay to read my story. I'm a little surprised that there are people that want to read it for free. Anyway, it's time for this week's episode.

A little over three years ago I was retrenched from the job that I had been in for almost 17 years. I was a computer programmer. Nothing fancy, just command line programs to convert data from one format into another, but it paid the bills. Computer programming was something that I used to enjoy before I did it as a job but working at it 8 hours or more a day, 5 days a week kinda took the fun out of it.

One problem with being retrenched was that, while I had almost 17 years experience, my job prospects weren't particularly good due to not having the educational qualifications. Last year I decided to do something about it and go back to college. Rather than try and get qualifications in something that I had been doing for a while I figured I should try something a little different and learn something new, so I chose to study Web Design. I figured there was a lot of that going on these days and it might help my chances of getting work if I new how to do it.

I found some parts of the course more difficult than others. Mainly the report writing. I had no problems using the software, making web pages, even Flash animations weren't a big problem but writing reports is just not something I do. In all the time I was working in IT I never had to write a report, that was done by other people. I did, on occasions, have some input into the reports being written but I was never expected to actually write one.

Part way through the second semester I encountered another problem. We had to move house. Moving house meant that I had to take time out from study to pack, move and unpack. We also had to wait for the internet to be connected at the new abode and since quite a bit of my work was online that didn't help any. As a result of all this I fell behind and found it difficult to catch up. Close to the end of the year I decided that I wasn't going to complete the course and I would pick it up again this year. I did manage to hand some work in and got a few ACs, which means that when I do resume the course I will have a bit of a head start.

I was going to go back next semester but then we decided that we were going to go on an overseas holiday this year. Originally we were only going for about 6-8 weeks so I thought I would still be able to get back to college as soon as we returned but now it has blown out to 12 weeks so I'm going to delay it until next year.

So, after one year at college I ended up with a Certificate III and half of a Certificate IV, and if I want to go on to do the diploma I have to finish the Cert IV. It would have been nice to be doing that this year but I'm not sure they offered it this year due to a lack of number last year. It would have also been nice to get to do it next year when they may actually offer it but I will have to wait a little longer.

In the meantime, I could be practicing what I've learnt so far and possibly even design my own website (and one for my wife) but I'm having trouble getting motivated and I would much rather play games or crochet. We'll just have to see if I can get motivated when we get back from holidays.

Richard.

Friday FOs 03.05.2013

With all the business that happens here at Rose Manor I was still able to get a couple of things finished. Nothing exciting, mind you, just a couple of items associated with my side projects. Here they are.

Hanging Towel

Just one of these again this week. I would like to get more done but one a week is OK for now.

Trauma Teddy #6

Another Trauma Teddy ready for service. I think his ears are a little odd but I'm not going to unstitch either of them to even them up.

That's it for me. Check out the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been making.

Richard.

Thursday Thoughts - When did science change?

When I first started these Thursday Thoughts I promised controversy. Well, here it is. I hope everyone that reads this does so with an open mind.

A few weeks ago I read this article and it resonated with me as it said something that I've been trying to say for ages. One key thing it the article said is "SCIENCE requires conclusions to be drawn from hard (provable, see it to believe it) data. Now theories can be treated as if they are Laws. Then the task is to disprove the theory. No longer is hard data required—only consensus of the majority, the most influential, most political or wealthiest."

Why science has changed to a "consensus of the majority" model is beyond me. Some time ago it was the consensus of the majority that the world was flat, even though the bible said otherwise (Isaiah 40:22), and that was proven wrong. It used to be the consensus of the majority that the earth was at the centre of the universe and everything revolved around it and that was also proven wrong.

If science today wants me to believe that their theories are to be believed then all they have to do is show me the proof!

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 01.05.2013

Welcome to another WIP Wednesday. As usual, I've been quite busy here at Rose Manor, having worked on 8 major projects and my 2 side projects (which you will get to see on Friday). Here are all 8 of my current WIPs.

Crochenit Cot Blanket

Edging a little closer to completion. Only a bit more than a row to go before I start work on the border.

Baby's Jacket, Pants and Hat ensemble

I made a little bit of progress here but still plenty to be done.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

I'm past the arms now and working on the body. No more increases,

Baby Blanket - Square 51 from "99 Granny Squares to Crochet"

 Another square completed and all the ends sewn in.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

I think the progress on this one is quite visible. It's nice to have a large project that you can see growing. It's difficult to see the progress on some of the things I make but on this one it's very easy to see it.

Tommy Turtle

The shell is now complete. All that's left to do is to stitch the shell in place and embroider the facial features. I'm confidant that this will be an FO next week.

Tunisian Spiral Blanket

I think this is another one where progress is relatively easy to see. I don't know how big this will be when I run out of yarn but I can always go around in black if I don't think it's big enough.

Old School Amigurumi Monkey

My latest project. It doesn't look much like a monkey yet but I'm sure it will take shape as I get more done.

That's everything that I've been working on that is not yet complete. I will show off the completed items on Friday.

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

Richard.