Wednesday WIPs - 30.10.2013

With all my show entries finished and now ready for the judges it's time to dig out all the old WIPs and see what progress I can make on them. These are the projects I worked on this week.

Crocheknit Cot Blanket

I have added another row to this one although it's quite hard to tell.

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

Still working on the first sleeve but I'm not sure if I'll have enough yarn. I may have to undo the edge and re-do it in a highlight colour but I'll have to wait and see how far I get on the second sleeve.

Large Santa Stocking

I'm getting close to turning the heel.

Christmas Tree.

I rechecked the instructions for this and found that I wasn't doing it correctly, bu it will still come out looking like a Christmas Tree so I'm not too worried. Maybe I will follow the pattern a little closer for the next one.

Tunisian Spiral Blanket

I think I have enough yarn to make it to the next corner and then I will have to think about what I'm going to do next. I think one round of black will bring it close to knee rug size.

Baby's Jacket, Pants and hat set

Started on the second side of the front. of the jacket.

Design Your Own Dragon Adventure - by Planetjune

All the attachable parts are now done. Next I start on the head.

There were a couple of projects that didn't get worked on this week, the baby blanket that I've taken over from Sue and the soiled AustralianaV2 that has been in hibernation while I made a clean one for the show. I might work on them this week if I find the time after working on everything else. For those that want to know, that's a total of 9 projects in progress. I will also be starting to make Trauma Teddies again shortly making it ten projects all up.

If you want to see what others have been making just checkout the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Monday Mayhem - Unpacking

We moved into this place 3 weeks ago and we have been quite slack with our unpacking. We still have a stack of boxes in the garage with no chance of getting the car in there for quite some time to come.

This is what the garage looks like as of this afternoon.

The tubs on the left are for the markets that I attend so they will pretty much stay where they are until the next market. There are also some tables and other stuff just behind them so all my market stuff is quite accessible. The rest needs to be sorted into things that are staying in the garage, things that are going to move into the house and things that are going to be thrown away.

I have manage to sort some of it and it is stored in the back corner of the garage.

We have our first inspection on Friday so we're trying to concentrate on getting inside of the house tidy and we will probably worry about the garage later.

Next week I might show you the yarn storage.

Richard.

Sunday Sermon - 27.10.2013

The readings for this morning's sermon came from 2 Timmothy 4:6-8 & 16-18

6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

16At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

And Luke 18:9-14

9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector is about two people praying, something that we have been told to do continually. One of these people was 'self focused' instead of 'God focused'.

We nee to be open to listen as well as speak. Each of us wants to be seen as special but we are all sinners and need forgiveness. No one is justified before God no matter how much better than others they think they are. We can't achieve holiness by following a set of rules.

If we think we will be acceptable to Go by our actions we will be disappointed when Jesus returns.

In spite of our sins we ARE special to God, so special that Christ died for us.

Do you feel special today?

May God bless you richly this week.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 26.10.2013

I've been a bit slack this week, preferring to play games instead of unpacking. I've also fallen behind on reading my email so I have quite a few to catch up with. I have managed to tidy the rear of the garage up a bit and started stacking those items that are going to be store a bit more efficiently in an effort to make more room. I might take a couple of photos on Monday and show it as part of "Monday Mayhem".

I have managed a bit of crochet time this week, even managed to dig out some of the projects that I had started before we went on holidays. Those that follow my Friday posts will note that I've also managed to finish a couple of items this week. I managed to finish another today but you will have to wait until next Friday to see it.

Friday crochet classes started back last week and I actually had someone yesterday that wanted to learn how to crochet knitted squares together, so I showed him and got him started but when he tried to take over he transferred the hook to his left hand. Since I started right handed that was never going to work so I restarted it left handed. It was my first (and probably my last) effort of crocheting left handed but I did enough to get him going.

We didn't have any band practice this week so we have no idea what tunes we're supposed to be playing tomorrow morning. There is always a danger that we may be asked to play something that we can't but we won't really know until we try.

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

Richard.

Friday FOs 25.10.2013

All the projects that I'm entering into the local show are now finished. All that's left to do is to tag them all and make sure the woollen items have a yarn label attached. I just wish they would hurry up and send the tags. Here are my FOs for this week.

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

I even did a decorative picot edging, just because I can.

AustralianaV2 - designed be me

I got asked for the pattern to this last week but it's pretty basic so it will just include the instructions for doing filet crochet and the chart. How much would you pay for that?

I'm sure there are plenty of other finished items to check out so take a look at the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs 23.10.2013

I don't have a lot to show this week as I have been concentrating on finishing items for the show. The good news is that they are now finished and I can now go back to my regular schedule of working on half a dozen different things during the week. Here are the things I've worked on this week that aren't finished.

Large Santa Stocking

I frogged this back to the first 8 rows and started again in stripes because I just don't have enough of the variegated yarn to do the whole stocking the same as the previous 2.

Christmas Tree

I just had to start another project. I mean, 8 projects just isn't enough.

That's my WIPs for this week. Remember to check back on Friday to see the finished objects, and check out the links in the sidebar to see what others have been making.

Richard.

Sunday Sermon - Prayer

Today's readings came from Psalm 119:97-104

97Oh, how I love your law!
I meditate on it all day long.
98Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies.
99I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
100I have more understanding than the elders,
for I obey your precepts.
101I have kept my feet from every evil path
so that I might obey your word.
102I have not departed from your laws,
for you yourself have taught me.
103How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.

and Luke 18:1-8

1Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”

6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

We pray in the hope that our prayers will be answered. How many pray for peace yet war rages on? How many pray for an end to poverty but the poor are still with us? Can these people still hope that their prayers will be answered?

The widow had nothing so wasn't able to pay court costs, so she relied on persistence.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

Does this mean that we should harass God until we get what we want? This parable tells us that this is not what God is like, but tells us that it is important to pray and that our God is generous towards those that pray.

Jesus says that God will hear our prayers and answer them quickly. Some would say that His idea of quickly is a little distorted as their prayers are yet to be answered, but maybe God hasn't answered because he has something better in mind. Time is a relative thing and what may seem like a long time maybe relatively short it the grand scheme of things.

When we want something we should remember the acronym "PUSH" - Pray Until Something Happens.

Prayer is about developing a relationship with God. Once you have that relationship then God will answer your prayers, either giving you what you ask for or giving you something better.

Keep praying and may God bless you richly this week.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 19.10.2013

We are slowly getting things set up in our new abode and this week we got Austar (satelite TV) connected so we're now able to record and watch all our favourite shows from local and overseas sources. This probably means that the unpacking will slow down a bit as Sue will spend her mornings studying and her afternoons in bed watching TV. I may get a box or two unpacked each day but I'm not going to hurry.

This week was also the week for nominating entries in the local show and I have entered 8 items including a couple that are yet to be finished, and I convinced Sue to put something in as well. I now have about a week and a half to get things finished before they have to be taken in for judging. I'm making good progress on them and should have them finished sometime next week.

Nothing else is happening around here at the moment, just the dull, normal, routine of life.

Hope you all had a good week.

Richard.

Friday FOs

I didn't think I was going to have anything finished this week, but when I found my projects I found one that was so close to being finished I figured I had better just do it.

Here is my FO for this week.

Baby's Bootees

I also decided to add these to my show entries for this year so it was very important to finish them.

I now have about a week and a half to finish a couple of other projects that I entered so I guess I had better get cracking.

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

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 16.10.2013

I haven't been able to do a lot of work on my WIPs this week due to being busy with the unpacking and moving things around. I thought about showing you what our garage looks like at the moment and telling you about all the things that are still in there somewhere, but I'll leave that for another day.

I have worked on a few things this week and found all my projects so I have plenty to work on when I do finally get the time. So, here are this weeks WIP photos.

AustralianaV2 - designed by me

A few more rows have been added to this.

Large Santa Stocking

I undid this one and started again with stripes. Hopefully I will have enough of the variegated yarn to finish it now.

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

No squares added to this this week, but I have sewn in most of the ends.

Box Stitch Baby Blanket

This isn't strictly one of my WIPs. I found it while unpacking. It was one of Sue's projects but she has been having problems crocheting for quite a while so I've adopted this one. I found some other projects that Sue abandoned but I have decided that I don't want to continue with those so I have frogged them.

There are still a few things I need to find in the garage and I'm sure they will be uncovered eventually, but I will be concentrating on those things that I want to put in the show (which is on at the end of this month) so don't expect too much variety in my WIPs for the next couple of weeks.

Check out the links in the sidebar if you want to see what others are making.

Richard.

Sunday Sermon - 13.10.2013

First, our 2 readings for today.

2 Timothy 2:8-15
8Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
13if we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
14Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 

Luke 17:11-19
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

When someone says "Good morning" to you there are a number of ways you can respond. How you respond has a lot to do with how you are feeling and your state of mind.

The border between two regions can be a very interesting place. It can be a no-mans land, a place of violence or a place where peoples from both regions intermingle. The group of lepers in the second reading was a mixed group. They came seeking Jesus and Jesus came to be found. He gave them a command and their obedience secured their cure.

How much will it take for us to give up our own efforts and fully rely on Jesus for a cure to what ails or troubles us?

Life is full of a procession of events, each one as a consequence of our own actions. How we respond to events will effect what happens next.

Of the 10 lepers, 9 returned to their old lives of slavery to the law, 1 returned to Jesus and was completely healed.

We all have a concept of 'us' and 'them'. While the 10 were all lepers they were all 'us' but after there were cured the Samaritan became one of 'them'. Jesus traveled the border where 'us' and 'them' were close together. Who to you is 'us' and 'them'? How do you respond to each group differently" Jesus treated both groups the same, shouldn't we do likewise?

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 12.10.2013

Well, we moved into our new home a week ago and the place still looks like a bomb hit it. The garage is still full of boxes yet to be unpacked and sorted and furniture is still not where it's supposed to be. We have a lot of work to do.

This week has been taken up with unpacking and sorting so there hasn't been a lot of time for crafting. Unfortunately, neither Sue nor I have the energy to spend much time doing it, especially since Sue seems to have contracted some lurgy shortly after getting back to Australia from our recent holiday, so progress is slow, but it is happening.

There was a bit of work that needed to be done around the place when we moved in and most of that has now been done. A handyman came and mowed the lawns, weeded the gardens and got rid of some rubbish. We've had an electrician in to add a power point where the second TV sits and he also rerouted our aerial cables so that they were a little less conspicuous. The previous tenant came and collected the car that she left here. We also had a plumber come in to check the why the hot water system was leaking and he fixed it and the cistern.

While we may never get everything unpacked (we never have in the past so why should this move be any different) we do hope to one day be able to park the car in the garage which is something we haven't been able to for some time.

I hope your week has been good.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 11-10-2013

I wasn't real sure that I would have anything for today as we are quite busy with unpacking and sorting things out. It's hard work trying to find homes for everything. I did get a bit of time while watching TV and I made the effort to finish one of the Santa Stockings I was working on. Here it is.

Small Santa Stocking

That's it for this week. Checkout the links in the sidebar to see more FOs.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs

In an attempt to get things back to normal as quickly as possible I have decided to show you the projects I worked on while I was on holidays as my Wednesday WIPs post since leaving the country back in July.

I took a couple of projects that I wanted to try and get finished for the Albury Show, which is on at the end of this month, as well as some yarn for making Christmas stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't get as much crochet time as I had hoped for so one of the projects I took didn't see any progress at all.

The first project I worked on was a Small Santa Stocking which I started just after leaving Sydney. One of the crew saw me and suggested that I would have it finished by the time we got to London. I think she underestimated how fast I crochet. Here is how it looked by the time we got to Hong Kong.

Small Santa Stocking ready to sew up

While in the UK we needed to take time out to do washing so I took that as an opportunity to start the next size up.

A medium Santa Stocking ready to sew up

And, of course, the next size, but I didn't get very far with this one.

Part of a large Santa Stocking

Unfortunately, I've almost run out of this variegated yarn so will have to figure out something else for the foot part of the stocking.

We had a few afternoons where we had done all the sightseeing we had wanted to do that day so we spent a couple of hours relaxing in front of the TV (they have some interesting game shows on in the afternoon over there), so I tried to find the energy to work on one of my show projects. I did manage five squares on my wool blanket.

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

Just three more squares then I can add some sort of edging and sew in the ends. All I need to do is take a break from packing every now and then and I might just get this one finished.

As usual, check out the links in the sidebar to see what everyone else has been doing.

Richard.

Monday Mayhem - Holiday Stash Enhancements

Yes, it's time to show you what yarn we bought while on holidays, so here it is.

Irish yarn made in Turkey

While in Ireland I did get to have a look and feel the wool produced over there and it was very course. It seems that Irish sheep are bred for their meat and not their fleece, so wool produced from their fleece is very course and only suitable for making outer garments, like jumpers (sweaters to Americans), and I had no intention of buying enough yarn to make a jumper. I ended up buying an Irish brand yarn just so that I could say that I bought some Irish yarn.

Scottish Wool

While visiting the National Wool Museum in Wales I found some samples of Scottish wool and since I didn't buy any while in Scotland I figured I would buy it here. It seems that the person that spins this yarn gets the fleece carded at the museum.

Welsh Wool

Of course I had to buy a sample of the yarn made in the museum just so that I could say that I had a sample of the local product so I bought this cone of undyed wool.

English yarn made in Turkey

I think the English have the same problem as the Irish, although I'm sure there are some sheep in England that can produce a good quality fleece. Maybe it's just cheaper to get the yarn made in Turkey. These ball of King Cole Twist cost me all of £1.00 per ball.

Crochet Cotton

I wasn't planning on buying anymore yarn but found this while wandering around a market attached to a shopping centre in Luton. The shop had a number of cones of various yarns at various prices but I just couldn't resist the price on this one. Just £5.00 for all this cotton.

Sue's only yarn purchase

Sue wasn't really into going into all the yarn shops as she was more interested in the sightseeing, but she couldn't resist buying this big ball in a shade of her favourite colour.

That's it for the yarn purchases. When I get all our yarn unpacked and stashed I might show you what it looks like but I'm not sure how long that will take.

I will try to show you the projects that I worked on while on holiday but I won't promise anything. Check back on Wednesday to see if I found the time to take the photos.

Richard.

Holiday Diary - Days 82, 83 and 84

Day 82

We got moving a little later than we should, managed to find a laundromat and get our washing done and then had a bit of trouble find a Post Office and a Bank. We eventually found both and got a tube pack for Sue's poster of Lee Mead and the cash for the car rental company.

We got back to the motel to find that we couldn't get into the room because they had canceled the key and we only had an hour to get everything packed ready for the flight home. Packing was very rushed and some things got left behind. Some because they were no longer useful, one because it wouldn't fit and one because I just plain forgot it, but we made it out OK, handing back the keys right on 3 o'clock.

We had a little trouble finding the right road to be on to get to the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Check-in desk but we got there.

Only one photo to show from this day.

Here we all are, ready for take-off

Day 83

Most of this day was spent in the air over Russia and China but we did land in Hong Kong before the day was over.

Somewhere over China

There's a very big river down there

And a rather large city

Might have been a couple of cities

This is one busy airport

Day 84

Flying into Sydney is quite spectacular and I got some surprisingly good photos.

The moon just before sunrise

It was only just a sliver but it was so bright it kinda over powered the shot with everything else being so dim.

The sun peeking over the horizon

The Hawksbury River

Sydney Harbour

In some ways it has been a tiring and somewhat stressful 12 weeks and I'm glad to be back in Australia, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Tonight we're settled into our motel room in Bomaderry after visiting with Sue's aunt and cousins, and giving them a few gifts. Tomorrow we drive back to Albury so we need to get some quality sleep tonight.

Now that the holiday is officially over life will return to normal (whatever that is) and this blog will return to its normal schedule (don't know how long it will take). I plan on trying to get a Monday Mayhem post done giving details of the holiday stash enhancements but I won't make any promises.

Richard.