Saturday Shenanigans - 31.05.2014

This week has been about getting back to normal (whatever that may be) after the business of Red Shield. I'm not real sure what normal is at the moment or what it should be since my recent diagnosis. It seems to involve checking my blood sugar twice a day and losing weight, at least that's what the doctor would like to see.

Since I have to change my lifestyle a bit in an effort to control my diabetes I have started an exercise program. It's one I found on the internet. It involves 9 exercises, each one done for 50 seconds, so it's only a short program. The first day I did it I was puffing like an old steam train after the first 50 seconds. I intend to keep it up for a while, hopefully extending it with other exercises as my fitness improves. I will see how it goes.

I saw the diabetics educator this week and she wants to see all my BL figures also. So far they are up and down like a yo-yo, but that is to be expected apparently. She gave me some reading material which explains where my readings should be and a few other facts about diabetes and I am slowly reading through them. I get to see the dietitian next time I go so we will see what she says.

Other than the stuff I have to do because of my diabetes and my crochet and knitting there isn't much else happening around here so that's about it for this week.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 30.05.2014

Now that the business of Red Shield is over (at least for me) it's time to get life back to normal (whatever that may be). I think normal finishes for me, at the moment, are hanging towels and trauma teddies, so, here are this week's hanging towels ...

Two Blue Hanging Towels

... and this week's trauma teddy.

Trauma Teddy # 38

That makes 21 trauma teddies for this year.

I will be linking up with the usual crowd this week so if you want to see what others have made just check out the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 28.05.2014

Sitting down at static collection points the last couple of weeks has really helped my progress. Here is what my WIPs looked like this afternoon.

Handkerchief Border

Started on the picot around the edge but I'm still a little worried that I may have worked this a little tight. I do hope it blocks out otherwise I will have to undo it and try again.

Woollen Baby Blanket - motifs from Ellen Gormley's book

Started on the next row of octagons. I would really like to do more than two motifs each week but it's a bit hard while I'm working on the handkerchief.

Murray of Athol Tartan rug.

Another nine rows of the mesh and then it's onto making the chains and weaving them in so it actually looks like a tartan.

Knooked Scarf

Got past another set of extended stitches. I'm going to have to speed this one up if I'm going to finish it by the end of October.

Matinee Jacket in Blue

Looking at this pattern I think it would make a great blanket. I might have to try that some time in the future.

Cheval Set

I'm on the second last row so this should be finished sometime before next week.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

I've got past the sleeve opening and am now on the main body. No more increases.

Small Bunny

The second half of the bunnies body is almost done. If I keep up this pace I should just about have it finished for next week.

Tunisian Lace Wrap

There wasn't a lot of progress on this one but there was some.

That's it for this week. Be sure to check back on Friday to see what I have finished this week. In the mean time, check out the links in the sidebar to see what others have been making.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 24.05.2014

Twas the night before Red Shield and all through the shed, people were preparing for the long day ahead.

It has been a busy week this week with doctors visits, crochet class, Red Shield collecting and a wedding. Sitting at tables, smiling at passers by and thanking them for any donations that they care to give has given me plenty of time to work on my projects which can be seen in my Wednesday WIPs post, but that's not all that has been happening.

First, the doctors visit. This was a follow up to the blood test I had last week and it has been confirmed that I have Type II Diabetes. Not really what I wanted to hear but not unexpected. At this point in time the doctor hasn't put me on medication, she just expects me to do something about it myself to start with. This means getting back into some form of exercise, which isn't particularly easy when you have two dickie knees. I also have to test myself twice a day and watch what I eat. We will see what happens with this.

Red Shield collecting has had its moments this week including a fight that broke out near the table where one of the participants picked up an item off our table to throw at his opposition. On another day someone decided to take off with the bucket but didn't get anything because it hadn't long been placed on the table and no donations had been received yet. At another location someone else had moved into our spot and taken our table for the day. It turns out that the position had been double booked and, since we turned up late, we missed out. There have been some good moments also like collecting more than normal today at the same venue we missed out on collecting at yesterday.

The wedding today was lovely. The bride wore purple and the bridesmaids wore white and the bride was given away by her eldest son. Not exactly a normal wedding but it was a beautiful ceremony none the less.

Tomorrow, if you hadn't guessed with my attempt at poetry at the start of this post, is Red Shield Sunday here in Australia. It is a day when we send groups of people out into the community to knock on doors and collect donations on our behalf. It will be a long a busy day, giving out receipt book, handing out maps and counting money. The bank will even open for a short time so that we can deposit our takings and not store all that money on the premises. I will, of course, be doing my part and I urge all my Australian readers to please give generously.

That's it for this week. I hope you all had a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 23.05.2014

Well, it'd that time of the week again, time to show off all my finished objects. For those of you that have been getting bored with see Trauma Teddies and hanging towels I do have some else to show you today as well as the Teddies and towels.

Here is what I have managed to finis since last Friday.

Two Hanging Towels

Trauma Teddy 37

Shell Stitch Matinee Jacket in Blue

Baby Bootees in Blue with Shell Stitch cuffs

It has been a long day, I'm tired and don't know what else to say so I will let the object speak for themselves.

If you want to see what others have made this week just check out the links on the sidebar.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 21.05.2014

While I have had quite a bit of time to work on my projects this week and made a lot of progress on some of them there was still one project that didn't get worked on at all. I don't really know how it missed out but it did. I also managed to finish a few items this week including one that was a WIP last week.

Here are all the projects that I worked on this week that are still WIPs.

Woollen Baby Blanket - Motifs from the book I won from Ellen Gormley

I managed to finish the row of squares so I will start on the next row of octagons on Friday.

Handkerchief with Border

Almost finished the second row of 'V' stitches. I'm not sure if it is lacey enough but I will see what it looks like with the picots in the next round.

Tunisian Lace Wrap

I wasn't real sure if I worked on this one this week or not but when I laid it out the be photographed it appeared to have grown since last week so I must of dome some work on it.

Knooked Scarf

Only 10 rows on this one. At this rate it might be ready for next winter.

Cheval Set

Just need to do the rows that make up the fancy edging and then it will be time to sew in all the ends.

Small Bunny

One half done.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

I found this one very hard to work on this week as it was causing quite a bit of pain in my thumb. I hope that it will get easier once I get past the increase rows as it seemed to be the going around corners that was doing the damage.

Matinee Jacket with Puff Stitch

It doesn't look like much yet as I have only don the first repeat of the pattern. This one is worked from the bottom up which means that there is going to be some sewing involved.

And now a special treat. Sue graciously allowed me to take photos of her WIPs this week so here they are.

Matinee Jacket in White

Currently working across the back on this one.

Matinee Jacket in Blue

Just on the first sleeve.

I will probably be doing the finishing touches on these as it involves crocheting a picot edge and Sue is having issues with crocheting at the moment.

That's it for the WIPs this week. Be sure to check back on Friday to see the finished objects. In the mean time, check out the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 16.05.2014

While I have had plenty of time to work on my projects this week I haven't managed to finish anything major so it's just my regular finishes that you get to see. I'm sure I'll be able to finish the matinee jacket before next Friday but I'm not sure about my other projects.

Here are this week's finished objects.

Two Pale Blue Hanging Towels

Trauma Teddy #36

That's it for me for this week. As usual you can check out the links in the sidebar to see what others have been making.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 14.05.2014

A busy week just gone and another to look forward to, I just need to decide what projects I'm going to take with me where ever I go. That means that there has been plenty of progress on all my WIPs this week. I ran into a small problem with our main camera this afternoon, it ran out of battery, so I had to switch to our backup which is older and lower resolution, but it still takes reasonable photos.

 Here is how my WIPs looked at 4pm today.

Handkerchief with Border

I forgot to take my blanket with me to crochet class last Friday so I spent the whole time working on this. It is looking like I may be a little tight but I'm sure it will block out.

Cheval Set

I'm up to round 10 of the last doily.

Knooked Scarf

Just got past the third set of special extended stitches. It isn't looking too bad but it would be better if the stitches stood out more. it will still match the beanie I made earlier though.

Woollen Baby Blanket

While I didn't take it to crochet class like I normally do I still found time to add another couple of squares to this. I managed to find someone that sells the yarn I'm using for this and bought some of it but I got the wrong pink so I guess I will just mix it up a bit to make it look like I meant to do it.

Matinee Jacket in Blue

The first sleeve is now finished. I wasn't sure about it because it looks quite big but it is the same as the one I made earlier while I still had the pattern so it must be right.

Murray of Athol Tartan Rug

I managed to spend a bit of time on this one and got to the next set of colour changes.

Tunisian Lace Wrap

Two hours in a waiting room meant that I had plenty of time to work on this one.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

I even managed to do a bit of this while I was waiting and showed one of the other patients how to do the 'X' stitch.

Small White Bunny

I gotta have at least one toy on the go and I have been meaning to replace the one I sold quite a while ago so now I have started it.

That's it for my WIPs this week. Be sure to check back on Friday to see what I have managed to finish. In the mean time, check out the links in the sidebar to see what others have been making.

Richard.

Saturday Shenanigans - 10.04.2014

How is it that I can't find time to do everything I want to do even though I'm not working? There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day! I think I slept in on a couple of occasions so that didn't help.

This week, amid all the shopping, craft'n'cuppa and crochet classes both Sue and I had blood tests and doctor's appointments. Sue's blood test came back pretty good but it seems that I may have been eating a little too much sugar lately. The doctor wants me to go back and have another blood test but this one will take two hours.

Today we had the launch of the Red Shield Appeal. This marks the start of the busiest two weeks on the Salvation Army calendar. If I haven't got something more important to be doing then I will be spending time at one of four collection points around the city. I'll make sure that I have a project or two with me so I can get some work done.

That's it for this week. I hope you all had a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 09.05.2014

It seems that there aren't enough hours in the day to get done that I want to get done even though I'm not working these days, although I still find time to crochet. Do I have my priorities right? Here are my finished objects for this week.

Frida the Fish

This one should be on sale in my shop on Monday if anyone is interested in buying it.

Trauma Teddy #35

Two Hanging Towels

We're now entering a busy time for people associated with the Salvation Army. Tomorrow we launch our annual Red Shield Appeal. This doesn't necessarily mean that I will have less time for crocheting and knitting as quite a bit of my time will be spent sitting at a table with a bucket in front of me smiling at passers by and thanking them for any donations and I won't be twiddling my thumbs while doing this. There will also be an opportunity to spend a bit of time with a project at the pathologists as I have a two hour blood test (doc thinks that I may have become diabetic), so I'm pretty sure I will make plenty of progress even if I don't finish any of my major projects.

That's it from me for now but if you want to see what others have been making then check out the links in the sidebar.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 07.05.2014

Wednesday is here again and it's time to show you some of what I have been working on over the last seven days, and here they are.

Woollen Baby Blanket - Motifs from Ellen Gormley's Book

I didn't get much of this done this week as I had someone that wanted to learn how to put an edge onto doilies and face washers.

Toddler's Jacket - Zoom by Ellen Gormley

I managed to add a few more rows to this.

Shell Stitch Matinee Jacket

The body of this one is almost done. I just need to finish the row of dc (US sc) then work a row of crab stitch to finish it then it will be time to work on the sleeves.

Murray of Athol Tartan

I made good progress on this this week.

Knooked Scarf

In spite of the fact that I didn't make it to the markets last Saturday, I still managed to find time to work on this one.

Cheval Set

The first of the smaller doilies is done and the second has been started.

Tunisian Lace Wrap

I'm making good progress on this one this week too.

Handkerchief with Border

I couldn't teach someone how to do a border on something without showing them so I made a start on this one. The hanky was given to me by the organiser of the Mirambeena Activities Group to crochet a border onto so that they could add it to a raffle. I also have a placemat that needs the same treatment. I have done a row of dc around and now I need to figure out how fancy I'm going to get.

That's it for my WIPs this week. Come back on Friday to see what I have managed to finish. In the mean time, check out the links in the sidebar to see what others have been working on.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 02.05.2014

While I have been quite busy with all my projects this week I haven't finished many. Here are my finished objects for this week.

Two Pale Green Hanging Towels

Trauma Teddy #34

I should have more finished next week but I won't make any promises.

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

Richard.