Friday FOs - 25.01.2019

I managed to get photos of my finished objects today so here they are.

A Purple Cat

This is another animal featured in the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?" I'm not completely happy with the whiskers but they are done now. I will have to see if I can do better next time.

Comfort Bear No. 4 for this year

 Another bear to add to the collection. This isn't the brown bear that saw the red bird. This bear will be going to a small child that needs and needle for some reason.

A White Dog

In the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?" the Purple Cat sees a white dog, so here it is.

I only have one more animal to make to complete the collection and I hope to be able to show the whole set to you next week.

That's it from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 19.01.2019

It is the end of another week and time to show off my finished objects, and here they are.

A Blue Horse

For those that haven't been following my previous posts, the Brown Bear sees a Red Bird, the Red Bird sees a Yellow Duck, the Yellow Duck sees a Blue Horse. I will be continuing the story when I have finished the next animal.

Comfort Bear No. 3 for this year

My second finshed object for this week is my third comfort bear for the year.

That's it from me for this week. I will be going away next week but will try to post but I won't promise anything.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 11.01.2019

Well, another week down and another finished object to show. Only one this week, and no prizes for guessing what it is.

Comfort Bear No. 2 for this year

If it seems like I'm using the same colours and just swithching them around, there is a good reason for that. Late last year I was given a box of yarn and there are only five or six colours in the box, so, while I'm using the yarn from that box, you will see the same colours repeated over and over. I will try to vary the combinations as much as possible.

I was hoping to have the blue horse finished by now but it is proving to be a little more complex than I had expected. I only have the mane and tail to add now so it's almost finished.

That's it from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 04.01.2019

The first Friday of the new year and I'm starting where I left off from last year. I have a couple of finished objects for you this week, and here they are.

Here is the story of the Brown Bear so far. The Brown Bear (finished a couple of weeks ago) sees and Red Bird (finished last week), the Red Bird sees ...

A Yellow Duck

I was hoping to get the animal that the Yellow Duck sees finished for today but I have been having trouble with the pattern and haven't finished it yet.

Comfort Bear No. 1 for this year

The start of a new yer means the another year of bears, and this is the first of the year. I proved last year that I can complete one of these each week and I will be trying to match that this year.

That's it from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Wednesday WIPs - 02.01.2019

It's the start of a new year and I thought I should start the year by showing the status of my WIPs. These are all bar rhe comfort bear and blue horse that I hope to have finished for Friday.

Story Time Blanket

 I'm currently working on the border. Once that is finished, I will need to sew in all the ends and embroider a bible verse in the blank area.

Tunisian Sprial Blanket

All the crocheting is done on this, I just need to sew in all the ends.

Corner to Corner Pixel Squares Blanket

This is one of two projects that I have been working on while at markets. I have almost finished crocheting the second square but still have lots of ends to sew in on the first.

Double Knit Butterfly Squares - side 1

Double Knit Butterfly Squares - side 2

This is the second of the projects that I have been working on while at markets. I think I have one quarter of the squares that I need for the full blanket.

Knitted Short Rows Scarf

I started this as an experiment to see if I could do a knitted version of the Tunisian Short Rows Scarf I made a few years ago. I will eventually get around to continuing work on it.

Yarn Eater Squares Blanket

I decided to try this as I had never done it before. Now it's kinda waiting while I get some more of the toys that I'm making finished.

Baby's Sunhat and Bootees in Yellow

One more item from my to-list getting ticked off. I still have a set in white to do once this set is done.

I think that's all of my WIPs. There may be more hiding in one of the boxes that I haven't unpacked yet.  I know I have at least one tartan blanket that my ex-wife wants me to finish, but it will have to wait until I clear some of these other projects.

That's it for now. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Monday Mayhem - 2018 - the year in review.

It's the last day of the year and time to look back on what I have achieved and what I want to achieve in the new year.

Two years ago I gave myself a weight loss target of 40kg. At that time I was 131kg. At the end of last year I was down to 129kg, which wasn't exactly a major milestone. This morning when I weighed myself I came in at 126.4kg. At this rate, it will take me about 20 years to lose my excess weight, but, on a positive note, I am moving in the right direction.

On the crafting front, my achievments are a little more impressive. Here is a list of all the items that I have made this year.

52 Comfort Bears
2 Jug Covers
4 Beanies
16 Appliques
4 Simple Owls
4 Shopping Bags
4 Tea Pot Cosies
4 Graduation Owls
3 Wash Cloths
3 Plastic Bag Bags
21 Sheep
16 Octopuses
1 Dog Coat
2 Sunhat and Bootees Sets
3 Small Penguins
3 Blankets
2 Toy Bears
1 Mouse
1 Bird

Looking to the new year the plan is to continue losing weight by increasing the amount of exercise I do, set aside time each day to practice my music (especially the piano) and continue crocheting.

On the crocheting front, here is my current to-do list.

Things to make to replace stock for my market stall:

Matinee Jackets in pink and purple
Tiny Dogs
Heather Hippo
Large Witch
Large Penguin
Small Rabbit
Panda
Frog Keepsake Pouch
Ankylosaurus
Bottle Cosies in more team colours (Bulldogs, Geelong, Essendon and West Coast)
Medium Bunny
Tiny Duck
Large Bunny
Small Turtles
Platypus x 2
Koala x 2
Tommy Tortoise
Towel Toppers (Tea Towels)
Small Jug Covers

Commissions

Sheep (I have one of each of 6 colours)
Animals from "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?" which include:-
A red bird (made one)
A yellow duck (made one)
A Blue horse
A green frog (one already in stock)
A Purple cat
A white dog
A black sheep (made one) and
A gold fish

Current Work In Progress:

Comfort Bears
Tunisian Spiral Blanket
Yarn Eater (Hungarian Crochet) Blanket
Story Time Blanket
Double Knit Butterfly Blanket
Corner to Corner Picture Blanket 
Large Jug Covers
Simple Owls
Sunhat and Bootees in white & pink
Short rows knitted scarf

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)
Table Runners for each Australian state and territory (currently trying to design the ACT one).
Tunisian Crochet Intarsia Table Runner
Picture Blanket (need samples so people can see what they might be getting)
Article in Broomstick Lace
Article in Hairpin Lace
More dinosaurs

While the sheep started off as a commission it may be time to move them to a new category, along with the comfort bears and jug covers. The new category will be for ongoing projects, things that I seem to keep making because they sell really well or just because I want to continue making them.

I will continue trying to make one comfort bear every week, continue making sheep until I have 2 of each colour and continue making the animals for "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?" until I have 2 of each, which could take a while since my sister has asked for a full set.

That's about it from me for this year so I will take this opportunity to wish all me readers a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.

Friday FOs - 28.12.2018

It's the last Friday of the year and I have some more finished objects to show off before the year is done, and here they are.

A Red Bird

Another in the series of animals from the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" This is the one that the Brown Bear sees.

Comfort Bear No. 52 for 2018

My 52nd Comfort bear for the year means that I have finally managed to make one bear every week for a whole year. We will see if I can repeat that next year.

I was hoping to have a yellow duck finished this week but ran out of yellow yarn while making the head so you will get to see that next week.

That's it from me for this week. Until next time, have a good one.

Richard.