Blogaversery # 2

Another year of blogging has come to an end already. I can't believe how fast the year has gone and how much has happened this year not only in my life, but also in the world. Its been a big one.
In terms of craft this year, I went to the Alice springs beanie festival, went to my favourite craft show and I gained some new craft skills. Learning how to crochet was exciting and now I am addicted. It's another great way to use my favourite craft medium of pure wool. Thank-you sheep and alpacas. Next to my dogs, you are my favourite animals.

Here are some of the skills I mastered in 2010. Crocheted granny squares, ruffle edged flowers, felted beads and buttons and crocheted beanies.

Here are 4 of my favourite projects from 2010.The crochet blanket because I am so proud of it and that I finally worked out how to do the granny square. Also because I brought the wool when I took my cousin to my favourite hippy market.

The Knitted cat because she is so bright and inviting to play with.

The green beanie I knitted for my sister in law because I mastered a tricky pattern and it was made with much love and was made at a time when I needed to keep my hands and mind busy.

The bambino, because it's beautiful!

Thanks for reading my blog in 2010, have a happy and safe new year. See you in 2011, Amy xxx.

The Last Big Sew of 2010

I have been on holidays from work for one week and 2 days. I am not the type of person who can sit still very well (if at all). Following Christmas day I started sewing. I was given some beautiful craft book for Christmas and they are very inspirational.
This is what I have completed so far...
A dress,
A top,
A baby dress and matching bloomers out of the scraps from the dress,
And book bag for the nephew for his birthday made out of an old pair of pants,
Also here is a sneak peak of a very special quilt project. Stay tuned.

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you had a lovely day. I have come up for breath following the festivities on both Christmas and boxing day.
We celebrated Christmas at our house this year with the immediate family as it was our first Christmas in our own house. I now feel truly grown up.
It was a great day. A big thank-you to all the lovelies that assisted us to put on the Aussie spread and with the running of the day. You guys made the day a breeze. It was such a pleasure to have Christmas at our house.
Here are the Ginger Bread Houses of 2010.

Christmas Time

I am beginning to get into the festive mood. I have been so busy recently and have had limited craft time. I am suffering from severe withdrawal from my craft addiction.
Yesterday I spent the whole day with a very special friend and we decorated our 2010 gingerbread houses. Mine is in the Hansel and Gretel style and hers is a 4 building masterpiece.
I have yet to take photos of these.
I was looking back through my old photos and found pictures of the 2008 gingerbread house that my friend and I made together. This was before I started my blog so I thought I would share the photos of that gingerbread house with you today.
For our first attempt at a gingerbread house I think we did a mighty fine job.
I hope to share photos of our 2010 gingerbread houses soon.
If you are looking for gingerbread house inspiration the website gingerbread house heaven is great!

Im so Proud...

Hi there, since cracking the crochet code I started to make a granny square rug and it's finished! I am very pleased with the result. I feel that the colours go really well together. The rug is only small. It measures approximately 80 x 80cm.
And I of course, I used the left over wool to make a beanie. I am still trying to find the perfect way to photograph a beanie. This time I used a tall vase.

Too Busy...

Recently I have been so busy. It has meant that there has been little to no time to blog about my completed projects.
So here's a big one of completed projects!
Jewelry made...
Sewing completed... And, knitting finished...
Ah, that fells so much better.

Aww, How Cute...

Bambino, The Blankee, completed today. A lovely Melly and Me pattern. A toy to put away for the future.

More Beanies!

Here are two beanies for my bro. I hope he likes them.

Crocheted Beanies

After attending the Alice Springs Beanie Festival and learning more about crochet. I have recently made these 4 crocheted beanies.
The purple one is made from 4 ply baby wool and was surprisingly quick to make. The flowers are ones I learnt how to make at the beanie festival. The grey and white one was a practice I have made it out of some home spun wool.
The next 2 were made from patterns from this book using Patons Inca wool.They were both quick to make. The red one I made as a practice for the blue one which I have made as a request for a special person. I hope she likes it.

The Alice Springs Beanie Festival

A few weeks ago I went on holiday with one of my favourite people to Alice Springs. We went particularly for the Beanie Festival. It was wonderful. We also saw a few of the local and not so local sites.
On the Friday we flew to Alice Springs. I had no sleep the night before. I was too worried about not getting up in time to catch the plane. Flying over central Australia was amazing. The colours were like nothing else I have ever seen. It was red and dry with no vegetation and there was not a house in sight. As we flew into Alice Springs we started to see small settlements and amazing rock formations. As we were driving through Alice Springs I was amazed by the colours and the rocks. After yummy home made soup for lunch we headed out to the Beanie festival. In beanie central where you could purchase beanies there were so many weird, wacky and wonderful beanies. We tried on many and purchased a few. They also had a good old fashioned cake stall and I ate 2 yummy honey joys. That night was the official opening with some great music. On the Saturday we went into the centre of Alice Springs and looked through the shops and gallery's and purchased our souvenirs. We also went to an excellent textile exhibition called "Rocks in my Head" by Melbourne artist Julie Langford. In the afternoon we went back to the beanie festival and saw the official exhibition. I was amazed by the competition beanies. Their artists were amazing and so creative. Truly inspirational. I also completed a drop in class in the foyer and learnt how to make felted buttons and beads. We also went to the play reading of "A Head Full of Love." It was read by Colette Mann and Roxanne McDonald and it was awesome. There were some real home truths in this play for me. They talked about how worries are crocheted or knitted away as we create.
On Sunday we went to the Todd Mall Market and I purchased some craft supplies. Then we went back to the beanie festival. That afternoon I completed 2 drop in classes. I learnt how to make a needle felted butterfly broach and ruffled edge crochet flowers. We also saw the beanie Olympics where one contestant made a crochet beanie in about 10 minutes. Wow. The beanie festival was a great experience. I would definitely recommend that you go or at least look at the website here for a taste. Going to central Australia was also an experience I will never forget. It's a fantastic place to see. Finally a very big thank-you to our hostess and host. Thank-you for having us to stay and being our guide and taxi service. We had a fantastic time.

Stash Busting: Wool # 1

Over the past few months I have felt that my wool stash was in need of a declutter.

There are so many knitting projects I want to complete and I feel guilty if I purchase new wool when I have so much at home.

I have started many knitting projects, such as baby clothes. But these are taking a little time and I felt I needed to complete some projects to maintain my motivation. Here are the projects I have completed so far during my wool stash busting.

Three Adult beanies.

One 12 month old jacket.

Two toddler beanies.

One special beanie for the nephew.

Better get back to it, happy stash busting!

A Quick Project

This morning I whipped up this pair of earrings. They came as a kit with the June issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I occasionally purchase a copy when something on the cover entices me. Such as the lovely bright crochet you can see in the picture.

I have been a bit absent on the blogging front recently. I am stash busting and when I next post I want to have a lot of projects to show off at once.

Drum Roll Please ... Ta Da!

Last night I had a Ta Da moment. Twelve months practice and the penny finally dropped. Crochet wise that is.
During blog exploring two years ago, I came across this talented lady and have been so inspired by her crochet work. The beautiful vibrant colours and lovely wool she uses drew me in, I wanted to learn. Not knowing anyone who can crochet I set out to teach myself. How hard could it be? In my early twenties I taught myself to knit so I though in my early thirties I could teach myself to crochet too. I was wrong. Piles of tangled yarn, difficulty interpreting and reading instructions, many cups of tea and much frustration, I was defeated, I couldn't do it.
At last years craft fair I attended a workshop to learn how to crochet. By the end of the hour and a half session, I could roughly double crochet. I have been practicing this. Last weekend, I set out with the help of these books (see below) to teach my self some other crochet stitches.
Last night I sat down with the books again and attempted the granny square. Success, I mastered it and this was the result.
I picked up the wool at a local hippy market. I am supposed to be stash busting at the moment, but I found the colours irresistible. The wool is soft, lovely and a bit rustic.
I am so proud I cracked the crochet code. I now don't understand why I found it so difficult.

Thank-you

A big thank-you and all my love to my wonderful partner, friends and family. You know who you are and you know why.
Thank-you xxx