Not all those who wander are lost

FO Friday (on a Saturday...)

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:25:00 +0000

Shhhhhhhhh, I know it's a day late, but I didn't finish one of the projects till last night and didn't have time to blog. As always, Finished Object Friday is hosted By Tami, and you can check out what other people have been doing on her blog.

First up, a crocheted penis. Made as a joke gift for a hen night party. Excuse the quality of the picture as I forgot to take one myself and someone had to send it to me after the party. The pattern is here if you're interested, I ran out of time to make the testicles so I just stuffed it and sewed up the end. The hen just couldn't guess who made it, mwah ha ha ha. ;)

I also finished the granny blanket for my nephew, and have exchanged it for one of his old ones to see if I can repair it as he uses them for security objects (he's very nearly 2).

The munchkin hat is also done, and was fun to make, although I currently have no access to a newborn to see if the size is right. I'll have to wait till January. It was also a first attempt at a pompom, and I got really bored wrapping the yarn and gave up a bit to soon, so it could have been fluffier. I would definitely make this pattern again, but first I have to find someone quirky enough to want one as a gift for their newborn.

And last but not least, this is what I finished last night. My first sewing machine project! I've wanted a roll for my crochet hooks for a while, and since I finally figured out the basics on the machine (like go and stop!) I thought this would be a good first project.

I couldn't find one pattern that matched what I wanted, so I combined elements of this one at Planet June and this one at Today We Made and drew up my own pattern.

It's a little wonky in places, and not all the stitching is perfect, but it has space for new hooks I don't own yet. ;) If I get brave I'll post my version of the pattern another day.

I'll be able to blog my wedding photo's soon, I've had to wipe and reinstall my laptop but now it's all tidy again I have room to put the photo's on the hard drive for uploading.

I'm back! and WIP weds...

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:05:00 +0000

I'm back! And I'm now a married woman, with any luck I'll post some pics and tell you about it tomorrow, as we're hoping to collect the official photos tomorrow at some point...

And it just so happens to be Wednesday today, which means it's Work In Progress Wednesday as hosted by Tami.

I've got a few things on the go at the moment, I'm still "working" on the crayon blanket, the hooded jacket and the cushion cover, by which I mean I'm looking at them occasionally and not doing a lot else. They'll get finished eventually.

I've got a couple of new projects to go with them. The first is a replacement granny square crochet blanket to swap for the two that my nephew uses as security blankets. He likes to stick his fingers and toes through the holes and wriggle them, unfortunately the yarn wasn't strong enough for that and both his blankets now need heavy repairs. It's the acrylic DK I had left over from the celtic scarf I made.

The second project is my very first bit of knitting! I got a crash course from an auntie, (not the one that taught me crochet, a different auntie!), in casting on, ribbing, stockinette stitch, and casting off. Not sure how much I can remember now, but youtube vids are good reminders when I get stuck. For my first knitting project I've gone for something flat that isn't going to need any stitching up at the end, and that actually only really uses the knit stitch. It's the diagonal comfort blanket from Lion brand yarn. I'm making this in the aran yarn leftover from the convertible hat.

Oh, and I should probably tell you who the knitted blanket is for, as they're also the reason I've not felt up to blogging much...

My final work in progress for today is:

A tiny human I'm growing, pictured here at 12 weeks and 1 day ish, this was taken last Friday and we're very excited to meet him or her in January!

This time next month......

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:30:00 +0000

This time next month I'll be married and partying away at our reception!

Just thought I'd pop by and share, I know I'm neglecting things here a bit...

Still need to buy my ring, give out the last invites (!), have the dress fittings, book balloons, have a hair trial, decide on make-up, find another photographer (!), buy the buffet food..... and probably other things I can't remember right now.

Oh well, exciting times!

(not me!)

Hen night part one

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:20:00 +0000

Saturday night we went out in the city centre for part one of my hen night.

My friend thought it compulsory to dress me up in all the hen night stuff she could find, knowing she isn't intending to get married so I won't be able to get her back!

I had a great night, and didn't get home till 3 apparently.

Part two will be a sit down meal in June, I just wanted to get the drinking part out of the way early.

I'm still here

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:34:00 +0000

Hello everyone. I'm still here, just got carried away with things and neglected my blog a little too long.

Spring has most definitely sprung where I am. In the pattern of the last few years it seems like April showers don't exist any more as we've had a lot of sunshine so far. I've already been wearing my sun cream as I'm pretty much a vampire and I go crispy surprisingly fast. The dogs overheat quickly too, and I'm able to get some lovely dopey photos of them in the sun:

Darcy

Jess

This is a photo of the lawn:

It looks a lot more like a desert at the moment. The dogs have killed most of the grass and it's been so dry it's all cracked. Sam is quite happy with it now, as he absolutely hates mowing, but I'm thinking of sowing some grass seeds and trying to keep the dogs (and the birds!) off it for a while.

I've been busy making wedding plans so I'm behind on planting this year. I've planted some seeds today, tomatoes, broad beans, peas, mixed salad, basil, and beetroot. I need to get some potatoes ready too. I don't know how many will germinate as the seeds are all pretty old now, but I'd rather use them up before I buy new ones.

What have you got growing at the moment?

Cushion cover ~ WIP Weds

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:44:00 +0000

I've had four cushions from ikea sitting around naked for far too long. I've made a half hearted attempt to look for covers, but most of the shops sell cushions and covers together. Which is not very helpful.

I decided to have a go at making a cushion cover from crochet. I tried this circle in a square one but for some reason just couldn't get the right number of stitches going. So I gave up that idea for now and went back to trusty granny squares. Just two rounds then a double crochet edging in black. I would have used white or cream for the edging but I don't have any in, so I used black. This may end up being the fugly cushion of the four.

I did a bunch of squares till it looked the right size, then crocheted them together without sewing in the ends because that's boring so why not put it off? That's all I have left to do now for this side.

I'm thinking just a big granny square for the back, quicker and less ends! Then I'll try and master my sewing machine and make an insert out of an old sheet so you can't see the cushion through the holes.

P.s. If you want to take a look at what other crafty bloggers have been doing this week why not head over to Tami's blog and take a look at the pool?

Pancake pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Following on from this mornings post:

The dogs got half of one each:

I found some black and some green food colouring in the cupboard, so naturally I split the batter into 3 batches and tinted two of them.

The black ones came out blue grey:

But the green ones were pretty cool:

Enjoy the rest of your pancake day!

Vegan Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:53:00 +0000

Today is pancake day, or Shrove Tuesday if you are a Christian.

I was raised loosely Christian, but it's always been about the pancakes and not the religious undertones in this house, so as a Pagan I have no trouble celebrating pancake day. Well, that would be a lie, a lot of the time I'm oblivious to which day of the week I'm currently on, so it's quite common for our household to have Pancake Wednesday instead.

Last year I tried out two different recipes. One from good old Delia Smith, and a vegan recipe passed on by a friend via Facebook. I have to say the Delia ones were very greasy, while the vegan ones were lovely and light, and you didn't feel like you were missing out on anything at all.

I'm not vegan, but I was looking for a recipe that used soya milk, as I don't drink animal milk.

Here's the vegan recipe:

Ingredients:

150g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2tbsp veg oil (I used olive oil)
5tbsp water
300ml soya milk
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp maple syrup (I didn't have any, so missed this out)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl, add the wet ingredients and beat into a batter. I use a whisk at this stage. Heat a frying pan and spoon or ladle small amounts of the mixture. You'll have to experiment to find the right amount for your pan. The fun part is trying to flip it over perfectly!

Once your pancake is cooked, top with anything you like, roll, and scoff the lot!

I usually choose from a combination of sugar, honey, lemon juice, or golden syrup.

What's your favourite topping?

P.s. Today is also International Women's Day, James Bond and Moneypenny have a message for you:

Who needs men anyway?

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:15:00 +0000

I'm just taking a break, and a well deserved cup of tea, as I write this.

I live in a fairly basic two up two down house, we have a front bedroom and a back bedroom. The front room used to be my mum's and the back one has mostly been mine since I was little. After mum passed away I didn't particularly want to change rooms, and as we've moved things around in the house inevitably stuff has been moved into the front room "out of the way" and then abandoned.

I've finally decided I'm ready to move into the "grown-up" bedroom at the front of the house, and over the weekend I carted the 20 million bags and boxes out of the front room and into the back one, and got the bed set up in there. My boyfriend would have helped of course, but he was struck down with suspected food poisoning just in time to avoid it all. He's fine now, and has been out on a maths course today, so naturally I decided to drag the wardrobe into the front room while he was out.

This is the wardrobe, solid wood. It can be taken apart but since I built the damn thing 3 or 4 years ago I really didn't want to do that all over again.

I found I could get it to move if I moved it side to side and pulled. So I got it as far as the door pulling it and found the metal carpet grip across the door was too tall to pull it over. So I pushed it back a bit, squeezed through the gap to get behind it and managed to get it over the lip with a combination of pushing and rocking it back on one edge.

Now I had to push it across the landing from inside the back room, which went fine till it hit the bookcase and got stuck. At this point I was wishing I'd bought my mobile phone with me, as I was now trapped in the bedroom. I couldn't get it any further forward, and I couldn't pull it back enough to get out without pulling it fully back in the room. Then inspiration struck, I pulled it back in enough to open the doors on either side, climbed inside the wardrobe and got out on the landing. I was slightly disappointed not to find Narnia.

From the landing I wiggled it and pulled it till I got the wardrobe past the bookcase. I had to stand in the bathroom doorway to push it through the front bedroom door. Again fighting with a metal carpet grip, and getting stuck. But finally I got the wardrobe to it's new home.

I'm just glad I measured everything before I started!

Of course, the back room now looks like this.....

Baby steps, people, baby steps......

Jacket progress

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:14:00 +0000

Whoops, where did February go? I seem to have blinked and missed it. On top of that I was convinced today was Tuesday up until about 12 o'clock......

Anyway, hello again. Apparently planning a wedding takes up more time than you'd think, and quickly leads to neglecting your blog. I think I've seen every purple dress currently on sale in the UK and I still haven't been able to find one suitable for my bridesmaids.

I've managed to work on the hooded jacket but haven't got as far as I'd like. Some people in the Ravelry group have already finished or are getting very close.

I've done the first 6 inches and I'm now working on the left front piece. Once you get past the first section it does feel like it's going faster.

Since it is Wednesday I've added this post to Tami's WIP pool, why don't you head over there and take a look at what other crafty things people are currently working on?

Exciting news...

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 18:38:00 +0000

Hello everyone. Have those of you doing the crochet along started yet? I'm behind already, but I do have a good excuse.

I've booked the date for my wedding!

I've been with my partner for 7 years this month, and we've been engaged for almost 6 of those years! With one thing after another we just haven't got around to having a wedding yet, so we've decided to go for it this year and just over a week ago we booked a date for June. Apparently by wedding standards this leaves me at least 6 months behind in the planning department, but never fear, it will get done!

I've gone for a registry office as I don't see the point of pretending to be a Christian just to book a pretty church. I have picked a dress today, and now we just need a reception venue, bridesmaid dresses, groom and best man suits, buffet plan, decorations, invites, photographer...etc.......

We'll manage somehow.

By the way, >this< is the best wedding cake I've seen so far. Sadly doesn't fit in with our wedding, but what an awesome cake! If you don't recognise it have a look here.

Juicy weigh in

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:20:00 +0000

It's the final day of my juice week. Technically if you follow the plan in the 7lbs in 7 days book, you should juice on day 7 and have your first meal in the evening on day 8, but I'm cheating and having my first meal tonight on day 7.

I've done the plan for the full 7 days twice before so it's not that I can't last that long, in fact I haven't been hungry once this week. The thing I've missed most is the act of cooking something. It's my excuse to have the kitchen to myself and have music blaring out of the ipod. So as soon as I've posted this and organised my playlist, I'm heading into the kitchen to cook up a storm. (Not that I'll be able to eat much, I always find the juice week seriously shrinks your appetite).

The worst part of the week is always the first 2 or 3 days when your body is going through a withdrawal of all the chemicals/sugar/caffeine in your normal diet. I went to bed early on day 1 with a massive headache and slept for 15 hours!

And now the weigh in. This should have been tomorrow morning too but I always like to see what weight I am before I start eating again. In the past I've found that as long as you are eating healthily you continue to lose weight during the week after the detox.

Please bear in mind I'm holding the camera while on the scales (it adds 10 pounds right? Ok, maybe not that much...).

Day 1: Friday 14th Jan:

12 stone 9 lbs

Day 7: Thursday 20th Jan:

11 stone 12 ½ lbs

Total lost: 10 ½ lbs

And as a reward this morning look what the postman bought:

It's the yarn for the crochet along!

Yarn choice - HJCAL

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:17:00 +0000

I've finally ordered my yarn for the hooded jacket.

I decided on an aran weight, and wanted an acrylic/wool mix similar to the discontinued yarn the pattern calls for. I had a trawl through various online shops to see which manufacturers made the kind I wanted in the price range I wanted, then went direct to their websites to see all the colours available.

I couldn't picture the colours together very easily so I saved the pictures to my computer and used GIMP to play with the different combinations and patterns. I saved a swatch with my final colour choice and a few versions of the combos (yes, I do have some OCD tendencies thank you):

I ended up ordering it all from one seller on ebay as I struggled to find one shop that stocked all 4 colours and the postage prices were pretty ridiculous. I could buy another ball with what they ask for postage!

How about you? Have you bought yarn especially for the jacket or are you using it as a stash buster? I don't have a stash big enough to bust yet, but I'm working on it!

P.s. it's day 4 of my juice detox, the end is in sight, all downhill from here! I'm hoping I do the 7 days as planned but as Thursday is both food shop day and my final day I might have my first evening meal on Thursday instead of waiting till Friday. Hmmmmmm decisions.

That time of year again...

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:56:00 +0000

It's that time of year again. When I've eaten loads of rubbish, my "get up and go" is AWOL, I'm overweight and I feel generally down and pathetic. Time for a juicy detox.

For the next 7 days I'll only be having fruit and veg juices and smoothies, water and herbal teas. I've bought all my fruit and veg ready for starting tomorrow. Two bowls:

And a fridge full:

I'm using Jason ("The Juicemaster") Vale's recipes again, but this time I'm not following a specific book. I'm using the main idea from the 7lbs in 7 days book and the main smoothie, but I've picked recipes from all his other books and made up my own 7 day plan. It's easier this way as I know from experience that I won't drink any of the juices that use ginger or any smoothies with banana in. *bleurgh!*

This was my shopping list:

Starting weigh in will be tonight/tomorrow morning and another on January 21st. Wish me luck!

(Last year's juice week is here and here.)

Plan of action - HJCAL

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 14:14:00 +0000

First post of 2011, so Happy New Year! I would have posted sooner but I've been feeling a bit down and generally blah so I wasn't in the right frame of mind for blogging.

I'm happy that quite a few of you want to join me in the Hooded Jacket Crochet Along. So I figured we need a plan of action.

When?

We're aiming at being ready to begin by February 1st. That gives everyone about 3 more weeks to buy yarn and make sure they've got the right hooks.

Pattern

If you've not already grabbed the pattern go to Jolly Plum's blog post and read the text under the picture, the link to the pattern is there. I've printed a copy off because I don't tend to crochet with my laptop turned on. One thing to watch out for in the pattern is the fourth colour has 1 more ball than the others, that is for the separate hat (the "cap") which is at the very end. If you don't intend to make that there's no need to buy a larger amount of the fourth colour.

Yarn

The original yarn recommended by the pattern was discontinued. From googling it seems to have been about 55% wool, 45% acrylic. The pattern uses 2 strands of "sport" weight yarn. In UK terms that's DK or a little lighter. So you could try it with 2 strands of DK or 1 strand of aran or worsted weight. If you decide to use the heavier yarn, like I am, you can halve the amount required for the pattern.

Pace?

Not being strict about this as everyone has varying levels of commitments and free time. I'd say aim for at least 2 or 3 rows a week on the long stretches and more on the shorter parts.
I suggest we share our progress each week to keep each other motivated. So I'll be blogging it here every Saturday after the 1st, hopefully with a Mr. Linky so those with blogs can link up. Those on Ravelry can join the "Hooded Jacket Crochet Along" group where we'll each have a progress thread.

Places you can get involved.
Here each Saturday with Mr. Linky, join the Ravelry group, or add your shots to the Flickr pool.

Bloggers grab a badge:

Please let me know if you have any suggestions about anything. This is my first attempt at organising a crochet along!

Crayon blanket - WIP Weds

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:13:00 +0000

Thanks to Tami for hosting!

I had thought my next project would be the Hooded Jacket, but it turned out I couldn't wait that long to start something new. So while we all get set up ready to start the crochet along I've started on the colour me blanket. It's made up of six giant crayons pointing in opposite directions. I'd already bought some red yarn before Christmas, intending to have a go at one crayon before I buy the other colours. The pattern is made up of alternating single and double crochet (US terms), which gives it a bumpy textured look. This is my progress so far:

It's going well. I'll try to be good and buy each colour as I finish the last one.

For people who want to join in with the crochet along, what start date would you like? Would halfway through January give you enough time to buy yarn? Say the 16th ish. Or would you prefer a whole month to shop and start on February 1st?

A cunning plan...

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Hands up crocheters - wanna join in?

I'd like a head count for people that might be interested in making the following pattern:

Click -> Stripy hooded jacket

It's from an old magazine pattern. I found it through Ravelry and fell in love, but there is a shortage of examples of the finished coat floating around the internet and it seems to be putting people off attempting it, myself included. I've only made 6 things out of crochet so far and I'm still learning as I go, but I think I really want to make a start on this as my next pattern.

I'm wondering if others want to join in and make it into a crochet along? I would host it here on my blog and those with blogs can join in here, those without could join in on Ravelry if you've got an account there or want to make one. Or you could just email me your progress shots and I'll post them here.

The pattern is free, and covers sizes 10, 12, and 14 form the misses' section of this chart:

I'm fairly confident that someone with beginner/intermediate skills can attempt it as it seems to be constructed from rectangle-ish pieces and then sewn up into the coat shape. The instructions are in American, you need the following stitches: chain, single crochet, and half double crochet. In UK terms that would be chain, double crochet, and half treble.

Who's interested? Drop a comment below if you want to join in.

Homemade Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 14:37:00 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone!

Now that everyone has received their gifts I can finally share some pictures with you. We haven't gone completely homemade this year but we have done a few handmade presents.

Firstly a secret santa gift for someone on a forum I use. They said on their inspiration list they liked handmade things and celtic art, so I decided to try a crochet scarf with a celtic knot pattern on each end. I used the "Dan's minimalist scarf" pattern from Ravelry and combined it with the chart pattern for a celtic knot from the "Vantar mittens" from Inside Crochet magazine.

I think it came out quite well. It was my first crochet scarf, my first attempt at following a chart and my first go at carrying a second colour through the stitches. I lost a few stitches somewhere along the way and it's a bit wavy on the edges but not terribly noticeable when worn.

Next was a crochet blanket for a friend. I used a pattern for a granny rectangle as I didn't think a square would make a good blanket (I didn't have time to make a square big enough!). I love granny stitch as it's really quick to make but all the colour changes meant about 50 ends to sew in before I could call it finished. I completed this in the early hours of christmas eve because I'd been putting off the sewing till the last minute.

For my partner's mum I made a convertible hat from this pattern. It can be worn as a scarf or be tied up one end and worn as a hat. This one I finished in the early hours of this morning. Next year I really need to start making things earlier. Christmas sneaked up on me somehow this year.

Remember the sloe gin I started back in September? That has been bottled and labelled. Some were given as gifts, some are being drunk today by visitors, and I've hidden one in the back of a cupboard to warm me up next autumn when I get in from picking the sloes for the next batch!

We also made some balsamic pickled onions, following a recipe from the Hairy Bikers. No one has tasted them yet so I hope they turned out ok. My partner did the labels for these and he named them Hairy Pickles, in honour of the bikers.

Whatever you're doing today I hope you're all enjoying yourselves!

P.s. I added this post to Tami's FO Friday party, even though it's technically FO Saturday.

A year ago today...

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:48:00 +0000

Happy blog day to me, happy blog day to me.......

One year ago today I wrote my first post for this blog. I haven't had chance to organise a give away competition or anything but I didn't want to let the day pass unmarked.

I've managed to stick to blogging for a whole 12 months, aiming for roughly 1 post a week. Sometimes I've managed more sometimes less. It seems I've mainly blogged about fruit/veg and crochet according to my tags. As usual I'm going to continue blogging in a random fashion according to what takes my interest at the time. At the moment I'm making a few gifts for Christmas but I won't be posting about them till afterwards.

So thank you to my readers and commenters for sticking with me so far, and here's to another 12 months together. I'll come up with something good next time, I promise!

Is there anything you'd like to see more of or any post you've particularly enjoyed? Just let me know.

* images taken from a google search *

Fleecy dog coat

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:43:00 +0000

I haven't felt inspired to post as much as usual as my Nan has been ill and passed away on Nov 30th. The whole family has being doing shifts caring for her at home. I'll probably write a post about her tomorrow or Sunday after we've gone through all the photos and spoken to the vicar.

I have managed to make something for Finished Object Friday though (as usual hosted by Tami).

Like most of the UK at the moment we've had some early snow and unusually cold temperatures. This is our second winter with Darcy and our first with Jess. Darcy has quite a thick coat and doesn't seem to feel the cold no matter how long we're out. Jess, on the other hand, has a short wiry coat and is shivering within five minutes in the snow. I decided to make her a coat so she can play in the snow without freezing. We could have just gone out and bought one but that wouldn't be half as much fun.

I had a google and found this pattern which was only a little bigger than Jess's measurements already. I drew a rough copy of the pattern pieces onto newspaper, trying to get them a little smaller but still the same shape. It looked too big for her so I cut the pieces out of an old sheet and held them against Jess, they seemed about right and the fabric pattern pieces turned out to be easier to work with than the paper. (Look how wonky they are, I need some better scissors!).

I used some thick fleece to make the coat. The fleece is from the blankets handed out at the end of the Douglas Macmillan charity walks so it was free, it's also bright pink which is not really my taste, but at least I can finally use it for something. After a false start where I tried to sew it up with normal cotton thread I realised I needed something thicker. I ended up using some spare purple wool and a yarn needle. I decided on blanket stitch to hold it together and for decoration. I also considered embroidering a pattern but decided to wait and make sure Darcy doesn't rip it when they play before I waste the effort.

Now Jess is warm enough to play outside, but I think Darcy is a little jealous that she gets to wear something extra.

Radioactive Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:48:00 +0000

I did get this finished in time for Finished Object Friday, but was too busy to actually write the post up, whoops.

Here is my finished crocheted radioactive cat:

Made using this pattern from Marmalade Rose. The yarn is a really bright lime green but I couldn't get the camera to pick up the real colour. That's my partner's hand by the way, I don't have man hands.

It's a really simple pattern. The body of the cat is a square (although mine came out rectangular...) and the head is a shaped piece made using decreases ad increases. It's then folded to the right shape, stuffed and sewn up. The tail was the trickiest part. It's just a tiny hollow tube. I couldn't figure out what the pattern wanted me to do to start the tail so I just played about until I got something that looked right. I sewed a face on with purple yarn, because I don't have any black, or any embroidery thread yet.

So that's my first attempt an an amigurumi. Jess approves anyway:

Slightly addicted

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:03:00 +0000

Cor blimey! Halfway through November already and not a post to show for it. I wish it was because I was doing NaNoWriMo but I haven't got anywhere with that, yet again. I have, however, started some new crochet projects, but since they're intended as xmas presents I can't really blog them until after the recipients have seen them. I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures though!

Crochet has become surprisingly addictive. As soon as I've finished writing this post I'm going to start on this crochet kitten, which I can share with you as it's not intended for anyone specific. I just decided to try making an amigurumi and this looked like a nice easy pattern to start with. An amigurumi, by the way, is a Japanese word that means any small crocheted or knitted animals or inanimate objects that have been anthropomorphised (and that one you'll have to look up for yourselves). I found an amazingly bright lime green acrylic yarn in the market today and it was just asking to become a radioactive kitten....

There was also a nice bright purple. Purple and lime green happen to be one of my favourite colour combinations. I may experiment with them to see if I can get a two tone kitten after I've made the first one.

Photos to follow, either for Work in Progress Wednesday, or Finished Object Friday, depending how I get on with the pattern...

I love Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 11:00:00 +0000

It's the time of year the air cools and stays chilly, the leaves change and fall, giving me plenty of opportunities to kick and crunch through them like a child while my partner Sam pretends he doesn't know me. Pomegranates are in season and provide a whole evening's entertainment trying to extract the juicy sticky seeds in front of the tv. Pumpkins are everywhere, but most important of all it's Halloween season! I've always loved Halloween, it's my favourite holiday, much more exciting than xmas. I was due to be born on Halloween but ended up 5 days late, so I almost had the chance to have creepy parties every year.

For Wiccans October 31st is Samhain. It's a pagan equivalent of new year, celebrating the end of the harvest season and the start of the dark time of the year. This is the night when the divide between the living and the dead is thinnest. It's a time to remember loved ones who've passed on, and some people may set an extra place at the dining table or leave food out for the dead. It's also a time to look into the future with divination tools like scrying, tarot or runes.

How are you celebrating this year?

The Halloween collage above was created using images from Flickr:

1. Jack of the Lantern - scratch build halloween mask., 2. Tasha's Ritual Hearth, 3. "Autumn Leaves" by Michael G.O'Callaghan, 4. Cauldron, 5. The Candle, 6. Skull, 7. Casting the Runes (1968), 8. Pomegranite Jewels, 9. Pumpkins

First finished crochet

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:09:00 +0000

This post is part of Tami's Finished Object Friday blog party. Thanks for hosting Tami!

I've finally mastered crochet enough to create things! I've finished the two baby blankets bar the final blocking and wash:

I've also made some purple wrist warmers/fingerless gloves for myself using this pattern from Ravelry. You may need to register there to view the pattern, I'm not sure. This is my first real crochet made from an actual pattern. I didn't follow it exactly. I added and subtracted a few stitches here and there so they fit my hands exactly and no one can steal them. Mwah ha ha ha....

This is the kind of dodgy photography you get when you have to switch on the timer and run across the room to wave your arms in front of the lens. I think I'll let someone else take the pic next time I make something involving both arms...

I'm now wondering what to make next. I'm considering the lion brand yarn best bunny, a peace sign granny square throw, or an ugly bunny pin cushion....

WIP Wednesday already?

noreply@blogger.com (Kezz) — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:11:00 +0000

Wednesday again? Already? Ok, well since last week I've been plodding along making the granny squares for my blankets. I've got one almost done, it's all sewn together now. I'm thinking of putting an edging on it to make it look tidier, and then I'll attempt to block it.

The second blanket still requires one last green square, and most importantly of all your kindness in not mentioning that one green and one white square are larger than the others.

Be gentle please, it was a gauge issue that I sorted by dropping down a hook size, but I don't have enough yarn to do extra squares and I can't face frogging it and re-doing them. I'm hoping since there are exactly the same number of stitches that it won't be too noticeable once it's all sewn up and edged. My baby nieces won't notice anyway.

Thanks again to Tami for hosting the WIP Wednesday posts.