Miss R's blanket

I'm very, very happy to tell you that I've finally finished Miss R's blanket.

I can't believe I started this back in January and had planned to have it ready for her to use at the beginning of winter.  Well we're in the last week of winter here and it's finally done.

My girl picked the colours and pattern for this blanket and was even pretty adamant about the border colours.  There were a couple I would have changed if it was me, especially the Royal as I thought it was a bit too dark for the rest of the colours but that was her favourite so it stayed.  

I decided in the beginning that it was her blanket so I would make it how she wanted it and I'm so glad I did as she LOVES it so much.

The yarn and the colours used in the blanket are:

Stylecraft Special DK

The colours (in order of the stripe pattern in the blanket):

             1. Royal      2. Turquoise      3. Cloud Blue     4. Aster      5. Denim    

         6. Storm Blue     7. Silver      8. Aspen      9. Sherbet     10. Cream

I used about 1 1/2 balls of each yarn and repeated the same pattern of 10 colours.

After looking at patterns online and in my crochet books,  Miss R decided she wanted it to be made in the Neat Wave Pattern by Lucy of Attic 24.

I crocheted 322 rows or 161 colour stripes as each stripe was 2 rows of crochet.

The blanket ended up approximately 115 cm wide and just 252cm  long.  Yes it is a long blanket, longer than usual for a single bed blanket but there's a reason for that.

Miss R tosses and turn A LOT  and her bed has to virtually be completely remade each day because sheets and blankets get untucked and twisted.  I thought if I made her blanket extra long then we can really tuck it in well under the mattress and hopefully it will have a chance of staying on her bed.

So if I was making a normal single bed blanket then I probably would only have done about 121 colour repeats (242 rows).

The border was a very simple one of double crochet (UK/AUS terms).  I used 4 colours beginning with Denim.  The next three rows of double crochet were worked into the back loop of the previous row and were Silver, Aster and finally Royal on the outside.

There wasn't any inspiration for the colours of this blanket as she picked the ones she liked from a pile.  It wasn't until I was nearly finished and looking through some of my photographs that I realised the colours are very similar to Caloundra where we go often and is one of our favourite places.

It certainly made the Wave pattern choice very fitting.

I also finished it just in time for some perfect snuggling.  The day after I sewed in the last end, Miss R was a bit ill and had to have the day off school so she happily snuggled under her new blanket on the lounge for most of the day.

xx Susan

The ants go marching

We've had a little trouble with ants marching through our house in recent months but haven't been able to find where they were coming from.

Mystery solved.  They were making a lovely nest in my fabric which I haven't touched since Christmas.

I was thinking about a future project so decided to sort through my fabric to see if I had anything that would suit only to find myself confronted with THOUSANDS of ants.  Not one of them was visible from the outside of the fabric but once I unwrapped it then it was game on.

I thought I was very ingenious years ago by wrapping the longer pieces of fabric around some corflute so I could stack them up like soldiers and have nice, neat shelves rather than a teetering mess.

Apparently the ants thought it was ingenious of me too as they made nests in the centre of the corflute.  The above and below shot shows you the last pieces that I tossed in the bin and they were the least infected which is why you're getting a photo.

I had about 15 other pieces that every hole you see was full and literally thousands of ants running over each piece of corflute.  There was more black from the ants than white corflute!  I was not taking the time to stop for a photo shoot with the ants running up my arms.

Apparently squealing and running around tossing fabric is a normal thing for me too.  The kids didn't notice a thing.  I'm not sure how concerned I should be about the fact that me acting like a lunatic doesn't hit their radar.

The dog noticed though but he just stood in the yard looking from the pile of fabric to me and back to the fabric like he was at a tennis match.  

I think my lesson is that I need to sew more. :)

I'm also pleased to say that our ant problem seems to have been solved and I now have clean fabric and tidy shelves.

I also took the time to declutter my fabric and took a really good look at what was there and what I thought I would use.  About a third of it will now go to a new home where hopefully it will become the perfect project for someone else (yes I washed and ironed it first).  I find it so much easier to declutter when I think of someone being happy or excited about getting something of mine that I may love but no longer have a use for.

I hope you all have a lovely week.  I will be enjoying an ant free one. :)

xx Susan

This week I am loving...

Crochet:

Working on Miss R's blanket.  Not much to do now....

...as well as my next portable project.  

Breakfast:

Breakfast out with our UK friends.  It was our last get together before they fly back to England this week and we will be sad to see them go.  Master M's hot chocolate however caused much excitement....

Hair:

Having my hair done then promptly going for a walk along the coast and getting it mooshed up!

(Is it just me or does anyone else feel an absolute idiot taking selfies?)

Walking:

Patch and I haven't been able to go for our usual walk much this week because of various appointments but I was able to take some time for 'me' and appreciate the beauty of the area we live in.  Such a gorgeous winter's day in Caloundra.

Receiving parcels:

A new order of yarn arrived this week in record time from the UK (only 8 days!  The last few orders have taken close to 4 weeks!)

Family:

I'm especially loving this rare photo taken of my cherubs and myself.  I have no idea how long ago it was since I had a photo taken with my kids as I'm the one usually taking photos!

I hope you are all enjoying your week in your little patch of the world.

xx Susan

An early birthday

Last weekend we celebrated my sister's 50th birthday seven months early.

She wanted to be able to celebrate her milestone birthday with her closest friends and as Elizabeth is only in Australia for another week, she decided to have an early get together.

Technically she is in her 50th year!

We had a really lovely very long brunch at the gorgeous Mountain View Café at Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve in Maleny.

The day was beautiful, the company superb and the laughter abundant.

Thank you ladies for the wonderful day we had.

xx Susan

Portable projects

I like having a small project to work on that's easy to take with me when I have to go out somewhere.  

By small I mean that it can fit in one of my handbags (yes..ONE of), or just in a small bag of its own so I can work on it while I'm waiting for an appointment or at the park with the kids.

I like that the project is relatively small too which means I can complete something regularly, even when I'm working on a large blanket or some other lengthy project.  

My current portable project is butterflies.

I went through a number of different patterns to try and find some I liked doing but I have to say that I had a pretty horrid time of making them.  I have no idea why but my fingers just didn't want to work properly and I ended up getting so frustrated.

I didn't want to buy any new yarn for this project so went searching my cluttered shelves for some cotton.  I only found 3 colours which surprised me so I had to work out some colour combinations using them.

I also had some Stylecraft Special DK leftover from working on Miss R's blanket.  I really wanted to use cotton for this project but in the end I faffed so many of the butterflies that I tried a few different combinations with this yarn too.

Out of the first 6 butterflies I made, only 2 of them are worthy of any consideration.  The other 4 ended up being pulled apart or binned.  No excuses.  They were crap!

I was hoping to make some prettier ones but my patience ran out in the end and I made do with the ones that I was happy with.

Then while suffering from a little insomnia the other morning I came across this Sweet Simple Butterfly pattern on Ravelry and decided to give it a go with some leftover acrylic baby yarn I had.

I enjoyed making this butterfly I have to say and can now show you the final 3 that I have made.

All of them are in different yarns and all stash busters that helped pass some time in waiting rooms.

So these little butterflies will now be winging their way to the otherside of the world to be a part of the Yarndale venture and I will be onto another small project soon.  

Well I will once I've finished Miss R's blanket.  I don't have much to do now and the closer I get to being finished the more impatient she gets.  :)  Crack that whip!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and were able to do something you loved.

I got to share a special day with some special people but more on that soon.

xx Susan

Friends

If you've heard of the term Pen Pal then you are a minority in the world these days it seems.

With our lives full of instant messaging via twitter, facebook, Instagram and so many other social media sites, the days of putting pen to paper are well and truly over.

Can you remember writing about what was happening in your world and taking the time to really explain things properly, especially when you sometimes had weeks worth of your life to write about.

 When you were finally done and signed off with a flourish there was a  ceremonial sealing of the envelope (or the old thin, blue airmail paper), and wondering if you had forgotten anything that so desperately needed saying.

Once you had put that precious letter through the sometimes freaky and sinister looking post boxes, you knew it was out of your hands.  You could only then wait for a reply, sometimes months later before the whole cycle would begin again.

If you remember that then you might be interested in this story.

I would like you to meet my sisters.    

Liz on the left.  Sandy on the right.

Everyone I know recognises Sandy and thinks that she's my only sister because...well basically she is my only blood sister.

I also have another sister who has been a part of my life since I was 6 years old.

Sandy and Liz have been pen pals for 38 years.

On the left you have Liz.  She grew up in Yorkshire, England.  On the right you have Sandy.  She grew up in Queensland, Australia.  

Oh how I wish I had a photo of each of them at that age to show you but sadly I don't right at this minute.  (I may in the future.. be prepared girls!)

Through mutual aquaintances (thanks Aunty Alison on our side) and an introductory letter passing hands, I don't think either of these wonderful women realised at that age just how long their friendship would span. I have also just found out that Sandy still has the first letter she ever received from Liz.  How lovely and extraordinary is that!

Every part of their lives has been lived alongside each other, sometimes delayed depending on the postal service or just the reality of living your own life half a world away.  

The one constant is that they have always been friends and know that each of them are there for the other, if only in spirit when it's physically not possible to have a shoulder to cry on or a friend to laugh with.

 For me, Liz has always been a part of my life.  For as long as I can remember she has been mentioned and I can remember being so excited when a letter would turn up in the mail.  Not only would my sister get to hear from her friend but if I was lucky, she would let me know (or even READ..sQUeaL!)  the latest letter and I would get to hear about life on the other side of the world.  

The first time I met Liz was when I was 20.  Sandy had already had her first trip to the UK to meet Liz and her family a few years before that.  

I also have so many fond memories of the time she first came out to Australia.   I mainly remember putting her in a car and the three of us driving to Cooktown and back visiting the Great Barrier Reef and plenty of other places in between.  It was well over 4000 kilometres in total and many memories made along the way.  

Then 4 years later I had the amazing opportunity to travel to the UK with Sandy and got to not only see Liz again but to meet her family.

That was 20 years ago and even though Sandy has been to England numerous times  since then, this is the first chance I've had to catch up with my other sister.

She's out here with her partner and son who is a similar age to my two cherubs, so it's nice to see everyone catching up and a new generation mingling. 

For now I'll leave you with a photo that I will always cherish and that's with my sisters.  Plural.

Love you both and thank you so much for being incredibly amazing women and so much a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

I have Kleenex or Poise available, whichever is most appropriate at this time in our lives. 

xx Susan

Slow

Sometimes I really feel like I need to give my life a bit of a re-boot.  

You know when you feel like you've been stuck in a rut for awhile even though you're reasonably busy.  

Well I feel like I've been in that rut and am slowly crawling my way out and I'm doing that by appreciating the normal and everyday things in my life.

Things like my daily walk with the dog.

We go most school days after we've dropped the kidlettes off at their respective schools.  Not only is it good exercise for both of us (I've lost 15 kilos in the last 18 months - yay!), but it's sometimes the only time I really get out of the house during the day.

The weather has been gorgeous lately too which has made for really enjoyable walks and we're into the last month of winter here so the mornings are still cool and the days are lovely and comfortable.  Pretty well perfect really.

We go at a time and place where it's wonderfully quiet and you don't often see anyone else on the track with you.  We do see plenty of golfers out on the nearby course and get to know some of the regulars on their particular day of the week so we're not entirely isolated but the track is ours the majority of the time.

I love going where we go because it also means I don't have to have my boy on a lead.  I don't really feel like being dragged behind him on our walks so he can run and 'open the throttle' as much as he likes and then keep coming back to me which gives him some great extra exercise too.  

It's also some quiet time out in nature where I can recharge my batteries and ponder things over as I plod along.  Sometimes I just want to zone out and listen to music and other times I need the quiet.  It all depends on how I feel and what I need that day.

I've been crocheting a little too.  Not as much as I would like as I'm STILL working on Miss R's blanket that I started at the beginning of the year.  (She's in High school now so I've decided to drop the 'Little' from Little Miss R).

Somedays it feels like a bit of a slog to pick up the crochet hook and do a few rows and crochet should NEVER, ever be a slog.  It's something I enjoy and I've decided lately to stop feeling guilty because I'm taking some time for me to sit down and do something I love.

The fact that my girl has been cold and is harassing me to finish her blanket might also have something to do with that as well. :) 

I am happy to say that I'm over three-quarters of the way through it so hopefully it won't be too much longer now.  

I'll keep you updated on the progress as blogging a little more regularly is another of those 'me' things that I want to do to help me get out of my rut.  

Just thinking about and remembering to take some photos has already changed how I'm looking at my life again so we'll see what other changes will come about over the next few weeks.  I sometimes find that when you decide to do something and make a conscious effort to change something in your life then it can be like a rolling stone gathering momentum.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and the coming week.  Our family have plans to do some things with friends from England who are out holidaying at the moment.  They have a boy the same age as Master M and the kids all get along wonderfully so they're looking forward to spending time together.

xx Susan