Yarn Trail - The Patchwork Angel (and Yarn Angel)

The Patchwork Angel is probably the closest shop that sells yarn to me and is only about a 15-20 minute drive.

As the name suggests, it is a store that focuses mainly on fabric, patchwork and sewing supplies and I've been here a few times over the years when I've wanted a special fabric for a project.  I always know I'll find exactly what I need here and plenty more that I want!

The range of yarn used to be quite small but I'm now happy to say that in recent years they have added to their yarn section and the signage on the building reflects that and says Yarn Angel as well.

I was especially excited to see that they stock some of the Rosabella Threads range which you may remember me writing about back in January when I bought some yarn directly from the producers farm.

I wasn't expecting to go there on that particular day and only got the chance to spend 15 minutes or so looking around but I saw plenty that I would love to work with and now have another 10 or so projects whirling away in my mind.

The Patchwork Angel also holds regular classes ranging from quilting (of course) as well as crochet and knitting classes.  All the classes are held in the back room of this converted old church where you're surrounded by so much inspiration.

I didn't leave empty handed either even though I knew hubby was waiting (very patiently) in the car park for me.  However it wasn't yarn that I bought but some fabric so I can line the bag I was working on when Miss R was in hospital back in April.

The bag itself has been finished for weeks and the fabric for the lining has been cut out and pinned together waiting for me to actually sew it up.  I know I'll get to it fairly soon because it's sitting on my ironing board in the middle of the lounge room and everyone has to constantly walk around it.

It won't take me long to get sick of nearly falling over it, then I'll sew it together and wonder why I procrastinated on it for so long!

So if you're ever on the Sunshine Coast, the Patchwork Angel is somewhere I would really recommend, especially if you are a quilter.  The staff are fantastic and extremely knowledgeable and don't hold it against you if you crochet instead of quilt  :)

I hope you're all having a wonderful week.  Master M is much better after our quick visit to the hospital last week but life around here has been pretty hectic and I'm trying to find some sort of balance.  Small steps is the key and dealing with what's in front of me and simplifying things seem to be working for now.

xx Susan

Weekend scarf

I wanted a quick project to work on over the weekend that would use up a lonely ball of yarn that I had sitting on my shelves for years.

It was not quite a full 200g ball of 8ply wool from the Bendigo Woollen Mills that was leftover from another project and this particular yarn is no longer available.  The perfect thing to make with it was a scarf for myself as I knew it wasn't going to be long enough to give away or sell.

I seem to have a thing for a turquoise strand running through the things I'm making lately but that's okay as it's one of my favourite colours.

The timing for finishing this one off has also been perfect as we had a bit of a cold front come through last night and the westerly winds and cold weather has really hit this morning.

I put it on to take a photo and haven't taken it off yet!!

Have a great week everyone.  Mine hasn't started on the best of notes as we had a hospital visit with Master M last night.  All is okay thankfully but it could have been much worse which really hit home to me when we were in and out of emergency after having all kinds of tests in a little over 3 hours!  

That's pretty well unheard of and I have to thank my wonderful doctor for phoning the hospital and telling them we were on our way and speeding up the process.

He's home from school today and snuggled under the blankets (crocheted of course), and in a pretty happy mood otherwise.  That makes this Mum happy too.

xx Susan

Naughty dog...

We were loving our usual walk the other morning after we had dropped the kids at school.  It's really cooling down here now so it was the perfect time to be walking without getting too hot.

When I turned to head back, I spied something in the distance and knew I was going to have a bit of a problem, especially as I don't generally take a lead with me as I prefer to have my arms firmly in their sockets and attached to my body.

Can you see them? (There are actually 2).

A couple of kangaroos were having a morning snack right beside the road and I kept trying to distract Patch while mentally pleading with the animals to stop gawking at us and hop away.

Eventually he caught their scent and saw them and then he was off with me screeching at him to come back.  Thank goodness they're faster and can hop off into the bush easier so he never catches them but I do dread it if one day he did.

You don't mess with kangaroos as they have sharp claws and can do some damage (I won't go into details).

Thank goodness he did come back fairly quickly this time and I have to say in recent years he has been pretty good and stays with me when I make him.  This time he obviously didn't so there was no treat when we got home.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

xx Susan

Our one and only family photo

This last week or so I've been slowly chipping away at the mind boggling amount of digital photos I have.  Not only on my computer but on old SD cards and USB's where I had stored some when my old computer started playing up.

It's nearly the kind of job that makes you want to give up just thinking about it but I keep telling myself if I just do at least 15 minutes a day then I'll start to see some progress.  I'm not sure if I'll pack it all in yet as some days I really couldn't be bothered but for now I'll slowly chug along.

The one thing I did find while going through things is this.....

It's the ONLY photo we have of me, lovely hubby, Miss R and Master M and was taken the day Master M was born.

All the other photos we have are mainly the kids, some of hubby and the kids and very few of me and the kids because I was usually the one taking them.

Master M is now 11 1/2 so I'm thinking it's time we tried to get at least one more decent photo of the four of us but I'm not sure how I'll go with that as hubby really doesn't like having his photo taken.

The other reason why I've put it on here is because I wanted a record of it somewhere other than USB's and SD discs as I've found a couple of SD discs that are unreadable.

I know a camera repairer that can also retrieve information off discs like this so I'm thinking of seeing if he's able to work his miracle for me as I know some of them were of the kids first few years.

It's the Maleny Show holiday here so the kids are off school for the day and lovely hubby headed back to work early this morning.  That means lots of home snuggling this weekend, some crochet for me, xbox and movies for the kids, maybe a small outing or two and perhaps some more photo sorting.

Enjoy the rest of your week and the coming weekend.

xx Susan

Venetian Shawl

I'm wanting a bit of visual hooky stuff right now as I haven't been crocheting much this week.  Our new car (bought December) is currently over 350 kilometres away and waiting on an assessment to see if it's a right off or not.

Everyone's okay but sadly the dog that got hit didn't make it.  There was a few other dramas of course but it's all getting sorted now and we're just waiting to see what the next step is.  Hubby's working out other options to get back to work later in the week and the kids, Patch and I will keep chugging along in our beastie which we love.

So, hooky stuff.

You may remember I started playing around with some yarn one night a couple of months ago.  The photo below is what came out of that first random idea but it really wasn't working.  So I kept playing around with it until I found a pattern that I liked and started to work it up into a new shawl.

Every time I worked on it I kept thinking about the day my sister and I explored Venice (over 15 years ago now!)

The weather was gorgeous and we had the most amazing day.  Not long after we got off the train we decided that we were just going to make our way to the Piazza San Marco and pretty well explore along the way.

If you've been to Venice then you will know that on the corner of the buildings there are signs with arrows pointing which way to go to get to the Rialto Bridge and Piazza San Marco.  Some signs had two and even three arrows so you could basically choose any of the alleys or streets and you would end up there.

So we decided it would be fun to get 'lost' and chose the streets and alleys that weren't the main or crowded ones.

As a result we found some amazing little treasure shops and cafes and had pretty well one of the best days EVER!

That's what I kept thinking about every time I worked on this shawl and it does remind me of the wonky streets, canals and bridges throughout Venice.

So that's what I named it of course.  The Venetian Shawl.

I've written up a pattern for it in both UK and US terms as well and it's available on Ravelry or on Etsy.

Lets hope I get to finish another version I'm making of it in a Sheepjes Whirl this week.  I'm using their Slice o Cherry Pie colour for something different and I'm loving the blends of this one.

It's actually almost done but the car drama has placed it on hold for a little.

It's not all crochet either as I've got pieces of fabric cut up and ready to sew together for a bag lining when I get the chance to get back to it.  I worked on the bag when Miss R was in hospital and it's been sitting patiently waiting for me to line it and finish it off.  I'll get there!

Enjoy the rest of your week.

xx Susan

Okay, okay...

...I know I said I wasn't going to post any more photos of my few days away in Brisbane but I was going through my photos and found this.

I just had to share it with you.

What a perfect window display for a tea shop!

xx Susan

Forty-five

Monday saw me celebrate another year, in this case it was my 45th Birthday.

I didn't have any plans except to spend the day with lovely hubby after the kids had gone to school.

How well he knows how much I love to go for a drive, even when it's cool, raining and misty.  That's usually the perfect stay-at-home kind of weather but it was nice to be driving around in it as long as I wasn't the one behind the wheel.

We headed up Maleny way and the more we climbed, the cloudier it got.  It brought back many memories of taking the same route in the school bus when I was in high school although the road was a bit more of a goat track back then.

Hubby was going to take me somewhere so we could go for a bushwalk but the weather wasn't very walk friendly and we weren't dressed for it either so we sort of did a bit of a funny loop through many of the hinterland back roads, avoiding most of the traffic.

He ended up taking me to Rick's Garage  for lunch which is a bit of an institution in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

It's an old garage and auto workshop that has been converted into a diner chock full of memorabilia.  Everywhere you look there's something to capture your attention or read and the atmosphere is pretty fun.

The place is popular for its live music on the weekends and also has a Whiskey Bar which is open on Thursday's through to Sunday (I think..).

Being a diner, burgers are the main food staple of the place but there is also a choice of a couple of seafood meals as well as some salads if that's what you prefer. They also serve Ribs later in the week but as it was a Monday it was the basic menu for us.  We went for the burgers of course which were huge and very filling.

The bar area reflects the restaurant's former life with plenty of chrome and memorabilia throughout.

There's even a beer garden to one side which is on the site of the old scrap yard (cleaned up now of course!)

Thank you lovely hubby for a wonderful 'me' kind of day for my birthday.  I do love a drive and good food.

We also celebrated with cake once the kids got home from school and other members of my family came to visit to help eat the cake because there was plenty!  No photos though.

Wishing you all a wonderful week and for those of my blogging friends who are struggling a little right now for various reasons, I send you hugs, warm thoughts and good luck wishes.

xx Susan