Hi

Still here, but no Internet access Then a holiday! So likely no contact till New Year Missing my Internet friends Have a wonderful and safe Christmas

Santa and Christmas

Before the mad rush of Christmas (and Thanksgiving) start

I thought this might be a gentle reminder

It's from this book - The Book of Santa Claus

It has beautiful old pictures of Santa

I have always loved books

Especially childrens books

And so slowly, but surely, a collection of children's Christmas books are piling up here

Anyone else have some that they love

I would love to add them to my, at the moment, tiny collection

Someday, there will be a grandchild that Grandma (me) can read them too

Just thought I would share ......

...that I just spent 10-15 minutes walking home in the rain!!

and no, I haven't lost my mind

or I don't think I have

....???????

It's just with temps in the 30's for quite a few days

And humidity in the very high 90's

And a body that is continually on over-heat now days

I was thoroughly enjoying a very light and gentle bit of rain falling on me

And to top it all off

A gentleman offered to share his umbrella for the short distance we were on the same path

Who said chivalry was dead!

Projects

Hi everyone

You may have noticed my lack of projects over the last couple/few/lots of months.

Well I have been crafting

Just felt that my posts were getting a bit b-l-a-h

But today I felt like sharing a few of my favourites with you

All have been Ravelled here

Borrowed the baby to see size and fit, as I sort of designed it.

Her Mum loved it, so bought it from me  :-)

By the way, you may have noticed a new button at the top of my side Bar

"Made It" - Made For Little Ones

Well that goes directly to a little shop I opened

I'm hoping I might be able to sell a few projects

At least enough to help pay for the ever-rising costs of posting away my charity items

Fingers crossed for me please

And you thought there was no crochet ......

I really wanted to make this pattern (old memories), but had so much trouble with the starting chain - no give and so very small.

Then I tried foundation dc/sc - that gave me the little bit of stretch and width I wanted.

Don't know why it took me ??? times to work that out   :-)

And for those in Australia

Hope the horses are lucky for you today!!!!

Stewing

Hi

I have had an idea stewing in the background for a while using Elaine from Down Cloverlaine's patterns.

She has a few new patterns out lately - which, by the way, she shares for free.

When I saw them, I knew immediately that I would be knitting two of them

Koala Cloth - details here

Baby Joey - details here

As for the idea - well, it needs a bit more stewing

Almost Wordless Weekend

 

Hunter Valley Chocolates

which is right in front of Petersens Wines (Champagne of course)

Accommodation - The Carriages

Wildlife

Choir Boys

Thirsty Merc

Meatloaf

(from the big screens)

By the time Meatloaf came on stage it was dark and very, very wet - as in the rain had set in

So my poor little camera had a very hard time taking this shot (the best of about 20!)

Field Wonderful

Well Allison, from Field Wonderful, certainly made me feel wonderful, when I received these beautiful goodies in the mail from a recent give-away that she ran

I have never used this yarn before and it feels wonderful

And thank you so much for the little packet - any guesses what's in it?

I must say Allison, you must have a little ESP going

As these particular items have been on my mind of late, searching, searching, searching

Very, very handy for me

P.S - Just noticed that it is Canadian Yarn - my very first and goes well with my fascination with Canada and north - very happy  :-))

Thank you for the lovely parcel, Allison

And this lot is off to Brisbane for K4C (sidebar) COTM - PIPA

Many of these projects you will already have seen, others have been stockpiling to make the postage worthwhile, especially as it just went up 20%

Got to love making preemie outfits, its a fantastic stash-buster!

PS - Glad you liked the Anzac Slice recipe like I did  :-)

Old but not quite vintage

Hi everyone

Anyone know what exactly makes things vintage?

I have always taken them to be roughly over 30 years old???

Anyway, I would like to share with you something I started all-but 29 years ago

And I also finished it well within a year

Must have had some time up my sleeve back then  :-)

Don't know how - as hubby frequently was away for work and three babes under 13 months!!!

Oh, that's it - hubby was away   :-)

Anyway, back to what I want to show you

For anyone who is interested here are the meanings -

A = Australian Flag

B = Brolga

C = Cockatoo

D = Dusky Hopping Mouse

E = Echnida

F = Flannel Flower

G = Goanna

H = Honeyeater

I = Ibis

J = Jabiru

K = Koala

L = Lorikeet

M = Magpie

N = Numbat

O = Orchid (native)

P = Platypus

Q = Quokka

R = Rosella

S = Swan (Black native)

T = Tawny Frogmouth Owl

U = Urchin

V = Violet (native)

W = Wallaby

X = Xtraordinary Lizard (Frilled Neck)

Y = Yabby

Z = Zebra Finch

Bye for now

mmmmmm

Hi everyone

I don't usually share recipes, but just thought you might like this one, which I found here

This was just after it came out of the oven and before it was found  :-)

Anzac Slice

1 cup SR flour

1 cup coconut

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of crushed nuts (I used dried fruit instead)

125g melted butter

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 egg

Preheat oven 180C and grease a slice tin

Mix all ingredients together. 

Press into slice tin and bake until golden (about 15-20 mins)

Could not be simplier

Hope someone else enjoys this too

PS - SR Flour is Self Raising Flour - Self-rising (or self-raising) flour is sold premixed with chemical leavening agents, usually baking powder
Golden syrup is a pale treacle.  It has an appearance similar to honey, and is often used as a substitute for people who do not eat honey. It can also be used as a substitute for corn syrup.
Molasses or dark treacle has a richer colour than golden syrup, and a stronger, slightly bitter flavour

Hope this helps Barbara

Quick Hi

Just dropped in to say a quick Hi

Just keeping an eye on these little angels  ;-)  for a short time

Rescue puppies who my D3 named Ginny & Frankie

Cross Jack Russell/Chihuahua puppies

Only 6 weeks old

Quick photo taken with my phone, sorry for the quality

Yes they do sleep a lot

But boy, they go crazy when awake

Old is New Again

Hi everyone

Well it seems that a couple of you already had the same idea as me and dug out your old patterns.

Pat from Hooks and Books reworked the lovely little Hug Me Tight.  And boy does it look cute!

Jane from Papillion Gold had already beat me to it.  She has a lovely little 'Puss' project which got swamped by the big He-man jumper she made  :-)

Jenny from Justjen has worked a vintage pattern for gloves.  And then worked another beautiful cable pair.

Here is another vintage pattern

Which I think is very cute

Sleeveless Hug-Me-Tight

Details here

From this pattern book

And if you thought I was not crocheting  :-)

Well I have had some granny squares hanging around for mmm..... well a very long time

And I went looking to make something practical with them, just not a blanket, and it would be for a charity

So .....  I loosely used this pattern and got this

Yep, unblocked.  It's an acrylic, so I don't like to touch it too much.  Probably explains why it was sitting there for so long

And to end this post with a weird question - anyone else enjoy 'Wild Boys' last night?

Nice to see "Australian" history for a change

Oh and did I mention Gourmet Farmer Series 2 has started - Thursday nights SBS

Thoroughly enjoyed Series 1.  Missed the first show of Series 2.  But I'm hooked again  :-)

Hope the sun is shining where you are

Unless you would prefer it to rain - gently though please  :-)

Old is New Project

Hi everyone

It seems a few of you are lucky owners of some of these precious Heirlooms of our Past.

Me, well there was a LARGE group of families who all seemed to being having girls, so we just kept passing our child's 'best' clothing around n around n around

Funny that I never kept anything, especially as I love "old things"  :-)

Just thought you might like an update on my "Old is New" project

The completed set is from Patons 1283 Heirloom 4ply Collection

The yarn is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l Cleckheaton Bamboo 4ply

So soft, lovely sheen and such beautiful drape (which I hope you can see below)

Details here

From Patons R30 Favourite Designs For Babies

I have decided to set myself a little challenge

To complete at least one pattern from each of my vintage pattern books

As you will see, I will be picking the baby patterns, mainly because they are so quick and oh so cute

Anyone else feel up to the challenge of digging around in your old patterns and completing one, or two, or .......?

No rules, anything goes

Ok, sorry - one rule

Please blog about it so that I can see your lovely projects

And find those lovely old pattern books

And just another quickie here

This lot is off to Tassie

To be made up with other squares into blankets for "Betty's City Kitchen"

This is a challenge on Knit 4 Charities A-Long

New or Old, Old or New

Hi everyone

This post will have to have a few photos to explain the story.

Recently I have wanted to do some lace knitting, but only small projects, what better than baby items.  There is always a charity that can use them throughout the year.  So I thought I would build up my stocks and be ready for them.

And for the crocheteers that visit, well I have been trying to work those beautiful lace baby clothes, but for some reason I struggle with the first few rows.  The sizing seems way off no matter what yarn or hook I try.  But I will soldier on, as there is one pattern in particular that I want to make, for sentimental reasons  :-) It was a gift for my babies, and I loved it.

So saw this pattern book and thought "that's a good start"

And yes, it does have one very cute crochet jacket too, if I can master the starting size issue.

Decided that this pattern would be a good intro back into the world of lace and babies - well it has been 30 years  :-)

I would like to share with you a little something I have a LARGE love of - old patterns and clothing.

So using this Heirloom pattern reminded me to have a look for a particular old pattern book I was after.

Ended up buying 4 of them  :-)

This was the one I was after

For this pattern, as I made 2 of them, one for each first/second born  :-)

And then I spotted this  :-)

Funny how some things just keep popping back in to grab your attention

Also spotted this, which I remember making, but just can't remember who for, lots of water under the bridge.

 And no, I have NEVER had this pattern book.  But I have had a few Patons Pattern Books!!

I am curious as to how some of these patterns were ever knitted.  The photos I have shown you are quite large and clear compared to a lot of the patterns in the other books.  It would be guess work, or just loving a pattern name as to which to knit

There are a couple of crochet patterns too, if anyone is interested in having a look-see

Crochet Toddler Fashion

"Up-to-the-minute play suit (top, pants and sun bonnet) in easy Granny Squares" c1971

And there is more where that came from  :-)

Well I did laugh when I saw it too

But then I made this

I thought this idea might work well with children of various ages for charity

Details here

And the pattern is here where you can see one that is in action and way drapeyier(?) than mine

Quiet but busy hands

I'm still here

Just not very talkative (in general)

But busy fingers

So here are a few little projects

Turn A Square Tiger

As a little gift for a friend who is a NRL Tiger supporter

When hubby saw this for the first time (may be the only time) he requested one for himself

BTW - I have made other items in the past for hubby, but he is a very warm person and mainly lives in T-shirts with a very light jacket in winter.

So here is Turn A Square Bulldog

A scarf - just because

Noro One Row Scarf

Close Ups of the pattern at above link

And if your remember way back here and this little mess

One person guessed right

And I finally found the missing item

Koala

Now he/she is hiding in the flowers (will be when the weather warms up) because I can't decide if its name is Kenny Koala, will need pants; or Katie Koala, will need pinafore

One Word Wednesday

AWESOME!!!

Blog Posts

Thank you to all who left a comment on my last Post about reading other Blog Posts

I learnt that there are lot of different options that I had not even thought about

And that some of us do things exactly the same  :-)

Every day brings us something new to learn

Blog Posts

Curious

Sometimes I wonder about too many things

Nothing important or life changing

Usually nothings in particular

So I am going to ask for your input with this one

It's about blogging posts

Do you?????

1)  Read them from RSS Feeds or Email (by subscribing)?

2)  Or do you blog hop to each site?

Me personally

Well I receive feeds and emails

So that's one vote for No 1. !

Hats

Hi

Well I could not help myself, so with the scarf mentioned here, I whipped up one of these too

Details here

Yarn - Heirloom Easy Care 8ply

and then I found out they will be going to Perisher shortly

so I had to do this for the hubby  :-)

It is a big on Pooh, but he has a child's head size (Pooh not the hubby  :-))

Details here

Yarn - Bendigo Classic 8ply in Koala and Almond

Items are posted and fingers crossed they like the surprise

My Sunday

All photos were taken with my basic Mobile Phone

Browsing through here

Crossing on two of these

Driving on roads like this

Having lunch here

And enjoying views like this

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend

What did you get up to?

Witches Wicks

Hi everyone

This is what working with acrylic does for me

See that little piece of skin lifting near the cuticle

Well that catches the yarn

But only with acrylic, no probs at all with natural fibres

Thankfully this should be nearly the last of the gifted acrylic which I am using for charity items

My Mum use to call them "Witches Wicks"

Don't know why or where the name came from

Anyone else have a name for them?