Sigh... nod... shrug....

The sigh is of contentment...

The nod is of approval....

The shrug is actually complete and has been worn and l am very, very happy with it.....

X em
( the pattern is in 'crochet modern vintage' by Panda)

Empty studio.....

My room feels so empty now without my Christmassy friends......(have l mentioned how much l love my little studio room?? ). It's little, which is quite appropriate, and it doubles as a laundry, which is a necessity and its perfect and l love it and l have been feeling very inspired in a crafty way as l pop in and out of there as many times as l can on any given day.. which has been quite a lot lately.... I don't want it to stop but l know busy 'end of year' times are ahead.....
And oh Le, just keep thinking how beautiful the ripple blanket will be when it's finished ..... I know you've had to pull it out 3 times (...groan...) now, back to about the same spot and l am sending you some 'crafty happiness' wishes in the hope that your latest attempt is rising and falling beautifully!! Speaking of wishes and beautiful should we post a photo of our shiny new birthday pressies..... x em
( ooh, and my recently completed crocheted article of clothing too...next post.. promise! )

Oh It Gets Worse!

It gets much worse!
So I THOUGHT I had it sussed but wait, there's more!
I got up before everyone else this morning. The birds are chirpping, I went to bed early in anticipation of a busy day. I'm going to the Lark super sale today with a gorgeous friend, a girls day out. Thought I'd have a bit of quiet crochet time and began to restructure my red rows and came across some bits that just weren't right.
Ok, so it goes like this.....actually here's the link to lovely Lucy's Attic 24 blog, right here. See her very clear pictures and instructions? Previously I mentioned this pattern works in fours and the rises and falls land on top of each other in each row and that was the problem. In the first row of my fourth colour, they didn't- a sign that I had missed something along the way.
Holy Moly I sat here and counted each stitch and WAHLA! I traced it back to this....

The very first orange row!
You know with each mistake I am beginning to understand the pattern more and that's just what I want to learn.
At the start of the orange you can see there is a 'v' which is made up of 3 chain and 1 treble in the same stitch. After that there should be 4 treble but I have only 3 and, THAT my friends is my mistake. It has pulled every other set forward and it has had a knock on
effect from there on. A big sigh from me and a pile of unravelled wool that looks like noodles.

And so it begins. I was hoping to show my luscious rows to Alicia today. If I can get a bit more time while the little ones are sleeping I may make some headway. It's all good!

I am learning.
I am happy.
I am crocheting.
xx Le xx

OH NOOOOO!

I have learnt a very big lesson this morning. Last night I popped into bed with a cup of tea, covers up, the children soundly sleeping and my rows of ripples upon my lap. I was adding a new colour and after much discussion with B, who is my colour consultant, we decided upon the bright red.

Oh I was so comfy in bed! I had the Ipad too, checking emails, looking at Pinterest, messaging Em who too was crocheting. Very soon between ripply red rows and all of the above, it was 11.30pm and my eyes were tired. I got to the end of the row and realised I had one stitch too many and THOUGHT I had traced it back to not too far away. Fixed it, turned off the light and drifted off.

MORNING- I snuck out of bed in the quiet to begin the fourth colour, a gorgeous deep red and made it through about half way and thoguht, hhmmmm, something not quite right.
You see this pattern works on rises and falls and in lots of four. It's quite easy and very rhythmical BUT you do need to count. It goes like this........
4 treble, 2 treble in each of the next 2 stitches, 4 treble, 2 treble together in each of the next 2 stitches, 4 treble, etc etc. The 2 trebles in the 2 stitches make the rise and the 2 trebles together make the fall. See if you can see closer here....

My mistake lays in that first red row right between the head and the tail of the crochet hook. I have 8 trebles between each set of rise and fall, not the 4 required and that little iddy biddy error right there has mucked up, ever so slightly, the next 3 rows of 1.5metre crochet. Aaaaahhhhhh, hear me scream......

My little man was up with me and he took great joy in unravelling the rows.

Row after row of unravelling and winding. Nevermind, lesson learned. Crochet and crochet only. I'll try again tonight!
xx Le xx

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Me and My Machine

My sewing machine that is! We have reconnected and made friends with each other again. I am in throws of rejuvinated craftiness and I am loving it.
I am in love with my crocheted ripples of colour that I have begun. 4 rows in 2 colours are complete and this rate I may have it finished before christmas however I will have to put it aside for other crafty endeavours and exciting christmas preparations. In amidst all that I have FINALLY begun a gift for my big little man. Something I wanted to make for him last christmas and have only just now gotten to, just in time for this year-hooray!

Metres and metres of fabric and lengths if ribbony ribbon are coming together nicely. I'm not very sew savvy so this is an adventure for me. I have sewn softies and little animal friends and I'm not sure why big patterns and clothes scare me so. I have never sewn clothes and I so want too!
It is difficult to squeeze time for sewing with the whirring of the machine getting unwanted attention from little ears and seeing it's a pressie, this mission has to be completed in secret. My windows of opportunity are narrow so I squeeze my time with my machine into the space where Little S has her day sleep. Long live the day sleep!

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Christmas Treasures

Le, l am very excited that you have started the ripple blanket, l am looking forward to watching its progress and being inspired to maybe start my own!! No time yet though....I have been busy spending every spare moment that l can find in my little studio to complete Christmas treasures for Epoche. I have been in 'crafty happiness' creating these little treasures and really am very happy with the results....

Quickity Quick

It's so so late and I really should be in bed but I am sooooo excited I have finally started a project, a long term project, that I have been wanting to start since I began crocheting a couple of years ago. It's a blanket of rippley stripes in cheery bright colours to put a little spark into each and every day.

And look here, it actually takes shape really quickly. I love that about crochet, results are immediate and when you're a time poor mamma, there's few things better than instant crafty results.

I began with 224 chains in a happy, sunny yellow and it took about 45mins to finish the first row. I'm using a beautiful wool called Zara and if I could get my very sore legs off the chair, I'd happily get the tag that's on the other side of the lounge room and give the details! That will have to wait as this post is going out quickity quick so I can go to sleep. My legs are sore because my son's school buddy's mum and I have started a little exercise regime after school while the kids run around. A little run, some squats, some sit ups and some skipping. Our first session was monday afternoon and today is tuesday, I AM SO SORE!

Anyhow, back to the crochet, I think this blankie could be my next crochet addiction!
Here's a peek of the colours I have to choose from.....ahh sweet woolly dreams... Nighty Night
xx Le xx

Busy, busy, busy....

Market craft....

....and Christmas craft......

..........Tis the season.........

40th Retreat Day Five Part One

Reflecting Back to Sunday 27th November, 2011

Ahhh, sleep in........


here's a random pic of our birthday shopping treats while we sleep in

9am- jump up and hop on the end of Em's bed and she's already up crocheting more iddy biddy bunting. Chit, chat, chit, chat and along comes Neen. More chit chat, more idle crafty happiness, cups of tea? yes please,chit chat, more making, read a magazine, teach Neen how to crochet a flower while chatting, I wrote in my big boy's journal while Neen and Em chatted

11am- breaky! Muesli, yoghurt, fruit- good start. Yoga S-T-R-E-T-C-H reach for the sky. Yoga with Janine is amazing, I wish she lived with me so I could wake up to her each day. Get my body moving in the right way. As we hit 40 (Janine beat us there by 1 1/2 months), a life of exercise has certainly put Janine in great shape for the next part of the journey. Ok, I'm calling her today to get a little yoga routine for my body and my mind.

right, so as I don't have any photos of our breakfast or of us doing yoga (thank goodness!), here's the progression I was making on my starburst cushion. i'm just in love with it mwahh

1pm- watched a movie- yes in the middle of the day in our pyjamas with tea and chocolate. The excitement was almost too much to bear. Yes I know it doesn't take much but these simple glories when finding yourself without the children ARE almost too much

TBC.............................