Christmas is coming

That won't mean holidays for me until mid January but that's life!

I've been busily shopping for the offspring and crocheting when I am not working, doing house work or preparing.  The decorations have yet to appear, that will be this weeks days off.

On the right is a blanket I made for myself, to watch tv and snuggle with on top of my bed in the chilly days to come.  I got it finished before the crazy Auckland humidity hit thank goodness.  It's so stuffy here at the moment.

Since it warmed up I've been making smaller and cooler things like bun covers for the wee girl for next year at Intermediate school when she will have to wear her hair neatly put up and a uniform.  I will post a pic when I put her hair up, we did an experiment and they work really well.

I've also been experimenting with booties.


These wrist warmers are made from sock wool aka fingering weight and will keep me warm next winter.

I'm working on some patterns which I hope to get finished next week and display for the bun covers.  Right now I am seeing if I can make one with beads....

Creating a space

Well I am back and I have been busy!  Back at my last post I had my arm in plaster for a clinical scaphoid fracture.  Hated it!  The plaster made me incredibly claustrophobic, two weeks in I went to the doctor and begged them to find another way.  Where upon I was very reluctantly fitted with a splint but only because the ManChild had his own accident.  He was playing hockey and got smacked in the face with a ball causing two fractures to his cheek.

Eventually my x rays came back clear.  The MC is still having visits to the cranio facial dept but all is good.

We purchased a sleepout for the MC which was built during these shenanigans.  He's all moved into his fully lined, carpeted and painted room.  He's thrilled.  It's very cosy, he has a locking door and more space than he's ever had.

As a consequence his old room became errr vacant!  But not for long.

It is now an office for the Hubs and I.

This is my side.  Organised with a desk and shelves.  I have all my wool stash and photography stuff tidy and accessible.

I'm currently working on a blanket which is a little boring so when the mood takes me, I create some little things.

I have an old chair in the shed that belonged to my great grandmother that I am thinking of rejuvenating to add some character to my bedroom.

Lots and lots on the agenda with Christmas fast approaching though.  The MC has finished school and is on study leave for exams.

The WG had a marimba recital, then a choral concert at the town hall.  This is her last year at primary so they are preparing for their graduation assembly.  I have to buy a uniform for her for intermediate.

It's busy time!

The current hiatus explained

Can't really type and definitely can't crochet.  Back soon!

Stash busting

Recognise the colours?  This is left over yarn from the Zig Zag Granny throw I made for my Grandmother's 100th birthday.  Seeing as it is allegedly returning to me now that she has sadly passed on, I decided to use the left over yarn to make a hottie cover.

I haven't perfected my technique yet, the edges are too square and messey but it's quite warm and much nicer than  a rubber hot water bottle on my back.

I started with a foundation chain of 35 stitches.

1st row sc
2-end of front (a panel big enough to fit end to end minus the neck of the hot water bottle) alternating sc and trebles to make the textured stitch.

I then made two more panels for the back half the size of the front each.

I crocheted button holes on one by missing crochet through two stitches and just making two chains the same way I make basket handles basically.

I think I will have to decrease to shape the tops.  I'll keep you posted and when I get it right I will post the pattern.

Meanwhile in an effort to use up more yarn....

Here is the front of a cushion I am making.  I have wanted to make a granny square with a flower on it for ages and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to play.  I found the pattern on pintrest.  It's not very easy to understand though so I only made the one.   I am busy crocheting the back now.  Just plain alternating rows of trebles and singles.

Work has been busy as ever, Winter is usually a quieter time for us but this year it just doesn't quit.

Mt Tongariro erupted last week.  That meant writing an emergency plan in case it happens again.  Apparently it's not a matter of if but when.

We seem to be having more than our fair share of natural disasters lately.

Hotwater bottle covers and other things...

One of the best things about winter is snuggling under a blankie with a hottie to keep you cosy while you watch tv.   It's cheaper than electric heating and it's fun on a cold, damp day.

But it's not so much fun snuggling with a rubber hot water bottle, it feels wrong.

I just got some new full sized hotties for the grand price of $4.50 so they needed some dressing up.  There's a pattern in "The Art of Crochet" issue 14 so I decided to try it.  Apparently UK hot water bottles are bigger than those in NZ or 8ply was too thick, because it was far too wide.  So I turned it sideways and improvised.

<~~~~~~~~ Tah Daaaaah

Not the best pic I know, I'm currently temporarily at dial up speed because my broadband allowance "somehow" got exceeded.  Even a cellphone pic takes ages to upload.  I went grocery shopping while this one was uploading if that gives you any idea!

I am currently making a second version, with horizontal stripes, keeping a note of what I am doing so I can share the pattern with you.  I'm loving the textured stitch which consists of 1 tr and 1 sc (UK) it crochets up nicely.

I am quite please with my result, so is the Wee Girl because she's not over keen on naked hotties.  She's a snuggle on the sofa gal from way back.

I've also made a cloche style hat and some pacifier clips for my friends stall.  I've had a busy week.

Hello Again

I can't believe it's August all ready, the past two months have gone by in a blur.  As mentioned in my previous post my Grandmother turned 100 in June.  Sadly she passed away on the 10th of July.


Altogether July has not been my best month ever.  I did finish delivering the training course at work, update our business continuity plan and get all my team performance appraisals written, but in between there have been a series of small disasters.

There was the puncture on my way home from work that saw me sitting on the side of the motorway for an hour at 10pm on a Saturday night.  From that I learned that a surprising number of people forget to turn on their lights, the shoulder is much narrower than it appears as you whiz past it at 100 kph and really people should slow down.

My eldest the Man Child has caps on his front teeth due to an accident when he was a boy child.  He managed to break one whilst eating a lollypop! Oh and he sprained his ankle playing hockey.

My cat had a stroke! She'd been sitting snoozing in her usual position on the top of my chair when she suddenly leapt off and started walking in circles.  The dogs had a freak out over her and by the time I got them out of the way she was fitting. When she came out of the fit she was very strange so it was off to the vet at 10pm on a Sunday evening.  She's more or less back to normal now, but for 24 hours she was blind and didn't know me.   She bit me, hissed and spat until she came out of it.   Thankfully cats recover from such episodes a lot better than humans, she's a bit weak in the back legs but that is it.

The hubs opened an official looking envelope to discover a speeding ticket from a speed camera for my car.  I've never had a speeding ticket (touch wood) so he handed it to me smugly.  I looked at the date and said hang on! That's was the day after Grandma's funeral, I wasn't working that Sunday, we went shopping and YOU were driving! Then I gave it back to him!

The Wee Girl got glasses!

I got new glasses, I've had to move to progressive lenses with a special pair of reading glasses for all the crochet and writing I do.

But every cloudy month has silver linings.  I got a new laptop and a new camera.  I have been lusting after the camera for some time.  As soon as I get my software sorted out, I shall be posting new pics taken with it.

A busy few weeks

Here is the wee girl wearing her now, somewhat grubby slipper boots.  That's what happens when you slide on the lino when the dogs have muddy paws.  She's very happy with these boots.

I adapted this pattern for a basic boot, instead of ribbing I trebled (U.S. dc) 6 rows then did granny clusters for another 5 rows for the folded down part.

The WG likes to keep toasty warm and there has a been a bit of a cold patch.

I've also been making hats flat stick.  A teddy bear,  a monkey and a couple of earflap hats for my nephews and friends little boy.

If that wasn't enough, I've been working on a training module for work and started delivering it this week.

All in all I've been working my tail off.    The man child had a teacher in service day today and begins exams tomorrow, this evening the WG has an open house at the intermediate school she will be attending next year.  There's hockey and work for me on Saturday, Sunday is work and Monday, Tuesday I am both working and delivering the training I developed to yet another team.

I don't believe this business will abate for a while yet.  Both the hubs and I are working on Saturday so in a true test, the MC has to get himself and his sister to their hockey games at the local field.

I'm hoping things will slow down soon.  Who'd have thought winter would be so much busier than summer?