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?

A Granny for Gran (Ripple Granny Tah Da!)

I'm excited to present my version of the Ripple Granny throw.  

Two weeks, less than10 100 gram balls of Marvel acrylic.  It is approximately 3 feet by 3 feet.  Enough for Grandma to cover her lower body down to her feet and tuck around herself when she sits in her chair.  About the size of a cot blanket.

Here is a peek at the colours.  A dusky mauve, mossy green, dusky pink, chocolate brown and cream.  Not the bright colours I generally use but definitely Grandma colours.

58 rows of Granny clusters.  108 stitches on a 5mm hook.

I adapted the pattern I found by doing a colour set and then counting in on the clusters to start in the same place so the first row of the mauve in each colour set is 5 cluster sets.  That is how I managed to get the zig zag sides 

The edge is just 3 rows of single crochet because I thought the zig zagginess was pattern enough.  I think I mentioned it was acrylic rather than wool in case it gets put in the residential care driers.  Now I just need to label it with Grandma's name, wrap it in a ribbon and I'm ready to go.

I will write up the pattern if anyone is interested.  It's a mixture I adapted from a number of different Granny ripple patterns that I googled to work out how to do it.

Now I have to get my a into g and start cooking for the party this weekend!!!  Have a wonderful day!

Foggy Saturday Morning

Saturday morning at this time of year means Hockey.  Both the Wee Girl and the Man Child play.  There's one thing you need to know about hockey, it's never cancelled.  Rain, hail or shine, hockey is always on and today was no different, in spite of the fog.

The WG had a game at 10:30 thankfully just down the road at the local high school the MC attends.

The MC had a game for his club at 2pm today, during the week he plays for the school in the first 11, he has practice twice a week for school, a game on Wednesday and then another practice Thursday evening for the club with a game on Saturday.

Some of the WG's games are played away, which generally means a trip to another school across town.  A couple of weeks ago we had to be in Mt Roskill for a game at 9:30am then back to West Auckland for a marimba recital at a local festival by 11am.  It was tight!

Today though, it was just the two hockey games, some hours apart.  Did I mention the fog? Those buildings are right across the road from the field but they were only just visible at 10am when we arrived.

The WG plays 8 a side and on half of the turf.

Here she is with her pink hockey stick on attack.  She played the first half on defense.

Unfortunately it was something of a whitewash, the opposition won by 4 goals to 1.

I remember when those shorts she's wearing hung down around her knees and there was barely any skin to be seen between the top of her socks and the bottom of her shorts.  4 years later and she looks a lot bigger.

And here is the MC, playing in the 3rd Division Men's team.  He's 15 and playing guys in their 20's, 30's and my age!  The guy who is tackling him in that shot, is a former Olympic player, he played for NZ.

The MC holds his own with the older players and he's bigger than some of them.  That astounds me.  Although he is taller than me, I still think of him as my child.  Seeing him taller than men with facial hair, well it's something of a shock.

As you can see he got around the former Olympic player.

We came home around 3.30 having been at the hockey turf for the better part of the day.

The WG is doing the 40 hour famine too, so she has been shoveling back Barley Sugars and Just Juice.  She's given up food, technology and talking!  It's been a quiet 20 hours so far.

Crafting for cash?

A friend of mine is thinking of taking a stall at the local market and she has invited me to crochet some goodies to sell.  I don't usually sell anything I make.  Sometimes people give me wool to make things from for them.  That's about as close as I have ever got.

I'm thinking of making some fingerless mitts, hats, cup cozies, flower posies and key rings to start with,  quick stuff that doesn't take a lot of yarn.  Then I can use any money to make more expensive things and things that take a little longer, scarves etc.

I'll have to think on it.

Meanwhile, my granny stitch zig zag/ripple is moving along nicely.  I've made some alterations to the pattern so it's got zig zag sides as well as top and bottom.  I can't wait to get it finished for Grandma's birthday.  I have 12 more days to get it done.  I have to work out what I will do to edge it.