Craftapalooza

Yarn fever

It's been a while since I've had Yarn Fever.....you know the "I must have it..." type of feeling. This week whilst I was playing in Ravelry I found this scarf, link to blog post for those that aren't fortunate enough to have Ravelry membership :0). And I was all oooh lovely scarf, what's that yarn, looks like Noro, and it IS. A new Noro, Taiyo, a cotton/wool/silk mix bulky yarn. YUMMMMY.  Also helps that I'm on a crochet kick at the moment.

Picture fleeced from: Fire Brunette Knitting.

Useful little link over at Knitpicker, Etsy Yarn and Supplies shops....Dangerous!

Mother of all vase covers

Yeah I was struggling to come up with a title for this little ripper. As you can guess this is a Mother's Day gift (BTW happy MD this Sunday to all my bloggie and real world motherly friend types). After The Son saw it, she said "I want that one".... and I said why *#$%  didn't you say that a week ago. So I still have another to make for my other mother.*

The pattern is from Amy Butler's "Sew-it Kit". I pretty much followed the pattern aside from the bit where I ran out of fabric for the strap and had to improvise with twill tape. Fabric: Lotta Jansdotter from the lovely Leslie (no I'm not pimping fabric for her, I just love buying from her). I ended up buying a vase to use with the cover, I think the intention is to use a jar. The "flowers" are knitting needles, not having any flowers available a quick improvise was needed.

Quite a nice little project, though as with a lot of Amy's patterns, they look simple and clean but there are lots of little details in them! Deceptively detailed.

Song for the week? Goin' vintage on you with Chaka Khan "I feel for you", holy crap a hit from 1984!

* An aside that cracks me up....When speaking to Ted I often say "where's your brother from another mother" ie the cat. Funny? No? Well it makes me chuckle.

quilted footrest #2

Hey ya'll! Not much to say other than, here's Al's finished footrest. This time I used quite a few mid weight fabrics which changed the shape a little. Most of the fabrics are Japanese imports from Superbuzzy, Reprodepot and Leslie.

My photography assistant...

More pics over at flickr.

Oh and Fran turned 40 yesterday, Happy Belated 40 bloody birthday wishes Fran. hugs!

And, Twitter rocks, if you're a dooce fan she updates regularly and keeps me chuckling during the day.

kitchen renovation

A few of you have asked for some pics of the finished kitchen. There's still a little tweaking to do, but here's where we are at. I did have trouble photographing this, think it was a combination of my limited photography skills, the black and white contrast, lighting and I didn't have time to move furniture out of the way. I might get around to taking better shots in the future, but for now these will have to do! :)

First up though for contrast, the old kitchen. We had 2 walls removed and several structural beams inserted into the roof. These guys rocked, totally professional and I would recommend them to anyone. I can't remember his business name, but any locals that are interested in a wall removal dude just drop me an email. He finished in 2-3 days, then 2 days kitchen installed, by these guys. I don't know if I'd recommend them. Whilst I'm overall happy with the job there's some details and service I'm not happy with. Their project management of the job, or lack, is probably one of the major issues and the fact that we spent quite a considerable amount of money with them (well for us it was) and there was no follow up at all after installation. Nothing. Pretty slack. Still, she's a solid kitchen and a joy to use, the appliances obviously pay a big part in that joy! Look at that oven, it's a monster and I love her.

The pictures below are also over at flickr if you want to read some notes and further detail.

The wall below is opposite the kitchen and the dining room is between this wall and the kitchen.

So that's pretty much it! I will post another time about my apple fetish and get some decent pics to share!

happy h**ker...

Yep, I've turned into a h**ker. Crochet h**ker that is. It started with the ripple and then this scarf and then progressed to softies. There are heaps of awesome patterns out there. Next up I want to teach myself to read Japanese crochet patterns. The dinosaur I made for a friend's birthday, pattern from Owlishly, did it matter that he was a 40 odd year old man? No, I didn't think so either.

Lovely Fran tagged me, just for you Miss F six random things about me:

1. I like to poke my tongue at small people just to see their reactions. They're mixed and generally hilarious for those of you that are interested, anything from dobbing you in to mum or dad to poking their own tongue back at you.

2. I'm left handed though I play any "bat" sports right handed.

3. I make a lot of noise at the cinema, not intentionally. Apparently I agree, clap my hands, gasp and laugh very loudly.

4. I'm freckly.

5. I never finished high school, left at year 11 and went to technical college and did a certificate in office studies. I've been working full time since I was 17.

6. Aaah, I have a thing for country music. In particular Lyle Lovett and recently....Reba McIntyre.

Tag, ok for once I'm gonna, here goes. You guys are it: Auntie Cookie, How About Orange, Molly Chicken, Buzzville, Red Felt Flower and Sodeste.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.


I couldn't leave you without a picture of at least ONE of my furkids. Here's the Spud for those of you that have missed him. He's doing very well, aside from some mysterious fur loss on his belly and legs and tolerating his older brother's boisterous love.

Teddy No Nuts

Yep, it's become a puppy blog...I had the past week off work for various reasons, house fix-ups, time out and Teddy 2 Turds went in to get neutered, which didn't slow him down one bit! I didn't get as much crafting finished or started as I would have hoped but I did attack the crafty room and you can now walk into it and find stuff!

So crafting? Lots of small projects.

I saw this baby kokeshi pattern over at The Moch and pounced. Now mine haven't turned out quite as cute, I couldn't find a super matt varnish so they're a little shiny. They look like they have bad t-zones! Still, fun pattern and I'd try again.

After seeing Alicia's, Jane's and then Fran's ripples, I got sucked into the ripple. Initially I was thinking Debbie  Bliss Cashmerino Aran, but impatience led me to the stash and the ripping out of an existing wip. I'm using Jo Sharp Cotton DK, cotton's probably not the best choice but I'm still happy with how it's progressing. I'll probably add some charcoal, black and some other colour. Depending how this one turns out I think I'll still do the  Cashmerino version just for soft squishyness.

Moving right along....I bought one of Sarah's Clothespin Doll Kits and had fun putting these two gals together. I used some of my own stash in addition to the fabrics that came with the kit. Highly recommend these, quick and very satisfying.

Finally a quick sewn gift for The Mo this Easter, a Wee Big Footed Bunny. A tricky little pattern that had me furrowing my brow and almost having a crafty tanty, but I prayed to the crafty dudes and they came through. Made using a denim shirt I used to wear over 12 years ago. Lovely soft denim. White flannel accents and little animal print overalls.

In the wings? Two more cushions in progress for the lounge. A quilt for The Son and I. A denim/flannel chenille blankie and a gazillion other knit projects and ideas.

I'll leave you with some of my current etsy favourites. Corrabelle - awesome hand carved block prints. Good-ness - lots of Japanese goodness, Leslie rocks. Angela Liguori - lovely Italian cotton ribbon and other treasures. Cotton Bird Designs - sweet little birds. Allyson Hill - excellent car bin bags, perfect for our new Mazda2 :)

"King Tut from Turd Island"

Is what came out of The Son's mouth in the middle of the night last week when we were having a 2am special moment with Sir Turdalot, our 22 week Pugalier (for those interested in the breed). Which subsequently got The Spud up, excited and joining in the fun. This had me cackling with sleepy laughter, she then dryly fired off "another fine f***ing moment in pet ownership" which had both of us giggling and Turdalot very excited at the middle of the night hilarity.

Yes this story is intended to distract you at the lack of crafting, so is the cute puppy pic. There's been crafting, but it's been scattered and disjointed. I still need to finish Al M's footrest. For those that have asked for a pattern I'm not sure I can share. It was from a class I did at a local fabric store, although their pattern was an adaptation of a Kaffe Fassett pattern. I'll try and find the original pattern that I received and see if there are are any copyright issues, though I'd say there is.

I was also intending on writing up the egg cosy pattern, luckily Kathleen over at Knittyknit's done one that is very similar. If you'd like to do one like mine, instead of casting off the 3 final stitches start knitting an i-cord for the length you'd prefer and then cast off. EASY! I've started a knitted egg cosy flickr group, please post pictures of any knitted or crochet egg cosy's not just this pattern.

I've made a couple of itty bitty felt bunny's from Last-Minute Fabric Gifts. He stands about 5cm tall not including his ears and below is one of three patchwork cushions for the living room. This one's finished, the other two are in various stages of patchwork and I hope to finish them on my holiday's in a couple of week's time.

Thanks to my mid Winter gocco swappers! Hope you guys enjoyed yours, I loved receiving mine.

I've been playing and playing Feist's album "The Reminder", it rocks (do I sound old saying that??). You might be familiar with their song "1, 2, 3, 4".

Until next time, happy crafting!

photo time capsule

Nifty little idea, Photojojo's Time Capsule. Sign up with your flickr account and once a week you'll receive an email with images taken a year ago. Here's mine for this week.

Sondra, I love you.

sh*t on the liver

Or pillow crease face. This is how I woke up this morning, feeling cranky and frowny. So, this post, not a lot of words just pictures. Everything's great, my life is awesome, but I still wake up sometimes with sh*t on the liver. *Sigh*. Saying that The Son did have me crying tears of laughter on the freeway this morning.

WIP - Valentine Sequin Scarf. Love the yarn.

FO's. T-Bot using one of Hilary's awesome patterns for a friends little fella.

Felty goodness. After seeing Sarah's awesome garland it reminded me that I had this book, thanks Miss Kate, and that I should have a play.

Brooch

and this one too big to be a brooch I think but a patch on a denim jacket? Or handbag?

and a birdie bookmark

More house? Ok. Here's parts of our bedroom. These lanters are in my corner of the bedroom. I love love love them.

The wall at the end of the bed, no the whole room is not this colour, just one wall. Ironically the colour is called Lickedy Lick. Not quite colour accurate here, it's more pink than red.

Ok, I think looking at this little monkey could help cure anyone's sh*t on the liver. Well that's if he's not peeing somewhere you'd prefer he didn't, or chasing the cat, or running off with the knickers you've just taken off at the end of the day, or digging a hole to China in the backyard....you get the idea.

Happy crafting peeps.