Crochet love

I've always wanted to learn to crochet. I remember my mum made a crochet blanket out of all of her scrap wool. I LOVED it. There was a lot of blue, a smidge of orange and lots of other great colors that she had left over from other projects. I love granny square rugs and all that kinda thing.

At Brown Owls Aunty Pat did her best to teach me how to get the hang of it all but to be honest, she was quick sticks with the crocheting. You know when someone tries to teach you and they say 'I'll do a few stitches so you can see how it is done' then you hand over the tools and their hands fly in the air so fast that they are practically a blur - well that is Aunty Pat. She is a whizz when it comes to crochet. And very kind and patient too.

So I knew I needed to practice before I could play with the great wool I bought at the Calico and Chintz closing down sale. Lucky for me, I have a friend who is v good a crochet and helped to start me off and remind me of a few tricks of the trade. Anyhoo, the beginnings of my first beanie were falling nicely into place. After a few nights of stitching....voila!

The beanie is for the Mr. I promised it to him last October for his birthday - and here it is. 8 months later.

The wool is called Free Spirit (I think). It is lovely. The colors are so autumn like.

I think I increased too much at the beginning so it is slightly too large but thanks to Lara's advice, I think I'll handwash it in some warm water and see if it shrinks slightly. If it all goes horribly wrong, I guess Herb will have a beanie!

This is why I love crochet

All you need is a hook! And the wool of course. How transportable is that? You can practically crochet anywhere, anytime. Stop lights, waiting for appointments, in line at the bank (does anyone stand in line at the bank anymore?), on the train - you get the picture - ANYWHERE.

The worst looking soup...the best tasting soup

Mushroom soup...my favourite.

Lighting up a winter's day

I made this lovely lamp for a friend's wedding. I used Lara Cameron's lampshade tute which was really clear and easy to follow. The fabric is Japanese and it is a really nice weight and weave. The funny thing about it is that there doesn't seem to be a 'right way' up for this pattern. Some of the flowers are right way up and some are upside down. But overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I hope it is happy in its new home.

The train...in progress

Train masterpiece

Herb turned one earlier this month. The Mr and I stayed up very late creating this awesome cake. My friend Sara Lee made the cake (tip to all other parents - Sara Lee slab cake is really easy to ice and cut) but we constructed, iced and decorated. It was such fun.
When I was little, my sister and I looked through the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book over and over and over. Lots of weekends - especially those rainy ones- were spent poring over the book trying to decide which cake we'd have for our next birthday. Can I get a few things off my chest?
1. Who would want the duck cake? The popcorn and the potato chips would go soggy from the icing. Plus the cake to icing ratio is way too high.
2. I wanted the sweet shop so badly...and never got it.
3. How did the crew at WW make sure that the paper on the typewriter didn't get oily from the icing?
4. Did I mention I love butter icing. Like, realllllly love it.
Ok, that's all. For now.

Meanwhile, the train cake was sooooo good. I think we'll do the helicopter next year.

Nicknames

A friend at work asked me if Herb had a nickname. It got me thinking how nicknames come about and how silly they are. But nicknames can be lots of fun and they sure do stick.
I've been a copycat from Ballarat and popped over to Wordle (inspired by Pip's post

Apple-a-day

I cannot get enough of iPhoto. It would make me turn from a PC to a Mac. I love those ads where PC is a geek and Mac is the cool sleek type. I know that I have quite a bit of inner geek, so perhaps my PC speaks volumes about me.
But I'm telling you - get onto iPhoto and go crazy. It is bloody awesome.

Ravelry

OMG. My Ravelry invitation just arrived. Think of the hours I'll be wasting!! I mean...investing.

Black or white

Oh the dilemmas of my day. The Mr did a great job on a project at his work and they gave him some gift vouchers to Myer. We've decided to join the masses and invest in an iPod. But the big question is...black or white? I think that Mr is a black fan but I'm pretty certain that my loyalties lay with white. If only they made grey.

iPod pics from apple.com

Sock and glove

My lovely sister creates fab sofites from recycled materials. She is a very clever gal. For her birthday I found this ace book for her, it has lots and lots of patterns for very cute softies - pandas, monkeys, puppies and lots more. So if you feel the urge to create cool things from socks and gloves, go and pick yourself up a copy!

Withdrawal

Boring post. No pics. Nothing exciting to say except that I have flaunted all the bloggy protocols by irregular posts. I'll tell you this: working really interferes with things! I don't have time to work. I'd rather blog.