Stitchy comfort...

While Cohen pulled as many things as he could out of the linen cupboard the cat came to investigate. Cohen turned his attention to a cat chase and took off after the cat and fell over and started crying. Mummy picked up her baby boy as he flung his arms back and upset a glass in the process. The glass spilt its contents over the laptop.

And that was the end of the laptop.

We are waiting to see what can be retrieved off the hard drive.

A friend has leant us her old laptop while we try to decide between purchasing another laptop or a desktop.

Any suggestions are welcome.

I have been crocheting away on Cohen's vest and am really enjoying see it take shape.

A little something came in the mail from the Bendigo Woolen Mills today and helped cheer me up.

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Thank you for the lovely comments about our cabinet and the tutorial. It is always great to find an inbox full of sweet emails.

Crochet hook roll tutorial...

Supplies:

3 fat quarters of fabric of your choice

Pins

Scissors

Dressmakers chalk or invisible pen

Sewing machine

Cotton, colours of your choice

Iron

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Optional:

Rotary Cutter

Quilting Ruler

Quilting Mat

Start by ironing your material and choosing which will be the back, inside and pocket fabric.

I chose the bird print for the back, the brown print for the inside and the cream print for the pocket.

Cut back and inside pieces to 19 inches wide and 13 inches high - I used my quilting mat, ruler and cutter for this.

Cut Pocket to size 6 x 19 inches.

Cut ties to size 1.5 x 20 inches.

You should have 1 back, 1 inside, 1 pocket and 2 ties cut out.

Fold fabric for the ties in half, right sides facing and iron in place. Pin raw edges together and sew along raw edges on the long side and one short side, leaving one short side open for turning. Repeat on other tie.

Using a chopstick or similar turn ties out the right way, iron flat and sew closely along the seam on the right side to finish.

Fold top of fabric for pocket over 1/4 inch and iron, fold another 1/4 inch, iron and stitch close to edge to make hem.

Pin pocket wrong side down to right side of inside fabric, corners meeting at bottom.

Pin both ties to the right side front fabric 4 inches from the bottom.

Sandwich all pieces and pin together so that the back fabric, the ties and the pocket all lay right side down onto the inside's right side fabric.

Using pins, mark an opening on the opposite side of the fabric from the ties about 2 inches wide. Sew around the entire piece, leaving this two inches open.

Clip corners and turn piece right side out through the 2 inch gap left.

Use chopstick to push out corners.

Once right side out, iron piece so that the seam allowance of the two inch gap is tucked inside the piece.

Stitching close to the edge of the work, sew around the entire roll, thus closing the gap and finishing off the rolls edge.

Using dressmakers chalk or an invisible pen that will wash out in water, mark out the stitching that will hold the hooks in the pocket.

I left a 4 inch gap between the ties and the first row of stitching so that there is room for scissors, stitch markers etc. and spaced the rest of the stitching an inch apart.

Sew along the marked lines and trim loose threads.

Fill with crochet hooks and goodies, roll up it up and you are done.

And there you have it. I would love to see photos of any that you make.

Please feel free to ask questions or let me know if you have spotted any mistakes.

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Sandy has made two crochet hook rolls using the tutorial.

Have you made one too?

Flying Diamonds Shawl...

I've finished crocheting the 'Flying Diamonds Shawl' but am yet to block it. It will be the first project I have blocked. Do you know any tutorials about blocking that I could use, or perhaps you have a few pointers for me?

I would very much hate to do it wrong and ruin my first woolen shawl.

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On Ravelry.

I surprised myself with this project. I had concerns about the difficulty of the patterns and my level of crochet ability. But now I have been left with much more confidence in my growing crochet skills and I am ready to tackle crochet of increasing difficulty.

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Tomorrow I will post the photo heavy tutorial for the crochet hook wrap.

Flea Market Finds...

This dear old cabinet is at ease in the guest room and is now home to vintage linens, sewing baskets and dinner setting that has been passed down through the family.

It quickly struck a friendship with the resident plate collection and introductions have been made between the cabinet and the other plates that are waiting to reside there, pending the appearance of plate hooks. Another sewing basket might be in order too....

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More Flea Market Finds here.

Shopping and crochet...

Isn't it lovely to go craft shopping with friends?

And more lovely still when you find exactly what you were looking for and a little bit more.

Only the border needs to be completed on the shawl. I found this book at the library and couldn't help but start on the vest just a bit...

More info on Ravelry.

Right now...

The leaves are beginning to change colour as Autumn creeps into our garden.

The weather has very slowly started to cool down a touch and blankets have made their way back on to the bed.

The giveaway winner has been announced.

Mel has just finished a beautiful quilt.

Jodie sent me a fantastic pattern.

Sundara has given her mother the most amazing shawl.

Kate introduced me to a wonderful book.

I received the huge box of lovely fabric scraps from the very talented Jennifer.

And I have found a pattern, brought some wool and hope to make my dream of making a piece of clothing for Cohen a reality soon.

Everything really is quite nice right now.

My Creative Space...

A little more sewing has been happening. A bag for Cohen's beach toys, an apron for a friend.

It feels great to be back at the sewing machine, but at night, when it cools down, it is nice to pick up the wool and work on this shawl.

Thank you Michelle for introducing me to the pattern, it's beautiful.

There is another shawl in the works for a friend and then I think I will try my hand at crocheting some Winter clothes for Cohen. Do you know of any nice patterns?

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More creative spaces here.

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PS. Don't forget that the giveaway gets drawn tomorrow!

Sometimes...

Sometimes, when Daddy is at work, Mummy and Cohen get up to mischief.

Sometimes Mummy covers the bottom of a container with uncooked rice and pops a measuring cup and a spoon inside.

Sometimes Cohen sits and plays with the rice, scoops it up, knocks over the container, eats a bit, throws a bit, crawls through it.

And always he laughs.

And always Mummy sweeps it all up, so that when Daddy gets home he is none the wiser.

I need a skein machine...

Being fairly new to all things wool related I realised last night just how much I have to learn. I brought this amazing skein of wool from etsy and waited with great anticipation for it to arrive so I could start my next project. My wool-know-how friend informed me that I couldn't start without first winding the skein into a ball.

Right. No worries. Sounds easy.

It took several hours last night, of me swearing like a sailor, to untangle the skein and wind it into this ball. Goggle helped with directions but I fail to believe that some people find winding a skein into a ball by hand 'calming'. I was loosing my calm a little more with each turn of the ball and each new knot.

Please never allow me to purchase a skein ever again. I don't care how beautiful the wool is. Winding it takes years off my life.

Unless of course I have a swift... surely that would be really easy?

Right?

A little more help from my photography assistant.

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PS. Don't forget about the giveaway.

With a little help from my friends...

For the first time yesterday afternoon, Daddy took Cohen on a play date with friends and left Mummy at home to do as she pleased. Having spent the past 15 months with Cohen by my side on all be a few occasions, it is still such a strange feeling to be without him. I thought of the perfect distraction...

With my time alone I finished this crochet hook roll in about and hour and enjoyed getting back to my sewing machine to make something for myself.

I had a little helping taking photos of it this morning. Even the cat wanted to be in on the action, pushing a paw in to the last photo.

I have been wanting to make a roll like this for my growing crochet hook collection for quite awhile. I have seen some lovely ones around and I was inspired by Amy's choice of fabric for her crochet case. I made the roll without a pattern, using three fat quarters from my stash and

letting the fat quarters be the guide for the size. It was so simple and quick.

If anyone is interested in a tutorial for this project let me know and I can write one up with the next one I make.

Flea Market Finds...

When you babe falls asleep in his pram I think it is best not to wake him...

Especially when there are three thrift stores in the vicinity.

And so it was that I came home with a toy BBQ for Cohen's cubby, clothes, cutter linens and an Enid Blyton book featuring my name.

Thus fulfilling my love of Enid Blyton and my vanity at seeing my name on the cover.

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More Flea Market Finds here.

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PS. Don't forget about my fabric giveaway here.

What do you mean?

Have I been eating off the floor?

What kind of question is that?

Sunshine giveaway...

The sun is flooding in to the house today and drying up the rain we had earlier.

It is one of those days where I think anything might be possible.

And I wanted to share some of that sunshine with you...

Comment on this post for the chance to win this sweet and sunshiney Moda 'Sunshine' jelly roll and vintage sewing notions.

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Share some sunshine with us all and tell us, what is your favorite thing about Summer?

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Giveaway closes on the 26th March 2010.

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EDIT: Random org chose comment number 22.

Congratulations Elflyn, and thanks to everyone who entered.

There will be another giveaway soon.

Try, try...

and try again.

At the moment I am playing with a pear design for Kate's pin cushion swap. I haven't quite got it right yet. But that is half the fun, isn't it?

Third time's a charm?

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More creative spaces here.

Out damn spot...

(Image)

I've embarked on a sort of un-Spring clean as we head further into Autumn here in Australia.

I blame this and this blog.

I have made a list, of course, a large list like these.

And I am slowly cleaning my way through that list. I tried to work through each room systematically, but was hampered by a walking one year old, so I have been choosing a moment and choosing a task.

What satisfaction as I mark things off that list!

Do you have a Spring cleaning ritual?

I heart Maleny...

We spent another lovely weekend staying with friends in the gorgeous town of Maleny.

I always love the last part of the drive where boring highway makes way for luscious green hills and valleys and farms are dotted along the road side.

I also love stopping in at the home wares shop near the bank, what's it called again?

It is where I brought this dear little book, as I was in need of an expensive and extravagant exercise book for safekeeping recipes.

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I am off to fill it now with recipes like this and this.

Do you have any recipes that are a must for inclusion in this book?

In the post...

I think the most exciting part of being involved in a swap is finding a package in you mailbox, not knowing exactly what you will find inside. It is such a thrill. I run inside with the package and with Cohen we fight away through the packaging until we find the contents.

And just look what we found this time!

A beautiful birdie quilt, fabric and vintage linen threads from Shannon.

Thank you Shannon, I love it all!

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Now this is why I sign up for swaps, for pieces of lovely like these.

Flea Market Finds...

Last weekend while we were away we visited the Lifeline Bookfest and supported the charitable organisation while filling our bags and our bookshelves.

On the Sunday books were sold by the full environmental bag for $5.

I loaded my bag up with classic Penguins - among them works from F Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Hesse and Iris Murdoch who are among my favorites.

I couldn't resist some lovely old hard cover books and vintage Penguins to add to my collection, as well as children's books, music scores, plays and poetry.

I love the designs of these old book covers.

This one is on the upside down Shelly book above. It's it just plain sweet.

I can imagine some lovely fabric made with these repeats.

Ahhh... books. They make the world a better place do they not?

After all, "The reading of all good books in like conversations with the finest men of the past centuries." - Descartes

More flea market finds here.

Linen love...

I was delighted by the discovery of these two linen table cloths of my Grandmothers.

The first of which has been the started while the other awaits the first stitches.

These lovely pieces would have to be over fifty years old.

Do you think it would be too terrible for me to finish them?