A Bouquet Of Cotton (and lots of links)

I have been admiring the gorgeous vintage crochet potholders over at Purlbee for a while now.
I've been inspired to search out some retro patterns like
this retro inspired pot holder
and this one
aaaaaaaaaand this one
but, alas, I haven't found that there's a great deal of cotton sold locally that comes in a wide enough variety of colours to play with or, if it does, is suitably sturdy...so I was delighted to read, on the Aussie Knitters forum on Ravelry, that an Australian Ebay seller, called Natty Yarns, was clearing her (substantial) stock of Lily Sugar n Cream.
I bought twenty three balls
(yikes)
and here are just some of them...

yarn = joy

Silk Painting

Last Sunday I rediscovered a silk scarf I painted quite a few years ago and I thought I'd share it here. I made it at a weekend workshop. It was my first attempt at painting on silk.

Here are some details:

and here's the scarf in it's entirety:


The square in the middle is unintentionally wonky but, wonkiness aside, it was great fun to paint. The silk colours were really pure and vivid, the paint blended effortlessly and I loved the process of creating it. I liked making it for sentimental reasons too ~ the leaves I drew are from my much loved gum tree, so it's a nice memento.

Writing this has helped to get me all inspired again (which is one of the things I love about blogging) and I'm planning on going to more silk painting workshops when I get the opportunity.

A Pretty Pair

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm participating in a secret teacosy swap over at Ravelry. Yesterday, I received this comment on my blog:

Anonymous said...
So, if you're in a tea cosy swap, how will your partner know what size to make? Could there perhaps be a picture or dimensions??
signed
A Well-Wisher

Thankyou, my thoughtful (yet strangely shy) anonymous visitor. That is a very good idea. I'm sure, ahem, I could even say confident, that my secret swap partner will be very grateful that you suggested it.

Actually, I have two pots and I don't mind which one my swap partner makes a cosy for.
Here's a photo of one:


It's 15cm tall and 14cm across at its widest point. (Incidentally, I bought it when I was op~shopping at St. Vincent de Paul's. Isn't it cute?)

...and here's a photo of another:

This one's a little bigger. It's 15cm tall again but 16cm across at its widest point. The ball of wool, by the way, weighs 50 grams.

...um,
and if my aforementioned anonymous visitor can think of anything else that might help my secret swap partner, do let me know.

Shill Shelling and Tea Cosying

I've continued to work on my Shill Shell Shawl. I have been trying to complete three rows a night. It's made with DK yarn so the going is fairly slow but I'm optimistic that it'll be ready to wear for the beginning of December.

I'm also participating in the Aussie Tea Cosy Swap over at Ravelry. I've been looking at cosy patterns (Crochetroo has some sweet ones, including free instructions for a gorgeous scallop tea cosy)...and stalking my partner. No~one's revealing their identity so there's an element of surprise to it all. It's fun!

A Thankyou, A Present And Some Charity Work

I'd like to start off this post by expressing gratitude to the people who've commented here. I appreciate your attention and support, and when I get time I'm going to respond to you individually. Thank you.

I've finished felting the little pouch I am making as a belated birthday present for my mum.
Here it is pre~felting,

here it is post~felting

and here's a close~up which I've included, really, to show the sweet seaside and snowflake daisies that have self seeded in my garden!

Now I've just got to sew the felted daisy pocket on to the front, and make some ties and a button.

I'm also using the pattern to make some little pouches for orphaned possums and bandicoots that are being cared for at the wonderful Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. For overseas people who are reading this, here's a picture of a ringtailed possum, which is one of the species of marsupial that Kanyana nurses.


This little possum's name is Scaredy and I befriended her when I was holidaying in Margaret River at the beginning of the year. The picture's a bit fuzzy I know (I didn't take many shots because I didn't want to hurt her eyes with the flash from my camera) but it gives you an idea of how lovely these creatures are.

If anyone would like to help out and make pouches for the wildlife centre too, please leave me a comment and I'll send you details.

...And A Little More Progress...

My daisy blanket is the size of a lapghan now:

(I'm thinking of sewing down those curling petals when I come to weave in the ends.)

This is such a lovely, relaxing blanket to make...crochet as meditation...

For those of you who don't yet have the pattern for the daisy square in the middle, you can find it here.

EDITED TO ADD:
I've just updated the pattern link for the daisy square pattern.
You can also find it on Ravelry where it's listed as the Easy Daisy Granny.
29th October, 2010

Shill Shell Shawl

I've started to make a shawl:

Christmas falls in Summer, here in Australia, and I really want to have a light stole to wear out over the festive season. After browsing through Ravelry, I've decided to make a Shill Shell Shawl. The pattern's free (which is always good), I'm using Jo Sharp DK cotton which I already had in my stash (even better), it's working up really quickly (excellent!) and, because it's made in one piece, I think it's going to be a lot sturdier than the Champagne Wrap I originally planned to crochet with this yarn.

...and a note to anyone out there who is planning on making one of these shawls too ~ although this is a very clearly written pattern, I had difficulty getting this started. I made a repeated error in the first row because the shells pulled the base chain which caused me to, mistakenly, skip three chains, instead of two chains, after every shell. The third chain, having been pulled by the shell, was tiny and I didn't count it. (I hope this makes sense!)

Ravelry and Rain

It's too overcast to take photographs right now, we've had two days of drenching rain, so I have no new pictures to share...but this old photo of Molly is cute, don't you think? Despite the lack of evidence, there has been a lot of crocheting going on here. I'm working on Mum's flower bag, adding rows of pink and mauve to my Easy Daisy blanket, and I have started crocheting a lacy wrap, more about that later.

I've been exploring Ravelry too. I received my invite a few weeks ago but I have only just gotten around to having a really good look through it. What a fantastic resource! I've been browsing through patterns for cardigans this morning. It is so easy to access information about, and people's opinions on, garments. I love it!

Op~Shopping Treasures

I recently spent a day op~shopping and cafe hopping with my sister (one of my most favourite ways of unwinding.) I found a little vase, at St Vincent de Paul's, to add to my growing array of hand~painted and hand~thrown ceramics. Here it is, along with a few other pieces from my collection, on the right:

Incidentally, the roses are a gift from my darling neighbour...and the delectable apple slice was purchased from the New Norcia cafe. I (decadently) ate it for breakfast right after taking these photos...mmm...

A Change Of Plan

I've decided that the little daisy square that I felted is too big to be a pincushion so I'm going to use it as a pocket on a felt pouch instead. Here's the square and the pouch, which I've almost finished crocheting:

I've adapted this pattern to make the pouch.

As I wrote in my last entry, I'm making this as a birthday present for my mother. Of course, by writing about it, I was tempting fate and my mum, who never looks at this blog, visited the night after I posted about what I was making for her. So it won't be a surprise. Sheesh.
She likes it though, thinks it's funny that she busted me and we've talked on the 'phone about how I can modify it so she can sling it over the chair she sits in to do needlework and use it to keep equipment at hand.
I'm looking forward to giving it to her.