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Happy Crochet Moodling

I have been enjoying some long, happy idling with crochet. Really good for the soul. This is my first attempt at using two colours in a granny square. Loving the result. I am seeing visions of colourful blankets dancing in my head.

After a long time with little to no creative inspiration, I am enjoying this time of creation and new ideas. And after reading the above quote by Brenda Ueland, I want to find copies of her two books. She sounds like she was a very wise, very creative lady. As she wrote, I think my inspiration is coming from allowing myself time to putter, to do what my heart desires without over-thinking the end results.

Brenda Ueland at Wikipedia

– Brenda Ueland; Family papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Brenda Ueland quotes

A related post (on creativity) that I found most inspirational, by Pip from Meet Me At Mike’s. Do read, it really is worth it.

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A Photo Essay (of sorts)




1. My darling, handsome Husbitect last night as we enjoyed the delicious mushroom soup that he made. My Dad is visible, too. :)

2. Mushroom soup! Very, very yummy. Flaked almonds & nutmeg on top. Om nom nom.

3. The moon tonight, well before the eclipse.

4. I’ve been practicing crochet & focusing on the first round of a granny square. I think I am getting better & my stitches are getting loser. Yay!

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Ducks on the Roof

Only a small post today. Since having the flu badly for a couple of weeks, I now have some kind of tummy bug. Eating makes me feel so very uncomfortable. Not fun. Anyhoo, this morning when I walked into the kitchen I looked out the window and for a moment, tried to remember if the neighbours usually had statues on the roof. I did a double take and realised that it was three ducks sitting on the roof! They must  have stopped for a rest while migrating or moving to a new area. A blurry photo as I had to use the digital zoom on my camera. Ducks! A lovely start to the day, not to mention seeing our first female PM being sworn in.

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Enjoying the Rain

Ah, I do enjoy rainy days. The sound of rain against the windows, the sparkling of each drop, the misty look of the trees in the distance. Rain, wind, snow – my favourite weather. I was born in winter and I am definitely a winter girl! I don’t mind nice balmy spring days but once it starts getting above 24c, I become super whiny girl. I am in my element with this lovely cold, wet winter.

The material in the photo above is some gorgeous forest patterned material I found at Ikea. The colours are gorgeous and there are cute animals like foxes and squirrels. I’m not sure what I will make with it yet, I want to find just the right project. It might also be a good idea if I learn how to use a sewing machine first. I do have one, I’ve just not used it yet. It’s a cheapie from Kmart that I thought would make a good machine to learn on. Another item on my list of things to learn.

Today I’ve been getting some things done that I previously kept putting off and boy does it feel good to have finally done them! I’m still knitting my ribbed scarf but must admit to being tempted to casting on another project. There are so many lovely patterns out there. But I am going to try to behave and finish the scarf before I start anything new.

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What's On Your Table – Tuesday.

Joining in with the lovely Joyce’s What’s On Your Table. On my table today is a lovely cup of Genmaicha and a bundle of papery things for Pip’s Envelope Project. I’m a bit behind on that one, fortunately I still have time to send something in. Will be making an envelope out of an old magazine page later tonight. I used to make a lot of envelopes and stationary bits when I had pen friends. One of the pieces of paper in the above bundle was made with my own fair hands. I really should get out my mold & deckle and make some more paper. Anyhoo, the photo is a bit blurry because the steam from my tea fogged up the camera lens – tea fog!

As I type this I am listening to my favourite singer – Cliff Richard. Currently playing is “Wired For Sound’. Do you remember the song and video clip from the 80s? Cliff on roller skates with lots of dancers, also on roller skates. All in funky disco-like dress. Every time I listen to the song or watch the clip, I want to find a pair of roller skates, grab my walkman and go skating around singing along with Cliff at the top of my voice. That would be so much fun! There is an intro on the clip below, but it’s short and then you can watch this classic, Cliff video clip:

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I have a lot of cute on my desk

The above is a photo of my knitting time the night before last. All comfy on the lounge, stripey socks, glass of wine, knitting and watching “I Survive a Japanese Game Show” and then “Airline USA”. I do love me some airline shows. I find airports fascinating. I haven’t traveled much, so far only to Hamilton Island. That is as far as I have been on a plane. I hope one day to get to go travelling overseas. Especially to Japan. Although the airline may not let me back on with my luggage as I would buy A LOT of super cute Japanese things. Kawaii all the way!

Speaking of cute things, here is an older video of my desk which has lots of cute things all over it. And you can hear my voice. Although that may not be a good thing! hehe

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Photo Fun

I’ve been going through some of my old files and found a couple of photos to share. The first is of some damper that I made once. The slice I photographed reminded me of the shape of Australia. Pretty fitting for damper! The second photo is of a teensy tiny snowman I made a couple of years ago while living in the Blue Mountains. Ah, snow. I do so love your prettiness.


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More Knitting

Finally took photos of another older project so I could add it to my Ravelry profile. One that I have only recently started wearing, even though I finished it at least a year ago. The pattern is ‘Salad Wristers‘ from the talented Presents Knits. Holiday 8 ply wool yarn. Out of all my knitted items, this is the project that has attracted the most compliments – even from total strangers!

Bonus furry hair from my precious Kitty, Max!


My big black panther, Max! Aww, he’s so cute! :)

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I love collecting!

Above is a blurry, but artistic (yes?) photo of some of our collection of things. On a very cool, retro wicker shelfy thing. If you squint, you can kinda make out some of my squirrels, my Japanese Kitty bowls, a lucky Cat, my London bus collection, a retro clock from my Mum & Dad and some of my plastic fruit. I lurve me some plastic fruit. And miniature food, but that’s another story. Oh! – and you can see my cow milk jug! I looked for that for ages and was quite chuffed when I found one!

Can you spy our faboo flower lights in the back? They are from Ikea and are so pretty. I want some fairy lights too, to hang around my desk. The shiny and sparkly is always good!

On another note, what are some of the regular meme type things that bloggers do every week? I’m out of touch and would love to know what is around now. Share?

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Tea Time

Long time, no updates = bad Alysha.

Hoping to really get back into blogging after a very long break. Not just the odd entry but at least an entry every two or so days. How do you get back into blogging after a long break, any tips?

Had a lovely Christmas and New Years. Shall try to do a post covering that at a later date. I have photos, just haven’t written about them yet. We spent some time over the last couple of months visiting op shops and antique stores admiring expensive things and buying a few more affordable items. I’ve mentioned my love of vintage cook books here before, and I am happy that my hubby also enjoys them and loves to find some classics as much as I do!

More posts to come on Christmas, New Year, craftyness and vintage yummies!

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My Place and Yours

That’s nyoice, that’s different, that’s unewesyewl!
Theme by Little Suitcase.

noice

Last week’s theme was about quirky features in your home. The one above is a quirky feature in ours (rental). The pantry cupboard has a door knob on the inside as well as the outside. And it has a lock. That’s right, you can lock yourself in the pantry cupboard.

Maybe the person who installed the extra door knob wanted to sit in the shelves and pretend to be a packet of flour. Or perhaps they had a secret identity and liked to hang upside down in dark places like a fruit bat. Whatever the reason they would have to been very tiny as there is not much room for a person in there. The mind boggles.

To play along, visit the lovely Pip!

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My Place And Yours : Blog Headquarters

Eeeyha! Posting to you from alyshajane.com’s secret headquarters, complete with lots of pink, kitty and squirrel things. These are all required as alyshajane herself is powered by copious amounts of pink and cuteness. Amongst other things. This post is for Pip’s My Place and Yours. The theme this week comes from Ninon.
Click to see a bigger version (opens in new window):alyshajane.com HQ

For this photo I tried my hand at panography, a technique that gives a wide-angle view of a scene comprised of many photos. Like photo stitching, except you can see the joins. I’ve always liked this technique and now that I’ve had a go, I can see many more in my future. You can find a panography tutorial at Photojojo & more examples at Flickr.

The three white squirrels in the front aren’t normally in front of my keyboard; cute as they are, they’d make typing a bit difficult. My lovely hubby just bought them for me while we were out doing grocery shopping. Whenever he hears me take a sharp and awe-struck breath or shriek “Eeeeee” he knows that I have spotted either Kitty or Squirrel cuteness. If I see both together at one time, I’d possibly pass out from glee.

P.S: I recently tried making a video of my desk/blog HQ which you can see on Flickr.