Article
August 25, 2010
1 comment
by alysha

What’s On Your Table?

What’s on my Table or What’s in the Bag?

I’ll open it up a little more, it looks quite full of something squishy and soft. Could it be…

Yes! Yes, it is full of yarn! Glorious yarn in many colours including the shades of pink and white yarn that I need to complete my first granny square blanket.

Ah. Now I can play with crochet motifs in many colours. And feel content that I finally found more hot pink yarn, after many weeks of searching.

I was about to enjoy a cup of tea while writing this post, however I took one sip and felt ill. I may have over-tea’d myself lately. At least with plain black, milky tea. The drain enjoyed that cup. I think I shall have a glass of apple juice instead. Do you ever over-tea yourself?

What is on your table? Join the lovely Joyce’s meme!

Article
August 19, 2010
1 comment
by alysha

What's On Your Table

What’s On Your Table – Tuesday. Yes, today is Thursday…as usual, I am late to post. Oops! Please excuse the iPhone photos, I keep forgetting to charge my camera’s battery. The photos are of one of my birthday presents from my Husbitect. It is a little felt craft kit to make a charm for use on your mobile phone (or somewhere else). I think it comes from Japan.

My kit is a teensy donut and a cup of coffee. The donut even has beads for sprinkles! So cute! This will be one of my next crafty projects. Everything is included except a needle so I am good to go. Will post photos of the finished charm soon.

Article
July 20, 2010
2 comments
by alysha

What's On Your Table – Tuesday

Time for another edition of What’s On Your Table – Tuesday. I love Joyce’s squares which she is making for a wonderful charity project. What a lovely thing to do! Once my squares are a bit neater, I think I shall make some for the same project. If you want to join in with What’s On Your Table, visit Joyce and don’t forget to say hello!

I’ve been a bit behind with posting here lately. Hopefully I will be back into regular posting from now on. There has been a lot of, shall we say, ‘stuff’ going on behind the scenes. I’d rather fluff (especially if it is wool fluff from knitting and crochet) but lately it’s been stuff on my metaphorical table. More fluff, I say!

The main crafty thing I’ve been working on is still granny squares. I’m making a lot of pink & white squares plus pink & cream squares for a blanket. I started making random colours because I was just so excited to be able to crochet, but I have now settled into a colour scheme. I just counted my pile of squares – 38! Plus one circle that I made to learn how to crochet circles. The tally of squares does not include my very first square which I want to keep as a special square. Maybe in a crochet/knitting journal. Which I will start one day. Hopefully.

Article
July 2, 2010
2 comments
by alysha

You have Mail – Crafty Mail

Yay, a brand new mem to join in! Visit the lovely and talented Julia at Daisy Girl Adventures to join in on You have Mail – Crafty Mail!

I haven’t received anything crafty in the mail lately,  so as we can also use crafty things that we have bought, I thought I would use my collection of Golden Hands books (18 in the series) that cover knitting, dressmaking and needlecraft. I love the  range of projects and the graphics used throughout the books.

The series was published in the late 60s and early 70s. I was very excited when I saw the complete set at a secondhand book sale! I plan on using the books to learn new knitting & crochet stitches as well as to guide me as I learn to use my sewing machine. There are some good step-by-step guides and pattern tips which I hope will make things a little clearer.

Have you received some crafty mail or purchased crafty goods? Join in!

Article
June 30, 2010
2 comments
by alysha

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.

Article
June 29, 2010
3 comments
by alysha

Knitting Flowers

I am now completely obsessed with crochet. I am determined to get my granny squares all tidy and even. Practice makes perfect they say, so I am practicing, practicing, practicing. I’m excited to try crochet flowers next and then work up to one of those gorgeous crocheted shawls, such as this one I saw on Ravelry.

While I may be crochet obsessed, I still enjoy knitting. A recent-ish book purchase was ‘100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet’ by Lesley Stanfield. Gorgeous book, so many lovely flower patterns. The patterns are written in a clear, easy to follow manner and I can see this book being one of my favourites.

In the photo you can see the first flower that I have knitted from the book, a Poppy. I used 8 ply yarn, although I can’t remember which brand. Will have to find the label. It was a quick, fun project. I’m going to sew a brooch backing to the flower so I can wear it on winter coats and jumpers. I was thinking about adding it to a hair-band or clip but thought I’d get more use out of it as a brooch.

Article
June 28, 2010
5 comments
by alysha

I made a Granny Square!

I finally figured out how to make a granny square! It’s not perfect but it is my very first granny square that actually looks like a granny square. I am so excited! After so long trying to understand crochet, I’m getting close. Ooh, maybe soon I will be able to try all those fab crochet patterns that I’ve seen in books and online. I used some Holiday 8 ply wool and a 4.5mm crochet hook. The yarn is a bit splitty, it’s only Kmart type yarn, but perfect for all the practice rounds of crochet I’ve been making.

I’m excited to have made a granny square, but also to have persisted in learning something, even though I thought I wouldn’t be able to figure it out. I regularly give up projects before I have even started because I think I will do it wrong. Every stitch in this square is a reminder to myself that I can learn new things, I just have to give it a try and practice. Enjoy the whole process, including the mistakes along the way. I’m learning that mistakes aren’t scary, they can be fun & they can help me learn how to do something correctly. Yay for learning new things!

I learnt using the following videos:

Article
June 25, 2010
4 comments
by alysha

My Creative Space | Learning Crochet

I am currently learning how to crochet. For some reason it is harder for me than knitting. I’ve been watching videos on how to make granny squares & attempting to follow along. I get close, but my squares are too tight. Am I making a mistake in starting with a granny square or should I learn different type of stitches first?

As you can see, I’ve bought a few books in the hunt for one that makes it clearer and for someone who can’t crochet, I have a nice collection of crochet hooks. When I was learning how to knit, I had a wee bit of trouble picking that up but the owner of the local yarn shop recommended a children’s learn to knit booklet from Panda. Bingo! It all started to make sense. I felt a bit silly, but apparently I wasn’t the only adult who found the kids book much easier to follow. Maybe I need a kids book on crochet, too!

It’s all about learning for my creative space this week. Have a look at other creative spaces here at Kootoyoo.

Article
June 23, 2010
2 comments
by alysha

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.

Article
June 18, 2010
4 comments
by alysha

My Creative Space | Button Craft

I thought I would play along with ‘My Creative Space‘ this week as I have something to share. I’ve always wanted to have ago at making rings, finally I have! I made this ring using a plain ring blank from Lincraft and two buttons, one slightly smaller than other so that they fitted together. Both buttons were from Lincraft, I love the red one with the shell-like finish. I used a hot glue gun to fix the buttons together and then onto the ring.

Of course now I have made one, I want to make more. Which means I keep looking for interesting buttons, like those below that I found at an antique store. They need a bit of a clean but they are so pretty. I’m not sure if they are plastic or bakelite. I think the yellow ones may be bakelite while the rest are plastic. The two red heart buttons are modern, but the rest are vintage. Hmm…I wonder if the store has any new ones? I feel the need to go check and rummage through the button boxes for more treasures.

Article
June 12, 2010
0 comment
by alysha

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! :)