Scary Cute Graphghan

Back in September I agreed to make a Monster High graphghan for the daughter of a great friend for Christmas. I started off well but other projects and life in general slowed me down considerably.

 Fast forward to today and I am only 30 rows in with another 117 to go. 

The pattern is quite a nightmare. When I ran the photo through knit pro 2.0

 http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro/  

 it didn't come out as clear as I would have liked because the photo was too detailed. So now I am spending quite a big chunk of time modifying as I go or pulling out the graph paper and fully reworking sections that are necessary but blurry. 

I figure that to get this finished before Christmas I need to find at least two hours a day to just concentrate on this. All other crochet projects are completed until after Christmas so it should be fine. Right? Hopefully there will not be too many stuff ups along the way. I love how bright and gorgeous it is looking. Fingers crossed I'm up to the challenge. Wish me luck!

I'm Back!

Being without a computer really sucks when you want to blog. Trying to write a blog on the iphone is stressful. Especially if the iphone is like mine and likes to protest the abuse it unintentionally recieves. I'm sure it limits my use by frequently freezing on purpose. So this week I managed to get myself a tablet on the cheap. I am enjoying it so far except for its short battery life. Today a message popped up on screen saying to plug in my charger because I only had 14% battery life left. About 90 seconds later the tablet shut off! What is with that?

It has been a whole six months since my last post. Even though I have been crocheting in that time, I have only managed to complete one project. I joined a scarf/cowl swap on the 'Our crochet and furbabies' facebook page. I picked out a gorgeous cowl on Ravelry called the Chevron Infinity Cowl by Pam Daley Designs. I used Bernat Mosaic in Fantasy and fell in love with both the yarn and the pattern. As a bonus my swap partner also loved it!
In return my partner sent me a wonderfully soft scarf. I have no idea what the yarn is called but it is a verigated thicker yarn with eyelash yarn incorporated into it. I have a very hard time keeping my daughter from walking off with it!

Puppy Cuddles

No crochet updates today. Just cuteness!

Projects and Puppies

One of the things I love about working in a nursing home is that when one of your family members are sick you are not allowed back to work for 48 hours after the last episode. Most single mums stress over what they are going to do with their sick kids during work hours while we have the comfort of knowing I will always be able to stay with them.
Last week my DD came down with a bug. It didn't last very long but with the 48 hour rule I got in a few days of much needed crochet time without the constant interruptions of, "Muummm" coming from upstairs. It was a very productive time.
Some of the projects are going oversea's so I can not post photo's yet. This is what I can show you.
My temperature scarf with February completed. I really must get onto those ends. As you can see we have not had much difference in our temps for February compared to January.

This gorgeous love bug ami. It will soon be sent overseas to a very cute two year old. It is meant to have a heart on it's belly but it would not go on straight no matter how many times I tried. In the end I decided to leave it off instead of somehow destroying my very first completed ami project.

An American friend had a little baby boy last month and I am making a car seat blanket for him. I received the yarn for it yesterday morning but had promised myself that I would finish a granny square for my swap partner before I started. Luckily the square was finished in no time. This was how far I got on the blanket yesterday. I am loving the bright colors and I'm hoping bubba will love the visual stimulation.

The other exciting news is that my gorgeous maltese x shihtzu girl had her puppies on the 1st of March. A date I will not forget as my eldest DD keeps reminding me they share a birthday with Ron Weasley from Harry Potter.
My Missy had three gorgeous girls. We have decided to keep the brown and tan one. Her name is Coco and Molly the white and black one will be going to join my mums family. The cute white and brown one might be going home with one of my work mates as a surprise for her newly widowed mum.
They are quite the handful. Climbing out of their bed and I was surprised to find them already wrestling. Not being able to see or hear hasn't stopped them. Perhaps the cutest thing is the way they sleep together though. We are very excited to watch them grow over the next couple of months.

EDITED TO ADD: The car seat blanket pattern can be found at http://www.anniescatalog.com/detail.html?prod_id=88170

Bernat CAL: Temperature Scarf-January

I was excited to see this years Bernat CAL/KAL. Last years mystery blanket still sits unfinished until I can find some time in my busy schedule. So to find this year that we get to work on it all year is great.

As per usual I was late to the game but the official starting date was February 1st. I sat down to figure out the lowest and highest temps in my town over a year. Broke it down into 5.c increments and then used a colour wheel that has warm to cool colours and picked my colours accordingly. I ordered my Caron Simply Soft yarn in ten colours and it was delivered a few days later.
My colours are:
Raspberry
Strawberry
Persimmon
Melon
Lemonade
Sage
Lt Country Blue
Berry Blue
Dk Country Blue and
Vanilla for a border colour.
If I followed the directions to the letter I would have a ridiculously long scarf at the end of 365 days. I have decided to only work one row each day not two to make a more manageable scarf. I am loving the progress I have made on it. As well as the fact that I am up to date. Let's hope I can stay that way!

Polish Delights

Earlier in the week I received a gorgeous package in the mail all the way from Poland as part of the Holiday RAOK on Crochetville.

In the few years I have been a member at the 'Ville I have received packages from several different countries, but this was the first time I have received anything from Poland. To say I was excited was an understatement!
In the package was some gorgeous handmade gifts. A miniature felt stocking with the cutest snowman applique and pom poms. Three gorgeous snowflakes and a card with a beautiful angel attached to the front. They go so well together that it will be a shame to separate them this Christmas for the few weeks the angel will be adorning my tree.
Thank you so much my new friend. You do beautiful work!

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours pulling down our tree and the other decorations. I always feel a little flat at this time of year after the excited anticipation dies away. My children were feeling the same, albeit for a different reason. My youngest son commented that he wished it was Christmas every week; that way he will get new toys every week. I mentally patted myself on the back when my eldest son lectured him on how Christmas isn't about material things, then ruined it by finishing with, "but that would be awesome." I told them that if they wanted Christmas to last longer this year we could do it. My two eldest children, who know Santa doesn't exist, were thrilled with the idea. At least until I told them that this year they could open one present a week and see how many weeks it lasted. That idea didn't go down too well. Instead we decided that once a month we will do a Christmas decoration craft while listening to carols and snacking on fruit cake.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is coming to a close here in Australia and what a day it's been! We have had a great time celebrating with our family. Feasting, playing board games and enjoying each others company.
This afternoon we got a lovely big thunderstorm. Always a lovely change from sweltering heat. We shepherded all the children inside to watch 'Kangaroo Jack' while my two brothers hijacked my nephews nerf guns and ambushed us while we were playing Rummy King in the pergola. Fun times!! I don't think men ever really grow up. Simple pleasures make great memories.

Don't forget to hug your children a little tighter and spare a thought to all those parents who won't get to hear their little ones laughter.

I hope your Christmas is as special as ours.