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Wednesday 27 August 2014

Witches Brew

Halloween is one of those holidays I normally ignore. We don't celebrate it much in Australia and finding places to Trick or Treat over here is very hard. But I do love witches. Actually I've been hooked on Charmed recently and thoroughly enjoying watching season 1 again.

Because I could I made a little sampler cross stitch pattern for Halloween celebrating a Witches Brew. I love the bright colours of this one and the cute little witch in her purple robe. I had lots of fun today finishing the pattern and stitching up the main part today. I might just leave it as it is.



You can find that pattern over at my ETSY shop

Here is a photo of the full pattern it's a gorgeous little sampler.

I will probably end up stitching the whole design eventually.


Happy Stitching,
Caitlin



Monday 25 August 2014

I couldn't resist

Well ... for those that read my blog often enough you wouldn't be surprised about this at all. I couldn't resist starting the basket pattern!

But at least I can say I didn't add a WIP to my pile I also managed a finish over the weekend. So now I can present to you my Handy Basket.


I used a 10ply acrylic I bought a couple of months ago thinking to use it to make some more gloves but that never happened. Though I did try starting them a couple of times.

 I paired it with an 8 ply acrylic because it said to use 2 strands and I used a 5mm crochet hook. I love how it turned out. So gorgeous ... I love the colours this yarn is so pretty but it was very scratchy to use and I'm glad I didn't make gloves out of it.


As you can see it is already in use holding my keys by the door so I don't have to search for them anymore.


What have you finished recently?
Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Thursday 21 August 2014

Crochet Blankets

I'm not the only one making a blanket in my family at the moment. My mother gets the Better Homes and Gardens Australia magazine every month and it was a couple of months ago that she got this magazine with an awesome pattern. Of course my mother being my mother she read the pattern and then went nah! I know how to do that better and off she went. (it was after this that I found out my mum had never read a crochet pattern before and she was the one who taught me to crochet many years ago.)



As you can see she loves bright colours and stuff that can really pop. There are also some flowers there that may be sewn into some of the centres and they are all various sizes. I love the fact that it isn't all the same and it's many many pretty colours. I want to see what gets added next. I think the plan is to add some solid granny squares or some with round centres. (I showed mum my new book and there were a couple of patterns in there she wants to try and add.)

When it is finally finished it should hopefully be big enough to put on a queen bed at least that is Mum's plan at the moment we never know with mum what things are going to end up like. But they always end up looking awesome.

ETA:
I did say blankets in the title for a reason I wanted to put an updated photo of my blanket as well. These are a little bit old but I haven't worked on it much but for some reason I kept forgetting to post photos. I'm really good about posting a quick update to instagram but constantly forget to post up here. I will get better.


 James is being my helper but refused to come out from behind the blanket. Like most men I've met he hates the camera.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Pretty Mail

When I found out about Planet June bringing out a new book I couldn't resist finding out more. Then when I got the email (I'm on her mailing list) I just had to check it out. Within minutes I had ordered it from bookdepository. That site is the best for getting a decent price on books because they ship to Australia for free and shipping for anything always kills you.

I love her patterns the couple of amigurami patterns I already have are great. She explains everything beautifully and I feel like I know what to do from the words and the pictures she includes. I don't have to spend ages sitting there trying to work out how to do the tricky part she has anticipated this and shows you how to. ALSO I am always on the lookout for great beginner crochet books with good pictures and instructions because I love learning more, and it's something about the teacher in me that I need the best beginner books possible for when I want to help people. Below is one of her patterns I've crocheted up.


The boxer I made for mum Christmas 2014


I love to help people with crochet/knitting/cross stitch. My dream job is running a craft shop cafe where people can come to sit and craft but also get help when they need it. It sounds absolutely awesome to me. So any cool information or books that actually help you are wonderful.

Now I want to show you some pictures of my new book since I've gone on and on about it to you. It's called Idiot's Guides: Crochet.

Here it is in all it's glory. It doesn't look like much from the cover and the orange doesn't do it any favours but once you open it WOW!

The Pictures are beautiful and clear and the words explain everything that you would need to know. It's chock full of information and detail I keep opening it up and learning something new.


Here are just two of the projects that I want to start RIGHT now! The pictures of them are awesome and I just want to start now. But I am being restrained for the moment and just adding another row to my blanket instead.

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin

Saturday 16 August 2014

Adventures

Since I've moved to a new part of the city I have found it really hard in the afternoons and on the weekends when I'm looking after the kids. We moved to a smaller house with no backyard so everyone goes just a little bit stir crazy. This is never more noticeable than when we have rain like we've had the last two days.

Yesterday was alright it was only  drizzling and I managed to get out of the house myself and take a walk. It was very quite as I was the only one out and about in that weather. But I did have my trusty umbrella with me so I didn't get soaked even though it started to rain as I was walking back.


as you can kinda see in this photo it was a bit of a steep path down. It was interesting to walk back up. Everything was just a little bit slippery.


Look at the termite mound in this tree. They are quite common around the bush areas.

Down the bottom of the hill it was all boardwalks through the swamp. It was pretty cool to walk through and eventually I got to see the river.




Although I wish they had a better clearer view it was still nice peeking through the trees.

Today has been another day and with rain all day it has been a bit unbearable.But thankfully we got out for a bit to see the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. It was awesome and amazing to just get out for a while.

I really haven't been crafting much the last couple of days/weeks I started playing pokemon white again and it's caught me. It's so hard to put down!

Happy Stitching,
Caitlin



Sunday 10 August 2014

Cross Stitch Butterflies

Well I was asked a month or more ago if I knew any good patterns for butterflies, dinosaurs and sharks. Now I don't really know many designers outside of random magazines with patterns if I had been asked about simple patterns for people that would have been easy I would have headed to cloudsfactory. But because I couldn't answer I decided that I needed to make some instead.

Now that is a really convoluted explanation for using any excuse to come up with a butterfly pattern. I liked the sound of making one and so I did.


Actually I made two patterns. The first is a Blue Monarch Butterfly and the second is the Australian Painted Lady.

These are the same height as the rest of my patterns so they are only 2 inches tall when done on 14ct but are twice the width because of the wings.

They are up in my etsy shop they come together on the same pattern and you can find them HERE!

I hope you like these patterns and you can check out more of the animals in my shop. I am getting excited about all my patterns and I am going to try some dinosaurs next.

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