"Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all" Douglas Adams

Thursday 12 September 2013

Cosy Creatures

It seems like a bit of a tradition now.  Whenever I get to come to Wellington and see the gang I bring a wee crocheted gift for them.

Its been ages since I caught up with them (since the cup cosies) so of course I had to whip something up.

Introducing the Cosy Creatures.  A wee cosy for a phone, camera, smokes, whatever wee thing lives in a bag or a pocket.


Saturday 27 July 2013

Art Thou Art?

Counting Flowers On The Wall


I've made some 'art things' to display at the Franklin Arts festival.  
This one came about because I liked the idea of someone very depressed (my interpretation of the song  or as I read on various websites someone in a a mental hospital) finding the ultimate answer to to the ultimate question whilst counting flowers on the wall :-)
 
The Song (linky to YouTube)
Counting flowers on the wall
That don't bother me at all
Playing solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo
Now don't tell me I've nothing to do.


The Number (thanks Wikipedia)
42 The number has received considerable attention in popular culture as a result of its central appearance in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything".

Sunday 30 June 2013

Jooshing a frock



I got a lovely grey dress at a fab sale yesterday. The comments I got when I showed the family went along the lines of: "that's very pedestrian for you" "it looks like a school pinafore" " it's a bit grey".  So I jooshed it with some bright pink cotton crochet :-) 

When it's on it looks quite retro :-) 


I'm sold on the crochet collar look now... Next step is to see how many items if clothing I can adorn :-) 

Wednesday 29 May 2013

A Cosy Cup

I try to make my friends in Wellington a wee prezzie mid year if I get a chance to catch up with them.  This year I've made them cup cosies which will work for either for hot or cold drinks.

Made out of a lovely soft cotton, they have roses for the girls and our bloke has a dickie bow and a moustache.  


I made all of the embellishments removable so they can also be used as a badge or brooch too.  Talk about multi functional :-)

(I'm also playing with the scheduling tool on Blogger so I can publish this at the same time as I'm giving them their cosy - now that's pretty cool in quite a geeky way :-))

Monday 27 May 2013

Wrap it Up

A couple of wraps I've been playing with in between blanket making:

This one is lots of flowers, so pretty and delicate :-)



This has been my "on a plane" one for the past few weeks - the yarn is a bit sparkly, I've been thinking I might keep it for myself :-)


Monday 29 April 2013

Airports

I spend a bit of time at airports. I tend to fly somewhere every other week with the job that pays me enough to spend money on yarn.

I've found out lately that I have 'one of those faces' the one that says "yes, talk to me and tell me your life story or anything that is worrying you". It's fantastic!

In the past couple of weeks I've met a lady who was having problems with her husband because they had to go visit her family rather than them doing the visiting, a man who was going to see the love of his life in Wales, a guy who was a fisherman who recently realised his best friend was his soulmate, and another who knew people I knew through my ex husband.

So here I sit, at the airport, playing with blogger on my iPhone and missing out on chatting..... So I'd better get my crochet out (it's Bruges lace this week) and hear more stories :-)



Sunday 7 April 2013

Catching Up & Child Allergy....

I was trying to catch up with my blog reading this morning and found out that Google Reader is going somewhere so I needed to read my blogs another way.  Luckily others are more 'on to it' than me and have discovered Bloglovin is a good way to go. So I've been and organised myself over there this morning.  If you fancy you can 
Follow my blog with Bloglovin by clicking on that link.

I've been getting prepared to help out with Buddhas birthday celebrations next weekend.  (last year it upset my child allergies). This year I wanted to do something that didn't need too much 'pre-work', and maybe something that meant the children didn't need to hang around at our stall for so long.  So yesterday, with the help of You Tube I taught myself how to finger knit and made this scarf/cowl thing.


Next step in the preparations is to teach my sister since she's my helper for the day and make sure we can show others.  I know that it a nice thing to do,  the child allergy however, is making me a bit anxious....

I'll let you know how it goes :-)

Monday 1 April 2013

Granny Cardi

I've become inspired and addicted to the Inside Crochet magazine since I came across a copy at the Pukekohe PaperPlus & PostShop.  I gifted myself a subscription and ever since I've been almost running to check the mailbox when I get home.  Not that I'm actually expecting another issue just yet, you just never know though....


I saw a cardi in the December issue that I felt like I needed to give a try.  As usual I got mad with trying to understand the (very) basic pattern, and pulled the whole thing out, and then this Easter weekend I thought I'd give it another go:




Granny square stitches around the yoke



Obviously quite impressed with myself now I've done 2 cardi's I'm thinking a jersey next, or maybe a frock, or a coat, or..... well actually it's another blanket since I've had a request :-)

Wednesday 27 February 2013

And the Oscar for Outstanding Hooking goes too.....


I'd like to thank my 3.5mm crochet hook (the smallest I've used so far in my hooking career) 
The gorgeous silk & mohair mix yarn
The various patterns from the 1970's that I looked too for inspiration and guidance 
My family for the constant and very consistent affirmations of "it's the first time you've tried to make something normal, is it for someones child?"

It really is a career highlight for me to have created, not only a cardigan, but one that can be worn out in the wild almost with my head up high (lets not kid ourselves here it's definitely not perfect...) 

And so with no more preamble, let me introduce the very first, the inaugural, the original JacBer Cardi 
Drum roll please........
(please excuse the photos - I was way to excited to pose properly and then have retakes).
The buttons need a bit of work (i.e. some of them are a bit small and keep popping out of the button hole!)

Sunday 17 February 2013

Hooks are flying!

Literally...
I've been popping about the country quite a bit recently, and that means time spent at airports and on the plane is extra crocheting time :-)


I've finished 3 more shawls for the Felt Shop plus two shawls and a blanket that were asked for, as well as the usual couple of dozen hearts to be hung from random trees for Valentines Day (oorrrrrrr).

3 shawls in the Felt Shop
Now for something new.  
I'm attempting a cardigan.  
So far I've pulled it apart four times, tried 3 different patterns and now I'm winging it.  It's based loosely on a pattern from my 70's Family Crochet Book, I'm saying loosely because after I'd finished the back I realised the stitch pattern was all wrong and the pattern I'm 'kind of not really' following is for a jumper not a cardi....


The yarn is lovely it's a very fine mohair and silk mix, I'm also aware that it may expand quite a bit when it's blocked so I'm really trying not to add extra stitches or it'll end up being a very holey coat for someone like Hagrid!

More flying this week, so I might get it finished by next weekend.  I have high hopes :-)

Saturday 12 January 2013

Cute Cotton Crocheting

I sorted out my stash and found I had been hoarding cotton, so I decided to have a play with amigurumi over the Christmas break and this is the result:


These 2 teddy bears are based from pictures I found on the internet on crocheted bears.  
They are so cuddly!


I also wanted to try my hand a dolls.  
It's something I've played with on and off over the years, I think these ones have turned out the best so far :-)