The wrong yarn for the job

I've got some lovely yarns in my stash that I keep starting a project with and then tossing aside because they just don't quite work.

It's a bit like that strange thing other people do called swatching,  I tend to ignore suggestions of the types of yarns to use for certain things.  This has quite often turned out well, and just as often turned out wrong!   Its also why I shy away from motifs a bit, just in case it doesn't work, then I can't reuse the yarn as easily.

This is the 4th time I've tried to use this bamboo yarn to make something,  and it's not 4th time lucky.

With a renewed interest in Tunisian Crochet I think that this one might be good for that....  so a frogging we will go (again!)  :-)

Shrug Hug

Love the library:-)

Cool crochet books and other fab ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

I picked up this lovely yarn at the Creatve Fibre Festival the other weekend and have been looking out for a brill project that's not too hard and is easy to do on the ever crowded train.

So I have chosen this Shrug Hug from a book called Custom Crocheted Sweaters by Dora Ohrenstein.

I've tried shrugs before and I've always had to frog them because they just didn't look like the picture.   For this one there has been research.  Lots of great reviews.... so I guess if it doesn't work...... must be me.... :-D

Nail art

Its a bit harder than I thought it would be.
The whole hammering thing is a little tedious. And I think I was a little bit ambitious with the amount of nails I dcided to do for my design.

I drew my design on some graph paper first. Painted my bit of wood and popped the paper on top of the painted side when it was dry.

I finally finished hammering yesterday and now i can start with the weaving.
So far so good I think....

Where did JacBerCreations go?

Well, it didn't really say anything did it?
It's the New Year so what better time to have a change and become re-invigorated? 

I'm also mixing it up and not just crocheting. Yesterday we went to Bunnings and shopped for wood and nails. Very cool!  Today I am making a loom and am going to try weaving, I'm also going to do piece of nail/string art.  Once I've figured out how to make what I want I'll share the stages.

Yesterday I was trying to come up with my Cup of Tea and a Yarn picture.   This was the best bit...... 

I drew my design on the material with a pen and made a mistake. Once I'd finished my sewing I used nail polish remover to try and get the pen off.  Got some of it on the rest of the yarn. It bled..... A lesson learned...  I quite like the 'Cup of Tea' part though.

Back in the Saddle again......

Hurrah!

What's the best way to get creative? 
Join the Freeform Crochet Along for International Crochet Month on Ravelry 

I did this 2 years ago and I had a blast and made this:

Which, whenever I wear it my family cringes and I get loads of compliments (though I have also learnt not to wear it when I want people to actually listen to what I'm talking about - apparently it's distracting :-) )


I was a few days late so had to crochet like mad the last couple of evenings to catch up

Here are my scrumbles* so far:

*Scrumbles is a technical term for freeform which I've chosen to translate to 'blobs of creations put together'

So far I've done 3 stitches I've never done before, including Tunisian Crochet which I'd avoided.
I'm very much looking forward to seeing what it turns out to be.....

Crochet for the home....

...... and it's not even kitsch (well, much anyway)!

I'm a bit of a hoarder and keep any bit of yarn that is more than 30cm long. I started this blanket a month or so ago (this was the 4th attempt) and it's made up of all of my remnants.  

My nephew says it's "gangsta" which made me worry about being kidnapped by gunpoint whilst I was napping on the couch.  Or maybe it's like Arthur Dents towel and instead of being full of nutrients it has different drugs in it (not sure I want to risk sucking on it though!)  It's a kind of log cabin pattern that I made up as I went. Pretty 'gangsta' eh? :-)

We are renting quite a new house, which is something very different to what we've lived in before.  It's very warm for one!  And it's a little lacking in character, especially the kitchen which has all those lovely clean sterile lines with quite a bit of stainless steel.  So I crocheted some nice bright cotton dishcloths (yep they're almost granny squares I couldn't help it....).

They're working out really well, some soy cotton and some cotton cotton.  Apparently they last for ages too :-)

Normal is... Lime Green

A spot of normality in a sea of cardboard.... (can you spy it?)

This time next week we'll be on the other side of the Bombay Hills, and unpacking. 

So this is what we've done with our long weekend, hope yours has been as productive  & you didn't get too wet at the ANZAC Day dawn services

Specs & Stash

Too much time in front of the computer I think. 
Yep it's getting to that age when the specs are needed (hahaha not really, I've supposed to have worn them for quite a few years now and just ignored them!)
I wore them driving home tonight - and now I know why Andrew tells me off for travelling so close to the car in front!

I will be able to admire my new stash better though :-)

Oh the plans I have for this lovely selection of lambs wool and other wool!  My nephew helped me to wind the skeins in to balls at the weekend - I haven't been able to get Andrew to do that for ages, he's so over it :-)

(oh - And I have an idea for a George spin off, I'll let you know how it goes :-) )

Messy Afghan & Pretty Flower

I think that this is a Camelia. It's so pretty, the bush is outside the front door and has loads of buds on it :-)

I've done various things with the end bits of all the balls of yarn I've used, including making a couple of very colourful scarves.  The other day I had a message from Grandmother Carolyn on Zibbet telling me about (and showing me) a fab afghan that her grandmother had made from the odds and ends of yarn. It was very beautiful. 
So, erm.... here is the start of my much messier version!

I quite like it though :-)

Sheep & Yarn

Our neighbours visited for lunch today

Awww they're so cute!

The EtsyHookers team is having a challenge, the last one I participated in was the inspiration behind the camouflage toilet roll cover doll. This challenge has an exercise theme. Remembering it gets to be listed in the JacBerKitsch shop I need to keep it kitsch.... the yarn I have to play with is brown, yellow and a kind of gold lame... (I'm giggling manically about the gold lame type yarn!)

A mental step backwards

I love yarns, the colours, the textures and the inspiration of what might be.

This months featured etsy blogger is Vicki of DizzyDragonflies.

And looking at Vickis' shop

http://DizzyDragonflies.etsy.com and blog http://knittingdragonflies.blogspot.com has made me take a mental step backwards.

Vicki knits and she spins and dyes her own yarn........

Her blog has some amazing pictures that show how she progresses with the dying

And her shop has the results........

This one is called Tropical Waters and reminds me of the harbour around Tauranga :-)