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 :-)

Angels at the Airport

This is the favourite tree in the Auckland Airport Shopping Centre Carpark dressed up for Christmas with peg and pipe cleaner angel dolls



 

Amigurumi Christmas Trees

Last year I made the team I work with little amigurumi snowmen.

This year I've made them each a little Christmas Tree with crocheted tinsel and some beads for baubles.

A few months ago I had quite a giggle from this Readers Digest book from the 70's that said to use a tongue depressor to make a lacy crochet stitch well, you'll never guess what I found at my local craft store.......

Guess what I'm going to be trying out this week :-)

It is summer - it really is....

It's thundering and lightening and pouring with rain.
Today it's just the humidity that proves the season we're in...  not like last weeks trip to The Mount  :-)



Pretty Pacific views

 

Pohutakawa is out before Christmas -
I think that means we're in for a long summer :-)

Mount Maunganui Main Beach

Christmas Bunting

I love fabric, and I'd love to be able to do amazing things with it, and after the various failed experiments I really should know that it's really not my thing - and yet I still can't resist....

Bunting. Surely even I can cut out some triangles and sew them on some bias tape?

Things I learned. 

I bough the wrong width bias tape - the fatter stuff would have been easier so I could  fold it over the top of the triangles - in the end I had to sew 2 lots together.

It really does pay to take time cutting out the triangles so they are all the same size (it's not only my sewing skills that need to be improved)

Putting your foot down on the sewing machine and closing your eyes can sometimes make a straighter line than if you look.

And a mere 4 hours and (not too much stress) later we have 10 meters of Christmas bunting to decorate with :-)

Luckily for my mediocre sewing skills, bunting is usually not close enough for anyone to see the mistakes

Crocheting for All Hallows Eve

It's a long weekend, my special shawl order is finished, blocked and ready to go, the granny blanket request is 80% done and I'm looking for a little fill in project to do.

It's coming up Halloween, and I do love to make little things to leave here, there and everywhere, as well as give to unsuspecting workmates, so I'm about to start making these cool looking skulls. 

And also some of these cute little spiders :-)

 

The pattens for both can be found on the Lion Brand website & Ravelry

Auckland Diwali Festival

Diwali or Deepavali (row of lamps) is an ancient Indian festival that is celebrated throughout India and in Indian communities around the world.  This was the first time we'd been to the Auckland festival, and what a treat it was (even with the weather bomb).

There was a heap of delicious food stalls with gorgeous vegetarian offerings and different Indian sweets.  We had onion bahji (my all time favourite), samosas, pakoras, dahl thingees (whatever they were they were yum!) and some mango laksa to cool the mouth after the heat of the spice.

Rows of food stalls up Queen Street

And OMG The Bling!  
If I had smaller hands my arms would be rattling with the sounds of multiple bangles tinkling away whilst I typed.  Instead my thumb knuckles are slightly sore from trying to push the beautiful sparkly things on to my chunky wrists.  
I wonder if there is a hand and wrist diet I could do??

Aotea Square & the main stage

On the main stage there were singers when we first arrived and then came the fabulous dancers, unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to get a good photo, so this is  'general ambiance' in between squally showers