It's time for another yarn ...

It is amazing how time can pass by so fast as it has been a few weeks since I have posted anything on my blog. Life has been busy in so many ways, but luckily for me I still found some time to start something new.

Crochet and knitting have become my new obsession. In my last post I showed my Colourful Crochet Blanket  I have been working on. Progress is kind of slow as I have so many ends to tie and sew in. I think in future this will be done when I change my yarns to make it quicker and easier. Once that is finished I can then crochet on the boarder.

At the beginning of the year I purchased all the wool for my blanket and I went a little overboard. So with my left over yarn I have been able to start another two blankets one knitted and the other is crocheted.

A basket full of colour  -  my left over yarn ...

It has been quite a while since I last used a pair of knitting needles. When I was a little girl my mother would always cast on for me and I would knit until I made a mistake then I would unravel it. I think I did it to many times as I lost interest in the whole knitting thing. Well, I'm determined to have another go and hopefully I don't have to unravel much.

My sister Sophie at Hello Crafty began knitting last year and she started with the Super Easy Blanket by Purl Bee and I think this is a good place for me to start too. I began this blanket with the help from Ruth Marshall an amazing talented woman, I attend one of her classes at Hobbysew where she teachers just about anything and everything.

Firstly, she showed me how to cast onto circular knitting needles and with over 150 to do I don't think I'll forget in a hurry as it took forever. Then my addiction began - knit, knit, knit, row after row after row and before I knew it I was onto my third colour. The blanket is turning out so fluffy and soft, I am loving it even though I did unravel it a couple of times. I am still at the learning stage and undoing my stitches is still a bit tricky for me. Practice makes perfect and now I'm ever so careful with my knitting making sure there are no missed stitches or mistakes. So far so good, what do you think ...

My version of the Super Easy Blanket by Purl Bee ...

With the cooler colours of yarn put aside for the knitting, I had to find a pattern for the warmer colours that were left. I started a Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket by Celeste Young a pattern I found on Ravelry which is in the shape of a 12 Pointed Star and the warm colours will look so good. Reading patterns is new to me and this one uses the American terms so after changing the instruction to the UK terms I began crocheting. I started this blanket in Filomena's class and thanks to her help when I got stuck the blanket is getting bigger, it is such an unusual shape but so easy to crochet.

12 Pointed Star - Rainbow Ripple Baby Blanket pattern by Celeste Young

So with three blankets on the go the hardest choice is which one to work on and when. What a predicament to be in, secretly I am having the time of my life :)

Hooked on Crochet again ....

Looks like I'm back on track and hooked on crochet again with the help from a talented friend Filomena who runs crochet classes at The Bowerbird Store in Springwood. I began there in 2013 and have been slowly picking up my skills whenever I could attend. The classes are casual and relaxing with everyone working at there own pace and skill level and the best thing is anytime you get stuck Filomena is there to help start you off again. 

Finally back on track and hooked on crochet again ...

I started this blanket back in February this year and was making such good progress. The pattern was not to complicated and the blanket was growing quite fast until I ran out of a colour. Don't you hate it when that happens as I know if I put something done it's bound to get forgotten. Well, it has taken me a few months to purchase some more yarn and thanks to Filomena for reminding me that classes were still on. I'm crocheting again and so looking forward to finishing my first major project.

I'm so loving the bright colours and so are my kids and I'm constantly getting asked "Is that for me!" 

Now with two more colours to crochet, the ends to sew in and I'm even thinking of adding on a boarder finishing this blanket is not so far off. So stay tuned because in the near future I'll be showing off my first colourful crochet creation  :)

My Baby has been busy ...

Look what my Little Miss has been up to. You have no idea how excited I am that my baby has the same passion for sewing that I have. 

Last weekend my hubby took the boys away camping and I was lucky enough to have some one on one time with my 7 year old daughter. 

I have been stocking up on doll kits for a while now and waiting for the right time to show them to her. She was beside herself and couldn't wait to get started.

After opening the box she carefully read the instructions, it makes all the difference that she can read them and work out where to start from herself. With the needle threaded and a little guidance she was off and sewing .....

I absolutely loved watching her take each stitch with such concentration and patience. Sewing all the pieces on and constantly checking the instructions making sure she had the right coloured thread to work with. 

When it came to the bow and the buttons I gave her a little help as they were a bit fiddly for her. Stuffing the doll was a little challenging as well so we worked together on that. Overall she took to it like a duck to water and was finished in no time.

The doll is so cute and just have a look at Miss Happy, she is already telling me that her doll needs a little quilt now.

I am one proud mama :)

All the way from Poland ....

There is no way to explain the excitement when the postman comes knocking with a package that you know is definitely for you. I have to confess something about myself ........ I love handmade dolls.

As much as I would like to create and make my own, there is something special and inspiring about handmade dolls made by other talented people around the world. I have two such dolls so far in my collection that are so different and unique and I'm thrilled to show them to you.

1. Roving Ovine Doll made by Laura Hunter

I have been fascinated by these sweet dolls for such a long time now and they are simply gorgeous in real life. Have a look at my Roving Ovine Pinterest Board  and the many different versions of this doll. I couldn't resist, I had to have one and she is so cute.

2. Doll - Made by Agah

Now this unique doll I received a few days ago all the way from Poland. Agah's dolls are inspired by Tilda dolls and I love the way she dresses them. They are dressed so elegantly and she even came with a little leather black bag, so impressive. I really adore her.

Both these dolls are beautifully well crafted and I'm so happy to have them sitting on my shelf. Much to the dismay of my little daughter who I know would love to take them down and have a little play with them. But, they're mummy's dolls and I'm not ashamed to say it :)

So tell me, is there anything special that you love to collect?

A 'Clean and Simple' start ...

Since creating my space here at blogger it has been a very slow process trying to come up with a look that I was happy with. For some this is probably a very easy process but for my basic level computer skills it has been a challenge. 

Thanks to my sister, I'm off and running. She told me all about premade blogger templates that you can purchase at Etsy. What a great idea. After scrolling through the many pages of designs I choose this one by ThemeFashion.

I'm so impressed, after the download of the files and all the simple instructions I have done it. What do you think? I still need to tweak a few things like add a photo of myself and write something on my 'About Me' page. 

It's funny like most mums I tend to take a lot of photos of everyone else but never a single photo of myself. I suppose this means I need to take a selfie and come up with a few sentences about me. Now that's going to be a challenge, lets see what I come up with ..... until next time.