Ready & waiting.

I thought you might like to see the lovely, traditional rocking-horse that was made by one of the woodworkers. Bill makes one of these beauties every year as first prize in our annual fundraising effort. I think this is the 12th one he has made. It is about the size of a small Shetland pony and will take the weight of a fully grown man. This year, due to ill health in the family, Bill needed some help getting the horse finished so Bob stepped in to give him a hand.
Bill is always generous with his knowledge and will happily teach other members of the club how to make a horse like this, concequently he has a number of pupils (several of them women) who turn out their own rocking-horses. I did think I might join his group but the materials to make the horse are expensive (those stirrups and the saddle are real) so I didn't indulge myself.
I'm thankful for nice people like Bill and Bob.
Just finishing up jobs to do in the toy workshop now. We'll be giving them away to our favourite charities in 3 weeks time.
I hope your week-end will turn out to be a good one.
Bye for now until next time.

That time of year again

I can't believe I'm making our Christmas cake again. Here it is, all ready to go into the oven. It's no secret that I'm lazy and would happily buy one of the cakes put out by the Lions charity but our grandson is allergic to nuts and so I like to know exactly what goes into anything that he is going to eat - and he loves this cake. The beating and blending is better than a work-out at the gym, now I need a sit down and a cup of tea.
One of my favourite plants is in flower again. It's an annual that self-sows every year. I have no idea where it came from originally and no idea what it is. Can anyone out there tell me? The flower is about the size of a delphinium, and I thought that was what it is but the leaf is different. Here is where someone tells me that it is highly illegal and I'd better pull it out before I am visited by the drug squad. I hope not because I like it and it will go on flowering for the whole Summer. And before anyone asks, yes, I am still crocheting & knitting - slower these days because of this wretched thumb but I'm getting there.
Timer for the cake has just gone off so I'd better go and turn the oven down for another hour-and-a-half.
Bye for now, until next time.

Miscalculation.

A friend gave me two large balls of this strong green coloured yarn. Although the colour is a little bright for baby wear I thought it would make a nice blanket and teamed it with the paler mint shade. Oops! I thought I had enough of the paler shade but discovered my mistake when I reached this point. Disaster!! What to do now? I really don't want to pull the work out so I hunted about in the shops for some more of the pale green. Fortunately it's a popular shade at present so I was able to find a very close match and if I arrange the squares symetrically I think I can get away with it. Note to self: Make absolute certain you have enough of a colour before jumping in at the deep end. I thought I'd learned that by now - obviously not.
All that said, I'm not even sure that I like the uniform colour - it is a bit bright. I will get on and finish the blanket though as it's nice and cheerful and may suit someone with a different taste from mine. Slow going unfortunately as my grumbly arthritic thumb is making things difficult. I'm thinking of trotting out the knitting machine that I haven't used for years.
Dear old Penny the border collie has gone home again after a one week stay with us. Her lovely coat collects all sorts of weird and wonderful bits & pieces which she happily sheds when she comes inside, so I must say bye for now and get the vaccuum cleaner working.

First time effort.

A visit to our daughter in Queensland always includes a trip to Mt. Tamborine to a craft market. Quite apart from the beauty of the area, I love the market for its relaxed atmosphere. I can always be sure to find something to bring back to Melbourne. I fell in love with these little beaded angels and bought a kit for two. Although I admire the work when its done by others, and I love the bling that beading creates, beading is not my thing - but I just had to have a go at these. "Not difficult," said the stall holder, "You just thread the beads on to the safety pins..." and she went on to describe the method. "Yeah. I can do that," I thought. So, when I got home, I sat down with pliers and a soup plate to hold the contents of the little plastic bag containing the necessassary directions, beads and gold wire. Huh!! That was when I discovered that I had developed a few extra thumbs and several extra fingers. I did manage to get my little angels made up and I only said one bad word when the wire sprang from my fingers and flung beads in every direction. Just as well the kit contained a few spares. Pat at Bead Knitting & Crochet, I salute you.
I still have the directions and maybe I'll have another go at more angels at a later date. In the meantime I'll get back to my crochet hook and my knitting needles. Aaah. That's better.
Bye for now until next time.

A different hat

I thought you might like to see one of the tiny treasure's I found in Mercy's basket. It's a little needle case worked in double crochet. (American single crochet). I thought it such a cute idea that I decided to make one like it. The crown of the hat holds a thimble and the base takes the pins and needles. It was really easy to make. I used a fine crochet hook that is labelled 2 and a half, which, I think is American No. 1 and English 12. The wool is baby weight which we in Oz call 3 ply. I used wool because Mum always said that it protects needles from rusting. I added a flower for good measure because it was a little plain without. A little gift for someone who sews, perhaps, or something to put on a Mother's Day stall. I love the really simply edging and think I'll use it on my next blanket as I'm getting a bit bored with picot. It's just one double crochet and two treble in every second stitch. In American terms I think that's one single crochet and two double crochet. You may have guessed that my crochet talents don't run to very ambitious projects. Granny squares are pretty much my limit, but I'm pleased with this little thing. Thanks Mercy.
The sun is shining and I'm off to pull some weeds from the garden. After 3 days of being hampered by heavy rain I'm suffering from 'shut-in-itis'
I hope you're having a nice weekend. Bye for now until next time.

Mercy's basket

Some time ago, Mercy, a dear old friend of mine died – 6 months before her 100^th birthday. Her sister asked me if there was something that I would like to have as a memento of my friend and I chose her work basket. Homemade and a little battered after many years of use the basket is by no means a valuable item - to anyone else but me. I knew that I would find in it the usual workbasket items: needles, pins, thimbles, embroidery scissors, several crochet hooks, fine darning wool etc. The basket is one of my treasures.

Mercy’s almost 100 year old eyesight made it difficult for her to pick up the stitches that she sometimes dropped when she worked on the crocheted blankets that she churned out incessantly and so I had, on many an occasion, to delve into her workbasket for a crochet hook with which to rescue the work. Back on track Mercy would set off again, her crochet hook flying in and out. The blanket had to be finished because Mercy was already planning her next one. At her request I would start the centre of another blanket for her to go on with in case she got into a pickle before my next visit. Idle hands didn’t suit Mercy one bit.

So you can see that Mercy’s basket is a special link between us.

I never asked who made the basket but I can see that is constructed by using coloured raffia to stitch together the needles of the casuarina tree, also known as sheoak. It is built on a plywood base and lined with dark red satin that is quilted on the inside of the lid to form a pincushion. The button at the centre of the lid is a gumnut from a flowering gum tree (eucalyptus). What a great way to make something useful from next to nothing.
I’m guessing that the basket is probably about 50 years old. I keep promising myself that I'll have a go at making one but I've never got round to it. I use the basket all the time and think of Mercy whenever I do so.
Must go now. I've just finished a Woodworker's newsletter and so there's lots to catch up on around the house.
Bye for now until next time.

The pile of granny squares that I showed you a while back has at last become the blanket that I intended it to be. As I knew it would, the sewing up thing took forever, hampered, as usual, by my arthritic thumb but now it's done and I'm so pleased with it that I have started on another. The picture here doesn't do justice to the colours, which are actually more pastel than they appear in the photo.
A couple of weeks ago I made a resolution. "No more yarn purchases until I've cleared some of my stash." Hah! that was a waste of breath, you know what happened the very next time I ventured into our local op-shop, don't you? Yep, another five balls of yarn followed me home, just begging to be used in the new blanket. Well I couldn't turn them away, could I?
Compulsive yarn buyer that I am I'm now working on the psychology of 'flooding'. You know, that's the theory that burying myself under so much yarn that I will feel revulsion and will never buy any more. I don't know if it will work but oooh I am so going to enjoy finding out.
Now I think I'll start on the pale blue first.......
Bye for now until next time.