If you watched my video from last week you may have noticed I showed you a finished object that I hadn’t blogged about yet.
So this is a little cushion with two different lyrics from The National on either side.
It’s not a standard shape, mostly because I didn’t realise I was going to make it into a cushion when I was embroidering those song lyrics onto scrap fabric.
Fortunately the scraps were big enough and I could turn them into a cushion.
This is cushion #3 in my 13 in 2013 project.
Welcome to my little corner of the internet.
Please make a cup of tea, and find a cozy place because today I thought I’d show you around my blog and point you to my favourite posts which you’d probably never see otherwise.
My blog is very dear to me. I consider everyone who follows and comments as a friend.
I treat my blog as a diary, where I keep track of what I’ve made, where I’ve been, and what I do. I find that if it’s public then I’m more accountable and I’m more likely to document events, take photos, and take the time to look back at what I’ve done.
Its proven itself quite useful over time, as a reason to get me out of my comfort zone, but also as a record of what I’ve done. I quite often search my own blog to look at the details of a knitting pattern or what recipe I used (most often it’s to find my mum’s zucchini slice recipe).
About 2 years ago I sat down with two pointy sticks, a ball of cheap acrylic, and the Lord Of The Rings boxset and taught myself to knit. I don’t think it would be a understatement to say it changed my life.
It’s been a steadying influence and is now a constant companion.
Since then I’ve made socks, scarves, hats, minions, cats, and a blanket.
About a month ago I decided it was time to learn crochet and am slowly but surely getting used to the hook.
I have a sewing machine which I’m learning how to use, mostly to make cushions and basic skirts. I have a thing for quotes so embroidery has been quite fun.
Apart from crafty pursuits I watch a lot of football. My team is Port Adelaide Power and their colours are teal, black, and silver. My best friend is a Hawthorn Hawks supporter and their colours are Brown and Gold. I think I have a better deal. My Partner is an Adelaide Crows supporter and his colours are red, blue, and yellow. So those colours pop up in my knitting for no other reason but football. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the most important people in my life are also football mad.
We like to go camping and get out of the city from time to time.
I love to read, and have made a concerted effort to read more this year. More than just my favourite books which I re-read all the time.
I also love live music and spend a fair chunk of time and money going to gigs and buying cds.
Every Wednesday I pick a song to represent the week. Sometimes it’s a band I’ve just seen or about to see, others it’ a new song which I can’t stop listening to.
At the end of the year I have a nostalgic playlist.
I’m also working towards 13 in 2013.
At the beginning of the year I made 13 goals, some internet based, some project based, some just for fun.
And so I’ve been working towards them and having a lot of fun along the way.
I hope you’ll stick around. And please introduce yourself to me, I’d love to make your acquaintance.
To make it easier for you, I’d like to know the answer to the following question.
What is the first thing that pops into your head when you read the word “Sparkles”?
(hint: there are no wrong answers)
Day 5 4KCBWDAY5
And now for something completely different….
This was so much fun. I didn’t think it was going to be, but thank you Knitting And Crochet Blog Week (I still have difficulty saying that) for getting me out of my comfort zone and in front of a camera. This was actually quite scary, not to make, but uploading it for all of you to see (although I do take comfort that it probably won’t be found by anyone but other knitters who are mostly non-judgemental).
So say hi to me and my couch!!
My first ever vlog, where I find out just how often I say ‘pretty!’, that the train noise is actually pretty loud (I’m so used to it), and I really do have a short attention span.
I’m interrupting Knitting and Crochet Blog Week to continue with my usual Wednesday blog series, Stuck In My Head.
I’ve been blogging for as long as I can remember, and in every one there was always music. Music is such a constant in my life. CDs take up more space in my house than yarn (true fact), and its very rare for my ticket wallet to be empty.
So my Stuck In My Head project started as a way to try out my music journalist skills (turns out I have none), and has developed into choosing a song (or two) to represent each week of the year.
At the end of the year I have a nostalgic playlist which takes me down memory lane revisiting bands I’ve seen, conversations I’ve had, or what mood I was in that week.
If you follow me on twitter you’ll know that Sunday was In The Pines, Perth’s local music festival. Set at the gorgeous Somerville Auditorium, this year celebrated 20 years of In The Pines with a great lineup looking back on the past 20 years of Perth’s local music scene.
The line up included some bands who reformed just for the occasion as well as some new favourites. I walked away with 2 CDs which is always a good sign.
Our local community radio station RTRfm puts on the event, which I went to for the first time last year and had a blast.
So Timothy Nelson & The Infidels were one of the bands where, as soon as this song played I had that ‘aha’ moment. It seems like this song had been following me around for 2 weeks before In The Pines and now I finally know who it’s by.
It certainly tested my ability to knit and dance at the same time.
The full playlist can be found here
I think I managed to keep my foray into crochet a blogging secret! But there were a few attempts before I felt I could make a blanket.
See? Terrible.
It wasn’t until it clicked that I needed to crochet in the gaps (rather than in the stitches like knitting) that I made a bit of progress.
Having a go at crocheting a block don’t work so well either.
But really I can make block fabric with knitting. What I really wanted to do was granny squares.
So after a bit of practicing is finally clicked.
I spent a lot of the night balancing my needlecraft book on my lap, swearing and cursing.
But I cracked it.
Well I’ve cracked one pattern. The pattern for these squares is the same as my big one.
They’re so pretty. I can see more crochet in my future!
(I never thought I’d say that!)
A week ago I hadn’t even heard of this song.
However a fortunate twitter conversation with @weareaustralia (australia’s curated twitter account) led me down a rabbit hole to find this song.
It tells the charming story of Johnny and Flo who have a regular Sunday outing to go “rowing”.
But best of all, it’s also the song which the Richmond club song is based on (but more on that tomorrow.)
Please compare and contrast the two versions.
So this ticks off number 13 in my 13 in 2013 challenge – crochet a granny square.
If I’m honest, this wasn’t exactly the outcome I expected.
Actually I’m surprised I kept this quiet for so long.
This is my granny square.
For reference, that’s our queen size bed that its resting on!
So I can add ‘can do the triple crochet stitch’ to my list of skills.
There were a few smaller granny squares that I did before starting a giant blanket sized one, I may share them at some point.
But for now I’m just going to sit back and feel impressed with myself.
Seriously I made this!
This is by far the biggest item I have made.
I feel accomplished.
So not only is this duo incredibly badass with a sound reminiscent of the Kills, but they met in a crochet class! How cool is that.
Unfortunately they’re currently only touring the east coast of Australia (one of the downsides of living on the west side, in the most isolated capital city in the world), but I could definitely (hopefully) see them playing Splendour and some side shows.
They don’t have an album out yet, just a smattering of singles. Hobo Playa is the track I’ve had on repeat. But for all you US iTunes peoples (I only buy music if I can put it on my wall) their EP is out today. (what a cool coincidence)
And as always you can listen of all my Songs of the Week in one convenient playlist.
Typical90schild!!!
Congrats. I’ll be contacting you soon to organise your prize.
Thank to all of you for your support. It really does mean a lot that you took the time to have a look at my little corner of the Internet.
This also ticks off number 1 and number 2 of my 13 in 2013 project!
Thank you all!!!
I finished off the mitts for my grandma in law. And I’m pleased with the way the turned out.
I’m always a little nervous adapting a sock pattern to mittens, but it worked.
After some trial and error the magic number to cast on was 50.
The summer sky pattern is over 21 stitches so I added a border of 4 knit stitches.
I kept trying them on, and when they were about ready for the thumb hole I worked back and forth slipping the first stitch. Then when I could close them up around my thumb I starting working in the round again.
Two at a time, magic loop makes sure the they’re exactly the same. One of the reasons I use it for almost everything that comes in pairs.
I almost wish they weren’t a gift.
polka-dots & sparkles 