SnarCraft

Baby, you're doing my head in! I mentioned last year about this blanket (at least on Twitter and Instagram, if not here, too) – it's the Stuffed Animal Blanket by Amanda Saladin. I made one for my best friend last year and I was blown away by how easy it came together, how quick it stitched up, and how I remarkably didn't feel like setting the entire project on fire at any time during its creation. (I don't find crochet relaxing, though I do agree it can make some beautiful things.) That  version of the blanket came out  looking like the cutest, dopiest koala and everyone I showed it to wanted to give it a cuddle. THAT  version of the blanket came together in one go, no frogging, no worries. This one? Well... I'm on attempt #5 in almost 10 months and it's still giving me trouble. I should have known I could only get away with crocheting something once before the universe realigned itself. I'm pretty sure it's the yarn. See, it's a silk...

We hosted a very important birthday party this weekend. It involved a horde of teenagers, a day long outing to the beach, a sleepover and breakfast on the lawn. It was delightful, no one died and the house is still standing in one piece. I am, however, still exhausted and appear to be making triple my usual number of spelling errors. I also tried to work on the crochet blanket some more yesterday, when I was presumably even more exhausted than I am today, and the magic no-mistake streak I’d been on was gone. I had to stuff it into a bag and ignore it pointedly for the rest of the evening. So, I’m going to leave you all with the write up I did previously of last month’s Sunday Shenanigans with Nicola and Alysha. I’m going to go have some more coffee and see if the blanket is ready to be a team player again. It’s 37C outside today, I’m not going to try doing anything other than sit in front of a fan with a cold drink. See you later in the week, when the weather cools down and I...

So what has happened since last October? Well, like I said in my last post, we’ve moved into a house! It’s a lovely little federation style home, with grass and a porch and actual hallways and windows and head space. Bascially, it’s got all those things that I learned quickly to assume I’d never have again when I moved to Sydney and learned what inner-city-ring housing looked like to an Australian developer. To further underscore just how excited I am about being in a house, rather than some ‘boutique 2-bedroom unit’ (they mean matchbox with no ventilation and no space for amenities, btw), I did a jig when I learned we got what’s known here as a Hills-Hoist (it’s a rotating washing line, my fellow PNWers). I’ve heard some interesting stories from Liebling and some of my Aussie friends about the uses of one of these contraptions….but I’ll leave that bit to your imagination unless you ask directly. All I really thought about when I saw it was how much yarn and fibre I can dry on ...

Yay! School went back this week! After decades  eight weeks of having basically everyone in the house (we now live in a HOUSE! More on this later) non-stop, on top of two new kitties (we now have cats! More on this later, too) and blazing heat (eww) I wholeheartedly confess that I was ready to start disowning everything that didn’t come with knitting needles and yarn. We have a front yard (or garden, as the locals call it), so it isn’t like they wouldn’t have had somewhere to pitch a tent...I’m not unreasonable! I have plenty to catch you lovelies up on, but we will have to agree that multiple posts are needed to do this properly (and reasonably, for everyone’s sake). But first thing’s first - Some housekeeping! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GREAT PUMPKIN MAL WINNER Thank you to everyone who participated in the MAL. The winner this time around is the delightful Mel, who crocheted the sweetest Halloween Top Hat by Sharon Mann Dar...