The Knitted Patchwork blanket, along with my Intarsia Blanket (seen below) were taken to church this morning and will be given to two victims of the terrible bushfire which is still burning not far from here.
Sunday 27 October 2013
knitted patchwork
Late last night, I finished the blanket (afghan) made from seventy smallish rectangles. It took me the better part of three days to stitch them all together into long strips then join the strips together. At 9:45 last night, I began stitching a border around it. Crochet is not my forté and it took me nearly an hour to go all around the 232" perimeter using double (US single) crochet.
Now I'd better get back to knitting my Winmalee Blanket -- so called in honour of the village where the fire took so many houses.
Tuesday 22 October 2013
we interrupt this program
My program for completing UFOs this month has been interrupted by the devastating bush fires still raging just a few kilometres from here.
Over 200 homes have been lost and more than 50,000 hectares of land destroyed by the fires. And that’s just in our local area – there are fires blazing right across the state while our southern neighbours in Victoria have experienced a return to winter!
The quilting group that I belong to has decided to make quilts specifically for those who have lost everything in these dreadful fires.
My sewing goals for this month included two quilts to be shown at the Airing of the Quilts next April plus a quilt for our bed. None of these is absolutely necessary right now – so they have been put aside in favour of making quick quilts to be donated as soon as possible.
My knitting goals included a pair of socks (finished two weeks ago but not blogged about) and a cardigan for myself. I have not had any desire to work on the cardigan so have put it aside to work on sewing rectangles (knitted by somebody else) into a blanket. I started this when the Grandboys were here; both of them have done some of the stitching. This blanket needs to be finished and will also be donated to the victims of the fires.
Even WM has been helping me by making bias tape for the quilt I am making from “quilt-as-you-go” blocks (made by someone else and donated to our quilting group).
The photo (taken on my iPad on a grey day) shows my living room floor as I work out my layout for the knitted rectangles. Beside it I have placed one completed row of the QAYG blocks. So far I have completed three rows and have five more to go before I can join them to make the quilt.
Please excuse me for not stopping to find and insert more photos – there are more pressing issues at hand and I need every minute to get my new projects done!
If you are so inclined, please join me in praying for soaking rain for New South Wales – the gardens need it, the farmers need it and the fire-fighters desperately need it!
Over 200 homes have been lost and more than 50,000 hectares of land destroyed by the fires. And that’s just in our local area – there are fires blazing right across the state while our southern neighbours in Victoria have experienced a return to winter!
The quilting group that I belong to has decided to make quilts specifically for those who have lost everything in these dreadful fires.
My sewing goals for this month included two quilts to be shown at the Airing of the Quilts next April plus a quilt for our bed. None of these is absolutely necessary right now – so they have been put aside in favour of making quick quilts to be donated as soon as possible.
My knitting goals included a pair of socks (finished two weeks ago but not blogged about) and a cardigan for myself. I have not had any desire to work on the cardigan so have put it aside to work on sewing rectangles (knitted by somebody else) into a blanket. I started this when the Grandboys were here; both of them have done some of the stitching. This blanket needs to be finished and will also be donated to the victims of the fires.
Even WM has been helping me by making bias tape for the quilt I am making from “quilt-as-you-go” blocks (made by someone else and donated to our quilting group).
The photo (taken on my iPad on a grey day) shows my living room floor as I work out my layout for the knitted rectangles. Beside it I have placed one completed row of the QAYG blocks. So far I have completed three rows and have five more to go before I can join them to make the quilt.
Please excuse me for not stopping to find and insert more photos – there are more pressing issues at hand and I need every minute to get my new projects done!
If you are so inclined, please join me in praying for soaking rain for New South Wales – the gardens need it, the farmers need it and the fire-fighters desperately need it!
Friday 18 October 2013
fire season
The combination of a dry spring, unusually hot weather and extraordinarily strong winds brought tragedy to the Blue Mountains, just a few kilometres west of us yesterday.
Many people in the township of Springwood and the suburb of Winmalee lost their homes but, as far as we are aware, there has been no loss of life.
The photo below was taken by WM from our front yard, looking west towards the mountains. The tree is in the back yard of the house behind our neighbours across the road, maybe eighty metres away from our front door. The two major fires are in the mountains across the river; the closest one (at Winmalee) is a distance of about twelve kilometres (7.5 miles) in a straight line -- much further to drive!
Please pray for the safety of the fire-fighters (a friend of ours is one of them) and for those who have lost their homes. And please pray for no more fires -- bushfire season is October to March and there has been too much devastation already!
Monday 14 October 2013
they’ve gone now
DD, SIL and the two grandsons arrived here in the evening of 4 October. DD and SIL left again at lunch time on the following day to fly to Adelaide. They were joining other members of SIL’s family (his parents and sisters) for a three day trip crossing Australia from south to north by train.
It was a long weekend here (Labour Day) so WM was home for three days. His mother, my wonderful MIL, visited on the Tuesday and stayed for several hours, so I only had one full day (Wednesday) with the boys on my own! I vacillated between calling them “darlings” and (lovingly) “the hooligan and the terrorist”!
It took Younger Grandson a little longer than Older Grandson to adjust to the routine and rules of living in Grandmum and Grandad’s house but we all survived! DD and SIL were picked up at the local railway station at 10pm last Wednesday and the family left late on Friday morning.
We will see them again on 14th December when the extended family gathers for Christmas, a little less than nine weeks from now.
In the meantime, here are some pictures from our week.
Older Grandson washing down one of our outdoor tables so he could do some crafting
Younger Grandson playing with Mr Potato Head
Older Grandson playing games on the iPad and stitching with Grandmum on a warm day
Younger Grandson did some stitching too (using a tapestry needle to join knitted rectangles) but, unfortunately, WM wasn’t around to take photos.
Younger Grandson cutting mushrooms (with a butter knife) and Older Grandson preparing the pizza for cooking
The boys having bath-time fun with Grandad and Younger Grandson waiting to watch some TV before bed
Two tired munchkins having an afternoon nap!
Gotta love those boys!
Thursday 3 October 2013
2013: The Year of the Finished Project – October edition
During September I came to realise two things: one about me, one about my lack of fore-thought!
Firstly, I am addicted to my iPad. Seriously! If I pick it up in the morning and start using it, I can still be on it when WM comes home at 2:30pm. Whole days have been spent (wasted?) browsing the internet, reading blogs, reading emails (and not even in answering them, sorry) and playing games like FreeCell, Spider Solitaire and Jumbline 2: Star Tower. I will now no longer allow myself to turn my iPad on until after lunch. Hopefully, by then, I will have started on some crafting project, and be keen to get back to it!
As for my lack of fore-thought: I have come to realise that it is a very good idea to check the calendar before deciding on how many projects can reasonably be completed in the month! This may sound obvious but I have gotten into such a habit of listing six or seven items that I just didn’t think about my schedule in combination with how much work needed to be done to complete each project!
I didn’t allow for the fact that I would be gone for one weekend teaching at The Knitters’ Guild of NSW biennial camp. I didn't allow for the fact that one of the two classes I was asked to teach needed a great deal of preparation time in writing notes, preparing patterns, knitting samples, etc. In fact, all the preparation, knitting and so forth, swallowed up most of a week!
I didn’t allow for the fact that we had a Conference at church for the last five days of September or for the fact that we would be billeting people for those five days. Preparation for those visitors in terms of making the spare bedroom habitable (we have been de-cluttering!) took more time than expected!
Basically, I really only had about fifteen days of “normal” life during September and all of the projects I listed for the month needed a great deal of work on them to bring them to completion. I did have the sense to realise that number seven wasn’t possible so took that off my list in the first couple of days.
Here is my September list and how I fared in my progress towards finishing:
Now for October. Let’s see, I have not had any crafting time in the first three days and have my grandsons here from tomorrow night until at least next Thursday so there’ll be no crafting during that week. That leaves me about 21 days of “normal” life. Realistically:
What about you?
How did you go in September? Did you learn anything about yourself along the way?
What are your plans for getting those UFOs done in October?
Please link up with the URL of your specific blog post. Thanks for joining the party. Don’t forget to visit some of the other people who have joined in and leave a comment on their blog.
Firstly, I am addicted to my iPad. Seriously! If I pick it up in the morning and start using it, I can still be on it when WM comes home at 2:30pm. Whole days have been spent (wasted?) browsing the internet, reading blogs, reading emails (and not even in answering them, sorry) and playing games like FreeCell, Spider Solitaire and Jumbline 2: Star Tower. I will now no longer allow myself to turn my iPad on until after lunch. Hopefully, by then, I will have started on some crafting project, and be keen to get back to it!
As for my lack of fore-thought: I have come to realise that it is a very good idea to check the calendar before deciding on how many projects can reasonably be completed in the month! This may sound obvious but I have gotten into such a habit of listing six or seven items that I just didn’t think about my schedule in combination with how much work needed to be done to complete each project!
I didn’t allow for the fact that I would be gone for one weekend teaching at The Knitters’ Guild of NSW biennial camp. I didn't allow for the fact that one of the two classes I was asked to teach needed a great deal of preparation time in writing notes, preparing patterns, knitting samples, etc. In fact, all the preparation, knitting and so forth, swallowed up most of a week!
I didn’t allow for the fact that we had a Conference at church for the last five days of September or for the fact that we would be billeting people for those five days. Preparation for those visitors in terms of making the spare bedroom habitable (we have been de-cluttering!) took more time than expected!
Basically, I really only had about fifteen days of “normal” life during September and all of the projects I listed for the month needed a great deal of work on them to bring them to completion. I did have the sense to realise that number seven wasn’t possible so took that off my list in the first couple of days.
Here is my September list and how I fared in my progress towards finishing:
Scrappy Log Cabin quilt(50” x 60”) – goal: quilting and binding
– finished 4 September (see this post)
- Westall cardigan, aka as “Cardigan for Me” – goal: get it done and on my back
– I didn’t get it finished but I did pick up the stitches for the first sleeve, and knitted the sleeve cap twice. I wasn’t happy with my short rows (they looked very messy) so I did it all again. Eventually I got the sleeve done to the elbow where the lace pattern begins. This requires concentration so I didn’t get any further! - Scrappy Heart blocks – goal: enlarge all thirty and turn them into a flimsy
– I didn’t get all thirty blocks enlarged, I have done a total of twelve, nine in September and three in August
(show in the two pictures below)
- Country Houses quilt – goal: get it off the shelf and on to our bed
– this project wasn’t touched; I never remembered to measure it for the amount of wadding I needed! I only ever remembered when I was already in my LQS for classes! Gift of Hope quilt #2(24” square) – goal: backing, quilting and binding
– finished 19 September (see this post)
- Purple Cocoon Socks – goal: just get them done, they've been on the needles too long!
– I finished the first sock on 19 September and cast the second one on at Camp on 20th September; I also knitted on the way to Conference one day but was too tired the other two mornings (the fourth morning I had to drive myself and have not yet mastered the art of knitting and driving at the same time!). I am almost at the heel of the (toe up)socks; I am still finding using the shorter needles of 40cm (16”) circulars quite clumsy – I much prefer dpns!
- turn another set of blocks from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 into a flimsy – unrealistic and removed from list!
Now for October. Let’s see, I have not had any crafting time in the first three days and have my grandsons here from tomorrow night until at least next Thursday so there’ll be no crafting during that week. That leaves me about 21 days of “normal” life. Realistically:
- Scrappy Hearts quilt – finish enlarging blocks, make flimsy, make backing, baste, quilt and bind!
- Country Houses quilt – get it off the shelf and onto our bed!
- Purple Cocoon Socks – to be finished
- Westall Cardigan – sleeves to be finished
- turn another set of blocks from the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge into a flimsy
What about you?
How did you go in September? Did you learn anything about yourself along the way?
What are your plans for getting those UFOs done in October?
Please link up with the URL of your specific blog post. Thanks for joining the party. Don’t forget to visit some of the other people who have joined in and leave a comment on their blog.
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