Our Week

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and messages about Beans the Cat Pattern, I am so happy you like him and a few Beans patterns have already been knitted up and shared on Ravelry. I really love seeing your knitted projects so thanks for sharing them:) I will be adding a few more free patterns soon over the next few days.

It has been a cold week here in Johannesburg. The fires are lit early in the mornings so we can keep warm. Our homes here in South Africa aren't built for really cold weather so when the temperature drops below -1C  it's usually colder inside our home than outside!

We've had a scare with Jen this week, she hasn't been feeling too well, she has been for blood tests and we have discovered that her insulin levels are four times higher than they should be! We have a wonderful doctor who is guiding us through this. We are changing our diet to low GI, cutting out all refined sugar, white pasta and flour etc... and we will move forward from here. Please would you keep her in your thoughts...

Do you remember this wool blanket that I made on my knitting machine? It's finally finished, Jen and I crocheted a border around the edge and it's so lovely and soft...

This morning we cooked our feathered girls some oats for breakfast to keep them warm.

Early morning frost on out roof.

We have been pruning and cutting back some of our trees, all the wood is dried out in bags and will be used for next winter's fires.

 
I love finding little drawings on the walls outside, so sweet:)

I'm really not sure what's been eating my spinach and lettuce, it isn't birds, our veggie garden is enclosed with shade cloth, perhaps it's rats or insects?? So this is what I have decided to do to try and combat the problem. I am going to recycle my milk bottles into little cloches to try and give these plants a chance. I really would like my veggies to grow so I can use them in salads and green juices. I'll let you know how it goes. Any advice here would be appreciated.

The frost also took three of our potato plants. We pulled them out today and I was so happy to find a few potatoes still looking amazing underground.

Have a lovely weekend!
Linda

Father's Day Crocheted Beanie

Father's day was lovely yesterday, Richard started his day off by doing what he loves... riding his mountain bike. He went on a 50km bike ride through the farms, came home and had a full breakfast. My folks joined us for a family braai for lunch, it was a lovely day...

I have been wanting to make Richard a wool beanie hat for quite some time, so on Saturday afternoon, I got out my crochet hook, (yes, you did hear me correctly, crochet hook) and some chunky Merino wool and I started making him a beanie. It was such a quick project, I really want to keep making them!
I see another obsessive phase of crochet beanie making starting here, if I say so myself!
I think it was the amount of time it took to put this together, if I remember correctly, an hour tops... I crocheted Richard's in a chunky handspun Merino yarn called Cement Wash...

The girls were so excited about their dad's beanie that they asked me how I made it, I showed them and within 45 minutes they had both made themselves one!

Ok, so if you would like to make a Father's Day Beanie, here are the instructions...
Just so you know, I have never written a crochet pattern, so I hope this makes sense:)

Materials:
Chunky wool
Size 10 crochet needle
Wool needle for sewing up.

Pattern:
What I did was, measure around Richard's head and then took the measurement in inches. I then subtracted 1 and a half inches so that the beanie would have a snug fit.
Chain enough chain stitches to measure the measurement you have taken, let the chain stretch a little to reach the measurement. ( measure around the head just to be sure:)
Join your chain in the round and start crocheting.
Double crochet into each chain loop and keep going until you have reached the curve of your head, about 8 rounds, yours might be different. You will have to keep trying it on for the correct size and fit.
Then double crochet into every second chain stitch for possibly 2 rounds and then into every third chain stitch for a round (or so...)
Finish off with your wool needle and if there is a slight opening, thread through a few chains and pull tight to close the opening.
And there you have it a Father's Day Beanie!

WIP Wednesday, Spinning, Knitting and Crochet

Today has been a lovely day, it has rained mostly which only means one thing! Perfect spinning weather... and that is exactly what I did! I spun up this gorgeous Alpaca and silk roving that was dyed by Wonderful Wool on Etsy, I see her shop is empty at the moment, you can see some of her dyed rovings in her sold section. I have also finished making my pure wool blanket on my chunky knitter, it really works beautifully and now I am crocheting around the edges to enable them to flatten out a little.

It has been quite a sad week here, Erin's beautiful chicken Alice went missing on Monday, she is nowhere to be found... we have looked everywhere. We are all heartbroken... Alice was very dear to all of us especially Erin. She chose her when she was just a fluffy chick, one of her feet were deformed and Erin wanted her because she was worried that no one would buy her because of her deformity. She has loved her from the first day we brought her home... Today is a little easier and I am sure time will heal this loss...

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week - Skill + 1 UP 2KCBWDAY2 - Magic Loop Technique, Crochet and my Knitting Machine

Thank you all so much to those who visited yesterday and left comments:) It has been wonderful visiting so many lovely blogs.

Today is the second day of the annual Knitting and Crochet week:

29th March. Skill + 1UP:

 Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Since last year this time I have learned a few new skills that I love!

Firstly, I have learned the Magic Loop Technique, this completely revolutionised my knitting skills, I have continually used this method of knitting in many of my patterns that I have designed since then. I think that the first pattern I used it for was my Easter Egg pattern. It was so wonderful to be able to just knit something small in the round with no seams to sew up! This pattern has a brief introduction to the magic loop.

The second skill that I have learned after so many attempts is Crochet! How wonderful and rewarding it is to be able to now finally understand what all those crochet terms mean:) I have managed to crochet a hexagon and I will be making a blanket over the next year or so.

Lastly, I have learned how to work a knitting machine, it is really so easy to set up, my blanket has now doubled in size since the last photo and I will be adding another 2 skeins of yarn and then it will be finished. Erin has asked for this blanket to be a gift for her birthday next month:) I will crochet around the edge in a natural undyed Merino yarn to finish it off.

It really is such a wonderful gift to learn something new and I feel tremendous gratitude in my heart:)

2KCBWDAY2

Weekend Crochet

I have been working on my crochet again this weekend and I really love this hexagon pattern that is avaliable over at Attic 24, there are some lovely crochet tutorials there. I am just crocheting the circles for now and will finish the hexagon shape when I join the pieces together which means there will be no sewing up, I will just join them as I crochet which is wonderful! I am also working all my ends in at the back so there are no ends to sew up either. I think this pattern will make up an nice cushion cover for a cushion on my rocking chair.

The girls and I are making an African Flower hexagon blanket together, these are a few of our hexagons. It is really great to be working on a project together.

I now have a chunky knitting machine! I love it, I am going to be using it for knitting up pure wool blankets. I have so much superwash handspun and I am going to use it to make winter blankets for everyone in our family. After I cast off I am going to crochet around the sides to stop curling as the blanket is knitted in a stocking stitch. Most knitting machines take thin, even yarn, but this one knits up with handspun and chunky as well! I am very excited:)
I had better be off, it's Earth Hour here in South Africa the next couple of hours.
Happy weekend:)

Gratitude Thursday...

Richard's dog bite is almost healed...

Jenna is cycling in the green and black...

Today, I am grateful for:

• The signs of Autumn slowly starting to show...
• Our one and only pumpkin that grew in the compost heap, self sewn from kitchen veggie scraps, ready to be picked...
• Another African Flower Hexagon almost finished and I just can't seem to stop making them, I am sure there are plenty of other things that need to be done around here besides crochet, but oh... I am having so much fun! I have found this lovely cotton in my stash and it is perfect for my crochet project :)
• Richard working from home this afternoon and helping Kye ride to his bike for the first time...
• Newly planted veggie beds...
• We are so happy for Jen, her photo is in the newspaper for the cycling race she took part in, she is beaming with joy!
• For the beauty that surrounds us, that can be seen in a single flower...

What are you grateful for today?
In gratitude,
Linda
xo

Yarn Along

I have joined in with Ginny's Yarn Along today.

I have been practising crochet stitches over the weekend, I have learned how to increase and decrease as well, I am so excited and inspired! I really LOVE this new skill and I cannot believe it has taken me this long to give it a try! So now I have managed to finish my first African Flower Hexagon and I am going to attempt a small lap blanket for winter:) I am so looking forward to this project, it will probably be a slow one but I am up for the challenge. This amazing tutorial can be found here on Heidi's beautiful blog, her tutorials are so clear and each step is explained concisely with beautiful photos. Have I mentioned how inspired I am! Oh yes, I think I already did....bliss...

Jen has finished her Hand and Wrist Warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, she enjoyed this project immensely. I love how they look:)

She has also taken to crochet and has been making face cloths using a crochet square pattern from The Needlecraft Book. Such a wonderful resource this book:)

Erin has just cast on these lovely fingerless gloves, she is knitting all the ribbing in mohair and the actual glove in merino yarn. There is a lovely flat glove pattern which can also be knitted in the round here on Carle's web page.
So basically, lots of handwork happening in our home at the moment.

We are reading such amazing books at the moment, we have been making Easter crafts from Crafts through the Year, De Aulairs' Book of Norse Myths, Erin is reading The Age of Discovery and Jen is reading Muscles and Bones by Charles Kovacs, they absolutely adore his writing, Erin is also reading Crispin at the moment and I am reading The Old Man and the Sea to the girls.
xo
Linda

Crochet...

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great day so far! It is a wonderfully warm here in South Africa today, we have finished with our schooling for this morning, Erin has just started The Middle Ages, Jen is busy with Biology and Caiden is finishing off the Norse Myths. I also went clothes shopping with Jen this morning which was great mom and daughter fun:)

Ahhh, I had to post a photo of this antique basket, I LOVE old baskets!! Whenever I see one for sale somewhere, I have to convince myself why I really don't need it. (This doesn't always work though, mind you). This particular one was given to me by my mom, she has had it since she was young, it is so beautiful and perfect for knitting projects. They fit in so neatly. I still need to make some fabric lining for it, but for now it just has a piece of calico for a liner.

I am so excited, I have been saying for months that I want to learn to crochet, I really like the look of it and it does seem to go quite fast once you get going. Well... finally today of all days, I sat down, crochet hook in hand and watched some tutorials here and off I went... I have been practicing the double crochet today and I love it! (Wow, who knew?)

So now for what is inside the basket......

This is what I have been doing for the last few hours, I am completely and utterly hooked, (excuse the pun!) I am making a cotton wash cloth! Yay. I really am enjoying the colour too. I bought this cotton here. I know this might seem like drastic over-excitement on my part for all those who crochet out there, but for me who has only ever knitted, this is Awesome! :) I will start with these little cloths and then who knows....
Have you learned any new techniques lately? If you have, I would love to hear about them, feel free to leave a link:)
Some other great news is that I have finally finished my book proposal, it has taken me quite some time, but this week I sat down and finished it. Tomorrow it goes off to the printers to be printed and bound and then I will post it off to the publishers!
I am off to crochet, (I will have to get used to saying that...)
Take care:)
Linda

Handwork and Sparrows

We have really been enjoying a great amount of outside handwork lately, Erin has been working on her crochet blanket and Jenna has started knitting a pair of rainbow socks, she is very happy as the pattern is for a flat pair knitted on two needles. The colours are really knitting up beautifully:)  Today, while sitting on our quilt outside, both of my girls thanked me for homeschooling them, saying how much they enjoyed learning at home and for teaching them how to knit and crochet... Well... as you can imagine, my heart almost burst! I feel so very blessed that we are on this path, I am filled with such gratitude... when we started homeschooling, we were quite daunted by the idea, but now I know that we are on the journey that was meant for us...

Such an amazing book for knitting, dyeing...

This is my work basket, I bought it at Beaver Creek Farm, a coffee plantation, last year when we visited the coast, I love it, it's so compact and small but huge inside, if that makes any sense.

While we were outside today Erin put some Merino roving in our Fever tree for the birds.... well within minutes the sparrows had descended and were all taking little pieces of roving for their nests... This was truly magical to watch...

Not the greatest photo I know but I really had to take it in a hurry, these are really fast little birds.

Aaaah but when we looked up later, there in the Sparrow nest, was a cloud of white fleece, this made our hearts burst with joy!

Crochet and Harvest...

This week was a lovely week, I learned to crochet! I have always wanted to learn and then on Thursday I went out for tea with some lovely friends, it was such a wonderful morning, we all chatted and knitted and then I learned how to crochet, Yay! Thank you Heidi, she has also lent me this lovely book to have a look at, that I think I will buy immediately, it has the most beautiful crochet squares in it! Jenna and Erin have also learned the skill and now we are all making a blanket together. And what did the girls do all day today? Crochet of course. I love how they immerse themselves in a new craft once they have mastered the basic techniques of it :)

We also harvested our Beetroot and Brown onions today, we all went down to the vegetable garden and pulled everything that was ready. We have cooked the beetroot already and will have it with our supper.

This week I also discovered that my Milly House Mouse has been featured on Parents.com

happy, happy, news :)

Happy weekend to you...