Rubber Band Bouncy Balls Anyone?

Ever wondered what to do with all those rubber bands instead of throwing them in the bin? Make rubber band bouncy balls of course! Every day when the newspaper arrives, it has a rubber band around it, we have saved all the bands and Jen, Erin and Cady have made the most amazing bouncy balls with them. We visited my mom today, Caiden asked her if she had any rubber bands, oh what thrill and excitement ensued when she brought out two big bags of bands, saying, "You know how I can't throw anything away".... (My mom also saves her newspaper rubber bands..... what luck).

So if you feel the need to do some recycling of the rubber band kind, to make the bounciest, rubber band ball ever, this is what you do. Take a band and tie a few knots in it, roll it up, then just start wrapping single bands around and around in figure eight movements, (this can be a little tricky in the beginning, but don't give up, it's REALLY fun once you get going:) AND when you are finished, you have reused something and have an amazing rubber ball:)

Day Trip to Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve

Today we went on a day trip to the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, it took us about 45 minutes to get there. We drove around the reserve seeing lovely game, stopped and had a picnic and then went on a 4.5 km hike up one of the hills. It has been an amazing day, I think I need to go for a nap, but it was well worth it:) The countryside here in South Africa is so dry at the moment and we could see that there had been a huge veld fire a few weeks ago but the green shoots of grass have already started to push through the ground...

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, here are some postcards from our day trip out....

Yes, do you see this steeeeeeep hill? We we walked up this hill today, towards the top, I really thought I was going to need oxygen (hee, hee) but I made it!! And then it was downhill the rest of the way, but so worth it:)

Grizzly Bear Toy Knitting Pattern and a Giveaway

Today I have been working on a Grizzly Bear pattern, Grrrrrrrrrrrr.... I have had tremendous fun creating this little character and attempting to make him appear all bearish looking:)  I have knitted him in Elle Merino Brights wool because I thought the varigation of the wool was a nice bear colour and it has a slightly fluffy texture to it too... He is knitted on size 4mm / US 6 straight needles and he is knitted flat in one piece with shaping here and there.

His pattern will be going into my book:)

Winners:
Congratulations to:

Gina P said...
Linda,
This pattern is ggrr-eat...sorry couldn't resist. You have such talent for these adorable animals. I would love to win but good luck to everyone. It's so nice that you share with all of us.
Best wishes, Gina

AND

nelle@buckeye-express.com said...
Cute!


Giveaway:
I am giving this pattern away to 2 readers, to enter just leave a comment in this post:) I will announce the winner on Tuesday here.
Happy weekend to you all
xo
Linda

Creative Friday

Welcome to Creative Friday :)

Thank you so much to everyone who shares the love and posts their links to their amazing work:) Please feel free to post your links to anything you have created and would like to share, it can be a recipe, sewing tutorial, knitting tutorial, felting, crochet, crafts, art, spinning, weaving, working with fibre, photography, poetry...etc...

I also love to hear from you, so if you have a moment, please leave a comment:) Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful talent with us! Just add the name of your blog to the widget and then add your blog link with the http:// at the beginning of your link address:) I have added a Creative Friday button on the sidebar of my blog, please feel free to add it to your blog for Creative Friday and link it to http://www.naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/ so others can find this space and share their creativity too:)

Boat Knitting Pattern, Tutorial

I did some yarn bombing today and knitted up a little sailboat. I really do enjoy boats, the way they glide through the water and all that... so today a sailboat it is! We have quite a few lakes nearby where we live and sometimes there are sailboat races. It is wonderful watching these boats, spurred on by the wind and their sails, the most vibrant of colours...

Enjoy!

Materials:
Chunky yarn for the boat, I used size 8mm needles for this chunky yarn
2 double pointed 4mm needles to knit th i-cord for the mast
Handspun green yarn for the sail
Wool needle for sewing up
Pipe cleaner to keep the mast straight

Boat Pattern: (Knit 2)
Cast on 10 stitches in chunky yarn
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Increase into the first stitch, knit across the row and increase into the last stitch. (12 stitches)
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: Increase into the first stitch, knit across the row and increase into the last stitch. (14 stitches)
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: Increase into the first stitch, knit across the row and increase into the last stitch. (16 stitches)
Cast off.

Sew the two knitted boat pieces right sides together on the sides and underneath.

Turn inside out so that the right sides are on the outside. There's your boat:)

Turn inside out again and pick up 4 stitches in the middle of the boat with your double pointed needle and attach the yarn for the mast.

Knit an i-cord for about 4.5 to 5 inches for the mast.

Push a pipe cleaner into the top of the mast, if it is difficult, push a long, thick wool needle down at the same time to guide the pipe cleaner in. Trim the pipe cleaner once it has reached the base of the boat. Cast off the i-cord and sew the top closed.

Sail:
I knitted the sail in green handspun yarn with size 4mm needles.
Cast on 12 stitches.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (11 stitches)
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (10 stitches)
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (9 stitches)
Row 7: Knit
Row 8: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (8 stitches)
Row 9: Knit
Row 10: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (7 stitches)
Row 11: Knit
Row 12: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (6 stitches)
Row 13: Knit
Row 14: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (5 stitches)
Row 15: Knit
Row 16: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (4 stitches)
Row 17: Knit
Row 18: Knit row, knit 2 stitches together at the end of the row. (3 stitches)
Row 19: Knit
Row 20: Knit 1 stitch, knit 2 stitches together. (2 stitches)
Row 21: Knit
Row 22: Knit 2 stitches together.
Bind off.

Sew the sail onto the mast as seen in the photo, sew in all the ends and you are finished:) Just think how many colours you can knit these little boats in, oh my, the possibilities are endless:)



Please not this pattern is copywritten, it is for personal use only, thank you.

Have a wonderful day:)
Warmly
Linda