Bits and bobs

Hello everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long between drinks - we had our holiday to Vanuatu where the internet access was very limited, and since our return I have been either too tired to do anything, or madly organising a dinner event for work. Phew! 

There is a post on its way about Captain Poprocks' adventures in Vanuatu, but I am still going through all the photos to make sure I put the best ones up here ;) He is still in hibernation anyway - possibly recovering from his kava experiences...

Here are a few projects I've had on the go for the last few weeks:

1. In Vanuatu, I decided I needed a macro-crochet project - something made on a hook bigger than 1.5mm! I fell in love with a stained glass afghan square pattern by JulieAnny (pattern can be found here), and it worked up so so nicely using some 8 ply variegated yarn left over from another afghan. So far I have done all of the "stained glass" pieces; now to just finish the colour frame and put them all together!

However, the finishing off has been put in the "to do" basket for now because...

2. I just could not resist the amazing HeidiBears' new DRAGON (!!) pattern! I wanted to do something a bit different with the colours, and was inspired by a CanToo star giraffe my mother is making. The pieces are exactly the same as the usual African Flower, but with the colours in a different sequence, so they make stars:

He's coming along pretty well - just needs his spines (which are almost all crocheted) and wings (which will take a bit longer). The dragon will be on sale with Wrapped with Love shortly, but he will be $100 rather than $60 as he has three times the pieces of the other animals, and has taken me a solid week so far! 

I'll probably get the spines on before Smaug goes into the "to do" basket as well, because...

3. I have absolutely fallen in love with Zooty Owl's Road Trip Scarf. I have seen so many beautiful pictures over the last few weeks! Isn't it just gorgeous!

When I got my Spotlight catalogue and found that the Moda Vera Fayette (a lovely variegated wool/acrylic blend) was half price, I knew it was meant to be. While it's possible I went slightly overboard on the purchasing, I got $160 worth of beautiful yarn and stuffing etc for $110, which is a pretty good deal! Here's my loot with my trusty rainbow bargello bag :) 

So, hopefully over the next few weeks I'll be able to get at least one of these projects finished :) I do also have some orders coming up for Wrapped with Love, but it isn't too busy at the moment if you want to get in early for Christmas/birthday orders for your little ones (or big ones!). 

On a final note, at the fancy work dinner on Thursday we had the most gorgeous table arrangements of Australian native flowers, and I got to bring one home. I am so lucky to have these beautiful flowers decorating my living room this weekend :)  

 

Coming soon - The Adventures of Captain Poprocks: Melanesian Magic!

Vancouver!

Hello!
Just a quick Hello from Vancouver! I am having a wonderful time over here!
Hop over to Darrah's blog (ButtonBuffalo) to find some pictures! Had such a great time meeting her and she gave me a wonderful little crochet bird which I adore to pieces! Will show you some pictures in a later post!
That is it from me for now! Need to return to my coffee and crochet!

take care
Anne

Preparing for Canada - House Slippers

Hello all!

As I mentioned before, we will travel to Canada this summer. Vancouver and Vancouver Island to be exact. Man, I am so excited! Our first real holiday in two years and my first time leaving the continent since 2011 (when I was in Australia for Michelle's wedding).

I had my fair share of long distance travels over the last ten years and one thing I hate about plane rides are the shoes. My feet usually swell up but I don't like to walk around on the plane in socks. So this time, I decided to make myself "plane shoes" which I can use as house shoes in the hostels we will stay in as well.

The Oma House Slipper pattern from Tara Murray is fantastic! You have to pay for the pattern but it is well worth it! I used the size 4 instructions. Uh, no my feet aren't that tiny but instead of holding two strands of yarn together, I used a rather bulky yarn. After some trial and error, I discovered that the size 4 pattern worked best. 

As you can see, I added liquid rubber stuff underneath, so I won't slip. Undoubtedly I am not very talented at pretty figures but it should do the trick. Plus, no one will see it anyway, I reckon!

Oh, I am so looking forward to our time in Canada!

Is any of you from Vancouver by any chance and has some good yarn shop advice (or would like to meet for coffee)?

Take care

Anne

P.S. Thanks for your kind comments on Findus! I miss him a lot...

Yarn in honor of Findus

Hello all!

Yesterday something happened which shocked me to the core: My cat Findus died aged 16 years. He lived with my family since he was less then 4 weeks old and really owned us. 

We were lucky to have him this long since he almost died several times (he had an autoimmune illness) but that doesn't make the loss any easier. Earlier this week my mum took him to the vet because he was eating less and breathed really hard. The news weren't good: There was water in this lungs. He went home with my mum that night but had to go back to the vet last night where he had to be put down. The decision wasn't an easy one but as a pet owner you have a great responsibilty for you pet. And we didn't want to let him suffer and "drown" or starve because he couldn't breathe or eat. My parents and my sister were there with him til the end. I just wish I could have been there too!! Because I had a bad feeling beforehand I did skype with him earlier the day though and was able to tell him I love him. 

Anyway, I spent the night thinking what I could do in honour of him. When I feel sad I usually buy yarn but I figured that this time I should do it for someone else. On the World Vision homepage I found the Micro Credit Project of Judith Monica Herrera. She lives in Bolivia and needs a micro credit to expand her yarn store which feeds her family and allows her child to go to school. The project can be found here. 

When I saw the project I decided to donate some money to her yarn store in honor of my beloved cat Findus. I bet he would have loved that (oh, well, he would have loved the yarn to play with... or to eat... or to chew on... or all of it really).

 

These micro credits are a really good thing to support. More information can be found here (German) and here (English).

Take care

Anne

Recipe: Oremon Drink

Hello all!

Some weeks ago I had a very yummy hot drink at a local café. It seemed to be a picture of fresh orange juice, fresh lemon juice and sugar/honey. So good, so healthy! Vitamin C-Bomb I reckon...

Since I can't go back to this café everyday, I decided to make up the drink myself. After a few tries comes the result right here! I called it Oremon (ORange lEMON)...

Oremon Hot Drink

Serves 6

Ingredients

2-4 oranges (if they are juicy two are enough)

2 lemons

2 Tablespoons honey

Hot water

How to make it

Add honey into a teapot. Squeeze the lemon and orange juice into the pot. Add about the same amount of hot water (not boiling - it will destroy the vitamin C otherwise) as the juice. Taste and add more honey if it isn't sweet enough. 

Ta-Dah! Yummy hot drink made!

Take care,
Anne

PS There will be crochet posts soon... :-)