Projects, WIPs and UFOs

Hello everyone! 

I can't believe how fast this year has flown by - how can it possibly be June already!? Hopefully after next weekend life can slow down a little bit, and we can get into a bit more of a routine... The fatigue doesn't like an exciting life at all! 

This week I'm going to tell you about some of my projects, WIPs and UFOs, to try and inspire me to get some of them done soon and out of the "to do" pile (and also to try and stop me picking up more new projects for a bit)!

Market Day

It has finally arrived! This Saturday is the Eastwood Uniting Church Annual Market Day, raising money for the Exodus Foundation. I am having a stall at the market, selling scarves and beanies (and hopefully taking some orders for more animals!). 20% of my sales and orders is going to support Exodus, so if you're in Sydney and want to check out my stuff, and get some super cheap toys, jam, cakes, books, clothes and white elephants, come on down!

My cousin Tracey, also a crochet artist, has sent me some very cute wool beanies and headbands to sell as well! You should definitely go check out her work at Cooper's Craft Corner :) 

My amazing Mum has been making me some organza bags for my customers - what do you think? A nice touch?

And, because everything we do is a family effort, my talented sister has made me a new set of tags for my wares. Don't they look good!

So, hopefully that goes well. I've decided if I sell 5 things, it'll be considered a success :) Any more is just a bonus!

Coming Full Circle Cardi

You know how you have those moments sometimes, when you see something and your brain just stops and shouts "WOW! MUST HAVE/DO THAT RIGHT NOW!!" Wandering through Ravelry about a week ago, I stumbled across the Coming Full Circle Vest by Lily Chin, and wow! I had to make it for me, right then. It's published in a book rather than online, but thankfully (?) there were so many errors in the published pattern that the whole thing is in the errata notes on Interweave's website! It feels a bit naughty, but the book is very expensive to buy when I just want the one pattern. 

Using Moda Vera Fayette in Pastel Mix (my favourite self-striping yarn is back in Spotlight! Yay!), I've been happily v-stitching round and round in circles for the last week or so :) It's not quite finished yet in this photo, but I wanted to try it on!

I'm up to the border now. The pattern asks for a shell/picot border, and.. well, after my Sunday Poncho I just don't think I can face more picots just at the moment. After a little Google image search (such a great way to look at lots of pictures!), I think I've decided on this two strand braid. What do you think?

Lily Pond CAL

After a slow start, I'm starting to enjoy the Stylecraft/Jane Crowfoot Lily Pond Blanket CAL. I'm not quite up to date at the moment though! The colours are just beautiful - very reminiscent of a pond. I'm glad I chose to do mostly Stylecraft Special DK with a few Life DK colours thrown in when there wasn't a Special DK to match, as it seems to be lighter and brighter than the original while retaining some deep colours for the deep waters of the pond.

The Order Mountain

I'm slowly working my way through my crochet orders. Fortunately my clients give me lots of notice so I don't have to be stressed about getting things done. Next off the rank is a cute pink and tan hippo, and then some Crocodile Stitch Booties in lovely Moda Vera Fayette Jewel Mix! Just like these ones, but adult sized ;)

Tumbling Blocks Baby Blanket - New Pattern

In between everything else, I've been steadily working on my Tumbling Blocks Baby Blanket Pattern - both writing up the (sometimes very odd) instructions for the squares, and crocheting away on the prototype. It's looking really good so far, if I do say so myself! I'm hoping to get it done and published by the end of July, but that really depends on the order list, work, the fatigue monster and whatever else falls in my lap in the next few months!

Overlay Crochet Purse - "Turkish Doorways" - New Pattern

Somewhere at the bottom of my cotton yarn bag is a half-done, half-written, half considered new pattern for a little coin purse (or pencil case or phone case or clutch - so many options!). I really need to pull it out, get it finished and written up, and then published, to get it out of my hair! 

And... don't even ask me about my cross-stitch. It hasn't been out of the bag in at least a month!

Do you have any projects that just feel like they will never end? 

How do you inspire yourself to finish them off? 

Cross-Craftiness!

I blame the Fox Collection - if it wasn't for the most gorgeous cross-stitch in their last catalogue I would probably have done much more crochet this week! 

Instead, I have devised a system for myself. I need to get one road trip scarf made during the days at home, then in the evening I'm allowed to do something else - be that cross-stitch, working on Sophie, or another project.

It seems to be working for me! I have 12 scarves all ready to be tagged and bagged for my market stall in June! And one more half-way done :) I am really enjoying the Yarn Bee Aurora Borealis Yarn all the way from the USA - not only is it chunkier than my usual 8 ply and so works up faster, it's so soft and squishy. Why can't it be winter already so I can wear one! 

So now that I've done the "work" part of things, here is my new cross stitch :) It's called Winter Sparkle, and is based on a painting by Megan Duncanson. 

Terrifyingly, it has 92 different colours, and 24 A4 pages of pattern. It should keep me entertained for a good long time! 

Today I've also been playing with puffy paint to make the soles of my Crocodile Stitch Booties non-slip. As you can see, I probably should stick to crochet or cross-stitch - my drawing skills leave a lot to be desired! The way this paint works is that you draw on the fabric/material, leave it to dry for 5 hours and then use the hairdryer to make it puff up. I've already puffed the paint on the little yellow ones - the others will get the hairdryer after dinner tonight :) 

No progress to report on my Sophie's Universe this week - I promised my sister that we could do Week 5 together at our Crafternoons@Meadowbank gathering on Sunday! However, she has been catching up to the end of week 4...

And has even started teaching one of her workmates! I am wildly jealous of their Lunchtime Crochet Club!

I am very much looking forward to seeing how our three (very) different Sophie colour schemes work up as the CAL goes on :) 

These boots are made for... snuggling!

Hello everyone! Sorry I'm a bit late this week - I was hoping to blog last night but me and Sophie were NOT getting along, and I wanted to show you all how this week's part of the CAL looks :) 

First up though, I have been having loads of fun recently making Crocodile Stitch Booties! Using this fabulous set of patterns from Bonita Designs, I've made baby ones in Stylecraft Special DK Citron:

Child ones with a Stylecraft Special DK Lavender sole and Moda Vera Fayette Jewel Mix tops:

And adult ones with a Moda Vera Marvel Green sole and Moda Vera Fayette Frenzy tops!

It is a fantastic pattern - very easy to follow and well explained for uneducated people like me who have never done crocodile stitch or rib stitch before - I highly recommend it. And, so cute!

I particularly had fun at Mum's house on Sunday, shopping in her button collection :) Do you think these were good choices?

The baby ones don't have buttons yet. I need to either figure out how to crochet buttons that are the right size and work well, or maybe get some velcro? What do you think?

And here is my Sophie's Universe progress! It took me much longer than it should have to do the last 10 rows, but I kept reading the pattern wrong and miscounting and discovering mistakes in previous rows... Sophie didn't quite go over the balcony, but it was a near thing a few times. I love the colours though!!

Here's hoping I have better luck with next week's part 5 :) 

EDITED TO ADD: Here is my sister's start on the Sophie's Universe CAL - I love how the different colour scheme gives a totally different effect!! She was inspired by the Attic24 Cottage pack in choosing her colours. 

Finally Finished... Tuesday?

It's been a wet few days in Sydney! We are just never happy here - either it buckets down with rain and we complain about the wet, or it doesn't rain for days on end and we complain about everything being too dry :P

I know it's only Tuesday, but I have been trying to clear up my WIP (works in progress) pile and fiiiiiiinally have a stack of things to show off :)

My dragon is finished! Isn't he adorable??

Plus, I managed to finish my Stained Glass Afghan last night! I used JulieAnny's Stained Glass Afghan Square pattern for the pieces, joined them with double crochet in aqua (single crochet for any American readers), and then edged it with a dc row of aqua and then back-loop-only trebles in black, to make the aqua row stand out. I'm really happy with how it came out! Plus it is so thick and warm :) 

The sun came out for just a few minutes today, especially for me to take photos for you!

All my scarf orders are up to date (so if you want to order one, now is the time). I am also experimenting with more colour options, including this one called Jewel Mix:

Isn't it dramatic?

Road Trip Scarves

As mentioned in my last post, I recently discovered Zelna Olivier's Road Trip Scarf, and have absolutely fallen in love with this pattern. 

Perhaps too much in love... here are the first four!

I am loving the Moda Vera Fayette, although the thickness of the spun yarn was quite inconsistent for some balls. Mostly this just added great texture to the scarves though!

Since putting this photo up on Facebook this afternoon, I've sold all four and taken orders for more - it seems they'll be pretty popular :) If you're interested in buying a Road Trip Scarf, I'm selling them for $30 plus postage. Head to my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/wrappedwithlovebymichelle) for all the details about ordering.

And just because I can't resist, here are some closeup photos of the scarves :) 

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!