Ta-dah! Rainbow Unicorns!

Hi everyone! 

Unicorns! I've just finished up two unique little rainbow unicorn buddies, using the Fatty Lumpkin the Brave African Flower Pony pattern by the incredible HeidiBears, and adding a horn (because, unicorns are really just ponies with horns :P ) 

I had a lot of fun on Sunday night, live-instagramming making the manes for these babies - 

Neatly lined up bundles of coloured threads (right before the cat jumped up on my knee and made a mess of everything):

Threads all knotted onto the base chain for the tail:

And, of course I needed to keep the mane out of the way whilst stitching on the ears and horn so... check out the hipster unicorn with his manbun!

All the Heidi Bears toys are different because they're handmade - I don't have a machine to just stamp them out identically. But, these two unicorns are a bit more different - I've used slightly different colours and layouts for the body of the beast :)

This one is pink, blue, yellow and green:

And this one has purple added in too! 

I could not convince the Heidi Bears horn pattern to work for me, so I made up my own, and added some silver thread embroidery. 

Hairdressing is not one of my best skills (as you can probably see from the uneven ends of the manes and tails), but I can only assume that their new owners will be as enthusiastic about scissors as I was when I was little so it won't really matter. So many bald Barbie dolls...

I can't wait to send these boys off to their little girls! 

Ta-dah! Plod the Triceratops!

Hi everyone!

I'm zipping through the new Heidi Bears patterns at the moment - managed to get Plod the Triceratops done over the weekend!

He is so small - he can comfortably stand on my hand. A friend on instagram dubbed him the Tricera-tot! I might need to go up a hook size for the next one, as clearly my tension is getting out of hand...


But look at that tail! So cute!! 

The only thing I would change is to make the face in the african flower pieces and the frill in the plain colour (instead of the other way around), and possibly make the horns a little wider at the base. 

But I still can't get enough of this little guy, he is just adorable :D Plod is visiting my parents in the country at the moment, both for the fresh air and his acupuncture treatment (also known as planning out a candy colour scheme for this design). 

IN OTHER NEWS...

Anne and I are working on a super secret project with a big yarn company at the moment - there will be a giveaway soon, so watch this space!! 

Max the African Flower Bulldog

Hi everyone! 

I've recently had the opportunity to try a (relatively) new Heidi Bears pattern - Max the African Flower Bulldog! 

As with all of Heidi's work, the pattern is clearly written, and so easy to follow. 

I did find it a bit challenging getting the stuffing proportions right - the first one (which I haven't taken photos of) looks like he's been overdoing arm day and ignoring leg day at the gym!! 

Plus, what a cute butt ;)

Next up - Plod the Triceratops (now in progress!) and Gobi the Camel! 

Success at the Sydney Royal Easter Show!

Hello everyone! 

Just a short blog post tonight, but I'm exploding with excitement that I just have to share with you all!!

Tonight was the Preview Exhibition for the Sydney Royal Easter Show Arts and Crafts Competition. You might remember that I entered a Road Trip Scarf, a candy happypotamus (General Millie, Captain Poprocks' future wife) and my Rainbow Twist and Turn Bargello Afghan into the competition. It was my first time entering, so I wasn't expecting anything - just getting my entries on display would have been amazing.

BUT! I did so much better than that! Not only did all three of my items end up on display...

... I won SECOND PLACE in the Crochet Art section for the Rainbow Twist and Turn Bargello Afghan...

... and FIRST PLACE (BLUE RIBBON!!) FOR GENERAL MILLIE IN THE CROCHETED/KNITTED SOFT TOYS SECTION!!!!

Plus, by the time we got to the exhibition, an hour after it opened, the scarf and happypotamus had already been purchased :D :D :D 

I'm still fizzing about the place several hours later, just so excited and thrilled and beaming like an idiot (see above pictures for proof)!! 

THANK YOU all for your support and appreciation for the crochet work that Anne and I create! It gave me the confidence to enter the Show, and I am just so happy with the results! 

An exciting week!

Hello!

I had a rather strange week with lots of good and bad excitement. Looking back I can't quite believe it happened in less than a week!

Last Saturday our car started to make very strange noises when starting. If it started that is. No good sign at all! The car isn't that old (5 years) and well maintained. I took it to the garage about three weeks ago to get it checked because it made some high pitched noises and the gear was weird too. They assured me that there was nothing wrong. At all. 

On Sunday we realized the car warranty guarantee would run out on Wednesday.

On Monday I called the garage and made an appointment on Tuesday at 7:40 am. At around 10 am I got a call from them telling me that  the starter broke, it would cost over 3500 € and they weren't sure the guarantee would cover it. Ouch! At 4 pm we got the call it would be covered but you can imagine the hours in between... Lots of worrying.

In order to get to work the next days I had to take public transport which involved three different types of transportation plus a lot of walking. On Thursday, a bomb was found near the station in Dortmund where I had to get off (a dud bomb from WW2), so I basically left work running to get home via public transport before the evacuation started... Why? Because I needed to get off at that station in order to not be stranded at work and I had other appointments in Dortmund later that day. Oh and did I mention I had to pick up my now fixed car from the garage which was pretty close to the evacuation side?!

What a week! It worked out fine in the end but there was a lot of stress and I am tired. Stress makes my fatigue flare which is really annoying (I get fatigue from my autoimmune sickness too but a different kind than Michelle).

On the other hand it was a week full of excitement too. I haven't been to Australia since Michelle's wedding in 2011 - a very long time Michelle and I haven't seen each other in person and I haven't been in my favourite town, Sydney (we talked about the times we saw each other in person here). Plus my boyfriend hasn't meet Michelle's family yet and hasn't seen Down Under. So we planned to go there sometime later this year or in 2016. It was all very hypothetical though.

Well, on Tuesday I looked up flights just for the fun of it and saw a brilliant offer from Singapore Airline. And what shall I say... We booked! So we will be in Australia for four weeks this winter. Michelle thought I was kidding for about half a day when I told her btw... :P I am soo excited even though it's still over ten months away. The little giraffe Michelle gave me for my birthday in 2013 is very anxious to see her relatives in Australia again too and begs me to take her with me. I think I will. :D

Oh and I also managed to sneak in some crochet this week. Not as I hoped I would but some... I finally finished the blanket for my dad and will post it soon. Also I made another Granny Star Blanket, this time in reverse colours. And I worked a bit on the blanket for my Granny. Hm, I just realized I actually got more done than I thought!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Take care

Anne

Hippos and Crocodile and Sophies, Oh My!

Hello everyone! Welcome to all our new readers, and especially to our old friends :) We love reading every single one of your comments, on here and on Facebook and Instagram! 

Remember how I started a list a few weeks ago to try and keep me on track and get done the things I needed to get done? Well, I finished 4 scarves, my Sophie, and the Happypotamus to enter into the Sydney Royal Easter Show this week! I also did too much housework which has led to me being crashingly exhausted - there's definitely a lesson in that.

The Happypotamus is the new, improved Captain Poprocks style, and definitely needs a name. What would you call it? There's no obvious signs of it being male or female (I've checked), so don't feel restrained on that count :P 

I also got some wonderful feedback from the beautiful mum who ordered the Crocodile Stitch Booties I've been raving about. Despite it being 40°C in Adelaide, the little one insisted on wearing her "favourite gumboots", and would only take them off to sleep if they were right there on the bedside table! It doesn't get much better than that :D

On that delightful high note, here is our progress on the Sophie's Universe CAL for this week!! The roses are absolutely gorgeous, by themselves... 

... and in a row... 

I love the flower "growing" on the short side! 

An artsy sideways shot so you can see all the wonderful textures.

And the full banana! I'm going to have to extend the dining table for the next photo - it is almost as wide as the table now! I had to block it at this stage so that it stayed flat, and didn't just curl up all over the place.

And here is Kathryn's update photo from last week :) She's done a few more rows since this was taken, but this is to the end of Part 6. 

Nicole is up to the first row of popcorns! I love her vibrant colour choices - it's going to be a tropical garden :)

So many photos! I hope you are enjoying our Sophie progress updates :)  Don't forget to comment with your name for the Happypotamus! 

WIP Wednesday - Projects update

Hello everyone! 

Wow, what a birthday week! Thank you to everyone who read, participated, entered the giveaway, commented and followed our little blog :) We have a great time writing it for you!

Today I'm just doing a quick update on my current works in progress (WIPs) as it has been a crazy week around here. Not only was it blog birthday week, but... 

Over the long weekend we went up and stayed at the new house at Lake Macquarie for the first time. It was amazing and awesome, and I can't wait for it to be properly finished so I can unpack the kitchen properly ;) My sister has done an amazing job with the design of the house, particularly the interior features like this tiled wall:

Plus the view from the balcony is pretty good ;)

Then, Kiah ended up in hospital last Tuesday having his appendix out! It was caught early which is good, but still required nearly 3 days in hospital, and lots of running around and helping from me. He is still very sore, but the three little holes in his belly seem to be healing up nicely. 

As a result, I am pretty much completely exhausted, which has really slowed down the crochet production (and everything else, but that's less important). Fortunately my parents are back from their conference now, so they are helping with shopping and driving, and the wonderful Beccy, our housemate is helping with housekeeping. Couldn't do it without you all! 

On the good news front, I received my Stylecraft Special DK Packs from Deramores. How will I ever use any other acrylic 8ply again!? This yarn is incredible, and the price I can get from Deramores is about $2.80/100g - just about cheaper than any low quality yarn I can get here. I have started using one colour pack already (see Project 2 below), but I am still musing and plotting over how to make something amazing with the other one.  

Because my brain has been all over the place, my WIPs have been all over the place too. Usually I don't like having more than one or two WIPs as it gets me all fuddled, but these are special times.

Project 1 (a, b, c, d,... so many animals)

Animal orders - so far I have pieces for two candy hippos, one blue and yellow stegosaurus and one black and red dragon! The dragon pieces in particular are very dramatic - I think he's going to be one amazing beastie when put together :) Since I enjoy joining more than I enjoy making the little African Flowers, I am collecting up little baggie sets to relax and join later! 

Project 2

Cosmos Fields Shawl, pattern by Zooty Owl. I am loving this yarn, and these colours! Reminds me of lavender fields in Provence :) It is for our housemate Beccy to keep at work for when she gets chilly about the shoulders. The pink workbasket (for details go here) is just the perfect size for this project! 

Project 3

I was inspired by Atty's Woven Crochet Block to create this prototype heat pad for the new house, to protect the tables from hot saucepans and trays. Maybe next week I'll write up how I did it, so you can have a try too! Or maybe the week after. 

(excuse the ends not tucked in yet...)

What are you working on this week?