A parliament of owls

Hello lovely readers!

I have decided I would like to make some handmade gifts for our baby shower coming up in July, to thank our friends and family for coming. I have decided on little amigurumi keyring using a free owl ornament pattern from Josephine Wu. I just love how cute those look and they are quite easy and fast to make. Which is great, considering we are planning on inviting lots of people!

I have completed one so far but I’ve crocheted a few more, which need to be stuffed and have eyes and beaks added. So far I’ve decided to glue the felt on but I might secure the pieces with some extra embroidery if I have time.

Hubby and I have decided to use a whole heap of colours and I think I’ll hang them on branches on the day for some extra decorations before people take them home 😊

Have you hand made small gifts for people to take home after a party? Did you feel like people appreciated? I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this!

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Hand spinning – part 2

Happy Monday!

I’m sorry I haven’t been on last week much, I had the best intentions to blog on Friday but I ended up super busy with work and then we went to dinner for hubby’s work. And then, my weekend was completely full of spinning! I think I’ve become completely addicted.

If last week was fun, this week was just even better! We got to try all kind of different fibres and I made my very fist skein of yarn! How exciting!

I feel like I’ve gotten much better in a week already, I’m spinning much more even and thinner than I did and it’s been very encouraging to see progress. This week, we got to continue spinning our white Corriedale wool, but we also tried black Corriedale, alpaca and even processed wool top. We also learnt how to ply and wash our wool and I love how the washed wool looks and smell!

I’ve also already spun all my alpaca (the brown skein) and made a little sampler yarn, and you can see already that the fibre looks much finer and even than on my white wool, yay!

Now I just can’t wait for next week, when we will get to try dying!

Have a great week 😊

My first go at hand spinning

Happy Monday!

I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but a few months ago I treated myself to a hand spinning course, which just started this weekend. This was something I had wanted to try for a while and I was just so excited to start!

During our first 3 hours, we got to learn how to work the double treadle spinning wheels, how to recognise good sheep fleece, how to prepare the fleece (from pulling out locks to combing them) and of course, we got a taste of spinning. I have to say that it was as hard as I imagined it would. I got the wheel spinning quite well when I was not thinking about it but it was a bit hard to draft the right quantity of fibre from my fleece while making sure to move the wheel in the same direction. Our teacher, Janet Day from My spin on Things, was so knowledgeable and helpful during the class though. Watching her, you would think spinning was the easiest thing on earth! Although my spinning was not perfect (read very very chunky and uneven!) I did manage to spin quite a lot during the class.

The great thing about the class was that we got to bring the wheels home with us to practice and I’m loving it! I’ve been spinning more and I can’t wait for next week’s lesson, when we get to ply our yarn. I’ll share my progress here with you, and maybe by the end of the course (in about 5 weeks) I will be able to have a beautiful even yarn like Janet (on the left picture).

Have you tried something that had been on your bucket list for a while? Did it match your expectations?

Fantastic Bake Along – Rosemary Muffins

Happy Sunday everyone!

Like every month, I’m participating in the Fantastic Bake Along hosted by Tracy @itsatsweetday. This month’s star baker is Brenna from Crochet539 and she chose a delicious recipe for savoury muffins, which you can find on Taste of Home. I’m sorry I’m a bit late for this one, I actually had the muffins made (and eaten) on Friday but I didn’t get around to post yesterday as I was super busy with doing my first ever spinning class! (more about that on Monday)

Anyway, the muffin recipe was super easy to follow, I just made a few modifications. I don’t like the taste of baking soda so I just doubled the quantity of baking powder instead. I also used olive oil instead of canola oil as I always cook and bake with olive oil (I don’t even think I have any canola oil in my cupboard). I also replaced the wheat flour with just plain flour and best of all, I used my special mediterranean herb mustard instead of standard Dijon mustard.

The batter looked amazing, and ever more so with the addition of the goat’s cheese, rosemary and olives. Then it was in the oven for 25-30 minutes and ready to eat!

You may notice that there are not quite 12 muffins in the plate, as hubby and I couldn’t help but have a muffin straight away (before I could even remember to take a picture for you guys)!

Those were hands down the best muffin we’ve had and I’m sure I’ll make them again! Hubby did suggest that next time, I had some bacon bits to them and I think that’s a brilliant idea.

How did your bake turn out?

If you are interested in participating, contact Tracy and you can also follow my Pinterest board where I will be adding all the recipes for the Bake Along.

Please also check out the other amazing bakers/cooks normally participating in the Fantastic BAL

• Tami @ TangleWoodKnots
• Tracy @ ItsaTSweetDay
• Kathy @ SewingEtc
• Brenna @ Crochet539
• Kate @ LifeTeaAndEverything
• Tina @ KristabellasHodgepodge
• Lucia @ CrochetKnitAndMore
• Connie @Connie’s Creations
• AJ @A Petite Slice of Life
• Rebecca @Twinklehook
• Abbey @Three Cats and a Girl
• Marcia @Una Regiaen Bicicleta

HO Wednesday – Knotty gloves

Happy Wednesday!

Just a quick one today. I’m very happy that I have a half finished object today to show you (HO)! I’ve cast off my first knotty glove yesterday, and it fits like a glove (pun intended).

I’m so happy with this project, I love the yarn and I love the pattern, what more to ask? Have a great end to your week!

Hand Quilt Along – 13/05/18

Happy Sunday readers and happy mothers day if you are in Australia!

I’m very happy I’m made lots of progress on my English paper piecing this time around. My mum was over visiting last week and we were working on it together (she was cutting the fabric and also helped me with choosing some new fabrics). She was very excited to be able to participate in this project, as it will be a quilt for baby. I don’t see my parents very often as they still live in France but this really made our weekend together extra special.

Maybe it was the extra help or I have just been very inspired to work on it (considering I didn’t have any update last time), either way I’ve added quite a few more diamond shapes to the quilt.

Last time

Last time

I’m now past half way up, but I think I’ll fill in some of the bottom before going much higher. Mum and I also chose a back for the quilt, and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my EPP on top of it to show you.

The back is a bit big at the moment but I will trim it to size after I quilt the lot, to make sure it doesn’t end up too small after quilting.

That’s it for me, I hope you had a wonderful week and we will be back for another update on the EPP in three weeks!

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Here are the others participating in this HQAL, please go check their posts!

Kathy, Bella, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Deborah,  Susan , Jessisca, Sherry, Nanette, Sassy, Sharon and Edith

 

WIP Wednesday – Arwen jumper

Happy Wednesday everyone!

As promised here is a progress shot of the newest project on my needles, my first jumper of the year! I’m super excited about this jumper, I’ve had my eyes on this design since it came out last year and I’m happy I’ve finally started it 🙂

The name of the pattern is Arwen by Isabell Kraemer and I think it’s just so beautiful. I’ve chosen the yarn for it with my family over at Christmas and it’s super soft so I can’t wait to be able to wear it.

This is the second time I make a jumper from Isabell Kraemer and I really like her patterns. it’s a top down jumper and as you can see I’ve hit the pattern already. I’ll try to share progress update when I separate into the main body and sleeves, hopefully before the end of the month!

Do you have a new project you’re excited about too?

FO – Read Between the Lines

Hello lovely readers!

I just realised that I forgot to share my finished RBTL shawl with you! I finished it smaller than what it was meant to be because I really wanted to cast on my first jumper of the year, but it’s still plenty big for me!

I absolutely love how the colours turned out and how the stripes are coming out when you incline the shawl to the side. The shawl might not be warm enough for winter here though, as the yarn I’ve used is cotton. It’s great for right now though and will probably be good for spring too.

Now I’m very excited to show you the start of my jumper tomorrow! Have a lovely day 😊

18 for 2018 – April update

Hello readers!

That’s it, another month already! Again, it wasn’t very productive craft-wise as I was away for work again in Queensland. It was very productive for work though so that’s a great thing! Here we go!

18 letters sent to friends – 1/18
With the interstate move I would like to keep in contact with friends so I want to make the effort to send them handwritten letter throughout the year.

No new letter this month, but I’ll be sending a few next month for my baby shower invitations! How exciting!

17 new recipes tried – 11/17
If you’ve been following me for a while you will know that I love cooking and baking so this should be pretty easy. Plus, the monthly bake-along will definitely help me with this one!

Only one new recipe tried this month, and it was the delicious caramels from our bake-along (although mine were a bit hard as you may remember, caramels are hard work!)

16 painted units of miniatures – 3/16
My husband and I play a miniature game and one of the fun parts is to build and paint our own miniatures. I haven’t done much last year so I hope to catch up this year by painting more models.

I have been painting this month but I haven’t finished any unit of miniatures. So no new unit this month but I’ll probably have progress next month!

15 books read – 3/15
I’ve decided to tune down this goal from last year, as I don’t have a lot of time to read. But I feel like 15 would be a good number to reach this year.

I’ve read not one but two books this month! I guess being away from hubby makes me read more 😂 I’ve finished All the lights we cannot see by Anthony Doerr and it was an amazing book, I did cry very hard though at the end, it just such an emotional story and so beautifully written. The other book I read is Masters of death by Olivie Blake. I’ve been reading lots of fan-fictions from this author and I think she is amazing. This book was her first full story and it really didn’t disappoint. I fell in love with the characters straight away and the story was so well thought I couldn’t put it down!

14 mitered squares added to my memory blanket – 1/14
I have started a knitted memory blanket using my scraps of yarn from previous projects (mostly socks) and I’d like to see it grow this year.

None this month again sadly but I’ll be knitting some this month, promise!

13 batches of biscuits made and eaten – 3/13
Again, with the bake-along this should be quite easy to accomplish!

Sadly again, none this month because I was far away from home and I didn’t want to eat all the biscuits by myself! 

12 pairs of socks – 2/12
We have real winters in Melbourne, so hubby and I will definitely need new socks, I thought one per month was a manageable goal.

Zero here too but do gloves count? 😅

11 new stitch markers made – 0/11
I have been playing with shrinking plastic lately and I’d like to make new stitch markers using some cute drawings.

Again, it’s just a matter of making them but I didn’t get time. They will happen eventually!

10 new movies seen – 9/10
We go to the movies almost every week, so I think this goal will be easy to reach, but it will give me a change to blog about movies I see a bit more.

I’m almost done with this goal already, with two new movies seen this month. I’ve seen Ready player one, which I thought was fantastic! I loved all the nerdy references to pop culture and video games in it. The second movies I saw was Avengers: infinity war and it was awesome! That was one of the movies I was really looking forward to seeing this year and it was so cool. I won’t give any spoiler but I just can’t wait for the next Marvel movies in the next few years!

9 amigurumi made – 1/9
I obviously love amigurumi enough to design some! I want to precise that those 9 amigurumi will be from other designers, I might even participate in another ami-along.

I’ve made a couple of my own designs again but none from other designers. I’m still working on mini me and I hope to finish her this month.

8 months cross-stitched on the snowblower diaries calendar – 2/8
This did not get worked on at all last year, so I’d like to finish it this year.

I’ve finished June! That means I’m half way done with the calendar. I would really like to have this displayed in baby’s room when it’s done so I’ll try to get cracking on it!

7 games of 40k played with hubby – 2/7
The good thing with painting miniatures is that I will definitely want to play more (I’m hoping anyway) and this will definitely be a fun activity to do with my husband.

None played this month but we will probably have a few games this month.

6 new designs published – 2/6
As you know I already have two new designs that I need to write up and publish. I have also started on a knitted shawl design using the beautiful yarn I got in NZ. Very excited about this one!

I’ve published my updated design for Naiad the nudibranch, but I don’t really count it as it was already a published design. I’m putting together the pdf for my copepod at the moment so hopefully I’ll have another publish next month!

5 km ran without stopping – in progress
This doesn’t seem like much but currently I can’t run more than a few minutes without having to slow down to a walk, so I’d like to be able to actually run without dying for 5 km!

I’m kind of giving up for this goal as I’ve not been able to run in the last month. I get really out of breath so I think that instead of running 5 km I’m going to try to walk 5 km at least 5 days out of 7 in the week to still keep active. I’m also trying to keep my pace around 10-12 min/km. I’ll let you know how I do next month! 

4 LOTR squares finished – 1/4
Yes I know I’ve been making this for ages but 2018 is the year I get it finished!

None this month, I don’t actually think I’ll get started on a new square for a little while, as I already have wayyyy too many projects!

3 jumpers knitted – 0.2/3
Similarly to the need for socks, I will need more jumpers this year! I already have the yarn and a pattern for my first jumper so I’m hoping this goes smoothly.

I cast on! I’ve bought Arwen, a beautiful jumper design from Isabell Kraemer and I’ve made a start on Monday. It’s knitting up really fast so I’m hoping it will be done in no time. Very excited to add another jumper to my wardrobe!

2 getaway trips – 1/2
We are trying to save money for a house deposit this year, but I’d still like to get a couple weekends away with hubby. We already have one planned, we will be going to the Bendigo sheep and wool show in July

Next trip has been booked for July to go to Bendigo! I’m still so excited about it!

1 thesis submitted – 0/1
I’m so keen to finish my PhD, so this is definitely my n°1 goal this year!

Another paper submitted this month for my thesis so it’s really shaping up now! Supervisors are happy which is always a good feeling. Submission date is still set to 1st of July so not far now!

That’s it for me! I hope your month has been productive 😘

 

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FO – Joyful world June

Hello lovely readers!

I have finished the month of June of my Joyful world calendar from the Snowflower Diaries last week and I only got around to take pictures today so I thought I would share with you.

Isn’t it so cute? I also though I would take a picture of the whole thing so far. As you can see I’ve already stitched some of the next months’ headings as I find it helps to know where to add the stitching (as I don’t have a border around each month and it can get confusing).

I’m now officially half way through and I’m really looking forward to stitching more of it! I’ll be back tomorrow with my 18 for 2018 post and I’m catching on my blog reading as I’m finally back home! yay! See you tomorrow!