Rainbow galaxy

We've arrived back home and I've been reunited

with my yarn stash that I left behind.
I decided to make another Frank O'Randle
Mini galaxy of change blanket in
rainbow colours using yarn from my stash.
This time I reversed the colours, starting
with red in the centre out to a purple border.
It's nice but I prefer the first purple centre
blanket I made last August

Crochet and travelling

In mid May we packed our household up and hit the road to travel Australia again.
We are now North of the Tropic of Capricorn in Queensland
We are escaping the Southern winter and have been enjoying
the lovely warm days that are 10-15 deg warmer than NSW.
We've just visited Bowen where the big mango is and
also where Baz Luhrmann shot the movie Australia.
My crocheting has slowed down as there is more humidity here.
I'm hoping I can overcome that by switching to making squares
rather than crocheting with a growing blanket on my lap.
The last few months I've been enjoying making blankets by
Designer Frank O'Randle and using my ice yarn.
I've made a pink and white set using magic light ice yarn shade #22021
The blanket is Rings of change by Frank O'Randle
I've Stretched it further by adding matching white and dark pink yarn.
The jacket is another magic sweater with a matching crochet beanie.
This set was given to the charity "knitting for northern rivers needy" in Coraki NSW

I decided To try another Frank O'Randle pattern called mini galaxy of change,
I had to learn new stitches, thank goodness for YouTube.
It's become my new favourite, the first I made was with Ice Yarn Dancing Baby
In white camel and blue, shade # 24560 with a 4.5mm hook, the 1st ball ran out 3/4 around round 22
And the 2nd ball finished at end of round 31,
then I used complementary shades from white to dark blue to finish.
This was also gifted to the knit 4 northern rivers needy charity

Next I made another using rainbow colours which I think looks very effective

crochet for Little Wonder Charity

I have been working on more items for Little Wonder
at RPA hospital here in Sydney, Australia.
I enjoy making smaller blankets & experimenting
with patterns and colours and they ask for 55cm blankets.
I really like the Denna Square by Polly Plum
and made a few with that pattern
I must admit this is not a very good photo,
I was balancing it on my knees and trying to take a photo
as my friend Di was driving over Sydney Harbour Bridge.



Another pattern I enjoyed making is from Mypicot
again made for Little wonder and using wool from my stash.







Again using yarn from my stash, this is 2 patterns together
the centre is 10 petal afghan square by Joyce Lewis
and then round ripple in purple scraps.
It looks very effective, the photo doesn't do it justice

I'm back & my winning blanket

I've been away for awhile, quite a while in fact.
It all started when I was made redundant November 2013, almost 3 years after my first redundancy.
 I applied for dozens of jobs and wasn't able to find another job.
Not even the ones that called asking me to apply and interview after being recommended.
So we decided to do something on our wish list and we packed up our house and traveled around Australia in a camper trailer. We left July 2014 and moved back in 5 weeks ago.
We had such a great time, lots of learning as we went and making adjustments too.
I had a backpack of clothes for winter and another for summer, a pair of thongs
 (Aussie slang for flip flops) a pair of joggers (for walking haha) and a pair of flats for going out.
I met some great people and celebrated my 50th Birthday in Northern Territory, just hubby and I.
It was so hard deciding what to take craft wise, but I managed to smuggle a bag of wool inside
with a few hooks, needles and patterns too.
One of the items I made while travelling won second prize at the Wingham (NSW) show
I was making it for the charity K4C but I'm having trouble parting with it, I love rainbows.
It is a round ripple using the Ideal Delusions pattern,  (8ply and 4mm hook)
using whatever yarn I had on hand or  that I could purchase along the way.
I've been quite productive in the last few months, so I'm sure I be will updating soon.
 Here is a picture of the blanket. Hope you like it.

And here is our home away from home!

Show and Tell week 15

This is the 10th and final week of 
squares for Sarah London and the
 "Crochet a rainbow"  cause.
I  made 70  in total and filled the
500 gram postpac so full that I 
had to get my son to help close
the parcel. This week I used 
Carnival Effects fair isle in lovely
shades of blue. I took this photo
when I was weighing them and
it wasn't until after I had posted 
them that I realised I had 
forgotten to take a picture of this
weeks squares. You can see them,
they are the squares on the top 
of the pile on the right side.

Show and Tell week 14

This is the 9th week of squares
for Sarah London and the
 "Crochet a rainbow"  cause.
One more week and I will 
have enough to fill the 
500 gram postpac.
I used Carnival Effects fair isle
in lovely shades of green.
I must say that I am looking
forward to finishing these
squares and posting them off.
It did save time by not having
to put too much thinking time
into what squares I would do
for the weeks show and tell,
therefore creating more crochet 
time. I think the moss on our driveway goes so well with these squares

Show and Tell week 13

The beginning of this year I decided to make a square a day,

this is week 13 and by my calculations that makes it 1/4 way through the year. 

Show and tell this week is more "Crochet a rainbow"  squares for Sarah London.

I used Carnival wool again, in lovely green, blue and purple hues.

I'm still not overly happy with the cameras performance,

so I took a photo on my mobile to see if there was a difference. 

Picture on the left is the camera and on the right is the mobile.

What do you think?

Show and Tell week 12

Show and tell this week is more
"Crochet a rainbow"  squares
for Sarah London.
Yes, using more Carnival wool.
Lovely dark blue with hot pink.
I played with the white balance
setting on my camera and I think
the colour is better in this photo.
The photo isn't too good as it was
wild and windy here and I took 
it in a hurry. Does it look like I was
being "artistic"?

Show and Tell week 11

This weeks show and tell is more
"Crochet a rainbow"  squares
for Sarah London.
This is the 6th set of squares
so far, I weighed them all today
and they are about 300gm,
so another 200gm to go.
These are also made using
my favourite Carnival wool.
I just have to weave those
pesky tails in.
I hate using the wool needle
as I'm allergic to metal,
so I try to do only a little at a time,
today my hands aren't faring well, 
so I will leave it for another day.

Show and Tell week 10

More "Crochet a rainbow"  
squares for Sarah London for this 
weeks Show and tell. 

I used Carnival Effects Stripes

again, only this time with 2 rows 

of pink & 3 rows in burgundy hues. 

I really like all the colourways in this yarn.

Unfortunately my camera doesn't

seem to be depicting colours 

true to life. Maybe it's the person

behind the camera that's the

problem?

Show and Tell week 9

Show and tell this week is more 

"Crochet a rainbow"  squares 

for Sarah London. I used Carnival
Effects Stripes in blue hues.

I had to catch a train the first 

3 days of this week, 20 minutes

there and back, so using this

wool made it much easier. 

Just one ball of wool and

no dreaded ends to weave in.

Sarah has photos of some of the

finished crochet a rainbow 
blankets on her blog. 

She has posted about them here,

I must say they look fantastic.

Do have a look, unfortunately the photo shows the blankets folded, 
hopefully we will get to see the blankets in their full glory, but she is a busy, busy lady.

Show and Tell week 8

 This week something a little bit
different, not a square and not
crocheted, but knitted fish.
Seven, one for each day of the
week and the colours of the
rainbow. These were a KAL
for K4C (knit 4 charity) to be made
into blankets for charity.
I made mine while watching tv,
so I had to concentrate
to stay on track with which row I was on,
but it was fun & I enjoyed making them.
If you are interested, google knitted tessalated fish.

Here are some URLs with
pictures of completed blankets.
ona knits
simple knits
rubber ducky
hachuko
crafster
jinjifore
and last but not least,
a tutorial for braided crochet seaming here

Show and Tell week 7

This weeks show and tell is a bit different,
they are round instead of squares.
Based loosely on Alice from
Crochet with Raymonds
African flower granny mandala potholder
pattern tutorial.
I wanted to use rainbow colours
and make each one different.
They have already been gifted,
to a lovely lady who I used to work with.
I'm still waiting on some competition
squares to arrive,
so will update you when I get them.

Show and Tell week 6

Show and tell this week is more "Crochet a rainbow"  squares 

for Sarah London. These are 

a bit more colourful this week 

and as you can see, my cat 

Prince was being a hand model, 

kindly pointing to the squares 

for you. I swear he can sniff 

crochet from 10 paces. 

He rushed over to see what 

I was up to, I think he's been watching too many game shows 

or late night shopping channels.

 

Sarah Londons blog states that they have 2 blankets made, I'm looking forward to seeing pics. 

 

In the meantime, I now have 3 weeks of squares 
(1 a day = 21 squares) and they weigh 150g. 
The postpac is 500g so I should be able to 
squeeze in about another 50 squares? 
only time will tell.

Show and Tell week 5

Show and tell this week is more 

 "Crochet a rainbow"  squares for 

Sarah London. DH and I went for 

a drive on Sunday, so the Carnival Effects Stripes in pink made it 

much easier for car crocheting. 

These were so quick to make up, 

so I had my weekly squares done by Monday, which meant I could

be creative and try some new

patterns I've been looking at

 (tea cosies) and work on some

gifts for our K4C gtg in June, 

I am halfway, 3 down and 3 to go 

(and no they aren't tea cosies).

Show and Tell week 4

This week I have made some 
"Crochet a rainbow"  squares organised by Sarah London.
 I used one of  my favourite wools,
 Carnival Effects Stripes in burgundy.
To the left you can see my lovely 
cat "Prince", who was trying to 
inject himself into the photo,
I must say, he is partial to a bit
of crochet.
I have also had fun this week knitting some tea cozies, 
photos probably next week.

courage

I found the Crochet with Raymond blog and at first I thought it was a man called Raymond who crochets. It is actually Alice in NZ and her cute cat called Raymond. I felt an affinity with her as I   also have a "2 toned cat" (black and white)  I like rainbows, mandalas,  crochet, variegated wool, african flower pattern, tea cozies and I am shy. When i read her post "10 things", I really admired her courage. I know it can take courage to be our authentic self. My mother always told me to have the courage of your convictions. So i have sent a little present over the ocean. I'm not sure how long it will take,  i won't post a photo until she gets it, so it will be a surprise.
i have some photos of  my rainbow blankets, but i am away and can't post them, but i will later.