Ergonomic Crochet Hook

My new hook arrived the other day. It's a Clover Soft Touch. I had a look on the back of the packaging and had to giggle. It's made in Japan, distributed in the USA and I bought it from an ebay seller the UK. Now it's here with me in Australia. It certainly is a globe trotter!

I've had a little bit of a play with it. It feels pretty good in my hand. I only have one problem with it so far and that is I wish the handle was just a teeny bit longer. I think I need to use it some more to see if it truly does help with my wrist and how it can ache sometimes after too much crocheting. I'm off to 'road test' it some more (~_o)

WIP - Crocheted Dog Kennel

This picture is the inspiration behind the dog kennel I am making. 

Of course I wont be adding the lights or the holly.

All I need to do is add the roof.

Okay. I've got the dog, a bone, a kennel, a paw print .. time to go place them on the fleece blanket I bought to see if I need to make anything else.

WIP - Paw Print Applique

I found a nice easy pattern to make a paw print. I probably could've made up something myself but I was feeling a tad lazy.
Here's the link to the pattern I found http://www.mooglyblog.com/paw-print-applique/. It called for a magic circle loop. I'd never really done one before but the tutorial had a link to a video that showed how easy it was to make. 

WIP - Crochet Dog and Bone

Here's what I've done so far with the dog. I still think it's lacking something but I am unsure what.

I have also made a bone. I found the pattern HERE 

Now I'm off to make a kennel and some paw prints. 

WIP - Old English Sheep Dog Crochet Applique

Here's what I have made so far. I'm going to add some fluffy fur to the chest so make it look more like an old sheep dog. I think I've done a pretty good job considering I have no pattern to follow.

I'm thinking I can make up some bones, paw prints and maybe a dog bowl, ball, kennel or something then sew them on to the blanket I bought. I think it will look pretty good when it's done. The only thing I will need to work out is whether to stick them in the corners or to make a little picture type scene in the middle of the blanket. Any tips/ideas would be very welcomed.

An Aussie Poem

I snagged this from my friend Rose. She posted it on Facebook. I have no idea who wrote this and I would dearly love to give them credit. If you know who wrote this please let me know so that I can give credit where its due. Thanks. 


Aussie Poem

The sun was hot already - it was only 8 o'clock
The cocky took off in his Ute, to go and check his stock.
He drove around the paddocks checking wethers, ewes and lambs,
The float valves in the water troughs, the windmills on the dams

He stopped and turned a windmill on to fill a water tank
And saw a ewe down in the dam, a few yards from the bank..
"Typical bloody sheep," he thought, "they've got no common sense,
"They won't go through a gateway but they'll jump a bloody fence."

The ewe was stuck down in the mud, he knew without a doubt
She'd stay there 'til she carked it if he didn't get her out.
But when he reached the water's edge, the startled ewe broke free
And in her haste to get away, began a swimming spree.

He reckoned once her fleece was wet, the weight would drag her down
If he didn't rescue her, the stupid sod would drown.
Her style was unimpressive, her survival chances slim
He saw no other option, he would have to take a swim.

He peeled his shirt and singlet off, his trousers, boots and socks
And as he couldn't stand wet clothes, he also shed his jocks.
He jumped into the water and away that cocky swam
He caught up with her, somewhere near the middle of the dam

The ewe was quite evasive, she kept giving him the slip
He tried to grab her sodden fleece but couldn't get a grip.
At last he got her to the bank and stopped to catch his breath
She showed him little gratitude for saving her from death.

She took off like a Bondi tram around the other side
He swore next time he caught that ewe he'd hang her bloody hide.
Then round and round the dam they ran, although he felt quite puffed
He still thought he could run her down, she must be nearly stuffed.

The local stock rep came along, to pay a call that day.
He knew this bloke was on his own, his wife had gone away,
He didn't really think he'd get fresh scones for morning tea
But neither was he ready for what he was soon to see.

He rubbed his eyes in disbelief at what came into view
For running down the catchment came this frantic-looking ewe.
And on her heels in hot pursuit and wearing not a stitch
The farmer yelling wildly "Come back here, you lousy bitch!"

The stock rep didn't hang around, he took off in his car
The cocky's reputation has been damaged near and far
So bear in mind the Work Safe rule when next you check your flocks
Spot the hazard, assess the risk, and always wear your jocks!

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• a few days of relief with my arm - it almost felt back to normal for a while but then BAM that dang awful pain came back :( 
• pain killers - I know I sound like a broken record but when you need them you need them, right?
• my back pain settled after a couple of days, thank goodness
• Mark's friend, R, being available to help out when our car was at the wreckers getting fixed up
• getting my car back (~_~)
• Our parcel postie, Luke, for bring lots of packages to our place this past week

What are you thankful for this week

WIP - Crochet ~ Old English Sheep Dog Applique

This is the picture of an Old English Sheepdog that I chose to use as a guide for my crochet project for Mark's Mum. I have no idea how to make a dog using this but hey that's a challenge in itself.

I did use a website called knitPro. It's a web app that allows you to upload a picture/photo and it will convert it to a chart that you can use for needlepoint, cross stitch, crochet or knitting. The web app will then convert your picture into a pdf file which you can then save to your computer for future reference or to print out.

I have made a start using dark grey acrylic. Although I think it looks like a deformed triangle at the moment.

New Book: Crochet-opedia

I love it when our parcel postie, Luke, brings stuff to our place. Yesterday he brought my new Crochet-opedia - The only crochet reference you'll ever need book by Julie Oparka. I picked up my copy from fishpond.com.au. when it was on special a few weeks back. It had to come from overseas so it took a while to get here.

It has tips on how to substitute yarn, how to tell the difference for all the different yarn weights/plys, a stitch guide, how to block and lots of different patterns. All the patterns are in US terminology but I think I can get my head around all of that.

I'm off to go look at the book some more.

The Yarn Bombers Are Back

As I pulled up at the bowser at our local petrol station I happened to see a tree that had been yarn bombed with some 'fruit'. Our local yarn bombing fibre artists have been busy again.

Brodie and I also spotted this grocery basket too. I think it looks nice and colourful. Angus mentioned that there are some pretty colourful bicycles around too. Sadly I haven't seen those. 

I love how all of this yarn bombing has spiced things up about our town and the next town over from us. The bombers have certainly created some interesting discussions too. They've even had an article in our local paper.

Even though I find it exciting seeing all the new stuff that's about town I cannot help but think what other projects the yarn could've been used for. 

Time For A Pity Party

Yesterday afternoon I managed to hurt my back when I was about to sit down. I got this awful spasm in my lower back and it is hurting like there is no tomorrow. You know that saying when it rains it pours? Well it certainly feels that way at the moment. Sore back, sore mouth and sore arm. I swear I need a new body. This getting older and having all these aches and pains sucks!

To top it off my car is sick too. The head is broken/cracked or something & water is leaking from it. Mark said that it is cheaper to replace the motor than to get the head repaired. The car is now booked in at the wreckers to get a new (but used) motor next week.

I don't want any more bad luck. I don't think I can take any more right now.

Lucky Op Shop Finds

Look what I found while op shopping on Thursday morning.
I'm always on the look out for crochet patterns whilst op shopping, well patterns in general. So when I came across these books with crochet patterns in them I snapped them up.

These second two photos are a couple of examples from the book on the left.

These last two photos are examples from the book on the right.

I have no idea when I'll make anything up from these patterns but I promise to take photos. 

I'm meant to be working on a blanket for Mark's Mum, Helen. I'm kind of cheating actually I'm just making some applique dogs/paws/bones etc to sew on to a fleecy blanket. I just haven't been motivated to make them yet. Helen breeds Old English Sheepdogs & I don't really have a pattern for that breed but I did print out a graph. I'm just worried it wont turn out nice. It's going to be a surprise for her when I finally get around to crocheting. She has no idea that I've got this planned. I just need some motivation to get started.

It's Tooth Hurty

I went to the dentist yesterday afternoon. I was thinking it would be my last appointment for a while. Oh boy was I wrong! You see I was supposed to have a tooth extracted. However my tooth had other ideas (like it's got a brain but I am still blaming the tooth). The roots of this particular tooth were hanging on so tight that my tooth broke when the dentist tried to yank it out. Not only that the root is particularly close to my sinuses & boy did they know my mouth was being pestered today! After much pulling and wobbling plus using various different tools my dentist decided that she was unable to take the rest of my tooth out.

Guess what I have to do now? I need to go into Melbourne to the Dental Hospital to have my tooth extracted. And to top it off there could be several months wait depending on how busy they are. Lucky me MORE waiting. Just as long as it doesn't take two years like it did to get some general dental work done. Plus I also found out that I still need to go back in a month to get a filling done. Hopefully that will go smoothly! I don't wish for any more hiccups.  I guess I shouldn't complain really my mouth didn't hurt that much considering what was done to it today. I just want the swelling to go down.

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• pain medication
• sunshine and milder weather. The temperatures this week have been lovely but we have a couple of cold fronts heading our way now so we are in for a bit of a wintry blast
• bonus money which has meant we have been able to replace the hard drives in the server that crashed the other week :( and the VOIP box (our internet phone) which has been playing up too.
• being able to pay money onto our electricity bill so that when it arrived this past week it was ALL paid for and we are in credit too!

What are you thankful for this week?

A Pain In The Buttocks, Well It's Really In My Shoulder

image from google

I went and saw my GP yesterday afternoon. I now have an 'official' diagnosis. Well, I had a diagnosis before but this has definitely been confirmed now that I've had an ultrasound. Dr F. (my GP) even gave me a print out of the radiologists report.  I have a partial thickness incomplete tear of the supraspinitis tendon with associated subacromial bursal thickening causing impingement. In other words it is PAINFUL but thankfully not all the time.

For now we are just going with pain management. I have a different pain medication, tramadol, which I have never taken before so I only took one capsule last night after tea. It didn't seem to help all that much so I will try two some time later today. At least this hasn't affected my head like panadeine forte does. Codeine always makes me feel light headed and pays havoc with my system if I take them for long periods of time. I usually just put up with the pain for as long as I can. I reckon I rattle with the amount of medication I take anyway without taking any extra.

Dr. F said that he would refer me to an orthopaedic surgeon if I wanted to. I may go that road if things don't improve. The bad news is that it may take up to two years before my shoulder is back to 'normal'. I am crossing my fingers, toes, eyes and anything else that I can cross and hoping that it will not take that long. It's already been six months since I initially hurt my arm. I don't want another 18 months of this.

Wish me luck in a speedy recovery!

How to Crochet a Tank Top with Shell Stitch - For Dummies

This was shared on Facebook by Nana's Whimsical Crochet. It looks so pretty and it's meant to be easy to make. Knowing my luck it wont be so I'll just admire it (~_~)

How to Crochet a Tank Top with Shell Stitch - For Dummies
The pattern is from a book called Crochet Patterns for Dummies

Video - Crochet Basket Weave Stitch

I've been browsing through my youtube subscriptions when I came across this video for crocheting the basket weave. I think I have a pattern in one of my books somewhere but videos always make it so much easier to learn a new stitch.

Finished Item - Crocheted Spider & Cobweb

My sister-in-law is having a scary party at the end of the month. She asked me to make her a spider web and post it to her. I wrote about where I found the pattern HERE.

I know it doesn't really look like a spider but it's close enough. Not a bad effort without a pattern. Well that's what I think anyway.

I posted them off on Friday afternoon. I'm sure Sally will love them!

My Dang Shoulder

I had an ultrasound done on my right shoulder on Thursday afternoon. Twisting and turning my arm about so that the technician could get a good picture of my shoulder and the muscles was a big pain but I knew it had to be done. The technician would occasionally ask if it hurt doing a particular movement. It did but I just dealt with it. Not that she could say all that much but she did confirm that I have definitely torn a tendon. I kind of knew that already because of the sounds I heard coming from my shoulder a few times. It sort of sounded like paper ripping.

Now that I have had the scan done I've made another appointment to see my GP. As far as I can tell, not that I have researched anything at this stage, I may have two options. The first being pain management and the second would most likely be an operation to reattach the tendons. Pain management has been working so far but to be honest I am so over it. Simple things like driving, picking things up, reaching for stuff can bring me to tears. Thank goodness I am still able to knit and crochet without too much pain. I would go insane if I couldn't do either of those.

Happy Birthday Brodie!

Happy Birthday Brodie! 

I can't believe that you're no longer a teenager! 

Where will I go to get all my answers from if you're not my know-it-all teenager?  *grins*

Have a wonderful day Brodz

I love you heaps 

xoxox

Homemade Birthday Cake - it's a carrot cake. Brodie's request.
Recipe can be found HERE

Thankful Thursday

Here's what I am thankful for this week:

• beautiful sunny weather - although the skies have been blue it's still been very cold but I can live with that while the sun shines so brightly
• Mark - thank goodness he knows about computers. Our server has been playing up due to a couple of power outages. It's not back up yet but he (and I) are working on it
• helpful boys - with my shoulder/arm playing up as often as it has I am very glad that the boys have been helping out more. I just need to work on them doing the cooking ... wish me luck (~_~)
• I was able to lodge a form at Centrelink. I'm crossing fingers that they haven't lost it this time.
• being able to get an appointment to get an ultrasound done on my shoulder so quickly. I phoned up yesterday and I go in for the scan just after midday today.
• painkillers - I've needed the relief just so I can do little things like make the bed & get things out of the cupboards.

What are you thankful for this week?

Yarn Funnies

 I found these fun yarn memes at Knitting Daily on Facebook. I had to share them.

Baking Madness - Well Not Really

Orange & Poppyseed cake

I wanted to bake a cake from scratch. Sadly I only had wholemeal flour in the cupboard & I couldn't be bothered looking for a recipe online that used wholemeal. Sometimes you just can't substitute white flour and wholemeal. It just doesn't work. So I cheated and used a packet mix. Silly me didn't take a photo with the frosting on the cake. It made it look so much better. That being said it does taste good.

Pretty In Pink

Look what I bought myself on the weekend! 

I've always wanted a kitchen mixer. I really wanted a KitchenAid but they are so out of my price range. So I settled for the next best thing. I love the look of this machine and I LOVE the colour. Secretly I would've preferred dark blue or purple but pink is good.

It came with a dough hook, beater and whisk.

Bonus accessories worth around $90

It's new home on my bench

Out For Lunch

Mark & I went out for lunch. 

It was lovely just being the two of us without the boys in tow. We ate at one of the hotels in town at the bistro. Originally we wanted to go for Chinese but the didn't do a lunch service on the weekend.

Mark had the Mixed Grill - there was enough food on the plate for two people!

I had the Seafood Basket - prawn cutlets, calamari rings, scallops and fish.

There was so much food on our plates that neither of us were able to finish it. I left nearly all of the chips (sorry Angus I know how much you love them) and the raw oyster. There was no way I could eat it. Yuck! 

I certainly wont be wanting anything substantial for dinner tonight. The boys can fend for themselves. Having older teens means they are quite capable of cooking their own meals from time to time. I just hate all the dishes that they use when they make themselves their own dinner. Now I just have to work out how to get them to clean up after themselves.

Recipe - Pumpkin and Pasta Bake

Pumpkin & Pasta Bake

This is a new recipe that I've tried just a couple of times. I originally got the recipe from taste.com.au but I've tweaked it so that there is more sauce in the dish. There didn't seem to be enough in it last time I prepared this.


Pumpkin and Pasta Bake (original recipe can be found HERE)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
200 grams ( about 1 cup) diced bacon
800 grams (3 cups) pumpkin, cut into 1 cm cubes
1 teaspoon of chilli flakes (I used 1 tablespoon of chilli paste)
5 cups of water
2 chicken stock cubes
300 grams macaroni or other small pasta (I used around half a  packet of shells)
1 tub of Philadelphia Cream for Cooking
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 cup frozen peas
4 teaspoons cornflour (to thicken the sauce)
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 1/2 cups grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F)

Heat the oil in a large frying pan (I used my cast iron pot so I could put it straight into the oven) add the onion, garlic and bacon. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the pumpkin, chilli, stock cubes and half the water. Cook until the pumpkin starts to soften.

Add the pasta, cream, rosemary, peas and the rest of the water. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Reduce heat and cook for about 8 - 10 minutes until the pasta is tender. It may look like there is too much liquid but don't worry that's what the cornflour is for. Mix it with a little water in a small bowl and add it to the pan. Mix it in well.

Place the breadcrumbs in a medium sized bowl with half the cheese. Mix well. Place the remainder of the cheese in the pot and stir. Take off the heat. Place the mix in an ovenproof dish if you haven't used a cast iron pot. Sprinkle the cheese mix over the top. Place the dish/pot into the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until the topping has turned golden brown.

*Don't panic if everything still looks watery. The sauce does thicken up nicely by the time everything has finished cooking.

Doctor Who Inspired Cross Stitch Charts

Another amazing find on etsy.

5.00 USD, by neverdyingpoet



via Etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/153467010 

Doctor Who Tardis Knitting Needles sizes 0-15- made to order

Look at this amazing item I found on etsy. Of course I'm a Doctor Who Fan .. so when I saw this as knitting needles I thought how cool to combine two of my favourite things.




11.00 USD, by DotDotSmile



via Etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/119176357

Freebie Ebooks And Other Geeky Stuff

Gee whiz! I've gone and done it again. I thought I had resolved my lack of posting issue but I've had a relapse *hangs head in shame* I totally meant to do a thankful Thursday post last night but I got sidetracked watching TV. What a slacker I am *sigh*

To make up for this horrible lack of posting I thought I would share where I get some fantastic FREE books for my kindle. It's not a secret or anything. I think I mentioned this in a post somewhere before. I collect a lot of freebies from Amazon itself. If you go HERE you can get them yourself. The reason I don't miss out on them is due to Mark. He set up a recipe* over on the If This Then That (IFTTT) website where he gets sent an email when new books are listed on the free Amazon list. This email then gets forwarded to me.

Recipes from IFTTT are super easy to set up in fact some are already made up. For example there are ones for instagram, alerts for free itunes stuff etc. All you need to do is add them to your own personal collection. I'm off to check out some more recipes right now.


* recipe - it's kind of like a rule that you set up for sorting your emails etc. It basically sets up a series of actions based on 'ingredients' you've told it to keep an eye out for. Click HERE to find out more. 

A New Do For Brodz

I took Brodie to get his haircut yesterday. 

His hair was almost as long as mine before he got it cut.

look at all that hair on the floor ..
there was twice as much on the other side of the chair