The Case of the Escaping Mice

I went home to Melbourne over the weekend and my sister (in a terrible display of irresponsibly pet ownership) had bought a mouse at the Melbourne show during the previous week, with one of her friends. By the time they got back my sisters friend had realised she couldn't get a mouse so my sister ended up with two, which she was keeping in a cage which she bought with the mice.

On the Sunday night I was reading a book in bed when I heard a 'scritchy scratchy' noise behind my head. I carefully pulled back my pillow to discover one of the mice underneath. Unfortunately it disappeared underneath the bed before I could grab it. Having a secret mean streak within me I took great delight in waking up my sister to get her to help me catch it. Eventually, following the trail of poo we realised it had gone into my cupboard...not the best place for a mouse with all the stuff on the floor (shoes, books, a box of fancy dress stuff, a box of stuffed toys). We managed to find it and trap it in a corner but then it got away and disappeared. So my sister decided to sleep downstairs and I went back to bed.

The next morning the second mouse had also disappeared (I think they managed to fit through the bars, mice can do that!) so we kind of assumed the mice were lost but left the cage door open 'just in case'. A couple of hours later the mouse that had been in my bedroom was back in the cage. While I was catching that one to put it in a new house I saw the other one run under my sisters bed and managed to catch it (all by myself as my sister was at university). By this time my sister had decided she no longer wanted mice and her friend picked them up later that afternoon, having found someone else who would have them.

The moral of the story - pet ownership is a serious responsibility or a lesson in how to annoy your older sister.

Color Me Blanket - Completed!

It's finished. Ok, so I didn't do two of the crayons but this is definately big enough for a new born.

I'm looking forward to starting some new projects now. I think I'll do some nice small easily finished ones!

Color Me Blanket Update

I've finally finished the green crayon. It took me ages because I kept getting distracted!



I've started on the letters now, they look pretty scribbly, but I'm saying that's a desired effect. Anyway, as my cousin isn't born yet, he/she won't be able to read for some time!

At the moment I'm planning to leave it at this size, because I think it's big enough and I want to start some other projects!

Jewelry set: Winter Berries

I was having a bit of a play with my new beads and I made this set, how does 'Winter Berries' sound for a name? I really love this set, but I've made it for a Christmas present for my sister (I'm a bit organised this year) and so I'll have to give it away. But if she doesn't like it, then I guess I've got some lovely new jewelry.





I didn't actually like the initial set of earrings I made (but I did like the photo) so after I took this photo I destroyed them and made...


...these ones. The original ones were a bit asymmetrical and messy, and I think these ones go a bit better.

The set is made with Opalite beads on tigertail.

The Waves

Since Miss Meshell's recommendation of Virginia Woolf I've read the waves, and so I thought I'd write a bit of a review of it.

I really enjoyed this book. The unusual style of writing makes it a good book for reading slowly, savouring all of it. This is a good thing for me because often I tend to get caught up in books (anyone else suffer from 'one more chapter' syndrome?) and read until the early hours of the morning, before I have to get up for work the next day. I think if you read this all at once, you'd miss out a bit on some of the beautiful imagery, and so it was nice to be almost forced to put the book down before I got overwhelmed with it.

The style of writing also lets you enter the characters minds and also view each character from several different perspectives. I think this is a book which I'll discover more of re-reading.

Cat Bookmark

I was getting a bit bored with the Color Me blanket and needed a bit of a break, so I made this cat bookmark. At the moment it's planned to be a gift, but not immediately, so I'm putting it in a 'safe spot'. Hopefully I won't forget where!



Pattern

Materials
2 mm hook (size 14/A), Size 10 crochet cotton, needle for weaving in ends, scissors.

Upper Body (in round)
Chain 5 (last 2 count as first dc for round 1)
Round 1: Dc in 3rd ch from hook, dc in next 2 st, 6 dc in next st, dc in next 2 st, 4 dc in next st. Sl st to join. (16 dc, sl st). Do not finish off

Head (in rows)
Row 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), dc in same st, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, turn. (5 dc)
Row 2: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), dc in same st, dc in next 3 st, 2 dc in next st, turn. (7 dc)
Row 3: Ch 2 (counts as first dc), sk st, dc in next st (first ear), sl st in next st, ch 2 (counts as dc), sk st, dc in next st (2nd ear). (4 dc, 1 sl st)

Sl st along side of head, with an extra sl st in corner (5), sl st in next 6 dc of upper body. (11 sl st). Do not finish off

Lower body (in rows)
Row 1: Ch 2 (counts as first dc), dc in next 4 st, turn (5 dc)
Row 2: Ch 5 (foot picot), dc in each st to end, turn (5 dc + 5 ch picot)
Row 3: Ch 2 (counts as first dc), dc in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, sl st in next st. Finish off (2 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc, 1 sl st)

Leg (in rows)
Join in next dc after lower body.
Row 1: Ch 2 (counts as first dc), dc in next st, turn (2 dc)
Row 2: Ch 2 (counts as first dc), dc in next st, turn (2 dc)
Row 3: Ch 2 (counts as first dc), dc in next st, turn (2 dc). Sl st into foot picot of lower body. Finish off (2 dc, sl st)

Tail
Cut three strands of 40 cm. Fold in half and pull through over Ch on row 3 of lower body. Bring ends through this loop. For visual instructions go here. Divide into three sections and plait until you have desired length of tail. Knot end and cut fringe to equal lengths. Alternately you could chain a tail.

Finishing
Weave in all ends. Block and/or starch if required

This pattern has not been tested, so please let me know if there are any errors in it. Please don't copy, distribute, claim as your own or anything else that isn't very nice!

Snapshots from a bathroom

The building I'm living in is pretty old, and while some of it is just...old, the bathroom has quite a lot of character.




I love the way black and white photographs force you to acknowledge light and shade and can give images such depth.

Beading Organisation

Do you like my organisational things? To be honest, I think the plastic trays with my goodies in them are quite pretty, so every now and then I'll get them out and just look at them. Does that make me slightly crazy? Or more than slightly?


Anyway, these are my beads. I've got more that don't fit, plus my seed beads which are in tubes because it's too hard to get them out of the squares without spilling them everywhere. So I need to buy more trays to be more organised (admittedly the other beads which you're not getting a photo of are pretty tidy. Most of them are now in colour separated bags).


These are my buttons (yes, it's probably one of the worst collections ever, but when I have a project that I need some buttons for I'll buy some nice ones), and other bits and pieces (eyes, charms and ummm...tops off drug vials, but I'm sure they'll come in handy one day).


And finally, my multi-coloured wire. It's pretty and in this little jar is very cute. The wire is actually a bit too soft and thin to do much with, but I used some of it for the wine charms I did recently.

So that's my beading (and a bit of other stuff) organisation. It's nice to know where everything is and to be able to see it easily. I don't actually have a huge amount of room here so if I wasn't organised I'd just be in a mess. Or maybe more of a mess!

Sleep deprived.

This last week has been crazy at work. I've been there everynight until 7 or 7.30, then back at 10 pm (for at least an hour every time), 12 (half an hour to forty-five minutes) and 4 am (for at least half an hour). I've been starting late, but unfortunately due to early morning noise I haven't been sleeping that late. So now I'm so tired I could cry. Actually I did that last night when I couldn't get a muzzle on a dog. I was tired and frustrated and I reverted to toddler mode. At least it's the weekend tomorrow and I don't have a midnight check tonight. The 4 am one shouldn't take as long...I hope.

I've just kind of re-read this and it's probably obvious that I'm tired by the way I've
rambled.

Color Me Blanket Progress

I'm getting there, and look, no pesky ends. I've continued being good...and to be honest it is more satisfying than getting to the end of a project and having to sit and weave in end after end after end after...you get the picture!



Anyway, I'm not sure at the moment if I just want to do one more crayon and leave it at that because that should be big enough for a baby. Once I've done the next crayon (which is green) I'll pop a picture up here and hopefully get some feedback, because laziness is no excuse for doing a poor job. Well, alright it is, but I don't have to use it!

While I've started the green crayon I'm not sure how long it's going to take. It's been a really busy week at work and everytime I pick it up I end up zoning out halfway through a row because I'm tired!

Lots of books...and they're all mine!

I had a surprise day off last week. Seriously, I was at work and my boss came and told me to take the rest of the day off. Which was nice, because the weather was lovely and I think this week is going to be pretty busy!

Anyway, as well as going to the beach for a bit, I went to Harbour Town, which is Adelaide's factory outlet place. They have two book stores. This is bad, because I always have to look in bookstores, and if they have cheap books I find my wallet opening.



So far I've only read 1 1/2 of these books (plus the two library books I borrowed later that day). I'm trying to read a bigger variety of books than just fantasy (you can't tell from this picture can you?) and I've been reading some 'classics' lately and really enjoying them. Anyway, MissMeshell mentioned a while ago that she's really enjoying books by Virginia Woolf, and as I'm always open to suggestions for new authors, I bought The Waves by her, so if I don't enjoy it I know who to blame! (Just kidding!)

Hopefully these will last me a couple of weeks at least.

Look what I got!

That's right. It's a NEW craft book. The Happy Hooker. I was in my local bookstore buying a birthday present for my dad (after I bought him a, to be honest, cheap and nasty, card and he responded with "Oooh, a bought card" (subtext "Lindsay has spent some money on me rather than making a card") I don't worry about making gifts, which I know would be unappreciated), when I saw The Happy Hooker and snapped it up.


I'm really impressed with it. All the instructions are really clear, and it's fixed a few errors I was making after self-teaching myself. The patterns are really good too and although I haven't made anything from it yet, I'm definately planning too!

On another note, I think I've finally got my template sorted out now, but if there are any problems could you leave a note in the comments section?

Wine rings

I've made a few sets of wine rings for Christmas gifts.



They're all in sets of 6 and in a bit of a red/Asian theme. All of the sets are pretty similar, but there are a few little variations.The beads are pretty secure because I had to straighten the ends of the rings before putting them on. Now the only problems are losing them and people forgetting what ring is theirs once they've had too much to drink!

Necklace and Earring Set

After buying all those beads I thought I'd get out my tools (some of which were new too!) and make some pretties.



It's fairly obvious where my inspiration has come from, the Chain Smoking necklace which is floating round everyones wists. I'd link to it, but craftster.org is down at the moment.

Beads, Lovely Beads

Sorry I haven't posted for over a week, I've been nice and busy and all that stuff.

Anyway, during the week I got a wonderful parcel with beads and wire and findings and I think I've played with my new acquisitions most days since I got them, because they're lovely.


Ooooh, pretty 



As well as my beads, I thought I'd make a resolution to try and take more pretty photos, not necessarily of crafty things, but just of pretty things, and these are the first photos. Don't you agree they're pretty?

WIP Sunday

I've managed to get all this done in the last week...and all the ends are woven in on the red crayon! I'm sure by the time I get to the last crayon I'll have to go back and weave in lots of ends (can you see them all on the yellow crayon - pesky things!) but at the moment I'm being good and kind of weaving them in as I go.


Blankie progress 

I've managed to get a lot done on it this week, probably because I was sitting working on it with little else to do for two nights at work. To be honest though, I think I crochet at the same speed sitting in front of the tv as sitting crocheting without any distractions. I don't think I'll get as much done next week, I've got a few things on and my parents are coming up for the weekend. Yay!

EDIT: Look, it's my foot in the corner. Yes, I was standing on my half-made bed when I took the photo.

Tired again

Alright, so I'd just caught up on anything and then I ended up with a severe lack of sleep again. I ended up doing patient monitoring at work last night, all night. At least there weren't any problems, I got a smidgen of sleep and I've started on the blanket for my cousin. It's the Color Me pattern from Crochet Me. I stupidly thought, it's made with six pieces, there won't be that much joining/weaving ends in. I didn't even think the big oval in the center of each crayon would need lots of ends woven in. Oh well, I've started now.

It's clean!

I'm very happy with what I accomplished over the weekend. It wasn't really crafty, but it was necessary. I vacuumed, I moped, I dusted, I washed all my dirty clothes (including the hand washing I've been putting off for far too long), and my dirty dishes and I tidied up. After last week (which was very tiring) I had put off lots of little jobs and they had accumulated into one big mess...which is now gone. Yay!

TV Blanket

I'm very tired tonight, I've been working hard all week and I'm going to go to bed as soon as I possibly can and then I'm going to sleep in to an outrageous hour tomorrow, but first...

...it's pretty cold here, so I decided I needed a blanket for when I'm watching tv. I managed to get some cheap acrylic yarn for $1 a ball which was a bonus, and I bought up all the purple I could find and made this.


Blanket 

It's made with two strands crocheted at the same time with stripes of white bordered with mixed stripes. It's done in triple crochet and the dimensions are a little random because I chained until I thought it was big enough...but then realised it was too big, so it ended up more square than I initially wanted it but it's a good size for in front of the tv, just not if I wanted it for a bed. Because of the two strands it's nice and cushy.

I've also added some progress bars to the side bar, just to get me motivated to finish projects I start (to be honest I'm not too bad), and also start projects I mean to, rather than getting sidetracked by something new (I'm worse at that). Plus it's satisfying to look at and see how I'm going.

More new books

I've moved from op shop to op shop in my search for new books (not just craft books, but they are a favourite!).


More new books 

I'm absolutely thrilled about the Needlecraft book. I was house sitting at the end of last year and the start of this year and they had a copy there, and I have to confess I briefly thought "They won't miss this" but that was a BAD thought and was quickly banished. I just spent a lot of time there flicking through the book. It's really fantastic. It's more on techniques than patterns and it's got some great crochet stitch guides as well as embroidery stuff (I know, I just got a big embroidery book), so I'm really glad I managed to find a copy. I'm accumulating quite a collection of craft books now...as well as yarn, beads, ribbon, embroidery thread, paper and other random bits and bobs.

By the way, my car hasn't been cleaned yet (it's not actually that dirty) but one of the girls from work pulled out the grass. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed.