So guess what....?

We had our scan thismorning and it turns out.....

Crochet Potholders ~ a new little addiction!

My lovely new little splash of colour for the kitchen!

I kept seeing these on Pinterest and thinking how pretty they were, crochet potholders! Some of the designs around the place are just stunning and it's probably safe to say I'm a little hooked on them at the moment. I found this one in particular and just knew I had to try it out first... I came across the free pattern at Hopscotch Lane and the flower one really caught my eye. You can find the free pattern for this little beauty on Ravelry and if you have a bit of a google around you'll see some of the amazing colour combos other's have come up with for them. My little kitchen is in DESPERATE need of come colour..I think a few crochet potholders in different designs and colours hung on the wall would be perfect.

View of the back
 

That's one little corner of my house made a little brighter with crochet :o)

And the dust... oh the dust!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes singin'
F*** this mess just won't end!!!

I'm feeling like I need 'The Cleaner' from Black Books! DIRTY!

Oh the cleaning frustration!!! I seriously hate small apartment living. We've been going through and shifting everything that isn't functional lately trying to make space in the spare room (previously my craft/sewing room WAAAH!) and it.just.won't.end grrrrrrr I have had to cull so many of my supplies, clothes, and other bits and pieces just trying to get a few drawers free and my desk cleared off so we can pack it up and put in into storage til we can afford to move. It is honestly just driving me insane and I felt like I needed a rant. Do you live in a small space and find it almost impossible to tetris your belongings and furniture into some kind of order? You always hear that you never need a bigger house because you'll just fill it up with stuff too but I can't say I agree to that. Everytime I look around I just think "AHHHH how is this going to work?!" and try to tackle it head-on. Not having much luck though :( You know that horrible transitition period where you've pulled everything out of cupboards and drawers, and have piles of things all over the place so navigating around the house is like a labyrinth? Yep that is us at the moment. I am losing my mind! I want my house back!
ARRRHHHHHHHHHHH!

19 weeks today and a crochet yo-yo afghan square

Hi all,
how've you been? Things have been hectic here in the life of me lately.... it's the old saying 'everything that can go wrong will go wrong' and it certainly seems like it has. Finances falling to bits, the car deciding to take its own life and needing don't-even-want-think-about-how-many-dollars worth of work to get it road worthy again, family dysfunction, all those sorts of things that make life interesting. Bubba Shmoogle Bean on the other hand though seems to be doing well thankfully, I hit the 19 week mark today and no my morning sickness STILL hasn't buggered off. No kicks yet either which I'm told should start to happen soon-ish... I have had plenty of nosebleeds, headaches, nausea and the kind of ligament pain that stresses you out everytime it happens. Whoever said the lack of sleep doesn't start until AFTER you've had the baby was very very wrong too by the way and deserves a swift kick! I think some website suggested I use a pillow to stick under my tummy at night if I'm uncomfortable laying on my side BUT that only works if you don't move around...which I do... a lot.... in a way very similar to a fish out of water. The pillow usually ends up being thrown out. All part of them *ahem* joys of it though. And I have a bump now! Finally! I had planned to take progress photos from week 8 or whatever but I decided I was too fat and you couldn't see anything anyway. My non-baby bump has been replaces recently with actual baby bump so I now feel like I can share a pic. Ta da!

This evening has been relatively uneventful (in a really boring way)... you know when you get into a state where you're so tired sleep seems impossible but you're too cranky to be awake and functioning? That's me. My bloody eye won't stop twitching and I've had this annoying headache since I woke up thismorning and I just haven't been able to shake it.... yes I know! Sleep would probably fix those things but it's only 7.20pm :( Sooo what am I doing? Crocheting of course... crocheting and trying to focus on NOT pacing a hole into the floor with over-tired headachey frustration. Anyone got a spare chill pill?

I thought I'd give something different a go... I've started on a yo-yo blanket square and am just in the process of learning how to join the yo-yo's together. It helps when the pattern is easy to follow like this one! You can check out the design and download the free crochet pattern at YarnCrazy Crochet World And nope, I haven't bought any new yarn... I am still using up the half-balls in my plastic tub. I actually have 3 scrap afghans on the go at the moment trying to clear up some space in my cupboard, but I can't share those just yet :o) Wish me luck joining all these bits together tonight though! My WIP basket is very much overflowing with half finished projects and here I go deciding to start another. As you do!

Autumn is here again in Armidale!

Itty Bitty Crocodile Stitch Booties FTW!

When I first found this pattern I thought the crocodile stitch was the hardest crochet stitch in the universe (not blowing it out of proportion or anything of course)... much cursing went on whilst I tried to get my already ache-y brain around it (because when you've had morning sickness and a throbbing headache all day the next obvious step is to try and crochet something DUH) You can probably imagine how uber stupid I felt once it clicked and turned out to be easy peasy WHOOPS! Anyhoo now I've got the hang of it and all is well.... behold my booties! Down right adorable :o) I have to say, of all the bootie patterns I've tried in the past these are the easiest to work up, and easier still once you get the hang of the scales around the top. The V-stitch is fast and simple and this pattern can easily be adjusted to fit any sized foot big or small!

The pattern calls for a 4mm hook but as I was working with baby ply yarn I used a 4.5mm and they should fit 0-3 months. You can find the fabulously free pattern at Lolly's Crafty Crochet and if you search for these on Ravelry you can download the PDF too :o) These will be keeping tiny tootsies warm and toasty come September!

Linked up to

The Completed Rainbow 'Skittles' Blanket

Look what's finally finished!! My largest ever crochet project and first ever completed blanket.. it isn't actually for me, I wish I could keep it it's so darn pretty! I know the little girl it's meant for will love it. It's nearly the size of our queen bed (it's meant for a single bed) and each band of colour took an hour to crochet; I also learnt to crochet the alphabet for it so pretty darn proud of myself at the moment! The alphabet pattern was not the easiest thing to follow but I got there eventually. I was asked to make this for a friend a long time ago (nearly 4 months!) but I was too sick for the first couple of months with (all day) morning sickness and it threw a huge unpleasant spanner in the works when it came to working on this order. Thankfully (and I am extremely grateful to you for this!) I have very patient friends, and I am finally pleased to announce it is done :o)

This project is linked up to Hookin' On A Hump Day!


 

Marshmallow Bassinet Blanket

For today's crochet project, I picked up 7 small balls of lightly pastel coloured soft yarn on special (woohoo!) and worked up this very fluffy bassinet blanket. Thick, cuddly and just the right size for a little person to stay snug under throughout the end of winter and early spring. Excuse the dark photos guys, it's late afternoon and I was just too impatient to wait until tomorrow to share.

As you can see I've been keeping with the giant granny square blanket style lately, and I've just added a simple scalloped edge around the outside. Hard to resist them when they work up so fast! The colours and texture just reminded of marshmallows, so that's what I've called it :o)

 

 

CROCHET ALL THE (BABY) THINGS!

I found some funky variegated yarn at Big W today and decided that our future spawn needs funky jackets :o)

I also found yummy spinach and cheese pasta and five vegie sauce at Woolies as well as Pringles (which I NEEDED at the time) some chocolate milk and a few tubs of mango fruche that I now can't have because the heartburn-from-hell hath returned! *sad face* I'm hoping this means bub will have a full head of hair... that's the deal right?

Re-watching my way through seasons 1 and 2 of Game of Thrones, crochet and the prospect of eating tasty food sometime tonight isn't so bad :o)

Whoopee for $5 balls! ...Of yarn ;o)

Sigh of relief that I was able to skip down Spotlight's yarn aisle on the weekend in 3....2.....1

*Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

I may have gone a little over board in the buying of pretty yarn department which is kinda ironic considering last post was about using up scraps in a blanket to make room BUT you get that ;o) Awwww c'mon, it was Spotlight!!!! I had a voucher!!! What else was I gonna buy?! I really wish there was a Spotlight here in Armidale *sigh* although maybe it's a good thing there isn't, or I'd be even more broke than usual.
Anyhoo today I used a super dooper huge ball of white pure wool (on sale for $5!) to make a newborn sized crochet jacket for Baby Shmoogle Bean which will hopefully soon have a little pair of booties and a bonnet to match...and I started knitting myself a scarf out of some SERIOUSLY gorgeous European yarn. You don't even want to know how many scarves I've started these past few weeks haha I may even finish one for winter in a month or two yet, you never know!

Definately keep an eye out for more crochet (and maybe even sewn) baby things in the coming weeks! I am loving it :o)