A couple of stitchy crochet things

YOP & BAMCAL 2017

12" Block #6

Picture Frame by Lisa Naskrent

A seahorse finger puppet.

And the beginnings of a catghan nonogon.

It's late, I'm tired & I'm going to bed now. 

Sorry there will be no 'gossip' here today.

Enjoy your week.

Happy Stitching

Wooohoooo - lots of stitching

 Lots of projects got to spend some quality time with me during the week.

The 'Long on Colour' freeform challenge made an appearance. I think this is going to be a cowl.

Earthy and autumnal colours with a pop of black and white. 

And we had such a lovely day yesterday that I was stitching in the back garden in the shade with my kitty companion.

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My BAMCAL 2017 Blues Blanket has two more 12" blocks made.

Block Four is Kaleidoscope Blossom Square by Chris Simon

Block Five is Marigold Mandala Square by Dorianna Rivelli with slight adjustments in the outer rounds as, once again, I 'do-my-own-thing'.

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The Summer Brights Blanket has four more 6" blocks.

This is Window Box Granny by Lisa Mauser

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The ¾" Hexagon Quilt

The darker blue has been added to the rosettes, and lots of yellows prepared ready for attaching.

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Weaving Project- My Garden, panel 2.

This panel starts with a band of regular weaving at the bottom which is the same yarn as Panel 1, and then gradually incorporates freeform weaving as it progresses. 
Multiple weaving styles and texture will be added to this.

So that was my week. Very productive, and I even got to empty and clean out the fish pond (as the two last fish in there disappeared last weekend, probably to a kingfisher or new stray cat that I've seen hanging around).

Crochet and Roses

Two 6" blocks finished for my BAMCAL blanket.

And that is all I can show you of my stitching week!

Other 'things' are being made but I still can't show those at the moment.

I've been doing a fair bit of gardening earlier this week, and here is a lovely bunch of roses trying to peer in my lounge window. 

I'm so glad I took this photo a couple of days ago because we have just had about 48 hours of strong winds and heavy rain, and these poor flowers do not look like this any more.

BAM 2017 - January so far

I thought I'd show you a couple more pics of Bertha Bling this week.

To read her story go here

And she has been featured, along with some of her kin, 

on the Laughing Purple Goldfish site.

BAMCAL 2017

Another block has been made for my Blues afghan.

This block started off as the circle design from a book (Granny Squares & Shapes by Susan Pinner), but it was a circle, so I modified it to be a square.

And here's how my 3 (so far) January blocks are looking together.

I'm not joining them together until I have made them all, and at the moment, I don't know how many I shall be making... as this is meant to be a stash busting project it just depends on when I run out of blue yarn I suppose.

I'm quite pleased that I have January off to a good start. 

I have also made two more blocks in a different colourway, but I cannot show them here yet.

Onwards and upwards.

Happy Stitching.

Cyra

(Batty) Bertha Bling

Say hello to Bertha Bling, better known to her closest friends as 'Batty'.

The Ravelry Freeform groups January challenge brief was to create your Inner Beast using a magic ball of yarn. A pattern was provided by one of our members. As this was a Freeform challenge it was expected that the pattern would be used as a starting point, or spring board, to create our own Inner Beasts. Many of the resulting Inner Beasts are hilariously unique. Pop over to the Ravelry Project board to see them, and more Inner Beasts are still being created as some members are having so much fun with this they are creating a whole family of Inner Beasts, lol.

Inner Beast Project Board. (You have to be a member on Ravelry to view this link.)

I started with the pattern instructions for the body, but freeform took over just as I reached the leg holes.

What happened then I can only describe as innovative.

A bit of a Budha style tummy, and other curvy body shapes, appeared. She had driven her way into my head and was creating herself.

She is 16” tall in a siting position, and 27” from toe to crown.

Half woman / half beast. She occupies her days by creating havoc and laughing very loud. In just the nine days that I have known her she has kicked over my water glass twice, hidden the back door key, left a tap running in the bathroom, tipped a box of my yarns over, worst of all, left a hand/claw print in the un-set jelly.

Her name is Bertha Bling but her friends affectionately call her Batty for short.

She is by far the craziest woman, or beast, that has ever come to live in my house (although my family would argue that I’m almost at the top of the crazy list).

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Other things that have been made this week:

Moody Blue 12" square - designed by Helen Shrimpton

and Efflorescent Window - designed by Laurie O. Campbell.

These are 6" squares that may, or may not, be joined together to make another block. I'm undecided whether to use them as individuals or not. They need another round of stitches to get them to the 6", but I'm waiting to see what other 6" blocks I make first.

Happy Stitching

BAMCAL - YOP - FO's - AYIS - MYIS

Oh boy....... I've done it again..... started lots of projects.

And just in case the title of this blog is reading like a foreign language to you, let me translate it for you here.

BAMCAL = Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long

YOP = Year Of Projects

FO's = Finished Objects

AYIS - A Year In Stitch

MYIS - My Year In Stitches

2017 BAMCAL is a Ravelry group in which we are given a choice of 3 blocks each month to crochet as we wish for our chosen project. I am going to see if I find enough time to do all 3 blocks, as I would like to make at least two afghans and a tunic/poncho.

My first 12" block is finished - Floral Kaleidoscope Afghan Square by Julie King.

I am using yarn from my stash for this project.

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While I'm showing you FO's, here is a Free Form Ball that I finished for a CAL in another Ravelry group. 

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A Year In Stitches is all about making stitches every day for a year and in a random, freeform style.

I have chosen a colourful printed fabric to randomly embellish with stitches.

And here is the start - Day 1 stitches.

Just a little bit more each day.

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My Year In Stitches is a different project. It still incorporates a little bit of stitching each day, but this one is slightly more organized. It started off life as a patchwork wall hanging that I made a few years ago.... but.... I never really liked it the way it was, so I have decided to spruce it up with a whole heap of stitching to make it more appealing to me, and hopefully, I'll enjoy it enough when it's finished to actually hang it up instead of hiding it in a box.

The green stems are what I have stitched today, and there are quite a lot more of them to stitch too, so I might not share photos again until I get onto something more interesting to see.

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This has been another YOP blog post.

Happy New Year to you all, and Happy Stitching.

Cyra

YOP - Crochet - & - Cafe's

Sorry I've been missing for a week or more from here, we've been off gallivanting on our travels again, and having fun while also helping our dd. It was a great catch-up and a very productive time with her.

Stitching had to take a bit of a backseat while I was away, but I did manage to 'almost' finish this little purse/bag during the evenings. 

It just needs blocking, a little fringe on the bottom I think, and I'm on the lookout for a nice button to close it, and also put a lining in it before I can add it to my FO list.

I can't remember where I got the pattern from as it's been in my 'files' a long time.

Summers End Mandala

Since arriving back home on Thursday I have added the ecru thread to the outside edge (two rounds), and now

 I have completed Part 13 of Mandala Madness cal - Summers End.

'Only' 5 more Parts to go.

Here is how the full piece looks so far.

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A couple of cafe recommendations for you if you are ever travelling around New Zealand.

The Fat Pigeon

41 Moa St.

Piopio

Such a lovely variety of freshly home-baked foods, and a top quality barista.

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The Wooden Heart Cafe

28-30 Ellis Rd SH 30

Benneydale

We had a delicious meal here. The home cooked pies are heartily packed full, and so tasty. The meats used are all processed locally and therefore very fresh.

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This was a Year of Projects Post

YOPping along

It's Sunday - and this is a Year Of Projects post.

  Summers End   crochet mandala.

3 rows added since last Sunday. One row of orange, two rows of yellow.

As this gets bigger it takes longer to complete one full round, hence only three rows rows done this week. It also takes a fair bit of concentration to follow the pattern (peace and quiet helps too, but there isn't much of this available at my home at the moment).

  Crazy Quilt Colour Journal  

This is a portable project that I take to meetings to work on. 

Each block has a selection of neutral fabrics for the background hand stitched together, and each block is a different colour scheme. 

This block will predominantly read as lime green (I hope) and is number 8 of 12.

Each block will include a paisley or two.

Each block will include a crochet motif or two.

Basic stitches to these seams were done while I was travelling/living in caravan since selling our farm last year. Additions and embellishments have been added this week.

And my new graphic for YOP

YOP - Summers End Mandala

I managed to find some time to get Part 12 done on my Summers End mandala madness piece.

The edges are curling up a bit, but I'm told this will be rectified with the next additions.

Part 12 is the white and peach edge - rows 77 to 82.

It's Sunday