UFOs and the Anniversary Road Trip

Sunset on the road to Canberra

It seems I haven’t blogged in ages. It isn’t that I don’t have anything interesting to talk about: quite the opposite. Life has been filled to the brim with our youngest celebrating his 18^th in October. we also finally put in a new kitchen as the previous one celebrated its 20^th birthday, and in much a shabbier state than our son!

This month my husband and I celebrate 30 years of marriage. To mark the occaision we decided (or rather I insisted) we go on a kid less trip. This is the first holiday we have had on our own since BC (before children). When he asked me where I wanted to go I said there were two places that I thought would be lovely for an anniversary trip. The first was Niagara Falls. I have seen so many photos of Niagara Falls, and the movies portray it as a honeymoon sort of place. The second place I have long wanted to see was to travel the Great Ocean Road, at the bottom of Australia and to see what remains of the 12 apostles. I believe a few of them have fallen into the sea due to erosion and I would love to see as many of them while they still remain. So hub, ever the imaginative one says "great – let’s do the Great Ocean Road! Furthermore, let’s drive all the way and stop at a few places along the way. "

Sculpture in the Gardens in Canberra

Now for those unaware of the distance the Great Ocean Road is approx 1900k (1,100 miles) from our home on the Gold Coast. This is a very long drive. And we will need to drive back. After 30 years what can we possibly talk about for such a long drive?

Hub has his podcasts of philosophy bites, and an iPod full of his choice of music. This includes Christmas carols, which the man listens to all year just because they make him feel good, Eva Piaf, and some ABC down loads. My only solution is to crochet the miles away. So in a moment of panic, at the thought of all those kilometres of road kill, Eva Piaf and Philosophy I decide to take as many UFOs with me to see how many I can finish. Seems like a clever plan to me.

We reached Canberra on Thursday night, and it was a mere 38 degrees Celsius (100 F) and we headed off to the National Gallery. Canberra is our Nations capital, and because I had a hook and yarn in my hand, I didn't take too many photos!I didn't realise how many famous pieces we have here in Australia and I stood in front of Monet's Water Lilies for some time in awe. The man of course, reckons he could paint that if he tried. Truth is he has been flat out trying to paint the decking.. he has been working up to it for a few years now. In the photo above he is checking out the bronzes by Rodin in the sculpture garden. I am not sure why I thought finishing the green wrap in mohair and wool was such a good idea. But I did finish it. I crocheted 8 blocks from the Gold Coast to Canberra (1, 105 klms), and did the edge from Canberra to Thredbo. I used a block called a snowflake motif which I found in one of those weekly binder jobs.

This I discovered at my Lifeline charity store. The yarn you might recognise from one of the prayer shawls I made for a friend in the last post. I did however, start my wrap over a year ago. As I enthusiastically bought a dozen balls of the yarn and I have now managed to get 2 shawls. If I had planned ahead I would have brought some charms with me to finish it off. In Cooma I discovered one of the best craft stalls I have been in for some time. I did purchase some little charms but the holes are too small to thread onto the yarn.

My crocheting was interrupted as we stopped to let an echidna cross the road just inside the Kosciuszko National Park. By the time I had put the hook and yarn down, and dug around for my camera the little guy was burying his way into the side of the road. I have never seen this before in my life and if you check out the video clip you can just seem the echidna as he digs himself into the ground.

ECHIDNA on the road to Thredbo

I did manage to get the shawl finished and here it is, draped over the balcony at Thredbo where we will stay for the weekend.

Thredbo is a Ski resort in the winter, and extremely pretty and quiet in Summer. You can see the remnants of the snow in the photo. This is one of the few places in Australia cold enough and high enough for skiing. I am sure it is nothing on Aspen, but it is a nice destination.

My plan is to use the wrap when we reach Melbourne as we have a dinner to attend. Thredbo is beautiful in Summer. We will do a few bush walks while we are here in Thredbo, and then we head further south to Melbourne. Given the heat, I am thinking I might work on some smaller projects for the next leg of the journey.

Thanks for looking!

Prayer Shawls

A dear friend of mine has recently had a pretty tough time as her 23 year old daughter died after a battle with cancer. I can not imagine any grief worse than losing a child, particularly at such a young age. Her daughter had a melanoma removed about 2 years ago, discovered secondaries early this year, and was cremated at the beginning of the month.

It is hard to know what to say or do as nothing seems adequate.

After doing some research I decided to make her a prayer shawl. I have never done one of these before, however I found it comforting for my soul as I thought of her situation, and prayed for her comfort. I am not a deeply religious person, however something about tragedy does make us consider our own mortality.

In researching prayer shawls I discovered the Prayer Shawl Ministry and this wonderful site:

http://shawlministry.com/

While I haven't been blogging I have been busy. Here is a picture of the shawl I made for my friend. It is in a soft green and cream angora and wool mix. I added little crosses and heart charms onto the fringe which were made from 9 ch, added a charm, and then did another 9 ch, slst in the base.

It took me a while as I made it about 150 cm long. The pattern is an interesting one I found in one of the old weekly crochet journals that I found in a charity store. She has a strong Anglican faith and I felt the green was a soothing colour and I like how it turned out. I plan to give it to her in the next week.

Another colleague of mine recently lost her Dad. It has been a very difficult time for her as on only child, and as a special daughter. I was originally going to get her some flowers, and then a plant for her office however as the first shawl turned out so well I decided to make another one.

This friend is in her mid 30s so I chose a summery colour called custard by moda vera. I added some little dragon fly charms to the fringe. The decorative stitch is the same as the green one, however I went for a triangle style with plain rows of granny square type pattern in between.

I found a plain card with some pansies on the front and wrote the following verse in side:

“This Shawl was made just for you

To bring comfort, to know you are loved

This Shawl is to wrap you up~~

When you're cold,

When you're hurting

When you need to snuggle,

This Shawl was crocheted with blessings, With Love, With Prayers,”

Crocheted with love by a special friend

Prayer Written By: Gena Kathka, March 16, 2006, http://www.prayershawl.com/, used by permission

On the opposite side of the card I wrote:

"Dear (friend) May this prayer shawl enfold you in warmth, comfort, healing and peace. Think of it as a big hug from your Dad, With Love .."

I left it on her desk at work after she had gone for the day. The next morning I received the following email:

"Thank you so much for the lovely shawl and words on my card. It really meant a lot, it has been a bit hard for me of late, so it was perfect timing. And the flowers on the front of the card ( pansies )are my favourite! I appreciate your kindness in such a difficult time"

I am so pleased I discovered the prayer shawl ministry, and hope my other friend likes hers as well.

Thanks for looking, and make sure to visit the prayer shawl ministry as they do some beautiful work.

Snuggly Ugglies for Big Kids

Well it took a particularly cold winter down here to prompt me to finish of my crochet uggly patterns! These are for big kids and adults following numerous requests in realtion to my baby snuggly ugg booties.

Another thing I started well over a year ago, which have taken me forever to complete. It has been now a year since Grandma left us and I did loose interest in crochet for a while. Last winter was a long one as we sorted her things and dealt with our loss.

These Uggies though would have made her smile!

I made numerous pairs before I got the shaping and sizing right. I have tried to keep these simple. They have a crocheted sole however some non slip goop could be added to the bottom if you wanted to.

The sons' gfs modelled them for me and decided they were very comfy. I have 3 sons and the gfs have learnt that if they eat at my table, then they model my crochet! It is funny how intrigued this Generation y is with old fashioned crafts such as crochet. The lass in the photo below is keen to have me teach her how to crochet. My son wasn't too impressed when she shows more interest in what I am doing than what he is doing! Payback time for the pain I suffered in bringing him into the world, the cracked nipples and other personal sufferings to get him where he is today.

Uggs are an icon down here. It took the fashionistas to make them popular internationally.

While nothing can replace the original sheepskin Ugg, my crochet ugglies are a bit of fun. The pattern can be worked in 8 ply or 12 ply and I am going to experiment with some novelty yarn for the band. I have a pile of fluffy stuff in my stash which might do the trick.

I have listed the patterns on etsy to correspond with the chilly winter down here.

Thanks for looking.

(c) crochetroo Australia

Hairpin Crochet

One of my latest fascinations has been with hairpin crochet. I remember as a kid my Nana would make hairpin crochet and I could never quite figure it out. Nana was also a fan of the broomstick as well and made many a rug using this technique.

Hair pin crochet forks aren't that available here. In fact I cant recall having ever seen them in the craft stores until very recently. My favourite Craft joint Spotlight, has one of those discount clearance tables up the back in the wool section. I stood there for about an hour a few weeks ago, sifting through the remnants of odd balls of wool, odd goggle eyes, beads, light up knitting needles that haven't seemed to really catch on, a pile of miscellaneous patterns and a few humble hairpin prongs. These had been respectably reduced from $4.99 to 50c each. And how I love a bargain, so I bought 4 in different sizes and challenged myself to learn how to use the things.

The major challenge is starting off. It is one of those left - right spacial things that once you get the hang of, is quite relaxing. However, until you do get the hang of it, hairpin can be incredibly frustrating! The flipping the thing around totally messed my head.

This was my first major hairpin project. I used a pattern on the web and adjusted the length. The yarn is a 5 ply cotton and acrylic mix that I found in Lincraft in Brisvegas. Given this was my first attempt I chose a heavier yarn in a bright colour that was easy on my eyes.

Having now mastered the hairpin knack, it has become a major time waster. Recently I travelled to Cairns in far North Queensland and decided to do a day trip up to Kuranda in the rain forest. This was a fabulous outing as I got the train up, and the Skyrail back. Whilst waiting for the train I pulled out my hairpin, determined to make the most of any down time. As quick as you can say "double crochet" I had a swarm of English and European Tourists watching what I was doing. One of them asked "is this a local Australian Craft". It was one of those moments when I realised how little the general person knows about crochet. This group of tourists weren't gen ys either! They were the over 50, retirement tour group!

So whilst sitting at the train station north of Cairns here was I showing a bunch of Tourists, the craft of hairpin crochet. My kids would have been horrified as the boys have banned me from CIP ( crocheting in public) since the time I tried at the light hook at the movies! The picture below is from the skyrail over the rainforest. This has to be one of the most amazing pieces of scenery and engineering I have ever experienced.

So here is the wrap I made a strip of in Cairns. I used a pretty cotton mix that has a slither of silver sparkle through the thread. I was trying to get a lighter, dressier type of effect. I learnt doing this that stitch markers are a good idea to stick on the prong to keep count of the 50s of loops. I nearly went nutty checking the count on this.

This little pink skinny scarf is an experiment with a left over ball of cotton thread. I wanted to try the loop technique of joining. This is where you weave the loops of the strips to join them together. I made 4 strips out of the ball and am happy with the result.

You can see in the close up how the loops interweave.

I am now experimenting with what else I can make as I think I have more than enough wraps now. I am trying a bag and have a few other ideas in my noggin. My Nana would be pretty proud of me if she was still around.

Thanks for looking!

(c) crochetroo