ANZAC DAY April 25

"They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

Laurence Binyon (1869–1943).

In remembrance of all who have served and all who have fallen so we may live in democracy.

May the ANZAC spirit live on. Lest we Forget...

http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.htm

I always remember my grandpa getting up to attend the dawn service when I was a kid. He would drag out his medals and the old army coat and march down Queen Street in Brisbane with his chest puffed out. Years later my Father in law did the same. Both have passed on now, but I always stop to think about them on ANZAC DAY. I cant remember my grandads birthday, but I can never forget his pride in being an ANZAC. I appreciate this so much more as I get older. I don't think I ever really appreciated what it meant when I was a kid.

Button Blossom Brooch - free crochet pattern

Well I know I am not alone here, but it is nice to be able to whip up something really quick, that looks good and doesn't need stuffing or having its limbs attached!

Retro is in right now. I recently learnt that the correct term for this is "vintage". Apparently that is anything that is at least 20 years old. Sadly, (or fortunately) just about everything in my house would be classed as "vintage" by this definition!

I never realised until I started looking at "vintage" what a gold mine I had stuffed in the cupboards. All those old leather handbags, and ornaments, not to mention hubs hideous 70s tie collection. In fact half the stuff in my kitchen is "vintage" and here was I thinking it was just junk from the 70s and 80s!

We got married in the year of the casserole dish. I swear, we received about 20 casserole dishes. Pottery ones, crown corning ones, Pyrex in orange and yellow, crock pots, and corning ware ones. Some with cornflowers and some with onions and veges. And now it is vintage - and people actually pay money and collect the stuff! There are some things I will never understand.

So these are my Button Blossoms which use a sniff of yarn and an old - er "vintage" button.

I have a huge plastic container of old er "vintage" buttons, mostly all odd so I have discovered these brooches are a great use of odd scraps as well as the buttons.

They also sell well at the school fair and look fabulous in a card as a gift. Maybe just the thing for Mum on Mothers Day.


Button Blossom Brooches

Australian UK terms first/ USA terms second

8 ply yarn, worsted weight, double knit or equivalent yarn, hook size 4mm, J6 . Weight and hook size doesn't matter. Use what you feel comfortable with.

You will need a safety pin or bobby pin, and of course a pretty "vintage" button.

Round 1: 4ch slst into a ring, 2ch 9htr/hdc into ring, slst join = 10

Round 2: 1ch (1dc/sc into next st, 4ch, miss 1) 5times slst join into first st. You should have 5 loops

Round 3: Into each of the ch loops work (1dc/sc, 1htr/hdc, 3tr/dc, 1htr/hdc, 1dc/sc) do not join = 5 petals


Round 4: working in front of previous row into missed sp work (3tr/dc, 1htr/hdc, 1dc/sc) around slst join in first tr/dc of round, finish off leaving a 30cm/12in length of yarn = 5petals

Thread yard onto a sewing needle and stitch a button to the centre, and a safety pin or bobby pin to the back. These make a great accessory for hats, bags and scarfs.


Now isn't that pretty!



(c) crochetroo 2008. Please do not reproduce or copy my pattern by any means. However I am happy for you to make button blossoms until the cows come home. Enjoy!

Birthdays and bilbies

So where the bloody hell have I been???

I have tried a few times to post but blogger seems to time out on me.

So I was a baby born in 1958...and recently had a birthday. I will let you do the math, but I decided I wanted to have a big party. I set this in South Pacific theme as The South Pacific Album was number 1 in 1958, and the movie production got top billing.

What a hoot of a night! I had over 70 guests - from my 84 yo mum in law, my kids, nieces and nephews, to tracking down my bridesmaids and current and past work colleagues and friends.

All turned up in South Pacific tropical dress from coconut bras and grass skirts, to some of the worst shirts I have seen in a while. The food was fabulous and the karaoke woeful.

That is me in the top photo. I went for the Susan Haywood hairdo, and the Nellie Forbush "honey bun " look. The man in the bad shirt, lei with a beer is Mr crochetroo. And that my friends is the first and last photo of me or him you are likely to see here!

Any ways after weeks of preparing and planning, (it was all so exciting) it has taken me a few weeks to catch up on sleep. My ageing metabolism doesn't seem to tolerate late nights and pina coladas as well as it once did.

I did receive a cellar full of champers and some beautiful flowers.

I just love the colourful lillies and the arrangement of native flowers and pods in the middle arrangement.

So the only bit of crochet I can share with you is little lady. This is a bilby that was a custom order for a lady in Western Australia. I did um and ah about doing this as she requested it about 10 days before Easter, and my actual Bday was on Good Friday. The shin dig was the week later.

Anyhow, I do like how this one turned out. It was for her little niece. I did a story in the bilby last Easter, and their plight hasn't improved much. The rabbit is enemy number 1.

The cooler weather has crept in over the weekend, which is good crochet weather.

All the best to those of you coming into Spring! I was getting a bit tired of the sticky heat here so it is nice to be able to sit down under yarn without breaking into a hot sweat.