I was extremely happy to get the Fat Owl Bag for my first project over at the Calling All Crocheters group on Ravelry. I had no idea what colour I wanted my bag to be. At least until I went to visit my two dollar store in a neighbouring town. As soon as I saw the variegated tan,grey and white yarn I had a vision of a barn owl. Perfect!
I had some projects to complete first but when I actually sat down and concentrated on it, it only took two days to crochet. I love the crocodile stitch. It is pretty and easy to do. But for a while I was sure I would never complete those rounds.
It was much faster going when I reached the face section of the bag.
Then came the ears/ handles.
By this time night had fallen and I was happy make the eyes and beak while watching my TV shows. When I got up the next morning I sewed them on.
The eyes are sewn on a little wonky but I am quite proud of him. Yes you heard right. It's a him. My Harry Potter obsessed daughter christened him Errol just like the Weasley's owl. A couple of weeks passed and Errol held a few bits and pieces I needed close to hand. My small scissors and crochet hook kept falling out so I knew it was time to try my hand at sewing a lining. The material I brought especially for this was a little to small. Luckily mum had given me some material when I first brought my machine, so I found a large piece of blue and last night I set about sewing the lining together. This morning I sewed the lining onto the bag. After I finished I noticed I had actually pulled the lining up too far on one ear. But because Errol is staying with me I didn't mind in the least.
I am happy with my first lined bag. At the moment he is residing on my table with a project in him. But the project is too big for the bag.
Once I finish this project my fat owl bag will hold smaller projects like my squares and the newest project I have received from my Ravelry group. I can't wait to fully immerse myself in that project. It is festive and totally adorable!
I have spent the last couple of months getting to know my swap partner while working on our projects for the Tea Cosy swap over at the 'Ville. We found out that we have a lot of things in common during our regular email novels and I can not thank our swap hostess enough for bringing my new friend into my life.
A couple of weeks ago we exchanged emails saying our packages had been sent and so the waiting began. We made a deal to wait until we both had our packages in our hands to open together over Facebook messages. That way we could get the instant gratification of a reaction we all need when a swap partner opens our packages.
My partners package reached her yesterday and I had no idea how she could hold out with that temptation until mine reached me as well. Well I got a taste of it today.
After I got my kids off to school this morning I had a friend come over for a quick cuppa. An hour later my package turned up and my friend was still here. I knew when we opened the packages I would be chatting with my swap partner for a long while so I held off messaging her so I wouldn't be rude to my friend. Four hours later my friend left to pick up her little man from Pre-School to take him to a Transition Day at our school around the corner as he starts Kindy next year. Just as she was leaving my sister-in-law came to leave her things at my place, she was also going to the transition day. After she left I knew I would have about ten minutes before both gals and another friend would come back for a cuppa while waiting for their Pre-schoolers to finish at the school. So I messaged my partner but she wasn't online. My friends came back and another turned up. What followed was a weird dance of comings and goings and for the next couple of hours I was not alone for five minutes to check my messages. I am thinking it was an impromptu lesson in patience. Well finally just after 4pm I only had one friend left and she was just as impatient as me to see what was inside. My poor swap partner had been sitting around for about thirty minutes by now waiting for me to get back online. So the unveiling began.
My partner brought the same tea pot as me so we could be sure they fit and it was a little different as it doesn't have a spout. So what resulted was perfectly fitting tea cosies. I love owls and my partner based my cosy around it. A gorgeous flowering tree with cute owl pendants hanging around in them!
One side
...and the other side
It was late in the afternoon and we had a storm brewing so the cottage was very dark and the colours do not show up very well. I received a whole box full of goodies to go with my tea cosy. Everything as great as the last.
I was thrilled with everything. Bernat Satin yarn, sharp crochet hook, tape measure, highlighter tape, craft buttons,cute owl stitch markers, lotion bar, cute cards and a gorgeous applique owl to add to my Special Art Project!
I received a gorgeous square made out of Caron Simply Soft for my Friendship 'ghan. The colours of which I had admired while my partner was working on her Shawl Swap and she was using. Even my kids were not forgotten.
Here are my girls colouring in their posters. The boys also made a start on theirs after dinner but I did not manage to get a photo.
I also got some Biscotti. I have never tried it before and can't wait to try it when the kids go to bed. Of course I couldn't escape sharing the delicious tootsie rolls. My eldest boy was hanging over the box while I was opening it and he spotted the tootsie rolls before I did. I managed to stash one for myself for later though. Thank you Maria. I feel totally spoilt!
In our earlier conversations I found out my partner loved cottages. That's when my my brain went into overdrive planning a unique tea cosy. My original idea was for a cosy based on a very popular Aussie song called "Give me a home among the gum trees".
When I got to scribbling ideas I realised there was no way I could fit in as much as I wanted. So I made it on a much smaller scale. Even then it was hard to not add to many details and and overcrowd it. This is my finished cosy.
This post is very late in coming. But every project deserves it's ta-dah moment! Last month I completed and sent out the filet project I had been working on for my swap partner over at the 'Ville. It was the first time I had attempted filet crochet and I must say it is a little addictive. But I think I may view all crochet in that way.
Once I decided what I was making I had trouble finding a pattern I liked. In the end I designed my own symmetrical pattern. That was an experience in itself. As relaxing as filet crochet is I ran into some difficulties through lack of basic counting. I have a terrible habit of not counting stitches (or in this case squares) as I go. So when I thought I had almost completed my project I noticed my last row of filled squares did not look right. So six rows of crochet was ripped out and I made sure I counted carefully from there.
Not long after that I had completed my first filet square.
Of course what does a girl who hates sewing decide to do?
Turn it into a cushion of course! What a nightmare experience that turned out to be. But I persevered...
...and ended up with an adorable angel cushion. Overall I am very happy with how it turned out and my sewing was not too bad. When it came time to pack it for shipping to America the cushion insert came out. When I had everything ready to go I realised I could not find my filet bookmark I had made as a practise piece before we had received our partners. So I pulled out my pattern again and made another in variegated pink/white/purple thread.
I must say that filet crochet is easier to see in plain colours. The first bookmark I had made in purple and you could see the pattern clearly. In case you can't tell, pattern is three hearts. I will definitely be making more filet projects in the future.
Usually when I overburden myself with crochet projects that all have deadlines I tend to get a little stressed out. But this month I am finding my projects exciting and my biggest concern is that I am going to suffer from crochet ADHD. I keep flitting from one project to another and back again.
This month I am juggling a couple of swaps. One of which has a deadline for next week for shipping. I am not stressing about my cosy swap. It is coming along nicely and I can see the finish line up ahead. The thing is, I am enjoying it too much! I adore the way it is turning out and there is a fine line with extra little added details and overcrowding. I am trying not to cross the boundary but don't want the project to end.
My other swap is the Winter Scarf/Cowl swap. I have my pattern all picked out and have ordered the yarn so I am waiting impatiently for it to arrive. In the mean time I am getting to know my swap partner.
I heard about a brilliant CAL at Ravelry called Calling All Crocheters that is quite different. Instead of everyone working on the same project, the moderators of the group choose a pattern for you and you have a month to complete it. Those moderators must be extremely busy. Everyone in my month are overjoyed with the patterns that had been picked for them. For such great fits, those girls must spend a huge amount of time stalking the participants and finding the perfect pattern for each. For my first project I was given the Fat Bottomed Owl Bag. I had a hard time choosing the perfect colours for bag. I managed to find four balls of variegated yarn that remind me of a barn owl. Plus I am going to try my hand at lining it. It will be used as a project bag. I almost forgot to mention that there is also a Calling All Knitters group.
I have joined another group at Ravelry especially for Australian swappers but I have yet to see a swap that inspires me. There was a monthly square swap happening but it looks like that has come to a stand still for now.
I have pledged two 12" squares for our newest biggest square over at Crochetville's Friendship-ghan CAL. I picked out and printed the patterns this morning and worked on one while on the way to shopping 15 minutes away. On top of all this, I just found out the sex of a friends baby and must make a start on some items for little Maddox. He is not due until early February, but I know from experience that when the kids are on Christmas holidays for six weeks of summer, I usually have to leave my crochet for when they are sleeping because we do lots of outdoor family fun stuff.
Speaking of Christmas, a couple of weeks ago I started a Christmas bunting. I was inspired by Lucy at Attic 24's holiday bunting. It's no secret that I am not a fan of hand sewing, so instead I graphed out my lettered pennants and spent some time learning the proper technique for afghan stitch colour changes. I am very happy with how my first pennant turned out. The lines are so clear.
Soon I will upload photo's of the filet swap I posted out. I am happy to hear my swap partner liked her package.
