country crafts

Hello!

Our new country home town has more events, festivals, shows than we would ever have thought possible for a town of less than two thousand people. One event recently saw the local crafters - the "needles and natter" group - coming out to present some of their works.

 

Lots of "standard" country wares - face washers with crocheted edging, knitted baby booties, crocheted toys. Also among them was a tablecloth work-in-progress by Diane Workman - a collection of doileys that she is handsewing together to make a tablecloth. I have had things like this pinned for some time, with a plan to eventually doing something similar, but never had I considered handsewing! This is truly a labour of love, and even as a work in progress, on its oversized quilting hoop, looked just gorgeous. Makes my fingers itchy! Must get crafting... xo 

crafty crocheted owl show and tell

crafty owl, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

Hello there! Back already with some crafty goodness! 
This is a freshly crafted crocheted owl.

He is very much inspired by this lovely owl by peanutbutterdynamite on etsy.

He is my first stuffed crochet project ever!
He is intended to be for gracing a chair in a nursery, for resting a head when reading, or just being cuddled.
Sadly, as my first ever, his stitching is way too loose around his centre, so you can see the wadding through the wool. Anyone who knows much about crochet could probably have warned me of this, but, a beginning crocheter, I just made up the pattern and gave it a go.

Next time I may even line the front or use a smaller hook, or different stitches, or use double strands of yarn. Next time.
Any advice from you seasoned crocheters out there who know what you are doing?
xo

sticking to a (yummy) budget.... oh, and more crochet

Today I bring you delicious leftovers! And a new crochet pattern discovered.

This week, we revisited our family budget. Because we have now been on one income for more than 18 months. And this wasn't part of our plan. However, daycare waiting lists being what they are...

So working to a budget are we! How do we do it??? Leftovers (oh, and staying in, and opshop adventures).

Yummy. Leftover pumpkin risotto, wrapped around a small cube of mozzarella, crumbed, fried and served with salad and veg... delicious! Anyone who might call them balls would have to be completely delirious (try square, flat, misshapen head... etc etc), but they were yum, and loads of fun for us to eat with our fingers with our wild boys, "stretchy cheese" ooozing out of the balls as we bit into them.

On a completely different note, I have also been go go go-ing for it with crocheting for Christmas. Yep, it's October! So what better thing to be doing than crafting up a storm for the lovelies in my life

.

I found the pattern below in another gorgeous vintage crochet book - Motif Crochet, a Coats Sewing Group Book No. 1010 - that Ipicked up at the opshop for just 50 cents - hooray! This motif comes from the Motif Stole on page 12, however it has another life intended, as crocheted coasters. Gorgeous. I'll make a set in this wool, but would also love to see this motif in a range of brights.

Other crafting has been underway, a stretchy dress refashioned for the summer, etc etc .... but more later (rest time is over for another day).

Chat soon lovelies xx





more crocheting joy!

Yippee! This crochet bug has certainly caught me! I spent last night after the boys had gone to bed working on this little beauty:



This is the Arden from Modern Crochet by Penelope Book 3, sorry, again no year of publication, but my googling suggests this might be 1940-early 1950s. This is such a gorgeous pattern book! And whilst frowning to make sense of the pattern directions in Penelope Book 3 (what is a double treble again?), I also had on my lap my copy of Crochet Monthly number 137 (published 1990), which has a brilliant stitch and technique guide in the back.

This was so much fun, though at one stage I really thought I might throw it in... this one took me probably the better part of two to three hours (but please remember this is all still very new to me and I am still learning stitches as I go!).

On other news, both the Gherkin and Little Pickle have the flu, so days are long, but nights are, well, relatively quiet. But yesterday we had some lovely hours with the sun streaming through our windows - one of the redeeming features of this little house, and so different from both of our little terraces in sunny Melbs.



Chat soon! xo

a happy thrifting report, and some crochet success!

Our move to Sydney has been, well, mixed. I miss sunny Brunswick with all of its stimulation, beautiful friends, food and coffee, but love being closer to family, other lovely friends, and having a backyard for the boys to run about. One of the great excitements for me, living in the Sydney 'burbs is that it seems that many of my local opshops are yet to have been discovered and picked over by professionals or serious opshoppers. Yippee! So there often fab finds to be had. Some which warrant a post of their very own.

I have recently just ventured into the land of crochet. I am loving having something to do whilst sitting with hubby on the lounge in front of the telly, instead of having to remove myself to the backyard shed, where my sewing machine etc lives. So when I stumbled on these eight vintage pattern books I was beside myself! And only $4.



Whilst cooking tea for the boys I picked out  few favourites to try, and then whipped this up in less than an hour - just amazing!



This is from the (red) Paragon Crochet Book - a collection of favourite Medallions (popular reprint R1 - sorry, no year of publication), and is the Star Motif. Of course the design is meant for doilies, and much finer thread, but I wanted to try a beefed up version with some chunky yarn. It photographed pretty terribly (taking photos at night will do that, but I was too excited to wait!), but it is in a soft, variegated brown and cream yarn. And it's BIG - probably about 25cm diameter.

So, now I am looking for a use for this big star motif... any ideas? Some of the patterns in this book are just gorgeous and I am beginning to think about flash crochet blankets, whizzy-bang scarves, and lah-dee-dah cushion covers...  The pattern book would have me keep going and make a trolley mat from a number of these... any other ideas?

Yippee! loving crochet!

Chat again soon xo

crafting up a storm (aka babies babies everywhere) and switcho-chango! time for daddy to stay at home

It must be the time of year... in our life there are babies being born or due to arrive, everywhere. Which always, always leads to a busy crafting life. I am quilting (having bought my first ever rotary cutter and self-healing mat - oh my, no looking back now!) and yes, crocheting again.

Found some gorgeous crochet blankets in Candi Jensen's lovely book and I'm playing around making one in autumn colours for a certain recently autumn born boy... the commute to work I have my needle and wool out, and half double crochet like mad until I have made it to the CBD and crossed the bridge. And back home again. Four skein of wool down and I am still going... photos to come soon, I promise! though am not sure how to photograph blankets... perhaps I need Little Pickle to pose with it...?

On other news, our home life has been tossed into turmoil yet again. Mr Pickles and I have decided to trial a role reversal for a few months... Mr Pickles is now stay at home dad, and I am off to work mummy. Not sure if I hate it yet, but I am not entirely comfy with it. I thought that working, being recognised for my brain etc would be a lot more fulfilling than this. I know that what is fulfilling is making the boys feel better when they have been unwell (as they have been recently with the dreaded gastro),  making them laugh, building something together with them that we can all enjoy. But, having said that, work is also great sometimes. It is fantastic being recognised for my brain. It is incredible holding a challenging and intellectually stimulating conversation. It is good to have some adult company. And I do love dressing up to go to work!

Mr Pickles thinks this first 2 weeks of switcho-chango! have been extremely intense. That he has learnt more about his sons in the past two weeks than he has known all along. That this job is hard work. That he can't work out if he hates it yet, but he's not entirely comfy with it.

Who knows how it will end? But in the meantime, we are trying something new, and the boys seem to be enjoying it.

How about you? ever taken time away from your usual life to try something new?

Have fun xo

crochet wearable number 2

Ok, so I have had some comments at daycare, about my first wearable crochet project... that perhaps most wouldn't wear it in public, that perhaps it does look, well, very hand made, that it is not perhaps, all that well crafted. BUT, in spite of that, the gherkin and I continue to wear it (poor boy, he has no choice, and I am wearing it mostly out of pride for having made it myself!).

Well, if they thought that one was a mess...


Here is my second crochet wearable, another beanie, this one for the little pickle. This one I started very early in my pregnancy with the little pickle, but then promptly lost the pattern and the drive to finish.... flash forward about nine months, I found it in my wardrobe, and decided to just make up the rest of the pattern, to see if I could get it to come together. I have. Not gracefully, not even all that convincingly, but it is made with love, and he will look as cute as... well... a pickle!



A better photo (with an awake subject, wearing the beanie as it was meant to be worn!) will follow. But he is lovely asleep (as he is awake) and now is my best time of day to blog.

Hope to catch up again soon xo

proud as punch! my first wearable crochet!!!

hi there

ok, so i am getting slacker with my blogging, but i have been busy!

firstly, check out my first ever wearable crochet creation (above) crocheted for my eldest (yes, we almost have the same size head)... (please ignore the tired eyes, lack of makeup, overall absence of any glamour! etc etc).

secondly, check out my beautiful baby boys... [sigh]... they are lovely!

those of you who think i have been incredibly, incredibly slack, i have been blogging, just over here instead of on summerpickles... seems i have a bit of blog confusion... originally splitting my blogging life in two, i am now really not sure of what should be posted where, or if i should in fact combine the blogs (but which one do i keep and which one wraps up?).

i am also just starting to catch up on all of your blogs, but imagine my horror when i popped into bloglines to discover i had more than six thousand posts to catch up on!!! seems i need to edit my reading....

hope all are well and happy. we are here.

take care, chat soon xo