Wool on Sunday...

Once again I'm joining in with Janine from The Rainbow Hare blog for Wool on Sunday, where all things ' yarny' are written up in a post. This month Janine has posted a number of projects including the cutest little toy, Peter Mouse. There is also a pretty little cardi and a market bag...
In July's W.O.S I wrote about the projects ( 2 knitted throws) that I hoped to have ready for donating to the annual parish art show...one was basically finished and I posted a photo in the blog post and one was just started. Good news, both were finished in time! The second throw was that old favourite of mine, the chevron garter stitch pattern, and it was done in my favourite colours.

More about those 2 projects in my post about the art show which is coming up soon!

So after those 2 items were finished, it was time to get to work on making blankets out of all the donated squares I had been given by some very generous people. I hadn't had much time over the previous few months to work on those charity blankets, so it was a case of 'knuckling down' and catching up. There were bags and bags of lovely crocheted squares...


By the time I had joined squares to make 5 blankets, I thought to myself that I couldn't face making many more. But the next day, I was back there joining them. In just over a week, I made 15 blankets...I'd built up momentum and was on a roll...until all but 2 squares had been made into blankets. And I also had my little helper...

It's always better when there is someone with you keeping you company...
On Sunday night I stacked up the blankets for a photo...here are 14

 

When we put the 15th one on the pile...over it tumbled!

So these have all been packed in 2 big bags and are ready to hand over to K4BN for distribution to needy people. At any time of the year there is always a demand for blankets, especially for those forced to sleep rough.

Wool on Sundays...

Before I write about yarn related 'things', I would first like to thank all those who wrote comments on my last blog post. I wrote about the health issues of our latest addition to the family and I'm pretty sure I wrote back to most who took the time to comment. But if you are reading this mamasmercantile and busybusybeejay, I wasn't able to send you a personal thanks as you are both 'no reply bloggers' which means your email address is not linked to your blog. If either of you would like me to answer your comments, if you use the email button on my page, send me an email, and then I can save your email address and use it to respond to your comments. 

Now Wool on Sunday...

Last month at Sunday Stitchers I showed my progress with my latest baby blanket...if you remember it needed a lot of focused attention and in my case...lots of 'reverse knitting' and re-knitting.

Helen's photo of me during Show and Tell...

I don't think I've done any knitting on this since this photo was taken. I always take Knitting or crocheting on holidays but I didn't think it prudent to take such a project as that blanket...lol

So I took some red, black and gold/yellow yarn and a crochet hook. You see, my blogging and also Sunday Stitchers friend, Susan had been making squares in those colours to give to me to make into blankets for K4BN. They are the colours of the Indigenous flag and items made in those colours are very popular when items are handed out to the needy. ( You probably can 'read between lines' in that last sentence) Susan also makes squares in lots of other colours and I've made a number of blankets over the years from her squares. 

So I thought I would crochet some granny squares while we were on holidays...nice and easy! Between us, Susan (18) and I (12) have made 30 squares...a single bed sized blanket when all the squares are joined.

I laid the squares out and moved them around until I liked the effect...then bundled them up into rows ready to join when I get some time.

After I started stacking up the squares, I realised I should have taken a photo. But I just took a photo of the ones left in rows...

My plan is to join all the squares, crochet around the edges etc before the May Sunday Stitchers Meet up. Just have to make some time. 😉

Once again linking with Janine's Rainbow Hare blog. Janine is also finding it hard to find time to knit a baby project. The yarn she is using looks so soft. 

Wool on Sunday...

It was a while ago now that I joined a number of donated crocheted squares into blankets of varying sizes. I left the neatening of ends and crocheting around the edges to 'another day' and went on to other projects.

A few days ago I decided that the needy will be wanting those blankets, so it was time to get that finishing done. So now the 'pile' of blankets all have some sort of edging.

But neatening of all the ends still awaits me 🙄. But a couple of sessions will see 8 blankets ready to hand over to Knitting for Brisbane's Needy. 

Most of the 8 blankets in the photo were made by joining crocheted squares with black yarn donated by Susan...many thanks Susan! 

But there's a bit of a story about the yarn that I used for the edgings. Three weeks  ago I noticed on EBay a lot of 590 g of black acrylic yarn being auctioned. The starting bid was $3. After a couple of days I decided to put in a bid and then forgot all about it. Then I got an email from EBay saying I'd won...$3. I took the photo after I'd used one of the big 200g balls for the edgings. In a little twist, despite the description of the yarn being acrylic, it was actually wool. 

( I sent the vendor a bit more money via PayPal as the costs involved with selling on EBay would mean she would have made very little) 

My next project for K4BN will be turning 3 bags of knitted squares into blankets.

Linking this post to the Rainbow Hare blog. This week Janine has posted photos of her lacy crocheted squares blanket, all laid out and looking beautiful. 

Wool on Sundays...

I'm writing this post one day late, while I'm sitting at Melbourne Airport waiting for our flight home. A visit to Bendigo always means a visit to the Bendigo Woollen Mill, so that's what this post is about. 😉

Since our last visit in 2012, there is now a gateway from the mill to the vintage tram depot next door...

So DH headed over there for a while, while I checked out the mill shop.

Lovely crocheted bunting in the large room at the back of the shop...

A little play area for tots...

An area for coloring in or drawing for the older children...and somewhere that husbands can sit too after they have checked out the tram depot. 

There are 3 large areas in the mill shop and the place is packed with beautiful yarns, patterns, divine samples and other 'bibs and bobs' associated with knitting, crocheting and spinning. I didn't find much that I wanted in the remnant bins this time, unlike my last visit. But I still found lots to buy...some for me and some for others. There's a big bag of yarns in my suitcase which is now on its way to the luggage hold of the plane...so I'll share those another time. 

Joining in with Rainbow Hare's Wool on Sunday. 

Wool on Sundays...

Joining Janine over at the Rainbow Hare Blog in Wool on Sunday. This week Janine's post featured a beautiful crocheted purse and a very interesting video featuring Magda Sayeg who started the Yarn Bombing 'çraze'. Like me, Janine enjoys the whimsy of yarn bombing but is torn by the fact that the yarn could be used to make items to keep people warm. (And my K4BN friends and I get a mention in this blog post! Thank you Janine!)
 Now what am I going to write about this week? In a recent post, I wrote about a local yarn shop Knitch, which was closing down. At our last Knit and Natter there, I did a bit of shopping. (As you do!)

One item I bought was this...

A modern day version of French Knitting! (It's very swish; you just turn a little handle and rounds are done in no time)

Oh what memories come flooding back, even when I just type the words 'French Knitting'!  I 'discovered' French Knitting when I was at primary school. And I found it so much fun. 

Remember the 4 tacks in the wooden cotton reel?

This one actually belonged to my first husband and somehow it was still in my craft 'stuff'. ( his mum would have packed it with all his belongings when he moved to Queensland to get married) It would have originally been used in the late 1950s...the little nails are a little rusty.

Some fellow students in my class had beautifully painted ' knitting Nancys' instead of the cotton reels, but most of us had the latter.  ( a quick Google shows there are many names for these spools)

Years later as a teacher myself, I bought a number of the modern day mass produced knitting Nancys for my class to use.

So yet another generation was being introduced to this addictive craft. 😃 .
As well as using the Knitting Nancys with my class we also experimented with making spools with cardboard tubes with paddle pop sticks taped to the top, and even fruit juice tins with either 3 inch nails or paddle pop sticks taped to the top rim.

When researching for background for this post, I found an interesting site here which is all about the history of French Knitting or Spool Knitting as it is also called.
If you have memories of French knitting you may also remember the age old problem of this craft which was finding a use for the long cords that were made. I remember my mother showing me how to stitch the cord into a coiled mat for under the teapot as it sat on the table. But often the quite long lengths of cord just languished in cupboards/drawers/boxes etc.
But then, we didn't have Pinterest in those former times did we? I had a great time checking out the ideas for how to use the French Knitting cord here. So many wonderful ideas; good job I bought that swish new spool!

Wool on Sundays...

My goodness the week goes quickly! So it's already time to link up with The Rainbow Hare blog to share some yarn related posts. Janine has written a post about a beautiful blue flower she has crocheted...the colour of the yarn is stunning!

Last week I decided to sort through the items in this pink box...

For a number of years I've put printouts from craft/quilting/knitting websites and photocopies of project patterns and instructions from craft mags in this pink box...and then have forgotten about them!  :-/. So I had a 'sort and turf out' session of anything that I knew that realistically I would never make.
 

But I did find items that I was delighted to see and keep. A surprise find was some patterns that I used to use in the 1980s...

A cardigan pattern that I knitted many times, both for my girls and for church fete stalls. It was torn from an English Women's Weekly. My mum had been buying the EWW since the 1950s and I bought it too in the 1970s-1990s...loved their knitting patterns. 

The other 'find' was this rather battered photocopied sheet. One of my neighbours ( since passed away) when I lived at Newmarket, hand wrote this pattern for baby slippers for me. And I made lots of these too...such memories.

In the envelope with Dulcie's handwritten pattern was this one which I wrote out by hand too for the same slippers...I wouldn't write something out these days! Lol

And today I posted the completed baby afghan to the collection point for K4C ( Knit for Charity) . One of the Charities of this Month was Mara's Rest Cottage. I also sent a colourful knitted blanket that I once bought from an elderly lady at the local markets. The lady was selling some of her handiwork and had very low prices on them. I offered her more money but she wouldn't take it, so I paid $8 for a brand new metre square rug. I always planned to knit up another border on the blanket to make it larger...never did, did I? Lol. But it's perfect for a child, so it's off to Mara's Rest too.
 

So these 2 are now on their way to the ACT and new homes.