pugglecraft

an unusual project

i'm still working on ladybug's blanket and it is about 2/6 completed.

another project had popped its head up though and it is more urgent than ladybug's blanket.  the other half has a cpap machine to use at night to keep his airways open.  in the winter condensation collects in the pipe and gurgles loudly every time he breathes in and every time he breathes out.  this is not conducive to sleeping.  he has the pipe wrapped in a special sleeve which is supposed to stop this happening, but it doesn't, so we heat our bedroom all night to stop it.  the electricity bill came in yesterday with a scary four-figure sum in the "to pay" box.

a possible solution is to wrap the pipe in another sleeve to further insulate it.  cash is a little short on the ground so if we could manage to acquire a sleeve without having to buy it, that would be a bonus.  

answer?  knit one!  I have scads of yarn left after making handsome harry's blanket and grandma's blanket, so what better solution than to knit one with the leftover yarn.

it's going to be a rainbow sleeve and i am knitting it in stocking stitch so that it has quite a tight weave.  it's not very big so it should knit up relatively quickly.  i'm still undecided on how to make it into a tube when i have finished, but i am leaning towards simply sewing it into a tube slightly bigger than the pipe so it can be easily slid on and off.

i'll post a picture as soon as i can.

The supersecret project revealed

the super secret project can be revealed.  it's a ripply rug for grandma to take in the van.

i love the colours and (apart from the mistake i discovered last night which has rendered the previous 7 rows useless) a pleasure to crochet.

here's a taster

colours

i am working on a super secret project, hitherto known as the ssp.

the secrecy is related to a certain event taking place in a few weeks time. 

it involves using lots of colour and i am astounded at how differently colours can appear when paired with other colours.  i have a quite bright and cheerful yellow-green colour that looks vibrant.   until paired with yellow.  the yellow really tones down the yellow-green and it looks quite different nestled alongside the sunshine.

number of projects on the go?  too many to count. 

i'm not bored.

happy birthday

thought you might like to see a picture or two.

the cake.  this is what happens when you let a little lady loose on the AWW children's birthday cake book

 
clown face biscuits.  mum used to make these for us when we were kids.

 

> 
choc-dipped marshmallows

 
can't claim this one as my own - pinched it from melissa

the obligatory fairy bread

 

the girls all decorated their own party bags

 
and i'm so tired i could sleep for a month

Monday Night Nachos

For a number of reasons Monday nights are a bit stressful here in PuggleLand.

The solution has been Nachos.

These nachos do not have the Heart Foundation Tick of Approval, but one of the ingredients does, so that's good enough for me.

Joanna McMillan (or McMillan Price) whatever her name is would probably have a thousand kinds of fits over this recipe, but after she dissed fairy bread on national TV I reserve the right to ignore *everything* she has to say.

Monday Night Nachos

* packet of corn chips

* shredded cheddar cheese

* avocado

* half a lemon

* 500g minced beef

* jar of salsa

* sour cream

1.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

2. Layer the corn chips and cheese in an oven proof dish, finishing with cheese

3.  Mash the avocado until most of the lumps are gone, mix in a tablespoon of sour cream.  Squeeze a little lemon juice into the mashed avocado and stir through.

4.  Brown the mince in a pan.

5.  Stir the salsa through the mince and turn down the heat.

6.  Put the corn chips dish in the oven and bake for about 8 minutes give or take.

7.  When the corn chips are lightly browned and the cheese melted, remove from the oven and serve with the sour cream, guacamole and spicy beef.

The Beginning: The Ripple Blanket

Due to a slight lack-of-yarn problem around midday, I began the test strip for the Duchess' ripple blanket.

I'm using Moda Vera Cupcake from Spotlight.  It is the softest, lightest, most delightful yarn that I have ever worked with.  I think (officially) it's baby yarn which would explain why it is as beautiful as it is.  The colours are a delight.  My Cupcake stash is stored in a basket I bought at Spotlight before Christmas.  It was a serious impulse purchase, but when I saw it - at 50% off - I could picture it in the lounge filled to overflowing with Cupcake.

 

 

The ripple blanket pattern comes, of course, from Lucy at Attic24.  I love Lucy's tutorials.  She includes lots of pictures with written instructions that make you feel as though you're in the room with her and she's talking you through the process.

The epic granny stripe blanket is another of Lucy's creations.

As are the crocheted hexagons for the throw.

OK.  That means I have 3 crochet projects on the go at the same time.  Not ideal, perhaps.

Anyway, the foundation chain for the ripple blanket is done (199 ch this time) and about 2/3 of the first row is completed.  I love it already.  I love the colours.  I love the feel of the wool.  And I hope the Duchess is going to love her blanket.

 
The colour didn't come out too well in this photo.  It looks kind of like a tangerine pink in the photo, but in real life it's a rich magenta...and my favourite colour of the range.

how to feel fourteen again

it's easy.  just break two sewing machine needles in the same afternoon and the memories come flooding back.  it was the morning in 1984 when i broke 4 machine needles in a row sewing a dag bag at school that i packed in sewing for good.

come sunday afternoon and i was attempting another shopper card holder that *something* went wrong and the needle snapped off.  i replaced it, tried again and the needle snapped off.  close inspection revealed that the needle (for reasons unknown) has taken to hitting the presser foot on its way down to the fabric.  result: snapped needles...all the time, every time.

i plan to take the machine into the nice man at the sewing machine shop and see if he can shed any light on the problem.  i have big plans for sewing and at the moment i can't do anything.  at least i have a couple of crochet projects to go on with.

an epic project

the zigzag blanket is turning out to be a bit bigger than I anticipated.  i've never embarked on a crocheting project like it and was completely unprepared for the scale of the thing.

the instructions said to make sure that the foundation chain was a multiple of 3.  i wanted a biggish blanket as it is for the chickabid so i started with a foundation chain of 300. 

um, okay, that's equated to a blanket that is 199cm long and will be a minimum of 120cm wide.  or more than 2 square metres when it's finished.

do you think that might be big enough?

the duchess wants a blanket too, but she's already been prepared for the fact that her blanket will be somewhat smaller than the chickabid's. 

current projects/planned projects

• zigzag blanket for the chickabid
• frequent shopper card holder
• hexagonal throw for the family room
• small clutch bag
• lindie bag

- yoyo table runner

- ripple blanket

- blue toned patchwork throw for the lounge room

Reckon that's enough to be going on with?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Next 1.1

is this.

Two circles cut and sewn, with another six to go before the assembling begins.