Thursday, February 24, 2011

The tea cosy challenge

My friend Danni asked me to crochet her a tea cosy, and I happily agreed on the spot. I asked her for a little more information about what she would like, but she told me to go for it and do whatever I wanted.

I wasn't sure if I should go really daggy (toilet roll doll style - which I HAVE done), or do an owl. I have seen some fabulous owl tea cosy patterns out there. Or should I knit a swear word into it (the felted Fuck You tea cosy I did for another friend went down a treat).

I found this really cute tea cosy pattern by Loani Prior on Ravelry and wasn't freaked out at the thought of knitting after such a long time, so I gave it a crack:


(© Loani Prior)

I loved the rib stitch but wanted to crochet my own flowers and add some leaves.


So here is my interpretation:




And now Danni has something to keep her tea warm with!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My choice weekend away to Sange's pad

Last weekend my mini whanau and I visited my mother, affectionately known as Sange, at her lovely place up the coast. We had a lovely, lazy weekend which was spent mostly lolling around the pool in the backyard after a successful op-shop crawl in Mayfield.

Sange and I both share the love of a great bargain, so a trip to Sange's is never complete without a trip to the local op-shops (plus the op shops are so much better up that way than the over-scavenged Sydney shops). I discovered my love of op shops at a young age. If it was school holidays, sometimes as a treat my paternal Grandparents used to take my brother and I along on their weekly trip into town for bargain-hunting at thrift stores, then food shopping, then McDonalds for lunch. And my Mum was always finding amazing clothes for $1 and then altering them to suit her at home with her sewing machine.

So, here's the yield:





A vintage single bed linen sheet in rose print, $3



A Pierre Arletty for Katies dress, red with white piping, hailing from the 70's, $7






An Esprit cowgirl shirt - half price,$2.50





4 balls of lilac angora yarn, $1 per ball


A blue and white terry towelling dress hailing from the early 80's,$8



A crocheted wool granny square rug, $5

And 1 pair of 10mm rosewood knitting needles, $2 a pair, but I couldn't be bothered taking a pic of those.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

YAY!

So after a lot of procrastination I have finalled started my blog, where I will share all of my choice adventures and finds as well as document my crafty adventures. Bout friggen time!