Di-licious

My first stitching project. Embroidery is highly addictive - I stayed up to all hours to finish this one.  It's true I haven't posted for a while. Life has been busy - doesn't it always get like that? A couple of months as a working mum and I think I can almost say I've gotten the hang of it. I've had to rethink my approach to the week, how I cook, how I clean and how I carve out time for me. Inspired by my late Nanna, I've made craft my release valve to life. I've completed my first quilt, my first stitching project as well as making items for my CWA branch's upcoming craft stall. I still love cooking but craft has less calories... And I'm still blogging....it's just that sometimes I get a little distracted..... A mug warmer for my niece using some vintage buttons from my Nanna's stash. Making a bundle of tissue holders for my CWA Branch's upcoming craft stall. Great Teacher's Gifts! Last step of my fi...

There's nothing lovelier than being able to hold a big mug in both hands, filled with the most perfectly brewed milky tea, except perhaps if its wrapped up snuggly in a cup cozy. I've been whipping up cup cozies the past few weeks. My first effort ( based on this pattern ) was for my CWA meeting mug. It has a built in coaster bottom - yay! I adjusted the same pattern slightly to make this one for my lovely friend Nic in her favourite colours pink & red. On a roll, I devised my own pattern for this special birthday present for Olive's teacher. Her favourite colours are pink and black. I picked up a great tip from here about using rubber grip mat to line the cozy with to stop it slipping down. It worked a treat on the wrap around version.

To celebrate my spring cleaning progress, I picked up the latest issue of Homespun magazine yesterday. Inside was the cutest pattern for crocheted rose rings. I thought they'd be equally gorgeous as a small brooch. I adapted the pattern slightly, using 3ply cotton for the bloom and embroidery cotton for the leaves. I was running out of green so I eliminated a couple of the leaves. So dainty! Makes me wonder whether people would buy them.........?

I'm so proud of this gorgeous bunting I made for my sister's baby shower. I had been working on a baby blanket but as the deadline drew nearer, I knew I'd never finish it in time. I'd spied these cute crocheted sheep over at Pardon my Chaos and had tagged it as a future project. A test-make proved to me that I could whip them up fast, using wool already in my stash. I modified the pattern slightly in that I made them single sided instead of stitching two together. I borrowed a bunting string pattern from a crochet magazine and put the two of them together. Aren't they darling?

The lovely Ginny over at Small Things  created Yarn Along, a blogger link up for the yarn obsessed, to share what they've been making and reading each week. Although it's essentially a knitting club, Ginny has welcomed crocheters as well so here I am. Last week I finished my entry for the Country Women's Association (CWA) of Victoria State Exhibition - a red cowl. It's been entered into the Scarves category and I'll find out next Friday how I went. I made the cowl out of 12ply acrylic yarn and only took a couple of days to make up. The pattern, from the 1st issue of Simply Crochet magazine , includes a button placket but I decided to keep this one plain. What I love about the pattern is the mock cable effect. So do my fellow CWA branch members - they've asked me to teach them how to do it! If you're on Ravelry, you can get more information about the pattern here . I'm also reading about CWA. On my bedside table is " Great Australian CWA Stories ...