Embroidered towels

I can't believe it's been so many weeks since I managed to write on my blog. Time escapes when you are having fun!
My Grandson, his parents & grandmother from the UK have been visiting for the past week-it's so much fun to have a small child in the house & he is such a delight, having just turned 5-give him a few years at school & all that will change!
The week before their arrival I was busy embroidering designs for a quilt & writing up instructions for another quilt & a place mat project which will be published next year but have to be to the editor long before they are published. I often think her house must be like Christmas everyday with so many lovely projects arriving daily at her door from all over the country.
My towel project has been released & now I can share pictures, which I've been eager to do since I created them back at the beginning of the year!
The photo is courtesy of Express Publications' and directions can be found in Machine Embroidery edition 16/2. I would like to thank Yvonne, the editor, for allowing me to use their photo from the magazine (far nicer than anything I took!).
I've been sewing madly the last few weeks & it looks like it will continue until Christmas as I've already received orders for towels for monogramming from 3 people!
Have started a gorgeous set of bears- they come to life as you stitch them out!
My knitting has changed from socks to baby clothes- its been a while since I've knitted any of those-a few when DIL was expecting No1 GS. looks like I'll have plenty to keep me busy over the next few months.
Happy Crafting
Oz- tralien

17 weeks til Christmas....

Don't you just love a sale?! Especially when you know the prices aren't jacked up to pretend to give you a discount & you know bloody well that they are. Not one of those sales- but a real good, genuine sale.

The Sheridan factory outlet is quite near where our work office is located & they had a sale-ended up making 3 trips & buying stacks of manchester- but it was sooooo cheap couldn't resist (& here I was thinking the other day that I more than likely did not need to buy any more manchester for the rest of my life as I have more than enough!) Oh well, bit like saying I'm not buying anymore fabric! Ha!!! as if that is ever going to happen.

I bought 3 of my adult children sheet sets after they messaged me that Yes , please we'd love more bed linen (especially as they know that Mum is paying!)- picked up some sheet sets for my Grandson, new sheets for the single, spare bed & new sheets for our bed- lots of towels (lots of towels!-most for my stash, as at that price they make fantastic gifts- just put a name on them & away I go!). I worked it out that on a lot of the items I saved about 74% & a few of the goodies were closer to 90%!!

One set was delivered this morning to a patient who had requested, if I could, an embroidery on some towels she wanted to give as a gift- they were easy enough-that's a few towels out of the stash already.(2 down 20 to go!!)

Tuesday its Lizzie's birthday & I've put a lovely L on a gorgeous eau de nil coloured towel for her- there were matching face cloths & bathmats with this colour- no hand towels- so she's getting what I was able to buy-I know she loves this colour so its a good choice for her. I picked the Queenie alphabet to use from Francine's embroidery- love this alpha- its really classy & it comes in a really huge size which is nice to put on a towel as a single letter. I'm off Tuesday so I'll leave that parcel on her chair at work for her as a surprise (unless of course she happens to read my blog in which case its no longer a surprise!)

We had a magnificent sunset the other day- I lent out over the balcony to get as much of it as I could-I'd like to be able to get up on the roof for photos- but I don't suppose that's going to happen.

All ready for our Melbourne family's arrival tomorrow- GS rang while I was at work this morning to tell Grandad that he was so excited he can hardly wait!LOL don't you love the enthusiasm of a 4 year old?

I finally finished my sock- I knew this one would knit up quicker as the pattern was much more interesting. So both pairs that I started in Montana are now done....the yarn is already with the pattern for the next pair-have been itching to try these since I saw them in my knitting book & bought the yarn while in the USA-shame I couldn't get the colours I wanted, the pattern is Flame Wave Socks & I'm using Cascade's Fixation yarn in bright red! Should be eye catching.

MOTH managed to break one of the rollers on my quilting frame through the week- not sure what he was doing- so now I will need to get that fixed before I can do all the quilting I have in mind for Christmas....did you know its only 17 weeks until the BIG day? I have a lot to get done in that time.....maybe I need to write a list like my friend Ruth does (for everything) it might just keep me on track!

Until next time

Happy crafting
Oz-Tralien

Short Attention Span.

It would appear that my attention span for knitting socks is about 1 week. I am struggling with the socks I started prior to going to Hong Kong, back in the week of Easter.The first sock is done & looks quite good & I am one pattern repeat from starting the heel on the second sock, but I am so over these socks! This afternoon I wound the 'sunshine' coloured sock yarn in readiness for the next pair & can't wait to get started on them-haven't even picked a pattern, I just want to move on.

Once, when travelling through India an old man read my palm-he said I liked to travel- well, that was a no-brainer-I was in the backwoods of India & obviously not Indian! but he did tell me that I had a mind that flittered like a butterfly-once I learnt how to do something I then flittered off to learn something new.....that describes me pretty well much to a tee! And this sock is holding me back-its time to move on with it! He told me lots of other things that were pretty accurate as well-I sometimes wonder how they do it-read body language, guess,or is it really in our stars, our palms or our numbers.....

Its taken me all week to get back into some order after the very hectic week in Hong Kong-a separate blog on that, hopefully through the week. Suffice to be said we had a great time-spent lots, saw lots, did lots. I think most of my stuff is now packed away & the laundry caught up- the downside of having to return home at some point.

MOTH is still in Kuala Lumpar- he leaves tomorrow for London-appears he is having wonderful time-he must be, he isn't phoning me every single night telling me he feels guilty for going away & leaving me at home, again.....this guilt is always good for a guilt gift.Diamond earrings, laptop computers, handbags-he always buys me something when he gets to feeling guilty about his travelling-I can live with it!LOL

This weekend saw me do some sewing-all requests-an apron for a birthday present, 2 towels for a couple & a baby towel. I do have one more baby towel to do-if its a boy it'll be Joe & I have the name all done to transfer to the machine....if its a girl, then they haven't picked a name. This couple have 2 girls already but didn't want to know the sex prior to the birth. The baby will be delivered tomorrow at 10am, so I'm told,-she has a C section, so its all arranged.

It is much easier for me if I know the sex ahead of time at least then I can do things that are gender appropriate! Thirty years ago we did not have this luxury of knowing the gender prior to the birth.

Thirty years ago we didn't have ultra sounds as a routine exam in a pregnancy. I remember that I had to have one when I was pregnant with our twins (they are 27)-the first one was done to give dates as I had no idea the month, let alone date of my last period, I just wasn't paying attention & I did have an IUD in!!! Can imagine every one's surprise when they found 2, not 1 foetuses in there! Even when I had the second scan to check weights I never even thought to ask if they could tell what sex they were-mind you I told everyone that it would be 2 boys as that is what my family had always produced for some reason. Nothing changed. I produced twin boys as well-didn't need an ultra sound to tell me! These days everyone gets scanned & a lot find out the gender-I find it difficult not knowing these days if I'm sewing for the baby....ah well-there are always those non- gender colours of white, lemon & green!

Happy crafting,

Oz-tralien

Crochet Bag- Happy Holidays

As promised, here is the crochet bag pattern, before Christmas......just.

Why does everything become so hectic at this time of the year? The days rush on by, the weather mostly heats up & so do the tempers of the drivers & shoppers- so much for good cheer to all men- more like look out for No.1 or I'll run you over if you get in my way!

I am watching a storm cell move in, from my sewing room window-the sky an eerie colour, with the occasional flash of lightening & roll of thunder in the distance, looks like it will be quite a storm, if we get it.

Tomorrow our 4 year old GS, his father (our no1 DS ) & his Mum arrive for Christmas-the little one has more of an understanding this year just what this is all about & told me it was only 4 more sleeps when he rang me the other day. There is nothing like having a little one in the house for Christmas.

I may have thought I finished all my sewing but some friends & DD had different ideas- they had me doing towels with names on them-these are turning out to be very popular , especially as they don't have to pay for the monogramming! Makes for a really lovely gift for them to give. While I was at the sewing machine I decided I needed to have a few gifts in stash so embroidered 8 silk covers to slide on over satin (cheap) coathangers- these look lovely when finished & I've found they make a good stocking filler.

My friend Mary gave me a good belly laugh the other day- I have my bra class on her site (http://www.andsewitisnet/ ) & when she gets questions relating to making bras or fitting problems she sends them onto me.

One lady wrote that she was a size 34 K & was having problems getting a bra to fit or even a pattern to make her own. What could she do?

Mary's DH has the same first 4 letters in his name as mine & she thought she forwarded the email onto me with her added "Any suggestions?"- it went instead to her DH- who replied back to Mary

"keep away from sailors"-talk about laugh, it gave me my belly laugh for the day!, I was so glad I didn't have my morning toast or tea in my mouth at the time!!!!

Happy Holidays to you

Here's the pattern I promised you: If you look at my pic you can see the change in colour- this is what you get when you crochet in bed with a lamp- you don't see what you are grabbing!

Crochet Shopping Bag

Requirements

2 balls (50g) 72m/78 yd cotton 8ply (or similar)

6.0 mm crochet hook

Ability

read a pattern

crochet

Abbreviations

sl-st- slip stitch,

dc, double crochet (or single crochet for the Americans)

Dec- decrease. worked as follows over 2 stitches

hook through st of previous row, yarn over hook, pull through, insert hook into next stitch of previous row, yarn over,pull through, yarn over, pull hook through all 3 loops on hook.

Tension- its not that important, as it after all a bag-as long as its not too tight or too loose.

Don't get too worried if your stitch numbers don't exactly match mine- just don't do the decreases over the handles.

Base

with 6mm hook & yarn either start with a knot or slip stitch, make 3 ch,join with sl-st to make a circle,

Row1. 2ch (counts as stitch), 7 dc into ring, join sl-st to top of 2ch

Row2. 2ch, 1dc in same stitch, 2dc in each st to end of round, join sl-st to 2 ch (16 sts)

Row3. 2ch,1 dc in next stitch, repeat to end,join sl-st to h

Row4. as row 2 (32 sts)

Row5. as row 3

Row6. as row 2 (64sts)

Row7. as row 3.

Pattern. Body of bag.

place marker if desired (I never worried about it)

5ch,miss 1dc, sl-st into next dc, repeat until end of round reached.Do not 'finish' round, just keep going.

Continue with 5 ch, sl-st into ch loop of previous round until length desired.

20 rounds if you are tall & want a biggish bag

15 rounds if you are short or want a smaller bag

these bags will hold lots & stretch in both directions!

Mine is a few more but its HUGE! (probably a little too long)

Top & Handles

when you've reached the length you want after last sl-st, continue

2dc in same loop as sl-st, 3 dc in next loop, continue to end of round, join sl-st to first sl-st of round.

2ch,1dc into each dc of previous round, join sl-st to 2ch. repeat this row.

next row.

2ch, *1dc in next 4 dc of previous round, decrease on next 2 stitches* repeat to end, join sl-st

Handles rows

Row1. 2ch, 1dc in next 10 dc, 25ch,miss next 20 sts, 1dc into next 20 sts of previous round,25ch,miss next 20sts, 1dc into next 10 sts, join with sl-st to 2ch.

Row2. 2ch, 1dc in each dc & ch of previous round.

Row3. 2ch, 1dc, decrease over next 2 stitches, repeat (decrease) to handle, 1 dc in each dc of previous round along handle, then dec (as before) to next handle, 1 dc in each stitch along handle, dec (as before) to 2ch, join sl-st. Tie off.

Productivity

This weekend has been a very productive one, sewing wise, for me-I always feel that if I finish lots of tasks on my weekend, it's been a weekend well spent.

The weather has certainly helped. We've had gusting winds & rain on & off with intermittent bouts of sunshine-it has been one of those 'wait 5 minutes & it'll change' type weekends. Its also cold-it's not meant to be cold at this time of the year- we are meant to be warming up-have had to pull out the fleecy top & pull up the duvet this weekend. Guess in another few weeks we'll all be complaining about the heat!

Yesterday I embroidered names on 2 towels- these will be gifts for my DD & SIL-I haven't embroidered anything on the hand towel/face cloth/ bathmat-think that can be a bit of overkill with monogramming!

Also did 4 little hand towels that I had in stash with Christmas designs- one of these is to go in my stocking swap. These were so much fun that when I started sewing this morning I decided to do a few more- managed to get 5 into the one hooping, so now a few friends will get a towel as well. The designs I used were an old Amazing Designs set- Christmas Collection IV-apparently it is now not available- these are the cutest designs & really quick to stitch out as well.

Then I made another water bottle caddy. All week I had been trying to think of an alternative to embroider on the caddy, rather than a name, I'm not to keen putting names on things that kids use. I thought of H2Go- then someone told me that was already used by someone who sells bottled water!ARGHHH- why is it that I come up with these brilliant ideas & then find someone has beaten me to it!

After much thought & playing around I have come up with an alternative- EAU2GO-someone will probably tell me that's already in use as well!

Started my stocking for the stocking swap last night- why is it that I always decide to do things the difficult way? Picked out a cream pure wool to kit the one stocking in & its barely a ply of wool....it's super fine- the stocking is going to be very small by the time I finish it! Just the right size for a diamond ring perhaps?LOL

Also finished my string bag- but still need to write the pattern out for it-its one of those patterns that is very flexible.....

Received another postcard through the week, from the postcard swap-one left to come now & then the swap will be complete. I have such a lovely collection of postcards from all over the world & no 2 are alike.These are one of my favourite swaps as they are so quick & easy.

While I'm not using my laptop it switches over & randomly brings up pics from all my photographs-Today I have seen flashes of places visited, family & friends & wonderful holidays-what wonderful memories the pictures remind me of.

This week I had a student nurse with me for a couple of days. A male student nurse. A very good looking, young ,male student nurse!

You should have seen my oldies-the old girls! I need to take him with me more often! One old gal that I was going to give a shower to asked if Jason could do it instead....then said (after I said I was doing it)... well he can do my back!!! The next day I was back at her house as we visit her DH everyday & she calls out to him to come & chat to her in the bedroom while I fix her DH's pills up!!!

Shortly after we visit a very old gent who is about 96 & his DD, who lives nearby, is always at the house when we are there. Instead of handing me the undies & towels around the bathroom door-she is off giggling with Jason. When I go in search of what I need- she comes a running- chucks the things at me & high tails it back to keep chatting to the student!!!

This type of behaviour was evident all day with the old girls! Makes one think- how old do we have to be not to notice a good looking bloke!!!LOL-we aren't dead yet!