Monday, February 26, 2007

Get in the car, quick!

I had my baby back at the emergency room last night,
an allergic reaction. They pumped her full of oral steroids
and antihistamines and monitored her a while. What
happened? A bread roll.


It's getting to the point that if eating a bread roll does this,

I don't want her to eat anything! *frowns* I am starting to

be so scared all the time...

Friday, February 23, 2007

Barbie Bizzare

As my little princess was having a birthday, and I was very broke (what's new?), I sat down and got busy with a Barbie doll. I crocheted for weeks, making up my own designs along the way. I am really pleased with so many of these items! I am also pleased with myself for creating them.
A pink halter top, size 10 Aunt Lydias crochet cotton, 1.65mm/#7 hook, 2 buttons roughly 6mm and 2 small fabric flowers pulled off a bunch.

A pink set in size 10 Aunt Lydias cotton, probably a 1.5mm crochet hook, 2 snaps.

A teal and white set.White is likely DMC Cebelia #10 cotton, teal is DMC Babylo #10, 15.mm hook, 2 snaps, 4x4mm pearl beads and a handful of shell pearlescent sequins. A matching clutch purse and a tiny tatted necklace in #20 Twilleys cotton and a 4mm pearl bead.

A halter bikini in Aunt Lydias size 10 cotton. The skirt on the bikini has built in panties and the halter part slips over the head of the doll. The handbag is unknown cotton from my stash and the flower on it and thoseon the lei are ebroidery floss with a 0.6mm hook. Her towel was cut from a face cloth!

This is a little cardigan in Milford 4ply cotton in some kind of "natural" state. It's certainly not dyed and every so often has little flecks of a darker brown, really quite nice. A 2.5/2.75mm hook. Something like that. No buttons or snaps but a simple belt with 2 buttons. Suitable for my little girl to do up on her own. This was rally quite a challenge to make, but I do love it.

The sleepwear is an odd mixture! The mint nightie is a piece of fabric cut into a long trapeziod and edged in crochet, whip stitched from about mid thigh upward. A little cap in matching cream crochet cotton. Cotton was unlabelled cheap stuff, roughly a size 30 and worked with a 1mm hook. The red nightie was designed by TampaDoll on Crochetville, thanks Mary Jo!! I added the ruffles on the sleeve, Mary Jo had only included the ones on the bottom in her pattern. I crocheted a tiny little moon and stitched it to the front with a couple of stars. The red nightie has elastic in the waist, there are no other fasteners on these items. The mask was just a fun extra, and the slippers something I challenged myself to see if I could create them. Thepillow comes from Jessica's toy box and the 2 blankets are both baby yarn (4ply) and 3mm hooks.

I love this coat! It's an OLD crochet cotton by Strutts Milford. It says on the label #8, but it is almost like the 4ply cottons.Certainly much thicker than what I recognise as number 8 cotton now days. Crocheted with a 2.5/2.75mm crochet hook. It was really a fluke that I pulled this on off. I wanted it tailored (or tight to the body) and I managed that. I don't like the camoflauged look the cotton has to it. There are 6 hooks and eyes sewn down the front.The collar corners are sewn in place. The headscarf started out a bit different but became and ear warmer thing as it was getting too big too quick. The leg warmers are just something I decided to do as a fun extra.

Aunt Lydias #10 cotton and a 1.65mm hook create this lil number. Plus about 24 inches of scrap lace. The 1inch lace was worked into directly and the skirt worked up from the bottom. There is one snapon the skirt and 2 buttons on the top (like the pink halter). I love how the waist band in the skirt looks different, when it is the exact sam stitch! Only the body of the skirt is worked in rounds, and the band back and forth.
A nice little blue top in #8 pearl cotton. I can't recall the hook size. The ribbon halter is just looped through stitches and not at all fixed in place (it wouldn't go over Barbies head otherwise). The buttons are 4mm pearl beads which were sewn on after the garment was completed. The button loops are a strand of thread being sewn through, looped, knotted, then sewn on to the next one. I still think it needs some kind of embellishment on the front where the ribbon is, but no matter.
A nice little blue shawl in Strutts Milford #8 (that weird stuff mentioned above) and a 2.5/2.75mm hook. It fits Kelly better than Barbie. Then a scarf, a skirt, handbags, lei and a hand towel.

Some Kelly doll clothes. Not sure if I have shown them before, but here they are. There are others somewhere. I made all these a couple of years ago.

And I am still crocheting for Barbie as we speak. Still trying to see what I come up with!!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

School, Birthdays and Pressies

I have been meaning to come and write up some news for a while, I just never seem to get here to do it! A lot has been happening, and when it isn't I'm trying to recouperrate or have been busy doing other things, like crochetig Barbie clothes for Jessi as part of her birthday present. I've collaged my photos as Blogger takes ages to upload pics. Click them to see better :) Lets start at the beginning, her first day of school!

SCHOOL GIRL

On January 31st Jessi had her first day of 4yr Old Kindy. She started at 8:45am and finished at 12:30pm. She was ever so excited and I was really worried she wouldn't like school as she is very shy.
These pics are at home, right before hopping in the car to go to school. She was NOT happy with mummy as she didn't want pictures, she wanted to get to school right THEN! She refused to smile, refused to cooperate and "hmph" and "ugh" the whole time. It was cute that she just wanted to get a move on! From here we went to my cousins house to borrow her digi cam, as these were taken on my video cam which has no flash. I was so scared of not getting good pics as this is an important milestone! (btw, the wooden step under her feet.. my front step? yeah you see it right? gone now! I stepped on it maybe Thursday/Friday last week and fell through it! lucky it was the very bottom step not the higher one. dad has replaced it with some industrial ones for the time being. My comfy lil pozzy is ruined *cries*)
Once we arrived at the school Jessi was much happier to pose. But just enough for mummy to be happy as she wanted to get inside! Her daddy came and met us at the school (oh another thing that's happened, he's moved to Adelaide *woohoo*). She looks sooooo cute in her uniform!! Such a tiny girl looking so big just cos of the shirt and shorts she's wearing. Very sad for mummy. But I left and I didn't cry, she didn't cry. It was lovely!!

She happily played with puzzles as soo s we got in the door. It took her about 10mins, but she soon wandered down into the little dress ups/kitchen/home corner. I knew she would as she adores that kind of thing. When she came home that afternoon she was soooo proud to show me her art work. She'd already decided it was for nanna and NOT happy when I said she could give the following weeks work to nanna, this is mummy's! So now every Monday and Wednesday from 8:45am to 3:05pm sees Jessi at kindy and mummy kind of lost!! I wish it were the 4 half days most schools do as she is coming home so irritable. It really is a long day for little people. She loves it though and that is brilliant. I am so proud of you Jess!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!


On Sunday (Feb 18th) Jessica turned 4. I just can't believe it. You know, we've been on our own 2yrs now and we do pretty well really. It was just after her 2nd bday I separated from my 1yr domestic relationship with Andrew. Anyways... She had a nice little party in a local park with a few friends and family. It was extremely pleasant! I got her a Barbie Horse as her "big present" as well as a stack of other Barbie items like clothes, shoes, Kelly dolls etc. She loves her Barbies right now. I like that, I can handle that. If it were Bratz I'd say no. She also had a LOT of Barbie clothes I made for her, as well as her knitted scarf. I am still very proud of the scarf :D She looked very cute in a dress her daddy gave her just before he left. It once belonged to his younger sister who is about 9. I had to fix up the embellishments as some were falling off, and sew up the straps as Jess is so tiny, but overall she looked like the little anegl she is.

We got to the park about 3pm, party wasn't until 4, but Jessi was getting so impatient! The photo in the top left was the reuslt of me asking her to get a nice photo of her in her pretty dress. She layed on the picnic rug, head down and deliberately pulled her hair over her eyes and said she didn't want one. After she finally got up she was just being cheeky about it all and I only managed to snap one or two pics where she wasn't scowling. She opted for a banana cake, and gosh was it yummy! Can't have a birthday without Dora, so of course she featured on the cake! The photo in the bottom right is Jessi rubbing ice on her noze. She got bit by a mozzie and had been playing with the ice for ages. It was cute :)

RAoK's

From an FGM in Liverpool, England I got 3 wonderful sheets of scrapping stickers, a card, a magnet, a butterfly bookmark and a 1.65mm crochet hook. All are perfect :) Thank you fgm

Vicki sent us a package which was supposed to be Jessi's birthday present. Looks more like it's for me than the girl :D Cotton in size 10 and 3, 4pks snaps, a pony and lollies for Jessi, a magnetic notepad, a Mary Engelbreit magnet and some "samples" of yarns :D Thanks Vicki, we love you!

Last but by NO MEANS LEAST a really fantastic RAoK from an FGM in Oklahoma! #10 crochet cotton, Peaches and Creme cotton, massive ball of WW yarn, 2 magazines, a DAV cookbook, a Crochet Pocket Refernce, 1.65mm/#7 crochet hook, BUTTONS!, and a little handbag, playing cards and lolly for Jessa. Ooooh, and choccies and tea for me! Thank you FGM, we really love it and I have already eaten all the choccies and put the hook and some cotton to good use!

Friday, February 09, 2007

For my lil Dora fan!

I am just making a note here of the Dora the Explorer dvd titles I see that we don't currently have. Jessica adores Dora! We have many titles, but these are those we defintely don't have;
Dora the Explorer - Dora's Ultimate Adventure Collection
Dora the Explorer - Animal Adventures
Dora the Explorer - World Adventure
Dora the Explorer - Musical School Days
Dora the Explorer - Dance to the Rescue
Dora the Explorer - Shy Rainbow
Dora's Christmas (Dora the Explorer)
Dora the Explorer - Dora's Fairytale Adventure
Dora the Explorer - We're a Team
Dora the Explorer - Dora's First Trip
Dora the Explorer - Cowgirl Dora
Dora the Explorer - Super Babies
Dora the Explorer - Dora's Halloween
Dora the Explorer - Dora's Egg Hunt
Dora the Explorer - Save the Day!

Ones we own;
Dora the Explorer - Rhymes and Riddles
Dora the Explorer - Pirate Adventure
Dora the Explorer - Super Silly Fiesta
Dora the Explorer - City of Lost Toys
Dora the Explorer - Catch the Stars
Dora the Explorer - Meet Diego
Dora the Explorer - Map Adventures
Dora the Explorer - Big Sister Dora
Dora the Explorer - It's a Party

Unfortunately this list was compiled using amazon.com and therefore many of these titles aren't even available in Aus (yet?). But I hope to collect all the region4 Dora dvds we can get our hands on. I just needed a list so I can easily recall which we do and don't have!!

I stopped procrastinating.. for once!

Well, no promises that this isn't an isolated incident!! But for a very long time now I have said "I know how to knit, I just don't *get* knitting". With my lil miss having a birthday on Feb 18 (she'll be 4) I asked her what she wants. It went something like this..
"bub, what do you think mummy might like to get you for your birthday?"
"umm.. but I am just getting a Dora cubby house" (Dora the Explorer playhouse)
"yeah but babe daddy is getting you that, what might mummy get you? what would you like?"
she looks long and hard at me crocheting, unawares to her that I am making Barbie clothes as part of her present
"hmm..." she says and thinks some. she looks so cute when she thinks! Then crochet in sight she pipes up quite happily and very cheerily "a new scarf"
She looked so proud of herself! I just looked at her bewildered
"a new scarf? you want a new scarf??"
Jess gives me a "yes" with that 'don't be so silly mummy' tone of voice with a little hint of 'are you deaf?' thrown in there too! Right.. a scarf.. It's mid summer and averaging 40C every day and Jessi wants a scarf?! Ok, so I can crochet a scarf yeah? Of course! What do I decide to go and do? Knit one!!

I've barely touched knitting needles since I was 12yrs old. I was alright at knitting back then. I suck nowadays! But
Shell had asked me to find her a nice pattern for some cashmere she wants to use and I found one or two I really like. I think knitted lace looks soooo much nicer sometimes. Late Tuesday evening I decide to make Jessi a knit scarf, using one of the patterns I found when linking Shell. It had eyelets and all. I didn't bother reading through the pattern, I just opened Lion Brand's how to knit pages and sat it side by side with my pattern and hopped to it. I had to frog my first attempt after only 7rows. I kinda missed the whole 'yo' thing in row5!! I started again and made sure I actually read the row this time. I had to copy and paste the pattern to a Word document and throw in all the lines they bunched up and had completely out of order (what was with that?).

It is far from perfect. I had to drop a stitch here and there, there is an extra eyelet here and there and some of the cats paws aren't too great, my tension changes and my cast off was a bit sloppy at first. Overall I am extremely pleased! I mean really, all these years of not knitting and I pick up a pattern like that and just do it. Ok, so I should be accustomed to my ability to just do things, but knitting has given me hell the last few years! What's best is that I can now try all those gorgeous lace patterns I have wanted to for so long. Not sure when as my wrists are sore from knitting for the last 3 days. And even that was sporadic! I want to get back to Barbie for a while too. Knitting is interesting when you only have 2 pair of needles to select from!! *hehe*

I have purchased a new Barbie doll, some clothes, some Kelly dolls and hope to get a furniture set for her soon too. My plan is to give Jessica my bedroom and move myself out into the "craft" room that has been unused for months and months as I just craft in the living rooms. The craft room is just as big as my bedroom, so it gives Jess more space for all her STUFF! That child has soooo much stuff. Plus I want to give her my Barbie house (yes, from when I was a child) as part of her birthday present. She is really into Barbie and playing house and the like so i think she will really appreciate it. I saw a new Barbie house in a toy shop the other day and it was $250. As much as I would love to get it, I just don't have the $$ to buy her anything at the moment and shouldn't have bought the dolls and clothes I did. I just couldn't bare the thought of buying her nothing. I wont eat well for a week, like that is something different for me! I know she will love the clothes I make just as much as the ones I bought, but it is mummy's issue not hers. I am sure she will treasure the doll house too, especially as it was mine. She is very intuitive like that. So grown up for a little girl and wise beyond her years. My baby has been on this earth before, I swear it.

While I am on the whole my-baby-is-the-best kick, I was setting up the climbing frame my mum bought her for xmas on Wednesday (mum had to bring it back from Perth and we only just got it). I was getting extremely irate at the silly thing and cussing a bit. Jessi had on foot on the seat of her seesaw and one foot on the bar of it and says to me "mummy will you be quiet! I am trying to concerntrate". Right then and there I was ready to bop her, I was pretty annoyed at having no help and her being a little smarty-pants so I very nearly told her to shut up. Looking back on it later that day when all was calm and nice again all I could do was laugh. Such a cheeky monkey!!


**Jessi's scarf was knitted with Panda Regal 4ply cotton in a deep purple-pastel purple variegate on 4mm needles, eyelets are threaded with cream double faced satin ribbon. Scarf measures roughly 78cm long (30.5") and about 10cm wide (4"). There are 13 cat paws, and I have no idea if it is going to fit! It needed bigger needles to get the effect seen on the pattern page, but I like it all the same. The recommended needle size for the 4ply cotton is 3.25mm. I used about 2/3 of a ball so cost is well under $3 for the scarf. Funny how I can crochet a whole top for the child in just over 1 ball and yet wouldn't get more than 1 scarf from a ball!

Sunday, February 04, 2007

I've been tagged! - what is tagged? lol

This morning I *finally* got back to my blog. Thanks to everyone who left msgs in my absence :) I find myself tagged. I was "ooh.." then "what?". Off I toddled to said tagger's blog and there is the details. 6 weird facts about me. I am sure Shell could tell me a few cos I sure as heck can't think of much! Here goes.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.”so here it goes.
Weird thing #1: I can strip a bed while sleeping.. no joke. I can go to bed at night with the bottom sheet (fitted or flat, it makes no differnce) and wake in the morning with it all untucked
Weird Thing #2: That said, I cannot sleep with my top sheet and blankets tucked in at all. I just can't. Walk into a motel room and the first thing I do is untuck the linen
Weird Thing #3: I eat everything on my plate separatly. Ever since I was a kid I eat the peas first, cos cold peas are simply disgusting, then some potato, then some meat, then some corn, more meat. I can't pile a bit of everything on my fork to eat.
Weird Thing #4: I don't like shoes. I hate enclosed shoes. Shoes are only worn when they must be
Weird Thing #5: I LIVE in my PJ's. I get showered and dressed to go to the supermarket or whatever, but the moment I am home I am back in my jammies. The exception to this rule is knowing I need to go back out again. I will suffer through "real" clothes til after that.
Weird thing #6. Because I am obsessive and everything has to be done perfect, I find myself at the opposite end of the spectrum. I do nothing. My house is a disaster area simply because if I clean it goes too far and drains me. Clothes go on the hanger facing one direction, clothes get folded in the right way, towels can only be folded one way, everything has a place and even my books go on the shelf in Alphabetical Author order.

Hmm.. that was a lil to easy! I thought it would be much harder to think up 6 weird things about myself lol Now, to find 6 victims to tag :D
http://crochetqueenheavensent.blogspot.com/
http://www.glorious-day.org/blog/blog/index.html
http://www.folk-n-fancy.blogspot.com/
http://yarnmamapanj.blogspot.com/
http://adaslovinglyhandmade.blogspot.com/
http://www.mytangledthreads.blogspot.com/

Lend A Hand

Once upon a time I was a Brownie (Jr Girl Guide) and the Brownies motto is "Lend a Hand". I am remembering something about doing good deeds for others being drummed into us too. But I really wasn't a Brownie very long. Just after myself and a small group of girls got sworn in our dear leader left us. No one ever took it over :( But keeping in the Brownie spirit, when Clare @ Crochetville sent out a request for comfortghan squares I stepped up to the plate.

I was BITTERLY disapointed that to see as an Australian, Clare had very few responses. People on Crochetville are always asking for people to make squares of one thing or another. It is quite hard on the heart to see them get more than enough squares, and someone like Clare not get many responses, let alone actual squares. Is it just cos she is in Aus? I couldn't be sure. But my opinion on the topic is yes. People are fed soooo often "international postage is a killer" so without ever enquiring they just write it off. A 6" square would cost maybe $3-5 I am sure. I doubt that even, as it would fit into a A5 envelope and be charged letter rates. Anyways, I've never made blanket squares before and decided to give it a go. Knowing my impatience at things and the hate to repeat patterns I really wasn't overly confident. The first few squares I tried were NOT working in the slightest. I was very worried I would have to tell Clare I was unable to fulfill my offer. That would have saddened me further. But I did it!! I found a pattern that took my interest and got to it.

This is a great pattern. Thank goodness she posted so many photos as the written instructions weren't very clear. After the firt square was made I didn't need to look at the instructions further. I completely surprised myself by completing 8 squares!! I would have done more but I decided what little yarn is left should be sent with the squares so Clare can "finish" them as per the pattern if she chooses. I didn't do the final round to give her the option of not doing it at all, or doing it in her bordering colour to tie it all together. But if I throw in the yarn she has some options. I can't find a needle to sew in the ends..














The squares were made with blue 8ply and the purple a boucle type yarn, both were given to me and are unlablled. I used a 4.5mm hook and each square takes me not very long at all. Maybe 30mins? Hard to judge as I tend to crochet and chat/watch tv etc all at once.

this is the pattern
http://undisthreadness.blogspot.com/
found using
http://www.myhq.com/public/c/r/crochetpoet/