Stitching Wrap Up for October

For a month with rather low expectations, I am pleased with what I achieved.

The main aim was to get the three Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts well on the way, with at least one over the the finish line.

I ended up with two finishes.

The third is ready to quilt.

Other than that, I finished my beanie.

I made a little needle book for travelling.

And, I traced the stitcheries for two projects.  I have had these two kits for well over ten years, waiting patiently for their time to shine.  This will be their time.

I also completed a further seven corner to corner crochet squares.  It really makes a difference when you get to attend your stitching days. There are only four more squares required to make a blanket for Wrap With Love.

I didn’t get around to completing the bowl cosies, but there is no rush for them and there wasn’t a block issued by Betty.

15 MINUTES A DAY

October = 26/31

YTD = 249/304. = 81.91%

All in all, a good month.

A Finished Crochet Rug and Wrap With Love Knit In

I have my first finished project for July, being the crocheted Corner to Corner Rug for Wrap With Love.

I started this way back in March and have been plugging away at it ever since.  

I thought it was finished at the end of last month, but a few more rounds on the border were needed to make it wide enough.

It is good to get it finished in time for the knit in.  

As the co-ordinator is one of my neighbours, I generally give a hand with setting up.  At the last minute, a lot of squares were donated that needed to be joined and have an edging added.  I was given the job of doing the crochet on one.  It didn't take too long.

We set everything up on Monday, ready for yesterday’s Knit In.  

There ended up being just over 200 rugs ready to deliver to Sydney for distribution around Australia and the world.  Not a bad effort for a little band of women who only meet up to knit together once a year.

There was a wide variety of styles and techniques, in both knitting and crochet, as well as a vast array of colours.

There were about a dozen women who stayed most of the day with others dropping in for just a little while to just have a look at all the rugs.  

Of course, most of us brought along a plate of food, so no one went hungry.

I have started my next rug.  For me, this is just a fill in project that can be picked up when I have nothing else planned.  This time I am also using the Corner to Corner pattern, but just making ten inch squares to be joined together, as it will be a much more portable project.  I seem to have ended up with quite a few pastel yarns, in both variegated and solids, so will have a play with them.  It should be fun.

A Very Simple Little Project

While we were travelling, we stayed with some friends at Rockhampton and they have done some serious downsizing.  As a result, a few fabrics came home with me.  So that they don't just get moved from one cupboard to another, I will endeavour to use them fairly soon.  I thought I would start with the easy, obvious.

This little prequilted cot panel had been purchased probably in the 90s, or early 2000s.  All it needed was to be bound.

I had a little look in my stash and found a lemon homespun that matched well.  It came from a on shop or such at some stage. 

It didn't take long to get it done.  By the way, the lemon thread was in Mum's collection.

Therefore, really, all it took was an afternoon of my time and we have a sweet little quilt to donate.

My First Finish for June

My main wish for June was to complete the red knitted scarf I started at the beginning of our holiday.  Happily, I can report that it was completed before we returned home last Wednesday.

Let's recap.

I bought this lovely red sock yarn at the Heritage Trades Trail back in early April.

I started knitting it while watching Mick play bowls at Cowra, as it was nice and portable.

I continued to do a few rows most days, but definitely not every day.  It was something I could work on while we were visiting friends and chatting.

I took just a couple of "in progress" shots while out and about.  Just a small taste of some of the places we visited.  There will be more as I get my posts written.

Rockhampton at the end of May.

This is at Moura.

And another at Carnarvon Gorge.

It was finished while having a lazy day near Warialda.  Probably all places you have never heard of.

Once back home it was time to style it on my lovely old dressmaker's dummy.

A bit of fun trying the different styles.  The first is how I will probably wear it most often.

Now it has been packed away with the other four I have made using this pattern.  You can tell that they work well for me.

An Apple a Day

A little while ago I read that Nic from Craftapalooza was doing another stitch along, this time being her Apple Pincushion.  I thought “Why not?”.  It would be a simple project and a nice one to do with my friend while we were visiting.

It’s amazing how much stuff I had to put together to make up a little kit for each of us to make the project.  There was the fabric, interfacing, buttons, thong for stalk, felt for leaves, sewing thread, strong thread, long needles (which I found in the deep dark depths of Mum’s sewing drawer) and stuffing, as well as making a couple of templates to make things easy.

Anyway, it all worked well.  The hardest part, as usual was deciding on the fabric to use.  I went with ones that would work well with the Blossie Basket I made previously.

We spent a fun afternoon and ended up with two lovely apples.

Isn’t my friend’s hand crank Singer a beautiful backdrop.

They were very different looking, according to the fabrics we used.

A lovely way to spend time with a good friend.

May Wrap Up

Here we are, with May all done and dusted.  Time to see how my little wishes/goals went.  You can read about them here. 

We have been travelling for the second half of the month, so that did slow things down  bit.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The colour was orange and I did manage to make all the blocks.

I was pretty happy with that.

I also added the shadows to the crumb blocks, so bonus points to me there.

MY MAIN GOAL

This was to complete the quilt that I started at Baradine.  Well, I didn’t do so well on this one.

I did get it quilted, using another new to me pantograph and was really happy with how it looked.

I didn’t get to trim the backing and wadding and bind it.  I could easily have, but I usually do the trimming on the dining table and it had things on it for packing in the van.  I couldn’t be bothered to move them.  A pretty poor excuse, but it is what it is.  At least I made some progress.

KNITTING AND CROCHET

I made some progress on the Corner to Corner rug, but it still needs one more ball of yarn (which I have with me) to finish that final corner before I add the border rounds. I have worked on it while travelling, but it is getting a bit big and cumbersome.

I did, however, bring a knitting project with me to start.  It isn’t the alpaca jumper, which is one I will work on at home.  I brought some red 4-ply wool with me that I had bought at the Heritage Trades Trail.

This is much more portable to work on and I have made good progress.  It is the same pattern I have made numerous times before, and is rather practical.  I’m enjoying working on it.  The photo of the skein of wool is a much truer version of the colour.

15 MINUTES A DAY

I certainly have not worked on something every day while travelling.  This is what I did manage.

May = 24/31

Year to Date = 121/151 = 80.13%

A NEW START

I have one finished project for the month.  It is an apple pincushion that I finished on 31 May, so snuck in by the skin of my teeth.  I will do a separate post on it shortly.

OTHER GOALS

The only other thing I managed was to listen to an audio book as we were travelling along.  This series is ideal for travelling, as it is not too serious.  Very entertaining.

So, all in all, not too bad.  Now to plan for June and to continue our travels for the next little while.

We’re Off Again

About a week and a half ago we headed off with the van again.  Our first day was a big one…..travelling 110kms to Cowra, where we stayed for three nights.

We stayed in a lovely caravan park, right in town and beside the river.  Very convenient to everything.  The autumn coloured leaves looked so nice in the afternoon light.

The reason we were there was that Mick was playing in a bowls tournament.  His club had won the local Pennants comp and were representing the area in the Zone competition.  

There were eight clubs competing, with each club fielding three teams.  They were divided into two groups. They each played two games on Saturday and one on Sunday morning.  The winner of each group would then go on to play a final to determine which club would represent the Zone at the State level.  The scores were calculated on the combined total points of each club, so two teams could win their games but the third lose by a lot and they may still not get through, if you get my drift.

Anyway, Bathurst managed to achieve the highest score in their group of four teams, so went on to play Binnaway in the final, which Binnaway won by two points.  Mick’s team did win every one of their games, which they were pleased with.  Binnaway has never reached State level before, so they were thrilled and Bathurst will be cheering them on.

In the meantime, what did I get up to?  Well, I didn’t watch bowls for the entire weekend.  I wandered the street for a good look and actually did some sewing.

I packed my baby Stella and finally added the shadows to the crumb blocks that I have made so far for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Before we left home I bought a wool pressing mat that worked beautifully with my $5 garage sale mini iron.

The blocks look good together.  Keep in mind, there will be a sashing in the light grey between them all, which will make the effect so much better, but a good bit of progress.

I also started knitting a new scarf, using my tried and trued pattern for a boomerang scarf.  This one is a festive red colour.  No photo of progress at that stage, as I forgot, but I will update later.

So, that was a nice way to start our latest adventure.  More to follow shortly.