Monday, January 31, 2011

little booties....

I loved using booties on my children when they were babies,
I had some gorgeous pairs that Andrew's mum made
and some from Aunties and others by ladies in the church.

I remember seeing these lovely ladies smile with joy and satisfaction
when they saw a pair of booties they had made
keeping my babies little feet warm.

Having had such a beautiful collection of booties
from the hands very experienced knitters and crocheters
I have always felt a little daunted by the thought of making them.

Until I spotted this pattern on Ravelry
it is a really simple 'first time booties' pattern.
I made this pair as per the pattern
but it could be easily modified with different edgings or cuffs.

The best thing about making this pattern is that it has given me the confidence
to attempt some of the more complex patterns for booties
I have been wanting to try.

The pattern can be found by clicking on the following links

Thank you to Susan L. Kraus for this great pattern :)

Have a delightful week!
~ Gillian ♥

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Pacific Koel

One of the things I love about our garden at this time of the year
is the arrival of the
When the fruit ripens on our Palm trees we are always
visited by these fabulous looking birds.
The four photos above are of two different females,
I haven't managed to photograph the male as yet,
although we do see him everyday is very flighty
and as soon as I walk through the back door he flies away.
He is a spectacular glossy black bird with vibrant red eyes.
If you click on the link above the wiki page has images of the male
and you can also hear his fabulous call,
which wakes us up most mornings at the moment.
I managed to take these photos from our back deck,
which is two storey making me level with the height
of our palm trees where they were busy enjoy their meal.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend
~ Gillian ♥

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Block no.7.....

Block no.7 in my
I made block #2 Tiny Textures
from the book
This is a wonderful pattern, simple and quick to work up.
I also love this gorgeous soft blue
Cleckheaton Country wool.
It's been a fun week here,
with our kids final week of school holidays drawing to a close
and Australia Day yesterday...
and I have even managed to crochet 26 squares already for
with more to come over the next couple of weeks :)
I hope you are having a lovely week,
Thanks so much for visiting!
~ Gillian ♥

Friday, January 21, 2011


I'm really excited to be crocheting for this Beautiful Project
The lovely Sarah London has made a call for
Crocheters from all around the world to
crochet granny squares & donate them
so that they can be joined together to make
Blankets for those affected by the floods here in Australia.
If you would like to know more
all the information can be found here

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

My Nanna's Date & Walnut Loaf....

I wanted to share a little recipe with you today.
If you are a regular reader of my blog
you may remember My dear Nanna
passed away in November.
This afternoon I baked her
Date & Walnut Loaf
using two of her nutloaf tins.
As a child I spent a lot of time baking with her
so it felt so good to bake this recipe today
the smells of it baking and the taste of it again
warmed my heart xxx
................................................
I'd love to share the recipe with you
it's very easy and so yummy!
Nanna's Date & Walnut Loaf
Place in a bowl
1 1/2 cups chopped dates
1/2 cup walnuts (or other nuts)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1 tablespoon butter
Pour Over
1 cup of boiling water
Mix Well
then Add
1 Cup Self Raising Flour
1 Cup Plain Flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix only until well blended.
Place in 2 greased nutloaf tins, Place lids on
Stand Upright on bottom shelf in oven
Bake for 50mins in Mod oven.
Eat while warm and serve with butter - yum!!!
If you don't have nutloaf tins with lids,
You can use a normal breadmaking loaf tin,
but the proper nutloaf tins make it taste just like my Nanna's :)
~ Gillian ♥

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Block no.6......

Block no.6 in my
Block of the Week Project
I made block #61 Nine Patch Granny
from the book
200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton
this was fun, the finished block measures
14 x 14cm
Wouldn't this block make the cutest dolls quilt for a baby doll,
But I think 5 x 7 little granny squares joined together
and of course in little girl friendly colours :)
.................................................
Thank you so much for visiting I hope you have a great day!
~ Gillian ♥

Monday, January 17, 2011

Places to Go......

It's been a little while since I shared some of my cards...
This set of Three Travel Cards
were recently published in
Australian Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft
Vol 16 No 5

I love the way they photographed the cards,
so have included a scan of the magazine above.
and some close ups for you :)May Your day be Blessed
~ Gillian ♥

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Tawny Frogmouth

This little feathered friend landed in one of our Grevillea Trees
this afternoon and I just had to share him with you,
we are often visited by Tawny Frogmouths usually in a family of three.
But this afternoon this chap was on his own.
Perched about shoulder high in the tree, he sat so still.
He wasn't as well Camouflaged as they usually
are when they come into our backyard.
I was able to get within 30cm of him with my camera
and he obliged by opening his eyes a little wider and
even turned his head to watch me as
I walked around to the other side of him.
I wonder if the other two who usually accompany him were sitting
close by watching me take photos of this one - probably!
As a matter of interest it is now after 9:40pm
and he is still perched in the same spot.
~ Gillian ♥

Saturday, January 15, 2011

new project.....

Now that Jacob's cushion is all finished
I felt I needed to make a smallish project that was just for fun,
not following a pattern, not worrying about if it will work or not......
So the other day I was in Lincraft and came across some
packs of yarn from Australian Country Spinners,
obviously discontinued yarn, but this blue bulky yarn was familiar to me
as I had knitted Georgia a scarf out of this yarn a couple of years ago in pink.
I knew I loved the feel of it....
The pack had 4 balls (approx 250gms)
so I thought I might make a bag out of them.
Once I started I realised I probably should get some more,
but of course when I went back the next day there was none the same left.
So I had to improvise, I used 3 strands of Sullivans Cotton-a together
in this lovely Natural colour,
the three strands together seemed to be a very similar size to the bulky yarn
and once crocheted it has a similar feel also.
We travelled to Sydney on Thursdays just for one night
and then back home on Friday.
That was 4/12 hours each way in the car and as Andrew was
driving I decided I might see if I could crochet successfully in the car,
and I could! So it is almost finished.
I hope to share it with you very soon.
..........................................
Our family continues to pray for all those surrounded by flood waters
and those working hard to clean up after the flooding here in Australia.
May you be blessed with enough strength to carry on in the hard weeks ahead
and may you feel the support from those close at hand
when you need a shoulder to lean on.
~ Gillian ♥

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Finished.....

Jacob's cushion is all finished!
Such a great sense of achievement!
I know it's just a cushion, but it seemed to take forever...
all those little dc (or sc for those who use US terms)
Jacob's cushion measures approx 48cm square
and is the same front and back, as you can see in the picture below.
this was the first time I have made button holes and quickly
learnt that they are much easier than I thought they would be ;)
The two squares were joined on three sides using two rounds of dc.
each square started with a chain of 75
with 102 rows of dc (sc US terms) this made each side square.
I used Panda Machinewash 8 ply Crepe Wool
4.5mm hook.
I'm already working on my next project
and also planning an afghan for Lachlan.
Take care
~ Gillian ♥

.................................................................................................

I just want to take this opportunity to express my sorrow
to all those experiencing the heartbreaking flooding
in the Eastern & Southern States of Australia.
and for those in Western Australia
who have had bush fires rage around them.
For those who have lost their loved ones
our nation grieves with you.
For those who have lost their homes,
pets, crops, livestock & businesses
take care, stay strong and
know that we are praying for you x

Friday, January 07, 2011

Block no.5.....

Block no.5 in my
Block of the Week Project
I made block #3 Square Target
from the book
200 Crochet Blocks
by Jan Eaton
I know this will be a block I will use block again in future projects,
as it was very simple and quick.
.....................................
And now for some new Book Love
My Brother & Sister in law
recently gave me this scrumptious book
there are some truly gorgeous afghans in it
like this one.....
oh and this!
so much to crochet, so little time :D

I hope you are having a lovely day
however you choose to spend it

~ Gillian ♥

Sunday, January 02, 2011

pretty washcloths.....

I recently made some more lovely soft washcloths
it was a very basic pattern using tr (uk terms)
that evolved as I crocheted the first one.

I love that about crochet......
once you learn a few stitches,
and you have tried a variety of patterns your confidence grows
and you feel more at ease to experiment and play :) I hope you can find some time this week to

Experiment & Play

~ Gillian ♥

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Block no.4.....

Block no.4 in my
Block of the Week ProjectI made block #129 Anemone
from the book
200 Crochet Blocks
by Jan Eaton

This one was quite bumpy I have blocked it but it still remains a little bumpy,
I'm sure when it is joined into the blanket with the other squares it be fine :)
I really love the way the Green round works on this square
and found it quite simple to crochet.
.....................................................................................................
I do want to thank all who expressed sympathy
after the passing of my dear Nanna,
She was a tremendous loss to our family
and it warmed my heart greatly to read the lovely comments
by those who read my blog, love to you all x

Thank You so much for visiting
I hope you all have a
Very Happy New Year
~ Gillian ♥