wool eater blanket CAL week 7ish...

 It is taking a lot longer to get around my wool eater now, and I'm right out of step with the schedule for the CAL but most people seem to be working at their own pace and I think that is the best way to go anyway.  With each round I grow more and more pleased with how the blanket is turning out....It  is such a warm blanket and I know it will be a favourite when winter arrives, hopefully it will be finished with soon.  I'm still not sure how many more rounds I will do, but I have decided that I will not purchase any more yarn for it so that will help me decide.

So I added another two rounds since I last blogged about this project - light marl grey & Teal and each round of pattern (two actual rounds of crochet) now uses more than 1 full 100gm ball, so this pattern really does deserve its name ;)

The blanket now measures 129cm square and weighs approx 1290gms and is very warm!

If you are interested in joining in on this Crochet Along

details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

~ Gillian ♥

 

 

Dorothy's Tail Neckerchief.....

 I finished this Neckerchief/shawl/scarf for my little miss and in time for her birthday

 It was a great piece to work, I really love the little 'spikes' and the asymmetric shape.  The shape makes it lets it wrap beautifully around the shoulders and the soft acrylic I used works really well with this pattern

 When the neckerchief is laid out flat on the floor it really does look like Dorothy the Dinosaurs tail, the way the asymmetric shape curls at the end (as you can see in the photo below) is a lovely design feature of this pattern also.

You can find the pattern by May Cheang Here on Ravelry there is a small cost for the pattern but it is well worth the purchase price as it is really well written.

I used 2.8 balls of Lincraft Surprise yarn and a 4.5mm hook

I have not blocked the finished piece, as I like the little spikes to curl.

Unblocked it measures 125cm x 116cm x 56cm

it weighs approx 270gms

this is a good size for my daughter who is 11yrs old and should be a useful size for many years.

I first blogged about this piece here

and my Ravelry page on this piece can be found here

I hope you are all having a creative week

~ Gillian ♥

wool eater blanket CAL week 6ish...

 I seem to be getting more behind with my wool eater blanket...but hey, at least It is growing!

Another 3 rounds of pattern complete and it is now a lovely lap sized rug.

Each round is now taking a lot longer to work around as you would expect, but I'm still really enjoying working this rug and the pattern is very relaxing.
(you can click on the image if you'd like to see it a little larger)

The three colours I added this week are

Duck egg blue, Maroon & Gunmetal Grey

It now measures 112cm square and weighs 1077gms.

If you are interested in joining in on this Crochet Along

details can be found here on Sarah's blog.

there is also a Ravelry group here for this CAL

 Another interesting project I am working on at the moment is this Antique frame, it is around 90 - 100yrs old and comes from my mothers side of the family. Mum very generously gave it to me recently.  It is hand carved and we think it is made from Australian White Cedar (I'm not 100% certain on that but I will keep inquiring and hopefully know soon what timber it is made from).  I do know that it is Australian timber, and local to my home town.  I know this information because it was all written onto the back of the frame before it became water damaged and when the print was pulled out and discarded the information was as well....but my mother does recall that it was locally grown timber.

 I just love this pattern, and think it would make a marvelous doodling border for anyone who loves to zentangle or zendoodle or just doodle ;)

 The frame originally was held together with handmade nails, unfortunately there were some cracks in the corners and I had to have the corners re mitered and as I am planning on putting a mirror in the frame I need the frame to be strong, so the framer has made it nice and strong for me, ready for the next step in the project.  I don't normally like altering antiques like this but it was a case of leave it as it was and storing it in my garage forever or loose a little off each corner and make the piece able to be used once more and hopefully admired.  So I went with the second option for this particular piece.

The frame originally had a print in it, not a valuable one and it had also become water damaged over the years, but some pencil writing was revealed when the back was removed, I am clueless as to what it may mean, maybe it is the frame carvers name, or in some relation to the original print....I may never find out, but it seems to be as old as the frame....

My next step is to rub it back lightly with some steel wool and apply some sealer, then off to the glass cutters for a piece of mirror and then back to the framers for finishing off....then I hope to show you my beautiful old frame :)

Have a lovely week everyone

~ Gillian ♥