#grannyhottie step three

Hello it's Tuesday again!

I know, I can't quite believe it either.

But never fear, step three of the granny-hottie-a-long is here!!!

Hooray!!!!!


If you're running a little late to the hottie party, you can find step one here and step two here.

OK let's get started, for this step you'll need your granny squares all joined neatly into a front and a back.


You'll also need your crochet hook, a pair of scissors and your main colour of wool.


Now for the fun stuff.

Starting anywhere you like on the front part of your hottie cover, join your wool to a back loop and chain three.


Then make a double crochet stitch into the back loop of every single stitch along the row. This pattern is pretty forgiving so don't worry too much if you get confused and crochet a stitch too many here or not enough there.

(Remember I am working in US crochet terminology, conversion chart here).


When you reach the corner make two double crochet stitches into the corner stitch and keep going along the next side.


When you reach your first double crochet stitch, make a slip stitch into the third chain stitch you started with.

Then chain three stitches and double crochet in the back loops all the way around the outside of the front panel of the hottie making sure to crochet two stitches into the corners when you reach them.

Once you have finished the second row of stitches, fasten off and repeat for the back of the hottie.

And there you have it, the front and the back of your hottie cover. Well done!!


I was planning to go a little further and join the two panels this week but;

a) I ran out of time

b) I'm loving this hottie-a-long and want to stretch it out so it lasts a little longer

c) I found out that some people like to be able to take their hottie out of its cover and therefore need a cover that opens and closes and that's thrown me.

d) I have become OBSESSED with sock knitting and all my spare crafting time has been sucked up by the sock.


The answer of course is all of the above. The quiz of course is because I finished Gone Girl and loved it.

Let's meet up here for step four next Tuesday Ok?

In the meantime we can chat about our granny hotties in the comments here, on Facebook here, and we can share photos on instagram using the hashtag #grannyhottie.


Happy grannying!!

Love Kate xx

#grannyhottie part two

Hello and welcome back to the granny-hottie-a-long.

Today we'll be moving right along to step two, but if you missed step one never fear you can find it here. Yay!


Today we are going to start with your pile of 24 cute little grannies.

Some people have smaller hot water bottles so they are going to start with their pile of 18 or maybe even 12.


Divide your pile into two, half for the front of your hottie cover and half for the back.

Then arrange and rearrange your granny squares until you have a colour order that is pleasing to your eye.


After that gather your crochet hook, your scissors and a ball of yarn to crochet them all together with.


Start by crocheting two mini grannies together through the back loops.

Gorgeous Lucy over at Attic24 has a brilliant and easy to follow tutorial over on her blog if you need a bit of help with how to do this.


After you've joined two grannies, go ahead and join three.


Then join them all into rows of three.

And then join those four rows of three all together into one piece.

Great job!! You're half way through step two.

Now go back to the top and follow along to crochet the other 12 grannies together.

Once you've made your front and your back you can darn in all your ends by threading them onto a needle and tucking them through a few stitches on the back and then snipping them off.

And that my friends, is step two done and dusted.

I'll see you back here next Tuesday for step three.

In the meantime we can chat about our granny hotties in the comments here, on Facebook here, and we can share photos on instagram using the hashtag #grannyhottie.

Happy grannying!

Bye!!

x

Snapshots again

Hello lovely online friends. How are you? How was your weekend? Have you got anything exciting planned for this coming week? Are you feeling grounded or a bit aflutter?

I'm good. A little bit unsettled with all that I have to do and all that I want to do rushing around my head and making me feel a little bit out of breath. But I feel like my life is busy with good things at the moment and that makes me feel grateful.

But it also makes me feel like I don't know where to start this blog today. Which stories to tell? Which bits to share? And which to let go never to be heard from again?

Sometimes my blog speaks to me in such a clear bossy voice, while at other times I need a formula to get going. Today is definitely the latter so I've decided to go back to a post I wrote back about six weeks ago and do the same thing all over again. Eight photos that represent a bit of a snapshot of my life at the moment (minus the girls of course because they are at school) and a sentence or two as a description of each.

PICKING 

Beetroot. I feel like beetroot kind of fills the void of tomatoes when they are out of season. The flavours are completely different, but they both add something special to the salad, the roast veggies and the sandwiches that nothing else does.

I pickle my beetroot using this recipe. Yum!


KNITTING 

Another cabled beanie for my farmer boy from this pattern.

Last year two photographers came to our house to shoot us for a fancy country magazine. After we had done our polite introductions they asked us if it were at all possible for Farmer Bren to go beanie-less for the shoot. Although it was the middle of winter, the magazine would come out in summer and they wanted it to look warm.  Apparently the order had come from the top so who was he to disagree. I think those few hours were the only few hours I have ever seen him without a beanie on our farm in autumn, winter or spring since we've been here.

I like how happy a new beanie makes him and I like the charcoal instead of his usual brown.


READING

Gone Girl. My littlest sister Abby was so surprised to hear I hadn't read it that she ordered it and had it delivered to me by post. And she's right, I'm loving it. Even though I only have time for a chapter or two each night, I'm still reading it far too quickly and will be sorry when it's done.


FEEDING

The fire. Always. Collecting kindling, filling the firewood trailer, splitting logs, bringing loads inside and keeping the fire going. Sometimes I dream of push button central heating, so clean, so quick and so easy, but the fire is the heart of the home and I'd probably miss it if it were gone.


DECIDING

Whether or not to knit the pair to my first ever sock. The length is right, the height is right, the heel makes me happier and prouder than I ever thought a heel could, but it is baggy under the instep and uncomfortable to wear. Shame.


TRYING AGAIN

Toe up this time instead of cuff down. And with much smaller needles. Wish me luck, I don't know if I'll have the heart to try a third sock if this one doesn't fit right.


ADMIRING

Backyard Bees a gorgeous new book by Doug Purdie published by Murdoch books. So much important beekeeping info, such great photos by Cath Muscat, lots of delicious looking recipes, it really is a fabulous book.

And look, there's us all dressed in our bee keeping best!!

SQUISHING

The wool that came with some other cute treasures in the last instalment of the Jellywares winter yarn club. Mmmmmmmm delicious. Jodie plans to run a spring wool club starting next month too, so keep an eye on her Facebook page for sign ups. It's been such fun to get my box in the post each month.

And that's that. How about you, what are you picking, reading, feeding, deciding, trying again, admiring and squishing?

I'll be back tomorrow with the next instalment of the granny-hottie-a-long. Have you made your 24?

Happy new week friends. May your news be fabulous.

xx

Let's crochet a granny hottie!

I've got a great idea!

Somehow I've found myself in a bit of a crocheted granny-square, hot water bottle cover marathon, and before I get going on my fourth one, I thought you might like to play too.

We could have a bit of a granny-hottie-a-long. How fun does that sound, not to mention snuggly and warm too.

I'm sure you've got lots of stuff going on in your lives so we'll take it pretty slowly, maybe a step a week, and that way we'll all have lots of time to keep up.

What do you think? Are you in?



Just a few things before we get started;

Firstly, I'm going to assume a little bit of crochet knowledge here, but at any stage if you get stuck, or if you are crocheting for the first time, ask google, ask me, or ask in the comments and together I'm sure we can work it out.

Secondly, I'm going to be working in US crochet terminology.

Thirdly, I've been making these up as I go along, but if you feel like you'd like to change things up or do things your own way - go for it.

Yay!! Should we start?

The first thing we'll need to do is gather our supplies and the most important supply of all is YARN. I'm using 8ply wool left over from other projects. This is a wonderful way to use up all those rolly-polly odds and ends.



Next up we'll need a crochet hook. I'm using a 3.5mm because I like the size of the stitches it makes but feel free to experiment. We'll also need sharp scissors for snipping, a darning needle for those perky ends and a larger ball of wool for your main colour (i.e. the edging and neck). And of course we'll need a hot water bottle.


And now for the fun bit!!

Using your yarn and your crochet hook, hook up 24 granny squares using dc's and chains. Remember these granny squares are a bit mini so stop each one after three rounds. When choosing colours, be as wild or as monochrome as you like.

I like to crochet over the tail of the last colour I used as I go (there are plenty of tutorials online), but if that sounds too hard, don't worry about it at all.

I guess the other thing is joining as you go but I like to lay them out at the end and choose where each one will go before joining.

And that's step one all done. Yay!

Let's meet back here next Tuesday for step two.

In the meantime we can chat about our granny hotties in the comments here, on Facebook here, and we can share photos on instagram using the hashtag #grannyhottie (I've checked - there are not hot grandma pics - it's safe).

I'm excited - let the grannie hottie begin!!

Just think how much your cold winter toes will love you.

Bye!!

xx

Looking inwards

I guess it's interesting, but probably not all that surprising, that so many of us are feeling the same way in this political, global, humanitarian point in time. After my Mum proof read my blog the other day we discussed what I would do if people left aggressive or negative comments. Would I delete them, respond to them or just leave them there as part of the conversation but try not take them to heart.

I often worry about responses to my more personal posts, but thankfully this time I needn't have. Thankfully there was not one single #firstworldproblem type comment, nothing angry or bitter and nothing that I had to worry about letting into my heart. If anything it made me feel better knowing that I wasn't all alone.

So with the knowledge that we are so many of us feeling a bit off balance at the moment, I thought I might share a technique that my Chinese doctor taught me, a way to find my centre and move forward.

This practise works well when you do it several times throughout the day. For me it works to attach it to something I do regularly but not too often, I do it when I check my Fitbit.

Every time I check how many steps I've walked so far, maybe six or seven times a day, I stop where I am, close my eyes if I can, focus inwards, take a few big deep breaths, scan my body and state of mind and then I ask myself;

How am I feeling?

I give myself a quick, one word answer. Nothing complicated, just a word that describes the way I'm feeling in my body or in my state of mind. Words like peaceful, anxious, inspired, stuck, restless, sensitive, motivated, stretched, strong, teary, chaotic, concerned, powerless, loved and lucky are some of those that have come up for me over the past few months.

And then straight away I asks myself;

What do I need?

Again just a quick one or two word answer is all that I am looking inwards for. Quiet, direction, light, exercise, peace, colour, time, patience, order, acceptance, space, a house in the tropics, strength, resilience and kindness come up for me often.

I have no answers to the hardest questions, but this little practice helps give me clarity and direction. A few extra tools in my toolbox to help me move on and live a creative, soul filled life instead of falling in a heap too often.


I hope you have a colourful, love filled weekend honey bunches.

Lots-a-love

xx


Gloves (pattern and details Ravelled here) swapped for beautiful beakers by Adriana Christianson.

Unanswerable questions

The truth is I'm struggling. I feel heavy and close to tears and not quite right a lot of the time. Since the drama with my left breast at the start of the year I've gotten quite good at staying focused on the good in my world, at counting my blessings, at surrounding myself with kindness and protecting myself. But over the past little while the big wide world has snuck in with its frosty tentacles and weighed me down like a rock. I feel terrible and don't know what to do about anything.

How can I explain to our children that we expect them to behave with kindness and compassion to their fellow human beings, when our country's leaders often do not?

How can I listen to global stories of horror and atrocity and not take them personally?

How can I keep up with the wars and the bombings and the treatment of people less fortunate than ourselves without it making me sick?

How can I come to terms with the fact that we are just so incredibly lucky, without the guilt that attaches itself to that feeling?

How can I complain about head-lice, about the crazy cold, about the mess and about not sleeping at night, without feeling petty?

How can I be a human being and not imagine myself in the place of the hungry and the desperate and the terrified?

How can I switch off from all the big bad news as a fellow member of the human race?

How do I make sense of war, of refugees, of poverty, of the death of innocent children and parents and grandparents to my kids, when I cannot even come to terms with it myself?

I have no answers right now, only more and more questions.

For now I can only keep breathing, keep looking after my crew and holding them tight and keep growing awesome food.

And counting my blessings. Often.

Big love my friends, and peace.

xx

The Australian Sheep and Wool Show

How do I write a blog post about something I've written about four times before?


How can I explain the feelings of excitement and love and passion that come up for me when I am surrounded by so much of what I love?

How can I describe in words that feeling of being overwhelmed with inspiration? Of so many plans and ideas and thoughts that start in my tummy and travel upwards until they makes me feel like I'm going to explode? Like I have to get started. Like I have to do all the things, all at once.

How on earth can I explain an event that is a tactile and aromatic and visual explosion?


How can I explain to you just how wonderful it feels to be surrounded by people who LOVE what you love and want to show you, and teach you, and talk to you about it for as long as you do?


How can I make you feel the wonderful feelings that go with bumping into friends who love what I love, friends who open up their bags to share their purchases and stoke mine adoringly, friends who admire my knitted shawl and show off their own, friends who invite me to spinning club and gorgeous friends who go home and send me a ravelry pattern because I said I loved it and had queued it.

How on earth can I get you to understand why there were cute little bags of horse hair for sale if I couldn't work it out for myself? Apparently people stuff mattresses with horse hair, but those sweet little bags....no idea.

How could I explain to you my surprise at unpacking farmer Bren's backpack at the end of the day to find everything I'd bought was navy blue or charcoal? How strange and not at all planned.

And how can I even remember to record all the different aspects of wool craft that I need to put on my to-do list from owning our own sheep all the way through to dyeing, spinning, weaving and knitting socks.

Apparently I can't. You can read my posts from the past few years here and here and here and here where for some reason I was more eloquent. Or, maybe, you could just close your eyes for a second and imagine yourself at a show that celebrates everything you love, in every detail, in all its glory.

What would that look like for you I wonder?


Go gently my friends, I hope your weekend is filled with your blessings.

Big love

xx