I have never really been into dying yarn before. For my last swap I bought my swapee some Kool aid sachets from wired for fibre, so I got a couple for myself just to give it a go.

Now it astounds me that people drink this stuff. If it is toxic enough to dye then it can’t be good for you.

Anyway – the three flavours I got were tropical punch, mango and black cherry. The wool I used was spotlight basics 100% wool in cream.



I used wired for fibres Kool Aid 101 tutorial which was just fine.

First I wound the balls into a hank using my niddy noddy.



Then I soaked the two hanks in cold water for about an hour.
I put the sachets into old soft drink bottles and put about 1 cup of water in each.
The first ball (in my lasagna dish) was quite wet still when I poured the dyes on it, so the colours blurred a lot.



The second ball (in my pie plate) I wrung out so it was just damp. This tended to hold the colours a lot better; not so runny.



I used my food dishes because you cover them with plastic wrap and microwave them.
And to my surprise once they were cooked the dye was set. The water around the wool was clear. After letting them cool, I rinsed them off and hung them out to dry.



Then wound them into balls.

The one that was wetter is a lot more subdued where the colours ran together. The other one has quite distinct areas of each colour.

So now what do I do with them.

I guess they will just sit and wait for something to inspire me.

I really should do a knitted and crocheted swatch of each just to see how they look.

But now that I have had a go at dying I don’t think I will do it again. It was fun …. but not for me.

I have just joined an Aussie swap on ravelry that involves making a project bag. I promised that I would dig up some suitable tutorials and links.

U-handbag (UK) is a great resource for making bags and it has a great post on bagmaking for newbies.

Nicole Mallalieu is an Australian designer that focuses on hand made bags. Her site has lots of great patterns and supplies and her blog is full of tips, techniques and tutorials. Another good Aussie selling hand bag supplies is tall poppy craft.

Here are 5 of my favourite free patterns that I think would be suitable.

From all people quilt the grab bag pattern (pdf file)

I have made a few of these and they fit a one skein or sock project very comfortably.

Patchyapple has an excellent free tutorial for a boxy bag. It think these fit a small or sock project perfectly.

Martha Stewart has a tote bag using bias binding to hold it all together.

This is the one I made from that pattern. It is good because it can easily fit a magazine or pattern sheets in the side pockets. It is a little tricky to get a hang of using the bias binding though.

This pyramid purse is a free pattern at Living Creatively. It is quite small but I think it could be sized up to make a decent sock project bag. This is very similar to the ever popular sunny-boy project bag.

For a good tutorial for a standard lined tote bag not so fancy nancy has a tutorial for a beach/market bag.

This could easily be made to any size and it has great step by step photos.  The steps to make this bag are fairly simple and is an excellent starting point to make any type of tote – eg add pockets or shorten the handle, or make two handles.

And if you want a tutorial to make absolutely anything go to oneprettything.com. She has a list of tutorials of things to make for crafters and it includes pin cushions, needle rolls, sewing machine covers, post office bags (great for an etsy seller), covered tape measures and cloth labels. Well worth a look.

I hope this helps.

We have been living in this area for over a year and it was only in the last couple of weeks that I ventured into our local library and got myself a library card.



It is not a particular big or inviting library but what I have discovered is their online library catalog.

All of Brisbane city council libraries are linked and you can easily get books from their other libraries for just a small fee of 55c.

It has been awesome. I have been placing books on hold online like a madman. Then a couple of days later – I get an email and I just pop in and pick the book up.

Over the last couple of weeks I have managed to get a hold of all of these crochet books.

We have also borrowed dozens of kids books, a few recipe books worth mentioning (Gordon Ramsay – Kitchen Heaven and Ice Cream) and a few quilt books too.

It has been a great discovery.

I finished “short and sweet”, it looks good. Now I just have to make an effort to wear it. I will get hubby to take a photo of it soon.

I am loving crochet. I find it is the perfect hobby for me for at the moment.

I have been dying to get my hands on more crochet stuff but I am on a pretty strict (self imposed) craft diet. I have searched lots of patterns and books on ravelry and right now I am coveting this book – Vintage Crochet by Susan Cropper.

So since I can’t (or won’t) go and buy a new book and I needed some more crochet inspiration I did a thrift shop hop down my local main street.

I don’t know what it says about where I live, but there are about 8 op shops within about 2 blocks. More often than not, they do not provide any treasures but this time I went searching for crochet patterns.

I found all of this – and got change from $7.

Most of the patterns were 10c or 20c each and  90% of them are crochet. Some of them are worth it just for the photos.

A fabulous find was someones hand written patterns for slippers/coat hangers and other treasured items, all of which were lovingly contacted or laminated. Another favourite was a pattern sheet for 3 afghans which includes the ever popular granny square and ripple blankets.

The best prize of the day was a book called Introduction to Crochet published at the height of crochet in 1974. It is a 128 page hardcover book and I got it for a bargain of $2. It covers all aspects of crochet including filet, tunisian and Irish. It also has a stitch library and will be a great reference book for me. It also has quite a few patterns. Some of them I would consider making,

and some I would never make!!

I had a fascination with creating a crochet hamburger. I looked everywhere for a pattern. A few people out there have made them and I think they are terrific. A great easy project and not a bad toy for the kids.

I found a two broken links on yarn to the max and crochetville to The Crochet File Box – which as far as I can tell, no longer exists. I cut and paste and eventually got the link for the pattern and have copied it below. After a bit more research I found that the pattern was initially published in Womens Circle Crochet (Fall 1989) as pot holders.

Here is a copy of the pattern.

Hot Burger Pot Holders

MATERIALS: Worsted weight yam: about 1 � oz beige or tan, 1 oz each of white, brown, yellow/orange and red G/6 crochet hook Yarn needle

SIZE: Each pad measures approximately 7″ across.

BASIC ROUND NOTE: Bun and hamburger are made from this Basic Round. Make in brown for hamburger, in tan and white for bun.

Rnd 1: Ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, do not join rounds. Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around. Rnd 3: *2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc, rep from * around. Rnds 4-12: Sc in each sc, increasing 6 sc in each rnd and alternating place of increases from round to round. (72 sc in Rnd 12)

HAMBURGER BUN TOP Rnds 1-12: With tan or beige make Basic Round through Rnd 12. Rnds 13-15: Sc in each sc, fasten off yam at end of Rnd 15.

INSIDE BUN: Make Basic Round in white, cut and fasten off at end of Rnd 12.

With tan yarn, sew inside of bun-to-bun top. Scatter seeds over top of bun by making 25 to 30 short stitches at random with white yarn and tapestry needle.

BURGER BUN BOTTOM

With tan yarn, rep Bun Top through Rnd 14, fasten off at end of Rnd 14. Repeat Inside of Bun Top with white. Sew two pieces together with tan yam.

HAMBURGER Rnds 1-12: With brown yam, make Basic Round through Rnd 12: Rnd 13: Sc in each sc around, fasten off. Make a second piece through Rnd 12, fasten off. Sew two sides tog with right sides facing, wrong sides out. CHEESE

The cheese is worked around the starting chain, making front and back at the same time, then closing the top with a row of single crochet.

Rnd 1: With yellow, ch 24, sc in 3rd ch from hook (turning ch counts as 1 se), sc in next 20 ch, 3 sc in end ch, turn, working back side of chain, sc in next 21 ch, mark end of Rnd. (46 sc) Rnds 2-24 (or until piece is square): Sc in each sc around. Rnd 25: Holding both sides together, sc across top to close, fasten off. NOTE: Since rounds have a tendency to veer to the right, stop every few rounds and pull work to the left until stitches seem to be straight up and down.

TOMATO SLICE

The seed effect of the tomato slice is made by bringing the hook through from the wrong side and working sc (reverse sts) with 2 regular sc separating each seed section. Each round is increased 6 sc as in the Basic Round, with increases always worked in the reverse sts (seed section) after Rnd 3 is completed. Rnd 1: With red, ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook, do not join rnds. Rnd 2: 2 se in each sc around. Rnd 3: *2 sc in next st, reverse sc in next st, rep from * around (start of seed pattern). Rnd 4: *Sc in next 2 sc, 2 reverse sc in reverse sc, rep from * around. Rnds 5-10: From here on, sc in

each sc, reverse sc in each reverse se, increasing 1 reverse sc in each seed section, or 6 increases per round. (60 sts at end of Rnd 10) Rnds 11 & 12: Sc in each st, inc 6 sts each rnd.

Rnd 13: Working back loop only, SC in each sc around, cut yarn and fasten off.

Repeat Rnds 1‑12 for second piece. Sew 2 pieces together through both loops of Rnd 13 on first piece and through back loop of Rnd 12 on second piece.

FINISHING

Stack hamburger, cheese and tomato slice between two bun halves.

I didn’t follow the pattern and used the opportunity to try some different techniques and stitches.

I made the buns like the pattern with single crochet rounds. The burger was two rounds using double crochet and then single crocheted around the edge to sew them together. The cheese is a square of half double crochet and the tomatos are a round each of single, double and treble crochet stitches. The lettuce was the most fun. I made it double crocheting around a chain of about 6, increasing lots in random places.

Not too bad for my second third crochet project. I think I am enjoying it more than I did when I began knitting.

Big hugs and thanks also go to Donna and Lara for help with the babette pattern. It is shame we don’t all live closer. It would be nice if we could all catch up for a chat, some crafting and a refreshing ale occasionally.

I came across the storm at sea quilt pattern in one of Sheridans quilt books. The pattern was done in the traditional shades of blue with contrasting white. This photo of the blue version is from The Calico Cat’s blog.

I love the way the pattern fools the eye into thinking the lines are curved.

I scoured the internet and found some great adaptions of this traditional block as well as some good links.

Blockcentral.com has a Storm at Sea quilt block colouring page for you to play with different colour options. And here is a pdf document that goes into a lot of detail about the block with different variations. Barbaras quilt world has a paper piecing diagram and McCalls quilting has the block pattern with cutting and assembly instructions.

Flippytale made a storm at sea block with a “Birds and Blooms” theme for her guild challenge. It is the most spectacular adaption of this block that I have ever seen.

Another version that caught my eye was from Flynn Quilt Frame Company that uses a rainbow of colours and batik fabrics. They also sell this as a pre cut kit.

Lisa Walton is an aussie who makes hand dyed fabrics and she has designed a red version called Firestorm. You can buy the pattern and the kit from her site, dyed and gone to heaven. I think that this is an impressive interpretation of this traditional block and is definitely my favourite.

Here are a few of my opinions of some new quilting books I have recently acquired.

Quiltmakers Color Workshop is from the guys at funquilts. The book looks at a large selection of quilts and talks about the colours that were chosen for each quilt. It then looks at different variations of each of the colour palettes if you change the hues, the amount of colours or the proportion of each colour. It is quite in depth and a good read. I don’t know if it is worth owning, but definitely worth borrowing from a friend or local library to read through. There are only 4 patterns in the book and they are quite good. The patterns are similar styles to what is in another of their books – Modern Quilt Workshop (which is one of my absolute favourites).

Make your own contemporary quilts. Just from the title you can tell that this isn’t your traditional type quilt book. The patterns and ideas in the book are fairly simple yet effective and stunning. The quilts are more like comforters and would be able to be easily adapted for a doona cover. The different type and textures of fabrics used in the quilts make them really special. I didn’t like this book initially because I thought it was too simple. But the more that I look at it, the more it grows on me and inspires me to try one. My favourite projects are the navy and floral comforter and one that uses linen, satin and thrifted embroidered pieces.

318 patterns is a block pattern book that I got from superbuzzy. I couldn’t find it on the site when I wanted to link to it; so it is possibly out of stock. It basically has templates or diagrams for pieced and appliquéd blocks. In fact there are 318 of them. Most of them are just a black and white drawing but there are a few that have been made. I bought it as I have visions of making small quilts and cushions with the blocks as gifts for kiddies.

The Quilters Ultimate Visual Guide is basically a quilting reference book. It has lots of quilting tips and techniques with information about tools and supplies and everything else quilt related. Everything is listed alphabetically and things are really easy to find quickly. It is a great resource to have handy in the bookshelf. Unfortunately I don’t own this book but I do have it on extended loan from my step mum.

I came across Crafting Japanese a long time ago through a podcast. Sister Diane from Craftypod (episode 20) interviewed the sites creator.  The website has lots of Japanese  books about lots of different crafts like soft toys, embroidery, clothes, bags, knitting etc .  The thing I love about this site is that also associated with each book are pictures and links to projects that people have made from them.  This is a fantastic idea and you really get to see if the patterns are workable.

I think the main appeal to these books is that they are in another language and deciphering the patterns is half the fun.  Stitch cast episode 6 (another podcast) also talked about Japanese craft and went into a little more detail about how to order the books. 

I was initially interested in the plushie and soft toy books but then I found tiny embroidery tiny garden.  I absolutely adore this idea of machine embroidered gardens but had no idea what I would use them for.  Then recently I came across motherhues.  She makes and sells playmats and little felt toys that are waldorf inspired.

 Unfortunately my daughter is still in the “eating toys” phase and I would not be able to give her something like this yet.  But this is definitely something that interests me and  can see myself making these later on. I will have to make sure that the next sewing machine I get is embroidery capable so I can make my little gardens.

I have been doing some research on Steiner dolls.  I was initially inspired soozs tutorial that she put on whip up recently.  She also has started a Steiner Doll flickr group.

A Steiner doll can also be known as a Waldorf Doll.  They are based on Rudolf Steiner’s theories on child development and the Steiner/Waldorf Education System.

The photo of the pair of dolls is from Joys Waldorf Dolls.

These toys are made from natural materials and are designed to be open ended to spark imagination and creativity.  The dolls are made to resemble a child and their facial expressions are of a neutral emotion.  This allows the child to determine the dolls mood eg. happy, sad, sleepy depending on the scene they have created.

I love the fact that these dolls are supposed to be stuffed with wool.  This adds a real weight to the toy and would also warm up if cuddled or slept with.

I found lots of sites about these dolls and I was surprised to see the amount of Australian ones relating to Siteiner Schools and businesses.

Winterwood toys is a Steiner based online/mail order craft store that sells natural toy making materials. 

Sarah’s dolls is also an Australian site that sells dolls as well as patterns, kits and a DVD tutorial for making your own. Pictured right is “Dreamtime Baby” and I think I will order this pattern (or kit) from her to make for my little girl.