Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Project #1 - Pram Blanket (Update #2)

Great news! Not only have I finished knitting the squares for the pram blanket, but I've also managed to sew half of it together.

I must admit that my 'sewing together' skills leave a lot to be desired, but once I do the cross over stitches you won't be able to see the joins as much. One problem I have noticed (and I noticed that this happened on the last blanket I made also) is that my tension is really tight in the first and last couple of rows, which makes my 'squares' not so square at all. The result of this is that the blanket is a little 'wonky' looking at the end. Oh well, I'm sure it will be loved just as much.

Once I've sewn the squares together and completed the cross over stitches, I am then going to blanket stitch around the edges just to make it look more finished off. Then I need to purchase some wool felt and applique my owl onto the corner. I'm thinking all up, that will take me about another week - go me!

Here are the links to the other posts on the pram blanket:

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Project #2 - Christmas Traditions Book

I'm a strong believer that one should have many projects on the go at once to eliviate boredom from doing the same craft over and over and over. As such, I am now going to show you another project I have on the go - A Christmas Traditions book.

I had hoped to get this finished for Christmas 2009, however I had a tumour the size of a grapefruit removed from my tummy in the November and spent the next 4 months recovering, so unfortunately not much work got done in that time. You can see a picture of where I got to prior to the tumour above.

The book itself is made out of MDF and I have covered it using an array of papers from Kaiser (they have a great factory outlet in Geelong, Victoria if you're nearby). There are four sections within the book which I will be using for the following:

1) A listing of ornaments given each year to our children
2) Space for a Christmas CD or two
3) A selection of Christmas recipes
4) A list/description of Christmas traditions carried out by our family

Below you can see a picture of each of the inside covers:

So now I am up to creating each of the individual pages for the sections listed above. For this I have chosen a white linen bond paper. I am concerned that the 90gsm may not be heavy enough to work the way I want, but I'm giving it a go none the less. I'll keep you posted with my progress.

Friday, September 25, 2009

20 Week Mark!

Today marks the halfway point until Matty and I get to meet our baby - yay! Here is a picture of my 20 week belly shot:


It constantly amazes me that people think they have a right to comment on your 'bump'. Earlier this week I had someone ask if had an ultrasound coming up to check that the baby was growing as it should be, given that I'm so small. I kind of just brushed that one off, but when I advised another person that Matty and I were having a baby next year and they asked when we were going to start trying, I started getting a little paranoid about my size. Luckily I had an ultrasound at 19 weeks, so I know that everything is fine. I've decided that I'm not small at all - just 'compact'!

Here is a picture of our baby's little tiny feet:



Too cute for words!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

For Lola...

This morning I was reading the blog of a simple savings forum member, when I stumbled across a link to a blog that has had a tremendous effect on me. The blog is a heartbreaking, yet incredibly inspiring, story of a woman's journey since the loss of her baby, Lola, earlier this year. You can read about Kristalee's journey here.

As part of a memorial service for Lola, Kristalee has asked that readers of her blog (as well as family and friends) send her a photograph of every day things with Lola's name somehow included. I happened to be thinking of Lola and Kristalee while I was emptying the dishwasher, so I created the photo below:

If there is one thing I've taken away with me from Kristalee's blog it's that life is a lot more fragile than perhaps we realise, so make the most of the time you have with those you love.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Project #1 - Pram Blanket

So my latest 'crafty' project was to knit a pram blanket for our baby, who we've nicknamed 'Darth'. It's one of those projects that seem like a good idea at the time, but once you've started you realise how long it's actually going to take and you wonder whether you should just quit while you're ahead.

The blanket is 12 squares in total, and with each square taking around 4-5 hours to knit, it's looking like an investment of at least 50 hours just for the knitting component! Then there is the added work of sewing it together and then blanket stitching around the edge of it. As if that isn't enough, I then have plans to applique an owl onto one of the corners with wool felt to go with the owl theme of our nursery.

Currently I have a total of 6 green squares and 4.5 green and white striped squares, so I'm well on my way.... just lacking the required motivation to actually keep going.

Here are the links to the other posts on the pram blanket:

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! A place where I will be blogging about my craft endeavors (both good and bad), my journey into motherhood and also my attempts to save money and get ahead while taking a year off to look after our baby (Due in Feb 2010).

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!