Fingerless Gloves

 Hello ... 

Oops, long time no post!

 I tried making some fingerless gloves :)

A New Craft - Diamond Dots

 Hi everyone,

I've been diamond dotting.

The last eighteen months have been quite unusual in that a lot more time has been spent at home but a lot less time has been spent crocheting.  Not quite sure why but I haven't felt the need to crochet (or knit) anything.

I've finished off a couple of UFO macrame projects and three diamond dots but no projects made from yarn.

Very strange but hoping to get back in to it soon.

What have you been making?

Lisa

2021 - No so much crafting ...

 If there is one thing that 2020 taught me it was to expect the unexpected!

This year I am going to take a break from crafting or decrease the amount of it and work on getting my health and energy back.

My cro-jo has disappeared.  I haven't crocheted anything in months.

Time to try and find it again!

Latest project - Comfort Bears

At the moment I'm practising my knitting skills. Even though I prefer to crochet, every now and then I get intrigued by the needles and knit something.

I was at a CWA Meeting the other week and one of the ladies there was knitting "comfort bears"

The pattern looked simple enough so I thought I'd give it a try.

As you can see from the two photos the bear is done in one piece and then sewn up around the edges to make the bear.

If you'd like to make one the pattern is:
Cast on 10 stitches
Knit 24 rows
- first leg completed, break yarn
Cast on 10 stitches
Knit 24 rows,
- second leg completed
Knit across all stitches
Knit 24 rows
- body completed
Cast on 10 stitches at the beginning of the row for the arm - knit across
Cast on 10 stitches at the beginning of the next row for the second arm - knit across
Knit 12 rows
Cast off 10 stitches at the beginning of the row
Cast off 10 stitches at the beginning of the next row
- arms completed
Knit 50 rows
- this does both sides of the head (front and back)
Then you work in reverse to complete the other side of the bear
Cast on 10 stitches at the beginning of the row for the arm - knit across
Cast on 10 stitches at the beginning of the next row for the second arm - knit across
Knit 12 rows
Cast off 10 stitches at the beginning of the row
Cast off 10 stitches at the beginning of the next row
- arms completed

Knit 24 rows
- body completed

**Knit across 10 stitches, knit 24 rows, cast off 10 stitches (first leg completed)

repeat ** for second leg

Then you just need to sew around the bear and diagonally across the tops to create ears and sew on a face.

Have fun and good luck, it is also a great way to use up scrap small balls of yarn.

500 - Five Hundred Matilda Poppies

In November 2017 I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post talking about sending parcels over to Defence Personnel serving overseas for Christmas.  It suggested adding in a Matilda Poppy to acknowledge their service.

What the heck is a Matilda Poppy???? So I went looking further and found it to be a poppy that is orange in colour and acknowledges a veterans service.  The message being to "Respect Every Veterans Service", not just those lost to war or those from WWI and WWII but also those still serving today.  It is a way for us to say "Thank you".

I crocheted one and posted a photo of it and shared it with "Matilda Poppy", since then I've discovered that it is run by Andrea who is a veteran herself.

The more I read the more I was shocked that we have lost so many veterans to suicide.  Back then it was just over 300, so my goal was to make 300 Matilda Poppies, then if we lost another person I'd make another one so that no one was left behind.  ANZAC Day 2018 they were presented to the local RSL.

Fast forward to towards the end of 2019.  The number has sadly increased to be FIVE HUNDRED, so I made another 156 poppies.  Now there are 500 of them on their way to another RSL.  My hope is that they are acknowledged and those veterans we've lost are respected.  They may have died from their internal wounds but they still served our country and for that they should be treated with respect.

To all our veterans, I say thank you, to the mothers, fathers and families of Jesse Bird, David Finney and the other 498 I say thank you as well.  I acknowledge you and respect your service.

Thank you.

More information about Matilda Poppy can be found at www.matildapoppy.com

Poppy Crochet Pattern

Poppy Crochet Pattern (as used for the Matilda Poppy Project)

8 ply yarn in yellow and orange
4 mm crochet hook

With Yellow
Round 1: chain 2, 6 hdc in second chain from hook, join with slip stitch to top of first hdc.

With Orange
Round 2: Join in any hdc, 2 hdc in each hdc around (12 hdc)
Round 3: *chain 4, skip two hdc, hdc in next hdc repeat from * (4 chain 3 loops created).
Round 4: slip stitch into first chain 4 loop, *chain 3, 11 double crochet in loop, chain 3 sl stitch in same loop, repeat from *, this gives you your four petals.

End Off and weave in ends.

If you have any questions about the pattern please comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you

Lisa

Sleeping Mats

On Tuesday I dropped off sleeping mat numbers 13 - 17.  That is 17 mats in total made in 16 months!!

Hopefully it means 17 people getting a slightly warmer, slightly more comfortable nights sleep.

I'd like to thank Sam from West Victoria Homeless Support Group who provided me with a peg loom to use to make the mats.  The mats made using the loom were a lot quicker compared to the first three that I crocheted.

At the moment there is another mat that is in progress, it is being completed by a Year 2 class of boys at Tintern Grammar.  Mrs G has got the boys weaving a mat so they too can help someone that is sleeping rough.  Thank you Tintern Grammar for taking on this project as well.

Homelessness Week 2017

What a week!!

It started last week when I heard about the launch for Homelessness Week at Lilydale Lake Community Centre.  It was advertised on the Yarra Ranges Life TV Facebook Page.

I'd been following Yarra Ranges Life TV's Facebook page after they did a special on Animal Aid up at Coldstream.

They were streaming the coverage of the launch live from Lilydale Lake Community Centre.

For the last fifteen months I've been making sleeping mats out of plastic bags.  I first found out about the mats on a local noticeboard where they were looking for helpers to make the mats.

I started going along to workshops being held in Frankston and started crocheting my first mat.  The first couple of mats were crocheted but then I found out it was a lot quicker to use a weaving loom.
Thank you Sam from West Victoria Homeless Support Group for gifting me a loom and the second two I also purchased for other groups to use.  One loom is on loan to a group of students at Tintern Grammar.

At the beginning of the week I had three mats along with pillows to hand over to people on the streets and I was looking for a group to give them to.

I took one of them along on Monday to the launch and met Councillor Tim Heenan who was sleeping rough in a cardboard box near Melba Park in Lilydale at the David Parkinson Pavillion.

Tim has been using one of the mats in his cardboard box and has provided valuable feedback regarding how they help him get a better nights sleep and at the end of the sleep out he will then pass the mat on to someone else who needs it.

Neal Taylor from Holy Fools was also at the launch and he has said that any mats I make after this week will be gratefully accepted and handed out to those who need them most.

I've met some wonderful people this week who are part of great groups that are helping people the most.  Holy Fools runs a lunch on a Wednesday at 12 o'clock and I'll be going down there to visit them to see their awesome work in action.

Thank you Tim, Neal, Phil and Pat who I've met this week along with the people on the streets themselves.  Looking forward to getting more mats out there and hopefully finding more local groups to help make more of them

If you have a group of people that would like to start making mats please contact me for further details via my Facebook page

Scones

Today I made some scones.  I used the CWA Scone recipe (as used at the Royal Melbourne Show).

Why did I make scones?

There was a video posted on the Royal Melbourne Show Facebook page about making scones.  I shared this video on the CWA Boronia Facebook page and someone said that they didn't look like our scones, I agreed so of course I had to make my own batch of them to see.

They were light and fluffy and tasted great with whipped cream and strawberry jam.

Thank you CWA for teaching me the secrets to your scones.

Beanies

Hi Everyone,

I've started making and selling handmade beanies to help fund the postage costs for my charity items.

The beanies are adult sized and can be made in your choice of colours. Please check out our Facebook page for more information.

Thank you and have a great week.

Lisa

Something different -- Homemade Ice Cream

There are some days when you decide to treat yourself.  A birthday is always a great reason so for my birthday I made myself some triple chocolate ice cream.  It is chocolate flavoured ice cream with both white and milk chocolate chips in it.

Ingredients

600 ml thickened cream

375 g tin of sweetened condensed milk

1.5 or 2 tsp of vanilla extract (depends on how strong you want it)

The above ingredients give you the basic vanilla recipe to which you can then add extras to give it more flavour.  I've added 

chocolate ripple biscuits to make a choc ripple ice cream cake

or fresh raspberries and white chocolate chips

These are just a couple of examples to add flavouring to your ice cream.  For the one pictured below I added a cup of chocolate topping and some white and milk chocolate chips.

To make your ice cream (no ice cream maker required)

1. Pour the cream into a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until thickened.

2.  Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla to the cream and mix again until it is thick.

If you are leaving it as vanilla stop here and pour your ice cream into a container to freeze, if not add your toppings and then freeze, you can mix those in with a spoon or spatula.

Enjoy and don't forget if you do use this recipe please leave a comment below and post your photos on the QuackersCrochet Facebook Page

Finishing a Latch Hook Rug

Today my order from Herrschners Inc. arrived including the iron on rug binding.  I needed two packets to cover all four sides of the African Elephant Latch Hook but the end result looks a lot better that trying to use sew on binding.  It is also a lot quicker.  This Latch Hook Rug has been finished as a wall hanging or a floor rug as I have also added the fibre lock to the back of it to give it a non-slip backing.  This latch hook is being donated for an auction prize at the 2017 Tintern Grammar Fair in April.

Koala Latch Hook

Another latch hook completed today.  Waiting for my rug finishing tools to arrive so that I can do the edging on them all.

Last count there were eighteen different ones waiting for the edges to be done.

Cake Decorating ...

Little Miss turned 5 today.  A big day for her and a big day for me too.  I have loved watching this little person grow into the independent big girl she is now (not allowed to call her a little girl any more).

I didn't make the cake but I did add the strawberries and smarties on top.  I am not a cake decorator. I still remember trying to decorate Miss 8's first birthday cake and it was so warm that the lollies almost fell off.

I hope everyone is having a great week.

Lisa

2017 - Another year of crafting

Every year I start the year off by completing a latch hook during our family holiday.  This year's latch hook is Wolves at midnight.  The latch hook took two weeks to complete.

Last year I completed an elephant, the year before it was dolphins.  They are compact and easy to take on a holiday instead of some yarn. Once the latch hook was completed I then made some small hats for Chance's Clothes Project, a local charity that I support.




I've found some patterns that I have designed previously but not quite sure what the item was at the end so they will be a mystery even to me!  Thank you for reading and have a great 2017.

When four year olds put in a request ...

The other day Miss Four asked me to "stitch her a banana"

so I did :)

I hope you like it.



Thank you for reading.

Plastic Bag Mats for the Homeless

The other week I was scrolling through Facebook and a post jumped out regarding these mats.

Plastic bag Mats for the Homeless.

What You Need to get started:
500-700 plastic shopping bags (for a person-sized mat, but can vary depending on what you're using the mat for)10 mm or larger Crochet hook Scissors

Instructions:

Flatten the plastic bag to best you can and straighten any of the bags creases

Cut off the handles and the bottom seam so that you're left with a rectangle. This can then be cut into four strips that become loops when opened up.

After you have lots of loops, hook them together with a basic larks head knot. This is done by overlapping two of the loops end-to-end, then pulling the top of one end through the middle intersection of the two loops. Repeat this step.

From here you can start to crochet! You'll need approximately 42 chain stitches, and then continue to crochet until you arrive at your desired length.

Recycle the scrap plastic at your local grocery store to ensure that nothing is wasted.

Approximate size of the finished mat is 3' x 6' or 90 cm x 180 cm.

If you would like to join the group here is the link

Special Thanks go to Deniz for starting this project, I am helping by making mats and spreading the word about this great initiative.

Something different

Happy New Year!! 

Sorry for the lack of posts and crochet updates on the blog but I've been completing a latch hook of an elephant. Now I am trying to work out what to make next, in the mean time I've started another latch hook kit.