Books for All

Brown Owls are having a Books for All appeal for their members as the first part of earning your 'Community Badge'

Badge aside it is a nice idea, and there are no shortage of books in our house so I thought I would send a package down to help out. Books are a big part of our day here as Miss Possum loves reading, as do we, so it is nice to think that we can share a small part of that joy.

Are you a Brown Owl? Please leave me a comment if you are, I would love to say hello :)

The week (or so) that was...

So much has happened of late so I thought a quick run down of my activities was in order to bring my Blog back up to date.

I will start with the biggest change over the last few weeks, which was my Grandmother's passing. We had been lucky enough to visit Grandma the day before she passed which has been such a comfort in the times that have followed. To know that we saw her, laughed with her and told her we loved her at just the right time.

I was lucky enough to be able to do a reading at her funeral with my cousin Dannii, a poem that was suggested by me that I got from Helen who very recently went through the same thing with her Nan:

When I am gone, release me, let me go.
I have so many things to see and do.
You must not tie yourself to me with tears.
I gave you my love, you can only guess,
How much you gave me in happiness.
I thank you for the love you have shown,
But now it is time I travelled alone.
So grieve a while for me, if grieve you must,
Then let your grief be comforted by trust.
It is only for a while that we must part,
So bless the memories within your heart.
I will not be far away, for life goes on,
So if you need me, call me and I will come.
And listen to your heart, you will hear,
All of my love around you soft and clear.
Then when you must come this way alone,
I will greet you with a smile and say,
"Welcome home" , for life goes on.

There is still room in the 'Pay it forward' if anyone is interested, there is no real time pressure to this project so I will enjoy creating something for this one.

We have had our kitchen ripped out, and the new cupboards in. I won't do before and after photos yet as we still need to organise splash backs, floor coverings and cornice, and then paint. You may be waiting awhile to see the finished product :(

My Brown Owls membership pack turned up and I was very excited clipping the keyring straight onto my keys and telling everyone all about it. My only wish now is for some time to be 'crafty'!

I went on a trip south with DH which gave me a chance to catch up with Kate and Kylie. It is fun catching up with online friends in real life :) Kate was mean enough to have a Tupperware party while I was down there so I 'had' to add to my already impressive stash of plastics :)

I also bought more wool, and patterns that will keep me busy for awhile. I did not strictly speaking need to buy so much but it was on sale so it seemed like a good idea at the time. DH was not too worried at the volume of wool to fall out of my suitcase when it was time to unpack so all is good on that front :) I now have enough wool to make three felted bags and some patterns for my stash of 'one day' ideas

edited to add: This wool is from Simply Stiches in Wagga. They had it at 35% off as it is the discontinued Vintage Hues Range. I got 13 balls all up in three shades to make felted bags with.




On the urgent things to do list I must:

Sew for the Snailblazer swap
Recipe swap cards
Chaletgirl block swap sewing
Read my book club book
Finish my knitted scarf

So, that is me, up to date so to speak...

WIP Wednesday ~ April 15th

Another WIP Wednesday and this one will be all about knitting as my sewing machine is safely tucked away while the demolition continues in my house.

You have to love knitting as it really is a portable craft that is easy to take anywhere and work on at anytime.


I was in Nundle the other day and I called in to the Nundle Woollen Mill which was full of wonderful yarn in a beautiful array of colours. DH was very proud of me as I only bought one ball of Loopy Mohair which was really quite restrained of me.

I am using the loopy to dress up the beanie pictured above by adding it to some plain Cleckheaton cream 12 ply which I have had for ages. It was such a simple beanie that it needed something to give it a lift. I had not knitted with more than one strand at a time before but was surprised by how easy it was to work the two balls at once.

I liked it that much that I decided I might as well use the leftover loopy to make a scarf to match. I have about a metre of scarf to do but it won't take long as it is only garter stitch. I am now ready for the cooler months! I was lucky as Spotlight had the Cleckheaton 12ply at 50 cents per ball so even with the Loopy it really is a cheap set to make.

Last but not least, my old trusty Tea Cosy! I actually did this awhile ago and it was the third thing I knit so I have a soft spot for it. I made it using this pattern and you may notice that theirs is a lot prettier than mine but as a beginner I didn't have a stash of leftover yarn which is why mine is very simple of colour.

I am starting to get a small stash happening so maybe I will revisit this pattern soon... If nothing else I should knit an icord to replace the plait I have securing the top, now that I know how!

The reason I am adding the Tea Cosy to this WIP Wednesday is because the Brown Owls are doing merit badges and to earn your knitting badge Pip posted a pattern of a Tea Cosy, but I hope this one will suffice!

How exciting! Hopefully I will be able to earn a few badges soon :)