Theodore Caspian

I haven’t been able to post on this blog for a very long time because we lost our baby in February & it was too hard to write about him, and I couldn’t write about anything else.

We found out he was possibly ill early in my second trimester & then in January that he was in fact critically ill and not likely to survive. We had to go to Melbourne a number of times for tests & specialised ultrasounds, with further ultrasounds and obstetrician appointments every week, until the first week of February when he died. I was induced and gave birth to him on February 5^th. He was buried in the local cemetery following a graveside service with a few close family and friends.

He had hydrops (fluid buildup) as a complication of Down’s Syndrome.

Here’s a picture of a bootie I started making him early on & finished in time for him to be buried with it (it was too big for him to wear). I finished a matching one to keep with the things we have to remember him. 

Christmas, gardens

Our cactus flowered, I was quite amazed :). 

The zucchini was the only vegetable we got into the ground this year. I was preoccupied with lying on the couch. Also because of this, they rarely get cooked & instead grow to gigantic proportions on the bush. Here is Theo demonstrating umm I don't know what.

Had a nice Christmas Eve service at our church, it was great, haven't had one of those for years (the past few years they've had a Christmas morning service).

Some nice Chrissie pics. 

And Christmas day. Even the dog gets a present :).

And the rest of the day was at Theo's parents house :). 

And then we had Boxing Day/ my sister Mim's bday/ Christmas with her. 

I made a present for someone, but I didn't get time to do another one before Christmas, so she got the 'practice' one lol ;). 

Now for a shot of my favourite nasturtium. 

And I was craving plain apple pie, so Theo made me one, complete with love hearts :). 

International Crochet

My lovely friend brought me back some extra special craft books from Thailand.
One is a little Thai crochet book, involving lots of funky animals / animal purses. I especially love these little owls :)

The other is this Japanese craft magazine, containing lots of interesting things, sort of exotic-crafty inspirational pictures & even some nice crochet goodies to make.

They are both very exciting and precious (two random words that seemed to fit), and I mostly have only half an idea what they're talking about (another plus for picture books). BUT the crochet stuff comes with charts with international crochet symbols on them, so you can just follow them. And it's got foldout patterns in the middle for a skirt and whatever else is in there. My goodness, I do love having so many things to make that I can't decide what to do next :).

We Love Wicket

Wicket the Ewok. Well, I finally finished him (he didn't take that long to crochet, it was all the embroidering his little face and everything that I procrastinated doing for ages, because I'm not so good at that!).

My sister loved him (a birthday present) and while she was unwrapping him (a slow process) the rest of us who knew what it was sat there with these intent looks on our faces, slightly hysterical, trying not to laugh, and my little sister did let out a manic giggle which set the rest of us going for a while. We're all used to crazy otherwise inexplicable behaviour.

So, he was a hit.

The pattern came from here.

And here he is.

If you are still in the dark about who exactly he is meant to be, you need to watch Star Wars (the oldies) and even better, Caravan of Courage, a movie masterpiece from the 80's.

Bequeathments and Coathangers

I love special coathangers. Old wooden painted ones, coloured ones, fabric covered (padded and non-padded) ones, crocheted ones. One of my earliest, nicest memories is of being given a hand-made rabbit coathanger, which I still own.

My late grandma apparently either liked crocheted and special coathangers also. (I also think she probably just thought they were more practical for looking after your clothes). Well, for whatever reason, she obviously had been collecting them from op-shops and wherever and in a roundabout way, I 'inherited' them when she died. It is a varied collection which I shall enjoy arranging in my wardrobes.

Now, this is a very special collection next, which I sort of 'inherited' and by proxy at that. This nanna is not really mine, and has only moved on in the physical, not metaphysical, very final sense.

It is a treasured store of crochet cotton, all different weights and colours, with a few crochet hooks in the mix. There is even an unfinished crochet-edged handkerchief. Do I dare to attempt to finish it? It would be an honour of sorts to finish it, but I think I need to improve my crochet skills first :).

Cosy Ipod

I am glad I now also have a nice pink warm cosy place to keep my ipod also....

Crocheted Cup Cozy

I quite enjoyed making this little cup cozy. Beats a coaster. Didn't take very long either. I have orders for different coloured ones for family members. It came from a (simply divine, dearies) pamphlet my sis nabbed for me from some opshop (my mum and her thought it was rather hysterical & just for me & thought I'd enjoy the cup cozies in particular, even). So. I whipped one up. Quite enjoying the warm crochet comfortable fuzziness of holding it around my cups of coffee and tea.

Crocheted Cupcakes

My mum was very pleased with her latest birthday present. (Thank goodness for that). It's actually a pincushion, but the bigger white and pink things are just beads, sewn on. The rest are lovely pearly pins.

And the real cake wasn't too bad either. (Chocolate and Clinkers, you can't go wrong there.)

If ever I loved the internet (or, life-changing revelations)

I have discovered a previously unknown (to me) universe of crocheted wonders. I would have been content with blankets, stuffed toys and the occasional doily or clothing item*, but no, I have been beset with the most (disturbing?) range of crocheted food, animals, and household objects (I don't mean pot holders either). I feel like I have found some missing piece of my imagination on the internet...... (that may be a little too melodramatic, but you get the picture).

I was so excited and overwhelmed that I couldn't think straight. There is even a whole (craft?) called amigurumi which in part basically includes crocheting a whole bunch of food. The astonishing revelations just kept coming. I have immediate plans for cake and a variety of vegetables.

Here are some of my favourites:

A sushi toilet roll

Cakes that I would be proud to bake, let alone crochet

And of course, don't forget that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

This has just changed my life, I tell you.

*I forgot to mention tea cosies.

I crocheted it all by myself

Little easter bunny egg cosies. I'm quite proud of them (even easter bunnies can be born with a few missing hairs and bumps and bruises).

(Pattern here)

Which brings me to my next post.....

Crochet granny-square achievement

Would you believe it? I wouldn't. But I actually achieved a crochet something. My first granny square! It went a bit wrong to begin with, got a little lumpy at the end, but overall did end up how it was meant to!

It's not perfect and it's only one square, but hey, I'm excited!

If I could figure out what to do with my left hand, I'm sure I'd be fine...

I've been trying to learn to crochet for some time. Nobody actually seems to know how to, lots of people's nanna's apparently do (although neither of mine seem up to it). All I want to do is to get from here:

To here:


Well, enthusiasm should count for something. After numerous attempts at following internet instructions and vintage magazines bought home from the op-shop with 70's illustrations (if anyone needs a swimsuit, I have instructions here), I finally had an eureka moment and realised that it was just like the finger-knitting that we used to do in primary school, just with a crochet needle. Well, sort of. (And finger-knitting only gets you so far....)

Then I also discovered crochet on youtube. Wow! (Why didn't I think of that before?) Now I think I know how to at least do basic stitches, but I am sticking my hands in the wrong spots apparently and I can't make the thread do what it's meant to do at the same time as the needle. Maybe my hands aren't normal, are defective in some crochet-wool-handling way. That's the only conclusion I can come to. Well, if I have to crochet dementedly, so be it.

I am very inspired by this blog

and draw comforting crochet mentoring guidance via this blog.

Now to see how far I can get.....