Crochet projects deliver joy

 I hadn't made a big, adult crochet blanket for some time but in June I decided to jump into making one as a wedding present for a dear friend. The wedding had been scheduled for early September so I had a deadline to work towards. My crochet activities this year had been somewhat sketchy (I hadn't been able to decide on 'what next') so this came at the right time for me to really jump into.

Settling on a pattern and colours is almost more of a challenge than making the blanket. I waivered between three patterns, tried one and bombed out on it and then settled on one with concentric circles. 

Of course, these 'colour-change' patterns appeal to me because of the colours and then I usually swear off them for a year until the next catches my eye. The symbolism of the circles (circle of life) and the rings are what sealed the deal. The rings can signify marriage, but I also thought of them as the rings of a tree - life, age, maturity, wisdom, and passing of time. 

 

The colour combination just happened and I chose the one colour - sage - before knowing that it was my friend's wedding theme colour.

The blanket progressed smoothly and I added a row every 10-15 days. I lost a week when I travelled to Jo'burg and my timeline got shaky, but a few extra hours got me back on track. I completed the blanket a week before the wedding and couriered it up to my uncle's house as I didn't have luggage allowance to take it with me on the plane. If this parcel has gone AWOL I would have been devastated. My courier delivered successfully and I picked it up when I arrived in Jo'burg.

My friend sent me a photo today with a message that reads, "We all love your blanket. It lives on our bed". Boom! A whole lot o' joy again to receive this.

For me, crochet has many rewards.

I work on projects at night while watching Netflix. It is zone-out time and by making something I can feel like series watching isn't a waste of time. I get to relax and be productive, which suits me perfectly.

The colours and patterns: there is joy to be found visually in these and seeing them come together.

Dexterity and focus: crochet is good exercise for the hands and it requires an element of focus - more with challenging patterns.

New skills: I learned a new technique to join the squares.

Making a useful gift for special people: this is the biggest appeal. It is a pleasure for me to gift a friend with something that I've made for them. Joy, joy, joy.

I trust that their love and marriage will outlive this blanket. It is the second time around for my friend and her husband. They are a good match and are good with and for each other. 

Around 64,284 crochet stitches went into this blanket and into every stitch I wove warmth and happiness and joy and love for these two special people. xxx

Reading in the time of lockdown

We are 18 days into a five-week lockdown (the initial three weeks was extended by another two weeks). I'm yet to be bored. Something that I am enjoying is reading.

I read mostly at night before bed (as usual) but also in the mornings for an hour or two. During the day I listen to audio books if I'm doing tasks with my hands that allow me to concentrate on the audio book at the same time.

I've completed three paper books (I started another two that I didn't continue to read) and three audio books (about 40hrs of listening). Also, at the beginning of lockdown I finished listening to an audio book that I'd been working through for weeks.

The branches of my mom's lemon tree are bowed under the weight of hundreds of lemons. 

I've been turning them into lemon marmalade and lemon cordial. Lemon chopping or squeezing takes time, which whizzed by while listening to an audio book. 

I have not had this abundance of time to enjoy immersing myself in stories and being able to just read and read and read. 

On the entertainment side, I enjoy an episode or three of something on Netflix at night, while crocheting (I completed the crochet part of a blankie for Rusty last night). Highlights have been the series on Bill Gates and a doccie on glaciers and glacial retreat.

We've still got 2.5 weeks of lockdown - more time to revel in reading and activities I don't usually get to enjoy in such abundance.

Why I love watching Netflix

Whether I watch series on DVD or series and movies on Netflix, I love watching tv. Work days are long and stressful and watching an episode (or two) a night is an opportunity to escape. Of course, Celliers teases me that I can never just sit and watch something. My preference is to work on a crochet project at the same time - how could I ever just sit and do nothing!

We've been watching Outlander (currently on the 3rd and last season) and for the past two months I've been working on a blanket. The original pattern is called 'Persian Tiles' by Janie Crowfoot. Another crochet guru, Lucia, saw this pattern and imagined it with more colours, creating the 'Eastern Jewels' colour interpretation from the original. I took one look at this and just knew I had to make it.

The Persian Tiles pattern can be purchased online but the Eastern Jewels colour guidelines only come with a yarn pack purchased from the UK. Prohibitively expensive. So, two months ago, after purchasing Persian tiles online, I spent a very late night scrutinising photographs of other people's blankets and I worked out a colour scheme for my blanket. Yip, 20 octagons (the original pattern has 16, I added another row), 12 diamonds, 14 triangles and 4 small triangles.

How much tv I get to watch determines how quickly the blanket progresses. I work on it for 1-2hrs a night and in the past two months I had two days on weekends when I spent a few more hours during the day working on the octagons. Bit-by-bit it come together.

This past weekend I completed joining each element, added the border foundation and last night I added the first (or 9-10) rows for the border. As each border row is a single colour, it goes way faster than the rest.

That's why I love Netflix. It is a never-ending source of things to watch - series, movies and documentaries; so much that I'll never get to a fraction of what is available. It offers a form of escapism and the opportunity to just sit and to create something with my hands that gives me a lot of joy and reward.

I am so looking forward to a stylish afternoon nap under this blanket and draping it over me while I watch more Netflix shows.

Digesting 2018: Paddling, bookclub and crochet (pt 3)

Paddling

Overall, I didn't paddle much in 2018. Before I got Rusty I paddled once or twice a week. Once I got Rusty, my priorities changed because going running or walking with her was more important than paddling without her, especially as I'm pushed for time.

 I sold my beautiful Epic v7 surfski in November to make way for my Vagabond Marimba, which I got in mid-December before we paddled the Orange River for three days.

While I loved my v7, it didn't have space for Rusty. My Marimba has a spacious tankwell; now I can take my girly out with me.
 

Over New Year I tripped the Vaal twice from town on my Marimba and this past weekend I tripped 'Top Section' (from the canoe club to town) for the first time (this time paddling our whitewater sit-on-top, the Usutu).

 I'm definitely finding that my paddle stroke skills are getting better and I'm also developing better control in rapids. I look forward to getting even better.

Bookclub

 I've got a super bookclub here and we meet monthly. Of course, it is more about the company than it is about the books... I am very appreciative of the friendships from this awesome group of women.

I read every night before I go to sleep - never as much as I'd like to. My attention span is generally only good enough for fiction, which I've always devoured.

I never keep a record of what I've read, so this year I'll endeavour to take a photo of each book to save in a folder on my phone as a record of how I spent my time.

Crochet

I haven't done much this year - but I have completed smaller projects throughout the year. I like to crochet while watching series or movies - the more I watch, the more crochet I get to do. I really need to watch more TV.

I have a bit of a doily thing going... I love the patterns but don't know what to do with them! I've done some with beads for milk jugs and the like; I've got one strung up for a dream catcher and I think I'm going use my two most recent ones on cushions. It will probably take me a year to get around to this!

I got Netflix about four months ago (for the first 24 days I didn't get around to watching anything!). We didn't even have regular TV at home (we got dvds occasionally and watched some series on DVD). Netflix is the way. Yeah! It's nice to zone out and so I try to get in one episode of something every night.

Overall, I have not been very productive on the crochet front.

// end of pt 3

Handing out beanies at Mponeng Primary

Yesterday afternoon I went to Mponeng Primary to drop off the handmade beanies and to help the school principal Rene and the teachers to place the beanies on each child's desk. They took time to consider each child and their preferences to choose the right size and colours. Judging by the children's expressions this morning, I think they got it right. Children who were not at school today will get their beanies when they next attend classes.

These colourful beanies were made by me, Abigail, Elaine, Brenda, Denise, Diana and Penny. Thank you kind people. xxx

We have leftovers of some very small beanies - for babies - and a bunch for those in the 3-8 year old group. I'll pass them on to an organisation here in Parys that has involvement with pre-schoolers in the township.

Here are some photos from my visit this morning.

These are the sweet pre-schoolers.

These are the next younger grades - 1 to 4.

The children in grades 5, 6 and 7 in the school's dining room. For many of the school's children, this is their only meal of the day.

Some children in a classroom.

And in celebration of the lovely handiwork that went into making these beanies... Here are photos of some of the approx 140 beanies!

Some of Denise's creations

A few of the gems from Abigail and her mom Elaine

These bright colours are me - with thanks to my friend Sylvi who gifted me some balls of yarn

Bren's combinations are delighful - I had to keep our children away from the ones with the lovely fuzzy yarn

Some of the 76 loom-knitted beanies made by Di and Penny in Cape Town.

Look at all of these handmade beanies!

Oh wow! I've just been putting all the beanies together that have been made with such warmth and kindness.

The courier just arrived with the stuffed-full bag of beanies crocheted by Denise and the large box of striped beanies from Cape Town, knitted by Diana Duchess and Penny West! Added to the bursting bag that arrived yesterday from Abigail and her mom Elaine, plus the bunch from Brenda and myself, the children of Mponeng are going to be the warmest and more colourful children around.

I've arranged with the school principal Rene to meet her on Monday afternoon. We're going to put beanies on each child's desk so that they have a lovely surprise waiting for them on Tuesday morning. I'll go along then too to get photos.

The great beanie collection for Mponeng School

In the days before Forest Run when we were cutting and marking the trails, we saw children waiting by the roadside for the school bus. Some of those morning where really chilly and it was only mid-May. It is colder now and should be colder in July. None of these children were wearing beanies and I thought that this would make a great collective project as beanies are quick to work up and left-over yarn can be used.

I phoned the principal of Mponeng School, Rene, and asked if I could collect beanies for the school's children (there are about 87 children in the school from toddlers to matric) and also if we could go crazy with colours. She loved the idea and agreed.

I put out a note on Facebook and tagged crochet friends. And they passed on to their friends. Many regular crocheters and knitters are already involved in community projects - like Yvonne has been making scarves for a school - so they couldn't commit to beanies. Others were able to jump in.

I'm waiting for the courier to arrive this afternoon with two flyer bags stuffed full of beanies made by Abigail and her mom Elaine (24) and also from Denise (23). A box is on its way from Cape Town with beanies for the little ones (0-8), made by Di and Penny. I don't know them but they're warm and generous friends of friends. Ingrid from Australian Shepherd SA Rescue Organisation (ASSARO) is the link between us and she has arranged for the courier to bring the box up here to me. My aunt has made 13 and I'm on 13 too (more by the end of the weekend!).

Growing beanie pile

Important too are the people who contributed yarn. My friend Sylvi bought me six balls of colourful chunky yarn; Abigail's mother-in-law bought yarn for her to work into beanies.

I've just spoken to Rene. I'll meet her at the school on Monday afternoon. We're planning to put a beanie on each child's desk so that when they come to school on Tuesday morning, a colourful beanie will be waiting for them. I'll go through on Tuesday morning too, to take photos to share with the wonderful people whose hands and skills have created these beanies.

What fun!

WIPs

In the world of knitting and crochet we have a lovely three-letter acronym - WIP (Work In Progress) - that refers to projects started but not yet completed.

I've been quite agitated recently because I have a bunch of WIPs - not just crochet projects but all sorts of other things - like the replacing the silicone around the basin (I pulled most of it off but haven't finished the scraping that needs to be done before I can replace with new), a work project I'm excited about but haven't made any progress on and a bunch of crochet WIPs and crafty projects (damn Pinterest for its project ideas!) that I haven't event started but that I want to do.

With crochet it is easy to end up with WIPs, especially if you do big projects like making a blanket. A blanket, for me, isn't something I work on all the time so while the blankie is still a WIP, I'll complete a few smaller projects. Some become bigger and they end up as WIPs too.

On Ravelry -  a pattern/project/social sharing site for knitting and crochet - you can set up projects and add start and finish dates, include details like hook size, yarn type, how much yarn, money spent on yarn and photographs of your project. There's also a 'progress bar' where you can indicate how far you are - 10%, 30%, 85%.

I appreciate having a projects page because much of what I make is not for me and over time I forget about what I've made. This is a great way to see how I've spent my time.

On Monday night I completed a 'Sophie's Universe Crochet-A-Long' blanket that I started at the end of January. I haven't worked on it full time so in that respect it has actually gone quickly. Six months is not bad at all for a blanket of this size. She's big and heavy and lovely.

The past two weeks have been all about finishing Sophie to free me up to work on Stella's blankie and also to start a Corner-2-Corner blanket. I've got the yarn for both of these projects.

There's a distinct satisfaction in completing a WIP and on Monday night when I changed my project status on Ravelry from WIP to completed I breathed a sigh of relief.

It isn't just in crochet that I have a WIP issue. I like to think of home and work tasks of projects - displayed like my Ravelry projects - that I can monitor and gauge in terms of time, materials, cost, outcome and progress. I have a dozen home and work tasks not even begun as well as those not yet completed.

I'm on a mission to complete WIPs. Finishing a project takes it off the to do list and brings with it a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. And it frees up time and energy to start new projects.

Crochet-a-long obsession

There's this thing I discovered earlier this year - 'crochet-a-long' (CAL). The one that I'm doing - Sophie's Universe - is a blanket that is built up round-after-round. Every Sunday the next part of the pattern is published online and there are thousands of people around the world who are following this. I've just completed Part 9. There will be 12 in total. Part 11 was released yesterday... I'm little over a week behind.

I started the project as a 'stash buster'. A 'stash' is the yarn you have lying around; leftovers from past projects or yarns you've bought for projects and yet have never used. I try to be disciplined in only buying yarns for current projects but over time yarn accumulated.

At first I had some good colours to work with but at a point I was facing the doom-and-gloom of black, brown and beige. So I folded and bought a spread of colours from the yarn store to embrace the rest of this project.

I've completed 74 rounds and tonight I'll start Part 10.  

There's a page for this project on Ravelry (a sharing platform only for knitting and crochet) and also a closed group on Facebook. Although a colour scheme is published with the pattern, you can do whatever you want and I love seeing what other people are creating using the same pattern. 

I've got two friends who are also doing this CAL and sharing my progress with them and vice versa is great fun. 

I just can't get enough of this! The only problem is that work and event planning and organising gets in the way - I just haven't had enough time to do big chunks. But I do try to get in a round here and a round there as opportunity presents and bit by bit my blankie is growing. I'd like to try to get up-to-date with the pattern during this week. 

I don't know how big it will be nor what the rest of the pattern looks like. Week-by-week I roll with it as the next pattern part is released - and this makes this project even more fun!

I'll be sure to share the end result with you in a few weeks.

Let's crochet-a-long

Although I haven't posted about crochet for ages, my hands are as busy as ever and any free time is spent working on some-or-other project - often while listening to an audio book.

I very much enjoy the crochet-related links that friends post on my Facebook Timeline. Over a number of weeks I received three copies of the 'Crochet Shorts' link. I took it to mean that there are a number of people out where who quite fancy something a little different...? and are looking at me to make it for them...? hahahaha

custom crochet shorts on Etsy

My projects have been a little less 'out there'.

At the beginning of November 2013 I started a 'Landscape Blanket' project, which I would work on here and there. I'd work on it for a few weeks and then leave it for a few months, doing small projects inbetween. On 23 January 2015 I finished the main picture portion and I recently bought the yarn for the border, which I'll start on soon. And then I'll add the flowers in the 'meadow'.

Self-created pattern. 322 squares connected join-as-you-go

I would have probably completed this blanket if my crochet buddy hadn't sent me a link to a Crochet-a-long (CAL) that she found online.

The project is called Sophie's Universe CAL 2015 on the 'Look at what I made' website.

This CAL started five weeks ago and every Sunday you get the next couple of rounds. It's called a continuous-round Afgan, which in regular English means that you go around and around (as opposed to across or making squares). The shape builds up round by round to make a blanket ('Afgan' is a crochet blanket).

This CAL started off as a circle and now, at the end of week 4, it is all squared off. A photo from last night.

We have no idea what the final blanket will look like and each part is exciting and fun to make. I'm a week behind. Tomorrow we get week 6, I've just started week 5.

I've got a box of left-over yarn from various projects over the past few years. I'm using this project as a stash buster and so I can only use whatever is in the box for as long as it lasts. I haven't got a particular colour scheme aside from 'leftovers;. This is a pattern I'd definitely do again, with properly planned and coordinated colours.

I really enjoy looking at what other people are creating with this same pattern (different colours) on Ravelry (it's like 'Facebook' for knitting and crochet projects)

That's what I'm making. What keeps your hands busy?

Crochet is... maths, brick laying, climbing

Yesterday afternoon Staci and I had our first crochet workshop. We often hear friends (and friends of friends and other people we encounter) saying, "I wish I could crochet". And so we planned an afternoon session to guide people through the basics.

We had three lovely women in attendance. The one is in her 50s and she has never crocheted in her life. The other, an accomplished mountaineer, is in her 40s and she last picked up a hook when she was a child. And the third is the same age as me; she has dabbled here and there.

Crochet, for me, is mostly maths. Geometry. Everything you construct is about repeated motifs (like fractals). Tall stitches, short stitches, increasing and decreasing to make shapes.

It is also like building a wall - whether the item your creating is constructed linearly in rows or as circles and spirals. Each row is like a layer of bricks and you just build one on top of the next.

And yesterday I realised too that climbing/ropes elements come into it as well with how you hold the yarn. This - holding the yarn in your non-hook hand - is actually the most challenging part of crochet because this is where the tension comes in. Abseil devices slow you down through friction. The more friction, the harder it is for the rope to flow through the device. The tighter or more a rope is 'woven' through the device, the more friction - like an ATC vs a Petzl Stop vs a figure-8.

Over the hand, around the pinky finger, between some others... and you've got a lot (certainly too much) of tension. Relax your grip, make one less 'weave' and the balance is better. Once you find how to hold the yarn (everyone is different and will settle into their own style) and how to get your tension even, crochet becomes a whole lot easier.

What I enjoy about teaching people to crochet (and navigate) is seeing their satisfaction in doing/creating something on their own.

In addition to making a good rectangle from a variety of stitches, the mountaineer put in her first zip - ever. She completed her zip-purse on Saturday night and whatsapped me a photo. A very good job she did.

The complete beginner really battled with holding the yarn and making chains. Chains are the foundation on which the 'bricks' are laid. She was frustrated initially and thought that she'd never get this at all. As she said, this is the first totally unfamiliar and new thing she has tried for many, many years. She left yesterday afternoon with a few rows of beautiful, even, single crochet stitches - and a big smile. Staci will work with her to complete her project. She brought along a magazine with a pattern for a really lovely top. Staci and I look forward to seeing her make it in the months to come.

And my old primary school friend got reacquainted with the basic stitches - learning some new variations too. Her zip-pouch is lovely. She has a pile of hexagons that she made for a blanket but attempts at joining them have been unsatisfactory. She'll bring them to our next crochet session and we'll find a solution so that she can finish her blankie.

Mobile phone snaps sent to me. The rectangles were the ones we worked on in the session by two of the women (and completed at home). These were made using a variety of stitches (sc, hdc, dc, htc and tc) just for practice. The heart was a second (she's now addicted) project made last night/this morning. hahahaha ;)

While meandering on the web recently, I found a pattern for a heart-shaped pouch with a zip - this is what gave me the idea for the project for this session. Making it two (or three?) weeks ago was the first time that I've made a project with a zip. I've now made five others (different shapes, but all with zips). Staci gave the heart a try too and now gets why I'm hooked on making zip-pouches. She has made three hearts - with pretty charms on the zip pull.

New crochet addiction! Zippered pouches. Some recent projects (for Martine, Staci, Kyla and Celliers).

We'll have another session again soon - probably the first weekend in December. I'll let you know when. Men welcome too.

A Fair experience

On Saturday Staci and I did our first crochet stall at a fair and it was a pretty good experience. The Vaaloewer River and Country Market is a new, annual fair in the village of Vaaloewer, just upstream of Parys.

The market didn't have a lot of traffic but nonetheless we had a some sales. Not a lot, but some. Our friend had the stall next to us and she didn't have that many sales either.

Of the people who did come past... they were generally really sweet and delighted to have a wide range of headband colours and flowers to choose from. A few stood out: like the one lady we noticed some time later walking around the market wearing her navy headband with its white daisy and she looked amazing. Another lady bought a flower to pin on to her hat; another bought a mint green headband and pink rose-like flowers and she put it on immediately.

Another lady bought a large flower as a brooch for herself and she wanted another in autumn colours for her daughter, who lives overseas. So we whipped one up there and then for her - she chose the colours and came to fetch it some time later. She was delighted.

We received a number of compliments too on our work, especially from women who crochet too. That's always nice.

For the rest, we so enjoyed parking off on our camp chairs, chatting to each other, other people and friends who stopped past.

That night both Staci and I enjoyed watching dvds at our own homes with nothing in our hands - for the first time in two months!

I'd do this again but definitely not with any regularity. It's a huge amount of fun but time-consuming work.

We've still got stock so we're looking at other fair options and may also have an open day for friends and relations as we'd put them off getting flowers and headbands until after the market.

Flower Power

OK, so I got a little excited last night about the crochet stall tomorrow... I took some photos of my flowers and headbands. I figured that I'd take photos to have a record. I'll take photos of Staci's colourful creations tomorrow morning.

Here are some of them...

Crochet crazy - my first fair

About two months ago I had my arm twisted into taking a stall at the Vaaloewer River and Country Market. It's an annual market/fair in the town of Vaaloewer, which is a little town on the Vaal River, a little upstream of Parys. Not wanting to go it alone, I roped in my friend Staci to partner me on this project. She's also a crochet whiz.

As it is Spring and we love flowers, we decided to go with making headbands and flowers; the flowers can attach to the headbands or be worn independently as brooches. We've gone with 100% cotton yarn (feels great and nice and cool) and have a load of colours.

We've been methodically working through balls and balls - turning yarn into things.

The fair is this Saturday! It's one thing to make stuff for friends and family and babies... and another to make products for sale. A little daunting.

Our brand is Loops & Stitches.

We're especially proud of our wooden buttons. I did the designs (inspired by buttons I saw online) and Staci's colleague laser-cut them for us.

It's hard to price crafts because if you set a fee at an hourly rate that one commands for other work the products are too pricey for people to buy. There are loads of suggestions online like cost of materials multiplied by a factor, like by three. We've taken these into consideration but mostly we're winging it because it's our first time and by interacting with people at the fair we can gauge their response to our products and will be better informed for next year. The challenge too has been how much stuff to make. Big learning experience on Saturday for us.

Here are some early photos I took for the market's FB page about a month ago. I'll take more on Saturday to show you our creations. Since we took these photos we've created headbands in a variety of stitch patterns and piles of flowers. Staci and I have each made a string of crocheted bunting and Staci has also made really sweet and colourful characters -  a bird and an owl.

Bear (#3)

Deviating from the pattern given by my friend's daughter's school for their annual teddy bear collection, I found a sweet pattern online. I finished bear #3 last night.

He's a knitted bear - not crochet. Quite fun to try knitting again - but definitely slower than crochet.

Yes, his belly is a different colour. I didn't have enough yarn and couldn't get the original colour again. So I'll make him a top, which should disguise his pale belly.

Competitive crochet (and knitting)

I am again making teddy bears for my friend's daughter's school's annual charity teddy bear collection.

Last year I made an awesome bear, Blossom. The school has a competition where the 'Best' bear is awarded. As Blossom wasn't made from the school's pattern, she got notable mention, but didn't win.

This year I've made two bears from the school's simple (and awful) pattern. It is an easy knit pattern but is very shapeless and featureless.

I converted the knit pattern to crochet and made my first bear. He's made from yarn my mom selected. He's sweet, but smaller than expected.

I then got my hand on some faux fur yarn - it is especially for making fluffy animals. You can't crochet this kind of yarn because with all the fluffy bits you can't pick up the stitches to make the next row. So I pulled out my knitting needles. Goodness, it has been a while!

As one ball of Fauxy yarn, which is all I had, wouldn't have made the whole bear, I decided to do the head and limbs in double strands of black (to get the thickness). I really struggled to give the face any real character as the knit of the face wasn't very tight (could have done with three strands of yarn). I made him a bobbly nose to add a bit of something - I'm not totally satisfied but he'll do.

Anyhoo... I found an absolutely divine bear pattern online. It's another knit pattern - I'm giving it a shot. I prefer patterns where you make up body parts and stitch them together - more personality.

Even though this one won't be eligible for the competition, I'm aiming for another 'notable mention'.

You can take the woman out of the competition but you can't take the competitiveness out of the woman - even when it comes to crocheted teddy bears and a charity collection. Hahahaha.

Penguin jumpers

Yesterday I read an article on The Telegraph: "Australian plea to knitters to make pullovers to aid oil-smeared penguins".

Via a link or two I read about penguin jumpers about a year or two ago - from the previous oil spill, which was a few years before. I dropped a note to the South African penguin rescue people in Cape Town, asking for dimensions of our Cape penguins (I'm sure they're bigger than the Aussie ones) so that I could create a pattern that could be circulated so that we have a stash of jumpers that can be used should disaster strike - better to be prepared in advance. Another oil spill at some stage really is inevitable.

I didn't get any response and I didn't follow up - but this recent Australian incident has reminded me to do so.

Well, now that there has been another oil spill in Australia they need more penguin jumpers.

The Telegraph article was missing links to both the Penguin Foundation and to a pattern for the jumpers. How silly is that? The article asks people to knit jumpers and then they don't provide a link to a pattern. Sure, I found it online after a bit of searching... but really!

I did send an email to The Telegraph yesterday afternoon and they've promptly responded. The article has been amended and a link to the pattern has been included.

Should you be interested in knitting (or crocheting) a penguin jumper, you can find patterns here:

• Penguin Foundation website (knit - 8ply and 4ply)
• On Ravelry (knit)
• On Skeinz (knit and crochet versions)
• On Cob Cottage Gifts (crochet)

Spending on other things

I'm a bit of a xmas grinch. It isn't that I don't like the holiday season, more time spent seeing friends and family and the general festivities... it is that I frown upon the shopping-shopping-shopping and unnecessary purchasing of stuff just because one is expected to give gifts. I'd rather see the hard-earned pennies of my friends and family be better spent on things other than hand lotion and chocolates - which I do like, but don't need.

I do love pressies but I think they should be for better reasons than 'because it's xmas'.

But I'm not completely immune... As there are very few people for whom I buy xmas pressies (generally limited to my folks and my cat), I did have fun buying stationery for my domestic helper's children (a girl and a boy in high school) - for their school year next year.

Ever practical, I did add a slightly frivolous touch with a Jenga-type game, which should keep them occupied during the school holidays and for many years to come as this is really an all-ages family game.

And then I headed off for my festive-season blood donation. I usually go between xmas and New Year (high demand period) but as I've got the Big 5 Orienteering event from the 30th and into January I thought it a better plan to go earlier. The ladies at my local donor centre are such sweeties - so I took through some cupcakes for them to enjoy.

I've had a good donation year. You have to do at least three donations a year to maintain 'regular blood donor' status and your maximum is six times a year. With very little long-event participation this year, I've done five donations. Whoop-whoop ;)

And this past weekend I indulgently spent time doing some crochet. This time I tried my hand at some xmas ornaments.

'Rory the Reindeer' (for friends), two snowmen (for my favourite boys) and two snowflakes (the one on the red is about 25cm wide; the one on purple is about 10cm wide).