Look, it's a walking granny square!

My granny square shirt is finished!



The pattern I used is in issue 90 of Inside Crochet - the Gradient Granny Tee by Sarah Shrimpton. It looks a bit different if you have curves, but I'm pretty happy with it!

First finished crochet project!

I just finished my first crochet project! A simple mesh bag, for shopping, or storing balls of yarn. The free pattern can be found here.



It was fun to do and a quick make - I started it on Thursday and finished it today.



Now I'll get back to the giant granny square shirt and the sea blanket. They're both about halfway done. Stay tuned!

More crochet

When my mother-in-law taught me to crochet in July, when we were in the Netherlands, she didn't mention how addictive it was! My pile of granny squares is growing steadily - I just can't wait to pick up my hook and make another one.



I also have this continuous urge to look up crochet patterns on Ravelry and check out crochet magazines at the newsagent's. The other day I picked up this British mag:



I really liked the Gradient Granny Tee on the cover - so when I got an email from Spotlight about their yarn sale I couldn't resist buying more yarn... (hey, it was on sale!)



I've started on the shirt (hope it will look as good on me as on that flat-chested model...) - it took a bit of getting used to the English (UK) terms (after learning in Dutch) but I adjusted to that pretty quickly. Now all I have to manage are the US terms! Why are they different??



I thought about making a case for my growing collection of hooks, but of course one of my pencil rolls is perfect for the job!

Blue Mountains

Last weekend we visited the Blue Mountains National Park, about 80 km west of Sydney. I had been looking forward to going here, and it didn't disappoint - it's stunningly beautiful.
Below are the Three Sisters - the photo I had in mind of the three bothers looking at the Three Sisters didn't really work out as these days they just stare at the camera with disdain!

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Some more pics of the awe-inspiring scenery:





I'm glad that my eldest son was happy to take this pic as I definitely wasn't up to it!





Here is some street art I spotted in Katoomba:



Katoomba is a delightful place, with lots of art deco buildings:



The Carrington Hotel:



How gorgeous are these windows!



We wished we could have stayed longer, but unfortunately we had to go home at the end of the day. However, together with some friends we have booked a house in Blackheath for Easter 2018 - we're already looking forward to spending four days in the Blue Mountains!



Meanwhile at home I am working hard on my crochet blanket - about one third is done now. The granny squares initially weren't all the same size (getting better at it now), but luckily blocking them helped. I bought some T-pins and pinned them to my ironing board, then lightly sprayed them with water and dried them with a hair dryer:



I've bought a set of colourful hooks and have also already ordered yarn for my next crochet project. It's very satisfying to acquire a new skill at this stage of life!