New project

After finishing the Market Bag I didn't feel ready to get back to the Lone Star blanket, so have started another new project. This is Falbala, a shawl designed by Eclat Du Soleil. It's fun to crochet and I love the art deco-ish pattern!



I'm using Drops Cotton Viscose for this shawl, which is a beautiful yarn, but rather splitty. The reason to make a purple shawl is because I wanted one to go with my glasses! After wearing contact lenses for more than 30 years I am now back to wearing glasses full-time. The purple frame used to be for my reading glasses and I really liked it, so decided to have my prescription lenses put in. Loving my new look!



We have been living on the Gold Coast for four months now and it's starting to feel like home. My eldest son has once again been selected to represent Queensland at the Australian Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne later this month. This time I am flying down with his youngest brother, who is keen to visit Melbourne for the first time. Looking forward to that trip very much!



As planned my youngest son has taken up ballroom dancing again and last weekend he had his first competition with his new partner. It went very well (a third place, two fifth places and a seventh place) and they both enjoyed it very much. And they looked so handsome together!



Meanwhile my middle son is playing his guitar, helping to run a children's drama class and taking horse riding lessons. He doesn't like being photographed but I think he won't mind if I share this photo here!

Market Bag

Last week I discovered that there is a yarn shop in walking distance of my workplace... Of course I had to check it out!



It's a lovely little shop called Teekays Yarns and as it happens they had a Mother's Day Sale on, so how could I not buy any yarn!



I chose this gorgeous Italian yarn called Geilsk Sommer - it's a mix of cotton, ramie and hemp. I needed a short break from the diamonds, so decided on a quick project: a market bag. I found the pattern on Ravelry, it's called the Carry Me Away Market Bag, designed by Yasmin Gamal.



The bag is crocheted with 2 strands of yarn. I had to go back to the shop for one more ball of mustard and two black ones for the top and the handles.



Very happy with my new bag. I've been wanting for weeks to visit the Farmers Market that is on every Sunday at our local park - this Sunday I will definitely do so!

Adding background to the Lone Star

Here's another update to the state of affairs regarding the Lone Star blanket. I've added the background to one corner now, and this is what it currently looks like: a shooting star!



I'm now up to 190 diamonds: 150 in the star and 40 in the background. Only another 200 or so to go...



I've been working on it (off and on) for two months now and still not getting tired of it. However, I have bought some yarn for my next project:



I decided to not go with my favourite blues for once, but to pick a red/orange/yellow palette. I have an idea about what I want to do, just need to figure out how...

I'll leave you with a pic of our adorable Barney, taken just after he had had a bath:



:-)

Urchins

This morning I hopped on my bike and rode to Surfers Paradise to check out the Urchins.



The Urchins are two large crocheted sculptures, designed by Choi+Shine Architects and made by 80 Australian crocheters. They are part of the Festival 2018 that is currently held at the Gold Coast as part of the 21st Commonwealth Games.



I first heard about the Urchins when a crochet blogger that I follow, Snakewood and Grace, announced on her Facebook page that she had been asked to contribute to this project and shared the process of making parts of the Urchins. They are made of 3mm nylon cord - it's called extreme crochet!





The installation can be viewed in Appel Park in Surfers Paradise until Sunday 15 April.



I was very impressed and can recommend a visit if you are in the area!



Meanwhile my own crochet project, the Lone Star Blanket, is slowly growing:



I am crocheting a lot while watching the gymnastics at the Games - mostly on tv, but I also made two diamonds at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre, where oldest son and I watched the men's qualifications and team final on Thursday:



(This was during the break between subdivision 1 and 2 - there was no arm room to crochet when the competition was on!)

Easter

How was your Easter weekend? Mine was perfect - my yarn arrived on Thursday, so I spent a lot of time crocheting diamonds, while listening to an audiobook or watching Netflix (got through series 1 of Victoria over the weekend!)



I made twenty-three background diamonds - only 157 to go! (or more if I want the blanket to be rectangular instad of square...)



It was wonderful to have a break after the hectic first term of the year, settling in our new home. We are very happy here on the Gold Coast but it has been exhausting; new jobs, new schools, new clubs, finding our way around, making new friends. Especially doing all that for the second time in just over a year...

However, we didn't just stay at home and relax - we decided to explore some of the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterland and went to Mount Tambourine on Sunday and to Springwood National Park on Monday. There we did the 4k hike to the bottom of the Purling Brook Falls - it was very muddy and slippery after all the rain we've had, but well worth the effort!



You can find some more pics on my photo blog.
My youngest son has taken possession of my old DSLR and brought it along as well. Love this photo my husband took of the two photographers in the family :-)

150 diamonds

All the blue diamonds have been sewn on to the Lone Star - it now consists of 150 diamonds!
Here is a pic to give you an idea of the current size:



I love how it looks up close:



I had planned to make lots of white diamonds for the background, but realised I did not have enough of the white yarn to do that. I couldn't get any more balls of that particular yarn, so have ordered another brand, which I hope will be a good substitute.

While waiting for my order to arrive, I started playing with a hook and some of the purple yarn I used for the Physalis scarf. I quite like what I came up with - may make some more of these:



Luckily the Easter holidays have started for me - I'm planning to do a lot of crocheting over the next two weeks!

Update on the crocheted Lone Star

One week later and I have finished all 54 blue diamonds (and six white ones):



Now to sew them to the Lone Star. Today I puzzled until I had this lay-out, and took a picture for future reference.



I have a busy week coming up, with work (I've started a new job at the School of Medicine at Griffith Uiversity and am loving it!), medical appointments (nothing serious, but time-consuming), and kids' activities, but hope to find some time to work on it. I expect I'll be able to make some more white diamonds while waiting for kids and health practitioners...

Only two weeks to go until the Easter holidays - maybe I can finish this project then!

Diamonds

Not much to tell - I'm still making blue diamonds to add another round to the Lone Star. I have done 30 now, 24 more to go! On a very good day I make five or six, but usually only two or three, so it takes a while.
Still loving these blues - they really are my colours :-)



A while ago I ordered this book by Amanda Perkins:



I discovered her work on Ravelry a while ago and loved it, especially her Severn Sea blanket and Zigzag Crochet Blanket. In her book I read that she used to make patchwork quilts and art quilts, which may be what appeals to me in her work! The book includes 10 patterns but Amanda encourages the reader to create something unique with the block patterns she provides, rather than merely copying her blankets. It has useful chapters on colour, equipment and techniques, and is full of gorgeous colour photos. I'm finding it a great source of inspiration and can highly recommend it!

It's a star!

Look, it's a star now!
There are 96 diamonds in it and the diameter is about 1 metre.
I think I will add one more row of blue diamonds and then add a background made out of white diamonds.

I'm very much enjoying this project!

More progress

This is the current state of my crocheted Star - there are 78 diamonds in it now. It doesn't look much like a star at the moment, but that'll change soon...

Progress

My crocheted Lone Star is progressing nicely - I've finished three rounds now, or 36 diamonds. A lot of them were made while watching the Winter Olympics. It's very hot here in Queensland at the moment and it's so refreshing to watch the ice and snow-based activities!



A few days ago this gorgeous personalised pouch arrived, made by Etsy seller Claire from MontclairMade. Perfect for storing the diamonds until I have enough for the next round!

Crochet Lone Star

If you have been following this blog for a while you will know that I love Lone Star quilts... so it will come as no surprise that I have decided to crochet a Lone Star blanket.



I am using the diamond shapes found in this free pattern to create a six-pointed star, and have once again chosen to go with my favourite palette of blues.
With these diamonds it's also possible to create a Tumbling Blocks or Baby Blocks design (another favourite - see the felted trivets I made in 2013). Maybe that'll be my next project...



I'll leave you with a photo of our sweet hippie dog, Barney:



;-)