Rectangle Dolly Blanket

My niece has requested another dolly blanket, so this is what I came up with quickly in one afternoon while my son had his nap. I saw a picture of a granny rectangle which links to the pattern, I didn't follow the pattern, just used the picture as a guide. I did one lareg rectangle this time instead of lots of little squares like last time as I think there is less chance of it coming undone. I used brightly coloured acrylic so its easier to wash if it needs it, and a 4mm hook. I couldn't resist a fun fluffy white edge!

pink haired Barbie poses with the new dolly blanket

Here is my favourite pink haired Barbie posing with the blanket, no wonder she needs a blanket she's wearing a bathing suit, and in this weather! lol

brightly coloured rectangle doll's blanket with white edge

Fawn and Sky Scarf

I finished this fawn and sky scarf months ago but only have just managed to block it and photograph it. I made it to use up the last of the sky blue 8ply and again paired it with the fawn 8 ply pure wool like I did for the fawn and sky bunny rug. I don't know who will ever use this scarf, I don't think it gets quite cold enough here to use a scarf. For this I used my favourite 4mm hook, and I sewed in the ends of each blue stripe so the edges are left as they are, with a slight rustic look. The scarf is 1.6m long.

fawn and sky scarf

close up of the fawn and sky scarf

folded fawn and sky scarf

Pink Round Bunny Rug

I only just finished this one the other day, its been languishing in my project basket for months. I'm glad to have finally finished it, adding a delicate white edge. The pattern for the white edge was (sk 1 3 sc sk 1 sl st) repeated which made for smaller scallops. I used 5 ply pure wool my mum gave me, the same wool I used for the pink home shrug, and a 3.5mm hook.

pink round bunny rug with a white edge

detail of the swirling centre

detail of the delicate white edge

Fawn Round Rug

I finished this round lap rug months ago, but only just realised I haven't blogged about it yet. I must have finished it during the period of time I was without a camera! This is made from the left over 8 ply in fawn that I also used for another round rug that has sky blue stripes. Its the same pattern I use for my round rugs, and this one is a good size for a lap rug, not too big and not too small. For this I used my favourite hook, a size 4mm.

detail of the centre of the round rug

a round lap rug in fawn

the round lap rug folded up

Two Toddler Spiral Hats

Its been quite a while since I've blogged about some crochet, that's because I've been in 'bit of a phase' with it, having not been feeling like doing it. Issues with my camera have not helped either, which has been very frustrating and a bit depressing. But here are two toddler sized spiral hats I've managed to finish, these are like the spiral hat in leaf, lavender and lotus I made back in May. Its my own design, I hope one day to be able to write the pattern down. It looks like a striped hat but is in fact a spiral at the crown, which is very tricky to do. I don't know how I'm going to be able to explain how I do it, a photo tutorial will be essential. For these I used luxury wool from Bendigo and a 4mm hook.

white, pink and lotus spiral hat in toddler size

the top of the crown is a spiral, which is very tricky to do

white, pink and lavender spiral hat in toddler size

Banksia in Flower

As promised, here are some photos of our Banksia tree in flower which has bloomed this winter right on cue. As suspected, the flowers are medium sized and yellow and are already attracting birds to sip on the nectar. We gave this a light pruning about a month ago and that doesn't seemed to have bothered it. We'll be keeping this tree, although some of the others like the Geisha Girl have to go to make room for things more productive, like a lemon tree which is our number one wish!

a medium sized yellow Banskia flower

looking up at blue skies through the Banksia canopy

Veggie Patch Winter 2013

The small 1m x 1m veggie patch has already turned out to be productive and earning it's keep. The spinach has been particularly successful, providing evening meals greens several times already with lots more left. We added some beetroot to last weekend's casserole which turned it red but also very yummy! The beetroot is naturally sweet and very tasty. I haven't been fertilising this yet even though its been up for a couple of months. When the spinach is finished I will have to fertilise the strawberries if there's any hope of getting any fruit. I don't like our chances of that!

this 1m x 1m veggie patch has spinach and beetroot, with strawberries in each corner

There's isn't much else to report from my garden at the moment due to the move and reducing the number of pots we have. The rosemary is still going well and the two lavender plants are currently flowering. The basil is looking pretty scrawny, I'm thinking of putting some small plants in the ground. If I get around to it!

Pipecleaners and a Strainer

Here's another no-mess toddler activity that doesn't cost much money. I spent just $2 on some pipe-cleaners from K-mart and used my large plastic strainer from the kitchen. Again, this is a great fine-motor activity for young children. I saw this idea on pinterest, and decided this would be safe for Thomas with supervision. On the packet, the pipe-cleaners say they are a choking hazard for under 3 year olds, but I couldn't see it! Maybe if he was chewing on a pipe-cleaner for a while, a small piece of metal might come loose, but he would have to be chewing on it for a while I think! But just to be sure, I sit with him during this activity.

poking pipecleaners through the holes in a strainer is great to help develop fine-motor coordination

Spaghetti and Cheerio's

Here is a low-mess and cheap activity that has quickly become a favourite for Thomas, an idea I got from pinterest. When he wants to play with the play-dough, I sometimes give him a few pieces of uncooked spaghetti and a small cup of cheerio's. I then encourage him to thread the cheerio's onto the spaghetti sticking up out of the play-dough. This is a great fine-motor activity, perfect for developing hand-eye coordination and finger control in preparedness for learning to write. Play-dough like this lasts well for a month in the fridge. This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago, the formally pink and blue play-dough is now a deep rich shade of purple!

spagetti and cheerios added to a play-dough session

Lemon and Coconut Birthday Cake

July is my birthday month, and we celebrated it a few weeks ago with this delicious cake! My husband made this devine lemon and coconut cake, it was just what I wanted! We found the recipe on taste.com, we found you need to let the cake cool before cutting it otherwise its very crumbly.

we had lemon and coconut cake for my brithday, it was delicious!