Squaring Off =)

 

Hello, and welcome, lovely lovelies, lovely friends, to my little autumnal place♡ How are you on this lovely Sunday?? As for me and Carmen?? Well, we are just fine....thanks for asking. =) Unfortunately, her flowery hat will soon be no more. The last of the dahlias and roses, me thinks. Love, love, love Carmen♡♡

A productive and fun week; that is of course, despite another dystopian-esque week that hurried by. I must say, the highlight of my week, was King Charles' III giving a masterclass in diplomacy, manners, intelligence, eloquence, sophistication, and wit, to the buffoon and his acolytes. Oh, how it tickled my funny bone that a king gave many a history lesson on democracy. Oh, the irony. And he did it with such aplomb; without starting WW3.

Now, I'll admit, I vacillate in opinion as to the whys and why nots of a monarchy but the blood of my British forebears, which pulsates through my veins, came to the fore and shouted "HEAR, HEAR"!! So many chuckles percolated from my person. There is nothing quite like the Brits and their humour. That is of course, notwithstanding the irreverent and naughty humour of us Aussies. Those Republicans in the hallowed halls of the US Congress are such an unfunny lot, are they not??!!  I did wonder if the King's speech(es) went over the 'comb-over', and it appears they most certainly did. As the person with the very questionable hair-do, to whom the 'arrows' were intended, laughed along. Absolutely no idea whatsoever as to the subtlety of the king's intent. Just delicious. Bravo! Well done, King Charles!! 

But enough of politics, history lessons.........naughtiness.....comic relief; down here in my autumnal world, I have been steadily stitching little squares to one of the sides of my Trippin' Around The World quilt endeavouring to square it up. I continued stitching today. Goodness, it can take a while. Hopefully, before all the leaves have fallen from the trees and my world descends into the depths of winter, 'we' might have a very big square. Needle pricked and gnarled fingers crossed!

This week I crocheted granny squares. Yep, more squares! Another jumper in the works for winter. I live in woolly woollies throughout the winter months, and, more often than not the other seasons as well, because in Tassie the weather can be most contrary. Gotta, gotta, gotta have plentiful woolly garments to keep the chill from dem ol' bones. Besides, I'm a bit of a frog. AND after the arduous crocheting of Lenox's blanket I'm hankering after a quick and easy granny square project.

My grannies are dancing in mellow hues of blue, grey and green. I'm loving the subtlety of these colours. So, I'm hopping from my Trippin' squares, to my grannies, just to sprinkle fun into my creative days.

My Trippin' quilt has got to the stage where fabric metrage is needed. I'm thinking there might  just be enough to get me to the finish line without having to purchase more fabric. Again, needle-pricked and gnarled fingers.....and everything else, crossed. I've used up fabrics which have been sitting in my stash for a long time so I'm delighted about that.

Florals, dotty dots, stripes, hexagons......a fabulous fabric with candelabras.....all dancing and playing fabulously. Love the blue candelabra print. Such fun! What's not to love about a candelabra....or two??!! I have a few. =) Gotta shine one's light brightly these days to stem the darkness!

Enjoy your Sunday, lovely lovelies, lovely friends♡ Delight in something that brings you joy♡

Until the next time......

Lazy Autumn Days♡

Why, hello......and welcome♡ Gosh, it's been a while. The last time you visited my little place, Pete and I were about to enjoy a holiday with my daughter and son-in-law to celebrate Lenox's first birthday. AND, celebrate we did!  It seems ages ago now, but we had the best time. Oh, and by the way, my little crochet blanket with sweet animal faces atop the granny squares, was a hit. 

How are you travelling?? How are you navigating the diabolical and evil one's idiocy?? I'm assuming you have an inkling of whom I'm referring to. =) The reverberations of his amoral edicts are being felt the world over, in many ways; even down here on this little isle.

A wee 'funny' aside......I went to the Post Office yesterday to post a gift to my daughter in San Francisco and oh my goodness, the debacle in trying to post anything to the USofA! All the hoops  Aussies now have to jump through. The chap behind the counter informed me that Trump has made the process of the postage of mail, which was once a simple procedure; difficult. It appears Trump is not a fan of Australia, to which I replied Australia is most definitely not a fan of him!   We both laughed, taking the mickey out of the said leader. We Aussies do have a deliciously dark and wicked sense of humour. I wonder if his ears were burning?? Gosh, he's tedious, wearisome, tiresome, arduous........enervative......! Let us count the words which negatively describe this loathsome oaf??!! Alas, I cannot, as they are innumerable.

But, while the world writhes and groans under the tyranny of Trump,  here at my little place, life drifts by on the continuum of slow and relaxed,  lazy autumn days. Warm, sunny days. Rainy days. Windy days. Autumn  days slowly heading into what I suppose will be winter. Ho-hum.

There are still dahlias, cosmos, hydrangeas and a sprinkling of roses in the garden but only a few, as they are beginning to disappear. I must say, the hydrangeas are morphing into their autumnal beauty quite spectacularly this year. The landscape is beginning to glow in autumnal burnished hues. So lovely♡

I suppose Ive been hiding in my little world where simplicity has been the order of my days. It's been a while since I've felt like blogging. I've been stitching my 'Trippin' Around The World' quilt.  Slow, simple stitching adding oodles of little squares. Though, I confess, of late I haven't been completing each fabric round. I've been impatient to see what the next fabric might look like added to the mix.....hence my pretty is a most irregular shape at the moment. But.....it will become a queen-size square.....one of these days.

As I've stitched I've sometimes second guessed myself with the choice of fabric in one or two rounds, thinking that perhaps  some fabric rounds don't quite play nicely, but, as I've added a few more fabric 'trips' somehow my quilt of a gazillion squares is all of a sudden, honky dory. There was one hiccup. After stitching two sides of one round, maddeningly, I was six squares short, AND, as is always the way the shop where I purchased the fabric only a couple of weeks ago had sold out. I checked online, too. Sadly, no luck! Such is the life of a quilter, sometimes. So, my persnickety self, and  my seam ripper spent an exasperating afternoon and evening together, unpicking each little square.

I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi, like you very much......just channelling Carmen Miranda. =) 

Isn't she lovely, Isn't she wonderful?? Think Stevie Wonder. =) She, was gifted to me as a candle with the most divine fragrance inside. The candle, having fragrantly wafted through my days until there was not a spot of wax remaining; she now continually models flowers. Love, love, love her. Me thinks, Carmen would like her, too.

Is it really the last Sunday in April!!?? I really cannot keep up with the calendar. Today was a pearler of a day. Deliciously warm with blue, blue skies. I of course enjoyed more (very) slow stitching of my happy squares to the quilt. I'm loving the simplicity of this quilt. Love all the fabrics in multitudinous colours and prints. Me thinks it just might become one of my favourites. I have a penchant for quilts dancing in simplicity of late. As darkness begins to cloak my autumnal landscape, when Sunday morning breezes in at your place, I hope you enjoy a lovely day partaking in something which causes you to smile♡ Take care, lovely lovelies, lovely friends♡ Let your little light shine♡

Until the next time......

Welcome To The Zoo🐨🦁🐴🐰🦃🦊

Lenox's zoo, that is🐨🦁🐴🐰🦃🦊

Hello lovely lovelies, lovely friends♡  A lovely welcome to you this Sunday evening♡ Well, it is here. =)

My woolly experiment is DONE!! An experiment?? Yes, this woolly blanket was definitely an experiment. Having never read, nor indeed understood a crochet pattern before it wasn't a certainty that this woolly crochet undertaking would be a triumph. Nor was it a given that there would be an acceptable outcome. This crochet woolly was definitely a trial and error pretty and I must say, a giant learning curve. 

Well, I'm here to say after many mistakes and missteps I'm doing a victory lap (around the garden......around the autumnal hydrangeas). =) All the critters in Lenox's zoo are resting happily atop the woolly blanket and ALL are happily playing together with all their friends. Each critter whispered to me which pal they wanted to be their play buddy and rest next to forevermore. One would be forgiven if one supposed that all the critters might be a little askance of Lenny Lion or perhaps to a lesser extent Faelynn Fox being a hop, skip and a jump away, but nope, in the land of make believe, all these critters are the very best of friends, boisterously rollicking and frolicking and getting up to all manner of hijinks all day long. They are a happy little zoo.

Meet Harvey Horse and Wilbur Worm. I must say Harvey is a handsome fellow and just between you and me, he's my favourite.

Lennox's blanket was crocheted in Patons Bluebell 5ply pure wool. It measures 85cm x 115cm; a perfect size for a crib. Perfect too, for a wee child to wrap themselves in, for a woolly hug. Each granny square is 15cms.  I followed the book, 3D Animal Granny Squares,  for some of the animals but after several attempts, some of my animals didn't resemble anything like the picture so I fell down the YouTube rabbit hole to see what other animals I could find. And I must say, I found a lot. Thank the Good Lord for YouTube tutorials! Another thing which I changed from the book is each animal is crocheted separately and then stitched onto the granny squares. Each animal has a lot of separate bits...eyes, snouts, beaks, ears etc which caused the back of each animal to be a messy eyesore. Sewing the finished animal to the grannies makes for a neat back with no fugly bits to be seen. My persnickety self is very happy about this.

Pete and I are off to Hobart next weekend to holiday with Lennox, my daughter and son-in-law. I cannot wait. I hope wee Lenox loves his woolly zoo. A woolly blanket where oodles of conservations and wild and playful imaginations will be enjoyed as he snuggles down under his woolly zoo. So, so many delightful conversations and stories of animal escapades and adventures within Lenox's zoo♡ Bye lovely lovelies, lovely friends♡ Thank you for visiting my little place♡

Until the next time......