Yummy Yarns...

Today I made a quick stop down town on my lunch break to Jellywares to purchase some more beautiful yarns to start a new project that I'm really excited about!!

The project is called the "Wool Eater" By Sarah London and you can find the tutorial here.

I LOVE this pattern and I plan on making a smaller version as a centre piece for our dining table. I'm going to be using these yummy yarns...

I love the fresh green paired with the creamy white. It's going to look great! I can't wait to get it started and to share pictures with you! More to come soon!!!

Ellie x

Crochet Slippers

I have been very busy this past weekend catching up with friends visiting that I haven't seen for a while and enjoying a bit of a social life. I haven't been able to go the crochet class for 2 weeks so my crochet crafts have been a little lacking!

I'm still slowly plodding along with my knitted shrug, picking it up and adding a few rows here and there when I can, it's growing slowly and I just cant WAIT for it to be finished. On the crochet front I started a really cute pattern this week for some crochet slippers!

I found this super cute pattern on Ravelry and its by Oh My Good Knits! They're called Mary Jane Slippers but I modified the pattern slightly so they don't have the signature strap across the bridge of the foot to make them look like Mary Janes. As you can see I made a slight boo boo and there is a small hole gap near the button, I figure it doesn't look too bad so I'm not too phased!

Besides this, I love how they turned out! (So far I've only made the one, I got so excited about how cute they look I wanted to share them with you. I will take a piccie when I've finished the pair!!)

I used some beautiful Heirloom Colour works 8 ply fine Merino wool. It is sooo lovely to work with and just slides off the hook nicely. Its super soft and I LOVE the colour. I have a thing for this coral colour and every time I see a yarn in this colour I have to have it!! I also have a gorgeous blue in this yarn that I may make another pair of slippers out of, not too sure just yet! One of the best things about this yarn is that it is machine washable!

I think the cute little wooden button on the side sets the basic slipper off!

Once I make the matching pair to this little pretty I will move onto my next crochet project. My goal this weekend is to start (and possibly finish) a thick knitted headband for Roger. I have been promising to make him a headband to hold his dreads back for as long as I've been learning to crochet so its about time that I stuck to my promise and made him something!!

More news to come on that soon.

Happy crafting!

Ellie x

Harvesting...

Today I harvested some baby carrots from our veggie patch!! I was so excited to pluck the little orange veggies from the garden, some of them turned out better than others and some were really funny looking all curly at the ends!

These carrots were grown from seeds, they're some of the first veggies that I've ever grown and I've definitely learnt a few things since growing these babies.

Next time around I'm definitely going to space my carrot seeds out more so they have space to grow larger and over-crowding wont happen. But for now I'm happy with this first batch of baby carrots and are hoping they'll taste very yummy steamed maybe with some honey as honey baby carrots!!

Also this week I'm hoping to get some pretty crocheted bed socks started. I found this pattern on Ravelry and I love how they look.

Hopefully I can get them started when I find some more spare time!

Ellie x

Swap Goodies!!!

I was so happy to get back from my lunch break at work today to find a little package from the post sitting on my desk! It was a beautiful package, all wrapped up in pretty purple paper from the very talented Julie from Little Woollie for the Jellywares spring washer swap.

Well wasn't I spoilt?!! Julie made me 2 gorgeous crochet washers that I LOVE! I plan to use these pretties quite a bit in my house! I also got an amazing smelling block of soap and several envelopes filled with veggie seeds saved from Julie's garden!

(Look at all of the lovely seeds I got!!)


You were very generous Julie and I feel very spoilt and lucky! You made my day!! Thank you!

Also, big thanks to the lovely Jodie for hosting the swap! This one was my second blog craft swap and I'm really loving them! I hope to join up to another one soon to keep the creative-ness flowing!

Until my next post, I hope your Monday has treated you well! Enjoy the rest of the week!

Ellie x

Oh Mudgee!!

This afternoon Roger and I got back from our quick roadie weekend away in Mudgee! We had such an amazing time, every time we visit Mudgee I love it even more and more!

Today is also Rogers birthday (Happy birthday Rog! Love ya!), so we had an awesome weekend with this in mind. We gorged ourselves with some close friends on Lebanese and Indian food, bought (and drunk!) LOADS of wine on our wine tour on Saturday arvo and spent the morning on Saturday tasting all of the yummy produce and home-made food/preserves from local farmers at the Farmers Markets!!

I'm such a sucker for yummy "boutique-y" food stuffs so I couldn't help myself when we got to the farmers markets. Oh, the food and the produce was to die for!! I bought macaroons and hand-made chocolate as well as wine infused cooking jellies and delicious basil pesto! I'm salivating just thinking about all of the glorious stuff we bought home!

Not only did we stock up on the beautiful wines of Mudgee, we stopped by the Mudgee Brewery on the last leg of our wine tour and tried and tested a few Mudgee beers!

(Roger at the Brewery)

I can't rave about Mudgee enough and can't wait for our next trip! There's just so many beautiful places to eat and drink, lots of touristy stuff to see and do and its not a hectic city, its still country and casual enough to cruise around in! Its perfect for a weekend away with a partner or with a bunch of girlfriends or even with family!

Crafty news to come in my next post.

Until then,

Ellie x

Spring Washer Swap...

I have FINALLY finished getting my act together and putting the finishing touches on my secret partners washer pressie for the Jellywares spring washer swap!

After my last post (working on the other washer pattern) I decided to unravel my work and start again, and again and again and again! For some reason I just couldn't get this pattern working for me and it wasn't looking how I wanted it to! So after many many attempts, I unravelled it and started on a new pattern.

The new pattern is called the "Tulip stitch washcloth" and I love the way it looks. After working on it for a while I realised mine wasn't looking the same as some of the other washers made with this pattern were looking! So unintentionally I have modified this pattern! lol I still LOVE it! I was sooo tempted to keep it for my own but I knew it would look super pretty all wrapped up and sent off in the post for the swap.

I was getting worried because I only had a very small amount of yarn to use and this pattern was chewing up the yarn pretty quickly! I managed to make the washer into a decent size, its bigger than a 5 inch washer, but is still a "small-ish" washer (smaller than other washers that I've made before.)

I think it'll still do the job! I hope my swap partner loves it as much as I do! Its soooo soft, I love the cotton. It's made of some hand spun cotton from Jodie's shop and she has completely sold out of it all!! (Damn!) It's so beautiful!

Also on the list of credentials to be sent with the washer was some handmade soap and a packet of seeds for the garden! I couldn't resist and sent 2 blocks of handmade soap! I love handmade soap, I sent my swap partner some herbal lemongrass and ginseng soap (smells de-lish! I couldn't help myself and had to buy it!) and a yummy block of Tasmanian olive oil soap (Lemon myrtle, manuka honey and tea tree)! Mmmm!

I also chose to send some tomato seeds! I planted some tomato seedlings on the weekend, they're perfect for spring!

In other news...

Roger and I are off to Mudgee this weekend! I am sooo excited! I love Mudgee! It's Roger's birthday on Sunday and we're meeting up with some friends for a weekend of wine "tour-ing" and eating scrumptious food and enjoying being out of town for a while!

Ah, I just can't wait! I'll be taking my trusted camera with me to take some snaps of the gorgeous Mudgee region. I'll definitely post some when we get home!!

Until then,

Ellie x

Today I'm....

Spending time with my mum! Today Mum hosted a "pamper party" with a great company called "Arbonne" who sells gorgeous face cleansers, make up and body scrubs! All of the stuff we got to try and test on our hands and faces smelt sooo good and made my skin feel like silk! Mmmm pampering is sooo nice!

Today I'm....
Planting more Veggies!!! Yep, I've got the green thumb veggie gardening bug and I've planted more veggies! This time round I planted some basil (Rogers favourite and a request by him!), tomatoes, zucchini's, pumpkin and cucumber! I LOVE veggie gardening and as I practise more and more by trying and testing seeds and seedlings and things I feel that I'm getting the best out of our veggie patches. After planting our first patch earlier in the year I learned that I needed to plant more of certain things, like rocket and baby spinach that Roger and I use A LOT.


Gardening is so much fun and I really enjoy spending the time outside in the fresh air and the warm spring sun rather than being cooped up inside watching mindless TV!

Today I'm....
Working on a new washer pattern. I'm attempting to take on a new washer pattern that I got off Jodie at crochet class and I'm hoping to get this washer done for the Jellywares wash cloth swap, due to be sent on Wednesday!! I LOVE making washers, every time I start a new one Roger says "Another washer???", like we have a bunch already! I just love making them and using handmade washers in my house. I think they look so cute folded nicely sitting in my bathroom.




This particular pattern seems to be getting the best of me however. I haven't crocheted for about a week or two as I've been working on the knitted shrug so maybe I'm a little out of practise!! lol I'm using some gorgeous hand spun cotton from Jellywares. I love the blend of two colours, a pretty green and white.



Today I'm...

Making Spaghetti Bolognaise for dinner. YUM! I love "spag bowl", its so easy to whip up and can be super tasty. Every time I make it it tastes different. I don't know why? I use all of the same ingredients but somehow it tastes slightly different. Tomorrow I'll post my recipe for spag bowl so you can get an idea of what I do for the family favourite!

What have you been doing today? Sundays are always great, except the fact that I'm back to work tomorrow! I wish the weekends were longer! Don't you??

Ellie x

The Knitted Shrug - A Work In Progress...

Slowly but surely my knitted shrug is taking shape. I haven't been able to work on it anywhere near as much as I would have liked but it is slowly getting there and I'm still very much in love with it already!!

Its a pretty simple knitting/purling combo pattern (very good for us beginners!!). I LOVE the purple colour of the yarn, its super pretty. In the piccies it doesn't show the colour the best but it is definitely going to be a very pretty addition to my wardrobe!

Even though its getting sooo warm here at home (and I'm LOVING it), this shrug will be perfect for cooler spring nights and finished and ready for the cooler months next year, sometimes its good to be organised early right?! lol

Hopefully my next Knitted Shrug update will be pictures of the finished project! Stay tuned while I keep knitting away!! :o)

Ellie x

Swap Number 2!

I've joined another swap! Yay! Swaps are so much fun!

This one is being hosted by the lovely Jodie over at Jellywares! It's a washer swap for spring and we need to knit/crochet a washer and send a packet of seeds (perfect for spring) and a yummy bar of handmade soap!

I can't wait. I've been craving to do some crafty stuff after all of the yucky study I've been doing lately, so this weekend in crochet/knitting class at Jellywares I might get a start on my washer!

How's your Monday going today? The weather here at home is just perfect and nice and warm! Ahh I love spring already!

Ellie x

Banging out the tunes!!

I have been waiting for this album to be put together for a lonnnnng time! Being the hardcore Dixie Chicks fan that I am, as soon as I heard that they have FINALLY released the "Essential Dixie Chicks" album I raced out an bought my copy! I'm in love.

I don't know about you and if you're a fan of the Chicks (it's a bit of an acquired taste getting into their music, a bit of country/rock with a little "twang") but they have featured their picks of the "best songs" from their 4 albums ("Wide Open Spaces", "Fly", "Home" & "Taking the Long Way").

You'll get a nice dose of every facet of their music from the 90's - now which it's nice to hear how much their music has changed and how their sound has developed over time! I definitely recommend this (2 disc) album to any fan!!!

In other news, my uni exams are over (for now) and I'm packing up my car and heading back home first thing tomorrow morning! I can't WAIT to get home. It's amazing at how nice it feels to get back home after some time away and this week has definitely been a tough one for me, my brain is FRIED!!!

So more crafty news to come now that I will have a little more free time on my hands over the next few weeks!

I hope you're weekend is treating you well, OH and don't forget Fathers Day tomorrow!!

Happy (early) Fathers Day Dad!!!

Love ya lots!!

(Me and Dad riding our horses Splash & Benny on the farm 2009)

Long time no chat!!

Hey Blogland, how are you?? It feels like forever since I've posted and I thought it was time to get online and give you all some updates!

I'm currently in Wagga at uni doing some on-campus practical lab work for my Equine Science degree. I had an exam this morning (eeep!!) and for the last 3 days I've been learning all sorts of glorious stuff about horses anatomy and physiology!

I only JUST worked out how to connect my laptop to the Internet (thanks to my friend's lovely housemate Emma!!) so I have just enough time in between more uni study to post you some updates.

Now, I said last week that I would post piccies of what I was sending my swap partner in the Calico and Co craft swap. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten!!

Here are some piccies of what I'll be sending off in the post tomorrow:

I used a pattern by Theresa Grant who I found on Ravelry for the yummy washers. They were sooo quick and easy to whip up and look super effective when folded together and tied with a pretty bow! The only thing I didn't include in the pattern was the backwards single crochet edging. I thought it would look nice but the size I made in the washers was large enough I didn't think it really needing the extra edging.

I used Cascades cotton rich from Jellywares. I LOVE the minty greeny colour, its sooo pretty. I thought I should make 2 washers and the minty colour went nicely with a plain white.

For a little something extra I threw in a yummy block of handmade goats milk soap that I purchased from a new store in town that stocks all of that Australian made produce stuff. Its a really nice soap, I have some of my own!!

I've got a super cute card to send with it and all I have to do is wrap it up, send it to the post and this little package is bound for South Australia!! I can't wait to see what I get in the swap from my partner (whoever they are?!?!)

In other news, my knitted shrug is coming along nicely, it's definitely a slow process but I think its going to be a rewarding one when its all done. I LOVE the purple colour, it looks so nice and is definitely something that I will wear! Can't wait to show you some more pics when I get a bit further with it! Here is the link to the pattern, if you're interested you'll be able to see what it will look like when it's all done!

But for now I have to hit the study books unfortunately :o(

It's been nice catching up, I hope the weather is nice where you are. Another post to come soon!

Ellie x