Garter mittens...

Not too long ago I posted about one of my latest knitting projects the "Garter mittens". I've finally finished (one) of the gloves and thought I'd show you how they turned out.

This had to be one of the easiest projects that I've ever done. All it took was casting on 25 stitches, knitting for 18 rows and then sewing up the sides (leaving a space for the thumb hole) and then they're done! What a sinch!!

The mittens turned out longer than I had anticipated so next time I think I will cast on only 20 or so stitches rather than 25 to make them a bit shorter up my wrist.

A very easy and quick knitting project, perfect for beginners. They're not my favourite project I've ever made but they were a great way to learn how to cast on and cast off on my own and will be very useful next winter!

Sewing along...

This week at Jellywares in stead of crochet and knitting, we swapped our hooks and needles for a sewing machine, some gorgeous funky fabric and some vintage buttons to make my first ever zippered pouch!

I am SO so proud that I managed to sew something that looks this cute! All thanks to Jodie and her sewing savvy guidance I managed to whip up this little cutie:

In Jode's shop she made up some easy kits that have everything you need in them to make a cute pouch of your own including these beautiful matching vintage buttons and lace tag for the side...

When I chose my fabric kit I wanted to pick something that I might not usually pick (in terms of colour scheme) as I find myself always being drawn to pretty pinks and purples (because I LOVE them and I'm into girly prints and colours). So this time I chose a different colour way that I LOVE, with bright and summery yellows on the outside and this pretty green paisley print for the inside...

All in all I am so totally proud (as a very VERY novice sewer) to be able to make a gorgeous little pouch to hold all of my little craft goodies (hooks, needles, tape measure etc). I've also already purchased another kit in a funky linen with a cute pig print to try and make my next one! I'm thinking that I'll make a couple more for my sisters for Christmas, they're so quick and I think they'll love them just as much as I do!!!

Next week we're going to be making a pin cushion that is attached to some elastic or velcro so we can wrap it around our arm!! I can't wait!

More crafty news soon! Happy weekend lovelies!

My creative space...

This week I've decided to join in on "My creative space".

In My creative space this week I'm putting some finishing touches on some pretty blue slippers that I've made for my sister.

All I have to do now is sew on the cute wooden buttons....

I've chosen to use a star and a heart, I think they'll look super cute when they're done!

Also in My creative space this week...

I'm still knitting away at my Neck Warmer. Its growing ever so slowly as I get time here and there to knit a row or two. I can't wait for it to be finished so I can see how great it will look!! lol

I'm also in the process of finishing my Garter Mittens. More to some on those soon!!

More creative spaces over here.

Food Frenzy!!

Every Wednesday in our office is morning tea day. We have a roster and each week it's a new person's turn to make morning tea for the staff. This week it's my turn and I thought in stead of making a last minute dash to the supermarket for some pre-made sweets and things I would get organised and whip up some delicious snack for everyone!

Firstly I made good old yummy egg and lettuce sandwiches! But these aren't just any old egg and lettuce sandwiches, they're made from mum and dad's clucky chickens eggs and topped with mine and Roger's homegrown rocket!!

Mmmm, eggy goodness! I only wish that I had borrowed mum's bread maker to make my own loaf of bread for these babies!! Maybe next time...

Next, (by special request!!) I made my mum's SUPER perfect and extra delicious Zucchini Slice recipe! I made this last week as my first attempt at mum's favourite and Roger LOVED it! He pretty much ate the entire batch on his own (except for a piece or two that I ate!!)

This recipe is a hit and sooo quick and easy, if you're interested I may just post the recipe for you to try!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe with me Mum!! xx

And lastly, for something sweet, I tried a new recipe from here for the very sweet and yummy Chocolate Caramel Brownies!! Now these aren't for the faint of heart.... these are great for the heavy sweet tooth! Packed with sugary-ness they are just right for something sweet!

They're still warm in the pan I couldn't even wait for them to cool to show you just how scrumptious they are!

Squished into the mixture are squares of caramello chocolate so when you take a bite there are nice caramello surprises bursting with caramel.... MMMMM!!

I hope the girls down at work enjoy these goodies!!

All things knitty...

Hello there! I'm back in Blogland and thank goodness! I finally finished my exams for uni (the last one was today and I'm actually very pleased with how it all turned out!)

I'm so happy to be back blogging and crafting, even though my break was short I still missed knitting and crocheting (and was naughty and still squeezed some crafty time in between study! hehe)

Lately I've caught the knitting bug!! Since learning not too long ago I've been trying to learn a few new knitting skills here and there and in stead of being too scared to tackle projects on my own I have been very brave and have started some new knitted goodies!!

I've got so much on the go at the moment that I think I really need to start finishing some projects, but I'm just sooo inspired to start new things at the moment, I love it!!

My newest knitted project (started today) are some super cute winter garter mittens. Now, I know it isn't cold anymore but I thought that these little pretties would be good practice for me and will look awesome for next winter!!

How awesome does this yarn colour look?! I'm in LOVE with it. It's another of the gorgeous Cascades 12 ply in "Irene's fury" colourway. I think it looks great all knitted up!

For the pattern I'm using Jodie's garter mittens project to follow from Ravelry and she did some modifications on the original pattern by Ysolda Teague, you can find the pattern on Rav here.

Also currently in the workings is the "Ruff Neck Warmer" scarf that I mentioned in an earlier post from the pattern book "Pints & Purls". It's turning out soooo beautiful and I am in love with it already!

So far its just continuous rows of stockinette stitch (purling/knitting) so its fairly easy. The yarn I'm using is just too gorgeous to work with! It is quite slippery but just enough that it slides right off the needles and makes the 200 stitch repetition go pretty quickly.

More to come on these two projects! Can't wait to show you how they both turn out! What have you been crafting lately?

Ellie x

Hitting the study books....

(image)

I have to apologise for being a little slack with the posting as late. I am currently in "exam mode" for my end of year uni exams. My first one is up tomorrow, (for those of my followers that don't know, I study Equine Science at uni via distance ed due to living way out West!).

So instead of crafting away like I'd LOVE so much to be doing right now, I've been trying to force myself to study. After the exam tomorrow I have one more on Monday and then I'm a free woman!!! (so to speak! lol)

I hope to get A LOT of crafting (crochet, knitting, sewing - I'm starting classes soon, can't wait to tell you all about them!!) done in my uni holiday break.

Until then, sadly I may be a little absent from my trusty blog :o(

Take care,

Ellie x

Quick Crochet

I love the instant gratification that you get from crochet. I find now that I'm a little more experienced in crochet I can whip up an easy project within the day (and sometimes within and hour or two!)

This afternoon I whipped up these Spring coasters, perfect for the warmer weather approaching!

They were sooo easy and quick, I made 4 coasters within the hour. I love them! I found the pattern on Ravelry and you can get the pdf link here.

I made them out of the gorgeous and ever handy Cascades Cotton Rich in a yummy pale green/cream colourway. I have a thing for these pale greens and creams at the moment! I'm loving them, they're perfect for Spring!

Until my next post, keep smiling!

Ellie x

Spoiling myself...

Tonight, whilst Rog is out having a few beers with a good friend (who drove the 4.5 hour drive to our town to pop in for a surprise visit this afternoon!!), I'm sitting at home snuggled up on the couch and spoiling myself!!

I've done a bit over an hour or so of uni study and thought as a nice break from the books I'd sit down and relax a little with some of my favourite things!!

After another wonderful afternoon crocheting/knitting with my good friends Miss Hayley and Jodie down at Jellywares, I've got another burst of energy to tackle some of my on-going projects! So this afternoon I've been working on my knitted shrug (which is still coming along.... I finally got a hold of some more yarn and can continue the long knitting/purling combo pattern) and I've made some progress on Rogers headband and he's looking pleased with the progress! :o)

Along with working on current projects, I've purchased (yet again... I know, I'm a bit of a yarn ADDICT!! lol) some more yarn to start a NEW knitted scarf project! I'm so excited about it. I purchased a funky new knitting pattern book ("Pints and Purls... Portable Projects for the Social Knitter") which has some AWESOME projects in it, including the new one I'm hoping to tackle in the coming weeks.

I'm going to be using the gorgeously soft Cascades Ultra Pima cotton. It's super silky with a nice shine to it. I'm loving the colour (its a little hard to tell in the piccies the exact colour but I'll tell you now, it is yummo!!)

The pattern is called the "Ruff Neck Warmer" and is super cute (as you can see in the piccy above!) It's going to be perfect for next winter (or this spring if the weather keeps up the way it has been going the last few days! Brrrr!)

As well as purchasing all of these goodies, I also managed to get my hands on 2 jars of Jodie's beautiful Quang Dong Jam! I missed out on purchasing some from her last batch and swore that I wouldn't miss out this time round! Mmmm, it is delicious!

Lastly, to top off the night, I've purchased the latest editions of my two fave mags, "Donna Hay" and "Notebook". Sadly, this issue of Notebook Magazine is it last :o( I'm devastated to see such a gorgeous magazine (that tailors exactly to my tastes) has ceased publication due to high costs. I only wish I started to read the magazine earlier! Now I'm on the hunt for back issues! If anyone knows where I can get some, please drop me a line!!!

I hope that wherever you are tonight you are getting some "spoil yourself time" as well!

Happy Weekend!

Ellie x

Fresh from the oven...

Today I was lucky enough to have the day off work to do some much needed uni study so after a longgg session of hitting the books this afternoon I tried out a new recipe.

This time I tried out a dessert with a twist. Its called the Berry Yoghurt Bake from the latest edition of Delicious Magazine in the cool little freebie recipe book that came with this months edition.

Mmmm it smells scrumptious in the oven. When I read the recipe I thought "Yoghurt in the oven... what the?!" but now that I've got the finished product smelling lovely in my kitchen I'm totally digging the idea!!

Some of the ingredients include natural Greek yoghurt, some eggs and a mixtute of berries (strawberries, blueberries etc) so for a dessert I reckon this little Miss is a healthy-ish beauty!

If you happened to buy this months mag, give this one a go and let me know what you think!!

Ellie x

Miss E's Wool-Eater... FINISHED!

This afternoon I finished the wool-eater pattern that I have been working on. I'm soooo pleased with how it turned out and I've already purchased some more yarn ready to make another one!

Thanks to Jodie who thankfully got me out of a pickle when I made a bit of a mistake in the pattern helped to save this little project!!

My next wool-eater I'm sure will turn out even better than this one (now that I've worked out my mistakes! lol).

I'd definitely recommend this pattern!

It's cooling down here at home now that the sun is slowly setting on what was a beautiful Sunday, I am about to hit the uni study books (in preparation for another set of exams in 2 weeks!!)

I've also FINALLY started on Roger's knitted headband!! Hoorah!

Ever since I started crochet classes and got back into some crafty goodness I've been promising Rog that I'd make him something so I thought I'd better get a wriggle on a start a little something for him! I'll upload some more pics when I have a bit more of the body of the headband done (currently its only 2 rows of knitted ribbing on my needles!! lol)

Happy Sunday! Ellie x

Veggie patch update...

These days I find myself wishing that I had more time on my hands to do the stuff that I love, like crochet, knitting and of course time to tend to my (slightly neglected) veggie patches!!!

This week has seen Roger and I both very tired and worn out with work and uni study (for me) taking its toll. I managed to snap a few piccies of the yummy veggies in our garden, that are luckily surviving even without my constant attention!

This little strawberry bud is looking a little thirsty but I'm so glad that its still growing strong. Hopefully we'll have some yummy strawberries in no time!

Some zucchini seedlings started to sprout!

Our tomato plants are slowly getting bigger!

We've been super lucky with all of the rocket that I've planted, it seems to flourish no matter the conditions! These little seedlings sprouted pretty much straight away!

The weekend is fast approaching and I have plenty of crochet/knitting and gardening projects to work on. What have you got planned for the weekend??

* smiles *

Ellie x

Miss E's Wool-Eater...WIP

This week I have been working on the Wool-eater pattern that I mentioned in my last post by Sarah London.





It looks a little funny at the moment with a few threads here and there that need to be sewn in and it hasn't fully taken shape just yet!

I love this pattern, the finished product looks excellent and has an almost "3D" look. I'm making this wool eater for our coffee table at home.


So far I haven't finished the pattern and need to do maybe 1 or 2 more rounds until its done. I think I've made a small mistake in the pattern somewhere but I'm working through it to make sure it still looks right!!





I'll definitely make another one of these using a different combo of colours and maybe a different type of yarn to get a slightly different texture.

What do you think?? Have you found a great pattern for a table centre piece? I'd love to hear if you have!

Ellie x

A day at the sale....

Today I spent the day working at a stud cattle sale for Rockingham Santa Gertrudis breeders.

Part of working for my parents at our family Real-Estate, Stock and Station Agency means I get to go to many of these sorts of sales which I really enjoy!

(Top - Dad working hard in the pens. Bottom - My Pop observing the sale, I love this shot!)

Today was a great day out buying and selling heifers and bulls. Some of my familes heifers were also up for sale in the commercial heifers section and we were all really pleased with their results!

(Rockingham Bull)

I love getting out of the office every now and then and working along side my Mum and Dad, sales like these can be hard work and a lot of organising leading up to them, but at the end of the day they are rewarding and a cold beer never goes astray! lol

(On the drive home we were greeted by a beautiful sunset over the hills. I just had to steal some snap shots!)

Now, after a hard week at work I am going to be getting into some crafty projects this LONG weekend! (Woo Hoo!) I'm really hanging out to resotre a small piece of furniture that I purchased from a clearing sale for a bargain $5!

More to come on that this weekend! I hope your plans for the long weekend make you smile!

Until my next post,

Ellie x