Sunday, January 31

Taking the Granny challenge

Taking the granny challenge
In the few quiet moments to be found at Whizzme central these days I wanted to be able to craft something that could be toteable, not too brain taxing but resulted in a finished item (sheepishly she looks at the list of wip's). So when I came across Pip's suggestion to join her Granny A Day, I knew I had found the answer. The grannies are progressing at the required rate which is something of a record for me and joining group things! Also I am slowly using up some of the beautiful but odd balls of cotton I have. I think I have spoken before about my preference for using cotton to wool when crocheting (but i can't be bothered to find that post in the archive), softer and cooler in our hot summer to work with.

I am surprised how much I have enjoyed picking up the hook again (although it has reminded me of these that are ambling along at what can only be described as an extremely sedate pace), how satisfying it is to have a finished square each day. It also reminded me to visit my favourite crochet inspiration blog MOONSTITCHES. Alex is a German girl who lives in Japan, you can read about Alex in her lovely words.

Over the years Alex has provided some beautiful photos of her projects and life in Japan, but it was when she first posted about hexagons that I was lured into the large crochet project.
She has even provided an excellent tutorial for joining hexagons as you go (see her side bar for the link). Beyond the call of duty, Alex came to my aid via email when I couldn't get my hexagons to look the same ( small problem reading instructions on my part- the down side of being self taught!). My personal favourite is her Rhubarb Scarf shown in one of her own beautiful photos below.
You can see more beautiful images at Alex's moonstitches Flickr account.

At this stage though my goal is just to stay on track with the grannies...famous last words!

Wednesday, January 20

The thing is...

The thing is it seems that no matter how good my intentions, new year resolutions or personal goal setting is this liitle blog is continually neglected. So I thought I'd come clean to you the few folks who loyally pop back on the rare occassions a post appears. Life at the moment has taken a turn that I hadn't seen coming, was ill prepared for but excited to take. As those of you who have been with me for a while know, for the past few years I have been involved with PANDA.
I started there as a volunteer counsellor, moved to working admin 2 days a week until august last year I was given the opportunity to oversee a funded project for a year. This role change has been exciting and challenging but most of all it has brought about some readjustments for the Whizzme clan. Now at work 4 days a week, I find very little time to do any crafting, let alone reading, writing or browsing! It seems the project has slowly consumed my mental capacity leaving little at the moment for my personal pursuits. I am frequently frustrated by this, sometimes even angry but on the whole I am resigned to the fact that it is a temporary situation. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the work, and even passionate about its creation, I just wish I could fit a little more 'me' into each day! Miss Whizzme has been most effected by the role change. She often voices her longing for the mum who was constantly available, attended all school events and was free during holidays. This too pulls at my heart, and sometimes makes me wonder about my choices. The realist in me however, is quick to remind me of all the pluses this involvement has brought; self-esteem, use of my latent degree, challenging new content and overall a deep satisfaction of creating something that will be useful for the wider community. I guess what I am hoping you my loyal reader will understand, that for the present this little blog will be altered from its original crafty purpose. I will post when I can. I will share what I can, but I can't promise any creative content for the time being! I hope when the project ends that my dreams of bringing you more creative pursuits might be possible. Until then, thanks again for sticking around.

Friday, January 8

Winners are Grinners

Thank you to those of you who contributed stories, some even brought a tear. But Di I don't think I have a solution for your worst present- send me an email with your postal address though and I'll send you a little something to ease the pain!

Now for the winners,
The Goodies prize goes to Amanda,
and
The Stash prize goes to Suse.
Please email me (whizzme at bigpond dot net dot au) your postal details so I can send your prizes.


Hopefully soon I'll have some show and tell for you, so keep an eye out!