"News from Kainga."

Hello,

A while back I found a wonderful blog with unusual crochet patterns. There are also knitting patterns if you are interested. I got very inspired and went and purchased ten balls of yarn. Let me just say that the yarn I used I would never use again. It was a bit hard and the blanket doesn't feel as soft as I would like. I used some of the cheapo yarn from the $2.00 plus shop in town. Some of the ladies from the crochet group had been using it and were loving working with it. I am glad I used it all up. I will be spending more money on yarn next time.

The pattern is called "Shell and V Stitch round ripple blanket" 

Not knowing how big the blanket would end up I was hoping and praying whilst doing the last round.  I ran out of yarn just 8 trebles from the end. I left it overnight. Then the next day decided to not purchase more yarn and just undo that final round and do a row of double crochet around the edge.  I ended up with 54 rounds of pattern and the final double crochet row. So the blanket is quite big.

I also made another "Kiwi" inspired Toiletry Bag. This one has the waterproof lining. I made the bag according to the size of the fabric I had. Great to use up the whole piece of fabric.

Now I have had this fabric in the stash for many years. When I bought the material I made a bag out of it.  So I got to and  made it into three tea towels. Let me say they have been put to good use since they have been made.

The embroidery machine has been put to work. I made two bookmarks. These are stitched out onto stabiliser that washes out so you are left with a beautiful bookmark.Great for popping into a Christmas card.

We had a wonderful Christmas day, spending a fair amount of time in the pool and inside in the air conditioner. Temperatures  since Christmas have been 41 and above. I think we are having 44 next Monday. Boxing Day saw us drop David of at the Airport. He and his friend Sav are Backpacking through Asia for the next month. We will be having another Christmas next month as Ainsley was working on site up north for Christmas Day so when she gets back we will have a special lunch with Ainsley and Julian.

With all this hot weather we have been experiencing our walking routine has been right out of whack  Seeing there was nothing to watch on TV last night Ian and I decided to go for a  walk at 7.30 pm. I only put on thongs because it was so hot and it would only be a short walk. Well we got to the bottom of the hill. Decisions were made Left or Right. We decided to go right as the next street we had to turn into was easier to walk down than up. We were walking along looking at Christmas lights on the other side of the street when I felt something go over my right foot.  I looked down expecting to see a weed. No it was a snake. My worst nightmare. Lucky I didn't step onto it. It slid over the footpath up a property owner's storm water pipe.I now realise this is how they end up in people's bathrooms. It was only very thin but about two feet long. I decided that the walk was over and and had a shower to wash of those snake germs. I will be wearing closed in shoes all the time even if it is going to be 44. Lesson well learnt.

Happy days.
Bev C

"John Lennon."

Imagine all the people living in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one.
John Lennon.

Hello,

Taking a break from blogging, will be back sometime after Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful time together over the festive season.

Merry Christmas.
Bev C

"What is a rose, A cup of pure delight."

Hello,

Well I hope all fellow  West Aussies survived the weather we had the past couple of days. Lightening strikes, Thunder,  Rain and Floods. Tuesday morning we had a very quick Lightening storm pass through. I was sitting crocheting in the family room  waiting to go to the Crochet Group Christmas Wind-up when BANG. Lightening struck a tree in the neighbours back yard. A Transformer at the top of our block also blew up. Power was off and on during the day. Our hard drive didn't want to work. Later on that evening we tried it again and luckily all was OK. I think something must have clicked off and come back when full power was restored. The next day we had 18.5mls of rain within a few minutes. It certainly was welcome here, Ian had just fertilised the lawn on the weekend so we have a lovely green lawn. Though some places down south didn't fair so well. Once town had over 200 mls in the day.

With the weird weather going on I managed to finish a few projects.

I saw the quote a while back and took note of it in my little black book (aka a piece of scrap paper) and made up a table runner. The roses on display are a David Austin called "Mary Rose". Now the binding may not go exactly with the front but it goes so well with the backing. See I made it reversible without realising.

A while ago Marina sent me some crochet cotton. Recently Cheryll sent the two Hankies as she knew I crocheted. So I had fun making up two patterns to fit them. Thanks ladies, who knew that it takes three people to do somethings.!!!

I have been going through all those Tutorials and Patterns that I have had saved. I actually deleted a heap, how many quilts bags etc is a woman to make. One pattern I did keep was Terrie's Make-up Bag Tutorial.

I first made the little blue teacup one, complete with the proper Heat n Bond Vinyl lining. Then I made the second one bigger to store stitching items in. Terrie's pattern was the best of the best as far as zipper bags go. I had downloaded several patterns but found all of them except for Terrie's had the lining done correctly so no stitching shows inside the bag. Thanks Terrie for the pattern, it only took me two years to get it done.

As usual family members are continuing to come and go here at Kainga.

David has just come back from a week in Sydney. He attended his friend Sav's Graduation from University. Here they are in front of the Sydney Opera House.

I hope you enjoy the weekend.

Happy days.
Bev C

" Kainga Lotion Bar Tutorial."

Hello,

Happy Monday,

Over the weekend I had a some fun in the kitchen making some Lotion Bars. Maybe you haven't heard of them. They are a hard lotion that is just  perfect for dry skin. I found lots of directions on the net  using  different oils. I didn't want to buy anything so I made up my own recipe using the oils I had on hand. They turned out perfectly.

Kainga Lotion Bars.

First you need your three ingredients.

I used Beeswax, Coconut Oil (Copha) and Olive Oil. You need equal quantities of each ingredient by weight. As this was a tester I used 60 grams of each.

I decided to melt the oils in a glass jug by slowly bringing the water in the saucepan to a reasonable heat. This also makes it easy to pour the oils into the containers later on. Place the Beeswax in the glass jug. Let it melt then add the Coconut Oil, when this is all melted add the Olive Oil.  Stir to mix oils together. I used a wooden skewer to mix.  By this time I had turned off the stove.

I used several different types of containers to set the Lotion Bars in. They more or less start setting before your eyes.

These can then be wrapped in Cellophane as a lovely gift. The glass jug can then be wiped clean with some Kitchen paper. You don't want the oil blocking up your drains.

I hope you try this Lotion Bar, let me know if you make some.

Happy Monday
Bev C

"Exploring."

Hello,

Over the past week Ian and I have been exploring the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. It was great fun to get away and see what this part of the state has to offer. We found lots of Cafes, Patchwork Shops in small towns even a Distillery was on our list of places to visit.

We even got extremely close to some Koalas. They were all asleep.

We had a wonderful time at the Rose Maze in Kojonup. 2000 roses planted by the community, farmers brought in old pieces of wood etc from the farms for the gardens. There were plaques around telling the story of three different people, these were so interesting to read.

We went back to the Beach where Ian once lived. It is full of designer houses and hotels now.

While we were in Albany we had to take a photo of Dog Rock. This is the most photographed tourist attraction in Albany.

We found the Wind Farm just outside Albany so interesting. Loved walking along the pathways, surrounded by native plants.

Of course a trip to this region means a visit to the Natural Bridge and Gap (above).

We also enjoyed a morning visiting Whale World at Albany.

Of course all this travelling just wears you out.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Spring at Kainga 2012."

Hello,

Happy Monday, today I wanted to share some of my favourite photo's I took during Spring 2012 here at Kainga. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

Hope you have the best Monday.

Happy days.
Bev C