Ann's Work Basket http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann Andy, needlecrafts, cooking, family, reading and my love for things old fashioned and elegant Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:44:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 The cutest thing I’ve ever knit… http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=488 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=488#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:35:21 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=488 I fell in love with the Saartjie Booties pattern on Ravelry and just had to try it! I’m about to cast my third pair on and am in great danger of becoming totally addicted. Luckily I know a couple of people who’s expecting and have received babies (turning a light shade of green here) so guess what they’ll be receiving for baby gifts.

Pink booties

Don’t these just melt your heart. I made it from the left over wool from a hat and scarf set I knit for my friends daughter, Zoe’s, 4th birthday present (I’ll blog about that soon). But for now here’s another dose of the darlings and their cute buttons…

AnnBlogBooties2

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=488 0 Andy’s hat and some squares… http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=482 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=482#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:24:36 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=482 I found a really cute hat pattern from this blog

It was nice and easy and finished in one weekend with just catching a moment to knit here and there. I had a really great book to read so if it wasn’t for that the hat might easily have been done in a couple of hours.

So my little boy’s head will be nice and snug now when we go for a walk on a windy day. He had a hat I made a couple of years back but the pattern was of my own creation and I started getting so tired of the sight of it. You can imagine my delight when I discovered it to be lost, last week, which furnished me with the perfect excuse for knitting a new, better one. Of coarse I discovered the old hat while knitting the new but that doesn’t signify as I got rid of it before you could say pom-pom.

This whole winter I’ve been longing for a knit blanket to snuggle under while reading, knitting or sewing on the couch. So I came up with a very obvious idea – to knit one out of all my leftover yarn from previous projects. So I started last week and cast on 30 stitches on size 4 needles working 50 rows using DK (Double Knitting) yarn. With the result of the size of the square I’ll need 70 to make a nice sized blanket for the purpose above mentioned. So here’s the first seven and a bit squares done in a week (which means it’ll take on average 10 weeks to complete, which means it’ll be done mid-November, which means I have plenty of time cause I won’t be needing it anytime during our scorching South African summer).

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=482 1 Help! I need some Inspiration! http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=473 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=473#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:43:17 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=473 It’s been a gloomy, stormy Monday and Tuesday and tomorrow is going to be another gloomy, stormy day. Andy and I have been keeping busy indoors with crafts and lapbooking and of course this weather would be perfect for me to take out my needle and do my square on the butterfly sampler. I took out my embroidery thread boxes to finish sorting them out hoping the colours would inspire me…

I sorted them in their DMC number coded categories and put the duplicate skeins in the first compartment of each box.

So I took up my sampler, took out all the threads I needed according to the key, fastened my embroidery ring to the fabric, stitched 5 stitches and next thing I new Andy was having a nap and I was listen to my Pride and Prejudice audiobook and KNITTING!

I just can’t seem to get into cross stitching after such a long break from it. Hoping my cross stitch bug will fly back home soon!!!

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=473 0 Some Knitting http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=462 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=462#comments Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:00:28 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=462

I’ve been enjoying some knitting lately. I made this green bib for Baby Thomas which I gave to him instead of a party pack at Andy’s party cause of coarse he can’t enjoy anything edible yet :)

I also made a face cloth for my Mom as part of her Christmas present…

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=462 0 Walking on a dream http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=456 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=456#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:48:19 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=456 On Saturday the best husband in the entire world did not buy one stunning pair of Green Cross shoes for me, no not he. He bought two… and as if that wasn’t enough, he endured several hours of endless walking and shopping for his wife who feels like the most loved and valued person in the whole world. Did I mention that I have the best husband ever!?

The beauties…

shoes

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=456 0 Colour corrections http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=223 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=223#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:30:17 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann2/?p=223 Luke showed me this afternoon how to correct the colour of photo’s so they don’t come up looking so dark and unprofessional. :)

It’s SO simple. Shows you what a little know-how can do. So I promise no more dark photo’s.

For a simple example, here you can’t see the detail of the collar…

And here you can…

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=223 0 Butterfly Bliss… http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=222 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=222#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:37:09 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann2/?p=222 I feel like I haven’t cross stitched in months (maybe that feeling stems from the fact that I haven’t) but never-the-less my needle, hoop and embroidery threads are out and ready for action.

About a year or more ago a Round Robin I participated in got lost in the post between Scotland and India (just before it was almost totally completed). Here’s a photo that was taking before that terrible circumstance…

To say the least, I was devastated. All those hours of stitching and posting to different countries to end like this. Well I recently received a mystery package in the mail… no it was not my butterfly RR returning home but it was a new beautiful sampler the ladies put together (in secret) and I received it with as much joy as I would have the one that went ‘astray’.

A RR (Round Robin) is a group of cross stitchers living in different (or the same) countries that stitch on rotating projects until your own project returns home completed with six designs.

The ladies left a square for me to stitch a butterfly at the top (which can’t really be seen in this photo). So hoping this project will subdue my cooking bug and bring my cross stitching bug back.

A big thank you to all those lovely ladies:
Julie, Maggie, Lallee, Samantha and Janet

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=222 1 Supper… http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=221 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=221#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:35:35 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann2/?p=221 Coconut Chicken Marsala with mixed salad and bananas with coconut…

We have curry about once a week and Andy doesn’t eat it at all so I usually make pasta for him. He loves raw veggies so I give him a whole lot at supper time and he eats some at supper and snacks on the rest between supper and bedtime. Tonight I made pasta with a cheese and tuna sauce and froze the rest in portions for future ‘curry night’ uses.

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=221 1 Housesitting Weekend – Part 2 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=220 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=220#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:20:30 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann2/?p=220 Andy and Zi…

Shammy…

Sucking up spaghetti…

Isha, Rupert and Baby Thomas came for supper (curry) on Saturday night… Andy entertained the company with some dancing…

And believe it or not, I was also there…

Transferring an embroidery design onto a garment…

Feeding the ducks…

]]> http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?feed=rss2&p=220 0 Housesitting Weekend – Part 1 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=219 http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann/?p=219#comments Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:01:33 +0000 Celiah Ann http://blogs.vanblerk.org/ann2/?p=219 We ‘house-sat’ along with Rachel and Andrea for my MIL this past weekend so here are some random pics…

My darling boy…

With Bruno…

Wowo (our live entertainment for the weekend)…

Making balls from bread and feeding the ducks…

Dancing to ‘Old McDonald’…

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