Photo Scavenger Hunt, November

Mmmm. After missing out last month I was adamant that my November photos will be done in time and ready way before the end of the month.

He he heee.  That was now before I realised that we had to get through a swimming gala, two school concerts (one spanning 4 nights), a fundraising concert, a family wedding, arranged an unplanned trip to the US (my husband) and just generally hurtling toward the end of the academic and calendar year. I'm counting the 9 sleeps until we leave on our summer holiday!

Now. Some shots I could get, others not.  But because I jouned the Scavenger Hunt so late in the year, I though I'd have a look through earlier photos of 2011 (I know...).  As always, snapped with my falling-apart Nokia Navigator (only has to survive until January!).

Here goes:

1  Poppy.  Nope. No can do, not now. The heat got them all. Was hoping to quickly crochet one, but alas...

2. Memorial.  A replica of the Long Tom cannons used in the Anglo-Boer War (a.k.a South African War). This one is situated in the Long Tom Pass in the position it was used. Mpumalanga, June.

3.  Silhouette.  Me, on the beach at Kenton-on-Sea, Eastern Cape, South Africa. I'm standing on top of a very high dune, snapping away at  my husband and the boys.  October.

4. Something I made  I learnt to crochet this year, and this was my first successful Big Project - a baby blanket for a friend's new little one.  October, in the baby room.

5.  Something purple. So much to choose!  This time of the year, Pretoria is a mass of purple jacaranda flowers, and it was the prettiest I've seen in a long time.  So I took heaps of snaps.  But it's also agapanthus season, and they're a bit early this year, too beautiful for words.  In the end this shot won: a new agapanthus variety, released only last season, "Black Velvet".  It is the deepest, darkest purple you can imagine, utterly beautiful (and my doags already killed one of the three that I bought this month...).

6. Warmth. Early morning fire at the Pretoria Farmers' Market. June.

7.  Polka dots  Polka dot-wrapped nougat at the Unica Christmas Market, Pretoria.

8 A lucky charm I saw this little charm last week, attached to a doilie that was still in the making.  Quite nice, and could work as a lucky charm, I would think.

9. Comfort food I am on a mission to master the baking of rusks.  These came out perfect - rich, slightly sweet, filled with oats, shredded coconut, cranberries, almond, hazelnut and every other I could find in the house.  Perfect with early morning tea.

10   Staircase A very bland-looking staircase at the hunter's lodge where we stayed last weekend.  It is also extremely steep and narrow and I was paranoid about the boys running up and down, seeing as the little one had three nasty cuts to his head already this year! (And now it doesn't want to rotate, sorry).

11.  Something that lights up  My favourite favourite laser-cut iron baobab tree with its Christmas dress.

11. Self-portrait Taken for my book club, with me pretending to be scared senseless by the prospect of reading Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" during the December holidays...

Hee heee :-) 

Now, let's see what everybody else posted over at Kathy's.

One-A-Day 11...Practising.

Time to report back on One-a-Day!

I set the Ripple aside and got going with various smaller projects.  I'm busy figuring out a sun hat for a little girl, doing hanger covers and such.

These little motifs below were done with yarn that I actually wanted to do rainbow hanger covers with.  But it hooks horribly (being the absolute cheapest you can find in SA, @ R2/50g). So I abandoned ship, but, not wanting to waste this little heap of yarn, decided to practise some circles, stars, flowers etc, and then use the lot to yarn bomb the tree in front of my FIL's house over Christmas ;-). 

It certainly is bright enough :-D

So I hooked one of these per day and will continue until the little balls of yarn are gone.

Will also practise starching the lot!

I'm looking forward to see what else happened in One-a-Day land, over at Carole's blog. 

(And I quietly envy all the lovely Christmas preparations up north!  A hot, summery Christmas is great, but there is just something about the cold, the candles, the darkness, the snow...).

One-A-Day 10, or, The Rolling-on-nicely Ripple!

At last!

Two rainbow bands finished!

This is what it looks like...



..and I'm a Happy Hooker :-)

BUT

I am going to put the rainbow aside for a while. We are experiencing our second heatwave in as many weeks, and that amount of acrylic on my lap is a bit much.  So I'll take it up again in December when we're on holiday in the southwestern Cape, with a much more civilised climate! Until then, I'll be One-A-Daying with some smaller projects that I Need To Finish.

Thank you for all the lovely comments and feedback on my rippe so far. It is really encouraging and keeps me from throwing in the blanket! Gonna blow you all away in January ;-)  In the meantime, I really love looking at your work, the beautiful prjects coming from this One-A-Day, and there are so many ideas coming up.

(PS.  Translation of previous post Ons Hekel/We Crochet now done to English).

Now.  Let's have a look at all the other great projects listed over at Carole's blog...

Ons Hekel/We Crochet



Agt maande gelede tel ek uit die bloute 'n hekelpen op (dit was 'n 4.5, my ma s'n wat ek om een of ander onverklaarbare rede gehou het). 

Ek koop 'n hekelboek, bel my Sisi en kondig aan dat ek nou ook gaan leer (sy het my al begin lus maak, sien, met dingetjies wat sy self begin maak het, en sy het my laat kyk na Attic 24, en woeps, daar's ek weggeblaas en moet ook leer).

Gaan sit toe met dit boek. Ag jete, wat 'n gesukkel!  Twee linkerhande, ek weet nie waar om die draad vas te hou en hoe om die pen vas te hou nie.

Google 'n paar "how to's" op You Tube...nou sit ek met die boek én You Tube voor my.

Uiteindelik bel ek weer Sisi in Ierland: Help tog net!  En drie dae, tussen boekie en You Tube en Sisi, kliek ek dit en trek daar weg met 'n vaart!

Maar toe wil ek uitvind van hekel en wolle hier in SA.  Want via Attic 24 kom ek toe op al meer mooie blogs af, Bunny Mummy (by wie ek geleer het hekel het 'n voor-en agterkant!), Meme Rose, Yarn Round Hook, Dutch Sisters, Crochet with Raymond, Le monde de Sucrette en hoeveel nog ( en intussen het daar so baie bygekom).  Ek kry nie 'n dooie woord in Afrikaans/Suid-Afrikaans op die net nie...tot ek die dag vir Natasja in London raak-surf met "ekHekel".  O vreugdevolle dag! Daar's hoop, daar's nog iemand!

Dit was nie 'n week of drie nie, toe email ek haar weer.: "Wil jy nie saam met my 'n Facebook groep begin, vir (Suid)-Afrikaanse hekel nie?  Binne 'n halfuur het ons 'n naam, 'n Facebook-page, 'n mooi foto van haar supermooi handsak, en ons 2 tweetjies = Ons Hekel.  Ons albei stuur uitnodigings na al ons FB-vriende, en weg is ek op my Jeugdag-langnaweek.  Ons hou duime vas dat nog iemand dalk sal belangstel. 

Nog iemande hét.

Vyf maande later staan ons op 644 lede! Who would have thought?  Daar is so baíe vroue wat hekel, en die mooiste, modernste, kleurvolste, kreatiefste goed denkbaar, met nie 'n 1970-produke in sig nie!  Elke dag sien ek nog iets moois (my To Do-lys raak al so lank dat ek bang raak daarvoor). Kyk net Loma se kombers, Ria se African Flower-kombers, 'n kombersie vir John,  Cornel se kussing (klaar gemaak) (kyk ook haar blog i love pom-poms) en...aaag nou kry ek nie weer die prentjie van Cornel se kussing nie :-(

En van my eerste gesukkel met 'n proef-Granny Squaretjie ...

het ek nou al soveel goed klaargemaak...

...en nog so paar ander!


Ek ken nou die verskil tussen 4 ply en DK, chunky en sokkiewol, en my penne strek van 2.5 tot 10 :-). Ek het permanent 'n mobiele hekelprojek wat oral saamry - mens kry ongelooflik baie gedoen so op die pad. 

My Arme Man mor net, want daar word nou baie minder ruggie-gekrap, want albei hande is nou besig, sien?
En skielik kry ek baie minder leestyd, want mens kan nie lekker lees en hekel gelyktydig nie (ek het probeer...).

Maar ek love dit.  Net die idee dat mens met relatief min moeite relatief vinnig 'n kombersie kan maak,of 'n serp, of kussingoortreksel - wie wil nog brei en steke verloor?

Ons Hekel groei onbehoorlik vinnig.  Byna elke vier weke is daar nog 'n 100 lede.  Vir die snaaks het ek vir die 100e en 200e lid 'n virtuele cappuccino gegee en toe agtergekom die lede tel af, wie gaan die 300, 400e wees?  Nou is dit nogal pret om my cappo te gaan kry by Pure, waar barista MX regstaan met sy masjien om skitterende koffie te maak met 'n mooie prentjie op.

Ek was vanoggend gou weer daar... Wie gaan nr 700 wees?

Eight months ago I picked up a crochet hook (it was a 4.5, my mom's, that I kep for some or other reason)

I bought a crochet book, called my Sisi and announced that I am now learning to crochet (since she tempted me with the nuce things she made, and linked me up to Attic 24 - I was blown away and had to learn

I sat down with the book. What a fight.  To left hands! I didn't know where to hold and where ton let go.

I Googled a few "how to's" on You Tube...then I sat with the boo AND You Tube .

At last I called my sis in Ireland: Please just help!!  And three days later , between the book, my sis and You Tube, something just clicked.

But then I wanted to know about wool and crochet here in South Afriva.  Went surfing Via Attic 24 I found  more and more lovely useful blogs..., Bunny Mummy (whoe alerted me that crochet has a back and a front - thank you! Meme Rose, Yarn Round Hook, Dutch Sisters, Crochet with Raymond, Le monde de Sucrette and many others ( and still more since!)  I couldn't find a word in Afrikaans/ on the net...until the day I stumbled onto Natasja in London "ekHekel" (iCrochet). Oh joy! There's hope! I am not alone!

I wasn't a week before I\ mailed her again..."Please start a Facebook group with me, for South African/Afrikaans crochet?"  Within half an hour we had a name, a Page, a profile photo of her superbeautiful bag, and us two = Ons Hekel (weCrochet).  We sent invites to al our FB-friendsand i left on my long weekend away. We held thumbs that somebody would be interested.

Lots of somebodies was.

Five months later we have 644 fans! Who would have thought?  There are so many ladies who crochet the the prettiest, most modern, colourful, creative items imaginable! Every day I see something I want to make (my To Do-list is getting so long I'm actually afraid of it). Just look at Loma's blanket, Ria's African Flower-blanket, 'n blankie for John,  Cornel's cushion (also look at her blog i love pom-poms) and..aaargh, now I can't find the picture of her cushion again :-(

 

Since my first attemp to a Granny Square, I managed to finish quite a few items now!

I now know the difference betwee 4 ply and DK, chunky and sock wool, and my hooks range from 2.5 to 10 :-). I have a permanent mobile project - amazing how much you can do on the road.

My Poor Husband doesn't get back-rubs anymore, because both hands are busy now!

And suddenly I have much less reading time (I did try reading and hooking at the same time...difficult).

 

But I Love It.  Just the idea that one can relatively quickly create a blanket, a scarve, a pilow cover - who wants to knit and drop stitches??

Ons Hekel is growing very fast.  We have and extra 100 member almost every 4 weeks.  As a joke I gave nr 100 and 200 a virtual cappuccino on the page, and later realised the fans ar waiting and counting down - who's going to be 300, 400?  So now it's quite fun to go and get my regular cappo at Pure, where barista MX stands ready with his coffee machine, waiting to create yet another pretty picture for me.

I went again  this morning...wonder who is going to be nr 700?

One-A-Day 9, or, The Redeemed Ripple

Hello to all my co-hookers/knitters doing one row/square/circle/flower...a day!

A week's rest -of-the-ripple did me a lot of  good.  Not that I really got a change to do much else! I did finish 2 placemats and 2 coffee mug coasters for my cousins's fiancee's kitchen (photo's somewhere, and will come later), and finished an almost 30x30cm flowery-granny square for a certain Curly Girl (which wil turn into a cushion) : 

But then there was also a rush to A&E with my Little Bull Calf (seems to be something quite common here amongst the crocheters, if you look at the last couple of weeks...) - amazing what a gholf club to the forehead can do:

And then there was a fun gala where my Little Man placed 3rd in freestyle and breast stroke (yeay for him, as he doesn't like cold water!  :-)

And there still is the ongoing Concert Week at the primary school, can you imagine the excitement levels here...

(Tall one in the back is mine).


But The Ripple, the Rebellious-Recovering-turning Rainbow Ripple - it grew. 

I didn't get to finish a whole new band, as I would have wanted, but still am very happy how it's turning out.  Remember I asked your opinion on how to proceed?  Should I continue randomly, or with another rainbow, or with a rainbow mirror...

And this is what I decided on, and I love it!!  Yeay!!  I have new love for my Ripple:

I LOVE how it's working out, mirroring the rainbow.  And then I'll mirror again.  Can't wait.  Have got new inspiration!

And now over to Gingerbread Girl's blog to see what's happening with the other One-A-Dayers!

PS.  Little one is doing much better, stitches came out today and he earned an ice cream for his bravery.