keelysews... sometimes

I wouldn't be surprised if everyone has packed up and gone home, figuratively. Crafting (or is that crafty-ness?) is in short supply at my house. There's no sewing to report. All I've managed is to hem some jeans and sew some buttons on. The crocheting of granny squares is proceeding slowly- around 200 more black squares to do. I've done about a third of all the squares (colour and black) that I need for this afghan, and in typical fashion I already have the yarn for the next project sorted out. Despite not getting any sewing etc done myself I am still reading blogs, but not really commenting. I'm living vicariously through everyone else out there. :) Work, on the other hand, is ongoing as always. The thesis is slowly being chipped away which is a relief. In the meantime I've diverted my 'creative' urges into another blog called thoughtstopia where I'm dumping all my thoughts, or the 'thinky' stuff as one friend called it. Sometimes it...

Nothing like a dedicated sewing and study room to stir the mojo. I feel like I should make something.  Although I have a large pile of alterations and repairs sitting on my new desk. Glad today is over. I must remember to speak more slowly when presenting.  Hopefully I won't have to worry for a while though. Crocheting black at night is tricky. Actually crocheting black in anything but direct sunlight is tricky. I have about 240 more black granny squares to go. I better hope for some sunny days. I might wear a skirt next week to work. I only said might. Thoroughly enjoying the Game of Thrones books. Reading on the ereader is much easier than heavy books in bed. And easier than crocheting the black granny squares. Haven't mentioned that hubby has a job back home. He's in the same building as me. Which is nice :) I've become quite fond of cider. I found Feijoa cider Yummm. Whittaker's now make Peanut Butter Chocolate blocks. Also yummmm! As is ...

Last weekend I got a new toy a new gadget for work - a Sony ereader. I have to say this is a very cool toy helpful device for work. Unfortunately, for the $229 you pay, you do not get a cover. There is also a stylus included, but no way of attaching it to the device. I umm-ed and aah-ed over the cases available, before deciding that I might be able to do something at home to keep my reader safe in the depths of my handbag. So, cos I have to have something to blog, I took photos of the way I made my ereader cover. Step 1: Find an old book that is bigger than your ereader. I started with an old diary I'd found the day before in my decluttering. I have no idea why we had an unused 2004 diary on the bookshelf.   2. Carefully cut out the pages by slicing through the inner cover paper with a craft knife - 3. Lay the book cover on your chosen fabric (or decorative paper) and cut around, leaving enough to fold over. My allowances were 5cm on each side and 2.5cm on ...

Wouldn't it be great if Murphy's Law kicked in as soon as you throw out all those clothes that are a bit tight?

I've mentioned that I've rediscovered crochet and it's become my new craft - to be honest it's about the only craft I'm getting time for lately. It can be quite addictive, not to mention it's a heck of a lot easier to pick up a crochet project to take to craft night, than a sewing project. My latest project is going to take me a while - the 'Granny's colour palette throw' I was impatient and used Spotlight for my yarn source so any hope of getting 11 shades of any colour went right out the window immediately. So my throw will be more 'vibrant' i.e I went for bright colours cos that's all SL had, and that was enough of a struggle. There are a lot of squares in this throw - yes they're only 2 round granny squares, but I'm not going to win any awards for speed crochet especially on granny squares which I only just learned to do. So I'm looking at 374 squares total, 248 of which will be black. So far I have thi...

Another blogiversary missed. You would think that New Year was easy enough to remember wouldn't you? And it wasn't because I was celebrating all out. In fact the whole Christmas/New Year period has seemed delightfully quiet. I say delightfully because this past year has simply flashed by with DH working in Christchurch, thesis work ongoing, transporting and wrangling organising kids, my Mother's death and the long, long job of sorting out the estate of a hoarder. Everytime I come home, I want to throw things out of my house, but usually by then I'm too tired. So, this last week, DH and I have been tackling all the jobs that have been neglected around our house - the weeds have been brought under control, for now, after a mammoth effort involving my sister and her husband as well as us. Why is it that the plants I grow the best are the ones I don't want? We've been decluttering and reorganising for the last few days. A trailerload has gone to the tip, 2 carl...