Busy resting!

Might sound like a bit of an oxymoron to most people, but for anyone like me it's quite common. 

Even when I'm doing nothing I find it difficult to actually turn my brain off!!!

I'm the kind of person who likes to be doing something even if it's just writing or reading or drawing. 

But lupus leaves little space for simply pushing through the day, for most people you push through the day and sleep in a little the next day or just take it easy. But for anyone with lupus or diseases like it, it's difficult to just keep going. 

Your body demands rest, or shuts down and you end up in hospital. 

I've been in hospital twice over the last three months with undiagnosable kidney weirdness.

I've had multiple ultrasounds, blood tests, even a hesitant CT scan. But the doctors still don't know what's wrong. 

Because of where we live I have to go to Joondalup Health Campus. 

The only upside is "The Buttery" cafe across the street. BEST banana (and golden syrup) cake ever!!!! And they also do a phenomenal sour cream and nectarine cake!!! SO EPIC!!! 

But the hospital is mainly for accidents, no renal team.

So I have after being in hospital October onwards, I'm just waiting for an appointment at Charlie Gardner Hospital with a kidney specialist there. 

Waiting is TORTURE!!! 

It's so frustrating not to know what's going on in my guts!!!

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Well I started writing with 'holidays' as my intention. I never write much when life gets busy, it's simply not a priority. 

It's times like these I sit back and tell myself to:

As in the opposite of overwhelmed (any young justice fan should understand).

Anyways, my birthday is the 23rd so that was fun. Got some AWESOME T2 products including the following tea and a gorgeous Gardiner teapot and cup set. 

And here comes my Christmas Eve pumpkin. 

If there was such a thing, but I made him on Christmas Eve so I suppose it works. 

Either way it's cute, I'm going to make a little garden to go around him and hopefully end up with a little character to live there.

And finally here are my gloves in progress. I could never find tipless crochet glove patterns. I'm sure I'm not the pioneer, but on the off chance that I am, what are the chances no one thought of this before??? 

To anyone whose reading, how was your Christmas? Any special Christmas projects? Crochet or otherwise?

Works in progress

Many, many, MANY works-in-progress. Should've taken a photo of my overflowing project bag! It's nuts, I'm terrible at completing things (well yarn related things anyway!). 

I blame pinterest, far to many tempting projects.

Either that or things just didn't turn out properly like this "lovely" hermit crab shell from the book Amigurumi Knits. 

There was nothing wrong with the pattern mind you, just the wool. I was having bit of a lupus flare up at the time and picked the wool solely for the variegated colour, as you can probably tell the Kitchener segment didn't work out to well.

The Kitchener stitch is just not something I'm very good at, I ALWAYS stuff it up and this particular fibre really didn't work.

Here is cute Mr. Moon with only half a hat. I think I'm going to make some little stars and hearts and cute bits to assemble him into a babies' mobile. Thoughts?

In celebration of "HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2" (which I am totally obsessed with) I have been sewing night furies and attempting a night fury knitting and crochet combo pattern. 

I just don't like knitted wings, I'm all for blocking and stuff but I would rather avoid it if at all possible. 

I think toys need to be durable, as in able to be washed many times over.

Never fear this pattern will be available when I'm finished and if your not a knitter or crocheter I will be selling completed toys through Brightly Burst' Facebook page.

Also in need of test crocheters and knitters, just comment on this post if your interested!!!

Look what happens!

What happens when you've got nothing to do?

You make something, well I do anyway. I make ALOT of things! I mean, like, heaps. 

But what happens when I'm not motivated?

Nothing, well something, but nothing. 

I suffer from an autoimmune disease called lupus, I get arthritic symptoms without the arthritis. I get sick super easily so I have to be uber careful about being around sick people. I could be fine in the morning and then sit down on the couch and sleep for the rest of the day. Some days in just can't get out of bed, some nights I just don't sleep because the pain is just that intense. 

But this disease is not like diabetes where there are designated 'types' instead every single case is a totally different story. My dad suffers from the same disease but even the difference between us is amazing. His is a much more severe case that really takes a toll on our family. 

I've never really mentioned this before on my blog because it seems to be a hard thing for me to communicate to people. Only those who spend an enormous amount of time with me actually understand. But knowing this may give you a little insight into my life. 

I knit and crochet because most days it's hard for me to do much else. I've put some random photos that give you a little interest! Might be a little disjointed to what I've written but I'll let you be the judge.

This is our GORGEOUS new puppy Thea. She's about 18 months old and pre-trained, (so much 

easier!) she's so needy, but in a good way. She just sits next to you on the couch and follows you around the house. She waits at the back door to go to the bathroom and brings her little toy to your feet when you come home. What could be better! Unless your not a dog person, but wait there's more!

Here's a fuzzy picture of my scrappy balls of wool to try out Entrelac crochet, hmmm interesting. I'll show you how it turns out! (Picture a cheesy grin inserted here!)

Teaching crochet to a friend of ours, tiny little hands, tiny little hook. Bad photography but hey it was nighttime and perfect opportunity! 

Here is our beautiful pussy cat! She's gotten suprisingly more cuddly since Thea's been here. It's unfortunate that she's put out by the dog, but nice that we are actually getting some affection!!

Here's is about 3/4 of a teeny, tiny baby jacket for a little stuffed monkey. But I mean Oh My Goodness I had to compleletely rewrite the pattern because even the premature size was way too massive!

I am in love with this crochet dragon scarf!! But I can't afford it at the moment so I'm attempting one of my own.

Pattern can be found here

And finally, ahhhhh, cookies, or at least the makings of them!

March so far!

New hy-line chickens! So gorgeous! But they are used to much smaller cages and don't quite know what to do with all this new space! We let them roam about the backyard for a bit but they tried to nest behind the air conditioner compressor! 

Little crochet house in progress. I suppose it won't be that little when I finish it. But man I hate sewing in threads!

Here it is mostly finished. I'm debating whether or not to put a chimney on it? What do you think?

Here is my most current project. An Eiffel Tower for my awesome sister. She does so much for me, but now she has to decide what she wants it to be! Could be a blanket (it's sure big enough!) or a curtain, or just about anything else!

I attempted a clafoutis but I don't think it really worked. Maybe the raspberries had too much liquid, or maybe too many of them? I've never actually eaten a proper one so I don't really have anything to compare it too!

And finally my recycled jellyfish, I'm still unsure what to do with them but they are pretty cool anyway! I thought I might make some normal crochet fish and maybe through a rainbow fish in there, I used to love that book!

Any ideas? Maybe a mobile? 

Dolls!

Ive long been inspired by Elisabeth Doherty's felt dolls, although I am nowhere near her calibre I think this little doll does me proud.

This is before the arms and legs were actually sewn on but the lighting is better. (it's actually the back of our living room curtain!) 

Here is when the limbs are attached, I am impossibly surprised that it turned out the way it did. I hand sewed almost everything, I tried using my beautiful new machine but didn't have the patience to do the finicky bits on it. 

I haven't decided the final fate of this little doll but I will probably keep it because I'm not totally satisfied with the sewing, BUT next time the proportion will be perfect! Isn't problem-solving a wonderful thing!

This is my final gorgeous doll, I finished this one a while ago but it took me awhile to get the motivation to sew all the body parts together and make her little dress.

The stringy thing down the bottom edge of the photo is actually a little garland, the scrunched up bits will be mini stars when I starch them and then both the doll and garland will be flying over east for the sweetest little girl!

Well that's my week as of yet, how has yours been?

Christmas wreath

So remember a few posts ago when I was performing acupuncture on a form ring?

Well here's the end product!

I took a photo with the door inside and the outside so it was a bit clearer. Only thing is its too bulky to fit between the wooden door and the outer security door! So it'll hang somewhere else in the house, but I still like it!

Any thoughts?

Comments? 

General random thoughts?

Busy, busy, busy

Teddy bear, oh how cute are thee? I love these little pieced body parts connected with little buttons. This Christmas he'll be going to a lovely new home, I'll be sad to see him go. I loved the way the variations of the yarn changed so smoothly, it's really the first time I've had any luck with this type of wool. It's my own pattern so the head's a bit demented but the arms and legs are from this book.

My little birds from the last post went to some new homes over to some cousins in Adelaide but boys are so much harder to make things for!! There are four little boys, two above 6 and three below. 

(From left to right) I bought a pooh bear quilt block for the newest little boy, strangely enough I had never enough seen a pre-printed quilt block until today! It's a perfect size for the little guy. 

Next is a boy who likes Spider-Man, but due to a lack of licensed fabric my fantastic brother found this spider print. I loved that it had the red scattered throughout and I got the blue for backing cause it seemed to complete the Spider-Man theme. 

Then we've got two different Lorax prints for two more boys. One is a gorgeous window sort of print and the other is an A4 size print blocks. 

And lastly I was searching for Ben 10 fabric but they had just run out!!! So instead I got the basic colours for that watch thingy he wears. I have an idea of how it looks so I'm going to appliqué it on. 

Oh my gosh! I just realized I didn't even tell you what I am making!!!! 

Due to postage I vouched for something mostly flat, I decided to make different pillowcases for them. I'll show you pictures when they are done!

Looking at the beautiful wreaths from Attic24 I decided to manufacture a Christmas wreath of our own. Instead of crocheting a scarf thing to sew around the foam ring I've cut polar fleece to stitch around it. A lot of the patterns for the individual pieces have come from Attic24 tutorials, the golden swirly things were supposed to look like west australian Christmas tree flowers and look pretty good if I do say so myself. 

For these gloves I developed the pattern from a photo on pinterest. My sister has already put in a request, they are made of mitered squares. I may post the pattern but I'd like to get permission from the original source first. 

Hope your week has been just as productive in this crazy lead upto Christmas!!!!

What have you been upto? Let me know!

Go Figure!

Ever had one of those situations where you just can't figure something out? 

 If it's a techy object those of is smart enough could pull it apart and under stand it. 

 Those smarter could put actually out I back together. 

 And the smartest of the lot would have known not to pull it apart in the first place! 

Those of us in the arty-crafty road of life often come across beautiful, inspiring pieces that are slightly beyond our own limited understanding. 

 It's in these instances that a detailed pattern is useful, or photos showing the making. 

Some of us are clever enough to work out certain patterns simply by sight. 

But sometimes there are those projects that look fabulously simple, but these things are often the hardest because the more simple something seems the more perfect each individual piece must be crafted! 

In these times trial and error is the only way to go about it. 

The past two days my sister and I have been experimenting with trial and error pieces to make the gorgeous bower bird from attic24

What have you made lately? What trail and error stories do you have?

More dolls!

So many dolls, so much wool! Not really a great place to be in for summer. 

Oh how much easier my life would be if we lived somewhere cold!

These are dolls made from my own pattern I like the long, thin arm and leg design and the round faces are very versatile. 

I've been thinking about making some boy dolls as well, but I, not really sure how I'd do their hair? 

Anyways I hope you enjoy my photos!

Preparation

This past fortnight has been all about preparing for the Churchlands Extravaganza. It's a mix of a public art exhibition and craft stalls. I, being Brightly Burst, have my very own stall for the first time! I'm so excited but have also been knitting and crocheting like made. 

Cute bits and pieces have been flying off my needles!!! My two favourites of the past week are my frog and lily pad tea cosy and the 'Wool Eater' pot holder.

Yes he is currently posing on a vegemite jar but I'm sure he'll forgive me! As long as he likes vegemite as much as I do!

The pattern for this one is Sarah Landon's Wool Eater. I used Russian joining on all my scraps and I think it turned out really nice. The thick pattern makes for a good potholder. 

I really struggled to find projects appropriate for the summer but I ended up making a lot of toys and dolls. I recently purchased Susan B. Anderson's book topsy turvy toys and was so torn between making gifts from it and actually working!!!! I have such funny conundrums!!!'

Completed chaos

If you've read my other posts you will have seen the organised version of this little blanket. It's been finished for a long time but I've only just gotten around to posting it. 

The worst part is always darning in the ends!!!! Oh my gosh! If I could pay someone to do it they would make millions!!! It's worse still with these multiple colours and gaps between the rows. There is only small gaps in this one but it was the first flat crochet project I had ever completed, you gotta give me a break. I'm working on a simple knitted giraffe toy at the moment for a friend's birthday, stranded spots every so often. It may be a bit strange but I can never get my spots to look random so now I don't even try!! Best to stick with what your good at I suppose!

Source of inspiration

For whatever reason I've been experiencing bit of a creative dry spell lately, the juices have stopped flowing, my brain became logical instead of imaginative. Yesterday I broke out ALL my yarn scraps, and I do mean scraps. Some of these were little more than 10cm long! I decided to make one MASSIVE crochet chain, theoretically merging all the colours into a somewhat haphazard rainbow. It ended up looking like some specialty yarn, I can't wait to use it for something!

I love the winter issues of better homes and gardens, I'm not a gardener but there's something about the colours God designed in nature that is pure inspiration! The winter issues also have awesome knitting and crochet patterns and ideas. Most of them are remixes of old favourites but its very hard to find decent old patterns! Especially for crochet. Last month they released the 36 page knitting book, there were some nice patterns but I always hesitate to spend lots of money on the same kind of yarn to make a garment that I might no necessarily like the end product of! There were some nice lacy scarves that I'm DYING to try out!
This months crochet patterns, I believe, we're based on an 'African flower'? Never heard of it before but I still have heaps to learn.

I also made two doilies. From this pattern:

http://www.crochetspot.com/crochet-pattern-hipster-doily/

I saw another version of it done it DK yarn, each row done in a different colour. I did mine in really thin red cotton yarn (happened to be the only thing I had on hand.) sad part is it doesn't match a single room in our house. I thought I might find some small frames and sell them. The cotton shows the stitches nicely.

I put a photo of the 'coasting along' pattern I made.

Granny stripe scarf

I love the feeling of new wool, especially a kind that I've never purchased before. These soft light colours just called out to be a scarf. I hated the initial part of counting out the chain length, but the end justified the means.

I don't consider myself an expert, I know I have a lot to learn, but I also have a lot to give. This is the first time I've ever work a granny technique and I think it turned out pretty well.

I hate the fact that only a minuscule fraction of my generation has the patience or willingness to learn how to knit, or crochet, or sew, or embroider. All of these are dying arts, in one or two generations time there won't be any of us left! It is a purpose of mine to teach as many young people as I can, to inspire an interest. Many people love the end product but don't have the willpower to create it themselves!
For any of you out there in cyberspace who happen to have stumbled upon this page, whether you are a grandmother, mother or someone like me. Try to teach as many people as you can, show them what can be accomplished.

BrightlyBurst, over and out.

Organised chaos

This is my take on the 'purl bee' bear's rainbow blanket. The colours are not as RAINBOW as their version, it kind of turned out like organised chaos of a rainbow. I'm loving the more finished side of the product. Not looking forward to joining it all together!