My creative space... ta da!!!!

My (Isaac's!!!) Crochet Mario Blanket is done!!!!!
3 months late and finished in the heat of a Melbourne summer.  Perfect timing really.

252 five round granny squares joined as I went along.
Ends sewn in over the last few days.
One round of double crochet in each stitch then one row of treble stitches around the edge in pale blue!

8ply 100% pure wool from the classics collection at Bendigo Woollen Mills.

Inspiration drawn from here.
Pattern drawn from here.
And here's where I first started it.

I first started doing this in May 2011 and had planned on giving it to Isaac for his sixth birthday in October, for which we had a Mario themed party.  Life in general kinda got in the way a wee bit, I kept running out of wool and having to order more and I basically got sick of the sight of it!  It appeared to be this never ending project that I wanted to ball up and throw in the back of the cupboard never to be seen again!

I'm glad I perservered in the end because he really does look wonderful!  He is frightfully huge and ridiculously heavy but clearly Isaac can grow into him!

Layed out on my king size bed, just so you can understand his size!

I asked him to pose nicely on the blanket... he farted and then couldn't stop giggling so I guess you could say the blanket has been 'boy' christened!

Lucky he still likes Mario or I would have been in a whole world of trouble!

These are all the ends snipped off after I sewed them all in.  That's at least 2 ends per square - 252 squares x 2 = 504 ends, plus one or two extras for the edge and the occasional run out of wool mid square!  I actually stayed up very late the other night sewing and sewing and sewing whilst watching Carrie on Foxtel.  Freaky movie!  Did you know John Travolta is in it?!

 

Now, I know there is a tradition in blog land of hurling finished crochet rugs into the sky and photographing them beautifully as they parachute to the ground but since this thing weighs a ton I give you this instead....

"Come hither... Mario and I are waiting for you!"

 

Other beautiful creative spaces are right this way.

My creative space...

I had big plans this week to get the Mario blanket finally finished, but then my husband pulled our entire kitchen out and that kinda got in the way of me sitting on the couch and crocheting all day!

 



This is actually the last square so I really could do the big reveal but I want to crochet an edge on first and see how many of those ends I can get sewn in.  Come back next week maybe?!



I have double crocheted right around the edge in that sky blue colour and am now going to treble around that a few times till it looks about right.

Sewing those ends are going to do my head in!!!

 

 

And in my husband's creative space...

 

the old kitchen cabinets came out and the new ones are going in!  Tis a bit exciting!

 

Visit some other creative spaces over this way.

My creative space...

There is obviously a certain amount of stupidity involved when deciding to crochet with pure wool in Melbourne's current temperatures (37 yesterday, 41 today and the forecast is much the same for the next few days at least).

 

But I had suffered through a mornings worth of ten pin bowling (where the four year won!) and felt that these are my holidays too so surely I get to do something I want!

 



 

Then I happened to find the entire movie of Good Will Hunting on youtube (how is that legal??!!), so I had the perfect excuse to plop myself under the cooling vent and pleasantly while away two hours of the day.

What did I do with my tv time before crochet?!  It feels like I am being so productive when I watch now with a bit of craft in my hands.

 



Mario blanket status update...

Just waiting now for the last red ball of wool to arrive so I can finish his overalls!

That lonely blue square to the bottom left is as big as the blanket will be.  I have a lovely pale blue ready to go for a nice simple edge and am seriously consdering a working bee too assist with sewing in all those jolly ends!!!!

 

More Creative Spaces

Some serious craft room mess!

I think it's safe to say that my craft room has become a dumping ground for stuff!

Seriously, how many tote bags does one girl need hanging on the door?!  And what you can't see hidden behind the door is shameful!  More bags of course, hanging on hooks, a stretcher bed and our old fold in half dining chairs that surely we can't throw out.... they might be useful at some point in time!



 

The bookshelf is vaguely tidy as I did have a massive magazine purge (which just about broke my heart!) but I tend to fill up all the nooks and crannies with 'things' that make actually accessing the books like a wee dance.  They have to be taken out in a twisty fashion just so for fear of knocking and breaking any of those special dust collectors!

 

And look at the piled high mess on top!  Don't even ask me what's in some of those tubs and boxes!

Having a crafty table is such a bonus.  I have that lovely big green cutting mat to use right next to the sewing machine... so why would I actually use it for that purpose!?  Instead, lets cover it with things that I have been too lazy to put in their proper spots!  And then lets use that as an excuse as to why I haven't been sewing anything... I don't have any room!!!

These lovely pj gift boxes where heading straight to the garbage bin at work on the weekend... almost sacrilegious!  They are terribly cute with little ribbon sides and clear lids which I thought would be perfect for little skirts and tops to go in.... if I ever get back to sewing any!!!

How could I go pass the 50% off calender stand at the shops when this daily crochet calender was begging to be added to the craft room mess!?

Last night whilst watching some tv I thought I'd start sewing some of those pesky ends in on the Mario rug while I wait for the last red ball of wool to arrive and instead I tripped over my long forgotten rainbow granny stripe rug.  It was just what I need to keep me calm as I stupidly watched Wolf Creek on my own until the wee hours.  Can I make a suggestion and say never watch it?!  I rarely go to bed and have nightmares and this one gave me some.  I think it was the freaky laugh that did it me.

 

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas with family and friends.  Wishing everyone a Happy New Year too.  Good luck with your resolutions if you make them!  Perhaps one of mine should be to have a craft room clean up!

Isaac is 6!

I spent the day baking today for this spunky lad.

 

All he wanted was a $100 note...

 

... The Skylanders Game...

 

 

... and a new remote controlled boat since Milo accidentally ate the last one!

 

Tomorrow we are off to the indoor skate park for his party with a slight Mario theme to it so the grand cake baking had to happen today.

 

Pinterest on the iPad acting as my guide to various Mario cakes on the interwebs.

 

I covered him with buttercream icing, only dipping my finger in once or eleven times!  (Really, how can butter, sugar and vanilla essence taste so good??!!)

 

I colour and then cut out all the pieces I need like a jigsaw puzzle and lay them on top of the buttercream layer.  For Mario I only covered the top, not the sides cause I don't know how to do edges without messing up the icing!

 

So handsome!

 

 

Ta Da!!!!

 

Some of his proportions are a little off, like his mouth is a wee bit small, but the birthday boy loved him when he got home from school today and that's what really matters!