:: Just Asking : What Are You Reading?

I'm reading the book on the left when I'm out and about, in a queue or sitting in the park : it's in my handbag.
I'm reading the book on the right when I'm at home : it's by my bed and is essential bathtub reading too.

What are you reading? I would love to know!

xx Pip

:: We Love Dan Sultan...

Yes we do. You might too. Pop over here and listen to Max's favourite 'Old Fitzroy'
Because we live in Fitzroy. And Dan does too. Apparently. Yep. Snap!

This is how we spent the late afternoon of January 26th : It's Australia Day to some but Survival Day to our indigenous population. We hung out at the Survival Day celebrations and listened to some cool music with some nice people.

Hope you had a great day yesterday, whatever you call it!

xx Pip

:: So Far So Good...

The story so far! I'm just under halfway there! I think I'll be finished by the end of June! I think! Maybe....!

xx Pip

:: Crochet School : How To Make A Granny Square

Lesson 1 : How To Make A Slip Knot
Lesson 2 : How To Hold Your Yarn Right
Lesson 3 : How To Crochet Chain Stitch
Lesson 4 : How To Start Your Square
Lesson 5 : How To Make The First Round!
Lesson 6 : How To Make The Second Round!
Lesson 7: Change Your Yarn Colour
Lesson 8 : How To Make the Third Round!
Lesson 9 : How To Sew In Your Yarn Ends
Lesson 10 : Joining Granny Squares

 Yay! I want to teach you how to crochet! Do you want to learn how to make a granny square? I bet you do!  Please note that these videos don't have sound. It's all about the watch and do!  So learn to crochet with me!

xx Pip

:: Nice Times

:: Crochet School : Lesson 10 : Joining Granny Squares Together

Here is a really, really easy way to join your granny squares together to make a long strip. I'll show you how to join the strips later in the week, in case you can't work that out! I think this is the easiest way you will ever learn! It creates a raised, decorative ridge join. Here is how.

We need to make long strips of granny squares to then crochet together. Work out how wide your blanket will be. Lay your squares side by side until the width is right. How many squares? That's how many you need to join side by side to make a strip.

To join the sides of two granny squares::
Put your granny squares with their right sides facing out.
Line up the corner gap and tie your joining yarn there in a firm knot.
Chain 3
Now match up the corner gaps of BOTH granny squares and TREBLE 2 into BOTH lined up gaps.
Chain 1
Find the next gap on BOTH granny squares.
Treble three into BOTH of those lined up gaps.
Chain 1
Find the next gap on BOTH granny squares.
Treble three into BOTH of those lined up gaps.

Continue on in this pattern, filling each matched pair of gaps with 3 trebles right to the last gap.
Then yarn over and top loop through bottom loop.
Pull your loop nice and loose.
Snip your yarn and pull the loose end out until it forms a tight knot.

If you'd like to join them without a ridge showing - rather much flatter - go here to see how!

xx Pip

:: Crochet School : Lesson 9 : How To Sew In Your Loose Yarn Ends

You need a big fat tapestry needle from your sewing store! You do! We need to be able to thread that thick yarn through the needle's eye. Then you simply thread the loose end through the eye and sew backwards and forwards under your stitches (so your thread is concealed and woven in) 3 or 4 or 5 times. Then snip the end close to your work and give the granny square a wriggle so the end disappears under your stitches!

:: Crochet School : Lesson 8 : Making Round 3

lovely grannies above by All Things Bright



Hey!

Hope it's going well for you in Nanna-Land! Here's the complete video series to show you how to make 'Round 3' of your granny square! After this you can make round 4 if you like - but I suggest you make ANOTHER 3 round granny square and then I can show you how to join them! How does that sound!?! Sounds good to me!

After that we'll cover sewing in the ends. But for now, I give you Round Three!!!

(Remember these are best watched on YouTube - just click the YouTube logo on each video below - and then click the More Info tab over there for full written instructions to accompany the video!)

xx Pip

:: More Picnicking...!

:: Happy Birthday Kiddo!

You are great.
Yes you are.
I love you near.
I love you far.
I love you cross.
I love you not.
I love you cold.
I love you hot.
Mr Ari.
Of no Ferrari.
I'm glad that you
Prefer Guitar-y.

Happy 10th Birthday, Sir!
You are ace.

xx Mum

:: How To Make Your Images Appear Bigger On Blogger : Method 2

This way is super easy. You need a Flickr account.

Make sure your image quality is high. Check your camera and take your photos so they are over 800 pixels wide.

Find out the size of your Blog Post. We need to know the main wrapper width. This tells us our maximum image width too. Click here to find out how to do that.

Next upload your image to Flickr. It will upload at the large size - and also offer some smaller sizes too. How useful! To see these varying sizes, you need to click on ALL SIZES above your image.

This will take you to a page which looks something like this::



See all the different sized images we can upload along the top of the image? Choose the one the same size as your blog post (main wrapper) width or a bit larger (because we can drag it smaller on Blogger later!). Click on that size. When the page has loaded, scroll down and find the box of HTML code UNDER the image (not the url address : we need the actual code in the box). Cut and paste that code into your new blog post (in COMPOSE mode). It'll be showing up as code still. Click PREVIEW. You'll see your image nice and big in PREVIEW. Hide the Preview and go back to your COMPOSE screen. Good job. We're on our way! Click Edit HTML. Then click COMPOSE. I know. That's weird. But we kind have to toggle a bit to get Blogger to show us our image!

Click on your image (which is now showing up in the COMPOSE window, rather than just weird old code!) and drag the corners to resize it a bit smaller if needed. Blogger will show you the width in pixels as you drag. (edit : just noticed that you can't drag the images to resize when using Google Chrome. you can when using Firefox, though.) Keep your eye on that and set it to neatly fit within your blog post column.

It might not be easy to get a full view of your image in the COMPOSE window, but never fear, it will show up when you PREVIEW and PUBLISH!

That's it! Hope this helps you to have lovelier images!

xx Pip

:: How To Make Your Images Appear Bigger on Blogger : Method One

Hey! Hello! Here's an easy blog tutorial for you!

When you've taken a lovely photo and you upload it to your Blogger blog, sometimes you lose some of the more special details when the image is automatically resized. Does that annoy you? Do you want BIG images?! It's really quite easy.

First of all, you need to check how wide the 'Blog Post' part of your blog is.

Go to Blogger Dashboard.
Click Layout.
Click Edit HTML then...

Scroll down until you see something that looks kinda like the text below. Your text will vary slightly from this, because your blog template is different to mine. The #main-wrapper part is common to all Blogger templates, though :

#main-wrapper { border-bottom:0px dashed $bordercolor; border-left:px dashed; border-color: black; border-right:px dashed; border-color: black; background: #FFFFFF; padding: 5px; width: 795px; float: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;

We can see from this that my 'main wrapper' - the part of the page on my blog where the actual post and photos appear - is 795px wide. So I can size my photos up as high as about 790px in width before they start to edge out of the correct column or worse, get chopped off!

You'll see what I mean later... You should find out the width of YOUR blog post in the same way: Look for #main-wrapper { and then a few lines down it will say width: **px;
that is YOUR blog's post width. Write it down. We need to size your images about 10 pixels smaller than your blog's main-wrapper width to allow a bit of space on each side.




Important :: You need to be sure that you've taken your photos on a high quality setting. If you're taking them in a small format we can't make them bigger without affecting the image quality. So have a poke around with the image quality on your camera until you find a high quality setting : something around 800px wide is good - even bigger is good too but you'll need to resize them later!




Once you've taken your photo, and uploaded it to your computer, find out how big it is. Right mouse click on the image and select Properties. Here it will show you the width and height of your image. Is it really huge like mine?! And WAY too large?! Go to Picnik.com and resize it to the width of your blog post (or even about ten pixels smaller) The height will automatically resize to the correct scale on Picnik (or you can resize it in your usual program).

Note the new measurements of your image :: width and height in pixels. Write that down. We'll need those figures in a second. If your image was already a size that will fit your post width, you still need to write down the image size (both height and width) for use in minute.

Now you need to upload your resized photo to Blogger in the usual way by clicking the ADD IMAGE button. (Select LARGE size and centre the image if you like!)

Here we've done that



See it's showing up automatically sized at this small default size? That's okay. Blogger has your image stored at it's new correct bigger size. We just need to tell Blogger to SHOW it at that size. To do that click the Edit HTML tab as shown. Things will look a bit gobbledygooky like below! Notice we've highlighted the width, height and another figure which says s400 in our screen shot? : these are all the figures we need to change.



Do this::
Change the width to YOUR image's resized width.
Change the height to YOUR image's resized height.
Change the s400 to s1600 (if you forget to do this your image will be all blurry)

Now click the COMPOSE tab and your image will show up sized correctly! Hurrah!! Your image is no longer the Blogger default size!! You can size it a bit smaller if you like by clicking the image and dragging the corners inwards.

xx Pip

:: Stuff I Like On Etsy...

Frock : via
Oxfords : via
Feedsack Quilt : via
Ice Bucket : via
Tea Cosy Doll :: via
Bag :: via

:: Peach Keen and Beachy Teen...

You could have a totally crafty Summer with these New Bohemia Board-Bags. You just need a chiko roll and a copy of Puberty Blues to complete the picture.... Or some Reef Oil and a Dolly Magazine with Imogen Annesley on the cover. How about your beachy teen years? What do YOU remember? (Apart from the fact that you didn't rock a cool Board Bag like these ones...)

xx Pip

:: Yikes... Catchup!

P1000205, originally uploaded by shibby999955.

Hey!
Gosh... it's blowing a gale here in Melbourne...!
I'm writing my book like a mad demon woman and trying to catch up on my email today. Arghafoooee! It's brain-twistingly great fun.
I'll be back with more Crochet School ultra-soon!
And it's nearly Ari's birthday!
I've been watching Damages whilst I make my granny squares in the evening. Sheesh. I like Damages..! Rose Byrne is lovely.
I have joined 70 granny squares so far. I'll show you tomorrow! I will!
Love to you.
You look cute today!

xx Your Pal,
Pip

:: Crochet School : Lesson 7 : Change Your Yarn Colour

Hi!
Okay... I've had all the books out and watched lots of videos about the 'proper' way to change colours when you want a cutely colourful new round. But the thing is, I get a nice firm result when I do it my renegade way. So I'm going to show you how to do that. What I like about this way is that you can keep your tension nice and even - and there is no juggling of old colour and new colour. It all behaves nicely and is really easy for beginners. So off you go - change colour and crochet round 3....!

• Remember that the gaps are always filled by 3 treble stitches
• EXCEPT at the corners when you need to crochet 3 treble, 3 chain, 3 treble to form a corner
• Your first cluster of a new round is always the wonky 3 chain, 2 treble cluster : but ALL the other clusters are always 3 treble.
  
• Side clusters are always joined by one chain stitch.
• The two clusters in the corner are always joined by three chain stitches (these chain stitches stretch around the corner)
• When you run out of gaps to crochet into (gaps in the previous round that is) then your round is finished! You need to close it by chaining one, hooking into the top-right stitch in the cluster you're joining to, hooking the yarn over and pulling it through both loops. Yarn over and pull top loop through bottom loop to finish. Snip yarn at around the 5" mark and pull through until the loop un-furls and makes a tight knot. Then start a new colour!
• It's best to tie your colour onto one of the side gaps when you are just beginning - it makes it easier to see where you are up to.
  

Click the YouTube logo below to watch this on YouTube and read the blow by blow directions!

In the video we finish our 'old' colour, join our 'new' colour, chain 3 and then treble 2... then we would continue on as per our previous rounds and the above 'rules'....

Lesson 8 will be about completing your 3rd Round.

:: Pip's Blog Tour :: The Winners...!

I got my dates mixed up, so our blog tour starts on the 9th February! Hurrah! The entrants and winners are listed below!



The Winners Are ::

9th February :: number 310 :: Little Elephants
10th February :: number 348 :: A Little Bird Told Me
11th February :: number 368 :: BigPrint Little
12th February :: number 138 :: Coleurs d'hiver
3th February :: number 232 :: This Is Love Forever

The Random Prize for a Commenter goes to ::
Josephine Tale Peddler

ALSO :: The winner of the vintage copy of 'My Family and Other Animals' is :: Tashii
AND :: The My Place And Yours Baton has been passed to it's new permanent home over here

Please email me winners and we'll organise your winning posts/prizes!

xx Pip

:: Just Asking :: Gypsy Tea Bag Syndrome

So. I've had a few discussions about tea-bags lately. One was with my friend Ellie who was not pleased about used tea-bags being left on the sink. One was with another friend who had a grievance with used tea-bags IN the sink. The other was not really a discussion, but an episode of Sex and The City where Charlotte's fiancee leaves tea-bags EVERYWHERE, much to the Charlotte-chagrin.

I kind of ebb and flow. Sometimes in the bin. Sometimes in the sink. Sometimes on the sink. Sometimes on a little saucer, just to be fancy. I'm like that. I like change. It doesn't irk me, the gypsy tea-bag syndrome. Eventually they all end up in the bin, right? No biggie? They're not repulsive or anything...

How about you? Does it irk you, the gypsy tea-bag? Does it make your blood boil quicker than the Breville itself? Or are you nonchalant? Is it worth getting your knickers in a knot over random tea-bag scattering? Just asking...

xx Pip

:: Crochet School : Lesson 6 :: Make The Second Round of Your Granny Square

Above lovely Grannys by Sophie Isobel

Hi! Welcome back!

How is it going in your crochet world? Are you struggling? If you are just take your time and keep trying. I know you can get this! You can!!! If you are not struggling, you're a better gal than I am! I CRIED when I was learning. I am such a twit. I was determined to get this right - and the frustration really got to me! But I kept at it and now look at me! I'm trying to teach YOU!!!

These videos show you how to make your second round. If you look at Sophie Isobel's granny squares (above) you can see that the second round has 8 little clusters of stitches in it. Between those clusters are hidden groups of chain stitches too (sometimes only 1 chain and sometimes 3 chain, you'll see what I mean in our videos)

The videos below also show you how to crochet around the corner of your granny square. Corners are very important. Without corners it will turn into something free-form and NOT square! So do learn to make a corner, dear hooker!

With this kind of granny square the following rules apply :

• The gaps at each corner always form the corner for the next round.
• To form the corner you need to : treble 3, chain 3, treble 3 again.
• The side gaps are always crocheted into, in the next round with 3 treble stitches.
• Side clusters are joined with only 1 chain stitch.
• When you crochet up 3 to start a new round, the first cluster is always a wonky one made up of those 3 chain and 2 treble stitches. BUT all the other clusters are always made up of 3 treble stitches. It's just the first one that's wonky (3ch and 2tr makes it different!)

Next round we'll change colour - if you like! So you can see how to do that! That can be our final round and then we'll move on to joining the squares, so you can know how to do that too!

CLICK the Youtube logo at the bottom right screen on each video below to watch these on Youtube. That's better because there are detailed instructions for each individual video there. Just click the (more info) tab above the video description (on the Youtube site.

:: Sorry

I am sorry to tell you about Looklet. Because now you too will be spending all your spare time choosing models and putting big dangly necklaces on them. Even tucking their blouses in!

Sorry. I am a bad influence.

xx Pip

:: Those Who Snooze Do Not Lose

, originally uploaded by . an.

Hello!

Just dropping by to say I'm knee-deep in chapters for the new book... And it's coming along great guns. Nothing better then working through the Summer holidays, right?! But really. I am feeling pretty lucky that I am able to write this book. It's all coming together nicely. I think you will really like the projects I'm making. I think you will!

I'll be posting the next lesson in Crochet School later today, for those of you that are playing! We're up to 'Round 2'! It's not too late to join us, either?! It might be later tonight, as the videos take time to upload to Vimeo (around 20 mins for each 2 minute video!) so that slows things down a bit! Hang in there, hookers! I'm coming!

Also, in other news, our giveaway closes at midnight tonight! So click the tab up there if you'd like me to write for YOUR blog!

Right now, I've got a bit of a virus. I'm feeling a bit ooogy. You know. Tired and emotional. Maybe Cam will get up and make me tea and toast? He did that yesterday. And coffee too! How nice! Merci Cam!

I've just discovered NME Radio on Itunes. It's ace. Go to Itunes, then 'radio' then 'alternative' and scroll down to NME, if that sounds like your sort of thing. You might like it too!

I'm currently reading Nigel Slater's 'Toast'. I'm finding it pretty dark, actually. I think I have a pretty low tolerance for sad stuff. And there's quite a bit of harsh angsty stuff going on so far. I'm loving the FOOD side of his book. But I'm having to take it in small doses because it's a bit heartbreaking in parts. Have you read it? Hmmm. I think I'm just missing Gerald Durrell....

I've been watching Flight of The Conchords while I make my granny squares, although last night I re-watched 'The Devil Wears Prada' which was fun. Anne Hathaway is so gorgeous, I think.

Okey dokes. Watcha-all-up-to out there?!

xx Pip

::Ace Music : Menina Que Corre

:: Granny Inspiration....

Via the lovely

:: Crochet School : Lesson 5 : Make The First 'Round' Of A Granny Square

Hi!

Here's how to make the first round in your granny square! Yippee! The first 'round' is the four little 'clusters' of stitches at the middle of your granny square. We're also showing you how to 'treble' stitch. It's a bit of a long-winded stitch, but just follow the videos and stitch along and you will get there in the end! Treble and chain stitch are the stitches you need to make a basic granny. And if you're up to this lesson, then you know how to chain stitch by now! You can get this treble stitch licked too! You can. Practice and it'll all make sense eventually. Truly!



To accompany the videos, here are the descriptive instructions for treble* stitching into a 'foundation ring'**. Refer to them only if you need to, though. Better to just watch the video :

You start with one loop on your hook.
Yarn over (now two loops on hook)
Poke hook into the ring
Hook the yarn again whilst in the ring.
Pull the yarn back out of the ring again.
(Three loops on hook now)
Yarn over (Four loops on hook now)
Pull top loop under next two loops
(Leaving only two loops on hook)
Yarn over (Three loops on hook now)
Pull top loop under the remaining bottom two loops.
You now have one loop on the hook.
And one completed treble stitch!

*Treble Stitch is the same as US dc for those of you that need to know that! Ignore if you are just following our videos as is, though.
**The Foundation Ring is the chain of 8 stitches, that you slip stitched together to form a circle, in the previous lesson. It's where all good granny squares begin!



Good to know :: Our Granny Square is just a basic one. The first round will go like this:

From the 8 chain 'foundation' ring, and 3 chain up you've done in the previous lesson, you now need to do...
2 treble, 3 chain, 3 treble, 3 chain, 3 treble, 3 chain, 3 treble, 3 chain and the slip stitch into the third chain up from the 'ring' on your original chain 3.

If that's mumbo-jumbo to you, then just ignore it and follow the videos, in order, step by step. You can learn from the videos alone. I just thought extra info might be good to confirm what you've learned further down the track. So feel free to ignore and just go by the videos. If you make a mistake, just pull it undone and re-trace your steps, so to speak!

Here's an alternative photographic how-to-crochet-a-granny-square courtesy of Sarah London, too! And an illustrated guide here.

If you follow these videos, in order, then you too can make the very first round of your granny square! And once you've got this mastered the rest is EASY! So here we go! Good Luck! Let Round One begin!

(Round two is next! I'll show you how to treble into the gaps you made with your chain stitches. And I'll show you how to do the corners! Ace!)

Do drop me a comment if you are learning with these videos! It takes AGES to make and edit and upload and post these - I would love to know if they are useful to you!

xx