Isotype Goodness

I've been digging on Isotypes the last few weeks. [Developed by a couple of Austrian dudes, Gerd Arntz and Otto Nuerath, they are " a method of showing social, technological, biological and historical connections in pictorial form." (Wikepedia)]


My mister showed me this website thenounproject.com and OH MY it is glorious! They're so clean and simple. Was browsing last night and here a few of my faves.

Can you guess what they symbolise? Answers below but NO cheating till you've had a good try!


I'd love something like this as a feature wall in my house. What you think?

L to R : Levitation (I know! So handy right? That one's gonna get used a lot), Nutrition (v important kids), Caravan (yeah that one was a bit easy...)

Easy Fig Jam

So we have an abundance of figs on the two trees that are in our backyard. I am not much of a fig eater and neither are the others in this house so they usually end up as jam. Usually I do Fig & Plum Jam but maybe it was all the rain or something over summer because the figs are only ripening now whilst the plums are all over red rover.

I made my first batch of Fig Jam (and my first attempt at fig ONLY jam) two weeks ago. I ran out and picked a bowl full during a break in all the rain. They looked so pretty with all the little droplets on them I couldn't resist taking a little pic.

So anyway, who wants the recipe? Well lucky for you it's one I googled and isn't top secret Nana business or anything. Tis from taste.com.au - my usual one stop reference shop for recipes.

EASY FIG JAM

Makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
1 kg ripe figs, trimmed, roughly chopped
500g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
1 cinnamon quill
Pared rind and juice of 1 lemon

METHOD
Place ingredients in a bowl, cover and stand overnight at room temperature. Transfer to a pan over low heat and stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to the boil, then cook over very low heat, stirring regularly, for 45 minutes or until thick and sticky. Mash figs gently with a fork or masher to break up a little. Remove vanilla pod, quill and rind, then cool slightly, and seal in sterilised jars. Store for up to 3 months.

TA DA!


Second batch is now chopped and in the bowl on the bench overnight for tomorrow's cooking session.

The little creek that wanted to be a river...

Up until about noon today it has been raining NON-STOP in my part of the world for 7 days straight. Deadset... I kid you not... drizzle followed by more drizzle with several downpours a day thrown in also. I was starting to get a little depressed/angry/frustrated with it all yesterday. Particularly knowing several families of muddy strangers footprints would be tramping through our house at 12pm to see if they might like to buy it. I quickly had to remind myself of our neighbouring towns who really did have problems with their houses being inundated and roads cut.

Anyhoo, this afternoon it finally STOPPED! Now, I'm not an excersice freak, but I know I need to do some on a regular basis or I would look like Grimace after not too long. Needless to say I had done NONE all week and with some nudging from Mister I got my gear on this afternoon and went for a run down to the creek near our house. I knew it would be full and flowing but I was still surprised at HOW full and flowing it was! The path was cut in several places and I was easily persuaded to give up on my running intentions and just enjoy being outside. Glad I had decided to take my phone for music instead of the shuffle. Was able to snap a few pics for show and tell!

Granny Square Pattern for KT and her Students!

KT is my dear friend who taught me to crochet back in 2008! She rang this morning to tell me she was having some friends around to teach crochet and needed to pick MY brains on how to teach more than one person at a time. I told her my tips (cause I'm a 'teacher' now didn't you know?!) and also that I'd post this pattern here on my blog for her to give to her students. She was going to give them printed handouts but then we had a little chuckle about them all being Gen Ys and they could probs just look it up on their phones... So here it is girls. I can certainly attest to KTs awesome crochet teaching skills! Hope you have a fun night.

BASIC GRANNY SQUARE PATTERN

Abbreviations 

ch - chain 

dc - double crochet 

slst - slip stitch 

sp - space

rnd - round

rg - ring

RND 1: Ch6, join with slst to first ch to form ring. Ch3, 2dc in ring. Ch2. *3dc in ring, ch2, 3 times. Join with slst to top of ch3. 

RND 2: Slst in each of the first 2 dc and into the first ch2 sp. Ch3, 2dc, ch3, 3dc in same sp. Ch1. *3dc, ch2, 3dc in next ch2 sp. Ch1. Rep from * around. Join with slst to top of ch3. 

RND 3: Slst in each of the first 2 dc and into the first ch2 sp. Ch3, 2dc, ch3, 3dc in same sp. Ch1. 3dc in next ch1 sp. Ch1. *3dc, ch2 3dc in next ch2 sp. Ch1. 3dc in next ch1 sp. Ch1. Rep from * around. Join with slst to top of ch3. 

RND 4: Slst in each of the first 2 dc and into the first ch2 sp. Ch3, 2dc, ch3, 3dc in same sp. Ch1. 3dc in next ch1 sp, ch1, twice. *3dc, ch2 3dc in next ch2 sp. Ch1.

3dc in next ch1 sp, ch1, twice. Rep from * around. Join with slst to top of ch3. 

RND 5: Slst in each of the first 2 dc and into the first ch2 sp. Ch3, 2dc, ch3, 3dc in same sp. Ch1. 3dc in next ch1 sp, ch1, 3 times. *3dc, ch2 3dc in next ch2 sp. Ch1. 3dc in next ch1 sp, ch1, 3 times. Rep from * around. Join with slst to top of ch3. 

Work the next rounds exactly the same increasing the section (3dc in next ch1 sp, ch1 ___ times.) by one for each round you add on. You can make your granny square as big as you want by adding RNDs. Or you can stop at 6 RNDs to make a rug out of individual squares.

You can also use a different color yarn for each RND of a square. 

Changing Colors

To change colors at beginning of each rnd Fasten off after slst to top of ch3. Leave yarn about 5" long and after square is complete, weave ends into work. Tie on new color in ch 2 lp and proceed onto the next rnd in pattern. For Finishing each square, After sl st into the top of ch 3, fasten off and either weave both ends into work or weave just the starting end into the work and leave the finishing end long to sew the squares together. 

Photo Friday - Darling Harbour

Snapped this one at Darling Harbour last weekend while in Sydney for the trade fairs. After being cooped up inside a massive and overly airconditioned hall all day it was so relaxing to walk out and embrace the warmth, the sunset, the kids playing (awesome kids park there BTW) and the general good vibes of Saturday night in the city. And now, sitting here in Canberra where it has been raining non-stop ALL week and is today a bit chilly, I am dreaming of those warmer climes...

Yarny Flowery Goodness

Last night was week 3 of the 4 week crochet class that I'm teaching at Benedict House. It's been so satisfying seeing the ladies pick it up and enjoying it. Our project last night was these two flowers. Most of them had mastered the first one (left) and done a second within about 40min. So we moved onto the harder one (right) and they just flew through it. They could all read the pattern and were moving along at there own pace without much assistance from me. It was a bit exciting! I felt like a proud Mum on Graduation Day. One more week to go still - half double crochet wrist cuffs are on the lesson plan.


The left flower is a Lincraft pattern - SUPER easy. And on the right is my 'easified' version (see pattern below if you're interested) of this super cutie pattern from Rosehip blog.

CHUNKY PETAL FLOWER

Ch 4, join with slst to first chain to form a ring.

1st round Ch1, work 15sc into circle. Slst into first ch.

2nd round Ch4, * skip 1sc, 1dc into next sc, ch1, rep from * 6 times more. Join with a slst into the 3rd of the first 4ch. Break off the first colour.

3rd round Join the colour you wish to use for the petals to first ch loop (big space) with a slst, ch1. Into same ch loop, work 4dc, 1sc, * into next ch loop, work 1sc, 4dc, 1sc, rep from * into each ch loop, making 8 petals. Join with a slst into first ch.

4th round Working behind the petals made in the 3rd round (it’s easier to do this if you turn the work) so ch3 then turn, * slst between next 2 petals, ch3, rep from * to end. The ch loops made lie behind the petals of the previous row. Join with a slst into first ch.

5th round Ch1, turn the flower back to the front. Make the next row of petals by working 1sc, 5dc, 1sc into each ch loop. Join with a slst into first sc.

6th round Working again behind the petals made in the previous round, Ch4 and then turn the flower,  * 1slst between the next 2 petals, ch 4, rep from * to end. Join with a slst into first ch.

7th round Ch1, turn the flower back to the front. Into each ch loop, work 1sc, 5dc, 1sc. Join with a slst into first sc. Fasten off, weave in ends or use them to stitch to your desired garment/brooch pin etc.

Baby Succulents

My Little Miss and I spent the morning lovingly giving homes to some new succulent cuttings. I have a little collection of potted succulents on the back deck that I like to expand on from time to time. Often I end up just replacing the ones I lost from frost the previous winter so my overall collection is only slowly increasing. I have no idea of the correct names for any of them except the flapjack (that's the big one on the left). I just love the look of them and the fact that you can cut a piece off, put it in dirt and BAM! New plant. Here are the babies we planted this morning.

Georgie Love Giveaway - YAY!

Have you seen the Georgie Love online shop? Have you seen the Georgie Love blog? It's a pretty fab site with some pretty fab handmade goodness for sale but surely the most exciting fab thing about Georgie Love at the mo' is this massively awesome giveaway. And to be in with a chance to win it all I have to do is tell you what I'd spend $50 on in the Georgie Love shop. Seems a bit too easy! So here are my super picks... I LOVE THEM. I love red. I love red with yellow. (ps. you can enter too! Do it!)

Autumn Brooch $35 by Emma Grace

Geometric-Ness Print $15 by Allira Tee

Vintage Girls Dress $20

There is a crack...

I decided to get my 'creative' on this week and do a canvas for my Mister for V day. I am a complete novice at painting but was inspired by two different projects on the Beautiful Mess blog. This one and this one. A form planned in my little head... and this is how I did it.

1. First I divided the 8 inch canvas into a grid and began painting random squares in the first colour. 2. I ended up using 4 different colours to ensure I didn't have the same colour in touching squares. 3. I then applied a light white wash the entire surface. I did a couple of layers of this in an attempt to tone down the super brightness of the coloured squares.


Finally, I added my Mister's favourite lyric from Leonard Cohen's song The Anthem. And Ta Da! Tis done. I gave it to him last night, I think he was chuffed.

Photo Friday : Work snaps...

Had a little bit of fun yesterday snapping some product shots for my lovely boss lady. Among her many talents she makes these beads from hand blown Venetian glass. Her original post is here. There was this perfect little spot in front of the window where the light was just divine.