My quilting thoughts and inspirations sprinkled with a glimpse of life down on the farm

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

A finish and a weekend away

Not a quilted piece but something for the bed all the same!
A finish - crocheted Ripple Afghan
A few years ago I fell in love with the ripple afghans I was seeing around blogland. I started collecting yarn for one and LESS THAN A YEAR AGO started making it.
This has been a project I have really enjoyed. It became a perfect project to work on while travelling when I discovered that I could work on it in the car without getting motion sickness!!
It has wonderful memories of a visit to Australia with Mum to see my son and his wife. It brings back memories of my whirlwind trip to America to visit Spring Market. It's travelled within and around Northland. It's been in and out of town on a Friday night with hubby to get takeaways and groceries. I collected the yarn while travelling up and down the island to my parents' when Dad was ill. Stopping and buying the odd skein was a nice break on the frequent trips I was making.
I wanted it single bed size, not necessarily for tucking in, just laying on top, and also a nice size for snuggling in. And it's 100% wool, making it so warm. I'm a natural fibres kind of girl.
I followed the pattern I found *here* It is a straight forward design, making it a pleasureable journey.
Good old photo bombing in action.
I think Paddington was trying to let you know that she knew where the wool came from!
The last trip my afghan made was this past weekend when DH and I had some time away to attend the wedding of a neighbour's daughter. I wanted to finish it on a brown stripe as I had started it on brown... which meant there would be either 57 stripes or 61, depending on how much I got done while away. 57 it was!
And a little more about the weekend. DH doesn't get away very often - he's pretty tied to the cows - but now that calving is over, attending the wedding was a good excuse to book a milker and disappear.
Saturday, wedding day, at Kerikeri.
The wedding we attended in the Bay of Islands was lovely. The weather was gorgeous all weekend and it felt like we were just tipping over into summer.
Sunday was a lovely day at Paihia. I was very excited to see my first Pohutakawa
blooms of the summer,
My blog has been a little quiet lately as I've been working on several secret projects and there's been very little to share. Here are a few sneaky peeks.....
And now it's time to get back to those secret projects...although  my sewing machine is away getting serviced so I'll be doing lots of prep work. And it's far too warm for having the afghan out so that needs to be stowed away safely until the winter.
Until next time, happy creating and thank you for visiting,

36 comments:

  1. Your ripple afghan is so beautiful!! I'm so glad you got hubby away for the weekend and it looks like the scenery and wedding were spectacular!

    Your projects look fun! Can't wait to see the finishes!!

    Hugs from Texas!

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  2. Beautiful afghan! I haven't crocheted one in decades!!
    Looks like you had a great get-away. Those are hard to get when you are tied to a farm and animals! : )

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  3. Wow a great finish Raewyn. Your afghan looks wonderful. Glad you had a great weekend away. I look forward to seeing those secret projects at some stage

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  4. Fabulous finish and what a friend your afghan has been all these months. Good to see you enjoy a lovely weekend away, looks like it was a nice wedding spot.
    Happy secret project making!

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  5. I really enjoyed reading your story. Your afghan is lovely :)

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  6. your aghan looks fantastic. Lot's of memories in the rows too.
    great for you and hub to get a way for a change.
    great pics of the annual exhibition.
    the quilts look lovely draped around the home.

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  7. Beautiful afghan, it made some lovely trips, too. I love the pictures, the beautiful surroundings and blossom and the Maori names!
    Great photo of you and your hubby!

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  8. I can imagine how good it will be to snuggle under the afghan in the cooler weather.
    Good to get DH away for a break and how great to have lovely weather foe the wedding.
    Sneak peeks look interesting I will wait the big reveal!

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  9. Hi Raewyn your blanket is gorgeous and thankyou for the link and so glad you and hubby got to have a break away from the farm.xx

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  10. Love your ripple blanket - I am collecting the odd ball here and there to start one next year (maybe sooner). Pleased to see you had some time away - we all need a break to refresh and energise us occasionally.

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  11. Your blanket is just beautiful. I have a lovely green and cream one my Grandmother crocheted and gave to me. I love them. Beautiful bride and groom. You and hubby make such a nice couple...lovely photo! Good luck with the secret sewing xx

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  12. How nice to get away for such a lovey weekend. And what a lovely ripple afghan! Crocheting is the only thing I can do in the car without getting sick, too, so I usually have a baby afghan in progress. My last large afghan was a ripple, and it just got to big to haul in the car. Happy Stitching!

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  13. I LOVE your ripple afghan! You did a great job on it! So happy you got to get away as a couple. The pictures of the wedding looked so pretty.

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  14. Your afghan is gorgeous and you will love having it in the colder weather.

    Your time away looks beautiful. So glad you were able to have your husband go too.

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  15. so glad you both got to get away. Long projects are fun and do bring back moments of when and where they were worked on. Are you going to start another long handy project to keep your hands busy?

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  16. Great photo of you both, and lovely to have a weekend away. Your afghan is gorgeous, definitively better in wool.

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  17. Your afghan is beautiful!! I like this pattern also and made a tiny piece with this pattern just to try out (also from Lucy). I will definitely try this once. You must be living in a beautiful region of New Zealand, nice photo's!
    Groetjes
    Annemieke

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  18. Hello Raewyn, your afghan is lovely and it is going to be so cozy and warm this winter. I love the colors that you chose. I also think that it is great that you were able you get someone to milk your cows so that you could get away. That island looks so pretty and I can not think of anything more tranquil that walking along a sandy beach.
    I liked what you said about secret projects. They make it a little bit harder to come up with a post, this time of year :) I usually go ahead and write a post, but I don't publish it until the gift has been received :)
    Here's wishing you a lovely day.
    Your blogging sister,
    Connie :)

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  19. Hi Raewyn, gosh your afghan is just so beautiful, I too love the colours you have used. Looks like you both had a lovely weekend away for the wedding, your photos are gorgeous. Its nice to get away from the cows sometimes :-) Wish we were having some of that summery weather down this way !!! Love the pohutukawa photo.

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  20. Looks awesome Raewyn....perhaps I need to come to you for lessons......xx

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  21. Forgot to say today to you ... L-O-V-E the afghan and also that it did come on our journey to Pittsburgh and back!!

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  22. What a gorgeous photo of you and DH, quite a hot looking couple!!! I love seeing Pohutakawa blooming, it is supposed to be a good sign. Well done on your crocheted blanket, it looks so beautiful.

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  23. Your ripple blanket is gorgeous! Beautiful work. And what a wonderful bunch of memories you have to go with it.
    The wedding looks lovely. How great to have perfect weather. Enjoy your secret sewing.

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  24. Loving your crochet, something I have never really taken the time to master. Secret squirrel projects....I am intrigued! :-)

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  25. Well done on your lovely snuggly finish. It looks great. You and hubby look very relaxed and happy on your weekend away and i am loving the differences of your wedding party and our daughter's recent wedding. Beautiful and colourful.x

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  26. Your afghan looks so toasty warm!! I love to crochet, esp. while riding in a car or a plane. Great 'to go' project!! I made two this past year (a first for me! I'm just learning!) You live in such a beautiful area. Glad you were able to get away. I can't wait to see your secret projects!

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  27. love your afghan. i have one started.
    love your sneak peeks

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  28. Amazing afghan finish - oh, to have the patience. And love those photos of Paihia...

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  29. Your Afghan finish is beautiful, it will be so cosy. The wedding looks lovely we are heading that way around April next year, scenery looks gorgeous. Enjoy secret sewing.

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  30. Love love love your afghan!!! I always have great intentions and have a crochet square rug on the go but not as focused as you.
    Loved your photo's Keri Keri is my old home town and I have a sister in Paihia I love visiting but not nearly as often as I would like.

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  31. Your afghan turned out gorgeous! So glad the two of you got away. That is a really great photo of you! It has turned crazy cold here, significantly below freezing at night. I'm sure we will be ready for a lovely New Zealand summer by January!

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  32. Looks so nice with that finish of the afgan, glad you can work in the car, I can`t :-) Lovely picture of you too,a farmer and his wife, great :-)

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  33. Looks like you've been having fun! That smile tells me so. Your afghan is beautiful, and I can't wait to see what your sneak peaks are all about.

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  34. Love the afghan....colours are lovley.? Good to hear you both got a weekend away, not something that happens often for dairy farmers....love the pohutukawa flowers....that really says summer is coming.

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  35. Love your ripple! I have made many and they have all been like yours no edging added. This new one I worked was the pattern from Attic21. I have not made any out of wool but one day I intend on doing just that.

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