Dinosaurs terrarium

J'ai eu une déferlante de cadeaux de Noël assez folle au boulot (que j'ai commencé il y a trois semaines maintenant...) Entre autres : bouteille de vin, stylo Swarowski, set The Body Shop, tasse en porcelaine Tea2, et une multitude de boîtes de chocolats et bonbons. 

J'avais aussi envie d'offrir quelque chose à chaque membre de mon équipe et je suis tombée sur ce DIY Terrarium façon Western sur Kollabora. 

Ni une ni deux direction Vinnies (Saint Vincent de Paul pour ceux qui ne suivent pas derrière ;) pour chercher des contenants... Au final mon choix s'est porté sur des coupes à glace. Si c'était à refaire j'essaierai de trouver des vases un peu plus profond car ce sont les différentes couches qui font un joli rendu (terre, sable, gravier). 

J'ai cherché à acheter des miniatures de cow-boys/indiens mais introuvables... Pas trop à la mode par ici, en revanche on trouve des dinosaures à foison (et j'aime les dinosaures de toute façon na!) donc hop une énorme boîte de figurines pour $3 chez K-mart, topissime. 

Ensuite petit tour chez Bunnings où le choix de plantes est assez remarquable, et j'ai craqué sur 3 cactus (dont un qui donne des fleurs) et 3 plantes grasses (dont deux qui donnent des fleurs également). 

Enfin dernière étape : arrêt à Coogee Beach pour récupérer un sac de sable, et c'est parti!

I started my new job 3 weeks ago and I received so many gifts for Christmas: wine bottle, Swarowski pen, The Body Shop set, a Tea2 porcelain cup, and an overwhelming amount of chocolate and lollies. 

I also wanted to gift my team members and I saw this Western Terrarium DIY on Kollabora. I loved the idea and went right away to Vinnies to find adequate jars. I got these ice cream cups (but I think if I had to do it again, I would go for deeper vases so I could make thicker layers). 

I looked for cow boys/ indians figurines but couldn't find any, probably not super trendy these days. However dinosaurs are everywhere (and it turns out I love dinosaurs...) so scored a big figurines box for $3 at K-Mart. 

I was amazed at Bunnings choice regarding the plants and fell for 3 cacti (1 of them actually giving flowers) and 3 succulents (2 of them also flowering) 

Last stop: Coogee Beach to get some sand, and here we go!

Je suis un chouilla anxieuse, j'espère que cela va leur plaire... Vous en pensez quoi ? Pas trop enfantin ?

I am a tiny bit anxious and I hope they will like it... What do you think? Is it too childish?

Generous donation

FR- On m'a contactée cette semaine sur Facebook (via mon groupe Stitch n'Bitch) pour une donation de livres et magazines de tricot. Il s'agissait d'une dame âgée qui s'apprête à vendre sa maison et voulait se débarrasser d'un certain nombre de choses. Bien sûr j'étais sur un petit nuage, et je n'ai pas déchanté quand j'ai vu ce dont il s'agissait. Les livres datent en grande partie des années 80 et certains patrons sont tout juste incroyables (de par leur beaufitude-coolitude). 
EN- I have been contacted this week by a lady through Facebook and my Stitch n'Bitch group to offer me knitting books and magazines. She is about to sell her house and move and wanted to get rid of them. Of course I was thrilled and couldn't wait to see the treasures I was about to get. I haven't been disappointed at all. The books are from the 80s and some patterns are quite unbelievable... 

Deux livres en particulier ont retenu mon attention: Knitting Book de Patricia Roberts (la couverture déjà est dingue - ci-dessus au centre). Voici quelques photos de plus :
Two books really drew my attention: Knitting Book by Patricia Roberts (the cover already blows me away -center above). Here are a few more pictures:

et Designs Knitting d'Avril Kelso qui regroupe des grilles de jacquard (énormément d'animaux):
and Designs Knitting by Avril Kelso which gathers jacquard charts (mainly animals):

Si vous êtes intéressé(e) par l'un de ces patrons dites-le moi. La donation a été faite pour le groupe de tricot donc cela ne me dérange pas de partager, mais de façon privée (par email).

If you are interested by any of these patterns just let me know. Since the donation has been made for the group, I don't mind sharing ;)

**Zebra powa**

EN- I've wanted to knit something with a zebra pattern for a long time and finally made this tee. It's only my second project without any pattern but I think I'm quite happy with it so here are the instructions for anyone interested :) 

ZEBRA POWA

MATERIALS- 

3.5mm needles + 900m white cotton yarn + 1 ball of coloured yarn

STITCHES-

double decrease: 

• on the right: k3, k3tog and knit
• on the left: 6 stitches before the end of the row slip one st, k2tog, psso, k3

decrease:

• on the right: k3, k2tog and knit
• on the left: 5 stitches before the end of the row slip one st, k1, psso, k3

BACK- 

Cast on 106 stitches. 

Knit in ribs 1/1 for 2.5cm (10 rows)

Knit (stockinette stitch) until the piece measures 39cm total (120 rows)

Cast off 3st on each side.

Every 2 rows (on each side): 

• 1x1 st double decrease
• 33x1 st decrease

Meaning on each row you do it left and right. 

Bind off the remaining stitches.

FRONT- 

Cast on 106 stitches. 
Knit in ribs 1/1 for 2.5cm (10 rows)
Knit (stockinette stitch) until the piece measures 39cm total (120 rows)
Cast off 3st on each side.
Every 2 rows (on each side): 

• 1x1 st double decrease
• 25x1 st decrease

at the same time, when the piece measures 41.5cm, cast off the 14 middle stitches. 

And every 2 rows (neck side):

• cast off 1x3 st
• cast off 2x2 st
• cast off 4x1 st

When the piece measures 56.5cm, bind off the 3 remaining stitches.

SLEEVES- Make 2 (invert the right and left side at the end)
Cast on 82 stitches. 
Knit in ribs 1/1 for 1.5cm (5 rows)
Knit (stockinette stitch) until the piece measures 7cm total (21 rows)
Cast off 3st on each side.
Every 2 rows (on each side): 

• 1x1 double decrease
• 28x1  decrease

Right side: every 2 rows:

• cast off 1x4 st
• cast off 2x3 st
• cast off 2x2 st

Left side: keep making the raglan decreases, every 2 rows:

• 4x1 st decrease

Bind off the remaining stitches.

SLEEVE EMBROIDERY-
I wanted to try a different technique than jacquard and decided to embroider the sleeves (it is veeeeery long). It is completely up to you. Here is the pattern: (repeat it horizontally and vertically)

FINISH-
Sew the different pieces together, pick up stitches around the neck with circular needles and work in ribs 1/1 for 1 or 2cm. Weave in ends. DONE

I started this blog a year and a half ago now because I was unemployed and thought it would be a good way to balance my job search and not get depressed, and it worked really well. Now I've found an awesome position and unfortunately I realise that won't be able to post as much, but I am still there even if I'm a bit silent :)
Have a wonderful Sunday!

**Acid cat ears**

 ACID CAT EARS Laura Hopf

EN- Meow

FR- Miaou