Sunday 19 August 2012

Works in Progress

Hi everyone

Not got anything finished this week so I'll have to bring you up to date with my WIP's.

You may remember from a previous post I bought 3 balls of Kidsilk Haze Stripe.  Well I just couldn't resist making a start - despite not having a clear idea of what I was going to make.  I searched high and low for a suitable pattern but nothing ticked all the boxes.  I wanted something sloppy and snuggly.  I needed something to keep my interest but not too complicated so the colours would be lost in the pattern.  And to cap it all a lot of the garment patterns appeared to need more than the 3 balls I had bought!  So what did I do?


Well I decided I would design my own, but as I didn't know how much yarn I would need I decided to start off making a wide scarf to see how far the yarn would go.  I chose a chevron/ripple pattern to give me a bit to concentrate on but also show off the colours and I liked the wavy edge!

As I progressed it looked as though the yarn was going to go a fair distance so I have now decided to turn it into a cardigan/jacket (I made sure the scarf started out wide enough for a jacket from the beginning).  I am a good half way up the back and probably no more than half way through the first ball so hopefully, if I use 1 ball for the back, 1 for the front and 1 for both sleeves I may just get away with it.  I can always buy 1 more ball if push comes to shove!


I think you'll agree the colours are looking rather scrummy and it feels lovely and snuggly on my lap when I'm working with it! Hopefully I should have a bit more to show you over the next few weeks.

I'm also about to start another hat.  I did one for when I demonstrated crochet in the new Hobbycraft Store in Kingsteignton but for some unknown reason I didn't take a photo!   The pattern came from the book Love to Crochet and was the Sloppy Joe Beret.  It's crocheted in Rowan Cocoon, a lovely soft dk yarn.  The previous one was in blue but the lady I'm doing this one for chose cream.


Cream should go with a lot of things and it should look lovely when it's worked up.  Once again I'll show you a bit more in a few weeks.

One thing I did finish today though!  It's a bit Heath Robinson, but it will do the trick.  We are trying to get organised for a camping trip and our camping cooker has been packed in a very tatty cardboard box.  Each year it gets tattier and tattier.  It must be about 15-20 years old now.  So today, I got my sewing machine out and made a 'bag' for it!  We had been given some waste yurt canvas which is perfect for something like this, is very strong and doesn't fray so no need to finish edges and seems (nice and quick!)  I did have to stitch a few pieces together to get a big enough square of fabric and the same with the straps as not one piece was long enough, hence why it's a bit Heath Robinson!



But I think you'll agree, as I said at the beginning, it does the trick!

Well that's all from me this time so I hope you have all had a good week.  I'm off over to Handmade Monday now to see what you have all been up to :)  Bye!

Sunday 12 August 2012

Polymer Clay Buttons

Hello

A very busy week this week so only a very short post today.  We went for a wonderful walk along the Devon coast around Salcombe yesterday.  There are far too many photos to add to this post so if you would like to see how beautiful this area is please click on the link.

First I would like to say thank you for all your comments last week and the help in naming Maisy's little tiny friend.  I finally decided to go with the name Minnie as suggested by Catkin Jane.  She really is very minnie and I love the idea of 'wearing purple' when I'm a grandma.  Thank you all for your help, it makes it far more fun than thinking up a name on my own!

You may have noticed for the past few weeks I have been answering each comment.  I hope you like this idea, I know it's not necessary but it feels a little more personal.

This week I have been having a fiddle with polymer clay buttons.  I hopefully will be running a short workshop on how to make a very simple crochet flower and turn it into a brooch or hair tie.  As there will be no crochet knowledge necessary for this workshop I need to make these as simple as possible.  Therefore I thought a button centre would be perfect.  As you can see from the picture below  I haven't got around to adding the holes yet and I will still be experimenting with other colours.


Below are a couple of ideas for the finished article



Thank you for stopping by :)  
I'm off to see what everyone else has been up to 
over on Handmade Monday.  
See you there!

Sunday 5 August 2012

A Kidsilk Haze Fix!

Hi Everyone

Hope you have all had a good week, our weather has been a bit disappointing again lately rather a shame after that spell of sunshine we were all beginning to enjoy.  What about the Olympics?  Haven't we had some fantastic results?

I've had a very bitty week really, not getting much done at all.  I did manage to put out a few posters to advertise my workshops and I have just been preparing one for the Hobbycraft Store as I am doing a Crochet Flower Workshop in their Kingsteignton store on 14th September and I have agreed to do another workshop for Social Fabric over in Totnes, a new venture for a lady called Caroline so I hope it goes well for her.  When you look back at it, maybe I have achieved a something.

I wanted to share a couple of things with you.  I had a 25% off voucher to use in Hobbycraft which had to be used by today - so as it was raining extremely hard all day it was an ideal opportunity to pop down for a bit of retail therapy.  Look what I bought!!  It is so scrummy!


Three balls of Kidsilk Haze Stripe!!!!  I have no idea what I shall do with it but using it recently to make those fingerless gloves I absolutely love it.  I had to buy 3 balls just in case I found a lacey cardigan or jumper pattern, but a pretty drapey scarf would also be wonderful.  I wondered whether I should design my own jumper, although Kidsilk Haze may not be a particularly suitable yarn for a beginner designer to start on!!!  I'll let you know.

You may remember a short while ago I made 'Maisy' a little elephant.  Well I promised a dear lady I would make one for her to keep for when her great-grandaughter came over.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough of the cotton thread I used for Maisy so had to use something a little thinner.  As you can imagine she came out just a little smaller!
I crocheted her dress in Kidsilk Haze that I had left over from the gloves.  I think she needs a bow or flower in her 'hair'.  What do you think?
Here she is next to Maisy.  Maisy is about 3" tall and she is about 2" tall.  Both created from the same pattern written by Sharon Ojala.  If you click on her name it will take you to her blog where you will find the pattern.  Talking about names, any preferences for this little cutie?

Ooh one last thing!  A lovely lady over at Christmas Pie Crafts is looking for Friday Guest Bloggers she says
"If you are ready, willing and able to give it a go, please email me on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com with Friday Guest Blog in the subject area.  Your article should be approximately 500 - 600 words, but please don't panic if that seems too long,  Let me know the date you would like to take part and also your blog and website address will be added at the end of your article.  Many thanks for your help and I am looking forward to reading lots of fantastic articles and sharing them with the rest of the crafting world."

So if you would like to direct a little more traffic towards your blog just get in touch!  It really isn't as daunting as it sounds!

Ok now I'm off over to Handmade Monday to see what everyone else has been up to and I may even have a little look to see if I can find any Kidsilk Haze Stripe patterns.  Have a great week everyone, bye x