A sneaky peek at my new Winter 2010 Collection
You may have guessed from previous posts that I am loving crochet cable at the minute, it is so effective and just plain gorgeous!
Ignoring my stash busting 2010 promise (its only the second time – honest, and I have good reason too!) I mean, I can’t create a whole new range from my poor selection of odd balls of acrylic can I?
So, I’ve bought some gorgeous aran, among other gorgeous wool that I’ll show you soon, and have been playing with some new ideas for scarflettes, cowls and gloves. They were quite a good seller last winter so I wanted to improve on my designs a bit more.
Its still in the early stages, (2 sport mad boys off school FOREVER are not conducive to creativity of the crochet sort) but I am really pleased with how its going so far, what do you think?
I’m working on a couple of different designs and I need to get a friend round so I can photograph her wearing them, not me twisting my arm in the mirror – but hopefully they should be in my shops in around a month!
crocheted cable
You know I said I took that little detour to Hobbycraft on holiday, well here is a pic of my cable, the wool (though rather pink in this pic?) is a lovely blend of wool, alpaca and silk
It did take a while to figure out, the instructions are not that clear and there was a mistake printed too but I will persever with it. I love the chunkyness of it and that fact it looks like knit. I’m think i’m going to make this into a bag, but this has definitely taken over the top of my list of new projects, especially with winter coming!
Update: I’ve finished my bag! I’m quite pleased with it, if I was to do more I need to tweek it a bit. The handles are off an old favourite bag that wore out last year, It was perfect in size and I wasn’t happy when I really couldn’t repair it any more, but it lives on! I’ve lined it with some thick denim left over from some curtains, which give it a bit more structure and I put a little pocket in side for my phone.
my new bag Ta-darrr!
Bessie and Violet
These aren’t ordinary sock monkeys, oh no. Theyare sporty, well read and most of all – adventurous sock monkeys.
Meet Bessie
who is the sporty one. She can be a little too boisterous on occasions and has been know to break the odd tennis racket in her time, but she has a loving heart and looks after her sister well. Her favourite treat is strawberries dipped in chocolate with a mocha latte after a rousing game of football.
And Violet
Violet is the quiet of the two sisters, she much prefers reading a good book (she is half way through The Far Away Tree at the minute and Moonface is her favourite character) and dislikes getting dirty, unlike Bessie. Her favourite treat is pink lemonade and cucumber sandwiches, though she is partial to the odd chocolate dipped strawberry too!
When they received the letter regarding Isabel’s birthday they were relaxing by the pool in Cairo, Egypt after several days visiting the pyramids at Giza on camels.
Realising they didn’t have to set sail immediately as Isabel’s birthday wasn’t for another 4 weeks they decided to see a bit of Africa while in the area, so to speak. So with no time to waste they packed the trunks and boarded the bus for Botswana.
After 13 days of travel via The democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa they arrived at Okavango Delta in Botswana with the aim of going on safari around the Chobe National Park (where Aunt Irene conducts most of her research), and is renowned for its herds of Kalahari elephants, the largest in the world apparently!
Luckily Violet keeps a travel journal (Bessie takes the pictures)
and has documented all their adventures, for example
So last week they were packed up and ready for their new destination – Lincolnshire!
Happy Birthday Isabel, hope you have lots of adventures together!
Crocheted Shawl
But first a bit of eye candy! Have you heard of Gudrun Sjoden clothing? Its gorgeous, as are the catologues. I’ve been getting them for a couple of years now and I love their clothing and photography and colours and shapes…
The latest one came in the post today and it is just beautiful, I can look at the pages for hours. I think this is my favourite
Obviously even if I could afford it, I would look a complete muppet, not an ethereal beauty gliding round the streets of Barry like I’d imagine, but I can dream!
How fabulous is this too!
And now the finished shawl, it’s not my friends birthday till October so I’m going to have to put it somewhere safe and I have a new project to add to my list, I want one in turquoise! The pattern was quite easy and the gorgeous lace weight wool I got from fyberspates was an absolute dream. When I saw how fine it was I was initially terrified, but you soon get used to it and it is definatly worth persevering as it is so soft and light on your shoulders.
(as with all my pictures if you hold your mouse over it you can enlarge them)
Jane
Space Invaders (but not as you know it)
Wahey, I can cross something off my list, I’ve finished my crafteroo Space Invader themed challange!
So, after doing a bit of research on the internet about space invaders, the general idea seems to be black/white/neon colours and boxy shapes. None of that appealed to me, plus, I like to change things a bit!
So I’ve gone soft and girly though If I’m being honest it does look a bit more jelly than invader. However, sticking with the craft neutral 2010 challange (which I’m doing quite well at, my stash is slowly disappearing) I used this bright pink crochet cotton that I really can’t imagine using for, well, anything much. I tried a couple of ideas, but my fave one, a crocheted patchwork cushion in nice muted autumninal colours, with the space invader image picked out in slightly darker shades would have taken till next year. So I resized it to pincushion size I mean, who doesn’t love a pin cushion?!
Carrying on with my crochet patchwork idea would have made a pincushion the size of a pillow so after a bit more thinking I came up with the idea of freeforming it!
Obviously its more likely to gum you as opposed to shoot you, but its definatley a space invader – of the friendly kind!
A bit more upcycling
I know its not on my list, but I saw this competition on the wonderful makers online blog
Spurred on by something I’ve been working on for a magazine article, one thing led to another and before you knew it I was cutting up plastic bags.
I kinda have done something similar for the folksy upcycle christmas challange last year, where I cut up a duvet and made that doily floor rug, but this had to be something new, so I thought more delicate.
So this
became this
became this
and with the aid of a crochet hook became this
and with the addition of bits from charity shops and an old chandelier – became this!
What do you think? I really like it, the flowers look pearlescent and rich and feel gloriously soft and light. which I think contrasts nicly with the chunky chain.
Glamorous evening wear, just don’t tell anyone its from a Morrisons plastic bag!
Crocheted shell bowl
Well, the title pretty much gives it away!
I’ve had an idea in the back of my head for a while for creating bowls though didn’t intend to work on it till I’d exhausted my bag ideas first, but when I saw those shell bracelets in the sale the other day, well they were just sitting there and the football was on…
What do you think?
I’m quite pleased, these shells are quite heavy so I had to make the fabric dense to support their weight, so my fingers are killing me! I like the combination of rough, simple string and the lustrous, deep shells. I think I’d like to do another one but make this more curved and possibly more Lacy, though that might have to involve some sort of starch, I don’t know, but definitely it has possibilities!
A plea, and a new idea!
Over on UK Handmade they are getting a petition up to bring back a second series of the Mastercrafts programme, as the BBC have said that even though the first one was hugely successful they have decided not to recommission it. So if you have a minute please pop over to UK handmade here and sign their petition, they want to get as many signatures as possible and they will present it to the BBC with as much publicity as they can.
I rarely go into town, but needed a few bits so I managed to fit in a quick wander – when what did I see in the sale? Oohh, I could do something with that I thought, I popped over to Wilko’s and got some string too. I’m posting now because my fingers are KILLING with this wonderful new idea and they needed a break. If they recover I’ll post some pictures soon!
Green Swap goodies
Well, Emma aka bagladee has received her parcel…. and I can show you what I made!
First up is the shocking pink, organic, fair trade scarf. I saw this on Ruffles And Stuff’s blog, from a link on crafteroo and fell in love immediately with it. So simple, so recycled and plain fab! I used an old top of mine that I’d ear marked for this exact project ages ago and seeing as Emma likes bright colours, and I have like a gazillion scarves, I thought I should make it for her instead!
What do you think? (excuse the face, It was 7.30am and Rich was rushing to work, the boys were trying to sort out their breakfasts, mornings aren’t generally good etc etc…)
It is such a simple pattern, and coming in at 158 inches makes for lots of drape!
Second up is a little pot I crocheted, from an old music tape from my long and distant carefree youth (the Prodigy if you were interested!), no pattern, just sort of made it up as I went along. Although a little squeaky to work with, it is so soft when crocheted and has a fabulous sheen to it so it almost looks like woven metal. Topped off with a button from my stash. Look at the gorgeous shadows it makes
I also added some buttons in an upcycled paper bag ( an idea I complety pinched from Rachel of contented who I did the pincushion swap with and will use again and again as it was fab!), some ribbon and a lush bar of fairtrade chocolate. With it being a completely green swap I made a couple of boxes from a cereal box to pack everything in that were very bright and quirky and I like them!
Luckily Emma loves her scarf and pot and I’m sure the chocolate has gone down a treat! For this swap I was organised for a change and sent it early, with us being away last week, so when Emma sends her bits through I’ll let you have a peek!
New Clothes
Good and bad!
I’ve finished my crocheted top taken from the lionbrand pattern ‘Sea Breeze crocheted top’. Hhmm, well, on the plus, I like it, it fits nice, its really soft, the pattern is lovely. On the minus side I look a complete muppet in it. I added a couple of flowers to the neckline to soften it a bit, but its going to take more than that…
So this
… is going to become a nice soft scarf and i’m going to undo it now because if I don’t I’ll chick out, think of all that work and put it in the back of my drawer thinking ’I'm sure I will wear it sometimes’, knowing full well I won’t but I can convince myself of most things if I try hard enough.
On the good side – I made a skirt AND IT FITS!!! It was a butterick pattern B4461 if your interested, and says in big capitals ‘FAST & EASY’. Focusing on the ‘easy’ bit I bought it, primarily after spending hours drooling over the fabrics that primrose corner has.
I put darts in and an enclosed zip, yes, really! The only thing I’m not sure about is I think I should have sewn the zip top below the seam allowance, though it didn’t say to, because its a little bulky at the top now as i had to fold that bit down and hand stitch it. There is no waistband but the waist has facing on the inside.
I apologise for the appalling photo but have you tried photographing yourself in a dusty mirror?!
And a better one
I will definitely be making more now its not so scary and I get results in a few hours too, just need some warm weather now…
