Happy Halloween

Hello Friends,

Sorry I couldn't post last week. Sadly I came down with an icky bug and spent last weekend getting better acquainted with the toilet.

So I have piles of craft supplies ready for Christmas. Lots of cute netting to make tutus for my nieces. Lots of felt to make disguise kits for the boys and Crayons to make more crayon rolls. Today I started on a project for beloved that is going very well:

I'm making a pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gloves for him. So please with how they look so far and if I'm pleased with the pattern I may post it on the blog :)

I'm pleased to say that I have some commission work to do through someone who got in touch through Maggie Makes Stuff so I have some cute baby hats to make. Pictures to follow :)

Some one else who got in touch was Katrien who sent me a picture of her cookie monster that she made from my pattern.

I love seeing what people have made from my patterns. It's also a relief to see that people can understand my patterns.

Since it is Halloween it wouldn't be right to have a post without some pumpkin crafts so this was my pumpkin for the family Halloween party (which was amazing by the way)

Happy Halloween!!!!

Weekly Update

Hello Friends,

I'm glad to say that the progress continues on the Christmas craft. I have planned to make sets of body scrubs with knitted wash cloths as gifts. I have the wash cloths all done and I plan to make the scrub closed to Christmas so that it keeps longer.

I have started knitting socks for some of the men in the family. I have been using this Chunky Sock Pattern that I found on Ravelry. I have knitted it up twice before to make socks for Beloved. It knits up really quickly and makes lovely thick socks. I am knitting with two strands of Aron held together so they are turning out very thick, but they will need to be for my brother's massive feet!

I'm looking forward to making this Princess Crown Pattern form Stitch 11 for my nieces, They love dressing up, I'm going to do matching tutus as well.

I have been very tempted by some TMNT themed crafts for beloved. This TMNT heads chart from ravelry looks great. I want to do it in Tunisian crochet as colour work looks really great in Tunisian crochet and I'm not so great at colour work in knititng.

Speaking of not being so great at knitting. The cardigan I was working on has turned out to be an epic fail. The sleeves fit fine but under the arm is way to baggy and the button band is to tight. Sigh! Well the plan is to pretend it didn't happen for a while then frog it when I find something else I want to use the yarn for.

Oh well, the ups and downs of crafting.

See you next week...

Weekly Update

Greetings Friends,

Well I am pleased to say I have gotten some Christmas craft done this week. I have made four note book and diary sets. I got some plain books and used double sided tape to stick fabric to the books. They have turned out really well, now I want to make a set for myself.

So as I have been off for the week me and beloved took a trip to Totnes. It's a little market village in Devon mostly run by well meaning hippies. Despite the rain we had a great time. We got some delicious garlic and olive focaccia bread in the market and ate the entire loaf in one day! It was that good! We may have stank of garlic but damn we're we happy.

There are a few craft shops in Totnes now, some places that sell beautiful dress making fabric (but a little expensive for my taste) and I visited a lovely shop called the The Bead Room where I got some bits to make lovely necklace for myself.

I picked up the key from an antique shop on the high street. I have a thing for keys and I was really pleased as this one is very old and pretty.

During the week I felt the need to do a bit of patchwork and finally I added another row to the hexagon patchwork that I have been working on.

It was great to see some progress happen with this as it has been sat waiting for attention for some time now.  I know it will take a while to get it finished but the anticipation is a part of the fun.

And finally on the crafty makes for this week I whipped up a cover for the new net book. I had loads of this leopard print left from last years Christmas crafts and I knew I wanted it to look like a clutch so this is how it turned out.

Well that's all for this week. No stitch and bitch for this week as we are off to Bingo instead. Wish me luck :)

Yay Back To Updating Weekley

That's Right, I have a new little net book so I can finally get back to blogging on  regular basis. Still getting used to the smaller keyboard but it's shiny and purple and that makes everything better.

So in crafty news I went to the Library recently (because it's like book shopping for free) and picked up a bunch of knitting books to amuse myself with:

Knitting Vintage by Claire-Montgomerie  I am thinking about making the Lacy Collar from this. This book is lovely, the models are all stunning and not only does it have wonderful patterns but there is something to read about each era.

Evil Knits by Hannah Simpson Well I'm a fan of anything monster. I really like the monkey pattern in this book and there are lots of cool ideas for Halloween crafts and great present for people who are fans on horror movies.

Knitted Dinosaurs by Tina Barrett  these patterns are so cute and I love that they have been designed in bright child friendly colours. The book layout is great as well, with great pictures at the beginning of the book so you can see all of the patterns and it's educational as you can learn the names of the dinosaurs and facts about them.

Pints and Purls by Karida Collins and Libby Bruce This book has been designed for the social knitter and has lots of projects that are perfect for popping in you bag. I like the drinks rating as a guide for how difficult the patterns are and how much concentration is required. I am currently working on the Cherry Cordial Cardi. I had a hoody that I knitted about 3 years ago with some lovely alpaca yarn but sadly it was an awful fit and I only wore it about twice so instead of condemning it to death by moths I decided to frog it, wash the yarn and re-knit it into this cardi. The pattern knits up quite quickly as it is bulky yarn and I'm hoping to get it finished soon.

 This was the hoody before frogging...

....and this is the cardi work in progress. I hope it fits ok, its so hard to tell when its not finished but we will have to wait and see.







Well I hope that next weeks blog I will be able to tell you that I have gotten some on the Christmas craft started.

Update

Hello Friends,

Well I have been a busy crafty bunny on my week off. Its nice to start a new project and have the time to really make some headway in getting it done.

I've started working on a fusion blanket, The squares are from a moda charm pack that I have sewn together, I then did a blanket stitch around the edge then crocheted into the blanket stitch. Once I joined them all together I just crocheted around in a granny square style. I'm going to keep going until the yellow yarn runs out then possible add a few flowers:

This project is going to be for my mum's Christmas present, quite pleased that I am getting started on the Christmas craft already.

So with my time off I have been getting re-acquainted with my sewing machine. I have realised now that my machine is very sensitive so I have to change the needle regularly for different types of fabric, otherwise the tension goes all wrong and I get angry.

So in the process of getting re-acquainted I have been whipping up these super cute hand warmers:

I have made a whole bunch to sell on Maggie Makes Stuff they are £4 for a pair and are filled with wheat. All you have to do is pop them in the microwave for 30-45 seconds on full power and "bing!" you have toasty warms hands. They are small enough to keep inside your gloves and I have even made some in manly fabric so the guys can be toast warm too.

Take a browse, I hope you like them.

And on a final note, the Hexipuff total now stands at 45!

After laying them all out I have realised I will need at least 100 to make anything of use, but I'll keep at it and see where this takes me.

Well I hope you are all well, Thanks for reading and keep crafting :)

Weekly(ish) Update

Dear Friends,

 Sadly my updates will be intermittent for a while due to my poor laptop breaking so I will be updating when I get the chance to use other people’s computers.

I’m glad to be updating with good news, my sewing machine is finally back and running like a dream. I’m being extra careful with it now and making sure I change the needles for different types of fabric and I couldn’t be happier, I’m looking forward to whipping up a bunch of sewn goods for Maggie Makes Stuff.

I have a wedding coming up in a few days and I have just finished knitting a clutch bag for the big day. The yarn is very thick, and has a beautiful sheen to it. I always feel like a genius when I do cable work as it looks so complex when it’s finished. I lined it with green fabric to match my bridesmaid dress and I’m very please with the finished results.

You may remember just before my sewing machine broke I had made a re-usable sandwich wrap from oil cloth fabric. Well I was so excited when I got the sewing machine back that I whipped up this re-usable snack back to match. I think a few people might be getting matching lunch sets for Christmas.

As you can tell I have been busy with my beloved machine since I got it back and since the weather is turning I have been thinking of making a few hand warmers for Maggie Makes Stuff, they will be filled with wheat, you just pop them in the microwave for a minuet and Bing! Toasty warm hands. I'm planning to do them in sets of two so you can have one in each glove/pocket.

Well I hope I can get back to updating regularly soon. If you do miss me (lol) then follow me on twitter as my phone is working just fine J

Weekly Update

Greetings Friends,

Well this week has flown by. I went to visit some lady friends form university last weekend and had a great time catching up over fine food and cocktails. On the journey I managed to get a few hexipuffs made which brings the total up to 33!

I also picked up some sock yarn from an amazing crafty shop is Salisbury, it has so much fabric and yarn, it was awesome. I’m pleased to have more colours going into the hexipuff collection I think the next colour purchase needs to be some orange or yellow colours.

Well the sewing machine it still at the manufacturers getting fixed, I spoke to them on Tuesday and they said they are waiting for a new motor to put in it, sigh! I haven’t heard anything since Tuesday so I’m hoping some progress has been made. If the machine is not fixable I might request a refund and get a less complicated machine as it is easier to fix and maintain a simpler machine. Sob, I just miss having it so much. When I get it back I just won’t know what to do with myself as I’ve been without it for so long.

So the weather seems to be turning for the worse here so it’s time to think about this years winter hat. I seem to be leaning towards a cloche design, this is the short list so far is:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/slouchy-hat-with-picot-edge a slouchy hat with a lovely picot edge

This very cute cloche with crocheted cable http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boutique-ribbed-cable-cloche---crochet-version

This very classy cloche with botany inspired detail http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/regina-2

I think I will also keep looking and maybe think about designing my own pattern as I would like to incorporate buttons into the design.

And with thinking about winter hats the Christmas make list creeps into the back of my mind…oh the horror!