Rainbow Hat

Happy New Year

2012-01-13T17:33:00.000Z

Happy New Year to one and all. January, my least favourite month, in spite of (or because of?) it being the month of my Birthday. Mind you I got a fancy smancy camera for my birthday so no excuses for bad pics from now on. I don't know how to use it yet, well not for the stuff I wanted it for.

I was also given a new bag for Xmas from my sort of Mother in Law. It was leopard print fun fur and I loved it but as soon as I started using it the lining started to tear and has now almost completely shredded. So thinking about bags and wishing I had a new one gave me inspiration for the first Folksy Friday of the year. So on to the pics, hope you enjoy this selection, clicking on the pics will take you to the shop. Hopefully..

Folksy Friday - November Nexus 18th Nov

2011-11-18T16:45:00.000Z

Well here's my second November Nexus blog. I had a great theme all worked out but then some of my best pics went and got sold!! Honestly how inconsiderate, you're not supposed to sell things on Folksy...lol..

Well I managed to find a few other lovely things to add to my list

So here is the Black and White ball, think icy sparkling stars in an inky black sky.

Thats all folks, remember, support your handmade crafts, we may become an endangered species

Folksy Friday - November Nexus

2011-11-04T22:08:00.000Z

Hi, well after a few months break I've decided to join this months daily listing club. It really is hard work making and posting something every day. Particulary with the day job and the nights drawing in, so its hard to photo things.

But enough of my moaning the reason I'm here now is to do a new Folksy Friday featuring my fellow Nexians...? That's not a word...but then nor is Folksians..lol

So here are some lovley items that I found while browsing and clicking on the November Nexus thread. They are also linked by being fabric based. I'm gonna be brave and try for linking through the pic, so if this works please click on each pic to go through to the shop:

Folksy Friday

2011-10-28T18:35:00.000+01:00

Well there I was at Westfield Stratford City, London's newest and most crowded shopping centre. We got as far as M+S when I started to feel faint and very strange. Luckily as soon as I got to the open air I felt much better. It must be the air, I did find myself wondering how they keep fresh air circulating through the whole place. (obviously badly..) When we passed Mucky Ds the smell was particularly ghastly. Anyway enough waffling, the thing I wanted to say was that we were looking for a cake tin to put the freshly made Christmas cake when my daughter remembered that we were going to get a table runner or some nice place mats or napkins for the Christmas table. That was when I started to feel ill so we never got round to looking at M+S. But of course I had forgotten Folksy, that handy resource for all things handmade, original and much better than some mass produced item from a chain store.

I've found 9 items so far and when I looked back on them I realised I wanted to feature all of them today, so I will just be showing the pics with a link to the shops. I tried getting the pics to be the links a few times ago but it didn't work very well....so pics and not much writing. Except to say this, the hand knitted and the hand crocheted table cloths, guys!! you are way undercharging for those, I know how much work must have gone into those, I would never attempt either of them, and the workmanship on these items them is just superb.

So without further ado and not in any order of preference:

Click here for the shop above

Click Here for the shop above.

Click here for the shop above.

Click here for the shop above

Click here for the shop above.

And click here for this shop. Happy shopping.

2011-10-21T19:00:00.000+01:00

Folksy Friday

Just a quick post..being hassled to cook dinner. In honor of Halloween and the orange and black gloves that I''m making at the moment, here is an orange and black folksy friday..nothing specifically halloweenish but some great picks..

First an orange! When I saw the thumbnail of this I thought it was a real one, beautifully simple yet perfect.

View this here

On to one of my favourite categories for gifts for me..hint hint..This lovely bag just jumped out at me. It would make a great knitting bag. You can visit the shop here

And the last orange which begins with z hooray for zeds and zebras. A really beautiful picture which would brighten up any room.

View this item here

Now on to the blacks, I was looking for something unusual and this brilliant book came along. Very novel (sorry, no pun intended) at least I've never seen anything like it. This would make a lovely present for someone especially a fan of 'Black Books"...lol.

Look for the details of this item here

Finally some jewellery. These sweet delicate earrings are very tempting..no..I don't need any more jewellery..no..no..they remind me of a ginkgo leaf which is one of my favourite shapes.

If you want to buy them go here

And on to a quirky ring, my daughters love lego and funny lego jewellery.

So if anyone you know is like them you can make them happy by going to this shop

That's all for now..enjoy shopping and have a lovely weekend.

Knitting and Stitching show 2011

2011-10-08T14:36:00.000+01:00

Well hello there. This is a belated Folksy Friday because I was at the Kniting and Stitching show from opening to closing yesterday and I was too tried to do a blog by the time I got back.

I did enjoy the show although I spent too much money!! I noticed less stalls then last year which itself had less than the year before. Also a lot less knitting and yarn stalls and lots more sewing related stalls. Sigh! I guess that's the way of fashion, I definitely feel that knitting and crochet are slipping out of fashion, I don't know where that leaves me. I love knitting and crochet and I can't sew to save my life..I shall just become an unfashionable granny making things for the ungrateful family. Not a granny yet btw. And since my oldest is only 19 I don't want to be one any day soon.

This is the only picture I took. It is a dress made from recycled black plastic bags and was made by a Central St Martins student called Montana. She is the daughter of Helda who organises the crochet meet ups I get notifications about. I haven't actually met Helda because the one time I made one of the meetups she spend the entire time trapped in a lift at her flats. I kid you not, when her friend came to the meet up and told us what happened I think we all thought she was joking at first. Montana won a prize for this. It is amazing and wonderful in reality, so sorry about the rubbish photo.

So in keeping with the spirit of the show this weeks Folksy theme is Sheep also inspired by a lovely sheep brooch that I found a week or so ago while browsing Folksy forums. I love felt and the luminous colours of this mini work of art just sing to me.

This beautiful brooch can be found here

From a felted brooch to a bead brooch. I love this simple yet very effective image, beading is one of those crafts I could never do but I have great admiration for it.

You can visit this site from here.

From beads to polymer clay, not such a big jump as many beads are made from this material. This Folksy seller used it to great effect. I love her mice which are without a doubt some of the cutest mice in the universe..and these hairy sheep are gorgeous too. Please go to her site and browse, I promise you wont be disappointed.

What does that leave, ah yes these little sheep are made by K Scott Crafts and they are charms on a bracelet, great idea beautifully executed.

Now if all that exertion has left your computer room a bit stuffy then bring a waft of sweet scents to freshen it up with this hanging sheep.

I hope all these lovely quirky funny sheep have brought a smile to your grey Saturday, I know they have to mine.

Folksy Friday

2011-09-16T18:09:00.000+01:00

It seems ages since a did one of these, oh wait it was...lol..that explains it. I was going to go through my list of already favourited items in Folksy but I realised I couldn't tell which I'd used for a previous post..I'm still saving all those favourites. I realised that Christmas is not so very far away and if you are ordering things by post then you should already be thingking about these things..sigh, sorry to depress with the awful word but many wonderful and varied gifts can be yours for the taking from all the lovely talented Folksy folk. To find this weeks picks I've used the theme of mist as that was a theme in my new scarf that I posted today. I remember someone commenting on one of the forums about how strange the Folksy search engine was, and I noticed it again today, the last two itmes in my selection seem to have nothing to do with the word mist whatsover! Its very puzzeling why they came up in my search but nonetheless they are both interesting items so I've included them.

So on to item 1

This beautiful pendant matches my theme and colours perfectly and what a lovely name for a stone, chalcedony, just try saying it, it conjurers up lovely thoughts of romance and mystery. Please view it here

Item number 2 is also some jewellery, this time misty rose quartz, said to help with love and we all need a bit of that now and again. Click here for the site.

Now onto an actual image of a misty winters day, perfectly captured by Storm the Keep. Please click on the name to go to the site.

This next item is a gorgeous blouse, hand made and customizable, please click here to see the site.

And, last but not least, a truly delicious sounding body scrub. They've made it sound so yummy that I think I would want to eat it not wash with it..

Please visit all these lovely Folksy folk and don't forget...even now I can hear the far off tinkling of bells..oh wait that's my really annoying wind charm...lol. The body scrum can be found here

Socks and Wedding Shawls

2011-08-01T15:58:00.000+01:00

Well the wedding shawl was finished in the nick of time and delivered. I've been waiting for some of the wedding pics so I can show it at it's best but I haven't heard anything from the bride so I will just post the pics that I took, indoors and not very good. I got paid £50.00 which is what the materials cost. My fault, I offered. I don't think I realised how much work it would be. On the other hand I did actually enjoy doing it and I've learnt quite a bit about crochet lace, good to have to work to a deadline as well. I wasn't even invited to the wedding!!

This is one end...

This is the middle....

And here's the other end...lol..It was 72 inches long, a tad too long for short armed people like me and it turned out the bride. The one thing that didn't occure to me was whether it was the right size. A shawl you say how can that not fit? Well the little matter of it buttoning up to become a shrug the very thing that attracted me to the pattern in the first place, when done up it was a little too long. I was quite upset and worried and I still don't know what it looked like at the actual wedding..watch this space.

These are some socks drying...I love the fact that these are all socks...lol...iPhone socks and feet socks. I'm pretty pleased with them all and I'm currently posting the iPhone socks on Folksy and Etsy. Since they are all made of natural fibers I am able to gently wash and block them to shape, even for something as humble as a gadget sock it makes a big difference.

These are only the second pair of socks I have finished, these are for me mostly because they were another experiment. These were knitted at the same time using 2 circular needles. I like this technique but I don't really like the other patterns in the book so now I'm going to be making lace socks for the first time and using a pattern for 4 dpns and adjusting it to be used on two circular needles. And to top it all this will only be my 3rd pair of socks...nothing like setting yourself a challenge.

Watch this space for how I get on.

New Yarn Shops

2011-06-18T17:25:00.000+01:00

So much to write and so little brain to do it with, also one less finger working well,. due to a wasp or bee sting. I don't even know which bugger it was...summer don't you just love it.

Anyway on with the stuff. First of all number one in my new quest to visit, photo and buy something from every yarn shop in every place I visit. What would be a good name for this quest? All suggestions gratefully received.

This is the yarn shop in Lueven, Belgium where my hubby and I went for a weekend to celebrate our 10th Wedding aniversary and his 50th birthday.

The flipping thing was shut on a Monday! can you believe that? I can understand shut on a Sunday, (which it was as well) but a Monday!! So I couldn't buy anything but I took these photo's anyway.

It looked like a really nice yarn shop too....

Craft fair photos: This was a stall I shared with my friend. It was pretty dire for both of us. I just about covered my stall hire costs but not my time or coffee and cake bill. For some reason doing a stall makes me nervous and anxious and I eat more when I'm nervous and anxious. Two cakes, one curry and two cappocinos...not good for the figure or the pocket. I think I was trying to reward myself for the dissapointment of not doing well. The organisers want to make it a weekly affair. The actual market was lovely and its soo close to where we live...but if I do that badly on the last one would it be a good idea to do a regular stall? Hubby popped in too visit this morning and said there were not nearly so many stalls. Perhaps it is a good idea to get in on the ground floor of what might prove to be a popular venue, I would get regular customers and hopefully some commission orders. On the negative I could waste a lot of money and time and I would lose my lovely lazy Saturday mornings..please guys I really would like some of your thoughts.

COMPETITION:...Announcing my 600 fans competition, please comment on my blog, I really would appreciate an actual comment about some of my posts rather than just, 'I'm commenting' anyway, if you are a follower of this blog then please mention that in the comment and you will get two entries. If you are not a follower you will also get an extra entry if you follow my blog as well. You will have to mention that in your comment. At the close of the competition, (which is July 18th, midnight BST, ) I will pick a random name out of my large organza bag and that person will win either an iPhone sock, a coffee cosy or a mini kit for one of those two. Sorry no gloves. I am saving these for a really big number now, cause I don't have many left.

Bonus - if you are follower number 100 you will also win one of these prizes or even two if you are follower number 100 and get picked!!

Happy commenting...

Appreciation Photos

2011-05-26T17:14:00.000+01:00

Blogger seems to have been broken for the last week or so, wouldn't let me sign in to my own account..what gives? Anyway here's hoping that it works now..Its Thursday and its pouring with rain, we really need the rain here in London but why does it immediately start flooding? No doubt some deeply complicated thing to do with too dry ground or something. Tonight I have a knit meeting in a pub, we are trying to knit the Clapton Mile. Its for the Clapton Festival which is happening on the weekend of the 11th and 12th June. I'm also going to be doing another craft fair as part of that festival, I know after Sutton House I vowed never to do another craft fair as long as I lived..I must be a glutton for punishment. Also, spring/summer is not the best time to sell crochet, but it's making me make my kits up so then if I get it together I should have some stuff to photograph and post. And...all this when I'm going away for the weekend before and the deadline for the wedding shawl is fast approaching.
Next time I blog I will do some update pics of the wedding shawl. Meanwhile here are three lovely customer appreciation photos from the equally lovely DancingRainbows. I can't post them in Etsy because it only lets you post about specific transactions and these gloves were in fact won by my fan for my 500th FB fans landmark giveaway.

So keep a watch out for future giveaways, also I see I have nearly 100 followers on here so perhaps there will be a giveaway here too.

So once again, thanks DancingRainbows.

Folksy Friday - Folksy Mayhems

2011-05-20T20:35:00.000+01:00

Hi back again, too long between blogs. Somehow I only managed one blog in April, and I don't expect I will get round to another in May so here is my Folksy Mayhem blog. Folksy Mayhem is the daily listing club for May. So here are some picks from fellow Mayhemers. This time there's no real theme, I just favourited things that I liked as I clicked on my fellow daily listers.

First a lovely pick from the Whimsical Wren. Great name too. I love the idea of putting Alice in a bottle, so original. Please click here for a link

Next a lovely picture, this original work of art uses needle felting and embroidery, both things I love, I can't do either of those crafts but I love the look of them..it can be seen here

Now for some more yarny stuff. This of course will be making its way to my wish list, you never know I might get it for Christmas. Hey if someone buys something off me I could afford to buy it! Here it is

This next item is truly exquisite and would be going on my wish list, but I don't think I'll be able to afford it even if I do sell something on Folksy. It's a more than reasonable price for the materials and work so come on you rich people out there.....you can buy it here

This next pendant is also beautiful, I love the choice of colours and the tiny detail which makes it look like a pop art painting in miniature, please view it here

Finally a bouquet of lovely flowers to cheer you up and leave you looking forward to the weekend..please click on the links and view the items in their shops, so as to boost their views.

Happy browsing...

Folksy Friday - April Show-ers

2011-04-09T15:09:00.000+01:00

Oops sorry this is late. I got distracted yesterday by the sunshine and took youngest to the Lido and then we sat in the park chatting to a friend of mine. It was a lovely afternoon/evening but after that I was too tired to do anything but eat dinner and fall asleep to a DVD..

This week I am highlighting the lovely peeps in April Show-ers. This is a forum thread in Folksy forums. People try to list at least one thing everyday and then they post their items in the forum and look at other people's listings. We also celebrate sales. I can report that I have had two sales so far in April and one was for two items..so is that two or three..who knows, whatever, its great anyway.

So enough of Waffle on to the first item.

I love Fuchsias and these gorgeous colours..reminds me of a lovely holiday in Connemara. Please click here to see these at folksy. These were listed today..so hot off the press

The rest of my selections were posted over the last few days..next

This ladybird baby suit is just too too cute, almost (but not quite) makes my want to have a little baby again. View it in situ here

Here is another blast from my past, Snoopy..I used to love Peanuts so much. Actually I do still like them..just too big a part of my childhood to let go of...

Please have a look at it here.

And here is my own craft being used in a different way. These cards look very lovely and very springy.

You can view them here

and...last but not least, sometimes I list things in this blog theme that I might want to buy, infact I did buy the peridot ring. So here is something I've already bought. It is beautiful and soft and generally lovely altogether. I can recommend this seller, great service and communication and a brilliant item.

I don't think you can view it as it has been sold, but you can look at her other items here.

Well that's all from me. Enjoy the weekend..

Foolish Folksy Friday

2011-04-01T17:29:00.000+01:00

Wow, how did it get to be that time of year, three months gone already..and not much to show for it. I've joined a new thread on Folksy...the April Show-ers. I'm going to be trying to post at least one item a day for the month of April. I saw where some posters were using people from April Show-ers to be their Folksy Friday. I will be doing that in future if I can find stuff that fits whatever hair brained search criteria I come up with.

This Friday though in honour of April Fools day here are some funny Folksy Folk. I adore this sign which can be found here

This is me in the morning...not worth talking to until I've had my tea or coffee and perhaps breakfast as well...what would I have for breakfast..

Fried eggs of course. I know these earrings weren't listed as funny but they look so much like fried eggs. I love them to bits so I hope the maker won't be offended. Please look for her here

And if you spill some of that yolk you might still need a bib,(I should probably have one, I'm not a much neater eater than I was when I was a baby!!) How about this great personalised one. Available here

Who could resist these lovely mitts, check the site out here

finally here's something that also fits me to a tee...sigh...but at least my husband still thinks I'm hot....well occasionally..

Please have a look at this here...tha...tha...thats all folks

Folksy Friday - Lace

2011-02-25T20:26:00.000Z

Since I'm crocheting a lace wedding shawl I thought I would search in Folksy for lace. I found a plethora of gorgeous things so here are some of them.

Here is the first and perhaps the most traditional use of lace although not in a traditional way. A beautiful dress that would be just right for a summer picnic on the lawn of an English stately home. Simply stunning...I tried last time to make the pics the links but instead I got rather untidy writing under the photos...sometimes I really hate Blogger..anyway hopefully you can click here to see this site.

On to jewellery, well how long can I go without browsing jewellery!..

This amazing bangle is made by trapping lace in resin, there is some lovely resin jewellery out there and this is such a great idea...love it. Please go to the site here

And just to keep the theme going is a beautiful pair of earrings..

I would love to know how they are made, they look stunning and would certainly be a lovely thing to wear on St Patrick's day. Please visit the site here

Now on to something completely different, (ed, did I already use that link?..)

This gorgeous bowl is in porcelain one of the most beautiful clays to use. It allows you to make delicate though still strong details such as the lace rim of this classy bowl..make a lovely wedding present...but more of that in my next blog. Please visit the site here.

What can I say about this lovely scarf. I adore knitted lace, I can't do it myself which makes me yearn after it all the more. Crochet lace is good but I actually prefer the look of knitted lace...go figure. Beautifully photographed as well with the complimentary colour background..see getting technical there..lol. You can see the site here.

And, last but not least this charming bag made of lace and animal print, also decorated with flowers, buttons and sequins it looks lovely inside as well so check it out here to see all the photos...

TTFN hope to manage another blog next week but who knows I might be flooded with orders...lol..or sick kids, the latter is the more likely option as we wait for the work cold to strike us down.

I've been featured in a Magazine

2011-02-24T13:40:00.000Z

Yay, here it is the exciting news I promised on Face Book. This is a page from the February issue of Inside Crochet the UK's only monthly crochet magazine. In my naivety I thought that when the mag came out I would be deluged with orders. I managed to stop myself ordering huge quantities of this yarn! Good thing too.

I was contacted in October by someone from this magazine saying they would be featuring my kit in the January issue which came out in December. I sent them a kit, then in December I got another email asking me for a photo of the gloves, (the one featured here). I was given another email address to write to and ask for a copy of the mag, which I did of course. So I sat back and waited for my mag and waited for the orders to roll in....

....Cue February, and still I had heard nothing. I emailed my first contact but heard nothing. Then I phoned the company and found out that my first contact didn't work there anymore. They gave me the email address of the woman who was doing her job. All this time I thought they had decided not to feature my kit, that's why I took so long to re contact them. I didn't want to hear bad news. Anyway as soon as I contacted this person I got an email back with good news. I had been featured and she would send me a copy of the magazine and my kit back. They also said they would include a link to my site on a new website they were setting up.

And here is the feature, it looks great and I'm thrilled in be in print. Thank you Inside Crochet..great mag by the way, I think I will subscribe to it. But...and here's the big but, I never did get that rush of orders..I made two sales, one a kit and one of a pattern. I thought those were just random sales and that the rush was still to come...ah well, I guess its just one more thing I've learnt. By the way, if you add postage and the fact that I still haven't had my kit back then I made a net loss from this effort. Its still good to see my work in print...

Folksy Friday - Purple Hearts

2011-02-11T18:40:00.002Z

Yes its that time again and as Valentine's day approaches what could be more seasonal than hearts, yes I know that its probably too late to buy your cards and presents but I found these little gems when shopping for a card for him indoors. And since I prefer purple to red I had to make it purple hearts....and my dad had one of those, the real one.
So without further ado on with the picks.

So here is a card, the first thing you should think about for your valentine...I love the original personalisation on this one and of course the colour...oh and the overall look...See the site here

Now on to some jewellery another typical gift, still very welcome.

This lovely bracelet which can be seen here would match my new necklace which I received as a birthday present from the in-laws. I already have some earrings from Etsy so the bracelet would make the set...no..no..

So moving swiftly on...

This gorgeous and original card would certainly show your love and this new seller needs your love. So come and see all her makes here

Now for something completely different.

I've never seen or heard of anything like this. It really is new, a charming idea and a sweet execution. Great shade of purple too. See it in more detail here

And here is some more jewellery....well everyone knows that a girl can't have too much jewellery....

These sparkling earrings feature a bead of a stone that I've never heard of before, dragon vein agate. Its beautiful and I may not be able to resist buying this one. I may have to stop doing Folksy Friday its getting too expensive..lol. I made a new years resolution not to buy any new clothes till the summer..so instead I've started buying jewellery, and I never used to buy jewellery! Visit the site here and buy them so I won't be able to

Wedding Shawl

2011-02-10T13:06:00.000Z

Well here it is the yarn for the wedding shawl......to catch up. Last summer I bought a copy of Interweave Crochet. In it I saw a lovely lace shawl and thought ummm I'd like to make that, then put it to the back of my mind. Jumpt to last month when I overheard one of my work colleagues saying she didn't have a shawl for her wedding dress...yes you can see where this is heading. Up I jump and volunteer to make this. I've got till June, I've hardly ever worked lace, I don't even know if I can use such a small hook 1.75.

Well I've bought the yarn which cost £42!!! well at least she is paying for that..here is the yarn and a tension sample. This turned out to be too small so I'm now doing one with a 2.5 hook but now a post on my Crochet Me newsletter has made me really worried. Basically it showed how much you stretch out lace when you block it. So do I have to block and stretch my tension samples when I measure them, if so then it might be that my tension samples are all wrong and that maybe the one using the suggested hook size is the right one once its been blocked. Please can anybody advise me on this?

Any helpful comments greatly appreciated.....thanks in advance

Folksy Friday - the power of green

2011-01-28T01:19:00.000Z

In honor of finally getting one of my new crochet kits listed, (on Etsy, not yet Folksy) I thought I would feature some lovely things in my new colour, olive green. This is actually the only shade of green that I like and it is one of my favourite colours. I looked on the internet for a more interesting name to give my new colour kit. I couldn't find any but I did find out that the shade nearest my wool is called olive drab!! who on earth would want to call a colour that. Especially such a wonderful colour. Then (after I'd posted it on Etsy) I remembered that one of my favourite gem stones is Peridot which is olive green...duh..still I did find Olivine to call it. That is another gemstone and infact Peridot is a kind of Olivine.
So less of the waffle here are the picks.

A sweet book thong to start with available here

And of course my own media, I really like the big knit pattern and the misty shade

http://www.folksy.com/items/900937-Olive-Green-Slouchy-Beanie

And then sticking with fabric a gorgeous bag, no, no I have too many bags..sigh..

Click here

And here is some beautiful jewellery...

http://www.folksy.com/items/696413-olive-crystal-and-ribbon-bracelet-choker

And last but not least an example of that lovely stone..

Doris Chan

2011-01-18T21:01:00.000Z

I've just been reading my birthday present, Doris Chan's Amazing Crochet Lace. Great, I've really been enjoying it. I want to try some of the patterns but its very difficult knowing what English yarn I can use. I do like books that give you alternatives not just one yarn, still that's just a little niggle.

Before I start I need to do some practice on foundation crochet. I tried it once and worked out how to do it but when I tried it the other day for I pattern I'm doing from CrochetMe. (finally got my first issue, I suscribed in May, but that's another story) it didn't work. Doris Chan gives a slightly different method in this book so I must get round to trying....I don't like the preperation, I just want to jump straight in....which leads neatly on to my next point. Tension Samples, more like tension headaches. I have found time after time that no matter how carefully I knit or crochet my swatch the finished garment never comes out the right size. Imagine how pleased I was to read Doris's thoughts on this, she points out that crochet stretches, that there are all sorts of other things which make tension samples redundant. I have found this with my own patterns that I write, so now I don't feel so guilty about my tension samples not even matching my own designs. One amazingly wonderful advantage that crochet has over knitting is that its possible to see within a short time whether your garment is the right size, although this doesn't take stretching into account, but for width rather than length this works well. On one cardigan that I made I ended up doing the first two or three rows of the pattern and measuring this to the schematics. Even doing this a couple of times was better than endless tension headaches. Mind you that stretched like no ones business...sigh..

The picture above is from a free pattern so I hope Doris Chan won't mind me using it. Click here to find the pattern.

2011-01-02T16:33:00.000Z

Finally getting round to doing another blog. So much water under the bridge but not much crochet news as most of the time was taken up with Christmas celebrations.

I'm posting some pictures of the craft fair I went to at Sutton House, a local National Trust property. I did enjoy it, well at least on the Sunday but despite huge crowds of people I didn't sell much. Just covered my stall costs and not all of mine and my children's fueling!!

Now that the whole xmas/birthday/new year/nother birthday binge is nearly over I should get back to concentrating on Etsy and Folksy. I did quite well in September/October but then all the momentum I had built up was completely lost because I stopped to concentrate on making stuff for the craft fairs. It takes a lot of work and time on the computer to make Etsy and Folksy pay. Also the best results I got were when I was posting new products almost every day. I could only do that because I made and photographed quite a lot of stuff over the summer, but didn't do any actual posting or much online work. I can't actually make stuff that quickly so I can't see me being able to do that all year round.

I have got some stuff left that I could put on sale and I have some new kits to photograph but I just can't seem to get started. It doesn't help that its cold and grey outside as I have to photograph my stuff outside to get any decent natural light.

Oh well sorry to rant on but it helps me to put down in writing some of this stuff, probably not exactly riveting reading though....lol....

Craft Fair Time Again

2010-10-03T17:59:00.000+01:00

Yes its that time of year again. From now until boxing day I will probably be too busy to blog. I want to, I always have loads I want to say, I could wafle for ever, but actually getting round to writing it down....well that's a different matter.

Anyway here is a not very good pic of what I am working on at the moment. It's taking ages not least because after I crocheted nearly half of it, I picked it up to do some more and found that my tension was all wrong. I had made the big mistake of not writing down at the start of the project what hook I was using. When it mysteriously went all loose, I assumed I had somehow lost the hook I was using, but no amount of searching would reveal it. Actually I have had it happen that my tension just mysteriously changes half way through a project. As a result I unraveled it all and started again. I am trying to develop an original pattern for a scarf that I can use as a pattern to sell. Making these scarves will take too long for craft fair and online selling, but if I like it I might put it up as a custom item. After this I really will have to get down to making for the 2 craft fairs I have signed up for. One of them is for two days and cost £100!! for the stall, so that is some amount of stuff I will have to sell to cover that....am I mad.!!!

Folksy Friday - Burnt Orange

2010-09-17T20:05:00.000+01:00

In honor of my new burnt orange gloves and the treasury they were featured in, here are some lovely Folksy folk and their burnt orange offerings.

First here is my craft though not by me..a beautiful crochet flower brooch much more elaborate than I have the patience to make. This is from Crochety Craft and can be found here

N.B. I am also trying to feature sellers who like me have little or in some cases no sales, visit these people and buy from them...you have been told..lol...

So on to the next one, this great bag is also from a virgin seller, I like it, but I don't need any more bags...actually I want one with a zip top and zipped internal money pocket....small, across the body so I can use it instead of my terminally un-fashionable bum bag...folksy sellers? Anyway this bag is available from Duck Egg Design and can be seen here. Ps the lining is burnt orange..the colours go really well together.

And here for your delectation...a piece of jewellery, I like the chunky nature of this necklace, I think that it would be satisfying to wear and run through your fingers. It's from Jolise Creations and can be found here

And here is a funky fabulous hat to add to your outfit. I really do like straw hats and this one is unique and very interesting. Brought to you by Raffique and available for viewing here

Last but not least the one exception to my only shops with no or low sales, just because I like it. Especially the bit in the shop about cats really running the world....read it and enjoy. From Inkmeup and can be seen here

I hope you enjoy today's offerings and have a good weekend.

Autumn relaunch

2010-09-15T22:37:00.000+01:00

So finally got the autumn relaunch under way. I'm trying to post an item every day. I've got the photos and made more stuff. But adjusting each photo and cropping and then posting on Folksy and Etsy takes time. I've made more stuff as well but then I have to get it photographed.

These are my autumn coloured gloves. Funny story behind those...I bought a whole load of yarn at the John Lewis sale, but it was all pink and purple so I grabbed these few balls of burnt orange stuff. I didn't even like the colour. But now that its autumn I do like it and it fits in well with the season. I've been featured in three Etsy Treasuries which is nice, two on the same day!!! all of them themed around colour. My yellow gloves, my orange gloves and of course the burnt orange. So suddenly I'm in fashion and it was mostly just an accident. Serendipity in fact. Mind you still haven't actually sold anything but it was really nice to be featured and gave me a happy glow all day. Now I have to think of more autumn colours and wonder what to do with the pink and purple...any thoughts on colours for autumn all suggestions seriously considered. I just don't do warm colours much and I don't think I'm very good with them.

If I have the time I'd like to do another Folksy Friday and I would really like to do a treasury but I've read all about doing one and it seems really complicated...plus posting stuff every day is taking all my time.

Perfect Pie

2010-09-05T22:56:00.000+01:00

Well OK so this probably isn't the most perfect pie in creation but it is the best one that I have ever made. Thanks to Nigella Lawson for the pastry and Delia Smith for the filling...I wonder if we will ever see a pitched battle between those two excellent ladies of cooking. A cook off perhaps?..

The beautiful decoration was made by my multi talented daughter and she helped overall. Even peeling and chopping apples, not a job she enjoyed so all the more thanks to her for doing it.

Now that September is here I need to knuckle down and start re-vamping the shop, I will honestly its just that cooking is so much fun and as the days draw in how can I resist baking?.....

So Called Summer

2010-08-25T10:33:00.000+01:00

Well here we are in 'summer' it feels more like autumn so I should have got more work done....but what with the other half and the kids being home I just don't get much done. Still I've done a sample pair of gloves in the newest yarn. Got them photographed and now I'm trying to design labels for the kits. Then I have to photograph the newly revamped kits. I was hoping to get all this done before September so I would be absolutely ready to go once the kids were back at school. It doesn't look like I'll manage that but at least I am making some progress. How do you like the new look pics? Styling courtesy of hubby. Any thoughts on a postcard please...from somewhere hot to make me jealous.

Cat Physics

2010-08-07T17:19:00.000+01:00

Well there I was feeling all sorry for myself and at a loss when I found these great pics of my daughters brilliant cooking. She designed and made this herself with only a bit of help from me. Anyway I thought I would share these with you. I love it when my daughters are creative.

No pics of projects cause I haven't been doig much crochet and absolutely no knitting...well I've done some more pairs of gloves but they just look like all the others. Been using Rowan pure wool 4 ply in anticipation of the autumn. Then I need to photo the new ones, re-photo the old ones, make labels for the kits and photo them.....then start posting in earnest for the coming season. I also want to start making some gem stone stitch markers.

The trouble is I just don't feel like doing any of this stuff. It is hard in the summer holidays for me to get a lot done but I set myself what I hoped would be a few achievable goals ie the above. Then not going to start listing till mid-September. But....just can't get down to even that. I am only one pair of gloves away from making all the gloves I want to at the moment but I can't seem to face even the thought of doing the other stuff. Having to get someone else to photo me in the gloves just seems to make it that bit more complicated even though hubby has kindly offered.

Why can't I just get on with it........ah well.

Got me an iphone 4. The theory being that I will do more social networking. But....having real trouble getting the bloody thing connected as a phone. So far worlds most expensive hand held games console...lol...still my daughter's enjoying playing Cat Physics.

To list or not to list

2010-07-28T14:05:00.001+01:00

A quiz of sorts, well more of an online poll. I have this bag which has taken me a lot of work to make, partly because I had to correct, not so much a fault as an unexpected side effect of the felting process, I am still learning. Anyway to cut a long story short after so much work and so much expensive pure new wool I'm not sure whether to put it up for sale or not. My daughter said, 'you can't sell it, you would have to charge too much.' I think she may be right. It's almost too nice to part with as well since I really love it. Mind you I don't need more bags, so I guess that leaves saving it for a Christmas/birthday present for someone I really love/like.

Anyway here is the aforementioned object, or at least my attempts to take 'better' photos of the bag, so any thoughts on whether to list it or not and what if anything to charge for it. All comments gratefully received.

Folksy Friday

2010-07-03T00:55:00.000+01:00

Yes I nearly got this out on Friday...I started it at two mins to midnight..

This time I went for the theme of...wait for it...Purple...ha, ha, ha. Some people on Folksy forums have been noting that Folksy's search engine leaves something to be desired and why does it throw up random things that seem to have no relation to what you asked it to search for. Well just out of interest I went right to the last pages of my search and yes the things there were not purple at all, nor did they use the word in the title or in the keywords, but...I read through one description and came across the word purple. So Folksy's search engine must just track down every mention of the search criteria. So to start this eclectic bunch off here is one from page 478 ish of my purple search..I just liked it..

This little beauty can be found here

And now for something actually purple although what attracted me to it was nothing to do with it's colour. I know it sounds weird but on the thumbnails this bracelet looks like how I imagine the aliens in Host look like, don't worry they are meant to be beautiful...lol..

If you want to know more about this glittery Jewell then just look here

Now enough of jewellery even if a girl can't have too much jewellery I should highlight some other media. So here is another of my favourite things, buttons. Who can resist buttons? my daughter loves to collect them and make dolls and monsters featuring them, and I like to use special ones in my work. And here are the most amazing buttons I've seen in a long time. My daughter actually has a silver and enamel charm of one of these...I'm sure she'd love these buttons.

Now I'm feeling a bit peckish and I can't eat pottery sweets so this next item is even more frustrating, just to show that you can't keep a good theme down here is a purple cupcake, of course.

And last but not least back to my own preferred craft, well it's not crochet but this shawl was too beautiful to leave out.

Look for it here

Hope you enjoy my little selection and hopefully I should be posting some of my latest projects soon.

Folksy Friday, well I know it's Sunday...

2010-06-20T14:53:00.000+01:00

OK I know it's Sunday..got too tired on Friday and Sunday but really wanted to do one this week...so without further ado.

Here is the first of my cake themed collection, probably because I am trying to do my accounts and I am bored and my thoughts turn to cake, but to save calories I thought I would collect calorie free options...This one is from Wooly Duck (Great name!) and can be seen here

These are from Funky Fragrances. They are melts that you put in a burner and then give off a lovely scent the list of scents sounds lucious. Smell them here

These beauties can be put on your wall so you are always reminded of cake...Ahh so much temptation..View them here

And if you're away from home but never wanted to be parted from cake, you can buy this absolutely gorgeous ring here from Cream Teas Jewellery

Finally back to my favourite material, yarn with this fantastic knitted tea set, serve it at your next gathering..(after everyone looks perplexed you can serve real cake, or just save it for yourself!!), click on the picture for the link.

Flying Teapot...

2010-06-18T23:13:00.000+01:00

Yes really, this is going to be a teapot. I'm posting it here now because frankly I seem to have lost my mojo. I just don't feel like crocheting or knitting. I guess its summer but I think it's more than that,,..need some inspiration. It's not like I haven't got lots of projects to be getting on with. I just don't have any enthusiasm for them...

Any ideas..

Anyway this was one of my projects so I thought if I posted it here perhaps I would have to actually finish it, I haven't even picked it up for about a week. At least I went to my monthly knitting circle which was good, still not hugely inspired but at least I had a nice evening.

For those of you who know this will be a Gong flying teapot, for those of you who don't...google it. I am making it up as I go along, so any ideas on how to crochet a propeller gratefully received...lol.

Had my mum over for a few days, she's just come back from a trip to the states and now she's talking about moving to Oregon...!! Apparently because it has the best bookshop in the world..Is that any reason to move half-way round the world? I suppose to her it would almost be like going home. I notice she doesn't want to move back to Idaho.

WIPs.....WIP....WIP........

2010-06-09T14:49:00.000+01:00

Thought I'd share a bit more of my work. This WIP is the knitted all in one cardigan that I posted just after Christmas. Not done much on it, I've been busy crocheting for craft fairs and websites, but since I'm not selling anything I thought I may as well try to finish this.

As you can see I have now split for the armholes, and Instead of using 3 balls for each colour I have carried the yarn across the gap, leaving a long bit, which I will then cut and weave in, I've invented something!! Well it's probably been invented before but I hadn't come accross it. Got to go now to Kids Club where we are icing biscuits and eating pancakes (damn, no toast, I was looking forward to my afternoon toast!)

And the winner is......

2010-06-08T18:19:00.000+01:00

Yes the winner of this prize draw picked out by daughter number one is Beaky...so Beaky if you're out there reading this please get in touch with your address so I can send you your scarf...

So, I'm sitting here trying to do my accounts..again..I've got as far as October, numbering and entering every receipt and payment into an Excel sheet..It's so boring..last time I had to do this I asked for nice comments to cheer me up and got loads so please, same again..

And just to have something to comment on here is some of my work for a change..lol.

Listed these on Etsy and Folksy so go and check them out folks along with some more wristlets in yellow and orange

Now I've got to go and cook dinner, chili con carne and chili non carne. Oh and just tacos and rice and cheese for the fussy one!

YES ITS THE BIG 5 OH

2010-06-06T22:41:00.000+01:00

Thank you everybody for pitching me up to 50 followers...I will get to work on that giveaway as soon as I can. Meanwhile here's another of my fellow crafters from the craftshow as a featured Etsy seller.

These adorable critters are tardigrades and you will have to visit this Etsy shop to learn more about them.

And now for those folks awake on the other side of the pond

2010-06-04T01:24:00.000+01:00

I managed to track down another of my fellow stall holders. Also thanks to Irina I have the contact details for some others. My friends, they may call it a movement...

Anyway this is she, and she makes some lovely weird and wonderful stuff which you can find here

And,,,almost up to my 50 fans!!!! yay so this lovely scarf will soon be wending it's way to someone. I will print all of the names of people who have posted since I announced this giveaway and then get one of my girls to pick a name..watch this space

Craft Fair

2010-06-03T12:43:00.000+01:00

Back from the craft fair. It wasn't that good, no one came and I only sold to the other stall holders! Despite that I came back full of hope and enthusiasm having met lots of lovely crafters. I was going to post some of their links here but I've gone and lost the business cards I saved. I've been having one of those days. The weather is lovley and sunny and I really don't want to be on the computer but I really must do some of this.

I have one link I've managed to rescue. This lovely lady had the stall next to me. She is selling hand dyed and printed scarfs, they are very nice and I really should have bought one, especially since they were cheaper on the stall, but still a good price here on folksy.

Also I would like to mention some of the other stall holders I didn't manage to get business cards from. The woman selling beautiful hand made dresses and cosmetics. She was my biggest fan and bought three things from me. If you took my business card then please get in touch. I bought two pairs of earrings from a couple selling dichloric glass jewellery but I don't have a link from then either. Craft fair tip here, give every customer a business card, I forget as well. I still enjoy craft fairs and if anyone knows of any coming up near me then please let me know.

Watch this space for a revamped Etsy and Folksy. Something has gone wrong with my Etsy shop and this has stopped me listing stuff. As a result any contacts I might have made at the craft fair will be for nought if they go to look at my shop....nothing there.

Work Nearly Finished

2010-05-18T15:45:00.000+01:00

Here are some of the items I am making for the craft fair. I have set myself a target amount of work to make but not written it down, bad move really but then I have less than two weeks....and I don't know if I can make it

This is my new lace beret, see Folksy for my orange one, it is actually more pink and less coral than this but then it is wet and being blocked even as I write. I'm quite pleased with this, it is quite small but then my head is extra large..lol..and everyone has different tastes, so hopefully it will please someone. At my craft fair at xmas I did notice a lot of variation in people's sizes and what they wanted so it was good to have a range. It is based on my glove patterns and it's interesting to me to see how a pattern worked in a tube translates to working in the round, a very different way of working.

This scarf is actually a lovely shade of blue not this rather horrible grey...hope it photographs better if I decide to list it for selling. Still I'm very happy about this one. Its a variation on a pattern in Interweave Crochet Magazine and I enjoyed the challenge of a pattern to make me learn some new stitiches. It is made in Debbie Bliss Cathay, a lovely (if expensive!!) blend of silk and cotton. Doesn't go far either...still great to work with and it was fun crocheting this pattern.

Craft Fair Alert

2010-05-12T18:11:00.000+01:00

Come one, come all to this lovely Craft Fair, well I hope it will be lovely. It will have my stuff in it so of course it will be lovely. Actually I haven't got that much made, oops. And I've just taken on some extra hours at work for a few weeks...

So if I do get some stuff made, this will be a great craft fair. Lol. I will post again about whether I made enough and hopefully put some pics up after it.

Folksy Friday - bears

2010-05-08T20:00:00.000+01:00

Yes I know it's Saturday but yesterday I was just too tired so here it is just a day late. I'm enjoying this browsing through Folksy, lots of great things that I'm trying to resist buying. I've been ordering on Etsy, the trouble is the postage so I really must buy on Folksy again even though it is lovely stuff that I should be getting soon.

This is the first one - knitted teddy bears, this is why I picked bears because daughter number two wants me to crochet her a teddy bear, I suppose I should look for crochet bears...if they are cheap enough perhaps I could buy one instead of having to make one!! These are from Hennies Nimbleneedles.

And here they are although I don't think this is what my daughter had in mind they are very cute. They are from Legyviel in Rivendell and can be found here

I love these bears, these badges are just the sort of thing my other daughter would love, she collects button badges. They are from 'asking for trouble' and can be found here

Just to show you that bears turn up everywhere here they are on this amazing funky bracelet by Jelly Belly Jewellery,

On this adorable mini gardening bag by sew sew lovely,

And on this mini painting, too sweet, (do you get the impression I like mini things?) from Sophie Green Mini Art.

Hope you like my selection for this week. Please drop by and leave a comment.

Folksy Friday

2010-04-30T17:23:00.000+01:00

I saw another folksy friday featuring suns so I thought of clouds as a theme since we are not having much sun at the moment.

These funny funky earrings are from Fluffsstufs

This sweet girls dress is from Angelic Folk

A lovely cuddly baby blanket from Topsie

A truly original art jewellery piece from Gimme That Thing

And Finally, these totally adorable cats from Quernus Crafts

A big thank you to the people who contacted me and helped me to sort out how to get my photos right. It's working now, so thanks again for the help

Orange you glad

2010-04-28T22:15:00.000+01:00

Orange you glad that summer is almost here, and I was inspired by lovely sorbet icecream colours, actually I went a bit mad and bought loads of summer cotton in orange, pink and yellow. Haven't done enough with them yet but here is the first of my summer berets. I love orange, it doesn't love me, I can't wear it at all but I love to work with it. My favourite gemstone I ever saw was a beautiful fire orange garnet that I can't remember the exact name of and that I have never seen again, but I have lusted after it for nigh on ten years. I thought I'd try a variation of the shell pattern I used for my highly successful gloves, it was hard to translate from tube to circle but I'm quite pleased with the result, next I will try one more like the shell scarf, with a row of shells, then a mesh row, this shows off the shell pattern well and makes it lacier and lighter. I made a lovely one at xmas but lost the pattern in my great big bag on bus disaster, (see earlier posting).

As ever I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Folksy Friday - featuring bags

2010-04-23T18:32:00.000+01:00

This lovely bag is from Pidgeon Stitch, link here. Bear with me, this is the first Folksy Friday I've done and I'm not sure how to do it, not least because I can't work out how to get a photo then a commment, then another photo with a comment below that, blogger wants to put all my photos in one place then put the writing next to or below all of them. :(

Here goes nothing...... That didn't work at all...if anyone knows how to get a pic then some writing, then another pic etc please let me know. I know it can be done, I've seen it on other blogs.

Anyway the top pic which I posted second..grrr...is Matroyska Jute bag from Beaky, the link is here

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-20T13:36:00.000+01:00

As promised on my facebook fan page, souvenirs of our recent trip to Barcelona. Beautiful city and for three days lovely hot weather.

Lace Spring Scarf Givaway

2010-04-17T00:04:00.000+01:00

Yes, finished this lovely spring weight scarf. I'm very pleased with it and now you can see that the cushion cover pattern works well in a scarf. This was my first lace weight and though I do like the effect I'm not sure if I will use it again. I think I will use crochet lace in 4ply or thicker. This scarf is lovely and soft, made with hand dyed yarn from Shooze. This is the scarf I am giving away even though I love it, I feel a giveaway should be something you love. So please leave a comment and all peeps who comment, their names will be put in a draw when I reach 50 followers, and whichever name one of my daughters picks out will be the lucky winner of this scarf.

Shell Scarf

2010-04-05T19:17:00.000+01:00

This is a scarf I made for Rosemary, I've adapted the pattern I use for the gloves. I think it is quite a nice pattern but it doesn't show very well on multi-coloured yarn. That was the yarn she gave me so I hope she likes it.

I'm off on holiday in two days time but please keep visiting and commenting. Don't forget the giveaway, see the previous post for details, I will publish all comments as soon as I get back, I would love to see them all.

Comments Please

2010-04-03T18:00:00.000+01:00

Hi peeps. A big thank you to all my fans, now on to the big 50. I faced that terrifying event myself some time ago. Still here and just about healthy and happy.

In order to get there (50 fans that is, not another birthday) I will be doing my first giveaway, not quite sure what yet, I think it will be the lovely lace scarf that I am still crocheting. As soon as I finish it I will post pics. I should be doing my craft fair stuff but I think I will start those after my holiday, off to sunny Barcelona.

Anyway none of those complicated things I see on some people's blogs, not least because I don't even understand them. I really like getting positive and interesting comments, and these seem to have tailed off recently...so...all you have to do to be entered in my give away is follow me if you haven't allready and leave a nice comment. You can just say, 'following you, here's my blog link' if you want. If you are already a follower then please leave a comment, anyone who comments after this post will be entered. To get you started as I haven't finished anything to comment on, how about a question. Do you believe in the myth of the boyfriend jumper? all comments and stories appreciated. I made my only boyfriend jumper and we did split up, but it was a year later and I left him, he wore that jumper till it fell apart, Ahhh

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-01T15:37:00.001+01:00

OK I know it is Thursday but I meant to post it yesterday, honest sir!! I HATE putting photos on this blog, I put four photos up and not in this order, blogger just seems to have a mind of its own, it just puts them where it wants, and gives you no editing options. Well managed to get the 4th one on and rearranged order by deleting and re-importing!!

Anyway, two pics of my lovely daffs, left from last year, I planted no bulbs this year so I'm very pleased with all these. My flowering currant and lastly the fruiting red currant i bought over a week ago and still haven't planted. The weather here has been pretty bad.

Myths and Legends of Knitting

2010-03-30T10:32:00.000+01:00

Hi, because all I've finished recently is my commission gloves I thought I'd start an occasional post about the history of knitting and crochet as its a subject that interests me, I would like to get a book on it, any recommendations?

Anyway on with the story..my Irish friend told me the other night that Aran jumpers were used to individually identify drowned fishermen, however on researching this I came across this information.

The Aran Islands are located off the west of Ireland, in Galway Bay. Contrary to popular belief, the typical cable-patterned Aran jumper is a 20th-century invention. In 1891 the government set up the Congested Districts Board to help poor families to survive unemployment and a shortage of potatoes. The Board encouraged local people to weave and knit garments to sell.

By the 20th century this cottage industry began to take off and the Board trained knitters to create complex patterns from stitches such as honeycomb, figure eight and double diamond. Instead of the dark coloured, oiled wools traditionally used to make fishermen’s jerseys, the islanders experimented with soft, thick, undyed yarn.

Here is the link to this site, this would seem to contradict my friends idea as it was only done recently and probably not even worn by the fishermen but sold to tourists. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Crochet and Daffodils

2010-03-23T15:01:00.000Z

Yes, here they are, my favourite hobby and some of my favourite flowers. At last some sign of spring. I didn't plant any of these, they just popped up. Every time I see them they make me happy. And look at the sunshine! Of course it's grey and cloudy now....but it will shine again.

This is Robin - three colours green cushion cover. It is two sided and now you can see the effectiveness of that new stitch. I've started work on the scarf which looks lovely and finally I might use up that hand spun lace weight.

Tomorrow I'm off to a crochet meet up. Well I say I am, I might be put off by rain or sheer terror at meeting and mingling with strangers, I will report on whether I made it or not. On Saturday I went to the stitch and craft show at Olympia, London. I was not that impressed, I've been to much better but I still spent too much money...now I have large quantities of cotton, none of it organic or fair trade so I feel bad about it all. I was going to stick to only organic or fair trade cotton because of the terrible costs of producing cotton, both to the environment and to the people who grow it. Then I realised that almost everything we wear, sleep in, have on our floors and soft furnishings are made of cotton, and I can't afford to replace all of that stuff with organic and/or fair trade stuff, so the crochet would be a drop in the ocean...ah well.

To Shell or not to Shell

2010-03-10T21:18:00.000Z

This is the unfinished back of my next cushion cover. I always seem make things with shell patterns, even granny squares are just a variant of shells. So I looked through my book of crochet and knit stitches and found cross hatch. I tried it but found it too tedious because it involved trying to crochet into 2 chains every few stitches. Like having to do a foundation row over and over again.

After a few rows I decided to rip it out and start again. This time instead of trebling into the two chains I did the two stitches into the three chain space, sound familiar? Yep I realised after a few rows it was just another variation of a shell. It seems I can't get away from them. The fabric it made was quite strange, it has a 3D ripple across the surface making it look rather like corrugated cardboard. Each column sticks up. I tried photographing it but it's hard to see, I hope those bits explain it properly. I don't know how it will work out on a cushion cover as generally these are made with flat fabric. But I think it would make a lovely scarf, maybe in a thinner yarn worked with a big hook, but then it might loose that strange ripple effect. Sometimes I have more ideas than time and now I want to be done with this and try my scarf idea out even though I have at lease two more projects in the pipeline. Never, ever enough hours...still better to have ideas than lose my crochet mojo and have no ideas and no enthusiasm. I should just write these ideas down and then I'll have enough to keep me going in the fallow patches.

Cushion Cover

2010-03-09T10:58:00.000Z

So here it is, finished this cushion cover which was more difficult than I thought it would be. Who knew? cushion cover just two squares, but working out the envelope fastening without a pattern and getting the size right, stitching two completely different weights of crocheting together, ah well its all a learning curve. I'm quite pleased with it now.

Meanwhile I'm sitting here waiting for a repair person and trying to concentrate on doing one of the most boring things in the world, my accounts...hence doing this blog post instead. Send me a nice comment so I have something pleasant to read.

Nearly finished my cushion cover

2010-03-03T11:51:00.000Z

Yes I've nearly finished my cushion cover, so I almost have something new to share! In the meantime I thought I'd big up some fellow folksy sellers. Folksy is the english equivalent of etsy and has some lovely stuff so if you are in the States but can wait a bit of time for delivery and pay a bit more in postage you may find yourself a bargain.

In fact you could bag yourself a bargain. (Sorry for the awful pun) with this lovely bag, well I snapped it up, but she has a similar one and if she sells it she might make some more. Its a knitting bag with wooden handles that can come apart to make a pair of knitting needles. I've had it just two days now and its already my favourite bag. And at less than £15.00 its a steal, sooner or later she will realise that she should be selling these in Liberty's for £80.00 plus...so buy soon. Here is her shop.

More favourite folksians soon. And hopefully some crochet soon.

Crocheting in the Sunshine!!

2010-02-18T16:36:00.000Z

This is my second attempt to post this. I am retyping it and retyping all the links.....bleeping internet.

Yes it's true yesterday was a lovely day, warm and sunny and since it was half-term I took myself and youngest daughter to the park. And for a brief while. before she fell in the mud and wanted to go home, I actually sat in the park and crocheted. A little taste of spring. Didn't last of course, now its raining again. Still in honor of this unexpected treat...here is my sunshine award. I have accepted this award, thank you for the nomination. Now I have twelve crafty bloggers to nominate.

The sunshine award is awarded to the blogger whose creativity and positivity have inspired others in the bloging world.

The rules for accepting the award are as follows:

Put the logo in your blog or within your post.
Pass the award on to 12 bloggers.
Link the nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their posts.
Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

These are my 12 nominees:

Nifty Knits
Kool Kooky Kreatures
The Bear Necessities
Charminglochie
Curly Girls Crochet
Stitchville
Dizzy Izzy
Experiments with Sugar Mice
Fiona's Knitting
Wellydog
Freyluna
Lightwear Jewellery

Finally made these for Etsy

2010-02-16T16:57:00.000Z

I've posted these lovely gloves on etsy. I still seem to enjoy making them even though I've made them loads of times. I started making another pair of them two weeks ago and I was crocheting them at my Knitter Knatter group when one of the women there said she liked them so much that she would buy them when they were finished. So I sold them to her, (mind you she hasn't paid yet!) and had to make another pair (in secret). Glad they are done now, though that is the last of that yarn, I really really love the colour and mercerised cotton is so easy to crochet with. It doesn't split at all unlike most other kinds of cotton. Having read a few things about cotton production I am trying to buy only organic and/or fair trade cotton but I have yet to find any mercerised organic cotton.

I have received a lovely sunshine award, I will post it here when I have compiled my list of 12 other blogs to pass it on to.

Sarah's Skirt

2010-02-13T14:37:00.000Z

Well here it is. I am very pleased with this, very quick and easy but very effective. I made this in a lovely alpaca and silk mix 4 ply and kid silk haze for the trim. I tried this because I want to make a full size one for me. I thought I would start by doing a 'working model' of course it will be quite different on a full size one but this did help me work some things out. Like why if you make X chain, then work back into it with dc, chain one,miss one chain, dc, to try and make the spaces for the tie, that row is way too tight. I've found out on this that you have to put more chains between the dcs, I don't know why. Its one of life's mysteries and one of the reasons I switched from fiber to metal all those years ago. Metal stays where it's put and does what it's told. Yarn has a bleep bleep life of its own. Lol

Pattern for Doll's Shoes

2010-02-12T16:52:00.000Z

Well here is the pattern for those strange shaped dolls shoes. It is very rough and ready but feel free to contact me if you have any problems.

This is for a pair of shoes for a 'Jelly Cat Doll' approx 14" tall.

4ply Cotton, 3.5mm crochet hook. Tension (approx) 18sts to 10cm /4".

(note) I made one of these then counted everything and made the second. The second one didn't seem to have the exact same no of stitches as the first, however following this rough pattern should work for you to make two the same. Please forgive me as I am giving this one away.

I am giving the English name for the stitches. Treble (tr) is Double Crochet (dc)in the USA and double crochet in England is single crochet in the USA. So just substitute your name for mine...err hope that makes sense

Left Shoe. First Round: , chain 13, 1 tr in 4th chain from hook, top loop only. 1 tr in each of next 8 chain, top loop only. 10 tr worked including the 3 chain. 2 tr in same place as last tr, turn the work around (not over) and work 3 tr in the bottom loop of the same chain. (It makes more sense when you work it than it sounds!!). 8 tr in bottom loop of next 8 chains, 4tr in last chain, join with ss to 3rd chain of 3 chain.

Second Round: Dc in next st, 3 dc in next st, half tr (ht) in next st, tr in each of next 6 sts, ht in next st, 1 dc in each of next 2 sts, 3 dc in each of next 2 sts, 3dc in next st, ht in next st, 6 tr in next 6 sts, ht in next st, 3 dc in next st, ss in next st. Sole Made

Sides, First Round: 3 chain, 1 tr though back loops only of next 34 sts, ss to third chain of 3 chain.

Second Round: Same as first.

Third Round: 3 ch, tr 2 together over next 2 sts, 1 tr in each of next 30 sts, tr 2 together over next 2 sts, ss to 3rd ch of 3 chain. This end is the toe end.

Fourth Round: 1 ch, dc 2 tog, *3 dc in each of next 3 sts, dc 2 tog* rep from * to * to last stitch, skip last st, ss to chain, fasten off.

Strap: Rejoin yarn at what looks like a good spot, about 5 sts round from the first st for the left shoe. Dc in that stitch, 2 dc in next 2 sts, *turn, 1 ch, 3 dc in next 3 sts* work from * to * till the strap just overlaps the opposite side (I did this with the dolls foot in the shoe, if you don't have the doll, strap should be approx 2" at this stage). Form a point on the strap: Turn, no chain, 2 dc next 2 dc, turn, no chain, 1 dc, fasten off. Sew a tiny button on the opposite side from the strap, you should be able to just push the button through the strap without having to make a button hole. Sew in ends.

The right shoe is the same as the left, just be sure to attach the strap on the other side, just match it to the place for the first one.

I hope this makes sense. Good luck and I'd love to see any of them that you do make. :)

Doll Shoe Update

2010-02-10T12:08:00.000Z

Thanks for the interest in these, before I post the pattern I need to make a few things clear. They won't work as baby shoes, the reason I had to make my own design was that baby shoe pattern's wouldn't have worked. The feet of this doll are a really strange shape, there is no difference between front or back, they have an oval shape at the bottom and then come straight up the sides much thicker than a baby's foot. They are most similar in shape to a fat golf club. I think these shoes will only fit this particular kind of doll. It is a 'Jelly Cat' doll and that company don't even make these dolls anymore. I guess I wasn't thinking when I mentioned that I could post the pattern. I'm still happy to do it but I think unless you have that particular doll it won't be much good. Anyway let me know and I will see what I can do. :)

HI, I hope you like my new background.

2010-02-09T15:25:00.001Z

So here are the shoes I crocheted for Emily's doll, sorry Sarah. She is Emily's oldest companion and she's had her for so long that her shoes which were just patterned fabric have worn off. I'm very pleased with this effort as I worked out how to do them myself. I have a rough written pattern and if anybody wants it I will try and work it out so that it is intelligible to others and post it here. I had a look at posting patterns on Ravellery but it seemed immensely complicated and I just couldn't get my brain round it. I think technology is getting the better of me.

Got a new background, I found the link on one of the blogs that I follow, thanks for that, I am Not a Volcano. I knitted Sarah's jumper as well, many years ago in the dry period between the 80's and a few years ago, when I didn't knit or crochet. I guess I must have done some. I did use crochet to help me give up smoking but I don't think I made anything, just frantically crocheted to keep my hands occupied.

I've made a lovely skirt for Sarah as well and a beret for a doll that my daughter has made for one of her school friends. When she is fully dressed I can use a picture of her.

Cold Snap on the way - official!!

2010-02-07T18:34:00.000Z

Yes apparently the big freeze is coming back. I hope it is, I love the snow, even though I ended up getting caught up in all the worry last month because I was waiting for my mum to come over on a plane. When we were younger her and me used to love walking in the snow and laughing at all the worried people and nervous walkers. Even though she is in her mid 70's now and I worry about her slipping in the snow I don't think she does so much. Coming from Idaho as she did, whenever it snowed and everything ground to a halt she uses to say. "Snow, call this snow! when I was a child we would regularly have to climb out of our first floor window and dig out the door." That sounded so exciting to me when I was a child and I used to dream of such a big snow.

Over in the east coast of the states they are having a real big snow, no doubt if it snows at all here it will be a few inches and everyone will complain. Not me, bring it on!! This year I have noticed that I think I prefer the winter to the summer. Spring and Autumn aren't too bad but hot sticky summers in the heat of the city, no thanks. I love the way snow transforms the landscape and the drab and dirty streets. Just after the snow falls is the only time you could call Hackney beautiful, I know it does have some lovely places but the snow transforms even the council estates and dodgy high streets. Also for a crocheter/knitter there is nothing better than curling up on the sofa with the latest project, wearing my creations and dreaming of all the things I want to make. Summer and yarn arts just don't go together that well, even though I try (see my first post here).

I've been making clothes for dolls for my daughter, as soon as she lets me I will post some pics. So in the meantime this is a photo I took a year ago, didn't take any photo's in the snow this year, don't know why.

Finally back to crochet

2010-02-02T15:44:00.000Z

Ok I seem to have some ideas now, suddenly thought I ought to do something for Valentine's day. These little hearts are something I managed to come up with quickly. Trying to think of things other than hats scarves etc to make. I thought of cushion covers, but can't think of other things. I like bags but they always seem to take so long.

I really am going to start work on a skirt, a long term thing since I want to make my own design and pattern. Then I start to browse books and the internet and see lovely patterns that I want to make....definitely a case of too much yarn and not enough time..but that's another blog!

2010-01-26T12:37:00.000Z

To Sue, even though I'd lost touch with you a few years ago, I always liked you and perhaps was slightly in awe of you. I remember going round to your house and you always had loads of people round, I was amazed by all your friends and the way you were so generous and hospitable.

I remember you at Wrotham and all the great times we had there, our own mini-festival. I remember you getting married at Big Green Gathering and how the whole festival seemed to be involved.

Thank you so much for coming to my 50th and for your lovely present and I'm so sorry I didn't come to your party.

Good bye Sue, you blazed like a shooting star through the world but like that star you were all too short lived.

If this post doesn't mean anything to anyone who reads this, I just felt like I wanted to say something about Sue and as I think of this as my diary I couldn't think of anywhere else to put it.

Hopefully back to crochet and knitting next time.

I'd Rather be Knitting/Crocheting (delete as appropriate)

2010-01-21T14:22:00.000Z

Well here are my latest creations. I seem to have gone knitting mad and not touched crochet for ages. If we really are doing a spring fair in April I realised I only have two months to make things. I don't really feel like another lot of mass production. I'm enjoying just noodling about on these projects which are just for fun and just for me. Also in my experience you can't sell anything at that time of year, except perhaps easter eggs!

Anyway these are both being worked on long circular needles. The pink one is a mad variation on the seamless yoke sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman. I'm also attempting stranded colour work for the first time in over 20 years. It really is experimental and I don't know how it will turn out. Also I bought this yarn in a sale and it is beautiful but it's very scratchy and the only way I will be able to wear it is if it is a v-neck which looks impossible to do on a yoked sweater.

As I was starting this one I got one of my knitting magazines delivered and for almost the first time I actually liked some of the patterns in it. I was inspired to make this cardigan as it is made of lots of bits of left over yarn. Ha Ha I thought, something to do with all the yarn left over from the rainbow blankets also allowing me to make a garment without having to buy anymore yarn. (well a bit for the borders). I love wearing cardis but I hate having to knit all those bits and sewing them up. So I decided to try a complete experiment and try to knit it all in one, but back and forth not in a circle. So I've cast on all the stitches for the back and two fronts. The first problem was that the pattern calls for the two fronts and the back to increase on the seam sides. Easy enough to do on each piece but I don't know how that will look on one piece. I have just marked where the seams would have been and then done pairs of increases on each side of these markers. This will distort the fabric but I'm going ahead and seeing if it will look ok when its all made up. Wish me luck.

Rainbow Blankets - Finished!!!!

2010-01-13T13:43:00.000Z

Yes...I've finally finished these two blankets that I was making for my daughters. I started these last year, had to stop in the summer because it was too hot to have them out and anywhere near me, then I couldn't do them before Christmas because I was busy doing things for the craft fair. So just before and after Christmas I managed to finish them and then photograph them with my new birthday camera. I'm very pleased with these. They look lovely and were fun to do, my daughters love them.

Because I wanted quite specific colours I did end up having to buy quite a lot of yarn so not exactly the stash busting project I originally started! Lots of people saw me making them where I do my reception work and asked if I could make them one, but to be honest it took so long that I don't really want to make them again. Plus I couldn't actually charge for the time taken so they wouldn't be worth my while. I think things like this should stay a labour of love.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2009-12-30T22:41:00.001Z

Here are two pics of my first post Christmas project. I bought this yarn from a follower who ended up with a stall at the Sally Army Christmas Fair. Its a lovely hand dyed yarn that she makes in her own studio. The colour is much nicer than my two indoor pictures show. I know all projects should be photographed outside but at the moment in London we seem to have about 1 hour of daylight and no hours of sunshine. Its also too cold and wet to photograph anything outdoors.

I am trying to teach myself lace. I managed the fishtail mits but now find any but the easiest lace pattern really hard, its not something you can do while watching telly! I get easily bored trying to knit scarves so I have decided to treat this as a lace sampler and teach myself lace patterns starting with the easiest one in my book of knitting patterns and working my way up. I hope the finished project still looks nice.

I got an Elizabeth Zimmerman book for Christmas and I have just read it from cover to cover. That's the first knitting book that I have found you can read almost like a novel...she has some weird and wonderful ideas and a great way of chatting to make you laugh and think. I'm not so sure about her patterns. I would like to make the seamless sweater since I do hate to sew. Her cut and sew patterns would be very difficult for me as they seem to assume more than a nodding aquaintace with ordinary sewing techniques. Most of the things she tells you to do I have never even heard of, basting? Anyway back to the seamless sweater, all very well except I can't wear sweaters anymore. I seem to have developed a wool alergy (how ironic for a knitter/crocheter) which is worse around my neck and upper chest. I can only wear cardigans or at a push a jumper with a very deep v neck. I will have to ask my mum when she comes to visit me for my birthday.

Young Scratch and Sniff

2009-11-29T21:07:00.000Z

Here are some pictures of my cats. No reason really just that I have lots of new crochet but no photos.

The craft fair was a big success and a big thank you to all the stall holders and helpers. We are definitely going to do some more so watch this space. Laura, I would love to come and see your studio one day and if you have any more lace weight yarn in new colours let me know, some incentive to set up a folksy or etsy page.

Its all hands on deck now for Xmas, trying to think of things to get the girls when they have everything they need anyway, I enjoy Christmas in November but somehow in December it all gets a little too hectic and I begin to loose my enthusiasm.

Well got to go now and comb my daughters hair before bed.

Last of the bendy 38

2009-11-22T21:54:00.000Z

Here is a link to me on video, just to make things stranger anyone who doesn't know me can guess which one is me.....

I haven't blogged for ages cause I have been busy making things for the craft fair. There are still a few days left but I am almost crocheted out and don't really want to do any more. Feel some knitting creeping up on me. I have a mad idea for a tumbling blocks patchwork quilt made of knitted shapes instead of cloth. There probably is a pattern for it out there on the net but I want to see if I can work it out myself.

I'll post any pics here and keep a note of my progress.

Missing Bag

2009-10-16T17:15:00.000+01:00

Here is a picture of a painting, what you may say has this to do with crochet, well here's the thing, I was returning tired but feeling like I had done a good evenings work, from my crochet class. With me I had my bag from the RA featuring a painting similar to this one, in it were almost all my crochet hooks, my old and much loved pencil case full of bits and bobs, tape measures, darning needles etc, and a ball of yarn that I got for £10 from the Knit and Stitch show. I had spent the evening carefully unwinding and rewinding this ball because I had wound it too tight from it's original skein. What do you know, I left the bag on the bus...

I phoned the bus garage the next morning but no luck, the bag was gone for good. I am heart-broken. Also my almost full sketch book was in the bag, that's like losing a diary or an album.

Ah well I went and spent too much money getting some more hooks and expensive yarn and now I feel back on course for the craft fair.

I enjoyed the Knit and Stitch show which I went to with my daughter, spent too much but saw lots of lovely things and came back inspired.

Central Park Hoody

2009-10-07T16:58:00.000+01:00

Yes I am now joining the ranks of 15yr old trouble makers, with my most ambitious knitting project yet. I hoped to make it in time to wear for the autumn but it already feels too cold and I'm thinking of winter coats, scarfs and gloves. Still I'm very proud of this and pleased with myself for finishing it in what for me was a record time. From August 21st when I bought the yarn and started knitting swatches, to October 5th. Hard to really visualise the need for it in August and already past it's prime, ah well. NOW there is no excuse not to get on with the stuff for the craft fair....oh no work!

First Look

2009-10-01T18:45:00.000+01:00

This is the beret I have been working on, just finished it, luckily with yarn to spare!

This is the first look, I will be posting it on Etsy soon, I think. See it was going to be a set, gloves, scarf and hat..Ah well, perhaps no one likes sets anyway.

No Knitter Knatter this week, sorry about that, we are a bit short staffed and we have a big do on so it's all hands to the pump.

Things on the craft fair front are going well. I have seen some lovely stuff and emailed some really nice people. I can't wait to meet them all and establish some more crafty connections.

I have a business fan page on Facebook now, this is the link. If you would be my fan.

Shooz, I need to contact you viz a viz the craft fair, please go to my folksy or etsy site and send me a message. Or read my comment on the same post that you commented on. Err I hope that makes sense.

Announcing, Announcing, Announcing

2009-09-25T20:00:00.000+01:00

ANNOUNCING THE FIRST EVER, LOWER CLAPTON SALVATION ARMY CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR.

Yes you heard it here first. On November 28th, 10am - 2pm. Address and proper poster here soon. Stall holders wanted. High quality hand made crafts only. If you are interested just leave me a comment here. Now you can follow the exciting adventures of yours truly as I try and make enough stuff to sell, so far I have two pairs of gloves, one hand bag, two small purses and 6 assorted tiny bags. The other day I sat down and timed myself and it took me two hours to crochet one glove. Me thinks its going to be an uphill struggle.

The Great Clapton Scarf Disaster

2009-09-24T14:11:00.000+01:00

Here is my lovely ruffle scarf, or at least it would be if it had worked out! I started out with one pattern that I wanted to change, decided I didn't like it and restarted with a mixture gleaned from free patterns on the internet. After nearly finishing the lilac border I realised I wouldn't have enough yarn so I frogged that row (that's knitter speak for unraveling) and started it again. After about 200 stitches I found that even with the revised row there still wasn't enough yarn. At that point I gave up and cut off the first bit of the darker purple rows and tied/sewed up the resulting mess. Not good enough to sell but now what do I do with it, use it myself, I have tons of scarfs! Or recycle the yarn which is getting desperately bitty after frequent frogging. Ah well I suppose it's a learning experience.

Knitting!

2009-09-21T10:54:00.000+01:00

So here is some knitting. These were the first small circular projects I made. I tried using four needles but then went to majic loop. This is much better for me. The pattern is here. In crochet I will hopefully start some soon! I am trying to make some stock for a craft fair, at this rate I will have one pair of gloves and a hat...watch this space.

Links

2009-09-17T12:36:00.000+01:00

Here are some links to some crochet blogs. I'm still looking for local crafters if I even find some english crocheters I will share here. This site sells fiendish halloween creations. Check it out here. I also liked this one especially "why buy a cow".

Happy browsing

Why do children love the autumn?

2009-09-17T11:47:00.000+01:00

Yes it's true as the chilly breezes start to blow and the first of the leaves fall my children get really excited despite the fact that last Saturday was stonkingly hot nothing deters them from there conviction that autumn is on its way.

Why do they like it so. I can just about remember going back to school in september, kicking the leaves aside on my way home and counting the days till christmas. I loved winter too, as do my children, my teenager even did when he was younger. (I don't know what he thinks nowadays, he doesn't talk to me anymore).

Yet us adults always bemoan the colder days and longer nights. I am torn in two over autumn. Part of me remembers the childhood happiness and also I feel renewed in autumn. The kids are back at school, I have time to myself. For knitters and crocheters this is the best time of year we can go back to lovely warm and cozy yarns and plan and make all our pressies and things to sell for the holiday season.

On the other hand I too find myself getting depressed as the nights draw in and I dread the cold which grinds me to a halt. I think about the dead time of winter, January and February when nothing can cheer me up.

We should be more like our children, they seem to be natural optimists so perhaps if we remember our own childhood or look to our kids we can view autumn in a better light.

Don't worry my next post will be about crochet, or even..knitting.. On that subject I have posted those gloves and the patterns for them on etsy and folksy so please check them out, you can use the links at the top of the page.

P.S hope you like my picture of clapton pond!!

2009-09-10T14:30:00.000+01:00

Clapton Crochet Chatter AKA Hackney Knitter Knatter

2009-09-09T22:25:00.000+01:00

I have been mentioned on a local blog http://davehill.typepad.com/claptonian/ so if you are local to Clapton and a crocheter let me know. And if you crochet or knit or have always wanted to know how but didn't know who to ask. Come and meet me and other nutters oops knitters on Friday mornings 10 till 12 at Clapton Salvation Army, 122 - 124 Lower Clapton Rd. That's the building behind the trees opposite Rowhill Road. There's also a coffee shop (where we host our group), and charity shop.
Free tea and coffee and hopefully a bit of a giggle.

Cats Love Mushy Peas

2009-09-08T12:36:00.000+01:00

Yes its true and you read it here first, what does this have to do with crochet? You may well ask, nothing actually but since I decided this was musings from a crocheter then I can muse on anything really.

Years ago I had a cat who liked to lick out tins of mushy peas, then the other day our cat Sniff leapt up on a chair next to our bin and started to eat some mushy peas that I had just thrown in there from the pan. Why? The only thing I can think of is that the mint in mushy peas tastes like catnip. Any thoughts..

Crochet..I am very pleased with these fingerless gloves. I designed them myself and they are going to be the second pattern I am going to sell. To see my small range of crochet items and accessories click on the links to the left.

2009-07-19T20:49:00.000+01:00

SARAHS BAG

Well here is the finished bag. The good weather seems to have left us so I finished it in the living room while it rained outside.

I have given it to her but I don't know what she makes of it as she is waiting to open her birthday pressie. It is from an old (60s) crochet book, that was what she picked, guess the old stuff is coming back in fashion. One of the women in our knitter knatter group brought in a bag she had crocheted years and years ago and that very same day I saw a pattern for an almost identical one on the front of a current crochet mag.

Crocheting in the garden

2009-07-05T22:04:00.000+01:00

Hello anybody out there and welcome to my first post on my first blog. At least....some years ago I started one while bored at work but could never find it again to add to it.

Its been really really hot here in London, too hot to crochet you might think. It certainly is too hot to crochet the two blankets I am making for my daughters. But...I've discovered the joy of sitting in my garden in the evening and crocheting a bag I am making for a work colleague. We have a tiny garden in a council estate in inner London and while it is not exactly quiet at least I get away for a bit from the kids and husband all inexplicably ensconced in the over heated living room watching telly or computerising. Also we are the only people on this bit of the estate who use their back garden (really front garden but that's another long story) so all the barbequeing, playing music, kids playing etc is that little bit removed and it was remarkably peaceful, I even think I heard some bats flying over.

I stayed out till it was too dark to see my stitches and felt really tranquil and ready to face the family.

Rainbow Hat

Happy New Year

Folksy Friday - November Nexus 18th Nov

Folksy Friday - November Nexus

Folksy Friday

Knitting and Stitching show 2011

Folksy Friday

Socks and Wedding Shawls

New Yarn Shops

Appreciation Photos

Folksy Friday - Folksy Mayhems

Folksy Friday - April Show-ers

Foolish Folksy Friday

Folksy Friday - Lace

I've been featured in a Magazine

Folksy Friday - Purple Hearts

Wedding Shawl

Folksy Friday - the power of green

Doris Chan

Craft Fair Time Again

Folksy Friday - Burnt Orange

Autumn relaunch

Perfect Pie

So Called Summer

Cat Physics

To list or not to list

Folksy Friday

Folksy Friday, well I know it's Sunday...

Flying Teapot...

WIPs.....WIP....WIP........

And the winner is......

YES ITS THE BIG 5 OH

And now for those folks awake on the other side of the pond

Craft Fair

Work Nearly Finished

Craft Fair Alert

Folksy Friday - bears

Folksy Friday

Orange you glad

Folksy Friday - featuring bags

Wordless Wednesday

Lace Spring Scarf Givaway

Shell Scarf

Comments Please

Wordless Wednesday

Myths and Legends of Knitting

Crochet and Daffodils

To Shell or not to Shell

Cushion Cover

Nearly finished my cushion cover

Crocheting in the Sunshine!!

Finally made these for Etsy

Sarah's Skirt

Pattern for Doll's Shoes

Doll Shoe Update

HI, I hope you like my new background.

Cold Snap on the way - official!!

Finally back to crochet

I'd Rather be Knitting/Crocheting (delete as appropriate)

Rainbow Blankets - Finished!!!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Young Scratch and Sniff

Last of the bendy 38

Missing Bag

Central Park Hoody

First Look

Announcing, Announcing, Announcing

The Great Clapton Scarf Disaster

Knitting!

More Links

Links

Why do children love the autumn?

Clapton Crochet Chatter AKA Hackney Knitter Knatter

Cats Love Mushy Peas

Crocheting in the garden