Challenge 52 - Week 30

I woke up yesterday morning to find that there was a challenge there ready and waiting on Twitter!
Lemonade and Lamingtons had put out a challenge on Twitter to have a go at crocheting a Crocodile stitch scarf. The stitch is quite complicated to get to grips with, but the effect is stunning ...
You can see her completed scarf here on her Flickr page :-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemonadeandlamingtons/

So, i've risen to the challenge, first sorting out this Balmoral yarn in 'Deerstalker' - yes I want it to look both Autumnal and 'crocodile-like'! Just hope i've got enough of it ...

And so I've begun, this little bit took quite a while, but i've done some more since taking these photographs, so it does feel like it is starting to grow. I just hope the colour isn't going to make it look too mushypea-esque!!

It's almost like you are crocheting both a front and a back fabric - the scallops on the front are held in place by a grid structure on the reverse. So, for now i'm going back to my crocheting, i'm sure this is going to be a projects that I pick up and do a bit of in between other things so don't expect completion at the end of the week, but i'll do my best.


You can join in this challenge on Flickr (The pattern is written here too) -
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1774160@N22/

or you can join the Facebook group -
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.257302907613934.75863.126348630709363&type=1

The Big Knit 2011

I did the Big Knit last year, and it's that time of year again ...

The Big Knit is all about knitting mini-hats to fit on the tops of Innocent Smoothie drinks and raising money for AgeUK. Each bottle (with a hat) sold raises 25p for AgeUK - helping to provide blankets, activities and hot meals for older people during the Winter months.

The aim this year is 650,000 hats - that's knitted by everyone, not just me by the way. I think I did about ten last year, so ideally i'd like to double that figure before the closing date for this year's Big Knit - 14th October 2011.

Taking part in the Big Knit is a great way of using up leftover yarn and yarn in your stash that you're never going to use for a project (come on we've all got some). These little hats don't take long to knit, and there are three different patterns on this leaflet that you can download ...
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Big%20Knit/big_knit_knitting_pattern_booklet_2011.pdf?dtrk=true

It's also a lot of fun to design your own hats - I gave this a go last year, and i've got plans for my 2011 'collection' too!

If you want to find out more before commiting yarn to needles, visit the Innocent website -
http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/bigknit/

And if you do get involved you can join this group on Ravelry and find out what other knitters and crocheters are up to ...
http://www.ravelry.com/groups/innocent-smoothies-big-knit

I'll post pictures of my hats at some point in the future ... time to get knitting.

Coffee Beans

I've completed two Challenge 52 projects in the last few days ... i've uploaded all my 'Elements' fabrics onto Spoonflower, and i've also produced my Hawaiian Cheater Quilt pattern and uploaded it to there.

There are now 16 fabrics in my Elements collection, so i'm ordering a swatch to see what they look like. I'm sure there will be enough fabric to make a cushion cover or a mini-quilt.
And this is my Hawaiian Cheater Quilt ...

I've stuck to the idea of a border pattern and rotational symmetry, but added a modern twist. I wanted to make a design that I personally would use, so it's a knitter's quilt, something I could sit on when i'm out knitting in the park! Ulana can mean lots of things in Hawaiian including vine, weave, knotting and knitting. The quilt competition will run from the 24th August for a week.

I've also entered this weeks fabric competition 'Coffee', which was to design a coffee themed fabric using three colours. I went for coffee beans on this bold background!

You can vote on this contest later today and it will continue for the next week.
http://www.spoonflower.com/

Tuesday Treasury - Kits

I try to make things 'from scratch' whenever possible, but sometimes it's nice to work from a kit ... they're good for taking on holidays/journeys, for learning a new craft, for occupying children in the school holidays ... and if you're itching to be crafty but your brain is saying no! Here is a mini-treasury of crafty kits I have found on Etsy ...

Flower Loom Kit, I can remember having a 'Ronco Flower Loom' for my birthday in the '70's, this one is much nicer -
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ffflowers

Make Your Own Bird Box Kit, this is such a great idea, fun to make and then you can watch it being used by the local wildlife -
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Wudwerx

DIY Doughnut Kit, older children could definitely give this project a go -
http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperandstring

Drop Spindle Starter Kit, this is something on my 'Have A Go' list for this summer, watch out for a Challenge 52 project soon -
http://www.etsy.com/shop/alittlebitsheepish

Another mini-treasury next Tuesday ...

Challenge 52 - Week 29

I'm still working on my 'Elements' collection for last weeks challenge, and you can see what i've created so far on my Spoonflower profile ...
http://www.spoonflower.com/collections/8054

It's great fun ,and I have to admit i've become a bit of a Spoonflower addict in the last week!So, i'm putting my obsession to good use and entering one of their competitions to design a 'Cheats Hawaiian Quilt'. I had no idea what this meant!

A cheat quilt is one that is printed to look like a quilt, you just add a sandwich of wadding and a backing fabric and stitch along the outlines.

I also needed to do some research into a Hawaiian quilts ...

I love the Ukulele one, and i've started to collect images of Hawaiian Quilts on a Pinterest board.
http://pinterest.com/giddystuff/hawaiian-quilts/

Now, to get some sketchbook work done, I need to decide on a theme for my quilt and then sort out a colour scheme - you're only allowed to use four colours.
Wish me luck!

Blue Bunting

I've been sewing those triangles again, this time for a friend who adores shabby chic ... especially bunting!

I tried to keep the colour scheme quite plain and fresh - white, cornflower blue and blue gingham, decorating the blue triangles with polka dot felt hearts.

The bunting is double sided (I back each triangle with a contrast fabric), so it can be hung at a window or across the room, and should last a while because it shouldn't frey.

I also made her this little make-up bag - created using upcycled curtain material, with a blue silk lining (also upcycled) ...

I'm looking forward to six weeks of sketching, sewing and creating. Ok, so I have some paperwork to do for my day job, but for the moment I want to exercise my design skills!

Tuesday Treasury - Nature on Spoonflower

As part of my weekly challenge i'm developing a range of fabric based on the theme of the elements and i'm posting my designs on the Spoonflower website.

This week i've put together a mini-collection of 'nature themed' fabrics that can be bought from Spoonflower. You have to wait for the fabrics to be shipped from the US, but it's well worth the wait if you want something a little out the ordinary ...

Tree Hearts by Holi Zollinger, this designer gives a wonderful retro feel to her fabrics -
http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/310012

Chickadees and Pussywillows by Twobloom, great as afabric buy even a swatch in a clipframe would look fanastic -
http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/308776

Skeleton Leaves by Siya, I love the way the colours glow on the gold background -
http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/497984

Seedy Blue by Antoniamanda, the chairs in my dining room need a lift, this could be the fabric -
http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/392993

Colour - The Orange Door

Another Pinterest photograph that I have analysed in terms of colour, this time an amazing image of a door I came across whilst looking for pictures for my 'Element; sketchbook project ... I love doors with peeling paint ...

Giveaway Time! And the winner is ...

Ok, so my mini-giveaway closed at 6pm (GMT) this evening, time for the results! The giddy hat I normally use is in storage - come on it's the Summer, I don't carry a woollen beret with me all the time, so i've used an online number generator.

The winner is number 11, the 11th person to leave a comment was Knits and 'Nacks, so congratulations to you, and thank you to everyone who left a comment.

Challenge 52 - Week 28

I love the Spoonflower website, and every Thursday I vote for my favourite designs in their weekly competition. I haven't uploaded any designs to the site since before Christmas!
This gave me an idea for my weekly challenge ...
PRODUCE A COLLECTION OF FABRICS
...A bit of a tall order, but I have a starting point - i'm going to use some of my sketchbook imagery from last week's elements challenge.

This is the first drawing I did, trying to produce motifs to represent the four different elements. I made a decision to work in pencil only ... i've bought some new Inktense crayons so colour will follow in the next few pages.

So far i've been playing around with these images on my computer and turned part of this drawing into a design called 'Feather Egg'. I've tried out different colourways as you can see. I want it to look quite Mid-Century Modern.

The collection will be available on Spoonflower very soon, in the meantime i'm really enjoying trying out repeats and colourways for my other ideas.

http://www.spoonflower.com/designs?view=8054

Bake Sale!

I'm busy preparing for a Summer Fete - at this moment in time i'm surrounded by brooch backs and circles of upcycled fabric that are destined to be corsages!
A work collegue (the Food Technology teacher) is running the cake stand and i've designed her some little flags that can be used to add descriptions of cupcake flavours or prices. All they need is to be folded in half and a little cocktail stick glued in the middle.

I've put the designs on here so that they can be used by other people baking cupcakes for charity, or purely as decorations for cakes if you're having a summer party.
The full design sheet should fill a sheet of A4 paper. If you have trouble copying this image from here it's also on my flickr page ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/giddystuff/

Tuesday Treasury - Knitted and online!

A slightly different treasury this week ... a collection of knitting projects from Ravelry that I would love to tackle this Summer ...

Curvy Felt Pouch by Claire Louise (Created and Felted), i've already got this one, I love the sculptural quality of thid felted design -
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/curvy-felt-pouch-2

Hitchhiker by Martina Behm, this is such a popular design on Ravelry, i'd like to make it in shades of blue or green -
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hitchhiker

Skew by Lana Holden, a great pattern for all the multi-coloured sock yarn I am addicted to buying -
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/skew

Ishbel by Ysolda Teague, I bought a copy of 'Whimsical Little Knits' earlier this year, and I haven't had a chance to start any of the projects yet. I saw this design knitted up in the FibreFlurry shop in Birmingham and it looks wonderful -
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ishbel

Challenge 52 - Week 27

Another week and a new challenge! I was swayed by a new knit-a-long last weekend, so this weekend i'm on a new sketchbook challenge ...

ELEMENT

... I've decided to concentrate on the elements of nature - earth, air, fire and water. It seems like an age since i've done a load of drawing and experiments in my sketchbook, so this will be a good one!

A snapshot of my Elements board on Pinterest

I'm currently painting pages in my sketchbook with watercolours - lots of earthy browns, clear blues and burnt oranges, i'll post the fruits of my labour on Flickr ... I can feel another embroidery coming on from this one ...
http://sketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com/
http://pinterest.com/giddystuff/the-elements/

A week left ...

There's still a week left to enter my '500th Blog Post' giveaway! I'm giving away a knitted min-fish brooch, a memory wire bracelet, some gorgeous 'Knitting Goddess' mini skeins and a couple of little surprises!
Just click on the link below and leave a comment ...

 500th Blog Post Giveaway

I know that there are problems leaving comments on Blogger sites at the moment, but try a couple of times and eventually Blogger will let you sign in and leave comment!

Upcycled Bunting

I seem to be making a lot of bunting at the moment. I suppose it's that time of year.
This is some i've made for the school fete, to decorate the craft stall ...

Made from swatches cut from a sample book of furnishing fabrics, the samples were not big enough to make anything substantial, but were just the right size for bunting!

The fabric is quite robust, so was difficult to turn, but i'm hoping it will last for many years to come, and it's reversible!
Now back to cutting out more triangles for another bunting ...

Poppy

Tuesday Treasury - Relax

I am looking forward to the Summer holidays, it's that time of year where I can leave my 'proper' job behind for a while, do some full-time crafting and revitalise my creativity.

My vision for this Summer is mornings spent at my sewing machine, and afternoons spent knitting or drawing ... but we shall see ...

This week i've got a mini-treasury of goodies to help you relax and be creative ...

Cottage Garden Crochet Granny Blanket, made using colours inspired by Cath Kidston's designs -
http://www.folksy.com/shops/Fuzzles

Small "Dress Pattern -Tape measure" handbound notebook, I am in love with Kate Bowles' gorgeous handmade books -
http://www.folksy.com/shops/KateBowles

Shabby Chic Vintage Tea Cup Candle, lots of scents to choose from, but i'd go for lavender -
http://www.folksy.com/shops/thelimegarden

Big Bold Bag, great for carrying around sketchbooks, novels and sunglasses -
http://www.folksy.com/shops/veryberry

Another mini-treasury next Tuesday.

I went to Fibre Flurry and I bought ...

Fibre Flurry is an amazing Knitting Event held in King's Norton, Birmingham ... and now it's also an amazing yarn shop in King's Norton too!

The shop opened last week and I couldn't wait for the weekend so that I could have a treat. I wish I had taken my camera, it's a lovely light space decorated with vintage finds, bunting and little windmills, and obviously lots of fab yarn!

I was in there a while, walking around with yarn, grabbing more, then putting some back when I went 'over budget', and the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. The knitting evenings will be great, just a shame I live a bit to far away to get there in the evening.
Anyway, here are my goodies ...

The new Fyberspates book 'The Scrumptious Collection' ...

This Crazy Zauberball yarn, so many different colours in one ball ...




















Some Falkland Merino Sock Yarn by Babylonglegs in 'Black Rainbow' ...

... and some more in 'Ooh! Piece of Candy'.

There's lots more on offer too, obviously I couldn't buy everything this time, but the shop also stocks Nicsknots, Twilleys, Knitting Goddess and Artesano. I also bought some buttons (of course)! I need to go back soon ...

http://www.fibreflurry.co.uk

Challenge 52 - Week 26

So, halfway through the year, and halfway through challenge 52 ...
This week it's another KAL (knitalong) using one skein of yarn. I really enjoyed the last one, and I think that the challenge for me to actually finish something I was knitting in the space of one month was good for me!
So, after a pleasant morning's shopping, i've put the picnic blanket on the lawn and i'm knitting a swatch to practice the pattern ...
I'm now awaiting my next set of instructions.

My fantastic 'large' project bag from Nicsknots

The yarn is some Rowan Cotton Silk i've had in my stash for years!

Last month's KAL was a wine bottle bag. I knitted mine in blue aran, not the best combination of colour and texture for such an item. I'm actually going to use mine to cover bottles when i'm on a picnic as the colour goes well with all my picnic things! I'm sure you could make the bag a bit shorter too, and use it as a general gift bag.

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/one-skein-kals/1726137/1-25#9