2021 Week 18

 Some random crafting over the last three weeks:

I've worked on my painting by numbers Christmas present - I cant wait to be on a beach again!

I created this for Star Wars Day (although to be fair I'm not sure she used a lightsaber!)

I actually visited a shop last week - such a strange experience, I'd forgotton what it was like to shop by touching things rather than looking at screen images!

I fell in love with this selection at Hobbycraft

and I bypassed the usual "I shall stroke this while I decide what to do with it" stage and went straight to adding from stash . . . 

 cutting and tacking . . .

 and starting to sew!

The greeny turquoise (teal?) didn't make the cut.  I found enough is stash for the first green round and while I was looking I found a pack of Hobby craft grey which I rtaher liked with the turquoise, so I've cut them and started another flimsey!!!

I have also finished the crochet blanket: apart from a few joins where I'd balled the wool too short I didn't want to sew in any ends so I not only left them but added to them so every colour chnage has rustic (as in no particular length) tassles which I rather like.

What to crochet next???

A few Saturdays ago I had a whole day to myself - I was tidying up when I found a donated duvet cover that made it's way up here as I thought it would make a nice tunic.  I dug out the pattern that I have used many times and made this

 

Looking for the pattern I came across another version that had been cut but then abandoned so I finished that one too - good job they are quick to make!

I finished the Oliver safari bunting and his grandma has posted it off to Canada

2021 Week 15

 A quick project - inspired by the lovely Plum I decided to make a tray liner!  the red and white match my favourite mug (thank you Jackie) and the biscuit tin!

And husband helped me make a thread storage shelf for the embroidery threads - the 1000m spools fit nicely into a plastic draw in the Ikea Trofast units that make up most of the sewing room

But the 5000m spools are too big to really fit on the spikes, and generally don't behave

Ikea made shelves as an alternative to the drawers and I had a few that were not in use.  With the help of a length of broom handle and various bit of equipment in his shed we bodged this shelf

And it works perfectly !!

The lengthened denim dress has been finished and worn and photographed!

I met with a friend in the garden - I had finally finished the felt OLIVER for her grandson, and the felt animals needs to be positioned so I could hand stitch them on.  It was lovely to catch up and nice to have some hand sewing to do

Lisa sent Jackie and I this pic of her blocked crochet - don't they look fab!!!!  I think my blanket will be much harder to do!

With no crochet of my own to do, I thought I'd have a go at fingerless gloves!  Problem number 1 is that I can't cast on - my crochet is too tight!  So I used a huge hook and created three chains and forced the hook back into them to cast on three stitches . . . then turned the whole lot through 90 degrees and started adding rows of trebles, three at a time, until I had a band that was long enough.  

I then turned it through 90 degrees again and started adding to the side (2,1,1,2,1,1,2,1,1 to make it the right circumference and made it up to ten rows, I then missed 2 stitches and zigzagged back and forth for 7 rows then started with complete rows again.  there was a lot of frogging to make them the right size (left needed to be much tighter than right as I am, ahem, digitally challenged) but they will keep me warm next winter!

In other news, I finally finished this for a customer, just need to add a name

And there is a Ginger ready for St George's day next week

Apart from that the sewing room is an absolute tip, I've eaten too much, and I'm fed up with looking at this computer screen so I'm going to go and sit in the sunshine for a bit!  Hope everything is Ok in your corner of the world

2021 Week 10

 Hello from week ten - time is whizzing by but also passing slowly 

Should I blame age, menopause, COVID or just the ground hog-ness of life at the moment?

Anyway, a scan through my photos show that I have been doing some making so that's a good thing!

I'm making a felt banner for a friend's Grandson ... It would have helped if I'd made the R in the same colour felt as the other letters!  Some creatures are embroidered on, others are made separately and granny and I will work out where best to put them (as soon as we are allowed to meet, and I've remade the R!)

St David's was welcomed, of course, by a Ginger, as will Mothering Sunday this weekend

 

There are plans afoot for St Patrick's Day and beyond!!!

My crochet is growing, as is my neatness - the early edges are all over the place but the last half has been fairly straight.  I think there was a pattern to start with but I'm just randomly adding a different colour and starting different stitches!!!

I've got Lisa some crochet bits for her birthday (I don't think she visits the blog!) and Jackie suggested I make her a hook folder - I thought I'd invent one that goes in with the books on a book shelf

With a zipped vinyl pocket and sections for lots of hooks and stuff.  Just need to finish it in the next few weeks

I have had a few requests for Gingers: holding a much loved teddy bear

Representing a local coffee morning (that has been Covid closed for a year :-(

And a washer-upper at the coffee morning

I was also contacted by a mum who was given this by her (late) grandmother when she was little, and now her daughter loves to play with the shapes and sort them out . . . however the T went missing a long time ago, could I possibly help?.

I was going to just make a small tree but when I saw the details on the other letters I saw I had to up my game a bit

So this one has apples in the leaves, a fairy door and fairy bunting around the tree.  Mum is very happy, lets hope little miss loves it too

2020 Wk 26 - the last few weeks

I finished the centre panel of this crochet and planned to crochet borders around it top make it bigger, 

but I think I started with too many border stitches so it's becoming wiggly at the edges

So I asked my quality control assistant and she declared it finished - so there is a whole other ball of pinky orangy wool if anyone can think of a use for it

I bought a ball of very bright colour change wool and (because I am definitely running before I can walk) bullied both Tara and Lisa into starting me off on this spiral (A pattern?? What's that?)  I'm totally guessing where to do two stitches on one hole, and although I've got further than this its too lose on some places and too tight in others - Lisa is coming over today so I'll get her to help me again!

I had a fab care package from Plum a few weeks ago and very rudely didn't post it here: lovely goodies, thank you Plum xxx

The purple fabric was immediately put to good use to eek out the purple I had, to make two sets of bunting for two sisters

Finally the last of the posted quilts has arrived at its destination!  Hello Theia - I hope you like it!!!

The Facebook Hexi swap has started up again, so we are swapping the back log: lovely to be getting hexies in the post - I have quite a stack of them so need to start thinking about what to do with them!

I've been doing some organising: felt scraps into baskets by size so I can have a chance of using up the smallest bits rather than keep cutting into large sheets

And the ribbons got sorted too (there are two card disks and a key ring split ring between each spool of ribbon so as I pull one only that one moves!

And I have been sewing squares together!  The corners where the blocks meet are thicker than they should be - I'm not too great at trimming away excess fabric, and I'm cross with myself for not making another ten blocks to even up the pattern, but there isn't enough of that black left and I've fallen out of love with it so it can be finished and then go to Project Linus

Hope you are all keeping safe xxx

2020 Wk 17 - a bit tidier and a bit of sewing

Thank you so much to the lovely friends who gave great suggestions for how to cheer myself up.  I have tidied a bit (not enough that I can bear to show you, but enough that I can see the work bench!)

The birthday bunting has been done (Breeze is the birthday girl, and I made a banner for her sister Sky too)  "Birthday" has it's back to us, but it is there!!

I stitched an air ambulance Doctor for my key workers window hanging

And a teacher

And designed and stitched a "frazzled mum" at the request of Breeze and Sky's mum - the best I could do with the 'feral children' request!!!

 They'll be added one-at-a-time to these

The (experimental) dress got finished.  It was donated fabric so nothing precious, although it would have been better used for scrubs - it just looks like a sack of potatoes.  But it was an experiment: I've worn it for a day and now I will chop the bottom off and turn it into a tunic

We've been out in the garden looking for Elon Musk's satellites - calling to neighbours over the fences every time we saw one.  Any excuse to lay on a sunbed in the dark with a glass of wine and a quilt!

I have joined a whole load of short sections of selvedges to make a long length (about 4m)

They be added to this when I have a bit more space cleared, and then it might be done.  I may have reached my limit on selvedges!!!!

And Jackie and I have been speed dating these blocks through WhatApp.  At least if we have to cope with not visiting each other we CAN talk and video phone and send daft messages back and forth (and baby pics come this way too - thank you Jackie!!)