Handmade by Fiona

2012 BAMCAL: February Blocks

2012-02-14T20:27:00.000+01:00

Some more blocks for the CAL I'm participating in over at Ravelry. I'm not sold on the 4 small flower blocks ... I should maybe have done one flower and just made the border bigger, but I think in the finished afghan they will look fine.

And these are all the blocks together ... I'm starting to believe it could look quite good when finished. All blocks still need to be blocked and some of them might get an extra round or two added to them before the end of the year. I think I'll be joining the blocks in the dark brown, but I'm really not sure how I'll be joining them yet. I may add a dark brown border to each and then just single crochet them together, but if anyone has any better suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

In the meantime I'm hooking away on my sweater ... you never know, it could be finished soon. That's if I don't decide to unravel it again!! I don't think that's going to happen, but as it's already had parts of it unravelled twice because I found errors .....!!

Quilting Progress

2012-02-08T21:08:00.000+01:00

I haven't felt much like doing any crafting the last couple of weeks. If you've read my last post, you'll know why. For the most part I've been cleaning like a lunatic - dog hairs get everywhere! And just when you think everything is clean, you find more dog hair.

The odd thing has been done on the craft front. I realised that I'd made a mistake about 20 rows back on the sweater I'm crocheting. I'd tried it on a number of times and not noticed, but having finally found the error it leapt out at me every time I looked at it. There was nothing for it but to unravel it and since then it's sat untouched.

This morning I went to my quilting group. The photo above (taken on my iPhone in very harsh light) shows the progress we're making on our hand-pieced scrap quilt. It is coming together slowly and we laid out the diamonds this morning to see what it will look like. There are just five of us working on it and we have no particular deadline. Once it's finished it will be raffled for charity and we'll start on something else.

Linking up with Our Creative Spaces.

Pip, 2009 - 2012

2012-01-31T15:50:00.000+01:00

We've not had a good week. Last Thursday Pip had a stroke and we spent the last 5 days giving her 24-hour care; camping out with her in the lounge as it was the only room without any steps out to the garden. Yesterday we sadly watched as the vet put her to sleep. For a very active dog to go virtually blind and to lose her mobility so suddenly was extremely distressing for her and for us, so we decided we needed to put an end to it.

The house seems very empty this morning.

Pip and her brother, Kit (died in Canada, 2010), came to us from a rescue centre when they were about 6-7 months old in 1999. They had been starved and beaten and they always remembered this. Pip would stash food in hiding places around the house in case she needed it later ... and she only ever ate what was in her bowl when she was sure we were home for the day and could fill it up again. Really not typical dog behaviour!

But then Pip wasn't your typical collie! She loved sitting like this on the stairs.

And tennis balls were her favourite toy ... Kit got to keep all the chew toys (which he promptly tried to destroy - even the super strength kongs!), but the tennis balls were always Pip's. Walking round the house could be a bit of a nightmare - either Pip was being a trip hazard on the stairs (you try walking downstairs with a full washing basket .. I fell over her more than once) or running into her tennis balls strategically placed to entice us to throw them for her or treading on piles of food from her stash!

We had a great time with both Pip and Kit. Now that they're both gone we're going to take a while to adjust. We definitely aren't planning on having any more dogs - moving house so much wasn't planned when we got the dogs 13 years ago and it is really unsettling for them, plus it turns out that I'm allergic (long story - hard to believe I didn't know that until 6 years ago!). So we're going to have to get used to an emptier house and find new ways to exercise. It'll take a while.

Oh, Fiddlesticks and some Awards!

2012-01-25T10:42:00.002+01:00

Sometimes things just don't go to plan ....

Like running out of the brown yarn I need to finish the handles off on this little bag. I was using up odds and ends of yarn, so mission accomplished, but do I now buy some extra in the brown or make it look even more like a mish-mash by finishing the handles in the orange or the green (the only colours I have left)?

Or not quite paying attention to what I was doing when I sewed this folding shopping bag ....

The handles are supposed to be joined the other way (i.e from left to right not front to back). I knew that, but was thinking about something else and only realised when I finished the binding. Doh! The tutorial for how to make this bag properly can be found over at Crafty Ady's blog.

Folded up the bag looks like this:

Very neat.

As is obvious from my mistake, I wasn't following the tutorial step by step. I used it to draft my pattern and then winged it. This bag has french side and handle seams with a bound seam at the base and magnetic snaps to fasten because I didn't have any poppers. I bought the fabric from Liberty back when I lived in Oxfordshire well over 10 years ago. I was probably intending on making cushion covers (I did make one in this fabric), but never used it up.

Hopefully that's it for mistakes in the near future as I'm crocheting a sweater at the moment - my first ever Doris Chan pattern made top down and with no seams (joy, oh, joy - no sewing all the pieces together).

It seems to be award season at the moment. No, not the Oscars, but blog awards!! I was really touched and honoured to be given two awards recently. Firstly the Liebster Blog award from Cindy Bee from The Bee Lady at Hilltop Farm and secondly the Versatile Blogger award from Pam at Threading My Way. Thank you both very much. I am still contemplating who to pass these onto and will be blogging about that soon.

Linking up this week with We Did It Wednesday and Our Creative Spaces.

Another City Bag!

2012-01-18T09:35:00.004+01:00

One of the very first bag patterns I purchased back in 2009 when I started sewing again was the City Bag from Nicole Mallalieu Designs. I made 3 bags from it back then, I think, but never one for me ... until now, that is!

This will be my new summer handbag. I ordered the fabric from a store in Canada, had it delivered via a colleague to Andy on his last trip to Brazil and he brought it back for me! It is from Dwell Studio's "Eclectic Modern' collection and is called "Bella Porte". The lining is a gorgeous fleur de lis pattern (blue on white) from Robert Kaufman ... I never take good photos of linings, so I didn't try!

I love this pattern for many reasons. Firstly, the bag is a good size and has a zip closure rather than a magnetic snap. Secondly, the design is simple and classic and I think it suits geometric prints very well. Thirdly, it's actually really quite quick and easy to make!

Now that Nicole has closed her online shop, it's a little bit harder to get her patterns in the northern hemisphere but you can order this one from here.

2012 BAMCAL: January Blocks

2012-01-13T14:29:00.001+01:00

No sooner than I said I'd probably never crochet another blanket, I happened across the Ravelry 2012 BAMCAL (Block A Month Crochet ALong) group and, before I knew it, I'd clicked 'join'!! After all, how hard can one block a month be, right?

Weak-willed .... I know!!

So, how did one block a month turn into the four blocks you see above?

There's the official 12" block for the month (top left) and the 6" block (top right) for anyone making baby blankets, plus an optional 12" block that we voted on (bottom right) and then someone posted a new design in one of the discussion forums asking for testers (bottom left). You pick and choose which ones you want to do; some keen people have done multiples of each block. I'm just doing the ones I like, so some months I may just do one block or even repeat a block that I've already made in another colour combination.

You're probably wondering by now how my 6" and 12" blocks are all roughly the same size (and 8" at that!)! I'm using DK yarn and a 4mm hook, so my blocks were always going to be small and I added some rounds to the 6" block to bring it up to the same size as my others.

By the end of the year I should have improved my crochet skills considerably... I may even be able to dispense with reading my crochet book to work the stitches out at the beginning of every pattern!! And I should have a nice, colourful blanket!

The Kiss Purse

2012-01-06T20:35:00.004+01:00

Love, love, love this one!!

This is the Kiss Purse pattern from You Sew, Girl (formerly Nicole Mallalieu Designs) and is my first finished project in 2012! I've had this pattern for about 18 months and the first attempt at it was a complete disaster ... one of those rare ones that ended up in the bin! Such a shame as it was some of my favourite fabric and I was really very annoyed with myself.

I was going through my pattern box before Christmas having a clear out and came across the pattern again. I thought it was about time to have another go ... but maybe not with a favourite fabric this time! I had everything I needed in my stash except for the extra firm stiffeners for the base and to maintain the curve of the purse... struggled a little bit with those till I found an online store selling every possibly Vlieseline product going. Managed to order S520 for the hard base and some S133 instead of peltex to hold the curve.

The fabric is a Robert Kaufman print that I got as part of a $10 off-cut bundle from one of my favourite fabric stores in Canada and the lining (not shown) is from the Amy Butler Mid-West Modern range. Despite the fabric not being something I might have picked out, I think it works really well here (and I still have a fat quarter left to play with!!).

Not the cheapest purse to make with all the hardware and stiffeners, but it really is very cute! I'll definitely be making some more this year!

Pattern reviewed at Pattern Review.

Tidying Up from 2011

2012-01-02T11:45:00.000+01:00

I've got a few things still hanging around from last year to tell you about ...

After an almost exclusive diet of crochet from the summer up to the end of November, I decided to dust off the sewing machine in December. This City Shopper from Nicole Mallalieu's book, "You Sew, Girl!" was finished before Christmas, but I've only just got round to photographing it.

This bag has a long shoulder strap so that you can wear it across the body and is very roomy. The lining is the same raspberry colour as the button which I covered myself. Inside there is a large zipped pocket and I added a magnetic snap to the facing. Nice and easy!!

Also before Christmas, I was lucky enough to win a give away over at Tweed Delights. I love getting post, especially when it contains home crafted goodies!! The sheep button on the crochet purse is very, very cute!! Apologies for the dark photo - it's getting very difficult to find good light at the moment.

Lastly, I ordered this yarn as a treat just before Christmas and it arrived last week. It's a 100% silk, lace-weight yarn from The Natural Dye Studio called Precious and the colour is Firebolt. I haven't decided exactly what I'll be making ... but whatever it is, it will be for me! I may have mentioned it before, but orange is one of my favourite colours!!

2011 Review

2011-12-18T13:32:00.000+01:00

I didn't make as much as in previous years. Mainly due to moving back to Europe and starting back at work... both of which were good things in themselves. In fact, looking at the photo mosaic above, I'm surprised just how much I did get done!

Last year I made a couple of craft resolutions. I was going to do some quilting and I'm well on the way to achieving that with the quilting group I've joined, but the idea of felting fell by the wayside. A little bit of research made me realize that I needed to work with real wool and it's one of the things I've been very allergic to since birth, so that didn't seem like such a great idea!

Resolutions for 2012?

Well, I want to do some more kumihimo (dependent on finding some better suppliers over here), learn some more tunisian crochet stitches (so far I've done a small swatch using the basic stitch only), maybe some more broomstick crochet and then the new things I want to try are sashiko and smocking. And ... despite having vowed quite recently never to make another crochet blanket ... I have decided to join the Ravelry 2012 crochet along. I figure I can make one or two squares a month without it seeming like a huge task and improve my crochet skills at the same time... so I've just ordered the yarn with some money I got for Christmas.

Hmmm ... wonder if I'll find time for all that! What about you? Any resolutions for 2012?

Handmade Christmas

2011-12-18T12:21:00.000+01:00

Note to self: crocheting an alpaca/wool blanket in the summer is a bad idea ... it is very hot work!

This was my 3rd year of making Christmas presents. However I decided not to make all the presents this year (work gets in the way!) and opted for just 3 crochet projects.

The blanket above was for one of my sisters-in-law and it may be the one and only blanket I ever make ...! According to my project file on Ravelry this took just over a month to finish working on it for several hours each day. Generally I prefer much quicker projects than this!!

I really didn't plan well as the other 2 crochet projects also took a long time:

I made this shawl in a lace weight alpaca / silk mix for my mother-in-law. The pattern is Brise d'Été (summer breeze) by Éclat du Soleil. This was a big project and my first attempt at lace crochet. I really wasn't very happy with it until I blocked it and then suddenly the pattern came to life.

For my other sister-in-law I made this scarf in the softest alpaca / cashmere / silk yarn from The Natural Dye Studio ... the pattern is also from them and is called Gigi. This was the most complicated crochet pattern I've attempted so far (even though it says suitable for beginners!) not least because I had to translate it from UK into US crochet terms, but also because of the wide variety of stitches used.

Thinking about it, there was one other present I made - or rather compiled - but I don't have a photo of it. I put together a book of old family photos for my father-in-law which seemed to go down very well.

Next year I'm going to try to remember to plan my presents a little better - sewing is definitely much quicker!!

My Creative Space: WIP

2011-12-01T14:18:00.001+01:00

Cut out last week, part sewn yesterday, but when it'll be finished is anyone's guess! It's the city shopper bag pattern from You Sew, Girl! I made the smaller version, the wristlet earlier in the year and had been promising myself that I'd find time to make the larger size.

It's been a while since I've made a large bag and I had totally forgotten how long it takes to prep ... so the spare time I had last week disappeared just getting it cut out and all the interfacing fused. This week hasn't been a great one for sewing - the light has been abysmal; foggy, dark, depressing days and even with my daylight lamp I just couldn't settle to sewing. Besides, an impending visit from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law means I really should be doing other things.

Visit Our Creative Spaces to see what everyone else is making.

This and That

2011-11-28T17:58:00.001+01:00

Finishing up a few things .... I made my strips of orange fabric into another zip purse. I know, I know ... but they're very easy to make and make perfect little gifts (this one may be for me though!).

And another little crochet project .... thanks to Laura for pointing me at this Doris Chan pattern (edit: little Christmas stocking decorations to hang on a tree filled with sweeties!). Very cute and easy to whip up!

I also made a quick lavender bag using off cuts from last week's project and finishing up my dried lavender. Pattern from You Sew Girl!

And then there's this bag that's been cut out waiting for me to get some sewing time since last week ... my excuse is that I have visitors arriving next week and have a few jobs still to tick off the list before I can start sewing! Or maybe I'll just blame the fog for my lack of focus!

But mysteriously I've found time to start yet another crochet project ....

Doesn't look much right now but when it has been blocked, it will ... promise!

Hmmm .... must get my priorities straight!!!

My Creative Space

2011-11-24T13:48:00.001+01:00

Christmas presents - finished & wrapped!!

So very happy about that!

Now I can turn my attention to some of the things that have been on my desk / in my head for the last three months while I've been beavering away on secret projects.

Made this make-up bag yesterday out of some lovely Japanese material for a friend of mine. I've got some off-cuts on my table that I'm going to make into a little lavender bag just like these ones.

To see what everyone else is up to, take a look at Our Creative Spaces.

Messing About

2011-11-10T14:28:00.000+01:00

A crochet motif that I haven't quite got right yet ....

Tunisian crochet ... teaching myself from online tutorials using left-over yarn. Love the thick fabric this makes! Apologies for the blurry photo!

And another diamond made from hexagons for the quilting group. We're making quite a lot of progress on the quilt now and I've just started my third diamond.

I seem to be doing everything but making Christmas presents! I finished the one I'd been working on for the last 3 weeks last Sunday and haven't quite got round to starting the final one.

But I will ... soon!!

Instead I've been messing about with odds and ends ... I even considered knitting myself a poppy as you can't get them here, but lack of the right colour yarns put a stop to that brainstorm!!

To see what everyone else is making this week, visit Our Creative Spaces.

A little bit late ...

2011-11-04T14:51:00.000+01:00

I'm a little bit late to the party this week - that's happening over at Our Creative Spaces and I should have posted this there yesterday, but then there would have been nothing to show as I've been beavering away on all those secret Christmas projects!

My Friday student had cancelled his lesson and we can survive with the groceries we have in, so I told Andy to take the car into work today, forcing me to stay at home and do all those little projects that have been lying around for a while.

I've printed the photos of Venice to go on the wall - I have a few picture frames from Ikea hanging in the office / craft area and every year or so I like a change of scene, so New Zealand and the Lake District have given way to 2 photos from our recent trip to Venice!

And I finished these gadget pouches which, I'm ashamed to say, I cut out way back in .... August!! They've moved up my priority list ahead of Christmas presents as Andy's due to take them to some friends in Brazil at the end of this month (Carol / Renata ... these are for you!).

I've even got the next secret project cut out and ready to go - hopefully that won't be hanging round on my cutting board for quite so long!! But I can't tell you about it ... shhh!

Paying it Forward

2011-11-02T10:27:00.001+01:00

Look what the postman brought me!!

All the way from Naturally Carol in Queensland ... a fantastic drawstring bag and apron. The bag is already home to the bits and pieces I take to my quilting group ... the perfect size for some hexagons, thread, needle case etc... Thank you, Carol - your work is beautiful and that vibrant apron is going to cheer me up in the kitchen throughout the winter!

At the beginning of September Carol blogged about a 'paying it forward' scheme that she had taken part in. She had just received a handmade bag from another blogger and it was her turn to offer to make something for three more bloggers. I jumped at the chance.

So now it's my turn!

If you would like me to make something for you and you're prepared then to make something for three more bloggers, just leave a comment on this post. The first three people who ask me to make them something will receive a parcel from me within the next year (yes - you have a whole year to pay it forward which is a relief with Christmas on the horizon!).

Sound like fun?

My Creative Space

2011-10-27T11:14:00.002+02:00

Christmas present making is vaguely under control ...

3 completed (1 posted!!)
1 underway
1 planned and waiting for me to find time to get started!

I should just about get everything done in time. And this year it won't be a completely handmade Christmas unlike the last two years (that's what being back at work does for you!) ... I'm easing the pressure by buying for a few people on my list instead.

So I'm playing about with some decorations. I made a few last-minute crochet snowflakes last year, but this year I wanted to try some different patterns. More to follow as I'm not really in love with the one above, although it does still need to be blocked and starched.

I'm not playing about too much because this yarn arrived in the post this week direct from The Natural Dye Studio in Suffolk. This is their "Angel' DK - a lovely blend of alpaca, cashmere and silk - it's so incredibly soft. I discovered them via Pinterest ... I possibly spend a bit too much time on there, but it has been a useful source of ideas!

More crafty goodness at Our Creative Spaces

Just playing about ....

2011-10-23T16:01:00.001+02:00

Taking a break from making Christmas presents to play around a bit with some patchwork and trying to work out how / if to do some machine quilting on these two pieces before making something out of them.

Haven't quite decided what to do yet.....

What a presentable ironing board cover! It's even being used to take photos now I'm not so ashamed of its appearance!!

My Creative Space ... Swatching

2011-10-20T11:48:00.000+02:00

In a rare moment of caution I'm making a swatch!

Not for gauge but to ensure I've understood the pattern before I dive in with the expensive alpaca / silk lace yarn which uses an unfeasibly small hook. I don't want to be trying to decide if I've got the instructions right when I can barely see the individual stitches. If I were being honest here I might admit that I did start with the expensive yarn and couldn't work out if I was doing it correctly which is when it occurred to me to make the swatch!!

I'm also trying to decide what to do with an unexpected gift ... tenugui are supposed to be hand towels, but frankly I think that would be a waste for such lovely woodpeckers. All suggestions welcome!

And while we're on the subject of trying to make up my mind I have some more gorgeous Japanese fabric bought on my last trip to the UK which is destined to be a skirt ... but I can't quite decide whether to go A-line or try to make my own pattern from a skirt I already own and love (vaguely A-line but not as much as the green one I made a few months ago).

Decisions, decisions! Maybe I'll just go back to my crochet and mull it over!

Lots of fabulous crafty people are joining in today at Our Creative Spaces.

A Quick Makeover

2011-10-17T17:36:00.001+02:00

My new ironing board cover!

I've been thinking about making an ironing board cover for quite some time (probably about the last 2 years!). I can't buy a cover large enough anywhere and the brown stains on the old cover (at least 10 years old) were getting on my nerves. So today I finally decided to make one - how hard could it be?

It was actually ridiculously easy and took about an hour to make. I've had 2 yards of this brown cotton from JoAnn's in my stash for a couple of years and I've long forgotten what I was going to make with it originally. Perfect fit for the ironing board! I salvaged the cord, toggle and velcro fastenings from the old cover, used it for a template and ran up the new cover. I was lazy - I overlocked the raw edges and then turned them over once with the cord inside to make a channel (no need to fiddle around with a bodkin feeding the cord through the channel), sewed round attached the velcro and voila!

Fits way better than the old one did and hopefully any brown stains won't be so noticeable on this brown fabric!!

Yesterday I turned my pile of 16 hexagons into this:

Not bad for a first attempt at hand-piecing, I think. It took all afternoon and I probably wouldn't do a whole diamond in one go again (it got a bit tedious) but I wanted to see how it all went together.

I think I'm going to have a crafty week. Andy left on business early yesterday and won't be home till the weekend plus I have very few classes because many of my students are on holiday. I've got lots of ideas ... another skirt (this time with overlocked seams!), some crochet projects and maybe some Christmas decorations!!!

What have you got planned?

My Creative Space

2011-10-14T09:05:00.000+02:00

Lots going on round here, but some of it is secret squirrel stuff ... what with Christmas just round the corner (eek!). There's the blanket that I've just finished crocheting that you can't see till after Christmas and the next project on the hook that I'm going to really enjoy working on that I also can't tell you about! I can tell you that blankets don't satisfy my need to create something quickly and I nearly went mad the last few evenings trying to get it finished so that I could move onto the next project.

That really doesn't augur well for my quilting project!! I've joined a local quilting group and we're working on a big quilt that will be raffled for charity whenever we finish it ... at the rate we eat biscuits and drink coffee during the quilting meetings, that'll be a few years off (at least). I've been to two meetings so far and haven't picked up needle and thread yet except to show another new member how to do slip stitch!

Yep - these hexagons are going to be hand-pieced! Am I right to be worried that whoever cut out and basted the hexagons obviously didn't start by ironing the fabric? So glad I wasn't around for that stage though!! We have hundreds of prepared hexagons and we'll be piecing 16 together at a time to form diamonds in different colours and then joining those together to make the quilt top. I was given the pink hexagons to make my first diamond .... it remains to be seen how long that takes me and whether I can stand all that hand stitching!

On a completely different note, this gorgeous yarn arrived last week ... baby alpaca and mulberry silk....

Love it!!

To see what everyone else is making, head on over to Our Creative Spaces.

Postcard from Venice II

2011-10-09T08:04:00.000+02:00

Murano ... the glass-making island (above and below). The blue sculpture in front of the clock tower above is glass!

And the very colourful island of Burano where lace was traditionally made:

Hard to believe that just over a week ago we were enjoying such wonderful weather in Italy ... and when we got back to Germany it was still pretty good. Now autumn has set in with a vengeance ... just 2.6 degrees centigrade this morning!!!

My Creative Space

2011-10-06T08:12:00.000+02:00

Some yarn that I'm using for my next project. Nobody warned me how warm crocheting a blanket can be!!

Linking up with Our Creative Spaces.

Postcard from Venice

2011-10-03T11:35:00.002+02:00

Piazza San Marco from the water ... the blue advertising on the right is disguising the restoration work to the Bridge of Sighs.

The Basilica is very ornate even on the outside. Sadly photos weren't permitted inside!

There were gondolas everywhere ... but early in the morning they're moored up around town. We didn't do the gondola ride - one cliché
too many!

But plenty of people do.

Stunning architecture - this is Casa d'Oro.

Splendid views down the canals - this is looking from the Accademia bridge down towards Salute. That huge church isn't the Basilica .. Piazza San Marco is round the corner in the distance to the left! And you can just see one of the many huge cruise ships heading out of the lagoon in the distance!

San Giorgio Maggiore ... one of the many islands in the lagoon; this one is opposite Piazza San Marco. Photo taken from the top of the Campanile.

Just a taster of Venice from the 500 photos I took in just a few days last week!! We had a great time - fantastic food, wine and sight-seeing. Very relaxing indeed!!

It was even relatively easy to eat gluten-free there which surprised me - all the waiters I spoke to (in English) understood the demands of a gluten-free diet and several restaurants provided gluten-free pasta on request (clearly stated on the menu), plus you could take your own for them to cook if you fancy carting bags of pasta around when you're sight-seeing! It made a refreshing change and I never needed the Italian travel card that I printed out from celiactravel.com

My Creative Space ... Patchwork Cushion

2011-09-22T06:17:00.000+02:00

Finished!!

Front

Back

I haven't done any patchwork since home economics classes at school a very long time ago!! I think I made a cushion then too - 6 very large squares cobbled together into a rectangle.

Not too bad for my first attempt at patchwork in 30+ years!!! I'll add some buttonholes too if I can find any snazzy hot pink buttons!! I'm sure the recipient would like that.

The sewing machine is back from being repaired and seems as good as new. Luckily no spare parts were required (in which case I'd have had to have lived with the fact that my machine only sewed straight or zig zag lines for the rest of its life, as you can't get Riccar parts anymore!) and it seems it just got well and truly shaken up somewhere en route from Canada. I can now do machine embroidery if I ever feel the urge to ... not that it has so far, but it's nice to know that I could do it, if I wanted!!

Joining in today with Our Creative Spaces.

Something New ...

2011-09-20T16:59:00.000+02:00

Now for something completely different .... patchwork!

My Creative Space ... One Finished Jumper!!

2011-09-16T10:20:00.002+02:00

Knitted, sewn up and blocked! Done!

The pattern is D'Azur by Sarah Hatton. I started it once back in 2009, gave up and used the yarn for something else .... but I liked the design and, when the only yarn I could find that I half-way liked once we moved here just happened to be the right gauge for this pattern, I decided to give it another go. It hasn't been plain sailing and I doubt I'll ever make the pattern again although I quite like the end product (albeit it would look better in one solid colour!).

The sewing machine is still at the repairers, but I might be able to collect it this weekend, so the huge stack of sewing projects is still on hold. I've got my marudai set up for some braiding and a new crochet project to tackle while I wait.

My Creative Space ... Still in Progress!

2011-09-09T16:58:00.001+02:00

You may remember that way back in July I started knitting a summer top. I wasn't 100% in love with the yarn and I think I can say I'm less than thrilled with the pattern. This jumper has been knitted and unravelled more times than I can count - it's definitely been a case of three steps forward and two back.

Of course, every time I had to unravel a section the whole project got parked in a cupboard for a week or two while I decided whether to give the project up completely which is probably why it's taking so long! However this week I've made a concerted effort to make some progress (full disclosure: the sewing hasn't been going well and I felt it was time for a change!) and amazingly the back and front of the jumper are now complete.

Just got the sleeves to finish, sew it all up (I hate that part) and the neckline to finish off. Sounds easy, right? Wonder if I'll finish it this month? Either way - autumn is here and it's a bit cool now for a short sleeved, lacy knit. Oh well!!

On the sewing front I have another project parked by the sewing machine that isn't going well at all ... and I joined a patchwork / quilting group, so I might at least fulfil one of my resolutions for this year. But all sewing is on hold for a while as tomorrow the sewing machine is going in for some repairs (or to see if repair is possible at least!).

I've also been making the Christmas list - deciding how many presents (and what) I can realistically make before Christmas. Last year was a completely handmade Christmas, but I don't think that's achievable this year, not least because I haven't started yet!! Help!

To see what everyone else is making, head over to our creative spaces.

Some clothes

2011-09-06T15:27:00.000+02:00

This is my new skirt made using Nicole Mallalieu's A-line skirt pattern.

This is my muslin and I think it worked quite well - it's wearable even if the cotton is almost transparent!! I had a scant 2 yards in quite a narrow fabric, so was only just able to squeeze out a knee-length skirt. The fabric was from my stash, bought in Cape Cod 2 years ago and I haven't the faintest idea what I was originally going to make with it.

I'll be making some winter weight (and length!) skirts soon now that I have tested out the pattern.

And some more lime .....

And this is another Nicole Mallalieu design from her book, "You Sew, Girl!". I bought this cheap jersey fabric on a recent trip to the UK and then proceeded to try and wreck my sewing machine with it. Not sure my poor old machine likes knits. You can't see in the photo but the stitch tension is completely out. This is the pattern-free cowl top but it really doesn't suit me with a cowl neck, so I've made it into more of a boat-neck.

BTW - it's really hard taking a photo of a top that you're actually wearing!!

Yum!!

2011-09-04T19:25:00.000+02:00

I made gluten-free ginger bread this weekend - delicious slathered with butter! Good job I snapped the photo when the first slice was cut, as it didn't last long! It's paler than a normal ginger bread because you can't buy treacle in the shops here (but I've now ordered some online) ... so I subbed maple syrup and it works very well.

And I've been making some other stuff recently.... bacon jam, anyone? I'd post a photo but it really doesn't look like much, however it is fantastic with eggs and cheese and I'll be trying it as a pizza topping very soon. The recipe is available over at Foodie with Family's blog. It is really, really, really tasty and worth the 3-4 hours cooking time! Highly recommended!

My Creative Space ... My New Toy!

2011-09-02T12:01:00.002+02:00

The nearly-finished bag and the production line of iPhone pouches will have to wait until I've sussed out my new toy. Cute, isn't it? Personally I could happily dispense with the pink flowers, but this anniversary edition overlocker came with a bonus pack of goodies (extra feet mainly) that made it the obvious choice.

Now, how does it work? I'll know more when I've located an instruction manual I can read - thank goodness for internet downloads! I could try the German, French or Dutch instructions that accompanied the machine, but I think somehow it'll go faster in English (and I do want to be able to thread it correctly - not guess!).

Click here to see some other fantastic creative spaces.

Getting Back to Normal

2011-08-30T13:51:00.000+02:00

So the sleepy-headed teenager went home at the weekend and Andy managed to persuade my sewing machine that it really does want to sew normal stitches again. All the fancy stitches that my machine can do seem to be a little bit dicey now, so I'm going to stick to the basics - straight stitch, zig zag and buttonholes. Frankly this is no big hardship and I really, really didn't want to have to get used to a new machine.

I quickly sewed up the skirt that I had already and waiting to go whilst the teenager played violent computer games in the background!! Photos will follow at some point soon. And the jersey top that I made that started all the sewing machine problems will also make an appearance when I get round to the photos.

In the meantime I'm lining up some more projects. A little bag above from a book I've had on the shelf for a while and never before used in a terracotta upholstery fabric (it's taken a lot of steam to get the interfacing to stick to that one!). I'm still debating which lining fabric to use, but I'm leaning towards the polka dots even though I know it's a slippy, horrid fabric to work with!

And I've got a production line going for iPhone cases ... they're proving very popular gifts!

Sewing Machine Woes

2011-08-24T09:09:00.000+02:00

I believe this is my 100th post on this blog, but somehow I don't feel like celebrating!

Sewing time has been limited of late what with a jumper that I need to finish knitting (I'm still deliberating whether to unravel about 15 rows to rectify a mistake in the lace pattern that I've just discovered or to leave it as proof that it really is handmade!) and - shock horror - a teenager in the house (the 15-year-old son of my former pen friend, here to improve his English).

Last week I was experimenting with jersey and had a few problems getting my 25-year-old machine (everything I write is making me feel old today!) to change into straight stretch stitch. But it did it in the end with a bit of help from my engineer husband.

Now I have a great skirt pattern cut out and ready to go, the teenager is still in bed and probably will be for a few more hours and all my lessons for the next week are prepped - time to sneak in a bit of sewing!!! Hooray!!

Or not.

The machine just refuses to sew anything like a normal stitch. In fact it seems to be stuck in stretch stitch mode (when it doesn't want to just go backwards that is).

Agrrrrrrrrrrrhh!!

If Andy can't work some magic this weekend and persuade my sewing machine that it really does like sewing in a straight line and (preferably) forwards, then I'll be researching sewing machine repairers ... or new machines. I'm having trouble enough finding a sewing machine shop round here (I wanted to look at overlockers), let alone someone to repair a very old, obsolete machine (Riccar went out of business more than a decade ago, I think)

And there ends my tale of woe for the moment!

Now, seriously, any suggestions on how to crowbar a teenager out of bed before midday - or should I give that one up as a lost cause too?!!

My Creative Space

2011-08-11T13:21:00.000+02:00

Some iPhone pouches I made earlier this week.

It's been quite a productive week - the pouches above plus a small curtain to disguise the area under the stairs in the basement where my vacuum cleaner and a host of other stuff resides. There's also a very unphotogenic pile of lime green jersey fabric on my workbench ... it just looks quite unprepossessing right now, but it have been transformed into a cowl top by the end of the day!

And I managed to check out the local fabric warehouse (not so exciting unfortunately) and started attacking the hedges in the the garden (why do people plant really fast-growing shrubs as hedging material .... it's just not cricket!).

To see what everyone else is making this week, take a peek at Our Creative Spaces.

Finished!

2011-08-06T13:37:00.000+02:00

One completed toiletry bag!

The pattern is my second project from Nicole Mallalieu's book "You Sew, Girl!". I opted to put the binding on the inside given my track record with binding bulky seams - and it was definitely the right decision. The only bit that I had any problems with was - predictably - the binding.

I'm rapidly re-thinking the idea of trying my hand at quilting as that would also entail binding the bulky edging and this appears not to be my forté! But ... I had the same problems with crochet originally and I seem to have got over those after a lesson. Maybe all I need is to find someone who can bind quilts to help me ...

My Creative Space ...Finally!

2011-08-04T15:28:00.000+02:00

....getting back to some sewing

This will be a toiletry bag from Nikki's "You Sew Girl"

The dotty fabric is the lining!

I seem to have had a long break (trip to the UK, food poisoning, lots of visitors.... work, life!!)

I managed to start some knitting too:

The nearly completed back of a cap-sleeved summer top.

I may not be completely in love with the colour, but I'll finish it and see. Maybe if I get it done the sun might come out ...?

Please ... it is supposed to be summer after all!

I added to my stash while in the UK after a spot of fabric shopping in Birmingham with a friend I haven't seen in about 16 years! Ady and I were at uni together and she took me to some of her favourite fabric shops. So, expect to see some skirts and tops appearing soonish!

I've also found a small fabric shop locally and have driven past what looks like a fabric warehouse (I was going to the tip at the time to get rid of all the hedge clippings - not the best time to go shopping) - I'll be investigating that one soon. And there's a tiny wool shop in town - very limited selection, but still nice to find one!

Lots more creativity over here.

Postcard from Bad Homburg

2011-07-17T13:18:00.002+02:00

Some photos from Bad Homburg's Altstadt (old town)

I love roof tops!

Part of the town's fortifications, this tower was also used to house suspected witches.

The entrance to the castle

The top courtyard of the castle.

Bad Homburg is a spa town. The Elisabethenbrunnen is one of many springs in the town. The water is supposed to be very good for people with liver and gall bladder complaints.... it really doesn't smell very good though!

Another spring - the Auguste-Victoria-Brunnen.

The Russian Orthodox church on the edge of the Kurpark.

The first of two Thai temples in the Kurpark. One of the Thai emperors came to Bad Homburg in the early 1900's presumably to drink the water and gifted the town with these rather beautiful and ever so slightly incongruous temples!

This is my favourite of the two.

Having walked round for a very long time we gave up on finding the casino or the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bad! The Kurpark is very large - maybe another day!

Another Quick Present

2011-07-10T14:14:00.000+02:00

I haven't got much time for crafting at the moment with house guests until August, however I am doing some knitting whenever I can fit it in and I made this little gadget pouch with a flex frame as a quick birthday present for a friend the other day.

I've made a gadget pouch before for my iPhone making it up as I went along! This time I used a tutorial from Ady's blog to see how it differed from my less than perfect first attempt! Overall it's a much sturdier pouch than my previous effort and I'll probably make others in the same way in the future. Thanks Ady!

Postcard from ... Oberursel

2011-07-02T14:58:00.000+02:00

We live in a small village near Oberursel (Taunus), Germany. The old town is quite well-preserved. I have no idea what this little church on Strackgasse is called...

But there is this rather thought-provoking memorial to the town's inhabitants killed by National Socialists in the war along side the church in a very peaceful spot ... and there is a full list of names, dates and where they died (Auschwitz, Buchenwald, etc...)

The building with the archway is the old town hall

As seen from the other side!

The market place - with Saturday market in full swing.

Half-timbered buildings around the church at the top of the altstadt.

Looking up to St Ursula's church from the east side of the market.

Last but not least, the Oberursel brewery - definitely on our list to visit one weekend this summer!!

Just opposite the brewery was a wool shop - I went straight inside!! No photos, sorry, but I did buy some yarn for a future project and had a nice chat with the owner!

My Creative Space: Scrap Busting

2011-06-16T08:54:00.000+02:00

Some lavender bags made almost entirely of scraps. I just had to buy the braid and some lavender!

The front three are my favourites - the two at the back aren't the best fabric combos and also didn't go together as well.

These are unbelievably cute - even my husband said so - and quite quick to make! Pattern is of course from here!

For a peek at what others are making, hop across to Our Creative Spaces.

A Quick Transformation

2011-06-13T12:00:00.000+02:00

Before

The really, really ugly corner in the guest room downstairs. An un-used door and a hanging rail (because the wardrobe was too high to go in that room!).

After

Transformed with a few metres of fabric and a helpful assistant to put up the curtain rail!!

OK - so not the most inspiring of sewing projects, but quite satisfying to get that room finished a whole 3 days before the deadline (probably a record for me - even the bed is made!).

I also realised that I have just enough curtain rail left over to put a curtain up across the hidey-hole at the bottom of the stair well - so if I get my act together (albeit this involves going to Ikea for some more ceiling fixings for the rail) there may be another curtain appearing soonish! After all, the vacuum cleaner and steam cleaner aren't exactly works of art!

iPad Sleeve

2011-06-08T15:16:00.000+02:00

To complement my new laptop bag, I made up a quick sleeve for my iPad yesterday. The binding caused fewer problems simply because I decided from the outset to hand stitch it!!

Next job is to whip up some curtains for my guest room if I can find my curtain tape!!

My New Laptop Bag

2011-06-05T16:44:00.000+02:00

Excuse the quality of the photos ... I'm at the highest ISO setting possible on my camera (6400!!!), so they're a little grainy (OK - a lot!), but this has been a real labour of love and, despite the black skies and rumbling thunder, I wanted to take some photos to share with you!!

Love those 20mm bag feet - thanks Ady for helping me out there with my stock issue!!

Meet my new laptop bag! I struggled with this one .... there were very nearly tears over the bias binding. It was stitched, unpicked, stitched and unpicked again and again until I decided to start over and hand stitch it.

And my sewing machine wasn't too happy with all those layers of very heavy fabric and wadding .. and it let me know about it. Just thinking I should have pressed this again before taking a photo - oh well!

The lining is from a gorgeous Kokka fabric and includes a pleated pocket with flap plus a compartment pocket.

My laptop fits in it really nicely plus some lesson plans and stuff - so it's ready to go to work with me tomorrow.

But I will be making a laptop sleeve from the same pattern (Nicole Mallalieu's, of course) and that lovely black & white fabric for my iPad. The black plastic thing that I inherited with the iPad (from my husband) really isn't doing much for me!

The thing is - that means more bias binding - arghhhh!!!

Anyway, do you like it?

Work In Progress

2011-06-02T10:34:00.000+02:00

This one is taking me a while - I started cutting it out at the beginning of last week, but work, a sick dog and life in general seem to be conspiring to keep me out of my sewing room.

This is a little project for me - probably another reason why it's taking me so long - no deadlines!! The plan was to knock it out quickly last week and move swiftly onto something else. Just wondering if I have enough of the black and white fabric to make a skirt too? Yeah - like I'll ever get round to that!!

I love my new sewing area. I have a huge cutting table where I can leave everything laid out, opposite this is an old desk with my sewing machine set up permanently and the ironing board can be set up so that I can move easily between the three. Makes for really good workflow (when I'm actually in there working, that is!).

To see what everyone else is making, head on over to Our Creative Spaces

My Creative Space: Sweet Pea Shawl

2011-05-26T11:04:00.000+02:00

Now that the birthday has passed, I can show you the shawl that I crocheted back in March. I love this shawl and you can only guess how hard it was to pack it up and post it off to my sister-in-law. Luckily she likes it!! If only I could hop back to my favourite yarn shop in Burlington, Ontario and get some more of this wonderful llama / silk mix yarn. Instead I'll just have to find a yarn shop over here and buy some different yarn to make another version for me. Soon!

The pattern is from the wonderfully titled book: The Happy Hooker. Maybe you have to be British to understand why that makes me smile!!

Take a look here for more creative spaces.

In My Garden

2011-05-20T16:51:00.000+02:00

I can't take any credit for these flowers ....

... as we've just moved in and these have been here for years and years.

Our garden is a riot of colour with various rhododendrons by the front door.

These roses look promising too.

Not looking forward to all that pruning in the autumn though!!

And these poppies are flowering near lounge window.

Have to admit; they're my favourites!

Summer is definitely on the way!!

My Creative Space ... Wristlet

2011-05-19T11:10:00.000+02:00

It's been a good week for crafting. We're slowly getting the house sorted and I've got a bit more time, so in addition to the frame purse that I finished at the weekend, I've been able to make my first - and definitely not last - project from Nikki's new book "You Sew Girl".

This wristlet pattern was an obvious first choice for me as I had everything I needed. I'd been looking for a good use for this lovely crane fabric that Crafty Ady sent to me and I think it looks great made up as a bag!

A few people asked me about the book after my post last week, so here are my thoughts:

There is a great variety of patterns: small accessories like belts, kid's hats and of course some bag patterns. Pattern pieces are included in an envelope at the bag of the book. In addition there are some pattern-free skirt and top patterns and I'm itching to try some of these (but you'll notice I started out well and truly in my comfort zone with a bag!). So, something for everyone!

Each project gives an indication of how much sewing experience you need to tackle it. The wristlet I made is suitable for advanced beginners and this seems about right. And even though I have made many bags and would rate myself as intermediate, I learned a new technique for making the zip pocket. There are projects for all levels of sewing experience.

I like the fact that several of the projects lead into a bigger project - so the wristlet that I made uses many of the same techniques that are required for the city shopper bag. So you can make the mini version and make sure you're comfortable with how the bag goes together before you experiment with larger versions. Very practical!

Nikki explains everything clearly and all the steps are well-illustrated. One of the reasons I've made so many of Nikki's patterns in the last couple of years is that the quality of her instructions really helps you to make the best possible end product.

Not having kids - or many kids to sew for - I doubt I'll make every project in the book (so I won't be joining Apple & Tangerine sewing her way through the entire book!); but I can see myself making all the bag patterns over time plus some skirts and tops. I'd say that makes it very good value for money! I have some craft books that I've bought and then couldn't find anything I actually wanted to make in them.

Now, what to make next?!!

For more crafty inspiration, visit Our Creative Spaces

What a Cutie!

2011-05-14T15:44:00.000+02:00

While Andy was out test-riding his new bike this afternoon (yep - another one!), I finished off this little purse. This was made using Nicole Mallalieu's Shell Purse pattern and it's turned out to be a very cute purse.

It's the first time I've sewn a purse frame on - the advantage is there's no danger of getting glue everywhere, but I did find it a bit fiddly. I'm patting myself on the back for not tipping the pack of seed beads all over the floor or cutting myself on my newly sharpened (lethal) sewing shears.

Found a yarn shop this morning and bought some cotton for a new project. Still looking for fabric stores round here though .... there must be some, somewhere!! In the meantime I'll just have to rely on my stash ... but I'm bound to run out of thread or interfacing soon!

My Creative Space

2011-05-11T16:08:00.002+02:00

Started work on another purse pattern - not tried sew-on frames before, but they've got to be easier than glue (she says hopefully!). I've had this pattern for a few weeks and have been itching to get the sewing machine set up to try it out.

But I was nearly completely distracted by the arrival of Nikki's book in the post. The problem was identifying just one pattern to try first! I've cut out one of the paper patterns ... just waiting to finish the other purse first and for my sewing shears to be returned (they're being sharpened - probably a bad move given how accident prone I am!!).

For more creative spaces, take a look at Kirsty's blog.

My Creative Space .... Progress!

2011-05-05T10:56:00.000+02:00

Hallelujah! I've actually got something craft-related done!

Everyone advised me to add a lining to this little crochet bag to prevent it from stretching and I've finally managed to do this and sewn the flower on the front too. Finished!!

Just got to pack it up and pop it in the post!

Yes - you're right; this means the house is more or less organised post-move, although it has to be said that the office / craft area is the least sorted out room in the house.

However, the table is now clear and I have set the sewing machine up!

Just waiting for some shelving and a new desk to arrive and all that mess piled up in the background will disappear as if by magic. At that point I should have a small desk free where I can set the sewing machine up permanently, leaving the table free for cutting.

Sound too good to be true? I know, I can hardly believe it!!!

Soon I'll be able to get cracking on some new projects, but I've gone back to teaching this week so I've got to fit some lesson prep in too.

For other creative spaces, take a look at Kirsty's blog.

The Morning Dog Walk

2011-04-09T14:01:00.000+02:00

Our new home is minutes away from pretty woodland walks.

Some ornamental ponds.

Perfect for the dog!!

And good exercise for us too!

My Creative Space ... Eventually

2011-04-07T12:10:00.000+02:00

Somewhere in this pile is my sewing machine. No idea where! We're down to about 20 boxes left to unpack and only in this one room which will become our office/my craft room. Look at all that space!! Got to get a new table to work at - no more clearing everything off the dining table when we wanted to eat at it.

I'm also hoping that the partner to the lone blue boot in the photo (on the green box) will make an appearance ... they're my most comfortable winter dog-walking boots and I definitely need to find the right foot!!

Even though we've only got about 20 boxes left, chaos reigns just about everywhere. The boxes may have been emptied and removed ... that just means piles of stuff on the floor.

The lounge is perhaps the clearest area - just got loads of pictures piled up against the window, a jumble of cables to sort out, a rug to find and to sort out the bookcase.

Can't say enough positive things about our removals team - they cheerfully took apart and re-built (in a storage room) the huge cabinet that the previous tenants had very inconveniently abandoned in the main guest bedroom. And they happily moved things from room to room as I changed my mind about where things should go!! Boy, did they work hard (and we did too!). I'm really very happy with progress so far - and today is just our 4th day in the house!

The funniest part of the move was when the cable company came in to set up our internet / phone / TV. At the end of the job they asked me if I had any questions, so I asked:

Question: What's our new phone number?

Answer: Plug in a phone and call your mobile. Then you'll know what the number is.

Seriously!! And that's exactly what we did. Sadly there was no customer service questionnaire to complete and they're unlikely to call me in a few days to find out what I thought - they don't know the number!!

For infinitely more creative spaces, take a look at Kirsty's blog.

My Creative Space .... Not Much Happening Here!

2011-03-31T10:01:00.000+02:00

Having finished most of the projects I brought with me to keep me occupied till we move, I've been playing around with some left-over yarn. There are so many different tutorials on making these japanese flowers, but I used Elizabeth Cat's.

I like it and it could decorate the bag I showed you last week:

Just pinned on right now - I'm not 100% sure yet!! I will be adding a lining to this bag after all of your advice last week to stop the bag stretching out of shape. This is going to be a birthday present for my soon to be 9-year-old niece (how time flies!).

Is the flower too much?

The one unfinished project in my bag is the crochet necklace I started back in Canada. For such a small project, it's given me some headaches! Last night I decided to have another go and started again from scratch. I thought it had gone quite well, but in the light of day there are a few mistakes and some problems because of twisting:

And it's really hard to photograph clearly in this light!! It should look like this one on Ravelry!!

I am fast coming to the conclusion that I have neither the patience nor the eyesight for fiddly crochet on tiny hooks ... so don't be expecting any intricate, lacy doilies from me anytime soon (or, indeed, ever!). I can hear my husband breathing a sigh of relief on that score!!

Doubt if there'll be time for any crafting this next week - we get the house keys this weekend and our container full of our belongings will arrive on Monday - yippee!!

Go and have a look at other creative spaces over on Kirsty's blog.

Sunny Frankfurt!

2011-03-27T08:40:00.000+02:00

I've been making the most of my last 10 days in the city - wandering about in the sunshine with my camera. Above a view east from der Eiserne Steg - an old steel footbridge across the river Main.

From the same bridge looking towards Frankfurt's business district. Frankfurt is Germany's financial centre - the stock exchange is here and many banks have their headquarters here too in the tower blocks above.

Der eiserne Steg; according to Wikipedia it was built in 1868 and was called an iron (Eisen) bridge even though it was made of steel!! This isn't the original bridge - that was blown up by the German army along with many other bridges to hinder the Allies' advance in the last days of WWII. It's quite nice to know it isn't something we bombed for a change!! It was rebuilt in 1946 and then again in 1993 due to corrosion.

This is the Alte Oper (old opera house). It really isn't as old as it looks - this building dates from 1981 and is a reconstruction of the original Alte Oper which opened in 1880 and was destroyed during an Allied air raid in 1944. This is no longer the home of Frankfurt's opera company, but is a venue for all sorts of concerts and has a very handy car park underneath.

That concludes my tour of Frankfurt!! We're moving out to the Taunus - the hilly area to the north west of the city - next weekend. Life is going to become much quieter, with country walks for the dog and mountain biking for Andy. We'll be out of our cramped, noisy apartment and living somewhere that feels much more like us and I'll be able to unpack my sewing machine at last!! I've enjoyed the crochet, but it's time for a change!!

My Creative Space: A nearly finished bag!

2011-03-24T09:34:00.000+01:00

The really handy thing about not having any internet connection yesterday, was that I made significant progress with my Marina Bag .. and I think it even looks like the picture on the pattern which is always a good sign!

Just a few more rows left to complete, but I thought I'd better post this now just in case I don't have a connection again when I've finished!!

This really is a tiny bag - it's as tall as the width of an A4 sheet of paper and not as wide!!

I'm debating whether to add a lining and/or a wee crochet flower in a contrasting colour to finish it off. What do you think?

Marina Bag

2011-03-22T11:35:00.000+01:00

As I can't sew anything for a few more weeks, I thought I'd try my hand at a crochet bag.

This is slow going - thin yarn that likes to split and a relatively small hook. The instructions say to crochet tightly too .. not my strong point, but I'm trying to get it right! The other reason it's slow is because I had some problems reading the pattern, so there's been some unravelling along the way! I think I've got it all sorted out now and it's slowly taking shape.

It's going to be smaller than I thought - the base is a mere 7 inches across. It should be larger, but my yarn is quite fine - I think I'd add some stitches to the starting chain next time to scale it up slightly; or I guess I could try thicker yarn!

I quite like it, but it's more child size than an adult's bag, so this may become a present down the line.

Got to finish it first!!

My Creative Space: Crochet

2011-03-17T06:57:00.000+01:00

I've been teaching myself to crochet shells!!

I photocopied a lovely pattern from one of my crochet books and brought it with me along with some wool and the right sized hook. Then I realised I had absolutely no idea what double treble stitch was and of course the book that tells me is somewhere mid-Atlantic - doh! I had to wait for a day with a decent internet connection (quite rare in this apartment) to find an online tutorial and then I could start.

I'm not going to show you what this is going to become ... because it's probably a present and I don't want to spoil the surprise. Besides, I think it will look very different when it has been blocked and I can't block it until we move again in April!

I've also been making a few more granny squares for Sarah's Crochet a Rainbow appeal.

And I may even get round to finishing the red crochet necklace I started about a month ago! The trouble is that the hook is tiny, my eyesight isn't that good and the light in the apartment is awful ... so this project keeps slipping down the list!

I've got some different yarns and patterns to keep me going for the next 3 weeks till we move into our new house ... and lots of stuff to organise for the house too, a car to buy....

We're getting there ... slowly but surely!

For other creative spaces, take a look at Kirsty's blog.

More Photos of Frankfurt

2011-03-12T08:09:00.000+01:00

We've had some lovely spring weather - perfect for wandering around with a camera! This is the Hauptwache or the main guard post, built in 1730. This is right at one end of the main shopping street and is now a lovely little cafe.

As you can see - it is now surrounded by modern buildings and there is an underground station below it too.

Zeil is the main shopping street and this new shopping centre was completed in the last few years. Quite a unique design! I keep wondering how they clean all that glass .... or maybe they don't!

Liebfrauenkirche

Paulskirche - one of the first buildings to be rebuilt after the war, this former church and sometime parliament building is now used for exhibitions, concerts and official ceremonies.

Paulsplatz

Paulsplatz - that tall building houses both Subway and Starbucks!

It's March and not very warm yet, but the cafe culture is very much alive. One of many reasons I'm pleased to be back in Europe!

I'm making the most of the city for the short time we're here. I've found a great house and we'll be moving to a very sleepy little place north of the city in early April. I'm told our furniture will arrive at the port of Bremerhaven next week - so everything seems to be working out perfectly!

A Birthday Present

2011-03-08T10:39:00.000+01:00

This is a bucket bag from Lisa Lam's book The Bag Making Bible which I got last year. I see this more as a shopping bag than a handbag - it's quite large and would be ideal for a small shopping trip.

I adapted the pattern slightly. It was supposed to be reversible but I didn't like the idea of having a button closure on a safety pin which you changed over to whichever side you wanted. Seemed a bit makeshift! I went with a magnetic snap instead and added a small interior pocket for shopping lists etc...

This was a present for a family birthday yesterday ... I've been sitting on this post for quite a while now having made the bag and posted it at the end of January so that it didn't get packed in the sea container by mistake!

Postcard from Frankfurt

2011-02-28T10:22:00.000+01:00

It was a little bit grey yesterday ...

This is the Rathaus (town hall and registry office)

And it rained a little...

But we had a lovely walk round Frankfurt drinking in the atmosphere - not a strip mall in sight!!

The cathedral has finally shed all the scaffolding on the tower ... don't think we saw the tower once in the 3.5 years we lived here last time!

This is one of the gates to the old city, the Eschersheimer Tor

And this is a building we had never seen before - it was behind hoardings for all the time we lived here last - it's the Thurn und Taxis Palace. Behind it is a new shopping centre / office complex which was still little more than a hole in the ground when we left in 2008!

Frankfurt is a nice mix of old and modern; albeit the old is sometimes relatively new (1980's) reconstruction as the Allies bombed the city extensively in WWII.

Packed Up!

2011-02-23T18:53:00.001+01:00

Our things are fast disappearing into boxes.

It's not exactly a creative space any more ...!

This all gets loaded into a sea container tomorrow and should get to Bremerhaven in 4 weeks time, if the weather plays ball.

In the meantime, we fly overnight Friday and the house-hunting in Frankfurt starts next Monday!!

For infinitely more creative spaces, hop on over to Kirsty's blog.

Colour Me Happy!

2011-02-16T21:47:00.000+01:00

I'm crocheting a rainbow!!

OK - seriously now ... having never crocheted a proper granny square and having many times expressed complete amazement and awe that anyone actually crochets thousands of them to make a blanket (all those ends to sew in - please!), I signed up for a very worthy cause: Crochet a Rainbow.

I'm making granny squares for blankets to go to those who lost their homes in the recent floods in Queensland, Australia. I would have contributed to Carol's cushion appeal too but with moving looming ever closer that didn't seem all that practical! I've been able to crochet in between other jobs - it's the sort of thing you can easily pick up and put down.

I'm not 100% convinced by all my colour combos, but it's a learning experience!! My time for crocheting a square and sewing in all those ends has dropped to about 30 minutes a square and I can crochet quite happily in front of the telly or - more often - while listening to some company's hold music / automated system while changing my address details or cancelling a utility.

So far I've made 20+ grannies ... guess I'll continue till I've used the yarn up, which shouldn't be long now.

I don't see a granny blanket in my future, but I do quite fancy making a ripple blanket like this one. Less frequent colour changes and fewer ends to sew in are pluses in my book!

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty.

For those of you looking for my finished crochet necklace ....the procrastinator in me is working really hard. I might get round to it before we move, but let's be honest - that's highly unlikely! Only about a week to go now!!

My Creative Space

2011-02-10T15:15:00.000+01:00

I'm trying my hand at crocheting a necklace with some beads... this one's going at snail's pace as I never seem to find time to get back to it.

For other creative spaces, head over to Kirsty's blog.

My New Work Bag

2011-02-05T16:42:00.000+01:00

Ta da!

Last sewing project before the big move finished.

My new work bag.

I used Nicole Mallalieu's Mod Bag pattern, this time with just one strap, a flap and magnetic snap closures. The fabric is lovely, but it was a bit of a battle getting interfacing to fuse to it and ironing seams flat proved impossible (top stitching was the answer) ... now I know why it was 70% off!!

The last mod bag I made used quite stiff material with heavy interfacing and fusible fleece. This fabric has more drape - it can hold it's own shape, but when you hang it on your shoulder the fabric folds nicely. I went with medium weight interfacing and fleece this time and I think I prefer the result.

It's probably the biggest bag I own, but experience tells me that I'm going to need lots of space for all the stuff that I end up carting from one appointment to the other - non-permanent white board markers are the thing that stick in my mind. Never can you have too many as a teacher ... and you can never find them when you need them!!

I'm hoping that this is practical and smart - at least that's what I was aiming for! What do you think?

My Creative Space

2011-02-03T16:08:00.000+01:00

With going back to work (once we get back to Europe in just 3 weeks), I figured I needed a new work bag and had just enough time to squeeze in one more project before I pack the sewing machine up for its second trans-Atlantic crossing.

As luck would have it, my local fabric shop was having a sale this week and I picked up some suiting fabric at 70% off. My new Mod Bag is all cut out ready to sew - hope to have it finished by Saturday evening when A gets back from his business trip to Australia (boy, is he in for a temperature shock!).

My Alpaca Cowl & Hat

2011-01-30T18:00:00.000+01:00

The alpaca experiment is underway. I knitted this cowl out of the yarn I bought the other day using a pattern I used previously for a Christmas present. It knitted up beautifully and is finished just in time for the temperatures to plunge again on Monday!

And then to finish the yarn, I crocheted this quick and easy hat:

Somehow it looks purple in this light, but it's really the same blue as the cowl!!

Now we wait to see whether or not I'm allergic to alpaca ..... shouldn't take long to find out!

Slouch Bag Re-Done

2011-01-28T18:05:00.000+01:00

Last September when I made this bag something wasn't quite right. The strap didn't work and I shoved it to the back of the cupboard pending finding a more suitable strap fabric.

Fast forward to last week when I was clearing out said cupboard in preparation for our move and I re-discovered the bag and also managed to find the fabric I bought sometime before Christmas for the new strap. This morning I decided to sort it out and here it is - my slouch bag complete with a thinner, longer, sturdier strap. This strap is long enough to wear across the body and is made from cotton canvas.

Problem solved!!

I'm much happier with this version of the Slouch Bag - just can't think why it took me 4 months to fix it!!

Stash Happy!

2011-01-27T00:38:00.000+01:00

The postman brought me these lovely fabrics this morning from one of my favourite online fabric retailers in Canada.

Whilst everyone in blog-land seems to be trying to stick to their New Year's resolution to de-stash, I'm very happily stash building before we leave. I'm sure I'll find some new suppliers in Germany (anyone got any recommendations in the Frankfurt area?) - but I need some materials to tide me over until then!

And it would be silly not to avail myself of free shipping while I can!!

I also went to my local yarn store today ...

This baby alpaca yarn is so unbelievably soft and cuddly. I've been told that alpaca contains no lanolin and is hypo-allergenic, so there is a strong possibility that I may not be allergic to it. How good would that be?! I bought this yarn to make myself a big winter scarf and to test the allergy theory out. It's been so cold round here recently (down to minus 30 centigrade with wind chill) that I may just start knitting this up now!

And these are destined for projects I'll crochet while I'm waiting for my sewing machine to make it across the Atlantic - probably to make into birthday presents for friends later in the year. The one on the left is a blend of hemp and cotton and the Tafi yarn on the right is a llama silk mix.

I'm spent up now!! Oh well!

For other, much more creative spaces, hop over to Kirsty's blog.

Photo Books!

2011-01-21T21:35:00.000+01:00

Anyone who knows me well, knows I love photography. In fact I have another blog where I've posted some of the photos I've taken here in Canada .. but that's veering slightly off-topic.

When we left the UK in 2005 I went through a clearing-out phase and targeted those shoeboxes that everyone has stuffed full of their holiday snaps and other memories from the pre-digital age. We picked our favourites and stuck them in albums; binned the rest.

Now we have digital cameras, the problem has multiplied quite dramatically. We have photos stored and backed up on several terrabytes of hard drives.

Loosing my photos just isn't something I'm prepared to contemplate.

And then I discovered photo books!!

Some of these I made last year ... but I've been back tracking through our digital images (clearing up the hard drive on my laptop) and realised we had some other memories that I'd like to have in print form too.

Easier to do here rather than in Germany (OK - so that's an excuse, but it probably is cheaper!).

I used software on my laptop to create the books but there are many websites out there that offer exactly the same service. Just Google photo books. It's really simple - you drag and drop your photos into a layout and add whatever text you want. So far they've cost me an average of $30 each, but it varies depending on style, size and any additional pages.

I decided not to stop at holiday snaps, but did some family albums too! These make (hopefully) the ideal gift - as some of my family are about to discover.

Double trouble (me and my sister!!)

Now, what else can I do to avoid tackling the "Moving To Do" list?

Temari

2011-01-20T17:41:00.001+01:00

Sometime last year I decided to buy a book on Japanese temari - they look so pretty and I could imagine making a few in festive colours and using them as Christmas tree ornaments.

Christmas came and went ... no temari.

It occurred to me recently that this might be a very portable project - ideal for the weeks between moving and getting my sewing machine back ... so I decided to try one.

It looks easy, but it really isn't!

I may have deliberately made the photo blurry so you can't see just had bad it is! This one could well be destined for the bin, but I haven't quite decided!! It does look like I'll be needing some other portable projects.

Kirsty is back with My Creative Space over here. Take a look at what everyone else is making.

Quiet?

2011-01-17T22:37:00.000+01:00

If you think it's been quiet on this blog for a while, you'd be right and with good reason. We're mobilising for a move back to Europe in about (gulp) 40 days' time!! We've been expecting it for a while, but there wasn't too much we could do before the paperwork was settled.

Since New Year I've been working on a couple of projects, but I can't show you till the recipients have had them for their birthdays! So I'll take photos and save them for later in the year - there's nothing like getting a head start on these things!

In the meantime, just imagine me:

- digging through cupboards looking for stuff
- throwing things out (I'm not a hoarder - it's just more stuff to pack / unpack)
- out shopping for things that I won't be able to get back in Germany!!
- out shopping for yarn / ribbon for the projects I've got planned while I'm waiting for my sewing machine to travel across the Atlantic
- generally running around like a mad thing!
- oh, and trying to stay warm - it was minus 18 this morning with a wind chill of minus 28. I so won't miss the weather here!!

Thing is, I don't mind any of this work as I'm so happy to be heading back. As we're going to Frankfurt (where we lived before Canada), it's an easy move for us - we know what to expect and where most things are; half the stress is theoretically gone straight away. I just need to find great yarn and fabric stores to keep me crafting once I get there.

I'm trying to make this a stress-less move! My husband will be cracking up laughing reading this! I am the original stress bunny! We're very lucky though that his company comes in and does the packing - so I've just got to get organised before they arrive!!

Current stress level ... 2/10!!

Stylish Blogger Award

2011-01-10T18:30:00.000+01:00

I am so excited - less than a year after starting this blog, I have been given the Stylish Blogger Award by Angie from Le Monde de Sucrette!! Thank you Angie - you really made my day!!

So, now onto the conditions of the award ... firstly I have to tell you seven things about myself:

I've come back to sewing and knitting after a 20-year break. My career got in the way, but now that I'm no longer working I need to fill my time and want to learn lots more handicrafts. 2010 was the year to learn crochet; this year I'm going to try my hand at quilting and felting too.

I have coeliac disease - so I can't eat anything with gluten in it. I was diagnosed while living in Germany about 5 years ago surrounded by all those lovely German breads and cakes. That was really hard, but I feel so much better without gluten in my life.

I'm seriously scared of heights (OK - spiders too) and in a former career I had a licence to drive a static racking crane that went 5 storeys high. We regularly had to practice emergency crane evacuations which involved climbing down the racking wearing a harness - it was probably a good thing I moved to a desk job!

I'm really quite bossy - just ask my husband!

I have a 12-year old border collie, Pip. We rescued her and her brother when they were about 6 months old. Her brother died in March last year, but Pip is still going strong.

I am a qualified Teacher of English as a Second Language (TESOL) - I trained when we were living in Germany and taught in businesses in the Frankfurt area for 2 years before we came to Canada. My qualifications aren't recognised here which is really, really annoying!

I have no sense of balance - sure, I can ride a bike (reluctantly!), but put me on roller or ice skates, skis, even just on plain old snow and ice and I very quickly end up on the ground. Now, why did we move to Canada?

The next part of this award is to pay it forward and nominate 15 new/ newish bloggers to receive the award. So here is my list of those blogs that I read daily who haven't already received the award yet (as far as I'm aware!):

Ady at Crafty Ady
Kristine at Ambassador Crochet
Lucy at Attic 24
Alice at Crochet with Raymond
Paula at Feresaknit
Fiona at Buy Design
Heidi at Sewing Daisies
Sara at Rhubarb and Ella
Andy at Stumped Jumper (full disclosure: this is my husband's blog!!)

Now I'm stuck, because some of the people I would naturally have nominated have just received the award including Carol at Naturally Carol and Teje at Nero's Post and Patch plus of course, my nominator, Angie at Le Monde de Sucrette. That would have taken me to just 12!! Note to self: read more blogs!

There are 4 duties to accept this award:

Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award (tick)
Share 7 things about yourself (tick)
Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered bloggers (tick - well almost)
Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award (next job on the list!)

Once again, many thanks to Angie for giving me this award!

2010 Photo Montage

2011-01-01T00:03:00.000+01:00

Just a sample of some of the things I made in 2010 as I sit here drinking bubbles (no, nothing French - I'm making do with a very nice Canadian equivalent - yep, they make wine out here and some of it is quite good!) and waiting to greet the new year!!

OK - so I'm really playing with a new website I've just found out about. I was about to download an expensive photoshop action to create blog montages and found a comment on one of my photography forums about this website: http://bighugelabs.com I used their mosaic maker linking to my flickr account to create the montage above. So easy! And free! Both excellent qualities!!!!

From the comments on my previous post, I've decided to do some quilting and some felting in 2011. My last experience with patchwork (it's nearly quilting, right?) was aged about 13 when I made a patchwork cushion for my Home Economics class - can't say it rocked my world then, but I've seen some fabulous quilts in blogland and think there is probably a style of quilting out there that I may like and I have loads of fabric scraps after all! Felting I have never, ever tried but there is a first time for everything and I'm curious!

My other self-imposed challenge for 2011 is to make at least one temari ball ... I've had the materials for a while but haven't got round to it yet. The basic ball is formed - I just need to create the divisions and start the embroidery. And I'm also tempted by sashiko....

Wish me luck and watch this space!

Happy New Year! (we're nearly there - just 6 hours to go now!!)

2010 Review

2010-12-31T02:00:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy year! This time last year I'd only just started sewing again after a 20-year break and had made just a handful of things.

2010 was very different.

By my reckoning I've tried at least 15 new purse / bag patterns (some of them many times over - I've had more requests for the 200mm purse frame above than anything else I've made) - in total I've made 40 bags or purses of all descriptions.
I started knitting again - hadn't done that in about 20 years either!!
I learned to crochet - there was a lot of swearing involved, but I got there in the end and even managed to make some clothes!! I even think I prefer crochet to knitting now!
I learned japanese braiding (kumihimo) and plan to do much more next year.
I took some jewellery-making classes and now can make basic bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Maybe not my forte ... but it was useful to to learn some of the techniques.
The fabric stash has expanded quite dramatically - even A has noticed!! And my library of craft books is also growing.

Not quite sure what I ought to learn in 2011 ... any suggestions?

Some Christmas Presents I can now blog about...

2010-12-26T16:26:00.000+01:00

It's hard finding things to make for men, isn't it? I'm afraid that I used the 'one present fits all' approach and spent many a summer evening this year knitting very warm, woolly scarves from Jade Sapphire's booklet: 7 Manly Scarves. Note to self: summer possibly isn't the best time to be knitting really warm stuff!

On the left is a lovely chevron pattern knitted in a wool / angora blend for my Dad; in the middle, my brother-in-law received the burgundy cashmere scarf (love that pattern) and on the right, the blue number for my father-in-law is merino scarf with an off-set rib pattern. The easiest to knit was definitely the burgundy one ... the other two both involved some swearing and frogging. Here's hoping the recipients don't start looking for the odd mistake that I overlooked / discovered too far past to unpick and fix!!

As I don't have any more ideas on the subject of what to make for men, I'm back to buying them presents next year (I can hear the sighs of relief even at this distance!).

This almost made it into my closet instead of my mother-in-law's... but I'm unfortunately allergic to wool (not on my hands apparently - but I couldn't put this anywhere near my neck!) This is a merino / alpaca / silk blend and is oh-so-very-warm. The pattern is from a great blog ... the author had seen a Burberry cowl on sale for the 'bargain' price of $750 and baulked at paying so much for something she thought she could recreate .. . and she kindly shared her pattern online (which I would link to it if I could find the link again in my long list of favourites - watch this space; it'll appear here eventually). This was an absolute pleasure to knit - although it's a cable scarf, it isn't a traditional cable pattern by any means. Love it - will be making myself one soon as soon as I find that blasted link :-)

So, my mother-in-law did quite well this year as the cowl above wasn't her original pressie. I started by making her a specs case from a Nicole Mallalieu pattern ... if I'm honest it didn't quite work out as well as I expected / hoped, but having binned one attempt completely I was determined to make this one work. I persevered and got a half-way decent effort - but I wasn't entirely happy.

Hence present number two. As she seemed happy with both, maybe I just worry too much!?!

If I'm honest, I think the problem with the specs case was partly down to the skill level of the pattern - this is really quite advanced sewing - but also my very old sewing machine has a very clunky, large free arm and it didn't make sewing anything this small in diameter at all easy. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Alright?!!

Last, but by no means least, my sisters-in-law also got similar presents! Two matching purses using Nicole Mallalieu's 200mm purse pattern and some gorgeous Japanese fabric. This fabric is just the best - wish I could have bought some more before my supplier ran out. I love it and only have a very small amount left.

I think that's about it for the presents you haven't already seen. I made pencil cases in the summer for the kids and various pouches which could be used as make-up bags or just bags to transfer handbag contents between handbags ...

And this teal scarf was something I unwrapped yesterday - made for me by my sister-in-law:

Isn't it beautiful?! And so warm too!

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-22T18:39:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I crocheted some snowflake decorations for the tree ... thanks to Lucy's excellent tutorial. Having seen so much Christmas crafting in blogland, I decided it was time to participate and these were really quick to make and not beyond my crocheting skills.

I think that's just about it for making things this for year - I've got a couple of things left on the cutting mat ready to sew up and one new purse style waiting for its frame to be glued on, but I'm not planning on starting any new projects.

Have a Happy Christmas everyone!!

Knitting to Stay Warm

2010-12-16T03:25:00.000+01:00

A couple of hats knitted using the Operation Christmas Child pattern from their website.

These are very quick to knit up (about 2 hours each while watching telly) and ridiculously cheap to make too. WalMart is the source of all things cheap round here - each ball of yarn cost $4 and I think I might get 3 hats from each ball (if I don't add pom-poms .. still thinking about that one!)

I've obviously missed the boat for the Christmas 2010 campaign... but I'm getting a head start (pun intended!) for next year. That should keep me busy this winter!

A Quick Project

2010-12-14T22:06:00.000+01:00

A home for my iPod made using the off-cuts from another project....

Yeah, that'd be the one I was supposed to be spending the afternoon fixing a problem with. I'll get round to it eventually!!

Didn't need a pattern for this one - it is just a rectangle, after all!!

The Snap and Other Purses

2010-12-13T20:37:00.000+01:00

Introducing my new purse, the Snap Bag.

This one's all for me! It's not the most practical bag size or shape wise. But I still love it.

It's completely different.

No-one else is going to have a bag like it around here. Now, you may think that's no bad thing ... but keep those thoughts to yourselves please!! I may have to wait for more clement weather to actually use it ... it doesn't exactly scream take me out in the snow with a michelin man-style down jacket and winter hiking boots, does it?!!! Although it would turn definitely heads with that ensemble!!

This is made with yet another pattern by Nicole Mallalieu Designs and using an Alexander Henry print called Deco Dot.

I've also finished up a few other purses recently:

Some Liberty fabric put to good use (left)

Off-cuts from my Snap Bag (centre) made into a purse which I think my niece 'down under' might like

Another grey purse with red lining for my mother-in-law complete with purse chain (right)

Otherwise I've been spending the day working out how to do photo collages in Photoshop Elements and other bits and bobs aimed at keeping me warm and indoors.

Hope the weather is better where you are ... it would be hard for it not to be though!!

A Woolly Tale

2010-12-05T17:37:00.000+01:00

I finally got round to crocheting all the pieces of this sweater together and sewing in all the ends (I just hate that bit). It's turned out quite well given my lack of crochet experience - more impressively the sizing is right for me, so my gauge must have been spot on. It's a very snuggly, warm sweater and it's mine!

This is the result of last week's knitting - it's an old-fashioned net bag. So easy and quick to knit - I'm quite pleased with this one and can see it's a pattern that may well be repeated many times (you can never have too many shopping bags!).

I've also been sewing this week - trying out a new pattern. If I get round to glueing the frame on, I'll blog about that one in a few days' time.

My Creative Space

2010-12-01T23:00:00.000+01:00

Hmmm .... diversionary knitting!

(OK, so it's really procrastination)

Maybe you'll get to see some finished stuff soon ... it's not like I don't have lots of things nearly finished, but I just haven't got back to them yet!

To see what everyone else is making this week, take a look at Kirsty's blog.

My Creative Space ....Work in Progress

2010-11-24T22:55:00.000+01:00

Not much finished round here....

... but at least there are some things in progress. After several trips to the chiropractor my neck (and arm) are feeling much better, so the sweater is coming along nicely. Just the sleeves to go now and I need another ball of wool to complete those.

Then there are two purses waiting for the frames to be attached. I need another pair of hands to help with the glue, so they'll be sat there until the weekend.

I was trying really hard to get these finished before I started on anything else, but that's just not going to happen! The postman brought a parcel of new purse patterns from Australia this afternoon and I'm really very tempted to stop crocheting to play with the new stuff - especially as I've bought the one pattern to make a purse just for me ... it's this one!

For more creative spaces in blogland, take a peek at Kirsty's blog.

My Creative Space: Kumihimo

2010-11-18T00:26:00.000+01:00

My sweater hasn't made much (read: any) progress this week, but I have been trying out my new marudai and doing some sewing.

Setting up the marudai for braiding took absolutely ages - who'd have thought winding some bobbins could be so complicated?! Getting the traditional japanese knots right proved to be quite tricky. Got there in the end and made a flat braid ....

Work in progress

Working on the marudai is really different to using the braiding disk I had before... This braid was just a test to sort out how it all worked using some cheap yarn from my stash. Lots of learning and things to do differently next time!

The sewing machine has also been set up again and I've got some more purses on the go, but the light has gone now, so no photos!

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty's blog.

My Creative Space

2010-11-11T15:44:00.000+01:00

I haven't been making much since I got back from holiday. First there were all those jobs to prepare for winter that really should have been done in October and secondly the weather has been glorious and I wanted to make the most of it.

However, I have started crocheting a very simple sweater for myself and have completed the back so far. It really is very, very easy to make - single crochet all the way - but I decided simple was good and may help me to keep the right number of stitches per row (so far, so good!). Whether it actually gets finished while it's still winter is another matter - it has been very slow going due to whatever is up with my right arm (tendonitis I think!), so I can only do a little bit at a time.

On the sewing front, there are several fabrics on my cutting mat waiting for me to get enthusiastic about making some more bags. Maybe next week....

To see what everyone else is making, head on over to Kirsty's blog.

Loot from my UK trip!!

2010-11-01T22:17:00.000+01:00

I haven't been ignoring you all - just away seeing family and friends in the UK for 3 weeks. Unbelievably, 3 very sunny weeks - I think we got the best of the weather again! If you would like to see photos, please hop on over to A's blog ... he's beaten me to it and posted some pics already!

Back in Canada now and steeling myself for winter - which means lots of opportunities for staying in and crafting!! It's got a lot colder in the last few days although I know it's nothing compared to what's coming. Zero is almost warm in these parts - I'm the wimp wearing hat and gloves already and marvelling at all those walking around in this cold wind with nothing covering their ears!!

I managed to squeeze a few treats into my suitcase on the return trip along with a load of Christmas presents. At the top of this post is my new marudai for Kumihimo (japanese braiding) plus a book on the subject. You may remember my earlier posts about kumihimo when I tried to improvise a marudai - this will be so much better! These were a present from my in-laws who just happen to live in the same town as the author of the book, Jacqui Carey.

Then I was lucky enough to get a box full of goodies from my very good friend, Ady of Crafty Ady fame. She very kindly sent me one of her fold-away shopping bags and a stuffy; Ady is enabling my laziness as I had bookmarked her tutorials and was planning to get round to both of these projects some time (OK - the timeline was a bit vague, but I did have them on my mental list!)

Also in the parcel was this dinky iron - it is so small and perfect for getting into the corners of all those small bags - plus some gorgeous Alexander Henry fabric and loads of purse hardware. I'll be making myself a purse using one or both of these fabrics - they're wonderful and in some of my favourite colours.

Thank you Ady - very much appreciated and you will be getting a parcel from me when I can find what I've been looking for!

On the final leg of our trip I managed to book a hotel right across the road from Liberty's ... coincidence? Hmm - maybe not!! I love Liberty fabric - in my stash I have a large off-cut of peacock feather fabric that I bought from their remnants bin about 10 years ago and still haven't used (it was going to cover a seat cushion .. but either laziness prevailed or I was too busy working!). This time their remnants bin wasn't in evidence, so I limited myself to a couple of metres of these lovely prints - there really wasn't much space in my case for more:

The photo really doesn't do much for them (the light is going) - in real life they're more vibrant. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them yet, but I'm sure they will be made into something soon and I'm going to dig the peacock feather material out too and make something fabulous!

Anyway, the holiday is over and I've caught up on the laundry and other jobs, so now I'm free to get the cutting mat and rotary cutter out again and start work!

Hostess Gifts

2010-10-23T14:04:00.000+02:00

Art Nouveau fabric from Robert Kaufmann

The last remnants of some fantastic Japanese cottons. Shame I can't get any more - my supplier is sold out.

The perfect gifts for the lovely people I've been staying with on my UK trip.

Crochet

2010-10-19T14:33:00.000+02:00

A quick dishcloth - teaching myself front post double crochet using this great tutorial.

Another of my birthday presents - I need to buy some yarn in suitable flower colours to play with this one. It's on my list ....

I think I'm turning Japanese....

2010-10-07T22:21:00.000+02:00

I tried making kanzashi with very mixed results last year (see the photo at the bottom of this post) but I recently found a great book in the library and thought I'd give it another go. I definitely need practice - but this was a great improvement and it helped that the instructions this time were in English!

Then I was given this lovely book for my birthday ... more Japanese-inspired things to add to my To Make list.

I've been toying with the idea of making temari for a while and there are also some lovely wee dolls in here that don't look too difficult. There are however some extremely ornate and intricate projects in this beautiful book that I may only dream about making!

My Creative Space

2010-09-30T01:28:00.000+02:00

A Slouch Bag

OK - so I'm not totally sold on this one .... yet! I love the pattern / shape of the bag and I love the main fabric, but I did a couple of things that I now regret.

The first I will fix as soon as I find a better fabric for the strap - I'd really like to find some chocolate brown canvas, but the patterned fabric I used here really doesn't work (even A thought so and commented and it isn't like him to have much of an opinion on these things).

The second one isn't fixable, but I can live with that ... I used fusible fleece because the main fabric wasn't my normal cotton duck and therefore wasn't as sturdy - now I wish I hadn't added it in; I think it spoils the slouchy shape slightly.

Never mind - you can't get it right all the time (at least not in my world!) and sometimes you just have to try things out.

I was given several crafty books for my birthday last weekend - this one seems to have a lot of good tips about bag construction plus some patterns to try at some point in the future. I've only had a quick flick through so far and have an overwhelming impression of some very big bags in which I would inevitably be searching around for what I need amongst too much 'stuff' for a very long time!!

Head on over to Kirsty's blog to see what everyone else is making

More Finished Objects!

2010-09-23T01:43:00.000+02:00

Here is the finished panel bag that I started on last week:

It's really not my style (I prefer a smaller bag with a zipped closure), but I think it's turned out quite nicely. I'm sure it won't stay in my stockpile for too long!

And this is a quick present for a friend's birthday later this year:

I love the grey and red combination (it's lined in red too) - very similar to another one I made in a slightly different shape a few months back.

Things have been going slowly as I'm having a few problems with nerve pain in my right arm - so, no crocheting or knitting at the moment - and then yesterday I saw fit (don't ask me why - no, really, don't!) to slam the patio door shut on my right thumb. The air was blue round here for a while!

Accidents and injured arm allowing, I'm hoping to cut out a bag for me tomorrow!! We'll see!

My Creative Space

2010-09-16T00:47:00.000+02:00

I think I've just about got Christmas sewn up ... literally! All the presents are sat on my spare bed waiting to be packed into a suitcase for my trip or parcelled up and posted. What a relief!!

And I'm completely up-to-date on my orders!!! Shhhh - don't tell anyone!

So, what next?

I had meant to make myself a bag (for which I have the fabric ready and waiting!) but instead I've been tempted by one of the new patterns that I've got recently and been itching to try. So, this one is for stock - and, as my stock has dwindled to virtually nothing in the last few months - that's no bad thing!

Just cutting it all out at the moment:

I knew that this would be a big bag ... but now that I've got the pieces cut out, I can really see the size. Possibly my largest bag yet!

The odd thing is that this is the only thing I have on the go at the moment - having had weeks of sewing small, fiddly things and always having some other projects on the go too.

That should mean it goes faster, right?!!

For more creative spaces, visit Kootoyoo

More Finished Stuff!

2010-09-13T22:35:00.000+02:00

It doesn't feel like I've been very productive recently because I've been working on Christmas presents and I can't show you those yet.

However I can show you these:

This is the crocheted cardigan for my niece's birthday (she's not aware of blogs just yet - so I'm safe posting about this!), made using Lion Brand's Bebop Cardi pattern. Took me a while to figure it all out but I'm quite happy with the result and I think she'll like it. Made with some lovely nubbly cotton yarn from Mission Falls.

I got there in the end and I even had the right number of stitches on the last row - quite an achievement for me!! My crocheting skills are still rather limited and I'm always surprised when it goes right.

I finished off this frame purse for a customer yesterday - it's been waiting for the frame to be attached for nearly a week, but I've been waiting for A to be at home to help (it's do-able on my own, but goes so much faster with a second pair of hands!).

That's it for now. One more present to finish for my UK trip and then I may have time to make myself something - what shall I have?

A new bag?
Or maybe a beret?
Or perhaps I'll work out what to do with some internal frames that I bought a while back and just haven't sorted out how to use them! I know what I want to make with them - just need to draft up a pattern and try it out.

My Creative Space

2010-09-09T01:11:00.000+02:00

Thankfully the sewing machine is over its tantrum and is working for the time being, so...

.. the 'To Do' pile is growing again!

.. my work in progress is this chunky 200mm purse frame - nearly finished.

And here's last week's finished project - a Baguette bag using a Nicole Mallalieu pattern.

I've got lots of secret projects underway too - but you'll have to wait until after Christmas to see those! My deadline is fast approaching as I only have 3 and a half weeks before everything needs to be finished (Santa's delivering early this year!).

Gulp!

There's some crochet on the go too for when I want a change from sewing ... this should have been finished by now, but I kept getting it wrong. Think I've now just about sorted out how to do the bobble stitch properly and I've found my missing 3-chain spaces (long story!).

This is the start of a birthday present for my niece:

And it too needs to be in the post sometime in October if she's to see it for an early January birthday (the Australian post office seems to like sitting on my parcels and delivering them just after the intended celebration - I'm determined to beat them this time round!).

That's everything on my work table at the moment. Take a peek at what everyone else is up to over at Kirsty's blog.

My Creative Space

2010-09-02T00:50:00.000+02:00

Work in Progress...

A baguette bag ... nearly finished.

It's been a bad sewing week ... my sewing machine seems to have hiccups. The timing is off and it isn't sewing reliably (yes, I'm blaming the machine and justly so).

It's entirely possible that it's an effect of running for a year on a transformer with the wrong hertz (or something), but it's also a very old machine (25 years) and feeling its age.

Here's hoping I can keep it hobbling along as I have no wish to buy a new machine over here. Murphy's Law states that if we make a major electrical purchase we will swiftly be relocated to somewhere that said electrical product doesn't work ... on second thoughts, maybe I should buy a new sewing machine for just that reason!!

Anyway, the bag above has been made extra challenging as a result of the machine problems and I'm honestly not that happy with it. I'm going to finish it and see what I think when its completed.

To see what is happening in other people's creative space this week, visit Kirsty's blog.

Enabling a Fabric Habit

2010-08-31T01:17:00.000+02:00

Apparently my other half knows me really, really well and has started enabling my fabric obsession.

Look what he picked up for me on his latest business trip:

Hand-stitched fabric made by the Kuna Indians of Panama

I've only seen this photo - can't wait for him to get back next weekend to see them properly (and to see him - of course!).

Each panel is approx. 30 x 50 cms and, given the hours of work that must have gone into them, the price he paid was a pittance ($25 US for the pair). It's criminal, but I'm rather glad he thought I might like them.

I think I can see a very funky tote bag in my future. It would be a shame to cut into these, so I'm going to keep it very simple, but I'll have to wait until I've taken possession before I really know what I'm going to make them into.

Any suggestions?

Some Finished Stuff

2010-08-28T20:49:00.000+02:00

More pencil cases!

A pink crochet scarf.

And I added a fringe to my first ever crochet scarf (in fact, my first ever crochet project!) - it looks more 'finished' now, I think.

There's a couple more things in my To Do pile left, but I feel like I'm making progress!

My Creative Space

2010-08-26T00:01:00.000+02:00

Lots going on this week:

I started turning my To Do list into a To Do pile. Hoping this will galvanise me into action.

Watch this space!

Still lots more waiting to be cut out though!

And I'm trying oh so hard not to be diverted by new parcels arriving in the post, but this fabric is just too cute to resist! I got the last of the bolt - so only a scant 3/4 of a yard to play with and I'm still undecided what to make with it.

Any ideas?

And there's some crochet on the go at the moment too - a scarf using Buy Design's tutorial (thanks Fiona!) and some scrummy Japanese yarn (a cotton / silk mix). However, I'm seriously considering frogging this and restarting with fewer stitches to make a narrower scarf ... of course, I waited till I was a good way through the skein before deciding that it's too wide. Doh!

My Creative Space is hosted by Kirsty - take a peek at her blog to see what everyone else is up to.

Pencil Case Mk II

2010-08-24T23:00:00.000+02:00

Version no. 2:

I think this one is a better size (thanks for all your input!) - it still fits all of my pencils but has much less space for extraneous stuff!

The bonus? I get to keep the pouch I made yesterday!!

Pencil Case Experiment

2010-08-23T20:19:00.000+02:00

I need some help, please!

As someone without kids, but who buys presents for lots of them (godchildren, nieces, nephews, friends' kids etc...), I'm trying to come up with an easy-to-make pencil case.

I have looked at some other tutorials online and tried a few and not really fallen in love with any of them. So, I went back to my trusted pattern for a zipped coin purse (courtesy of Nicole Mallalieu - but you guessed that, didn't you?) and tweaked the dimensions again.

I just can't make up my mind if I've got it right though.

The purse above is possibly more of a make-up bag size again rather than a pencil case. I opted for 20cm wide by 12 cm tall (plus seam allowances) and it more than easily accommodates the 30 pencils I threw in with room for loads of pens, erasers and pencil sharpeners. I haven't measured the depth but it must be about 4cm deep at the base.

The width seems about right, but is it too tall?

And do you think it would appeal to a girl in the 9-10 age range? This fabric is super cute - at least I think so - but I'm not sure what's cool or not these days!!