I haven’t had much time to blog lately, but I’ve been beavering away when I can.
For now, a few pictures, and when life allows 😉 I’ll be back in more detail…
Thanks for your interest!
A few of the ongoing projects
Tag: homemade
A couple of weeks’ worth of prevarication
Welcome back to my topsy turvy world 🙂
It’s been even more of a rollercoaster than usual lately, and of course we’re nearing the end of term, which is always manic, hectic and this year is a little more emotional than others as number two son prepares to leave primary school tomorrow and start the next educational adventure in September.
But a firm constant has been the crochet. It’s a meditation of sorts, except when I need to concentrate on counting and have at least three of the five saying “Mummy…!” I’ve been plugging away at the granny square waistcoat / vest / jacket / whatever we want to call it, managing to make about a row a week. And I’ve been trying different patterns of square, some of which are quite dramatically more beautiful (in my opinion, anyway).
But, as often happens with such a big project, I have become a little bored of the same old same old, and my mind has wandered a bit. And then I had a birthday and my fabulous fella gave me some crochet books, one of which is entirely dedicated to trims. You can find it here: The Finer Edge
I dug out the beautiful (if rather pricey) yarn I’d just bought and started playing:
I wanted to trim the sleeves and hem of a dress I’d been given for my birthday, but it’s linen and this yarn is not machine washable, so I tried another:
But this was a little too fuzzy-looking for my liking, so I attempted it again with cotton:
But this was a bit thick and heavy… *Harumph*
However… it did give me an idea…
At auction a couple of years ago, I bought a couple of boxes of sewing paraphernalia – the genuine article; in old tobacco tins with sellotaped “Pins”, “Buttons” etc and it contained loads and loads of mother-of-pearl buttons. On the strength of this one, a few friends ordered their own in various colours and with various decorations – these followed swiftly:
And another lovely friend stretched me a little further by sending me a picture she’d found on Pinterest and asking if I could do anything like it. I loved it, took up the challenge, and here it is:
These are my own personal two that I am now living in:
Then, I found a bag of beads I’ve had for years:
And here is a sample from the collection:
I don’t think this enthusiasm is going to wear out any time soon 🙂
But the real story of the past week is that I threw myself into something I’d promised aeons ago. Back in January, a few friends and I on Facebook became involved in a ‘Pay it Forward’ – the idea being that the first five friends to comment would receive something from you over the past year. Could be anything, but most likely, I think, is personal creations. One of these friends had her third beautiful daughter not so very long ago, and I decided to test my skill and knit her a jacket. My number five son – a little feral to say the least – pulled it off its needles once too often and I abandoned it. Then, I decided a granny-square hoodie was the way forward, but could only find a pattern for an adult and lost confidence in my ability to create…
Then, I found this pattern on Etsy from monpetitviolon: Little Crochet Cardigan
I think it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever made. I highly recommend the author of the pattern, as it was incredibly easy to follow, and included pictures for reference, to check you hadn’t gone horribly wrong.
In times of stress, I throw myself wholeheartedly into projects like this and neglect all other areas of my life (except my children!) and I managed to make this in about two days.
I have a new passion! I have plans to attempt a long-sleeved shrug for myself loosely based on this pattern and using the yarn from the very first trim I attempted, but I’m going to make a summer version of the little cardigan first, similar to picture 2, for our lovely niece Laura’s adorable daughter Faith next. At least I know it’s quick and she won’t have grown out of it before it’s done!
See you soon, and happy hooking 😉
An extended leave of absence…
I’ve been away a while.
Things in our house have been a little crazy. My baby boy (okay, he’s nearly three, but he’s my baby of five boys) is in the process of being diagnosed with autism. This in itself has rather shaken our world, but on top of this he has a new diet which is outrageously restrictive and restricted, but which has produced incredible results in terms of how he is connecting with his family. So, the long and the short of it is that I’m rather chained to him and the kitchen and struggling to find time for my (other) passion – wool.
However, as the shock dies down and the diet becomes a little easier to get my head round, the crochet is creeping back in…
So, for now, this is where my crochet cardigan has got to. It is about half the length I hope it will be eventually, is entirely organic and evolving as I go, ideas popping into my head in the small hours when sleep is eluding me. I started with a pattern and discarded it after about the fourth granny square. I have totted them up and now have, I think, 81 squares so far.
Here’s a reminder of where it began:
And here it is now:
I inserted two triangles at the back of the hip, in the yellow, green and orange row, which has given it a fuller ‘skirt’ and taken each row from 11 to 13 squares.
The next row is coming on in this colourway and pattern:
So, my sanity-saver has returned. And I am determined to finish it before the autumn. Earlier if I can.
I have a couple of other WIPs, some of which are old and will stay covered for a while, and some of which are new and smaller, to give me a sense of satisfaction when I finally complete them 😉
Before I disappeared, Fiona nominated me for the Liebster award. Fiona, if you see this, thank you. I’ll reconnect when I’m back in full swing 🙂
In other news, our Beard Oil business is launching officially this week and is taking up every second of ‘spare’ time we can find. If you’re involved with a bearded man, check it out. I promise you won’t regret it!
See you soon!
An Easter break from the norm…
Well, whaddayaknow…? It was a snake! Remember that French knitting my lovely boy was doing? Here’s what it became:
It’s been a bit slow on the creation front lately, what with having five children at home for the holidays. Actually, we had 8 as my oldest friend in the world came to stay with her brood. And we had lots of adventures, including taking them for their very first trip to Hadrian’s Wall. I am very happy to report that the-longest-winter-ever chose that particular day to cede at last to spring. It was nothing short of glorious:
It was chilly enough when we set off, however, for some woolly knitwear and my dear friend’s littl’uns chose from my ever-expanding bag of home-made winter woollies – and very fetching they were, too <3
We were inundated with boys so we girls snuck off for a bit of learning to Finger Knit. We found a tutorial on YouTube, in which the now immortal words “Always start with the pinkie!”, once uttered have now become the mantra 🙂
And, when we had said our fond farewells, my snake charmer decided to learn, too, and has taken finger knitting to an extreme sport level:
I’ve been plugging away at little Alice’s jacket, beginning to panic slightly that her mother’s reports suggest she may be too big for it by the time it’s finished… Eek! Unfortunately, my youngest has removed the needles from the stitches more times than I can remember. When this little thing is finished, I’ll be most relieved!
And finally, at a time when inspiration is somewhat lacking, I received a surprise present in the post from my lovely mother-in-law.
Must. Finish. Some. Before. Starting. More…!
Home from the wilds
I have just spent a glorious week, along with my lovely man and our little Ted, in the wilds of Norfolk, which was bracing but for the most part rather lovely and sunny. We even managed to sit outside for an afternoon of photographing my mother-in-law’s gorgeous knitwear collection. (Go and have a look at what she’s up to over here).
She spoilt us thoroughly and we came home with considerably less give in our clothes than when we left.
I didn’t get much knitting or crocheting done, though I did learn a new skill or two, as I shall explain.
First of all, this is my (rather slow) progress with the beautiful crocheted cowl. I’m really happy with it, but a little anxious that my initial stitches are too tight and the shape may be a little off as a result.
But what Susan did teach me is one of the simplest things in the world, if you know how… knitted rope. She taught me the double pointed needle method. 6 stitches only, and a beautiful result (which reminds me – I’ve run off with her needles… Better get them in the post!)
A while ago, I made Teddy a jacket. Outside one of the charity shops in our nearest town, I found a ladies’ cardigan for £2.99 and I bought it, largely because it was 100% wool, and you can’t buy a ball of yarn for that price, let alone a whole cardigan! I put it through the wash twice to get it properly shrunk and felted, appliqued a tree and leaves on the back, and found a tutorial on line to learn how to make and attach a hood, which I fashioned out of the same fleece as the tree.
I was really pleased with it. Apart from one small, but very irritating thing. It flared out in a sort of misshapen way around the bottom and along the button line. I might have known fabulous Susan would have a solution. And a classy one at that! She kindly donated a few strips of the most beautiful William Morris fabric, and showed me how to attach it to the inside of the jacket. We began by removing the buttons and poppers, stitching a line of wool, the same colour as the cardi, along the flared parts to pull them into a straight line. Then we ironed the fabric to those perimeters using Bondaweb, and I hand-stitched them along the outer edges to prevent any peeling away. Just look how beautifully it turned out:
The whole thing looks so much more finished now, as Ted is happily demonstrating here (though I may just applique a couple of leaves on the little front pockets, and perhaps fasten the cuffs back rather than just folding them…):
Susan also kindly donated her purpose-made french knitting dollies – made from old wooden cotton reels and nails – to continue the knitted rope experiment. My second biggest boy snaffled the largest before I had a chance to try it:
Apparently, he’s making a snake… 🙂
First, though, I showed him the presents she sent back with me for him – the products of one of her regular morning walks with her dogs:
She knows the way to a boy’s heart 🙂
A new skill… almost
Well, Easter is upon us and it’s time to get together with family. Fortunately for me, that means spending time with my fabulous mother-in-law, whose yarn skills leave me in awe. Since I’m off to stay with her and don’t want to fill the entire car with my works in progress, I have started something new. (Don’t tell Bertie, because it’s not the crocodile… that’s next – promise) I spent much of my free time yesterday looking at broomstick lace crochet, found a tutorial and tried to follow it, worked out too late that it was written for left-handed people, and gave up. That’s for another day.
But on my travels I came across somebody called Luz, who has a facebook page, blog and Etsy shop. I splashed out on her pattern – this one here. It makes this beautiful cowl. (Go and check her out – she has some truly beautiful things).
I have some yarn for it already, and thought I could give it a go whilst staying in the rural wilds of Norfolk.
Thing is, my youngest decided to throw himself at the wall earlier on – he is a terribly fearless and intrepid two year old, the like of which none of his four older brothers has been – and is sporting an egg on his forehead bigger than any I have ever seen in my 13 years as a mother. So he couldn’t be left alone. So I kept him company and picked up the crochet.
This is where I’ve got to.
I’m clearly going wrong somewhere, and it probably has something to do with the acronyms bpsc and fpsc, which I guessed at rather than looking up and have therefore not got anything like the definition she has. I’ll look them up for my next attempt, but I’ve come too far to go back now! 😉
And I love it. It’s more complicated and beautiful than anything I’ve attempted in crochet so far, so I’m really looking forward to the finished product and incorporating the pattern into something else, too.
Right. See you the other side of Easter. Have a lovely week wherever you are… 🙂
Sewing – a break from the yarn
A bit of a stray off the yarn route today:
It started with a request. Well, the request was actually made last night, but became a job for today. Allow me to explain.
My youngest son (2 1/2) has a ‘nuggie’. It started life as a cot-sized fleecy blanket, without which he would not sleep (so we bought two more, just in case in case!) It was so soft and snuggly that we called it his ‘snuggler’, which of course he could not say. So it has become a ‘nuggie’. Last night, as he was getting ready for bed, and watching his baby brother’s routine, the middle of my boys (nearly 9) was lamenting his lack of nuggie. I had a flash of inspiration. A while ago, in our local supermarket, they had a promotion and were selling fleece blankets for a song. I mean, almost literally a song. Something inconceivably crazy like £2 each. Being a sucker for 1) a bargain and 2) snuggliness, I couldn’t resist and bought a few, intending to give them to my boys at Christmas, with an initial stitched onto each.
I forgot.
So, when I say I had a flash of ‘inspiration’, I guess what I really mean is I had a jogged memory 😉
I told him about them and asked if he’d like one. He was instantly enthusiastic. Which, in his case, means leaping-up-and-down-can-I-have-it-now enthusiastic. And the sound of his enthusiasm was enough to draw his oldest brother (13) away from his computer programming to see what all the fuss was about. So it wasn’t long before “Can I have one too?” was uttered. Now, since they’re all the same colour, I’m just going to have to personalise them. And since I don’t have much time today, it’s going to have to be a little ‘initial’ job…
That was my job for today. And it’s the kind of job I love because it means having to make something. Aw shucks. I’ve just got to make these, because they’ll make the boys happy. They’ve asked me to. A chance to indulge myself with playing, and make them happy at the same time. Win, win 🙂
I’m from the ‘raw edge’ school of applique; not just because of time constraints, but also because I like the almost instantly aged, loved and lived-in look of it. So that made today’s task even easier. I know I’ve mentioned, on my about page, my mother-in-law‘s incredibly generous gift of two large sacks of yarn, but I haven’t yet mentioned that the last time she visited, she brought a fair bit of fabric with her, too. So the patches you see are made with some of that beautiful material. Once finished, I deposited each on its corresponding bed and got on with the rest of my day.
Which was rather taken up with Beard Oil – we’ve had a bit of a run on since we introduced the sample bottles. Busy busy, mustn’t grumble! (or Mustard Crumble as we have, probably rather irritatingly, started to say) 😉
And then I returned from posting the orders to find my sons home from school, new blankets tied around their necks, superheroes all.
*chortle*
A hit, then.
I’m still plugging away with little Alice’s jacket on which, hopefully, I’ll have some progress to show soon.
For now, though – the holidays are here! No more school for 2 weeks. I love the holidays 🙂
Hexagons and Spindles…
This week, I am determined to advance some of the projects I already have on the go. I am itching to start several other things, but I must exercise some self-discipline or my house will be taken over in the messiest and least intentional yarn-bomb catastrophe known to man (or woman, for that matter).
So, with that in mind, I went back to my hexagon blanket today. I’m using Rowan’s Kaffe Fassett Colourscape: a gorgeous woollen yarn whose colours melt effortlessly into one another. All the hexagons below are from the same skein. I have already got 30 made, and some already joined up, but I decided I needed a more methodical approach. So my mission today was to edge all the motifs I already have:
But then I got bored. I’d edged maybe five or six, so I decided to join them to the piece I already had. I now have around 17 joined together and I totally love the look (though it needs blocking, the ends weaving in etc) and working with it in this unseasonally snowy weather was lovely and snuggly warm, too.
The post brought a rather exciting parcel, too… My spindle! I now have some fibre (and more on the way), a spindle, YouTube and am just waiting till all my little darlings are in bed, my lovely man cooking – how glad am I that he’s in the kitchen tonight!? – and I’ll give it a whirl. (No pun intended) 🙂
And finally, my little number four son, aged 6, has been suffering from a lack of attention lately. It’s tough being number four of five. Actually, it’s tricky getting enough attention being any one of five (and I speak from experience) especially when you have a mother who is constantly buried under a mountain of yarn, and is off in a world of ‘what shall I make next’…?
I had a rare insight into his world outside home yesterday, when his teacher told me how proud he is to come to school in something I’ve made for him. I do sometimes worry about the potential therapy sessions when they’re grown up and have left home: “All the other kids had this really cool kit, but my mum made me wear all this homemade stuff…!” After all, I’m not sure my 13 year old would be remotely happy about leaving the house in something I’d knitted 😉
So I’m off to spend some time with my little fella, and I’ve promised him that the very next project I start will be a knitted crocodile for him.
Progress and Experimentation
I had the chance to catch up a bit with weaving ends and attaching squares to my granny square waistcoat this weekend. This is what it looks like now:
As you can see, I have made two ‘granny triangles’ to shape the top of the front a bit and it now meets around me, though I’m going to crochet a border around the whole thing when it’s finished, so meeting at the front isn’t too necessary.
I’ve had a couple of flashes of potential inspiration, too. Around the bottom of this completed part, I’m going to crochet the little squares you can see in the top picture, along with some the same size in a different colourway. This will form a sort of empire line belt. Then, below that ‘belt’, I’m going to add some squares I’ve already made in said different colourway, along with a couple of triangles at strategic points at the back, to make the ‘skirt’ of the waistcoat a little fuller. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense in my head, but is quite possibly gobbledigook in the explaining… 😉
The baby jacket is coming on, too. I have just finished the front right, and am onto the hood on that side.
I have long hankered after those cute little stitch markers and finally got around to ordering some. As you can see, I used the old ‘tie a bit of old yarn around the stitch’ on the back of the jacket, but by the time I had started the right front, the markers had arrived. They are just the cutest little things – like teeny tiny nappy pins – and have brought me disproportionate pleasure 🙂
And we’ve been painting eggs for a school competition. That is, I haven’t painted them at all, but three of my boys have. With… ahem… interesting and varied results 😉
The one on the right, as you may well be able to tell, is a robot. The one on the left, I am reliably informed, is a Ninja… You can see it, can’t you? Go on… squint a bit… a bit more… and a leeeeeeeeeeetle bit more… see it now?
No. Thought not. 🙂
Old films and new spinning wheels…
I had a lovely afternoon yesterday. My man and my youngest babe are both poorly, so we all snuggled up on the sofa – well, the littl’un snuggled into his daddy and went to sleep – and I spent a very happy couple of hours crocheting and watching the English Patient. The top of my granny square waistcoat is now in one piece, though I have discovered I need four more squares to make it meet at the front. In other words, I went from making it for a giant to making it for a supermodel. I’m neither. Oops. 🙂
One of the upshots of watching the English Patient was observing Ralph Fiennes’ character – Count Almasy – and his notebook/journal. What we realised is that it was a copy of Herodotus into which he had stuck his memories, sketches, observations… What a fabulous idea! I have ordered an old, hardback copy of Alice in Wonderland and am going to do the self-same thing.
The English Patient
But then, cruising Tumblr this morning, I came across this rather synchronous and totally beautiful thing:
Isn’t it dreamy? So I’ve decided to make one of those rough, thick-papered notebooks and am determined to master the rather more intricate of lace patterns, .which I have so far avoided as too difficult and fiddly. 🙂 At some point…
And today I drove to a gorgeous farmhouse the other side of Durham and picked up my spinning wheel!! Here is a not-very-good picture of it:
I have no idea if or how it works, but plan to do some research this weekend and see if I can make head or tail of it. I haven’t the first clue about spinning, other than to be careful not to prick my finger in case I need a big kiss from a handsome prince in a century’s time… (Though, frankly, I could do with the sleep)… It came with these two carders and these books, but is missing its manual, which the lady selling it to me has promised to post on, should it resurface:
So, I have a voyage of discovery to embark upon this weekend.
And a letter home saying my 6-year old needs to bring a decorated egg into school by Monday. So he and I will be busy, too.
Happy weekend, all! x