Better Late Than Never...

Well, it's been a while (43 days to be precise) since I last sat down and typed up a post. In that time, Christmas has been and gone, and 2014 is in full swing It's been a busy period... but also very enjoyable. Having a little one about the place certainly brings out the festivity in yourself! It feels too late to be talking too much about Christmas, as things are just getting back to normal and into the usual routine, but I have a few photos to show of some of my festive makes - I took these pics way back before Christmas, but haven't had a chance to do much with them!
First up are the cards I made. It's the first time I have made my Christmas cards, and I am pleased to say I will be doing so again. I don't have a huge amount to make so it is pretty manageable. The hardest part is deciding what to do... crochet motifs? stamping? embellishments? I went mainly for printing with lino block shapes, but did have a handful adorned with buttons and pretty papers...

The lino printed selection made from a simple triangle and snowflake shape...

And some fancy button work...

I was pleased with both types of card - I love the low-tech effect of the printing, and the fact it's imperfect... but I also rather like the simplicity and neatness of the paper/button ones. Who knows what I'll create next year?!

I also decided to make some of my tags and wrapping paper (by make, I mean decorate!) I bought a roll of brown wrapping paper and some plain tags in red and brown and a few supplies from The Homemakery to pretty them up. The tags were a mix of washi tapes, stamps and fabric tape. Here's a few of my favourites...

And then there is the wrapping paper... I have discovered a great new creative outlet for myself - stamp carving. Yep, taking blocks of rubber and carving my own stamps ready to print with inks. The possibilities are endless, and I really love it, from the designing phase and carving, right through to the end product. I have been doing a lot of this recently and will write more about it at some point soon. To start with, I carved simple shapes - a Christmas tree was used for the wrapping paper. The rubber used for carving stamps is so much easier than cutting lino blocks. It's more expensive obviously, but well worth it, and normal stamp pads work great, whereas lino blocks need a proper printing ink.
Lino block printing definitely still has a place for certain things, but at the moment rubber stamp carving is where it's at for me! So here is my first attempt at carving a Speedball Speedycarve block (the pink stuff) to make wrapping paper...

I was chuffed with it, and it has sparked a whole new line of interest, bordering obsession, but like I said, more to come another day.

Things have been quiet on the crochet front since Christmas, but the build up was fairly full of it. I promised a picture of my Christmas bunting and star garland in situ - the light is rather poor in the lounge and it never gets better, so I took the best ones I could and brightened them up on my laptop to try and make them look more true to life...

I got quite a few nice comments on the bunting, and have already started on a 'Merry' to hang above it next year. I thought I better start it now so that I have yarn from the same batch and don't forget exactly how I made it, although I'm not exactly into crocheting Christmas things in January!

The stars also looked rather sweet on the fireplace...

It's been a grey few days here, and it's getting colder too... but I did manage to get out and take a couple of photos in the garden. I absolutely love the pinky-white flowers on the Viburnum bushes at this time of year... a little bit of fresh colour in an otherwise bleak garden...

And a couple of others just because...

After a busy Christmas period, it's quite nice to get back into routine. Little P is so much better when she has familiar routine, and everything goes back to functioning that little bit better. I am also back to limited crafting time now, but any time I've had I have been busy designing and making stamps to make some Thank You cards for Little Lady's Christmas presents. They are all made now, and just need writing up at some point! Then I'll probably get back to crocheting (Little P wants a Hello Kitty toy) and showing my stamp carving efforts. But until next time, I must be off - I'm watching Sherlock and it's getting interesting!



Keeping on Top of Things

Nobody needs reminding that Christmas is just around the bend. I installed an app on my phone to create Christmas lists, and each day it reminds me how many days to go until the Big Day... today it is just 25!
I am rather excited again this year about Christmas - since having Little P I seemed to have regained a lot of the festive excitement I had as a child - but it also means there a lot of things to do. Especially this year as I have decided to make my cards, and gift tags, and even some wrapping paper. It did seem like a great idea back in October! I am really enjoying making them though, it's just the time factor as usual, and having a very helpful Little P who wants to join in with everything!
I've had a go at lino printing again. Very simple stuff, but very effective too. I've carved a few 'trial' stamps and blocks and have had mixed results. The ones that have worked though I'm very happy with, and I am learning more about carving lino with each attempt. The cards are still mostly a work in progress but I have a sneak preview...

I made these with a simple triangle and snowflake stamp, and some block printing inks...

I plan to do some more tomorrow when I have some spare time, and have a new block to try printing with... exciting! I really like the simple, yet colourful effect of these cards, and am chuffed with them... they looked great all lined up when they were drying off!

I have also finished the Christmas bunting that my Mum asked me to whip up. Tomorrow will be decorating day, and I will hang it then but light in the lounge is notoriously bad, so I'm not expecting the photos to be great. I took a couple of sneak previews in the little light I could find by the back door...

I love a pile of bunting triangles! It's made using RICO Design Creative Cotton Aran in 3 colours - Cherry, Pistachio and Natural. It's based on the Simple Bunting Tutorial by Pink Milk although I've tweaked it a little bit to suit my needs. There are 11 triangles - 2 with holly on, and the rest spell 'Christmas' using matching felt letters. I'm very pleased with it and can't wait to see it hanging up!

It will also be time to hang the star garland on the fireplace, so I'll try and get a picture of that too! I really hope it stays and little hands don't pull on it too much...
I also have the little felt decorations I made to hang on the tree...

I'm also very busy trying to crochet some gifts too... I have had a little Santa production line going on in the evenings when Little Lady is tucked up in bed...

Ho Ho Ho! I do like these little chaps!

Me and the Little Lady have also been making pom poms. The idea is to stick them around a paper plate wreath, although she has claimed them as her 'fluffy balls' to go in her 'special box' and I am not allowed them. She loves picking the colours for me and choosing which size pom pom maker to use for each one. I just do the donkey work and wind the things! I'm just using up some scraps of Stylecraft Special DK, but I love all the colours!

With all the gifts for everyone else, I felt I needed to treat myself just a little bit. Those of you who follow the Attic24 blog, will have seen the giveaway she is hosting with Fig1 to giveaway a load of RiceDK goodies...
I had my first glimpse of RiceDK wares several years ago and really liked it then. Over the last 18 months of following Lucy's blog - who often makes reference to Rice products - I have been sorely tempted to order something. Somehow I resisted... until there was a 10% discount code on her blog to buy from the Fig1 online shop. Sorted. Now just to choose what I want...
That was the hard part. The range of melamine products are to die for. Over the last year I have been collecting a few oddments of melamine, the plan being to one day to have a cupboard full of mismatching colourful melamine cups, bowls and plates. I have previously bought some from John Lewis...

The top ones are by a company called Anorak. The bowl and plate in the bottom picture are John Lewis' own (I think the range was called Pioneer) and the cup is an Orla Kiely. And no I have 3 more items, from Rice! Yay the collection is growing slowly!

I love, love, love these. The colours are great. The patterns are beautiful. And they are nice and sturdy too (and very bouncy thank goodness!) Little P instantly claimed these for a pretend picnic on the lounge floor, and she had to use all 3, so I didn't get to study them for a while!
I love how the insides are coloured too. So pretty.

What a happy treat to myself!

Now I must go, time is of the essence and I need to go and make some more gift tags whilst I have 5 minutes! So, until next time (when Christmas will probably be pretty much on top of us!)...

Have Yourself a Handmade Little Christmas

Yep, it's all about Christmas crafting this year. Last year I felt I left it a bit late (the Christmas tree skirt was finished in time for the tree to come down!) so I have started in good time this year. It's not just crochet either - it's a multi-discipline crafting bonanza! I'm making my own cards - simple ones, but pretty ones I think. I also have 'stuff' for Little P to make her own too. That will involve heaps of glue and glitter and sequins and stickers - but she will have great fun (and so will I cleaning up after her!)
The last 3 weeks have been ridden with ailments - first me and the Little Lady were under the weather. Little P took quite some time to get over it, and is still not fully there, although she is becoming more her usual self now. The cheeky streak is back! It was hard getting out of the house at times as Little P wanted to stay in (most unlike her) but I needed a break too, so I suggested we drive to the City to the Hobbycraft store. We will just pick up a 'couple of bits' for Christmas crafting... needless to say I bought more than I anticipated, but it will definitely all get used and enjoyed. The trip did also cheer up Little P, who was very excited about making Christmas cards and picking the bits and bobs she wanted - within reason.
I have also been trying my hand at hand-sewn felt decorations. I have seen them in shops and refuse to buy them as the quality of the stitching doesn't often look great, and they aren't cheap either. It would be much more satisfying to make some - all you need is felt, stuffing, thread and buttons, and a little bit of practice at blanket stitching. So I acquired some Christmassy colours of felt and thread, and some pearl buttons and got to work.

Not bad for a first attempt hey? I found blanket stitching around the points a little tricky, but in my later creations, I've ironed it out a bit and they look a little smarter! So simple, yet so sweet, and a lot cheaper and more pleasing than shop-bought ones. I also really enjoyed hand stitching these, and it reminded me of sewing lessons at Middle School - the ones I used to hate and had no interest in, how I wish I'd listened and learned more now!

I have other 'big' ideas for Christmas crafting too... I saved the 5 'cone bobbins' that my Hoopayarn came on, and plan to turn them into nativity characters, safe ones that Little P can play with. Amongst my Hobbycraft purchases were some polystyrene balls for their heads, and a small polystyrene figure, which will become baby Jesus if all goes to plan. He has already had one accident - when reviewing my purchases, Little P managed to snap his head off! Nothing a bit of glue won't sort! 
My Mum asked if I would crochet some Christmas bunting to hang up in the lounge, so I have to figure out my plan for that too. I have made a small crochet star garland to hang on the fireplace. I needed a small, repetitive project whilst I sat and watched 'Inception' one evening, so picked some festive colours and made 12 little stars. I improvised the stars a bit after looking at various patterns, but they are pretty simple...

Round 1 - 15dc in magic ring, slip stitch to close.
Round 2 - the points, chain 6, sc in 3rd chain from hook, hdc in next, dc in next, tr in next. Skip 2 stitches from Round 1 and slip stitch into next. Do this 5 times to make 5 points.

Easy peasy little stars... I then strung them together by making a simple chain and slip stitching through the top of one of the points of the star. I think I had 30 chain stitches at each end, and 20 between stars. I used Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo and a 3.5mm hook.

Amongst all this festivity, I have made a couple of much needed beanie hats. The weather has most definitely turned for the worse, and I was searching around for a suitable slouchy hat pattern. Then right on cue my friend Curly Girl Coop alerted me to the wonderful world of MyBoshi. If you like beanies and colour, you'll love this stuff. It's a company who specialise in making customisable beanies and hats and other woolly goodness, using their own brand yarn, which is a mix of 70% acrylic and 30% merino. It's surprisingly soft, and not at all 'fluffy' or 'itchy' - two things I can't stand for a hat! It has an amazing range of colours and gives a lovely 'polished' and professional look to the hats. The only negative is that a lot of the information is in German and there are only a few 'do-it-yourself' patterns available, unlike the enormous range available to buy as ready made boshis.
The basic pattern is very simple however, and I think it could be easily adapted to create different effects. It just so happens that my local yarn store is selling this... Luckily my friend Curly Girl Coop had left me a few colours to choose from after she had raided the stand, so I bought a few to take home and try.

My first effort, the one on the left, worked up so quickly and easily. I had to add a couple of rounds to make it a bit longer so it covered my ears, but the pattern was very easy to follow. I was hooked. I had to make more. Little P picked her colours out (the brightest pink in the world and violet) so I whipped her one up too. It was a little tricky as she wouldn't let me measure her head, so it was a bit of guesstimation, but I got there in the end. The last one, bottom left, is a slouchy hat. I love the colours of this one, and can see me wearing it a lot. Also very quick to work up, I finished it in an evening - this included colour planning which takes up the most time!

I just love how the yarn looks... so polished...

My advice? If you need a winter hat and you can crochet - it's MyBoshi all the way!

I could quite happily buy loads more colours and make loads more hats! I just need more heads to wear them!

I also managed to type up a little pattern for my Father Christmas amigurumi, which can either be a toy or a hanging ornament. Find it here. I think he will look good next to Ronald the Fat Little Reindeer too...

 

Must be off, so until next time, happy Christmas crafting!



Unfit for Purpose

Ugh. I am sitting here typing this whilst snuggling under a big granny stripe blanket and eating some pretzels. They are my 'ill' food. Whenever I love my appetite, I turn to the humble salted pretzel before anything else. I always have done, since I was little. They are the only thing I fancy when I'm ill, and I'm afraid that time is now. In fact both I and Little P have had a poorly weekend. She was really unwell last night, but seems to have bounced back a bit brighter than me today! I wish I had her resilience!
I know when I'm unwell as there are certain key signs - I get dry lips, itchy eyes and I don't crochet. Yep, I have hardly even looked at any woolly goodness the last few days, and it's rubbish. I've been thinking about it a lot though, when I can put my self-pity to one side for a moment. I've been scheming, planning, getting my head round new ideas, but no making. I have mustered up a row of chainless foundation single crochet (I found a great tutorial by Futuregirl here). It's a new skill for me, but I'm pretty sure I'll never go back to the dreaded chain for starting blankets etc now!
Before the dreaded illness struck me down, I was happily crafting away any spare moment I had. First up, I have finished my mandala rug using Hooplayarn - a t-shirt yarn available in a whole load of yummy colours. Of course I went bright! I got mine through an Amazon seller (Rachel John - Extreme Textiles) in 3 colours, Sea Green, Dark Peach Melba and Bright Violet. Beautiful...

I then worked them up into a rug using the wonderful Mandala Rug pattern by A Creative Being. I had to order another 2 bobbins of Hooplayarn to get there but now it's finished, I love it!

It was prone to ruffling when I worked it up, but when the edge went on, it seemed to flatten out a great deal. It sits proudly on the floor of my room (I can't take a picture of it in situ as the light is so bad, so I made the most of the October sunshine!) I do love it, and so does Little P, as it has pink in it. I want to make more, but have no room for another one at the moment (although I have another half completed one in an assortment of colours that I had previously started, and maybe it would be rude not to finish it?!)

It adds a super splash of colour to my room and stands out lovely on the maple laminate flooring.

On a not-so-large scale, I have also made some mittens for Little P. Not just any mittens, but these hedgehog mittens from Crochet Gifts for Christmas magazine. I instantly knew I had to make them, but had no 4-ply yarn. So I made it my mission at Yarndale to find some browny coloured 4-ply yarn suitable for making these hedgehog mittens. I came across some Drops Alpaca yarn which fitted the bill perfectly, and is super-soft for Little P's hands, but also has a slight 'fuzziness' to it too, which would be perfect for mittens!
I wasn't sure what size to make these - the pattern has small, medium and large for children - and Little P once again would not let me measure her. I went with small first - too small, but very cute. I then followed the large pattern but had to adapt it to make the thumb and body slightly longer - I guess these were written for tiny babies hey? The pattern is fairly simple though, and I love how the bobble stitch gives the 'prickly hedgehog' effect. I had a couple of issues with the pattern - the main one being that the bobble stitch works wrong-side as the bobble 'pops' out of the back of the work. This wasn't a problem through as I made them inside out and then turned them the correct way round! Here they are...

They are a bit cute, but the lighting never seems to do them justice and show off those bobbles!

Only trouble is, I kind of want a pair!

I've been trying to get into the festive spirit a little bit earlier this year, as last year I left it too late to crochet much Christmassy stuff. I've already gathered a few crafty bits for making cards and decorations with Little P. I say 'with' - she can be a bit too helpful sometimes, but I try to involve her in as much making with me as I can! I made a small order from The Homemakery - a lovely online store with some delicious crafty bits and pieces. I had to restrain myself to the bits I thought I really needed, rather than wanted! They have some adorable Christmas ribbons in at the moment, so I snapped a few of these up, along with some baker's twine, gift tags, paper doilies and washi tape. Lovely.

I also ventured into town earlier this week with Little P to get some Christmas craft paper and buttons for the cards we will make. That was fun. I'm not a fan of going into town, and only do it when I really need to, and to make it even more 'enjoyable', Little P was extremely mischievous and wanted to touch everything and escape the clutch of her reins. And she wanted a 'sparkly' hula-hoop like her friends have - but could we find one?! No. Cue tantrums.
We have had lots of fun this week though at home, and spent a long time making pom-poms with my new tiny pom-pom makers! These little pop-poms are only about an inch when made - perfect for that I needed them for...

Little P was in charge of picking colours and there was a lot of pink, as usual.

What I really ordered these for was to make tiny pom-poms to go on tiny bobble hats, of my tiny Father Christmases. I have been designing again, and wanted to make a Father Christmas with dangly limbs to sit on a shelf or fireplace. The first one I mocked up is made from Rico Creative Cotton, and is maybe 30cm from tip to toe. I was quite pleased with him and Little P is enjoying him. I was then asked if I could make a smaller version to hang on a Christmas tree - why not? This time I used a mix of King Cole Bamboo Cotton and Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo with a 3.5mm hook to create a mini-Santa.

I'm happy with these chaps - I like the level of detail in the tiny mittens and all the white trimmings. Plus I even tried a loop-stitch beard on the little guy. (See my friend Curlygirlcoop's excellent tutorial here)
Here's big Santa...

and Little Santa...

I love his little thumbs! Here he is hanging in a not-so-Christmassy tree...

 

So that's why I needed tiny pom-pom makers. I have also typed up the pattern for the iPad cozy I made.

 

 

Find it here with the instructions to make whatever size cozy you need!

I'm now going to rest again -  this typing is far too strenuous today! And hopefully recoup so I can pick my crochet hook up this evening. So until next time...

Joyful Tidings!

I tried desperately to post before the Big Day, I even got as far as typing a fair amount, but alas, I could not quite find the time to finish it off, what with all these festivities going on! I guess there is still time to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, even if Christmas Day has passed.
The lead up to Christmas was as usual, busy. I was far too excited this year, that's what having a little one does to you! I was far more excited than her, as she is still too young to really understand. But the look on her face was priceless when we went downstairs in the morning to find a load of presents spilling out from under the Christmas tree.

It's the most I've ever seen for us all, even if 80% of them were for the Little Lady. We counted 99 to open in total, which took some time to wade through.
Little P opened her first present which was a lovely box of Crayola colouring pencils. That was it. She was so happy with just them, there was no need for the rest. In the end I had to hide them so she would forget about them and open some more. I opened a lot for/with her as she was totally overwhelmed with the whole thing. How could she possibly have all these new things at once? I was excited too for her, as apart from what I had bought her, I didn't know what she was receiving.
After a marathon of opening, the lounge looked somewhat like a tip. We waded through the debris, sorting paper from presents, and cleared a little area to test all the new toys out. The pencils were still hot favourites. Which was fine, as my present to her was an easel. A lovely little double-sided, chalkboard and magnetic white board type thing, with a roll of paper and a handy tray. I set to assembling it, eager to have a go! Her Nana and Grandad had given her two lovely magnet sets, so we started playing with those on the board. No need for messy chalk today! As usual, I began to take over, as I love all that stuff!
She did really well present-wise, not too much bulky stuff either so no frantically finding 'homes' for things. There was a lot of nice books and clothes, a couple of DVDs (for when I need a 5 minute break!) and a few toys and colouring books. Lovely. I'm very happy. For her obviously!
I didn't do so bad either, as amongst those 99 packages were some with my name on. Some I was expecting, as I had asked for them, like the usual slippers and dressing gown, but others were a lovely surprise. My parents took note of when I had said in conversation that I'd like to do an old fashioned jigsaw, and they duly delivered. We managed to get the edges together last night, so I will be continuing with that adventure today!
My friend also spoilt me with some crafty gifts. I got this treasure:

...a novel, combining two of my favourite things, crochet and a good old murder mystery, so I'm looking forward to reading that! And also these lovely stitch markers...

So pretty. Later in the day, I received an e-mail from Crafsty, informing me that said friend had also gifted me an online class - Design Your Own Amigurumi Monster by Stacey Trock aka Freshstitches. This is brilliant! I can't wait to have a proper look later, and get started on my 'classes'!

Crochet lately has been understandably slow. There has been too much going on, that by the time Little P has gone to bed, I'm ready to sleep too! She has also dropped her afternoon sleep, meaning my little bit of after lunch hooky time has disappeared. But I can't complain, as she is great fun and no trouble. She's started more imaginative play now, making tea for everyone! She is quite hilarious, turning in to a proper little toddler, it's wonderful.
When I have had a chance, I have continued with the Tree Skirt for my parents, using a pattern I found on Ravelry here.

I'm using Stylecraft Inspiration Chunky in Flame, Sorbet and Cream. Whilst I love the colours, this wool is far too itchy for me, which is fine for a tree skirt, but I wouldn't want to make a blanket out of it.

I also made my own little snowman to go with Ronald the Reindeer. I loved had cute and chunky Ronald was, and wanted to create a similar feel with the snowman. I haven't done this! My prototype is OK, he looks like a snowman, others seem to like him, but I still think he looks a bit scary. Child-catcher (from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) comes to mind. I think maybe its the hat, and he would look better if it was something softer, so I'll mull it over for a while! Shame, I was proud of how the hat turned out too!

Right, best be off, much jigsawing to be done, and rest to be had. Plus I think I am getting a cold, which is terrible timing! Until next time...

That Festive Feeling

Well, it's official, it's December so that festive feeling is allowed to take control over the next month... or more!
And what does the 1st of December signal? Opening of the first door of an advent calendar usually. But no such luck for me, as I am calendar-less this year (if anybody wants to send me one feel free!) Little P was lucky enough to get one, but as she is allergic to dairy products (poor girl) she had to settle for a picture one. Which, in fairness is all I ever had as a child as I wasn't allergic to chocolate! She was ecstatic to open the first door, only problem was, she didn't want to stop... so up on the mantlepiece that went, out of reach of little hands!
But, alas do not fear, I did not go without a treat as, right on cue as usual, my package from Deramore's arrived, bursting open with colourful yarn! And it was totally fair to treat myself and stock up, as they had a good offer of 15% off aran weight yarn.... time to stock up Rico Creative Cotton!

In the package was Rico Essentials Cotton DK in Chocolate, much needed to finish my second reindeer. I wrote up my pattern after I finished the first prototype design, and began on another run-through to check it over. And the little guy had already found himself a home before I even made the first stitch, winner!

I ran out of the brown yarn frustratingly near to the end, but ordered some more and it was here the next day (great quick service from Deramore's!) So this afternoon, I sat down to finish him off. I made a couple of tweaks to the original pattern but it worked fine and I was pleased with the result. I also added so plastic pellets to the stuffing in the body to help him stand better. And as I'm feeling utterly festive, I also added a bell around his neck. Ding dong.
So the pattern is now typed up, looking pretty as a shiny PDF to download, please see top-right corner for a link to the page!
It is the first pattern I have properly written up, so please feel free to let me know if anything is a miss!

A frosty looking Ronald complete with bell...

Yes, that is the white stuff. Just a dusting this morning, but enough to get the little lady excited! It was the first time she's really seen it as she was far too young last year. All she kept saying was 'snoooo woooow'. Now I am actually looking forward to proper snow so I can take her out to play, but we never seem to get too much here, which is probably a good thing as it just causes chaos!

So now, back to the mystery Archer crochet-along by FreshStitches.... it has got me baffled. I'm nearly finished clue 3, and I literally have no idea what it can be. Thursday signals the release of the final clue, which we have been informed, contains no crochet, just assembly.... so I have all the pieces now, just got to figure out how to put them together. FreshStitches has done an amazing job with this, you would think it would be easy to tell what you are making when you have all the bits, but far from it. And I'm not alone... those in the Ravelry group seem to be in the same boat. I've seen some good interpretations but nothing that says 'yep, that's what it is!'

So I'm off to maybe squeeze in a bit of hooking before bed. Poor little P is under the weather again (I hate these winter germs!) and she has only just settled down, so I won't be far behind her tonight!

Until next time...