Crafty Creatives box13 and a quick update

Poor M'aiq - he's been put to one side again! I feel like I haven't had much time to craft lately, but it might just be that I've been busy with so many different things that I haven't realised how much I've been doing!

I've been considering signing up to Craft Creatives (www.craftycreatives.com) for a while now, and this month I finally did it. The company sends out themed boxes of crafty goodness to people that have signed up, and it's £10 a month plus P&P. There's lots of stuff in the boxes, so it's pretty good value for money! This month the box was a little different, as the company were celebrating their first birthday. The theme was floral, and the box contained 5 different kits to make flowers, and a few other bits (silly me didn't take a photo of the contents, but if you follow them on Twitter you can see clever bloggers that did remember!)

I'm not really that into flowers, and I'm not a pink person - it's my least favourite colour - so I was a little dissapointed by the amount of pink in my box (just realised that perhaps I should word that differently...) however, I did make a couple of things:

Firstly, a french beaded flower. I found some pearl-type beads in my stash, so used those for the stamens. Quite happy with how it turned out, and I have plenty of pink beads, and a full pack of yellow beads to make more with. (Decided to use the pink beads first to see how it looked)

There was also a kit to produce a nylon stocking flower, but I thought a butterfly might be a nice make instead. This was fiddly! Not bad for a first attempt, but I'm not sure that it's something I'd want to do again.

There were also kits for making a felt flower, paper rose hair slide and crepe paper rose ball. I'm not sure I'll make these, but I'm sure all the pieces will be useful someday.

I've also managed to complete something this week, yay! Here's my lovely Resident Evil cushion, complete with zip. I had a nightmare with the sewing machine, but got there eventually.

In hindsight, I perhaps should have made the logo larger. Still, it's lovely and soft, and I'm glad I've added something else to the 'completed' pile. (Although I may add a quote to the back of the cushion, not sure what yet).

So, what's next? I'm still plodding away with the Doctor Who Stitch Along (still need to stitch 5, 8, 10 and 11, plus 12 when it's released this week) and need to decide how to quilt it. I can see this being another large project which will take months to complete... I've also been knitting some yarn from my (ridiculously large) stash. It's a fluffy yarn, in pastel shades of blue, purple and pink (ergh). It's being made into a wrap/scarf so it's great for mindless knitting in front of the tv (Band of Brothers - amazing, highly recommend). I've decided it's not something I want to keep, but my mother has decided she likes it, so it will go to her. It takes 5 balls of yarn, and I've just finished the 4th, so I'm almost there! It'll be a relief to finish it, and then I can choose a slightly more exciting project. After I finish sewing up the bolero I made back in April of course. That must be done before starting a new knitting project. Short attention span, me? I don't know what you mean.

More pics, less text

Me again! I feel like I write lots and don't have many pictures, so I'm going to attempt to change that. I've taken photos of all the completed DWSAL so far, which have all been washed (but not ironed, which is probably quite clear!) I've also managed to get a photo of the front of the Resident Evil cushion cover I'm working on (hoping to get the sewing machine out again in a couple of weeks to finish it off).

So, enough text, here are the pics! No idea why they're sideways...

I still haven't touched doctor number 5 - but I have started on number 9. I will go back and start/finish numbers 5 and 8, promise!

DWSAL and Beer Festival

It's been a couple of weeks since my last updatw, and things have been busy! I've been stitching away with the Dr Who Stitch A Long, current progress stands at doctors 1 & 2 completed and washed, with doctors 3, 4 and 7 stitched and doctor 6 is currently being stitched. It may seem like an odd order, and that's because it is. I couldn't find my print out of 5, and need to copy 5 and 8 onto fabric soon. I'll try to post pictures soon, once I've washed some of them. So far I've used back stitch, chain stitch and split stitch, and so far I've avoided French knots. There do seem to be a lot of French knots for doctor number 6, wondering whether I should attempt them, or come up with an alternative...

I've also made progress with the Resident Evil cushion cover - as in I've attached the logo to the fabric and added the bias binding. All I need to do now is cut the fabric down to size, and attache the front of the cushion to the back! I think I've decided to go with an envelope opening rather than a zip, as it looks much easier, and I have some large black buttons I can add to the back.

It's also nearly time for the beer festival, which is next weekend. I feel sort of on top of it at the moment, which is unusual! I've ordered the beers, and the ciders, and this year have also made the programme (I did cheat and used last years format - made it much easier) This weekend will be spent helping put up marquees, and next week will involve checking the beer that arrives - not by drinking it sadly! Then next Fri/Sat/Sun I'll be helping at the festival, as per usual. It's good fun, although the days are long. I'm hoping that a few of my friends will make it over this year, and that I'll have time to see them!

Sadly, this means that not much crafting will get done over the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping I'll find time to take some photos and upload them though!

New project and M'aiq update

Ooops! I meant to post a couple of weeks back, but then... life. It's been a bit hectic, as per usual!

Here's an update on M'aiq, taken at the end of May. Since then, nothing/very little has been done.

He's starting to look a little more filled in! I really like filling in the small gaps of stitches, it feels like I've accomplished something.

So, what have I been doing, if not working on M'aiq? Well, as I wasn't going to start any new projects in May... I saved one of them for June. I found a Dr Who SAL over on www.fandominstitches.com and this has been keeping me plenty entertained! To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr Who, the blog is releasing a pattern to embroider over 12 weeks. The 6th pattern will be announced tomorrow, and I'm a little behind, as I only started in June. So far, I've done the first 2 patterns, and am working away on the 3rd. This is my first foray into embroidery, and I'm enjoying it so far. The final item should be a good sized quilt - having never quilted before, this is a little bit daunting! Still, you have to try new things, right? I decided to do everything on plain cotton - it's cheaper than the patterned stuff, and it's a lot easier to trace the pattern onto light fabric!

Here are the first two

I also went away for a weekend, as I won tickets to the Eden Festival, up in Scotland. It was a fantastic weekend, the weather was beautiful, everyone was jolly, the atmosphere was brilliant. It was just me and the bf, and we had heard of almost none of the line up, and were a little dubious about going. We bought a tent, and some other camping bits and pieces, and off we went. The highlight for both of us was seeing Mr Motivator on stage on Saturday afternoon. He got the whole crowd moving and laughing, and he's in pretty good shape considering he's 61 this year! The choice of food at the festival was brilliant, and very varied, and the drinks weren't badly priced which was a bonus. We'd taken some drinks with us, and had no problem getting into the festival with them. Although we didn't know much of the line-up, we had a great time, and there was always something going on. I would whole heartedly recommend this festival to almost any of my friends.

Quick update

Ooops! Been meaning to post for a while, but have been pretty busy lately. I've been (mostly) good this month, and haven't started many (just one!) new projects, and have even finished a couple!

Here's the Sprite Stitch April SAL that was carried over to May:

I was hoping to do a beaded heart in the centre, but didn't like how it turned out, so used bugle beads for the green and red borders instead. I quite like the effect this had, and it was pretty simple, so it's something I'll probably do again.


I also managed to finish off one of the cushion covers, hand sewing in the zip. Really impressed with how it turned out, and will try to get a decent photo for the blog.


While I did start one project, it's a simple stash busting one, using up some spare yarn I have. It's a simple knitted wrap, which is great for mindless knitting in front of the tv. It also won't require any sewing at the end! It's not a colour I'm mega keen on, and the yarn is a bit fiddly to work with (Sirdar Filigree) but I'll see how it turns out.

I've done a fair bit of crocheting, and also filled in a good portion of M'aiq. Pictures next week hopefully!

Review - Flower of Gold Rapeseed Oil (from Cheshire!)

So here's my second review - rapeseed oil from Flower of Gold.

After winning a competition on Twitter (I was the only person that entered, so I'm not fully sure it counts as 'winning') Flower of Gold sent me a bottle of their Rapeseed Oil. I'd never tried rapeseed oil before, and was intrigued.

The bottle arrived, and was really well packaged which was great. The oil is a lovely dark amber colour, and smells lovely. The first time I used it was on potato wedges, along with some parsnips and carrots that were roasted at the same time. They were delicious. Fairly sure that was due to the rapeseed oil rather than my peeling and cutting skills!

The next thing I tried it with was a stirfry - and again, it came out tasting wonderful. The rapeseed oil gave everything a lovely nutty and buttery flavour.

The best thing about Flower of Gold in my opinion? It's local. Grown in Cheshire. If you know me, you'll know I get involved with a local beer festival, where we only have Cheshire ales. (This year we will also have a Cheshire cider, which is pretty exciting, courtesy of http://www.nooksyard.com/ )

How can you get some of this lovely rapeseed oil? It's out in some shops, and you can contact @FlowerOfGold on twitter if you want more information. https://twitter.com/FlowerOfGold

Book review - Poison by Sarah Pinborough

Occassionally, I'm lucky enough to get free stuff. And when I do, I'm going to write a small review about it. The first one is a book,

Poison by Sarah Pinborough

 

I received this from Gollancz Geeks, who asked me to review it. I have to say, I’d heard some really good things about the book, but was slightly disappointed when I’d read it. I think it was because I was expecting something amazing, wonderful, out of this world fantastic, and while it is a good read, for me, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

 

The book is a retelling of Snow White, and it’s a decent story. I just wish there had been a little bit more character development, and interaction between characters. Poison is not a long book, and quite a lot of the book seems to be descriptions, with lots of similes and metaphors. While I enjoyed the attention to detail, I felt that it would have been nice to spend a bit more time getting to know the characters. For me, the characters seemed a little flat, and uninteresting.

 

The ending has a nice twist – pretty dark and original, and I thought it worked really well. I liked how it wasn’t set up to have a sequel, but there is the potential to have a sequel if Sarah Pinborough desires.

 

One thing I really loved about the book was the illustrations. Wonderfully done, and matching the story really well.

 

All in all, I wasn’t bowled over by Poison, but it was a nice easy read with great attention to detail and lovely illustrations.