I said I'd sort some photos out, and promise I will soon! But just wanted to say I've finished all of my granny squares! 120 granny squares in black, blue, green and 'flesh'. Now I just need to start fixing them all together...I do still have to tie in the ends of the 9 squares I did yesterday, but the actual squares are done, which is a great feeling :)
I also haven't said anything about the September Crafty Creatives box, hopefully that will be my next post.
Monday, 30 September 2013
Friday, 27 September 2013
Visit to the Black Sheep Wools
I feel like I haven't had much time to craft lately. I was away last weekend - 12 of us spent the weekend in 2 cabins at Sherwood Forest. It was brilliant! We did axe throwing, archery... and did quite a lot of relaxing in the outdoor hot tubs. Absolute bliss.
Before I went away, I went to an event at the Black Sheep Wools in Warrington. This is perhaps my favourite wool shop - they are always really friendly and helpful, and the yarn choice is amazing! Plus they have cross stitch supplies. The event was called "Behind the Scenes with the Sirdar Design team" and was fantastic. Upon arrival I was given a raffle ticket, glass of water (there was some lovely looking fizz but thought I'd better not as I was driving, and there was also orange juice - which I'm allergic to, so water it was!) and a goody bag. The goody bag was a lovely tote bag with the Sirdar brands on it, and inside was a new pattern book for the Giselle yarn, along with a pen and a retrostyled notebook.
They let everyone wander around the shop for a while, waiting for everyone to arrive, and then took us into a separate room in groups to learn more about the design team processes. It was really interesting to learn how the garments are designed and produced from start to finish and then photographed. There were some fantastic garments, and I fell in love with a jumper knitted in Giselle yarn. When other groups were in the room people were free to browse the shop and food was bought around by the staff (lovely sandwiches and nibbles). To end the evening, a raffle was drawn, and there were 2 lots of new Sirdar wool to be won. The whole evening was fantastic, and I'm hoping they do more events like this that I can make it to!
And yes, I did end up buying more yarn. Only 3 balls of Giselle in a beautiful blue/green colour though-and it has brown/copper sparkles in it, I couldn't resist! And some cross stitch supplies... And a new posh crochet hook... The Giselle is already on the needles, and I'm making the cowl from the pattern book using Purse Stitch, which is a new one for me. It's knitting up quickly and I'm excited to wear it already!
Poor photo, but you can see the copper sparkles! (I will start taking photos with a proper camera soon I promise - until then, I'll keep using the camera on my phone)
I will try to add some pics next week... but if you want to see the Black Sheep Wools, check out their website http://www.blacksheepwools.com/craft-barn
Before I went away, I went to an event at the Black Sheep Wools in Warrington. This is perhaps my favourite wool shop - they are always really friendly and helpful, and the yarn choice is amazing! Plus they have cross stitch supplies. The event was called "Behind the Scenes with the Sirdar Design team" and was fantastic. Upon arrival I was given a raffle ticket, glass of water (there was some lovely looking fizz but thought I'd better not as I was driving, and there was also orange juice - which I'm allergic to, so water it was!) and a goody bag. The goody bag was a lovely tote bag with the Sirdar brands on it, and inside was a new pattern book for the Giselle yarn, along with a pen and a retrostyled notebook.
They let everyone wander around the shop for a while, waiting for everyone to arrive, and then took us into a separate room in groups to learn more about the design team processes. It was really interesting to learn how the garments are designed and produced from start to finish and then photographed. There were some fantastic garments, and I fell in love with a jumper knitted in Giselle yarn. When other groups were in the room people were free to browse the shop and food was bought around by the staff (lovely sandwiches and nibbles). To end the evening, a raffle was drawn, and there were 2 lots of new Sirdar wool to be won. The whole evening was fantastic, and I'm hoping they do more events like this that I can make it to!
And yes, I did end up buying more yarn. Only 3 balls of Giselle in a beautiful blue/green colour though-and it has brown/copper sparkles in it, I couldn't resist! And some cross stitch supplies... And a new posh crochet hook... The Giselle is already on the needles, and I'm making the cowl from the pattern book using Purse Stitch, which is a new one for me. It's knitting up quickly and I'm excited to wear it already!
Poor photo, but you can see the copper sparkles! (I will start taking photos with a proper camera soon I promise - until then, I'll keep using the camera on my phone)
Wednesday, 11 September 2013
Lean, mean, crafting machine
I've been crafting. And not just crafting, but actually getting somewhere with things! I have started and completed projects. A fantastic feeling!
I'm going to start with a quick project I did the other weekend while the boyfriend was in Tenerife enjoying the sun
Knitted wristwarmers. With scales. A lovely pattern, which I bought from Craftymutt. Nice, easy knit and they feel lovely (I used Wendy Fusion yarn as it was cheap in my local yarn shop) I'm just waiting for the colder weather so I can get some use out of them! In case you're wondering, the right hand wristwarmer wasn't sewn up when I took the picture.
I also had a go at 'repurposing' some old jeans. These belonged to the bf, but they're too short for him.
I tried to make a bag, and think it turned out quite well for a first attempt!
I even managed to line it with my beautiful camper van fabric! If you saw my last post about the CratyCreatives box14, the 'belt' trim and studs on the right might look familiar.
The thing on the left is a beaded button I had lying around and I thought it would look nice on the bag.
The bag is a good size, nice and deep, and I'm planning to use the jeans pockets as bag pockets, rather than trying to add my own. The strap was made using one of the jean legs, and there's still plenty of denim left over for me to use in the future. Everything was sewn by hand, as I didn't dare use the sewing machine on denim.
I also managed to sew up the bolero I knitted up in April (I really don't know why I waited so long to sew it up - it was pretty easy!) and hopefully I'll have pictures of that to put up soon.
The granny squares are coming along nicely as well - I've done 103 so far, and need another 17 for the Lemming blanket (at least) Hopefully I'll get all the squares done this month, and then I'll have to put them all together somehow!
DWSAL - all the embroidered squares are finished! Now I just need to put them together into some quilt-like form... I have the materials, and now just need the time.
I'm glad I've had lots of crafting time recently - the next few weeks are looking hectic, and I've just started an accounting course for work so will have homework to do on top of everything else.
And it's the Sprite Stitch swap again, Sept - Oct! I've got the details for my swappee, and now need to come up with something cunning. I have a couple of ideas in mind so we'll see what happens!
Oh, and did I mention I've started my latest knitting project? Pics to come next time hopefully!
I'm going to start with a quick project I did the other weekend while the boyfriend was in Tenerife enjoying the sun
Knitted wristwarmers. With scales. A lovely pattern, which I bought from Craftymutt. Nice, easy knit and they feel lovely (I used Wendy Fusion yarn as it was cheap in my local yarn shop) I'm just waiting for the colder weather so I can get some use out of them! In case you're wondering, the right hand wristwarmer wasn't sewn up when I took the picture.
I also had a go at 'repurposing' some old jeans. These belonged to the bf, but they're too short for him.
I tried to make a bag, and think it turned out quite well for a first attempt!
I even managed to line it with my beautiful camper van fabric! If you saw my last post about the CratyCreatives box14, the 'belt' trim and studs on the right might look familiar.
The thing on the left is a beaded button I had lying around and I thought it would look nice on the bag.
The bag is a good size, nice and deep, and I'm planning to use the jeans pockets as bag pockets, rather than trying to add my own. The strap was made using one of the jean legs, and there's still plenty of denim left over for me to use in the future. Everything was sewn by hand, as I didn't dare use the sewing machine on denim.
I also managed to sew up the bolero I knitted up in April (I really don't know why I waited so long to sew it up - it was pretty easy!) and hopefully I'll have pictures of that to put up soon.
The granny squares are coming along nicely as well - I've done 103 so far, and need another 17 for the Lemming blanket (at least) Hopefully I'll get all the squares done this month, and then I'll have to put them all together somehow!
DWSAL - all the embroidered squares are finished! Now I just need to put them together into some quilt-like form... I have the materials, and now just need the time.
I'm glad I've had lots of crafting time recently - the next few weeks are looking hectic, and I've just started an accounting course for work so will have homework to do on top of everything else.
And it's the Sprite Stitch swap again, Sept - Oct! I've got the details for my swappee, and now need to come up with something cunning. I have a couple of ideas in mind so we'll see what happens!
Oh, and did I mention I've started my latest knitting project? Pics to come next time hopefully!
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
CC Box 14
This months Crafty Creatives box arrived last week, and I've been itching to get stuck into it. I managed to take a few photos before messing with the contents this time, so... here we go!
This month the theme is Western! Some really lovely things inside the box this month, including the following:
Some lovely pieces of denim, turquoise beads, decorated craft papers, star shaped studs, suedette floral trim, printed fleece (so soft!) feather charms and a bear fetish pendant.
There were also 2 kits this month, a dreamcatcher kit and a rope basket kit - I'm looking forward to trying both of these.
So, what's in the box this month? The art card may give you a hint, and the checked paper.
This month the theme is Western! Some really lovely things inside the box this month, including the following:
Some lovely pieces of denim, turquoise beads, decorated craft papers, star shaped studs, suedette floral trim, printed fleece (so soft!) feather charms and a bear fetish pendant.
There were also 2 kits this month, a dreamcatcher kit and a rope basket kit - I'm looking forward to trying both of these.
I made a charm bracelet over the weekend, and included a couple of the feather charms (I'll try to blog about the bracelet in another post soon)
I'm still pondering what to do with the denim, fleece, studs and beads, but I'm sure I'll think of something soon. I really liked the theme of CC14, and can't wait to see what they do for CC15!
Friday, 16 August 2013
Feeling lost
Well, I finally finished off the evil scarf of fluff. I will post pictures soon hopefully. Weaving in the ends was a nightmare. I really must stop buying 'fashion' yarns. While they look and feel lovely, I hate sewing them up!
This means that I currently don't have a knitting project, and I'm feeling a bit lost. This is ridiculous really, as I have lots of other craft pieces to finish off and keep telling myself to finish a couple before starting something new. I've got M'aiq who needs to be finished, and there's lots of work to be done on the Epic Pokemon cross stitch. There's also an unfinished wizard cross stitch, and a lion cub. So why aren't I finishing any of these off? I think it's because I'm a little fed up of threads and needles and hoops at the moment. I've been working on the DWSAL quite a lot recently, and feel like I'm burnt out on needlework. On the bright side, I've done all 11 doctors, and am just finishing the 12th patch - a tardis. Once I've finished the 12th block, I'll wash (and possibly even iron) the other blocks and post some pictures. Then it's just the *small* task of quilting it (I did buy some quilting fabric the other day, so at least I'm prepared!)
Once again, I've made the post pretty word-heavy. So here's a couple of pictures showing my wizard cross stitch WIP - and hopefully it'll be clear why I put it away and stopped working on it!
The background is supposed to be half stitches... bt stupid, naive me read them as 3/4 stitches. I can't decide whether to give up completely, make them all 3/4 stitches, or unpick all of the background stitches and turn into half stitches. Dilema! It's a shame, because it's quite a nice kit (although the beads are pain to add)
I'll be thinking about my next knitting project over the weekend (while I work on some of the others!) and go through my yarn stash. So many fashion yarns to do soemthing with before I can justify buying more yarn!
This means that I currently don't have a knitting project, and I'm feeling a bit lost. This is ridiculous really, as I have lots of other craft pieces to finish off and keep telling myself to finish a couple before starting something new. I've got M'aiq who needs to be finished, and there's lots of work to be done on the Epic Pokemon cross stitch. There's also an unfinished wizard cross stitch, and a lion cub. So why aren't I finishing any of these off? I think it's because I'm a little fed up of threads and needles and hoops at the moment. I've been working on the DWSAL quite a lot recently, and feel like I'm burnt out on needlework. On the bright side, I've done all 11 doctors, and am just finishing the 12th patch - a tardis. Once I've finished the 12th block, I'll wash (and possibly even iron) the other blocks and post some pictures. Then it's just the *small* task of quilting it (I did buy some quilting fabric the other day, so at least I'm prepared!)
Once again, I've made the post pretty word-heavy. So here's a couple of pictures showing my wizard cross stitch WIP - and hopefully it'll be clear why I put it away and stopped working on it!
The background is supposed to be half stitches... bt stupid, naive me read them as 3/4 stitches. I can't decide whether to give up completely, make them all 3/4 stitches, or unpick all of the background stitches and turn into half stitches. Dilema! It's a shame, because it's quite a nice kit (although the beads are pain to add)
I'll be thinking about my next knitting project over the weekend (while I work on some of the others!) and go through my yarn stash. So many fashion yarns to do soemthing with before I can justify buying more yarn!
Monday, 12 August 2013
The Craft Box Company - Review
I had an email alerting me a new Twitter follower last week, the Craft Box Company. This new follower looked interesting, so I did a bit of snooping (well, I checked their website) to find that they supply craft boxes with various kits inside them. When they mentioned they were looking for bloggers to review one of their kits, I volunteered straight away!
A few days later, I was rudely woken by the postman. I didn't mind once I opened up my parcel!
I received the Button Bracelet kit, and loved the contents
The kit had everything I needed - including pliers, which was fantastic. The selection of buttons was lovely as well, although my camera doesn't do the colours justice.
The instructions were fairly clear - although it might have been nice to have a couple of pictures to illustrate some of the points a bit more clearly. I got stuck in straight away, and it wasn't long before I had a few buttons on my bracelet.
It was quite simple once I had the hang of it and it kept me amused for quite a while. The only problem I had was with one of the buttons which had holes a little bit further from the edge than was ideal, as you can see from the picture below.
I did manage to get this button on in the end, but it was quite fiddly. All of the others went on easily. There was just one other thing I disliked about this kit, and that was the number of pink buttons! (I'm not a fan of pink, and there were about 5 pink buttons) That's just a personal preference though, and nothing against the kit itself.
Ta da!
I had a lot of fun making this, and would quite happily buy this kit for crafty friends, or perhaps even a couple for a girls crafty night in. The kits aren't too pricey, and are good fun.
I've had another look at the Craft Box Company's website today, and it looks like they are adding more craft boxes to the range, I can't wait to see what they come up with next - I'm liking the look of the new Birds Nest Necklace box.
You can follow Craft Box Company on Twitter @CraftBoxCompany and visit their website http://www.thecraftboxcompany.co.uk/
For the record - I'm not being paid to review this box, and all views are my own. If I didn't like it, I'd say so with brutal honesty!
A few days later, I was rudely woken by the postman. I didn't mind once I opened up my parcel!
I received the Button Bracelet kit, and loved the contents
The kit had everything I needed - including pliers, which was fantastic. The selection of buttons was lovely as well, although my camera doesn't do the colours justice.
 |
| Bracelet, buttons, jump rings, instructions and pliers |
The instructions were fairly clear - although it might have been nice to have a couple of pictures to illustrate some of the points a bit more clearly. I got stuck in straight away, and it wasn't long before I had a few buttons on my bracelet.
It was quite simple once I had the hang of it and it kept me amused for quite a while. The only problem I had was with one of the buttons which had holes a little bit further from the edge than was ideal, as you can see from the picture below.
I did manage to get this button on in the end, but it was quite fiddly. All of the others went on easily. There was just one other thing I disliked about this kit, and that was the number of pink buttons! (I'm not a fan of pink, and there were about 5 pink buttons) That's just a personal preference though, and nothing against the kit itself.
Ta da!
I had a lot of fun making this, and would quite happily buy this kit for crafty friends, or perhaps even a couple for a girls crafty night in. The kits aren't too pricey, and are good fun.
I've had another look at the Craft Box Company's website today, and it looks like they are adding more craft boxes to the range, I can't wait to see what they come up with next - I'm liking the look of the new Birds Nest Necklace box.
You can follow Craft Box Company on Twitter @CraftBoxCompany and visit their website http://www.thecraftboxcompany.co.uk/
For the record - I'm not being paid to review this box, and all views are my own. If I didn't like it, I'd say so with brutal honesty!
Monday, 29 July 2013
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.
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.
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