Back in the creative groove

Crikey, is it really almost a year since I blogged? Yup!

I have to admit my creative mojo ran away from me over the Summer, sewing, knitting and crochet pretty much went on the back burner for almost 3 months, which is most unlike me. Slowly but surely it's returned and I have a million creative ideas whizzing round my head again and an equal amount of WIPs/UFOs.

I've picked up my Attic24 Coast Ripple blanket again, it's a MONSTER, big enough for a double bed, or at least it will be once I'm done.......

I've also started yet another knitting project, the zickzack scarf which is a free pattern from Ravelry designed by Christy Kamm. It's super easy to knit, with a 12 stitch pattern repeat, however I'm a bit thick when it comes to knitting and I kept on having to rip it out and start again having lost count of the stitches. I stuck with it and started again and I think I have the hang of it now....

The yarn is gorgeous it's Lang Yarns Mille Colori Baby  The scarf takes 4 skeins, you knit 2 rows with one ball, then the next 2 with the other. I've spotted lots of other versions on Instagram I love how it looks like a Missoni design.

The return of the mojo also means I have uploaded new stock to my Etsy Shop - 5 new patchwork cushion covers...

A friend of mine bought a couple of the non-festive cushion covers and they are proudly displayed on an amazing funky 1970's basket chair which hangs from a frame, hopefully I will get a photo soon!

With Christmas approaching fast (well it is for Etsy sellers I guess!) I need to get cracking with making some more of my cosmetic/project bags very soon.

Exciting News - Etsy shop is open

After years of thinking, procrastinating and planning I have finally take the plunge and opened my Etsy shop - squeeeeeeeeallll!

Not only that, I have already had 3 sales - double squeeeeeeeallll!

It's been a steep learning curve but I have been involved in a Facebook Group called Etsy Resolution that has been incredibly useful and given a whole gang of Etsy wannabees from across the globe the push we all needed  to just get on and do it

If you would like to have a peek at my wares here's the link Meanwhile here's a taster of some of the bags in the shop, they are super useful for lots of things - including toting about your knitting or crochet (or lippy).

More stock coming soon!

Burning the midnight oil

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of activity, I've been flat out making cushions and make up bags for a stall at a coffee morning held by a friend last Friday. I have a real obsession with sewing cushions that I just thought I'd ramp up production to see if they might sell.

I've been burning the midnight oil in my little sewing room and I've really enjoyed it!

Here's a few photos of what I've been producing...

And my first ever stall - I sold lots and raised money for a good cause...

Next step an Etsy shop?

Log cabin patchwork

In the past I've dabbled in patchwork. Nothing too complicated, I've sewn a few squares together every now and again, screwed my face up when I saw that they were not perfectly aligned and resigned myself to the fact I was never going to be a great fan of patchwork.

Only recently I guffawed in agreement when a fellow crocheter said "Patchwork??? UGH! What's the point of THAT?? Cutting up fabric and stitching it back together - what a waste of time!!"

But then it happened...... I CAUGHT THE PATCHWORK BUG!!

It all started back in the summer when  I met up with a friend who does a lot of garment sewing - she's REALLY good, I'm serious - she make men's suits and jackets and most of her own clothes, she's super talented and I am in awe of her skills. Anyway she told me about a great shop in the centre of Edinburgh called MyBearPaw run by another super talented gal called Jo Avery who designs and makes the most amazing quilts (and she's also a dab hand at crochet). Never one to miss the chance to go shopping for fabric I tootled along there tout suite and fell in love instantly with the amazing selection of goodies at her emporium of loveliness!

I bought a fab selection of fat quarters and drooled over the amazing workshop space and list of classes available at the shop. Despite the fact the workshop I wanted to attend was slap bang in the middle of Edinburgh Festival time when I am usually over-dosing on comedy shows and culture I knew I had to book myself a place on the Beginners Patchwork & Quilting class.

So one Saturday morning in August armed with my trusty new Bernina I set off for the workshop, I was super excited just take a look at this great space.....

We learned how to make log cabin patchwork for  a cushion, here's work in progress....

I chose to hand quilt the top using Perle cotton, it's very meditative once you get the hang of it...

And finally I had a finished cushion to show for my hard work...

I must admit I have now become a little bit addicted to making cushions, I've lots more in the pipeline. I just love the bright colours, most of the fabrics you can see are from Jo's shop - she's a great tutor I learned LOT and had an amazing day. I have to admit that I can now see the point of cutting up fabric and stitching it back together - I am a definite convert!!

Chevron Blanket - CrochetObjet

I'm totally in love with the work of Mo Malron an Israeli based crochet teacher. Her blog is so colourful .

She has the most gorgeous Etsy shop full of great patterns and her yarn which is available in a huge array of colours.

I bought her lovely Chevron Blanket pattern and here's my progress so far,

I'm using Drops Safran and a 3mm hook. 

It's slow progress as I'm doing a LOT of sewing at the moment but I love the pattern, check out a close up....

As the nights are 'fair drawing in' I'm sure I'll be hooking away a lot more over the coming months.

A Poncho

Good grief I just remembered I had a blog and I am so ashamed at how I have neglected it, so here's a post!

A couple of weeks ago I started the poncho pattern from Simply Crochet issue 25. It started with some weird stitch, I'd never heard of before, treble crochet round the back post and front - eh? This put me off initially but good old YouTube came up trumps with a tutorial and it's really quite straightforward.

The result is a lovely ribbed pattern, almost more knitting than crochet, this forms the neck part of the pattern. I became so fond of the pattern I almost ditched the whole poncho idea in favour of creating a cowl. I'll keep this in mind for the future.

I'm using Drops Nepal and I've changed the colours around a bit, the colours are lovely and it's a great chunky yarn to work with.  like Lucy from Attic 24 I'm not keen on the whole fringed look so I think I will follow her pattern for the edging

It's a simple pattern to follow so I urge you to have a go, you should be able to download a digital copy from the internet using the Simply Crochet app.

Hopefully I will have this finished soon....

Stylecraft Crochet Cushion

A while ago whilst sitting in the dentist, I was flicking through a magazine and saw a colour scheme on a ceramic bowl that appealed to me. When I got home I realised I had the colours in Stylecraft and was just itching to create 'something'. Cushions are always my 'go to' project, generally they are quick to make especially if you back them with fabric.

I decided to use the Honey & Roses Granny Squares pattern from Little Tin Bird. Heather creates some really lovely stuff and generously shares for free.

I started with 16, 3 round motifs....

Finished off with a cream border....

 Crocheted together...

Finished off with a Pom Pom edging which was a bit tricky at first but I soon got the hang of it. Finally I blocked it on  kids play mats bought super cheap on eBay...

 Backed with some denim fabric I had in my stash. I  cut 2 pieces of fabric to size so they would overlap nicely. I've made cushions in the past and not been generous enough with the 'overlap' which means the cushion kinda bulges out the back a bit (not good). I turned the edges over and pinned wrong sides together (denim to cushion) and machine stitched together. It's a bit of a faff trying to join woolly stuff to fabric but I took my time and it turned out OK.

The finished article. All made from stuff I found in my stash so no shopping required.