An experiment…

…well two actually. The first experiment was trying out a new yarn, New to me at any rate. I thought I’d give some microfibre a try. Called ‘Smooth DK’ and made by King Cole, it promised to be soft and I had seen some colours that suited a project I had in mind. So I bought some, and yes, it is soft and very nice to work with. Not quite what I expected, but I think that is more me than a fault with the product. I don’t know if I am the only one who has thought about this, but I wonder if others hae also concluded that DK nowadays is more akin to 4ply. Or to put it another way, 25 years ago, I am sure I remember double knitting being thicker than it is these days. Frequently I pick something up thinking it will be 4ply, only to find that it is Double Knitting. Perhaps it is me, suffering memory loss, but I have to say that given the quantity of knitting I did throughout the time my children were growing up, you’d think I’d have remembered. It would be interesting to find out if gauges have changed. Needle sizing changed, just to confuse everyone, or rather the needles stayed the same but were described differently, now in mm which is mercifully much easier to understand when reading patterns from across the pond.

 

I’ve started to use King Cole Yarns more often in recent months and like them. I love the feel of this one, and the nice stitch definition.

The other experimental part of this tale, is the pattern I was working on. I decided to try and do a woven design, just for the fun of it, and I was really pleased with the way it turned out, although I have to say that I think I should have done another ribbon or two each way to make the weave tighter, but you live and learn through such experiences. This was the result, a little fragranced pillow  (lavender scented) made with the King Cole Smoothie. It’s a bit of a fiddle, but I really like the result so will undoubtedly do it again in the future.

 

 

Crochet scarf, section 4

I received the next scarf in the traveling scarf journeys. This one belongs to a lovely lady in California. As usual I had several attempts to find a yarn or yarns that would blend in nicely, or at least not clash. I think I frogged my section three times and eventually decided to do something plain and embellish it, rather than use a multi-coloured yarn or mix colours in a pattern. So, I chose black chunky shetland wool as the base, and used merino wool for the flowers and leaves. The scarf’s owner wants it to be mostly greens and blues so that’s what I used for the embellishment. I hope my friend likes the result. Here are the pictures of the scarf, before I added my bit, my contribution and the scarf as it is now, ready to travel on it’s way back to America.

Did I show you…?

UPDATE  

KATHY WON HER COMPETITION. WOW! WELL DONE KATHY! ENJOY YOUR PRIZE!

…the lovely gifts I received from my Swap-bot partner for the Gingham sewing swap I hosted? I was over the moon with them and never expected to get as many items. My favourites are the tote bag and apron, shown below, but my partner kathy also made me a wrist pin cushion, a needle book (both of which I have been using) and a beautiful photo album with a pink gingham cover. I am still deciding what I will use it for – travelling teddies is one option. The tote bag is delicious. I am using it to store my knitting and crochet projects just now, as I don’t want to spoil it by using it outside. I’ll use it in the spring and summer when it is less likely to get wet and dirty, though it is easily washable. The apron is an unusual pattern, with a flared section at the bottom and the fabric is gorgeous. All in all I did well out of that swap and I’m very gratful to Kathy for spending so much time making and sending me these lovely things.

Kathy has her own blog spot http://www.kathymomofmany.blogspot.com, which is well worth a visit. The banner at the top is wonderful as it shows Kathy’s beautiful family. How lovely to see such a happy and healthy family, when so many images these days leave us feeling miserable, disappointed or dispirited. They do you credit Kathy. At the moment Kathy has entered a competition to win aprons for four family members, and I know she would love to win, so please, help me to thank her for her delightful gifts and vote for her, (put a vote in every day if possible) at

http://apronqueensreviews.blogspot.com:80/

I think she truely deserves to win, but even if you don’t Kathy, you are a winner in my book!

Please vote folks!

Good luck Kathy…I’m away to cast todays vote! 🙂

Five minutes later!

Not five minutes after I wrote the previous post, the postman delivered my NaNoWriMo Mascot swap, and what a delight. He is  a ‘Lucky Cat’, made by Alissa, and he is beautiful. How clever to be able to create something out of clay! (I presume it is polymer clay). He is particularly loved because I have a black and white cat (Jiffers) so very appropriate. Alissa also sent other goodies, fabric and stationary. She had obviously been reading my profile on Swap-bot 🙂 Thank you Alissa. I love Lucky and everything else you sent. You have been very generous. Good luck with Nano. I hope Lucky’s sphere of influence reaches you too lol. Here are some shots of Lucky in his new home and the parcel.

 

 

Ted gets a rucksack

Bruno is a teddy bear and he may be going on his travels. Nice travels, that is, to several European countries. If he is lucky he might get picked for a Teddy bear round robin journey, visiting nine other places in Europe, meeting bear friends owners and having a little look around. As part of this adventure, he will need a rucksack to put in a passport and a notebook for his friends to leave messages. So I have made him a ruck sack, although I have told him I might make a different shaped one tonight…but we’ll see. This one is nice and roomy so there will be plenty of room for his bits and pieces. If he’s a lucky bear, I may even knit him a complete new outfit to travel in, hat, scarf mittens etc. If it is cold, he may need something more substantial, like a jumper and trousers.

However, we have to wait and see if he gets picked to join the round robin. If not, I’m sure there will be other opportunities. In the meantime, here are some pictures of him wearing his new rucksack  (prototype 1).

 

                       

             

Anyone for gingham?

A few weeks ago I decided to host a swap on Swap-bot. Since I am a big fan of gingham, I thought I would host a swap for it, and eventually chose to host a papercraft swap and a sewing swap. The papercraft swap has now closed for sign up, and only has eight participants. This was a bit disappointing but I still think potentially it has the chance to be a good swap. This was the picture I used to illustrate the swap page. All the items in the picture were made by me to give examples of things that could be made for the swap.

 

       There are cards of various shapes and sizes, ATCs and bookmarks, but there is so much you can do…it is only limited by imagination and the papercraft criteria.

 

The other swap is still open to sign up for, (for a few days only). Again I am disappointed with the take-up. There are only five participants as I write this. Its all about sewing something in gingham, or with a large part gingham. It could be a toy, or clothing, or something for the house, or a gift even. I haven’t decided what I will make. I will decide on something according to my partners profile, but I have bought or been given lots of gingham fabric and ribbon.

 

Feeling guilty…

Today I have finally got around to writing something in here. The truth is, I just don’t have the time to blog any more, or the energy, but I am going to make an effort as it would be a shame to let all my previous work go to waste.

So, what Have I been doing? Well lots of things. Swaps for Swap-bot, a bit of quilting and card-making, and recently, just the last couple of weeks I have become engrossed in learning to crochet again. I leaned to crochet when I was a child. My grandmother taught me. She was a brilliant crocheter and made complicated doilies and table cloths etc. When I can crochet that well, I will feel good, but for now, just relearning everything I have forgotton is complicated enough for me. I do enjoy it though and love to design my own things. So here are the first results of my efforts, bags and purses. I am trying to learn a stitch or something every day and incorporate it in a pattern…well the last few projects at any rate, so that I learn as I go along. I am quite pleased with these. Hopefully as I progress they will get better.

 

             

 

A Race Against time…

I am sadly neglecting all my other creative projects at the moment in a race against time, to finish my novel for NaNoWriMo. I need to write minimum of five thousand words a day, which I can do, providing I don’t get another migraine or something! My main problem is trying to stay awake! I have narcolepsy, and yesterday the sleepiness was overwhelming. I had to stop so many times, often just between paragraphs, get up and do something physical and then try again. I actually had four hour long naps throughout the day, and went to bed at 11.30pm still feeling shattered. However, it is encouraging too, because if I can do that much in a day, wordcount wise, then I should be ok for the remaining time.

Then, once Friday midnight comes, (and hopefully 50,000 words) regardless of whether the novel is finished, I will have to start thinking about christmas cards or else I won’t have them made in time. Another race against time?

Collie Dog.

Since I put my Westie on the site last week, it might be good to follow it up with another dog portrait, so this is a drawing I did of a Sheltie.  It’s one of my favourites. I did it a couple of months ago, with Artrage, of course. It was one of those times when I was smitten by a photograph and just had to get drawing. Hope you like the result.