The afternoon tea dress

It's been said that the BBC has a lot to answer for recently, and no I don't mean any of that stuff that's been going on - this is a crafty blog! - I'm talking about the Great British Sewing Bee...

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 I'm not new when it comes to sewing, I've knocked up all sorts of things from...

...Cushion covers

 

...to bunting...

... and I've made a couple of skirts.  But when I watched the first episode of The Sewing Bee I was like "right, I NEED to make a dress now!" And apparently I wasn't the only one, the

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So I bought this simplicity pattern, it's 3 dresses and two little jackets (although I'm unlikely to make those) and at the time it was half price so I was pretty chuffed with that.  It's Simplicity pattern 1873 :)

I should warn you, this next bit is very photo heavy so if you just want to see the finished this just scroll to the bottom :)

cutting

pinning

learning tailors tacks

my first ever darts

cutting the lining that I decided I didn't need & quickly realised I did

a sewn bodice!

pinning & sewing the sleeves

attaching the sleeves!

finishing touches on the waist band

And finally after a couple of days, of pins in my thumbs, of ripping out stitching I'd done wrong & consulting books and YouTube when the pattern made me think "you what?!"....  it was finished :)

Wooooop!  I'm more surprised than anyone that it even fits, ok it's not perfect & I could do with working on my measurements & darts but hey you know what I really like it.

Typically it's not stopped raining since so I haven't worn it out :(  Maybe we'll have a nice bank holiday?

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Anyone else inspired to get the sewing machine out?  I'd love to see what you've been making! 

x x x x  

Learning to love DPNs

I think the reason I enjoy knitting so much is the challenge.  I don't like things to be so difficult that I can't do it and get frustrated (who does!) but I really enjoy that moment when you finally 'get it'.
 

Using DPNs (double pointed needles) hasn't exactly been one of these moments but I'm definitely getting better and it's something I want to be able to do so I don't shy away from patterns I want to try.

The lovely Alice shared with me the way she does it, to knit inside out so 'the stockinette stitch is on the inside and knit around the inside of the circle' - it totally works!

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Stolen Pat's Work Quilts

Fellow crafters this is a call to arms!

Several handmade patch work quilts have been stolen from an exhibition in Colne.  The quilts were lent to the exhibition and I can't imagine how upset I'd be :(

A friend shared this on Facebook and knowing how long it took me to make the tiniest patch work cushion this has really struck a nerve!

http://www.facebook.com/StolenPatsWorkQuilts

Please share this, check ebay, Folksy, Etsy - anywhere you can think x

I'm still here honest!

Excuse me while I just dust off the cobwebs there...  Wow I have missed blogging!!  I haven't been away travelling or anything exciting like that but I just seem to be very busy lately & blogging has had to take a back seat.  I've kept up on my reading (just about) & I'm feeling very inspired and creative!

As there's a lot to talk about I'll start with hats :-) These are my new obsession & for better or worse our two nephews will slowly be gaining a collection of knitted animal hats as I continue to churn them out for no other reason than I enjoy the clicking of needles & I'm trying to de-stash a little!

Check me out, I haven't bought any yarn all year and it's MAY!

 

When I said that in January J scoffed.  Hah.  So no more of this

After making my own crochet cross stitch hat I made one for smallest nephew, it was supposed to be for Christmas but it was given a bit late.  Good thing the weathers been reliably rubbish!  As you can see it's a great fit (testament to the pattern) & he seems to like it :-)

The pattern is on Tara's blog Easy Makes Me Happy here.

Unfortunately the lion hat was (as I feared) too short so I need to get more Stylecraft in Camel. The only problem is now that I'm actively trying not to buy wool I might need to see if I can get some in a swap or something.

This is my latest hat endeavour intended for biggest nephew

I've loved knitting this even though I slightly messed up the pattern and realised you really do have to follow it but I've made it work.  Lots of new techniques I've not tried before so I feel like I'm a proper knitting bee now :)

Other wondeful endeavours have included afternoon tea in the Northern Quarter - that's my Dad!  Sorry Dad you've been blogged now :)

Climbing in April & May (look at the difference in one month!)

...to Styal Woods (there's a bloody great big drop beneath me which this photo doesn't do justice.  Probably for the best really.  Hello Mum.)

 

My folks and amazingly my big-little brother came up for a long weekend too so I dragged them out to Alderly Edge, which apart from being full of mansions and footballers (we didn't see any, footballers that is) actually has an 'edge' (another great big drop!) and some lovely walks, including the Wizards Walk.

It says, "Drink of this and take thy fill for the water falls by the Wizhard's Will". See his wizardy face at the top?

If you've ever read the the Weirdstone of Brisingamen then you'll know what I'm talking about.  My mum read it to me when I was a kid so I was really excited to take her as the book is all set around here.

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Did you all watch the Great British Sewing Bee? I did and it totally got me back into sewing. It's a post for another time but I'm really looking forward to sharing.



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Happy Bank Holiday!

Happy Easter and happy April Fools! Hope you've not been caught out by any sneaky jokes or surprises this morning :p I forgot until 11.37 so had about 20 minutes to try and trick J but I couldn't come up with anything... 

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Yesterday I did some actual genuine Spring Cleaning (a first for everything?) and we've got a big pile of charity shop things now - old snowboarding clothes (not been since '07!) tops I don't wear, bags...  You name it.  I know this is boring but I even hoovered under the bed.  I want to look back on this post in awe ;-)

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So where was I... Ahh yes, on and off my needles this week!

 

I started this little hat for on Wednesday at our WI craft club and finished it on Friday night!  Two evenings isn't bad going for a whole project right?  Just the kind I like :)

It's from my Knitted Animal Hat's book again by Fiona Goble (go buy it!) and I've knitted it up in Stylecraft Special DK Camel 1420.  The tutorial says to use the yarn double which I've never seen or tried before & I thoroughly love the outcome.  It doesn't look much but it makes the hat much thicker than just using normal double knit, and I wish wish wish I'd done this on my friends blue snood!

Unfortunately I ran out of yarn for the main hat as it was left overs from my big hexagon blanket, so little lion hat doesn't have any earflaps :(  If I ever get anymore, I may steal the hat back to finish it off properly but it's ok for now.

As much as I love the hat, it's much too small as it's intended for our nephews First birthday, I hope it fits!!

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 On Saturday I quickly hooked up this jar cosie to hide all those annoying receipts that J has lying around the house.  It's a mix of blues from my yarn stash, which I'm trying to reduce.  It's April and I haven't bought any wool all year!

 

It could probably do with another round or two of cream. 

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So anyway, how are you lovely people doing? I was a bit late to the party when it came to joining Google Reader, I only found it a couple of months ago & it completely changed my blogging habits for the better :) I love receiving comments so I know how much other bloggers do to, the problem was I'd started to follow so many blogs it only took a day or two away from my laptop and *boom*! I could barely keep up :)

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So... When I heard Google were closing Reader down I was a bit annoyed really but it's actually ended up being quite positive as thanks to this post on Sandra's blog Cherry Heart I found Feedly which is a million times better :) So now I've got all my blogs organised - if I fancy a knitting read I can do that, or some home loving I can read that.

And if I go away and haven't read for a while, I can quickly catch up on my fave blogs in no time, yippee!

If you want to join Feedly and follow me here you can do

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This week I...

Cast on my new hat



And finished it :-)



Flicked through my growing collection of crafty books for some inspiration



Drank a lot of tea from a mug my mum bought me



Was really bad and cast on a new project, a cushion cover to replace the one that I frogged to make the mouse hat



(this is sort of okay because it's taken me only a few hours to do all of this)



Started the other side in Ribboned Stockinette, which is what I'd been knitting the other cushion cover in. It's an interesting stitch and was working better in a less chunky yarn but I'm going to stick with it



And today I made* us pancakes and waffles for breakfast in bed, cleaned the shower, had a shower, fished out a dead fish, took photos, had a cuppa, went for a sunday lunch, tried to feed the ducks or geese but there weren't any, came home cold, knitted more, blogged, thought about eating more, had some chocolate.

*okay toasted out of packets, who's complaining?

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Big thank you to all the kind comments last weekend, I was very touched by everyone's thoughts and they certainly helped, especially my little brother who put a rather soppy message on Facebook, arrh! My friends funeral went as well as one can go I guess! It was a lovely service, many laughs & many tears. Seeing his kid running around though after with her friends was quite reassuring :)

x x x x

In the month of March

Things making me happy

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I ordered a book called Knitted Animal Hats by Fiona Goble from the interwebs and after a few days of waiting (in which I whinged every day about why it hadn't arrived, much to J's dismay) it finally came. I've got a thing for knitted hats, especially animal ones.


Even though I made a cat/mouse hat last year I've embarked on this one already because I think it's adorable and it should help me to practice and hone some more knitting skills :)

I spent a few hours this afternoon with people who live nearby clearing a little plot of land that the Council has leant us to turn into a community garden which we're calling Phoenix Gardens :)

You can see how much we got done from the before & after photos!

Back breaking work and I'm feeling it already!

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I've been making a snood for my friends mum and while it's terribly terribly tedious I'm happy because I'm now on the second ball of yarn. Although I still have about 90g of the 100g to go I feel like I might be on the home stretch...

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Joining the WI which I have completely forgotten to mention, it's a new one set up by two knitting friends. The butterflies in the photo above are on a top I got in last weeks clothes swap for 50p :)

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Being restless with my blog at the moment and changing the theme every week it seems. I might settle eventually :)

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Finding all the good happy things in life at the moment has been very comforting and remind me to try and live life to the full and not to take anything for granted - ok I know that sounds incredibly cliché but bear with me...

Very very very horribly sadly a friend who I've known since starting my job has lost his year long battle to cancer and died on Mothers Day :( I think I had just over a week to come to terms with the fact that he was going to die before he did, and that hit me hard. I've never known anyone who was going to die and I didn't know how to deal with that. Not well as it happens, I just felt full of sadness.

His death came a lot sooner than anyone expected but in some ways I feel some relief that he's not in pain any more and can be at peace. My heart goes out to his partner and their 7 year old daughter who I've thought about a lot these last few weeks. I don't know how they will manage and cope without the love of their life and Dad. It's just so so sad. Much love goes to them x

So take it from me, don't leave anything until it's too late. If there's someone you love or miss then tell them, because I sure as hell wish I'd been in contact more. Now go and read something crafty & cheery because I fear I might have made you a little sad and I don't want to do that, I just needed to share xXx

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Little squares throw - ta dah!

I've struggled with a name for this thing I've made because it's not really a throw and crochet-chair-headrest-cover sounded a bit long and boring! Well, whatever it is I've finished... :)


I love love love the small squares I'm itching to make more in a rainbow of colours! I love that they start out like little circles and I think they're a lot easier to make than ones that start as squares. I've already made more middles although I've no idea what I'm planning to make!

We went to visit my family for the weekend and I got it finished while we were there, one of the reasons I'm behind on my blog reading! Sadly all my photos are pretty rubbish - don't you just hate it when you spend ages on a project but you don't shoot it properly at the end?


Normally I don't bother blocking things because blankets get scrunched up I've never really had any need, but these little squares were getting a bit bunched up so I gave it a go and I'm very glad I did. My mum might not be now that her cork bath mat is full of little holes...


The border is something I'm particularly happy with because I've never gone to any real effort before so this was different. And partly because I made it up although I did take my inspiration from one of Attic 24's recent blankies :) It was very easy, just a round of double crochet in cream followed by a round of red double crochets and trebles in the middle.


I've made a list of all the tutorials I've used, just cos I'm nice like that :p

Tutorials:
Granny Squares
Joining
Round 1 of the border

I'm so glad the sun is shining again, it's lifted my spirits immensely & I hope you're also getting some nice weather and sunny cheer :)

x x x x

Joining Granny Squares & Sewing :-)

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Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post, things have picked up a lot since then, J had just lost his job but amazing luck & a lot of applications sees him starting something new tomorrow. I can't tell you how relieved we both are!

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My knitting / crochet updates might be a little slow, in the run up to Christmas I did too much & I think I've put strain on my hands so my fingers had been aching quite a bit. I've tried to bed sensible & cut right down (which is killing me!) & I found a great set of exercises on Knit Freedom which I'd recommend looking at & trying, even if you're not in any pain. It can't hurt ;-)


I've been making slow & steady progress on the granny squares for my Nan's throw & they're almost all joined now. I've used Lucy's tutorial for crocheting them together, I don't know how I've not used it before because I love the result, so neat & no need for a border :)

I taught a couple of ladies how to crochet & make granny squares last week at my local WI! I joined in January & Wednesday was our first craft club, it was so much fun!


I have to say, photographing 'red' seems to be particularly difficult! The first few photos I took seemed to merge all the shades. I've dropped my exposure down to about -1 & the ISO down as well which seems to have worked - hopefully you can see the three reds, if not... Oh well :)

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I spent most of yesterday upcycling this rather unexciting bag...

Before...

After...

I've used up a lot of off cuts of fabric (I knew I was keeping them for something!) & the buttons are from my Local Craft Store.


The owl is just a copy of the one I made and blogged about here two years ago. Wow, was it that long ago?

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Time to get back to a little bit of crochet now :-) Thanks for stopping by and for all your lovely comments, they really did cheer me up & I appreciate the time you all take cos I know how busy you all are with life & crafting!



x x x x

Monsters

I'd like to introduce you to a new friend...


I've been a big fan of both blogs by Alice, Crochet with Raymond and Hook, Spin, Knit (which has been taken down) for a very long time. Alice started out as a crocheter, much like me I guess, but then turned her hands to knitting and it was her knitted tea cosies that inspired me to get my needles back out and learn to knit properly.

Since then I've pretty much loved everything Alice has made, like some crazy besotted knitter, but her monsters really did it for me and I was in love. See here and here to find out what I'm on about!

It became very clear in my mind that I *had* to make my own and so Bernie was born. Ok created :)


This is Bernie, hanging out, looking gorgeous.


She has the most awesome pixie feet...


And round hands on super long arms which are great for hugging.


She's looking a bit sad in these pictures, but her mouth has been re-glued and she's definitely looking a lot happier, and dare I say mischievous?


Bernie was very much a trial and error monster. I don't have the book that Alice has (I think it's called Knitted Toy Tales) but I think she worked out pretty well. I've got a better idea for doing the next one but that will have to wait. I'm trying to cut down my yarny time because I've been getting achy hands and I'm sure that's not a good thing.

Here are some work in progress shots of Bernies bum :p


I wasn't sure whether to mention but it seems a bit false to pretend that everything in my world is 'happy go lucky'. Me & J are having some down right rotten luck at the moment. It's nothing serious i.e. nothing health related, but you know when things have just been going wrong, it gets a bit brighter and then all starts going wrong again? Well that's us.

I nearly didn't blog at tall tonight, I just haven't felt like it and I don't think I've put nearly as much enthusiasm in sharing Bernie with you as I would have a couple of weeks ago, but something inside said 'do it, do it!' so I have.


We went out on our bikes today, this is Mavis my new set of wheels. Everything's going to be just fine :)

x x x x