French Knots

Oooops

 

My apologies for the spam that was posted yesterday, not only was my email hacked but my typepad account too.

April whizzed by in a flash,

 

lots of sewing,

a bit of crochet and plenty of juggling busy days and rest too. My laptop was poorly and as my Surface tablet wont upload photos to Typepad blogging ground to a halt.

The Baby Brother turned 5 last week, I can't believe it- he was only born about 10 minutes ago. He changed into his new Spiderman outfit as soon as he got home from school and had great fun with his Lego and Playmobil campervan before going to bed as Spiderman!

And today brought excitment, a new member of our family. Welcome Meg!

 

2014 A Creative Year

 

 

 

The New Year seems a time of infinite possibility, plans to be made, lists to be written and longings to be met. A whole sparkling year like the first page of a new journal, what shall we write on the new page of 2014?

 

I am going to nuture my creative self, taking a little time  for making every day, just for fun. I've been rooting out some UFOs and found a new passion for some of them and will enjoy finishing them, the satisfaction of unearthing new/old treasure is wonderful too.

 

What are you making as 2014 begins?

 

 

Yarndale

Like so many others I was at Yarndale on Saturday and it was amazing. Busy, oh so very busy and I'm sure it exceeded the organisers expectations by far. A friend drove and we left early but then were tempted by the thought we were only 10 minutes away from Immanuel Fabrics as we passed Burnley on the motorway....so of course we nipped in...

and a dozen metres of fabric jumped in my bag!

We arrived at Yarndale at 10am and after being directed to the extra car park we were soon inside the Skipton Auction Mart - the pens that would usually hold cattle were overflowing with yarnny delights and ladies keen to look at said yarnny delights. 

Skein Queen was the first ( and certainly not the last! ) stand to catch my eye with it's cornucopia of colour

I just wanted to take so many skeins of soft jewel coloured yarn home with me, just because they were lovely not with any knitting plan in mind.

We had our picnic lunch in the seats surrounding the workshop area and bumped into some wonderful bloggers Cuckoo Unravelled and Pink Milk. Then met a blogger who I have 'known' online since my earliest blogging days 6 or 7 years ago, the talented Lucy Locket who had an armload of covetable alpaca yarn in the most delicious colours. She was, of course, just as friendly in real life as she is on her blog. I also saw Little Tin Bird had a chat with Bunny Mummy and visited Marmalade Rose whose stand was amazing, showcasing her skill, perfect felted pictures brimming with life.

At the centre of the event was Lucy from Attic 24 whose popular blog has reached out around the world through her enthusiasm for crochet. Showing the power of social media for good ,the event connected creative people from all over the country, bringing people together through a shared love of crochet and knitting, many of whom had not attended a similar event before. Yarndale was a celebration of small, independent businesses and Lucy's generous sharing of her crochet patterns on her blog was repaid by an outpouring of crochet support - 6000 granny bunting triangles sent to Skipton from 30 different countries

We all like to feel we belong and belonging to a community of creative bloggers feels pretty good to me.

Even though I was flagging we wandered down through the park in the sunshine, looking at the yarn bombing to have a look at Skipton.

So much effort had been put into decorating the walk into town, as we were photographing the crochet a local lady told us how delighted she was with it, how it was great for Skipton and even though she didn't know Lucy she thought she had done a lot of good for the town. She also recommended a cafe for a drink and some cake so we headed there for a rest and a refuel - Wild Oats Cafe was just what we needed and a slab of carrot cake gave me the energy to get back to the car.

For me Yarndale was a brilliant mix of meeting lovely like-minded people and an opportunity to buy luscious wool from independent makers, all thanks to the power of the internet.

A Winner

So The Big Sister helped by drawing a name from my newly knitted teal beret and the winner is .....

Christy from Lil Bit Brit. So please let me know your address and I'll get your goodies in the post.

 I am going to try and find a few minutes today to have a play with my Christmas present from Mr FK

 a fancy pants cutting machine! I want to use it for cutting fabric to make patchwork and applique easier on my hands. They have been getting increasingly painful over the last couple of years, combined with ongoing pain in arms, legs and ankles and also poleaxing tiredness. My GP diagnosed me with fibromyalgia   a couple of months ago and I am still learning about how to pace myself ( ha ha!) and what I can do to reduce the pain and improve my energy levels.

Right I have an embroidery tutorial to finish today, a knitted egg cosy pattern to work on for an upcoming class and a hen party booking to plan for - business is going well and I feel so lucky to be doing something I love that fits around the children too.

See how well I pace myself already!!

 

Suffolk Puffing

I seem to be in the grip of a passion for cutting fabric up then putting it back together! First it was patchwork hexagons and this last few weeks it's been suffolk puffs. I like playing with the different colours and patterns, arranging them to give a pleasing and cohesive effect.

This little fabric necklace has become a favourite to wear, it's made with some perfectly scrumptious fabric that I bought from Sal's Snippets when we were in Cornwall a couple of summers ago and I convinced the family we had to drive to Porthscatho to the Homespun Fair and they were rewarded with delicious cakes after I'd had a lovely mooch around the tempting stalls. I had been saving the fabric, as I do so many of my lovely fabrics, but then thought what am I actually saving them for? So much better to use them and enjoy them.

Then I had an idea for a little girl's birthday present

and mounted the finished puff arrangement on a hairband. The Baby Brother kindly modelled the hairband for me so I could judge where to stick the puffs but was not keen to have his picture taken wearing it - poor lad has to put up with so much!

Enjoy your chilly weekend, I'll be back next week with the first in a new series 'Meeting.......' a chance to be nosy and find out more about some of our favourite creative bloggers.

 

First Love

While crochet is my current favourite, embroidery is definitely my first love. I remember choosing a pattern to stitch for my needlework o'level. My teacher was horrified at the size and complexity of the winter scene I had chosen, naturally being a know-it-all 15 year old I wouldn't be dissuaded! I so enjoyed stitching each of the little skiers, skaters and snow covered houses, it's upstairs somewhere I think. I really should find it, so many hours of work from over half a life time ago.

Anyway when I saw Charlotte Lyons  inspiring design in Mollie Makes I knew it was the perfect project for a special someones birthday. I had an old linen serviette that would be perfect as the basis for the design.

 
 
I enjoy the whole process, rummaging through my collection of embroidery threads some were my Mum's(many discontinued colours) some from jumble sales and car boots and some I have collected over the years.Choosing a colour palette that appeals and brings the pattern to life for me. Then choosing stitches for texture and form, sitting for a few snatched moments here and there adding stitches to the growing picture. Remembering how much I love it, embroidery, my first love. Often neglected for newer pashes but always there waiting for me to rediscover it.

 

Sunny Interlude

We are knee deep in half term, after a couple of grotty grey days the sun has come out today. Hurrah! So we dashed off to the park to make the most of it, playing football, a go on the swings and on the roundabout blew the cobwebs away. A green gym has been installed over the winter with a dozen different machines to try, some looking rather painful! I tried a gizmo that swings your legs from side to side at the waist which just made me feel seasick! I'll stick to dry land in future.

So The Baby Brother is having a little snooze, My Little Helper has gone to a friend's house to play and The Big Sister is chilling out watching rubbish on tv...I mean Hannah Montana....no I was right first time!

 
Me, I'm admiring the shadows. Lina posted instructions for stiffening doilies, which is so much better than having them in a drawer. These tiny ones are so intricate and twirl in the slightest draft.

 
Thank goodness the sun came out to play.

Haberdashery haul

On Sunday Amanda Makes and I went to vintage fashion and textile heaven! The Fair at the Armitage Centre in Manchester always has a brilliant selection of sellers with goodies to suit all budgets and tastes.

We were fairly restrained I think considering the goodies on offer, by the second stall we were both squeaking with excitement and the prospect of a few child free hours of browsing the wonderful array was blissful!

So what came home with me

pretty buttons, buckle and thimbles all from the 10p box- yes I know 10p each!!

Crochet thread in lovely soft colours, embroidery silks to join the box full I have upstairs

vintage bias binding - 10p!

and a small selection of the arm load of tiny lace panels and doilies I scooped up for.....yes...you guessed it 10p each! Such lacey lovliness, how I love the 10p man and his boxes of delight!

And then I picked up a few more buttons

The Baby brother likes them too! some pretty beads and sparkly broken necklaces

pardon...not many buttons....well I did get these too....

you can never have too many buttons! I have enjoyed sorting them into jars, red, blue, yellow, white, Pretty. Yes pretty, you know the most lovely ones that will only be used on the most special projects...if at all!!
 
 
  

Hot spots

I've been tackling some hot spots around the house, not really spring cleaning but freshening up! You know those corners where a couple of things get put and before you know it there's a whole clutter mountain developed. So gentle tidying, nothing too daunting - not like tackling the children's bedrooms!

The Big Sister helped by building this for me

So there's still shoes at the foot of the stairs but at least they are a bit tidier - a fiver well spent at Argos.

No not sitting in the sun reading CL, research for more spring freshening up ideas!  

Makeover

A while ago I saw this at the charity shop

yes it is indeed a hideous confection of nylon lace!

But

stripped back to it's bare bones it has potential, I'm planning a patchwork quilt, pillow and a crochet blanket no doubt as it is my new addiction!  A fine place for teddies to snuggle, once I get round to it.

There has also been some finishing off in The Baby Brother's bedroom

Baskets for toy storage, some wall stickers to brighten things up and a recycled jeans basket for socks

Taking a photo a day, mostly in the house as it is so grey outside, has made me notice lots of little things needing attention and sprucing. And tidying, oh yes lots of corners needing tidying. Oh well they'll keep for another day there's sewing to do.......  !