Some actual patchwork!

It's a very good friend's birthday this week and we're meeting up for a meal this evening.

She also has a new job and is moving back to Edinburgh to take it up (we're in London at the moment).

She's also going quite soon... it was all very quick!

As it seems like a special birthday because I might not see her for a while although obviously we will keep in touch, I thought I would pull out the stops and actually make her a quilty throw.  Feeling a little guilty giving her another thing to schlep up to Scotland, but hopefully she won't mind!  I have't done any actual patchwork for sometime now, and had to call in reinforcements (my brother) to help me find the foot pedal for the sewing machine!

Anyway,,,,here's a couple of pics of my efforts.  Finished it the other day sitting in the garden, hence the outdoorsy photos....

A Little Crochet Going On.....

Well here I am again after a huuuuge break!  That bit of crocheting that I wrote about last time I was here got put away all this time.  The squares weren't big enough to make anything substantial, and I bought some other yarn to crochet around and make it into a blanket, but after about 6 rounds or so I wasn't happy with it so it got stuffed in a bag and left. (story of my crafting lately)

This is what they looked like in the end (ignore the little ones at the front, they are new!)

 

Anyway, I got it out again a week or so ago, and undid the extra rounds I had done and am now left with what you see above.  I decided to fish out the box of tapestry wool that I have and make some more to make a bigger blanket.  I'm now thinking of it as my Tapestry Blanket.  So, all the little ones at the front are new, plus I have quite a lot more now. 

 

I wouldn't recommend crocheting with tapestry yarn really though.  It's quite stiff and strands very easily, and it probably won't be washable, (haven't been able to find out whether or not it is so I'm assuming not) but I'm not worried.  The story of the huge amount of yarn that I have (two office archive boxes full) goes back a lot of years to a time when I had a little needlecraft shop.  Unfortunately I had to close down, but I kept all the DMC tapestry wool and stranded cotton that I had left.  I've used a lot of the cotton as cross stitch was my major craft for many years, but apart from a few skeins of wool which a friend used I haven't touched it. You can see why I'm not worried about crocheting with it now can't you.  One of the boxes is now half empty due to this so I'm happy about that.....one less box of stuff to fill the spare room soon!





At last, something crafty going on...

I can't believe how long it's been since I did anyting worthy of posting here! However, I won't dwell on it...

I've been doing a bit of crochet recently...nothing much that I would want to advertise, but a couple of half done things, that might be worth a post later on.

I was have a little sort out over the weekend, and came across a long stitch tapestry kit which was absolutely never going to get done, but as I was looking at it it struck me that the all the wool colours were a gorgeous palette, and I wondered how much you could crochet from a skein of tapestry wool?  Well I can reveal it here...

You can do three rounds of a granny square!

Once I'd done one...I had to continue until I'd used up all the wool from the kit except the white and ecru....

Ha ha, I just noticed that the ones on the top row are all wrong side up! Great colours though, although the one in the middle that looks very red, is actually a more subdued rusty coral colour.

Where to go from here though...the wools are just that...100% wool...they crocheted up really nicely, and I love the stitch definition, but it's not very soft.  I'm going to see if I can get some reasonably priced pure wool to add borders to the squares and stitch them together, and see what size it comes out.  Might be too big for a cushion cover, and too small for a throw, but I will see if I can add some extra borders to extend it.

One last photo for the cat lovers out there...as you know you can't put anything down without a cat coming and sitting on it....this is Shadow coming onto the scene just as I pressed the button...

Update....

Haven't done anything on here for a while, so just in case anyone is reading, I've updated my Folksy shop today. I've relisted some items that had expired and have posted a new lovely Spring Scarf, which I've knitted a in fresh blue/green eyelash yarn....

Come on over and have a proper look...

New listings on ebay....

I've just posted some needlework books and patterns on ebay...have a look at them here

I've got a new shop on Folksy

I've discovered Folksy which is a craft shopping site along the Etsy, but it is UK based. I've opened a new shop there and will be closing the Etsy one, which I've had for some time but haven't sold anything on, and only had very few views. I think it's too big, and although when you post something new it might appear on the front page, because it's such a huge busy site your listing disappears almost instantly and gets lost in the crowd!

As soon as I figure out how to do it I'll post a link to the new shop. Stay tuned!

My New Love

I've been having fun this week with a new love...now don't get excited even though Valentines's is coming up...my new love is Chain Maille. I took a class during the week at Spoilt Rotten Beads and spent a happy few hours making a start on a Byzantine weave bracelet. It's a little bit fiddly to start and opening all the rings first is a bit of bore, although you could listen to music or the tv whilst doing it, but once you get into a rythmn it grows quite nicely and you can see results quickly. The chain maille itself is very tactile and drapes nicely...you just want to keep running it through your fingers. Our teacher Linda Plumtree had lots of examples of bracelets she had made and lots of advice and suggestions which gave us oodles of inspiration to go away and continue on our own. Here's a really bad photograph of my first attempt (unfinished as yet)....I'll keep you posted.