2013

Okay, so I admit it's a bit late, but it's January. Which usually means that people have resolutions. As do I. Not that I am going to call them resolutions because they usually fail. But here they are anyway...

1. Stop being lazy. 

Aaaaand... yup that's it! I realised that all the things I don't like about myself come down to one thing. My Laziness. It's getting out of hand. 

So I am going to go walking. Not massive walks. But if I'm going to eat, I want to earn my food, and actually feel hungry when I do so. So walking, even for 20 mins is helping. (I have just got back from a quick walk around the field and I'm starving.) Being this lazy is also messing up my sleeping. Some nights, because I haven't done anything that day, I just cannot sleep. The next day I am very tired then sleep well that night and that morning, and then can't sleep the next night so IT'S GOT TO CHANGE. 

I have a whole month of waiting to go back to uni so it's the perfect time to make a change. And I probably should get on with my dissertation. Maybe I should only let myself craft if I have done at least an hours research or writing. (I'm no committing to that one just yet).

Anyway, yesterday I was feeling a bit lost in my quilt progress. I kept seeing nice new fabric, but not wanting to make more hexagons because I already have a gazillion...

But then my mum treated me to some new fabric. Because they are pretty. 

So I HAD to make something with them, but hexagon making was not that. And i had a need to finish something...so I give you... a patchwork cushion! 

I used all the Fat Quarters that we bought the day before, and some of the ones that are already going into my quilt and I think it's safe to say I'm rather proud of the outcome! 

I chickened out of using my sewing machine, which still scares me, so I used the same method as I did for the hexagons (English Paper Piecing).

Oooh! And I had someone ask me about a tutorial for English paper piecing... the one I used was from here. This blog is beautiful. I want to make my own tutorial, but... I'm... lazy. SO in light of my new changes, maybe I will make one! 

I'm off to eat lunch. 

Have a lovely day! 

My two favourite things combined.

Having a hot water bottle makes the cosy blanket evenings EVEN more warm, and I actually find myself wishing it was cold enough to use one!

But they are so boring looking aren't they? Yeah, loads of them come with covers, some lovely, some...not so lovely. But I can't help myself from saying 'Well, I could make it myself.' And it's nice knowing that I actually could.

So I did.

I love the feeling of choosing materials and slowly seeing them turning into something else. Transformational.

So it only follows that I have often seen pictures of people spinning their own wool and yarn, and envying it. This is still somewhere I haven't ventured, but...

I'm pretty sure this is the next best thing. It's sort of a cheats way of making your very own yarn. All you need to do is choose two colours that look just lovely together... choose a slightly larger hook that you would usually use for just one strand... and off you go!

Just hold the two together and carry on how you normally would. Just make sure you have both colours on the hook at all times and you should be good to go!

See how pretty it can look?

I first tried this idea when I knitted my mum some slippers. Knitting this way does work, but every ten or so stitches, you have to unwind the balls as they twist around each other. This doesn't happen with crochet. Which is rather nice.

So once I had made the two sides to fit the bottle... I realised that I probably should have accounted for the sides... basically... it didn't fit. So I just did a round of trebles around the edge. And then it magically fitted. AND because I only did this in one colour, it framed it rather nicely...

Oh! And I wans't very happy with it being so plain... so I thought I would combine my two favorite crafts... so lets add some cross stitch to the front! This chart is from Cath Kidston's Stitch! But cross stitching on crochet was quute confusing... so it's best to choose something you'll be able to adapt quite easily. I made many mistakes.

But those mistakes have made it mine. Even more unique. Even more from my mind. Even more proud of it.

 What makes these even better is how quick they are to make! This one took me a day... and that was not non stop... I would say this one took me three hours. I need to change the heart a bit and round off the left side, and like everything I make, it is by no means perfect. But that makes it nicer. 

My bed is probably the happiest thing to look at on a dark evening.

Granny Chic

Now, if there's something I LOVE it's a crafty book...

Granny Chic is the newest bestest thing to come from Ted and Agnes and Dottie Angel and I was seeing it everywhere on Instagram. People had posted pictures of some of the pages from the book, and it soon went staright to the top of my 'Books I really want but haven't got any money' list.

So when I saw it in The Works for only £5.99 but heart did a fluttery thing and I snatched it up. (There were quite a few on the shelf and I was the only one in the shop so the snatching wasn't nessesary...)

You can sort of just tell from the fornt cover that its going to be amazing. It is the only book I own where I want to make everything. EVERYTHING. That's going to take up a lot of time. 

But, depending on how you look at it, luckily, it didnt take me long to get started. On one hand, I get to make pretty things and dream of having an amazing caravan, on the other.... my uni work suffers even more! 

The pretty things win. 

So I took a stool I have long ago crocheted a cosy for, and made it even better! 

I had always felt it was missing something, so I added the doily. A direct inspiration from the book!

But it doesn't stop there...

I was doing a round of the charity shop... which is always nice. People don't seem to want the same things as me, so I usually find some good bargains, and since car boots are way too cold now... charity shops it is! And I saw something out of the corner of my eye... I was too excited... ANYWAY... It was a soon to be lovely old granny chic-ed up lampshade! Just realised that in my excitement I didn't take a before and after photo!

After stripping the fabric off it, it sat on the coffee table in the living room looking at me for about a day before I knew what I wanted to do with it.

Ribbon is always a winner!

And ta da! I couldn't really be more pleased with this. It fits in so nicely in my room, and the fairy lights make the perfect light to watch rubbish tv on 4OD.

It's a shame that my degree doesn't fill me with this kind of satisfaction. Oh well! Not long now...

I think I might go and hibernate in my duvet while I real some super interesting peer- reviewed articles from some lovely journals now.

 Or I'll do some more embroidery...

Gathered

Now... We all know and love Mollie Makes, and have done for a while... 

So imagine my excitement when I heard that they were bringing out a new, weekly, iPad magazine!

Have you seen it yet? If not, then why not!? 

Since hearing about it, I looked regularly to see if the app was in the app store... then last Thursday it was there. 

The only thing I was worrying about was how much it was going to be! (I already have many magazine subscriptions) 

But at £2.99 a month - that's at least four issues, is a bit of a steal! 

AND it looks beautiful! 

 

It's nice to meet you too! 

And thanks for adding ANOTHER craft I need to do onto my list. I really want to make those needle felted acorns... 

Cosy Cosy Autumn...

Ooh I don't know about you, but I have definitely been feeling the cold! I love the cold. My favourite sort of day is one where you leave the house and the air feels crisp on your skin. Reminds me I'm alive! (Not that I didn't know already!)

Plus these sorts of days come with the additional bonus that I have an amazing excuse to make things like this!

The colours are so lovely and bright! Sometimes when I'm on the bus feeling sick or sitting in a lecture feeling bored... I look at this and it literally brightens up my mood!

Christmas starts here!

At school, rehearsals for the Christmas carol concert started in September. This used to make me very happy. 

I recently bought the Mollie Makes Christmas book which is quite new out. This book contains all the best things about Mollie Makes - I think the reason I love it is because its FULL of projects (as you would expect). It inspired me to have a totally hand made Christmas as far as decorations go! It is very exciting... 

So I was even happier when I realised my list of things to make was as long as a chocolate bar! Because this meant I could start now! (A chocolate bar doesn't seem long but these things take time! A lot more time than the chocolate would last anyway...)

But never fear! I have started, and not without some weird looks from onlookers when they realised that that was red AND green I was working with... And only red and green. That can only mean one thing!

 

A story of a blanket.

So the other day my cat thought it would be an excellent idea to poo on my ripple blanket. I was not pleased and I did stand there just staring for a while in disbelief, hoping it would just go away. It didn't. I walked out of the room, and came back in again, in hope it would be magically gone. It wasn't.

Then the panic set in. And I'm not ashamed to admit I did cry. People often don't really understand how protective I get when I have made something myself. And I don't really understand why they don't understand! This is what goes on in my head "Um... Hello?! I have just spent a LONG time making this and you have your hands all over it and I JUST saw you eating crisps and have you even washed your hands oh my god you're going to ruin my months of love and care!!!". But my face has got to keep calm and smile on because these are the same people that give me a weird look when they find I make stuff for myself.

So when an animal EXCRETES on a blanket I have been making since Easter... It's just not a nice feeling. especially when I am actually really proud of what I have been making...

This is what it looked like around 24 hours before the incident. 

Anyway with the help of my boyfriend, I carefully carried it out to the garden, popped the poo in a plastic bag and took my blanket to the bath, where I ran the tap over the affected area. And it started to look okay... But not as perfect as before.

You really wouldn't be able to tell what had happened... and there is no way you can tell from this picture where it is...but I know.

Soon, I got some really helpful advice from some lovely ladies over on Instagram and I decided to put it in the washing machine on a hand wash cycle.

This made me reall nervous. But there was no going back. 

This is fine because it is 100% acrylic (can't afford the good stuff) and it has actually come out really nice and soft and clean.

So PHEWWWW!! It is saved.

Anyway, while my ripple blanket was drying... It gave me time to practice and start my granny stripe blanket! I tried to do a sample the other night at 9pm when I had been at work all day... Not a good plan when you're tired. To this, my mum and gran said things like "well that's not very good" and "ooh...". I abandoned this until I had a day off (and a cat pooed on my other project).

So whilst the ripple was drying, I tried again. I wasn't going to let it beat me! (I'm really determined when it comes to this sort of thing... and I knew I could do it.) 

TA DAH! Here is my small sample! It makes me so happy and full of a sense of acheievement when I can do it! Especailly when I previously tried and gave up! I have definately got the hang of the pattern now (very easy) and now I can choose colours!!

 My approach to choosing colours before was buy anything that is DK thickness which is usually 100% acrylic and put them ALL together. Which is what I have done with my ripple (excluding yellows, oranges and reds) and I really like the outcome. But with this blanket I am going to try something less random. I'm thinking two stripes of pinks/light purples split up with one stripe of cream in between!

So that's my next few days planned for me! (When I'm not at work)