Zeens and Roger

A day at The Contemporary Craft Festival.

June 13, 2016June 14, 2016crafty, devon16 Comments

I spent pretty much most of Friday in awe. I was fairly gobsmacked by some of the things I saw at Bovey Tracey’s Contemporary Craft Festival. It was my first time and I’m definitely heading back next year. I didn’t shy away, I stood and chatted to loads of the stall holders (I don’t know if I should call them that, maybe artists?). There were several moments where I became over excited and, mostly made a pratt of myself. I loved every minute of it. I expected high levels of snootiness coming from arty folks but I saw very little of that. In fact, I saw some major loveliness.

There were so many stalls, over 200 for sure. I’m ashamed to say I skipped some, my friends and I only had a few hours before we had to go and collect kiddliwinks from pre-school. My main interest lay in the mixed media crafts, paper, and textile gubbins. I don’t do jewellery (don’t wear it) and I’m not that bothered by glass and ceramics (not that it wasn’t good, it totally was). There was so much awesome, seriously, I didn’t know whether to squee or cry. The intimidation levels were high that day. Do I run and hide? Or do I celebrate how craft really is now a level playing field with what we consider fine art? I’m not going to get into that debate but I do not enjoy the elitism that goes on in this world. I find it funny how much guff people spew when they talk about art. I spent three years studying the history of it and know that there are art people who are right numpties. Crikey, some do tend to take themselves very seriously don’t they!?

Anyway, before I go off on one, here are some of the pictures I took that day. I didn’t take the posho camera, it rained a lot and I’m not quick enough with it to casually snap away, like the fella I saw in plus fours and a flat cap. I took my Lumix point & shoot with a dead spider trapped in the lens.

This was the first stall that made me realise I was in the right place. I was very keen on staring at it all. So much envy.

(I tried where I could to ensure the artists names were in the photo’s, look them up, or if I’ve typed it somewhere like this: Anya Keeley. Highlight, right click and google search, I’m too lazy to link, there will be many names.)

If you haven’t come across Little Burrow Designs, look it up. I think Claire’s inventions are wonderful. I noticed that her stall was very popular. My friends and I hung around chatting for ages (and we would have done so even if we didn’t know her from chatting in the playground at school!).

The attention to detail is marvellous, everything is made from old finds, even the quill that she writes with is proper ancient! Want to get her newsletter? Then you’d better tippytap your name and email address using the vintage type writer. Love it.

This is a close up of one of my favourites, the waves are what drew me to it. There is a tactile quality here that makes me want to do lots of stroking and poking.

I think this is Sue Brown. The dead spider is making its appearance for the first time. Sorry.

I think the shelves are just as cool as the works themselves. All the displays had so much thought behind them.

We all stared at these birdies for ages. When I first saw them I thought they were taxidermy. Apparently others do too. It’s all stitch work!

It is the work of Sarah J Perry Designs. This long tailed tit was my favourite but they were all beautifully made.

This is Craig Fellows. I thought his “casual doodles” were awesome. I don’t think he liked me calling them doodles but I was only teasing. They’re immaculately drawn. And I love the fact that he then puts them on delicate fabrics or turns them into a purse or cushion.

Craig Fellows.

Hen’s Teeth is pretty well known. So beautiful. I wanted a little purse but didn’t have enough pocket money.

Hen’s Teeth.

I’m trying very hard to do this in the order in which we went round. Next up is Sarah Morpeth. There were a few paper cutters there. All impressive. I liked the colours that Sarah incorporated into hers.

Louise McLaren. More paper cutting loveliness. How does that paper not rip under fingers?

I think this may have been the only jewellery stand I gawped at. The brooches were gorgeous.

Louise Lovell.

Kirsty Elson’s stuff was amazing. I could in no way ever, make drift wood look this good. By this point I was starting to get overwhelmed by how everyone was just so blinking good at what they do. It is not fair. Whilst I was there a guy came up to Kirsty and gave her a curved lump of metal he’d found washed up on the shore somewhere. Provenence is the word that springs to mind. It might not fit perfectly but I don’t know a better word right now. Maybe it’s an antonym I’m after, afterall you don’t really know where you’re ingredients came from.

Can you tell what that is? It’s only blinkin’ crochet! Incy wincy crochet. It reminded me of microscopic things sitting on a petri dish. I totally loved this. I stared at Liz Cooksey’s work for the longest time and probably gushed a lot. Puts me and my granny squares to shame.

This is Teresa Green. She’s a local screen printer and has a shop in Exeter.

I was most intrigued by what Michelle Griffiths (for Resist Gallery) was up to. This was another lot of textiles I wanted to scrunch but was too afraid to touch. How does she do this?!

I was reminded of sea creatures and seaweed. I think this is what mermaids would wear.

And more beachy seaside inspiration.

Ella Robinson is embroidering driftwood!! Flippin’ driftwood. And she made it look good! I’m not even going to try. We had a drift wood BBQ a few summers ago. I thought I was being inventive.

If you look up Linladan, a Swedish Flax, you’ll find a really interesting story about how this collection of colourful threads was discovered.

I wish I’d bought some but I’d already spent my money on food and wool.

This wool! This is completely gorgeous. I have never felt a wool so delicately soft. This is probably because I can only ever afford the cheap stuff, which is never going to get any where near the quality of this. I think this one hank (I don’t like saying the word hank at all but I think that is what this is) will make a shawl. It’s lace weight so it’ll go far. It took an age to wind into a ball. I used two bottles of wine to hold the yarn in place.

This was the stall where I bought the wool. And I know I wasn’t the only one who enjoyed a thorough fondle.

Belinda Harris-Reid. I took quite a while deciding which one would come home with me.

Marna Lunt’s stall was actually the first one we came to but there was a permanent crowd of people. She’d been on the telly the night before actually, did you watch Make! Craft Britain on BBC4? It was very interesting, can we have more please?

When we arrived back at her stall a while later there were still people there but we muscled our way in and drove them away. Ha.

I wanted everything. Marna’s lampshades and brooches are just lovely. Really truly beautiful. But I also wanted to rummage in her fabric basket and steal the beads so I could make my own! I mostly crochet and don’t do nearly enough embroidery. I’m going to now though. I think that’s one of the great things about coming to a place like this. It really is hugely inspiring. I may not be any where near the same standard as the people displaying their works here but it makes you want to do it anyway.

Whilst at Bovey I was talking to Helen Bottrill who fronts Kindred Rose and organises Creative Women Together. Last month I plucked up the courage to attend one of her get togethers for the first time – a total fish out of water experience! I really enjoyed it and it was so interesting to hear how even professionals feel like imposters who are gonna get chucked out of the club. Helen made some interesting points about passion and creativity. Do you love crafting? If yes, then do it! It really is that simple. And don’t compare yourself to others around you. Some of these people have been making stuff for years, they are working hours and hours a day, everyday. It is so hard not to feel envious and even harder not to feel like a massive dunce, fangirl, wannabe. Mostly however, I found that there is a massive network of support here. I may be small fry but at least I know that I won’t get laughed at for trying.

By the way, there were loads more artists and crafters who I haven’t shown here but loved equally as much. Check out Suzanne Breakwell, I didn’t manage to get a picture of her stall but her work is breathtaking.

I hope that no one minds that I’ve written about their stuff. I asked to take photographs of everyone’s work but didn’t mention to all that I would be writing a blog post. I wasn’t sure at the time that I would be! Thank you.

A Cottage Garden in June

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016flowers, garden, veg patch12 Comments

I’m not sure you can call it a cottage garden if you don’t live in a cottage. However, it’s the style I like and I’m going to call it one. The theme for this post is pictures of my garden. And that’s it. It’s all I’ve got to show as I haven’t taken any photographs of anything else (apart from camping pics that I don’t have time to go through). I’m in a can’t be arsed slump. It must be the weather.

In no particular order I’m going to blather about some flowery pictures and see where it takes me. I will fly by the seat of my pants. I’m an expert at it.

I like this pretty peach rose. It wasn’t planned. He is a leftover from the previous owner who dumped it behind the shed. I plopped it in the ground to see what would happen. I’m glad I did.

Whilst I’m down at the bottom of the garden, amongst the birds and the bees, I may as well start here. It’s a total mess, not at all manicured. It’s the way I like it as it means you can avoid a lot of hard work.

I’m a sucker for pretty flowers.

As well as those geraniums I’ve got some ox eye daisies coming up. My brother and I used to call them bum flowers when we were kids because we thought they smelled like bums! Delightful. I haven’t actually stuck my nose in any of the ones that have presented themselves, I’m not that keen. Maybe I should, just to check and see if they’re still bummy. They add a bit of non-bummy interest too. I like a bit of white to break up the bluey purples that are going on.

I missed the peonies do their thing. They’re a bit saggy and old now. It must have happened quite quickly. Look at all my weeds in the gravel. I can tell you that most of it is borage. It goes mental. I think it’s going to have to come out. It’ll get massive if I leave it. If anyone in East Devon wants some, give me a shout and you can have some. I’ve got loads. Same for nasturtiums.

Loads of figs happening.

This was the hawthorn blossoming a couple of weeks ago. It’s shrivelled and died since. I’m surprised that it’s a thing I look forward to (not the dying bit, obvs). It’s really impressive when in full flower.

This also happened. Not in June, mind you but it was the last day of May so not a million years ago. So cute. I’m relieved that these guys fledged. Tits. Coal tits. It was a close call though. The day before, one of them ended up in our hall way. As far as I’m aware it’s Marceline’s first real gift for us. She also brought us a wasp last night though. Luckily the little tit was still alive and not in too bad a condition. It was taken back to the box where it wriggled back in.

Here she is; a tiger in the lupins. A frog was her prey this time. I heard it way before youngest child spotted it.

It did not have a particulary pleasant singing voice. But I’d recognise a frog scream anywhere. Our old cat used to bring in half a dozen frogs a day. It got tiresome, ferrying them out again. I don’t like it when they go rigid.Anyway, that’s reminded me about the lupins. Look what a difference two weeks makes?! Delightful, they were. Now, they’ve been ravaged by slugs or something. Gutted. I love lupins, if only for their leaves. And look what they’ve become! pfft.

Just up a bit from the lupins, I’ve got some alliums. They were really cheap to buy this time round. A couple of years ago you were lucky to buy three in a pack for less than a fiver and this time I got loads (I don’t really remember, it was months ago). I’d be much happier if a couple of small children hadn’t gone round with whipping sticks. In this photo you can make a few headless casualties (a the top).

Ok, I seem to be working clockwise around the border. I do like a pretty tangle of speedwell. I think this is called Veronica. Loads of things seem to be called Veronica though, flowers are confusing.

There’s loads of this near me, it grows all over Devon. Erigeron or Mexican fleabane. It’s in fashion at the moment (Mum saw it on Chelsea). I never thought of flowers as fashionable/unfashionable but apparently this is the case.

Up near the house is a yellow rambling rose. I bought it from the local garden centre about five years ago. Two years ago its pergola doodah got blown down and the rose was chopped to a foot high. In two years it has gone nuts. I love it.

The smell was drifting gently in to the living room last night (had the doors open), it was lovely.

Everyone grows runner beans here. A couple of years ago there were six gardens in a row with them. Interesting, hey?!

I’ve also got peas. It sets me appart from the runner bean crowd. Bean dweebs.

And because I never do, let me show some of the front garden. The foxgloves out the back were weak this year, pathetic and weedy. I thought they’d be happy wherever they ended up but not so as it turns out. There are loads out the front and they’re very perky. Mostly I choose alpine plants for the front as they’re not as fussy. I have cerastium (snow in summer), it sits very nicely with some lithodora (which was thirsty and manky looking at the time of photographing, so I cropped it out). Erm, what are those pink things? Are they indeed, just pinks? Dunno. And some weeds to show you that I am neglectful and untidy.

This afternoon I potted on some anagallis and my morning glory. I also started planting out some lettuces (with the help of a not so competent three year old) but had to stop for school pick up. Now that I’m back indoors do I really want to continue with that job? I’d probably make the tea instead. Eldest is at judo so I should do it now.

And then May was over…

June 1, 2016June 2, 2016cooking, crafty, crochet12 Comments

May has been a month of birthdays and flowers. It begins with one (mine!) and ends with one and there are some in the middle. I’ve made a lot of cake. Yesterday I made a flippin’ gorgeous cake for Grandma (my mother-in-law!).

I don’t often wander outside of my cakey bakey comfort zone. I stick to what I know because I will at least get something that works. However, I went rogue and found a new one on a blog!! Sometimes I get lost in all the recipes but I was very firm and decisive. I chose this moist and fluffy Vanilla cake.

I chose a stunner. Honestly, it was really good. I’m so glad I went with it because, well, I almost didn’t. I got all my ingredients ready (nothing daft, just ordinary cake ingredients) but hadn’t actually read the recipe properly. When everything was out and I was about to begin, I got all confused. This recipe is just egg whites, no yolk. Wha? Never seen that before. Thought it was just gonna be an ordinary sponge. Anyway, I went with it and out came a goodun.

I can’t leave anything alone though. I am not a strict follower of recipes. I grated in the zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange. I also only needed two cakes not three so did a bit of maths to sort that too. My insides were 300ml of double cream, a couple of spoons of icing sugar sieved in, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Whipped together and splodged inside, it made a very summery and delicious sponge cake. And I chopped strawberries and left them for a couple of hours in a weeny bit of sugar before spooning those on top of the cream. If you want a birthday cake for the summer, this is it. I ate it for my breakfast this morning too. Still yummy.

Anyway, moving on from talking about cake. I began this green crochet blanket a few weeks ago. It got sidelined by a couple of other wips but I got it out again yesterday and I’m enjoying it again. The pattern is easy to follow and I just know it’s going to look awesome. It’s called the Diamond Stitch baby blanket.

This was one of the things that distracted me. Just a granny square blanket. But I needed to see what the colours would look like when I put them all together. Needed to.

The weather was glorious at the weekend so everyone sat outside to enjoy it. I finished off the granny square (it was never meant to be a giant).

It was so lovely we decided to have a BBQ in the garden. Another Yum moment. Love a BBQ but often too lazy to bother…

It always takes a while to get going because I don’t use firelighters. Instead I cross my fingers that I’ll find enough twigs in the garden to start it off.

I’m still doing this. I started in the middle of March and haven’t got very far. It will look nothing like this once finished. I was just going to keep building up the layers to see what happened. I have a bouquet of wild spring flowers in mind. I was moving on from some mini spring flower applique/embroidery type thingies I made a a couple of months ago. A bigger project seems to have scuppered me somewhat.

And then there was the shawl I made. I really do love this, It’s a delight!

I love that edging. I have never been able to come up with something like that from my own brain (not yet anyway). I went and treated myself to Cherry Hearts’ Victoria shawl. I mentioned this a little bit on the last post but I just want to show some more pictures of it because I like it so much.

In real life my walls are a soft mossy green. Not the vommy putrescence they appear to be here.

Last shawl pic. Until I make another one that is.

And that’s it for now. Just felt like I needed a catch up. Oh! But whilst I’m here I’m going to say thank you to Hannah at a Box of Buttons for nominating me for a Liebster Award and Eleanor from Harebells Crochet for nominating me for The Creative Blogger Award. Dead chuffed to get these, thank you so much. I’m not going to have time to do it properly. Basically, the bloggers I would end up nominating are in my blog roll on the side bar, so go and check those out! In my usual half arsed way I will share 5 facts about myself (and only because I did a fact thing on Instagram a few weeks ago and I’m just going to copy those!).

1. I have a degree in Art History. I have forgotten most of what I learned.

2. The longest job I ever had was working at the Odeon in Exeter (a long time ago during uni and after, when I couldn’t get a “real” job). I still have dreams where I’m cleaning up popcorn.

3. I’m from Southampton but I’ve lived in Devon for about 16/17 years.

4. I love books, TV and movies. I used to do a lot of of watching/reading before children and crochet. Children get put to bed and crochet gets put aside for The Walking Dead and A Game of Thrones (no spoilers please, I can’t get season 6 of GoT yet!).

5. Actually these facts aren’t that interesting so I think I’ll stop. Ooh, number 5… I’m really boring!

A first attempt at Me Made May.

May 27, 2016crochet, sewing23 Comments

At the beginning of the month I made a last minute pledge to join in with Me Made May. I love the idea; encouraging sewers, knitters, crocheters to make or refashion clothes to wear during the month of May. My pledge was to bring out all the handmade items hidden in my wardrobe and wear them. I also pledged to make a dress. The only problem is that the weather has been a bit iffy and even on nice days none of my makes have been suitable.

All summery skirts, see? I wore the grey lycra maxi skirt but that was all. They’re all different: dirndle, wrap skirt, plain old elasticated waist jobs (with or without pockets!!). I guess I will wait until the sun really shines to prance about in them.

Talking of that maxi skirt, the hem really needs sorting out. I’m glad I’ve been taking part in this challenge because it has brought to my attention that the hem needs taking up an inch. It’s a bit close to the edge. I think wide hems look better. It’s a long enough skirt that I can adjust it too. I know this because I keep tripping up in it.

The other project that was brought to light was this pretty skirt. I remember getting ridculously frustrated with the machine tension. I didn’t know how to get it right. Then at the end of last summer, whilst “teaching” my friend how to sew, it twigged that I needed to adjust the bobbin tension under the plate. Honestly, I felt so dim-witted, I first started using this machine when I was 12 and I’m now in my thirties. The shame! Anyway, now that I know this, I want to unpick the skirt and sort out all the dodgy seams. This was supposed to have been done over the last few weeks… erm, maybe this weekend?!

This shawl, I am pleased with. I love it! I wore it to a wedding last weekend. I made it out of Drops Baby Merino. I think I’ll write about more about it next week. I took tonnes of pictures so I definitely have more to share. It’s a pattern by Cherry Heart called Victoria shawl.

And finally, this is the dress I made! I reckon the only reason I actually sat down and made it was because it was going to be my party frock for the wedding I went to. At the last minute I chickened out of wearing it, it didn’t feel smart enough. And it wasn’t warm enough! The pattern is from Simply Sewing magazine and it’s By Hand London‘s Charlie dress. I’m happy with how it turned out. I had to make adjustments for my weird body (I have a long body, with high waist and narrow back). I extended the bodice length and widened the front side panels to accommodate the gargantuan bosom. (Thank you to 7 year old for taking pictures of me. I felt a bit daft doing this, I have to say).

Right at the end I spotted that the bands on the bodice don’t meet. I’m putting that down to the inaccurate the extensions I made. I’m not going to complain about the zip, I’m satisfied with that although I’m sure it has issues. I’m keen to have another go with different fabric and maybe with a half circle skirt instead of the quarter one here. Stitchy stitch.

Right, that is my Me Made May experience. I can’t say that I’ve thrown myself into it with complete gusto but I did make a dress and that makes me feel alright!

A New Crochet Blanket. Circles in Squares.

May 24, 2016May 24, 2016blanket, crochet17 Comments

I finished this little crochet blanket about a month ago. It now belongs to a baby. It is not my baby but a new cousin for my boys. I’m pleased that she has already had snuggles in her lovely new blanket.

A Circles in Squares blanket!

I chose to make the blanket with Scheepjes. I really wanted to get my mitts on this brand. A couple of months ago it seemed like loads of people were using it and I wanted to join the fun. I liked all the colours and I wanted something super soft so I went with the merino (which also has microfibre in it). It is the softest, squishiest yarn. It is also quite splitty, which surprised me. I find that once I get into a crochet rhythm I can avoid most of the splittiness, whichever kind of yarn it is. However, it’s still disappointing when it happens.

When I heard that there was to be a new human on the horizon, I asked my sister-in-law what sort of thing she fancied. I knew I wanted to make a blanket but I didn’t want to make one that wouldn’t fit in with her tastes. All that effort and they don’t like it? No thanks. She gave me a photo of a cushion that fitted with the nursery colour scheme. The cushion had a bunch of bright circles on it . That was enough inspiration for me; off I went.

I blocked it (badly). It didn’t work. They all pinged back after 5 minutes. I thought they’d be good because of the merino but I’m guessing microfibre does funny things.

These squares were about as flat as they got and they quickly started to curl at the edges again. Oh well.

Each time I make a blanket I have great fun laying them all out. Once I have more than a few squares I do it over and over, each time adding a handful more of newly stitched squares. I think I had another row to go at this point but couldn’t wait to see what was going on.

I had to be boring with the construction. I had next to no grey wool left. I sewed the squares together with a whip stitch as I reckoned this wouldn’t use as much of the remaining yarn. I also stuck to a very plain border. I jumped online to try and order another ball or two but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Sold out! So the border had to remain plain. In an attempt to add some interest a couple of rows were back loop only. Thinking about it now, I could’ve done some FP and BP stitches or something. Not that that would have been much better. I wanted to have a proper, fancypants border. 🙁

I got one ball of each colour for the circles and thought six would be enough for the main colour. Eight balls. Eight balls next time.

I’m finding it increasingly difficult to take new and interesting pictures of blankets. They all end up draped on the same two chairs in the same locations!

I can tell you that I never spot wires, plug sockets and other such things in Pinterest pictures. They jump out a mile in all my photo’s no matter how hard I try to avoid them. Photoshop! We used to have a very early version of photoshop (not that I knew how to use it) on the old mac but the mac choked to death on carpet fluff. Be mindful of computers when getting new carpet!

I made up the pattern although I know many similar ones exist. I’m afraid to say I have not written it down yet. I took photographs of all the making stages but I actually don’t like them! I can do better. Sooo at some point in the near future, I will come back with a post about how I made the squares. I did some experimenting with starting the rows as I wasn’t happy with a messy 3 chain start. I think it’d be interesting to do some comparisons etc but it’ll have to wait until another day.

Anyway, I must go and wake up the little one, he fell asleep in the car on the way home from food shopping. He didn’t even wake up when I moved him to the sofa. Silly boy has been up since 5.40am.

I’ve linked up with Crafting is my Therapy. A place for sharing crafting blog posts!

Yarn GiveAway!

May 23, 2016April 17, 2018craftyLeave a Comment

Well, I’ve got to share this haven’t I?! What a great Giveaway from The Messy Brunette.

Time for a Garden Catch Up.

May 19, 2016May 21, 2016flowers, garden, veg patch25 Comments

It’s getting good. Starting to get happy with sunshine and flowers. Yeah, there’s been loads of rain as well but it’d look pretty shockin’ without it.

This small magnolia was at its best about three weeks ago. It’s over now. It was a birthday present last year. I think it should grow to about four feet. The plan is that it’ll eventually hide the compost bin.

The kerria japonica is also looking tattier than this picture suggests. Probs taken on the same day as the magnolia.

I’ve loved watching the fern unfurl over the last few weeks. I’m not sure but ferns might be considered a bit naff these days. I still like em.

Figs. I’m happy that they grow well in the garden, I feel quite smug about it sometimes. What’s that about?! I don’t even like the things. The tree is looking fresh green though and that, I do like.

Hiding in the fig tree is the cat’s favourite outdoor thing. Many catis hang out here. I think it has something to do with that bird box. I inadvertently caught a blurry coal tit too. Husband said he saw a starling trying to have a rummage in their hole…!

Cox. The apple blossom got lost in the clematis.

The clematis is growing all over. I like it, it’s becoming rebellious.

Pretty.

This butterfly is boring. There was another one that was prettier but it gave me the slip with its flappy ways.

Lupin leaf. Lupins are the thirstiest plants in the garden. They look so sad when they haven’t had a drink. I do too, I expect.

This geranium is Rozanne. This is the first flower of the year. It’ll be covered in them soon enough.

Aquilegia. I think the seeds came from a wayside plant up the road. I don’t know what the rules are about nicking seed heads. I’ve got my eye on some deep purple ones too.

Who could possibly want to tear up all these “weeds”?! I know people do it. They are so lovely and there would be very little out there right now if it weren’t for these.

Forget me nots.

Here’s a quick glimpse of the veg stuff. I do grow most from seed but I bought the purple sprouting as plugs (horrid word). I don’t need that many so there’s no point buying loads of seeds. I’ll cheat and buy courgette plants too.

I’ve kind of caught up with myself from last year now. It was May last year that I published the first garden post. There was another post soon after. Kind of the same but different. I’m losing my aquilegia, I didn’t realise until looking at the pictures. Better pinch some more of those seeds.

I’ve linked up with #MakingHome

Another Granny Triangle Shawl!

May 13, 2016September 6, 2016crochet, free pattern15 Comments

I’ve made another shawl. I couldn’t help myself. When I saw Drops yarn on sale the weekend before last, I had to buy some. It was for research purposes; I wanted to try out my granny triangle shawl pattern again. Take a look on Etsy, it’s for sale!

My original pattern is good and wintery. This time however, I wanted something with more of a drape. I chose Drops Baby Merino this time (it’s 4 ply) and added a chain between each cluster. I’d not used it before and I’m already using it again (another shawl pattern)! I like it, it’s good.

I thought the colours were a bit more summery and the drapey 4 ply would make it less stifling for the season. I’m really quite pleased. I used a 3.25mm hook.

I was very well behaved because I actually managed to block it. A cheats method of blocking but blocking nevertheless. I pinned it out directly on to the carpet (whilst I was watching the telly) and sprayed it with water. Just enough to lightly dampen it. I left it for a few hours and to make sure it was dry, I got the hair dryer on it. I wouldn’t advocate this method because somewhere along the line I will no doubt, end up ruining something.

I love the simple edging. It’s not hard to do. I changed the colour sequence as I didn’t want to buy loads of different balls just to do a couple of rows of each colour. It still is essentially the same thing as the original. It’s four 50gram balls of the green and one each of the other two.

Even though it was something I made up, I forgot how to do the edging so I dutifully followed my own pattern. It worked too (but I shouldn’t let on that I was surprised, of course it worked!). I should confess that I did have to bodge the corner/point. By adding the chains between clusters it changed from multiples of three to multiples of four. I had a skip a stitch here and there whilst making the scallops so that the middle cluster actually ended up in the middle. It’s not noticeable. Promise.

The blocking definitely added to the drapey quality. It has also made the wool feel softer.

I took many many pictures, but sadly none of me wearing it this time. Shame. I got distracted by the cat. And then I started taking photos of other things around the room.

Plants aside, I’ve got some pictures of the cat…

Whenever something woolly comes out she decides it’s somewhere she wants to be. Good old Marceline (not that old, she’s only turning one sometime toward the end of the month).

Sleepy kitty.

And then she spotted me.

A Wander Around Haytor.

May 11, 2016beginners photography, devon, outside, walking10 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, we went to Dartmoor on Sunday. Mostly this was to meet with friends for lunch but we also explored Haytor too. Usually we skip the tor and go to the pretty quarry a few hundred metres away. However, the boys wanted to climb a “mountain” so we stuck to the rocks.

I think the tor looks like a giant’s foot sticking out of the ground. Too many toes I know, so a mutant giant. (I know some of those people). I haven’t managed to capture the size of it (big), the walk/climb up to it is quite hard work, especially after a roast dinner (and a late night).

The quality of the picture is not that great as I’m told my ISO number was too high for outdoors. Low number for outdoorsy pics next time.

This is at the foot of it. It’s easy to climb as there are steps cut into it. It’s still hugely windy up there and it makes me feel uneasy. The kids could easily get whooshed off the tops of one of the toes (I wouldn’t let them up the very tops anyway and certainly not on the big toes). I didn’t take pictures up the top because of this.

Rocks n stuff.

This guy flew around quite a bit. Think he was on the look out for someone’s picnic.

Then there’s the obligatory Dartmoor ponies. They were quite aloof. Not interested in talking to us at all.

If you look closely, there’s loads of interesting plants living in the crevices of the rocks. Not sure what this is.

I think this might be my favourite picture. I love the mossy blanket that has come away from the granite. Apparently this picture has good bokeh!

There was a lizard sunbathing on this rock. He moved so blimmin fast, he was gone before I could ask him for a picture.

Some bilberries (or windberries- same thing, I think) are trying to grow here. Are they a relation of the blueberry? I could be wrong about that.

And all the faces in the rocks too! I didn’t spot David Bowie any where…

Well, that was Dartmoor. A tiny bit of it anyway. It’s a pretty big chunk of Devon. And my favourite fact about Dartmoor is, it’s radioactive! If I visit enough, I’m assuming that I will get some kind of super powers. I think that’s how it works.

Birthday

May 9, 2016crafty, crochet, drawing, fabric, sewing23 Comments

I’ve had a week filled with lovely birthday things. I’ve been out for dinner/lunch, twice, no! three times. I’ve had lots of awesome presents and there has been gorgeous weather. Smashin’.

I got my hair cut off too, so when I went out to dinner on Saturday night (The Five Bells in Clyst Hydon- very nice) I felt all new and swooshy. I didn’t feel so new and swooshy when we went out for lunch on Sunday (The Rock Inn on Dartmoor). A roast dinner sorted me out but, crikey, I felt rough yesterday. I took loads of pictures of Haytor whilst there, which I’ll post in a day or two.

I also finished a blanket, one that I’m really pleased with. I especially love the border, which is the same pattern I used for my granny shawl. It’s Stylecraft Special dk.

At some point this blanket will end up in my Etsy shop. I will sort out a link when I’ve got some blankets and other things in there.

Other things I managed to finish last week were two little bag/purse type things. One is for my unimpressive collection of barely used knitting needles and the other is for keeping small projects in so I can take it out and about. I used the fabric I bought in Totnes shops during the Easter hols. They both need pressing again because I made a very lacklustre job of it.

I had all my sewing laid out on the table. I’ve made a half hearted pledge to take part in Me Made May. Since last week, I’ve worn hand made things already and I made a dress! I’ll take pictures of the dress before the end of May, I’m sure.

Another work in progress is a new shawl. I’m doing a variation of my granny shawl just to play around. I’m using Drops Baby Merino. I went on a Drops spending frenzy last weekend. They had a sale at Woolwarehouse so I went a bit bonkers.

See! Drops. I have an idea.

More Drops. I cannot wait to start this, Cherry Heart’s Victoria shawl. Pattern bought and printed, ready to start any second.

Some lovely presents were received, I got a bunch of fat quarters from my mother-in-law. She went to a quilting shop in Bovey Tracey. I know about this shop but I’ve not been. It’s supposed to be good.

I got lots of fab books. Looking forward to getting stuck into those…

I got these bowls too. I got loads of stuff, I won’t show it all, but needless to say it’s all good gear. One of my favourites is the drawing from the photo at the top. It’s by my friend who is an artist and graphic designer. It’s a picture of me doing me crochet! I guess I should frame it, I think it’s beautiful but then so is the subject matter, obvs.

And then the week before last, I got this wonderful bundle of stuff from Samantha at createitsamantha.co.uk We took part in the #craftblogclub spring clean challenge on twitter. Essentially it was a craft stash swap. It was such a lovely surprise to open up the parcel and have lots of delightful things tumble out. The Power Ranger didn’t come with my new stuff; Three year old thought I should take a picture of it. I have some ideas of what I might do, I’m looking forward to playing around in the next week or two.

I love getting birthday flowers!

Anyway, I’m off. Got a house to tidy and a child to entertain. Can’t watch A Bug’s Life all day. Actually, we did sit down and watch the local secondary school do a live Q&A with Tim Peak on the International Space Station a couple of hours ago (via the internet). I thought it was interesting but Three year old only managed five minutes before going off to look at a Lego book.