Ouch!

Quite new to this cross stitch lark....done a little bit here and a little bit....over there....but this is my first big piece and OUCH! it hurts....to excited by it to stop though....so I shall have to make do with a very sore wrist.......

Square eyes and Mr.Crabbapple

I'm not sure why I thought doing a huge cross stitch was such a jolly good idea...but once I'd had it,it was set in stone and the cross stitch A2 size chart making began..hence the square eyes... I'm attempting to cross stitch a photo I took of a friend some time ago. ..sounds a bit dull but its not your usual portrait so hopefully it will be rather interesting if and when its completed. The actual piece wont be A2 (I'm not that crazy!) it will be between an A4 and A3 size....Eeeek!

As for Mr.Crabbapple he came in to being last weekend whilst sat having some quiet time with my dad in his garden....my brain had switched off and so my hands just got on with their own thing resulting in Mr.Crabbapple. Here he is enjoying the garden.....

Its not for you...

but this one is.

I had decided to have a go of crocheting a mouse for my kitten. I used a pattern from
www.kristieskids.weebly.com



Its really simple and fun to do.


Anyway my kitten loved his...and so I made another one for the cats at my mums house...stuffed with plenty of catnip, I thought they would love it...and they did for five minutes.





After that the mouse was left to one side. Until my sister brought my nephew home and he spotted it...it was love at first sight.He is sixteen months old and I think he mostly loves the size of it...just right for little hands.



So today I knitted a new one for him..catnip free...and he loved this one too...he likes to throw it about and managed a great trick. After one particular throw neither of us could see the mouse...it was only when he turned around I noticed it had landed neatly in his hood! :)

Got my cake...

but I don't fancy eating it.


Great for putting my pins in though....made the pattern up on the fly.I may tweak it as the base looks more pie like in shape than cupcake...then again I might not..I've always liked the fuller figured cake.

I haven't dyed I've just been ill...

So yeah...not much happening on the making front of late...
Firstly due to a week away in Wales...where apart from finding the cutest wee wool shop, not much went on in the world of crafting...too busy going on walks...having staring competitions with sheep and having a go of fishing for the first time.




The wool shop was fabulous stuffed to the brim with wool...The lady was lovely and said she'd been there for years and couldn't imagine shutting anytime soon. I loved the fact it was one of about only four shops in the tiny village we where staying in....you may not have been able to get a huge selection of groceries at the local shop....but who needs food when you can get your yarn fix!




Then other reasons for the lack of crafting has been illness...I was ill (some kind of flu thing) the last day we were in Wales and that lasted a week ...wiped me out completely! Then after being well for about five days I was struck down again with a heavy cold...and so have not felt up to doing much other than sleeping.
Anyway its been a few days now and I am on the mend so fingers crossed I will be raring to go next week.....so many ideas....so few arms!

Will it become a butterfly....

Well here's my latest creation.....Caterpillar...made for my nephew.





He's made from crocheted balls and each section is held together by snap fasteners...this way he can be pulled apart and put back together again...My nephew is too young to do this himself at the moment but hopefully he will find it fun to do when he gets a bit older.

Now I'd rather people didn't sit on it....

Finished my sofa revamp.....well nearly just a bit of embellishment to go on my two red/blue scatter cushions and that's it. I'm still not entirely sure what the embellishments are going to be yet...but I can feel something formulating in my mind....a trip to the local haberdashery will probably solve it :)

The revamp basically consisted of me removing the large cover and seat cushions from my cream sofa and dying them. The back cushions though I re-covered in a fabric from a local fabric store.Then new scatter cushions made from fabric I had in my stash... I'm very pleased with how it has turned out. The colour ideas all kind of came about by accident but I think I may have subconsciously lifted the scheme from the painting that sits behind.




Elsewhere in my crafty life I am still crocheting balls...I do have a reason for this...working on a toy project for my nephew. If it carries on after that though I may seek some kind of help....or I may end up with a house full :)

Small snag...

Not in my fabric thankfully....but in that I have run out of thread whilst sewing up my sofa cushion covers. Not to worry though....I can pick some up in town later...its just a nuisance having to stop mid flow.

Carrying on with cutting out at the moment...as well as recovering some of my sofa cushions, I'm making some new ones.



Was getting a helping paw from my new kitten earlier... I seem to be going a lot quicker though...since he's been asleep under my chair :)

Its been a slow week...

Actually that's not entirely true ....its been quite a quick week but one very light on the craft side. Unfortunately I've been really ill so any kind of crafting has taken a back seat. In moments of feeling a bit better I have still been crocheting balls though...much to the delight of my new kitten...Max.

Anyway hopefully I'll be back on form soon and I can get the cushions I had started making for my sofa's finished.

Balls to that!.......

At least that's what I was saying for the last week. For what reason you may ask?!

Well I have been trying to crochet a ball...not as easy as I thought it would be...find a video I thought....and just follow it. As it turned out I found it hard to follow even my favorite crochet video makers instructions....

Then...hurrah! I found a video this morning that I could follow easily and I now have made my first Amigurumi ball! Now I know how its only a matter of imagination...wonder what I'll make?!

You can be mother......

I'm jolly lucky........... I have two lovely parents who always love what I make and like to tell me so quite often. I'm of course not soft and realise some of this is can be quite biased because well I'm there daughter...but every so often I know they mean it because they want one of their own of whatever it is I have made...and this latest cosy is an example.

After much complaining by my mother, that I seemed to be far more concerned with keeping friends tea hot ....I started on making her a tea cosy....she isn't really one for plain things so I came up with the idea of making it kind of look like a grassy hill covered in poppies

and this is how it turned out....
Thankfully my mum was rather happy with it and put it straight to good use :)

Fabulous Darling...

Just wanted to make a little note about how much I have enjoyed watching Kirstie Allsops Homade Home on Channel Four.

It was so refreshing to see somebody making over a home without it looking like every other house on the street. Let's face it ....I think we are all a little fed up of 'feature walls'. Instead Kirstie has made a home look like a home should or at least how I would like a home to look. I have always loved a house to have things in it.

I have never been a fan of the minimal look....it always looks too....well minimal!

Obviously as someone who loves to make things it was also wonderful to see her meeting different crafts people and having a go herself.Crafting is so often dismissed as it is seen as a lesser art form than say fine art painting...but as anyone watching the programme could see a crafters talent and skill can be almost endless if they have the imagination.

I am certainly looking forward to another series....Fabulous!

Happy Smilie EMO?!

The cause?........Finally finished my daughters jumper...
Its not that it actually took me a long time to do,its just that I did a million things in between.
(bad mum!)


I'm really quite happy with how it has turned out...its actually my first proper piece of knitted clothing (other than hats)
It was quite a simple jumper ( Sirdar Click Chunky 8940) and I just put in my own pattern for the skull on it.
The only downside has been that because my daughter was so happy with it.....she now wants a stripy one!
A knitters work is never done :)

Just like Granny used to make....

Well I say just like Granny used to make.....but I have know idea if either of mine ever did.
I do love knitting but to be honest I think any type of wool manipulating is jolly good fun. Lately I've been doing a spot of crochet.....
If your new to crocheting, Granny squares are a great way to start.....I love choosing colours that make your eyes do a bit of work.......so far I am half way through a throw for my new flat and a handbag ( at least I plan to make a handbag).

Ta da.....

It's not that I'm lazy...

It's been a slow week (knitting wise) is has been a busy week (otherwise) though. I am however a sleeve further with the jumper, my daughter will get it at some point...
Went back to the discount store where I found my black teapot today.Only to find a rather fabulous tea set. White teapot, with matching cream and sugar £3.99 .... how could I resist? So I didn't try :)

Came up with a wonderful cosy idea as well today with the help of my sister....but I'm not telling you yet as it is a secret...

Keeping warm....

On the needles : A Skull and Crossbones Jumper

......also I have bought a hot water bottle and I'm not afraid to work out how to knit a jumper for it!

Bonus buy of the day goes to the matt black teapot £2.49 from the local discount shop!

Still cosy crazy...

I am loving these little beauties...Just a nice length to make....really enjoying designing them too...


Arrrrrggggghhhh! Jim lad.....

and I don't even use a tea-pot....