How long does it take to knit a scarf?

(photo from ebay)

I saw some of this Stylecraft Poodle wool a couple of years ago in a shop in town  and saw from the label '1 ball=1 scarf'.  I'm not a good knitter, in fact I can only do plain stitch and haven't ever progressed from being able to knit a scarf.  I really liked the wool which was lovely and soft, having mohair added in, and thought it looked simple enough for even me to manage. 

 So, I bought some in 'Lavender', took the label off and read the instructions.

 Four pictures, easy to follow, I thought.  However, I was completely baffled by the way the wool looked as there was a black tape at one side, with the wool hanging down from it and for the life of me, I just couldn't work out where the needles went, how you made a stitch or even how to start it off. I looked for help from the Internet and while there were stockists and people who had used it, there were no instructions for a beginner that I could find. I left it for a while...
A year or two later, I came across it again and had a brainwave - I could ask a very good knitter at work and she'd be able to sort it out.  However, she was baffled too.  I asked the lady on the wool stall at the market, but she'd no idea either.  I took it to my Mum, who is also a good knitter and she was stumped .  My mother in law, also a good knitter, couldn't work it out either.  By this time, I was ready to donate it to a good cause.  In the end, my sister worked it out and showed me how to knit it and that the stitches were made using the black tape bit.  I spent an hour or two knitting it up and she finished the ends off.

 Here it is, modelled by a dressmaker's dummy (and very nice she looks in it too).  So, it took me a good two years to knit my scarf and I don't think I shall be rushing to knit myself any more.  (I have since found out that Stylecraft is not making this wool anymore - perhaps other people have been as confused and baffled as we all were!)

Christmas Cracker swap

I have been taking part in Tracy's from Mad About Bags Christmas Cracker swap for the past three years and it is a lovely one to do as you are limited to what can be fitted inside a kitchen roll, which gives you a real challenge.  This year, I was paired up with the lovely Alison from  fatdormouse and View from the Teapot.  We emailed and I discovered that she didn't sew, so she asked whether I could wrap the cracker in paper, for paper crafting, rather than material. Of course I could!  We found out about likes and dislikes and then got on with the making and buying.  We swapped our crackers and here's what I received:

 A cracker with an added extra of the most beautiful rich purple coloured felting wool...

 ...and when I opened it up...well!  What a lot of goodies!  Alison had even drawn a zentangle picture featuring a cat, which was also ingeniously wrapped around the cracker.

 Lovely buttons, a necklace, a key ring, two corn dolly decorations (which will be going on the tree), chocolate coins...

lollipops, ribbons, mints, toiletries - how lucky I was!  A HUGE thank you to Alison for her generosity

Here's what I sent (although, rather foolishly, I forgot to take a photo of the wrapped cracker): hot chocolate, Lindt bears, a felt heart, star decoration, quartz earrings, ribbons and cosmos seeds.

I found this rather gorgeous hand made paper so wrapped that around the kitchen roll before wrapping in paper and adding ribbon.  It was a lovely swap, so thank you to Tracy for organising and many thanks to Alison.  

Back to felting

 It has been absolutely ages since I made any felt.  I was feeling so guilty because jewellery making and creating with polymer clay had totally absorbed any creative time I had. People kept asking whether I had made any felt and every time I answered in the negative, the guilt crept up on me again.  However, when I finally got round to making some felt, last week, I realised how much I had missed it. So, the piece above is in its pre-felted and fluffy glory and is made from wool from my sister's sheep with Lincoln Longwool (the wiggly white wool) on the top as decoration.  It was the first time I had used Lincoln Longwool, and it was lovely! Just in case you wondered what the sheep look like, here's a photo from the Lincoln Longwool website .

How they can actually see where they are going is a bit of a mystery, but they do have lovely fleeces.

So, what does the finished felted piece look like?  Like this...

All the wiggles stayed in the wool, which I was pleased about, because one of the joys of felt making is that the wool does decide how it is going to turn out, despite the maker's best efforts to persuade it otherwise, so you can never be totally sure how it will look once felted. This piece is going to be cut up and made into something for one of the blog swaps I am signed up to, but I will share the finished article with you once the item has arrived with my swap partner.  I am going to start felt making again more regularly - I really enjoy it.

I have signed up to another blog swap too with Blueberry Heart, one that I really enjoy and this will be my third time for this particular swap.  There's still time to join in if you would like to, just click on the link...

Stitching Sundays 10

Although Chrissie isn't writing a specific post for Stitching Sundays, I am continuing, as I am finding it a great way to actually start and finish projects.

 I took the majority advice over whether to add stitching to the leaves on the felt piece so here are a few close ups.  I like the way that the line of stitching has made the leaves look 'puffier'.

 I chose colours which would show up against the leaves, without being too dominant.

 I think it looks good.

 So here is the finished piece.  I am still undecided about what to do with it.  If it is going to be the centre panel of a cushion, I need to find a wool blanket I can cut up, or make some large pieces of felt.  I shall check our blanket situation first...
Although I haven't totally finished this project, I have got the next one ready.

I'm going to make winter bunting using the materials above, which I really like (particularly the two seed head patterns).  The two plain fabrics on the right are going to have a snowflake embroidered on them and then they will all be made into bunting with dark grey bias binding.  Once it is finished, I will then have seasonal bunting for the whole year.

A Great Day Out...and Ginger Rogers

 We had a marvellous time today, sampling the delights of Market Rasen, which is a small market town 10 miles or so from Lincoln.  I was looking forward to the opportunity to see some gardens and to explore the town.  The weather was kind - lots of sun and no rain until we were driving home.

The traditional market was full of enticing stalls - lots of plants, jam, cheese, fruit and vegetables, crafts... I was really tempted by the plants and herbs, but amazingly, managed to restrain myself.

 Chris was hugely impressed by the vegetable plot in one of the gardens as it went on and on and was full of delicious looking vegetables.  The owner had purchased this land, as an extra piece, from a local farmer and had put raised beds in.

 He said that he needed to get harvesting, but wanted there to be something for people to see today, so had left the veg there.

 In the main part of the garden, there was this lovely fan trained cherry (Morello, we thought) which had lots of fruit but had been used as a decorative screen.

 I loved the delicate blue of this scabious-related flower.

 The shape of the petals and graduated colour put me in mind of a Ginger Rogers dress (I bet you were wondering where she would come in!).

 Something like this perhaps, with beautifully graduated colour - gorgeous!  Wouldn't it look amazing in the colours of the flower? (I would love a dress like that, but sadly, the bias cut does absolutely nothing for me at all. It really suited Ginger Rogers though).

Chris introduced himself to some very friendly koi carp.   The garden owners were all very welcoming and happy to chat, as were the stall holders at the market and at the various craft fairs. 

Well, I just couldn't manage to totally restrain my buying habits; of course I bought some things!  There was a craft stall with lots of rather interesting wool which I just had to get.  I also liked all the different textures of yarns in the variety pack so that had to come home as well.

These sweet little bud vases were found in a couple of charity shops.

 I also supported a local craftsperson by buying this 'extremely appropriate for garden visiting' bag which did a sterling job today.

Even the lining is gardening-related.
We also supported the local church by having tea, sandwiches and cake there.  I have to say that the fresh cream and raspberry sponge cake which I had was one of the best I have tasted;  a light and fluffy sponge which melted in the mouth, a slight tang of fresh raspberries and a smooth creaminess.  Unfortunately, I had almost finished it before I thought about a photo, so you'll just have to take my word on the deliciousness!
We had a fantastic time and although we weren't far away from home, it felt a million miles away.  We'll definitely be visiting Market Rasen again.

A big welcome to new followers both here and on Bloglovin'.  I hope you will enjoy reading my blog.

Crochet - my first attempt

 Yesterday evening, with some trepidation, I headed out for my first (of two) beginner's crochet class.  I had been told we would be making a hat and possibly a flower.  Here's how I got on.  It was undone quite a few times and I had the dubious pleasure of being the slowest crocheter there.  I have to say, at this stage, I am not sure my attempt will ever become a hat!

I am the sort of person who talks severely to inanimate objects if they fail to do what I insist they need to do (my work colleague, Leanne, can verify this as I am often to be found telling the computer/printer/other inanimate office equipment off).  The wool needed to be spoken to several times (much to the amusement of the other people in the class).  I know that my attempt is far from perfect and, to be honest, I am not sure that crochet and I will have a long-term relationship, but we shall see.  I would like to be able to make granny squares, ripple patterns and flowers...hmm...
I am also rather concerned because I have put my crochet down and haven't done any today, so when I do pick it up again, will I:
1.  Be able to find where I was in the pattern?
2.  Be able to remember how to do the stitches - tr 3, ch3, tr 3, or was that tr 3, ch 1, tr 3?  Or something else altogether?!
Wish me luck next week!

Needle felting workshop

 Last Sunday afternoon, I spent a very happy two hours learning how to needle felt little animals and birds.  A colleague at work had arranged for a feltmaker called Eve Marshall to come and give a workshop at her house.  I had seen a bit about needle felting and of course, Robyn from America had made me a needle felted Scruffy, so I knew what it was, but had never tried it.  Our first project was to make an owl and Eve took us through each stage with a lot of patience and help. Apparently, if you can make an owl, you have all the basics to make anything else.  (That seemed a bit ambitious, but I went with it).

 Needle felting does have some benefits over wet felting.  It is not messy and doesn't take up a whole table.  You don't need so many pieces of equipment either - felting needles (which are barbed and do hurt if you inadvertently get your fingers in the way), foam and wool, preferably natural and not dyed and in this case, merino is not quite as good to use as it is too soft and slippery, as natural undyed wool, which is a bit coarser and binds together more easily. We used Shetland wool for our menagerie.  At some points, my owl resembled a penguin, but it all came together in the end.  To bind the wool into shapes, you push the felting needle in and out of the wool into the foam (for basic shapes) and move the shape around to create a rough sausage which you then refine using the finer needle and just going into the wool, not the foam underneath.  It is much easier to do, than to explain!

 Feeling a bit more confident, I attempted a rabbit, or possibly a hare, as the ears were rather long.

 He did seem to develop a character as I went along.

 The pupils in his eyes aren't the same size as I did find putting little dots for details, such as eyes and noses, the trickiest part.

 The back view of my rabbit - he ended up looking quite sweet.

 The finished owl...or was that a brown penguin?

Here they are together, the owl looking rather startled to see such a huge rabbit in relation to himself!
I really enjoyed learning how to needle felt and can see opportunities for adding detail and texture to the surface of a piece of wet felted work, but I am not sure whether I shall make any more animals...although, never say never!

Felt making again - at last!

It has been about six months since I made any felt pieces and last week, I finally managed to pick up my carding combs and make something.  The photo above shows the piece in process and I really liked this combination of blues and turquoises and teals, so had to stop to take a photo.

The piece was based on one I had previously made, taking my inspiration from the sea lavender on the marshes at Saltfleetby, on the Lincolnshire coast.  The original one was fine but I decided to make the colours a little deeper in this version. 

The felted piece, showing how the wool exerts its own influence.  The horizon was a bit more dramatic than I would like, but the colours have worked together well and have given the slightly impressionistic effect I was aiming for.  Now it needs to have the embroidery added, to give more definition to the sea lavender.  That's the next job.

Latest felts - finished!

 As the title of this blog post may suggest, here are the finished pieces with the addition of hand embroidered french knots to give a little more texture.  The photo above shows the first piece I did, which worked well, although I decided the second piece would need to have more depth of colour. When I laid the design out, the sea line (or horizon line, depending how it looks to you) was straight, but as always, the wool decided to exert its influence and gave me a wavy line instead.

The second piece has worked well too, and I feel the added depth of colour is very effective.  This piece is now winging its way to my Peace Felt receiver in Ohio, USA and I really hope she likes it.  The purple colour represents the sea lavender which was all across the marshes, interspersed with grasses.  The shiny areas at the front are made using silk thread and silk fibres.
I now need to create another piece, using the stronger colours, as an example piece so that I can remember how I made it, just in case anyone wants to commission one!

Another commission

The stone wall felt has proved to be the most popular, with the number of commissions at three so far. Of course, it is the one that takes the most time to make because the blending of colours to create the individual stones is a time consuming process in itself. However, it is very enjoyable and quite therapeutic to do. The above photo shows the piece finished, prior to felting, with the 'stones' laid on to the top layer of wool. I like the 'fluffy' appearance, which is lost once the felting process is complete. Some of the blends I created are around the edge of the work and the original piece is above it, to give me a guide. It felted well and I am now ready to begin the hand embroidery to delineate each stone. A few hours in front of the television should see that done!

The Big Project...

Another sky interpretation, but this time focusing on the cloud patterns. This was embellished with white silk fibres, recycled denim fibres and Wensleydale wool, which gave the curly effects of the clouds. Once felted, I added hand stitching using back stitch in a white satin thread to add emphasis to the curly patterns and to add extra interest to the composition.

I particularly like the wispy effects that the Merino and Wensleydale create which really convey the idea of clouds.