almost Jubilee - another 'My Monday'

how did 3 weeks fly past without me noticing??? ... 

well, lots has happened here and I've mainly been very distracted with a very poorly pooch... who after developing pyometra, ended up having an op on Friday & is now wearing a 'cone of gloom' as she refuses to keep the comfy soft swim/donut ring collar thing on!!!..silly dog... but she's on the mend again now so I can breathe a sigh of relief!

 anyway, in between looking after my beloved furbaby, I did do a little bit of work & saw it all come together today when it was finally the day we re-did the shop window at my friends shop :D

& it seemed only right with the upcoming Jubilee event to set it out to celebrate the event, and go a little over the top in good old fashioned Britishness!

starting with flags & bunting

   

I made all the bunting by trying to stick to the 'make do & mend' ethos, whilst trying to make it all look vintage-y and got lucky by only having to buy a small amount of distressed union jack fabric which went a long way! The hessian and checked material were both leftover from other projects and the denim was recycled from jeans (that after losing 2 stone) I never want to be able to fit into again!

My friend is a stockist of 'Sewing World' magazine and so we decided it would be nice to try and make some of the little projects that we'd seen in the recent mags, the pincushion cakes were of course a 'must do'.... I just wish I'd managed to find the time to make cloth Tea-cups too as that would have looked so cute!

 

we dressed up the shops mannequin 'Pat'

 

made some pvc shopping bags, shoved my cushions in for good luck,
 and put my old 50's utility Jones machine in with as many vintage notions as we could find!

we then sat down with a cuppa and made (what seemed like) miles of old fashioned style paper chains to decorate the inside of the shop and felt quite nostalgic & very pleased with it all when we'd finished.

Is anyone else out there in Blogland planning or doing anything to celebrate the Jubilee? if so I'd love to hear about it.

My Monday

I do love Mondays! a busy weekend over, family back to work / school and I get the house all to meself ! this is when I have MY equivalent to most peeps lazy Sunday... so that means Ive sort of had 2 Sundays this week as I got a day to meself yesterday as well and went off to the Creative Craft show at the Bath & West showground with one of my best friends. 

I didnt buy much, I'm really trying hard to be good and only buy 'stuff' that I need to finish other 'stuff' so just bought a few buttons and fq's (for things on my 'To-Do' list, honest!), and some strange bobbly vintage furry looking fabric.. but then I found a man with a whole roll of the now discontinued Ikea blue paisley rosali fabric! ... I squeeled!!! (If you havn't already guessed, I sortof  have a major thing for this rosali collection!) I then had one of those rare OMG palpitation hotflush shopping moments followed by a very girlie giggle LOL and then spent the last dosh in my pocket buying enough to satisfy me for quite some time :D 

... my friend did chuckle & claimed it was like a comedy sketch watching me, but seriously... it felt like I was the one that found the last willy wonka golden ticket!!! I wasnt in the slightest bit bothered either at having spent my budget with hours of the show still left... I was satisfied in a way only a fabricoholic would ever understand!
The friend I went with to the show, has an alterations / 'make do n mend' kinda shop and we've been planning her new window display to reflect the upcoming Jubilee & Olympics so I made a couple of cushions for her to go in the window (or on her comfy sofa in the shop) I havnt been brave enough to cut into my beloved rosali yet tho LOL.... 

I was quite pleased how they both turned out as I sort of made it up as I went along LOL I have some bunting planned too, (thankfully thats much quicker & easier than applique cushions) and have been cutting what seemed like about a gazillion triangles out ... but I cant show that yet as some of the fabric I wanted to use hasn't arrived :((   I do hope it hurries up as I'm getting very twitchy and impatient!!

Anyways, thats it  (for now) I'm trying to ease meself back gently into this blogging lark, and I'm not even sure if there's many peeps out there that are even reading my waffle LOL but hello and welcome if y'are! :D

 

new oomph!

I have been awol for a while as we've had big refurbs at home... but now the dust has finally settled (quite literally!!!) ... my clever hubbs built my cutting table and I now have the crafting room that I've been dreaming of for simply ages!!! :D

 the drawer boxes came from ikea, some new, some very old ! they're really good value storage drawers, but they are soooo plain and boring looking so I decorated them with ordinary household emulsion paints, then scanned & printed out some of my fabrics onto paper and glued the papers onto some of the drawer fronts, this is probly best done with a pritt stick as pva can cause some paper to stretch and go a bit wrinkly... yeh I found out the hard way LOL

  the quilt on the bed is one I made about 7-8 years ago for my daughter but she's into lime green & purple now, so it's all mine! :D I have a ton of cushions planned to cover/bury the bed under LOL and a lot of other finishing off bits but I'm getting there slowly! I DID however finally finish off the 'decopatch' button shelf I started last year! 

Ta Da!!!!

credit where it's due, this upcycled spice rack idea I pinched from Yvonne over at BoxofTrix, its taken me nearly a year to collect enough empty spice jars to fill it mind you, but I'm really pleased with it ... I need to cover all those lids tho as they're a bit...??? just not 'me'!

I now have curtains too :D... I had a dim lightbulb moment & had a good rummage in my laundry cupboard and found these vintage beauties that are just the right length, that I have had for years, yet they have never managed to fit any window in any home I've ever lived in...until now! :D  I knew there was a good reason I never throw anything out!

 there is still LOTS to do in there, like painting a big cabinet I bought from Ebay to store my fabric in... which I really must be getting on with, so, bye for now & see you soon.

oops

I made a beret... it sorta went wrong... well, it came out WAY too big anyways.

Methinks I shall be unpicking & restitching it on smaller needles or just go out looking like a blind giant mushroom?

and instead of working my way through my stash, more 'stuff' has found its way in!! ... oops,
but it was a gift... and it's all gorgeous, so it's a great exception to my destashing rule !!!


My very lovely friend at The Happy Felter decided to have a go at spinning and kindly gave me her first results to play with :D I had to guess at what size needles to use so went for UK 8's as they're the biggest I had!!!


after a few rows its looking like I may use it all to make a big bag or I may even get a giant crochet hook and turn it into a waistcoat? I just dont want to make any more hats or scarves!!! whatd'ya think?... all ideas welcomed. Whatever it chooses to become, I know its gonna be luvly, Thankyou Nikki x

oh, and the scarf... its still growing, I get bored distracted so easily...

1 done 2 to go

has it REALLY been almost a month since I last blogged?!!! Oooops... well, I have been busy since I made my bobbly bobble hat, and have made another one... only nicer, from some Aran wool for my mum who also wanted one... and a scarf! the scarf is only half finished, it seems to be taking longer than I had hoped, but it IS a lot of stitches LOL again its a pattern Ive made up as I go along and has taught me confidence making a rib pattern.

I should have added a few extra stitches onto each side to always ended in a knit stitch to stop it curling at the edges... but it is what it is... I live & learn. There's probably an easy solution to correct it, I just havnt found it yet!

I've also been playing with a few other things too, and finally framed my inchies :D the frame is from Ikea, called Ribba and was perfect for them.


some closer shots of a couple of my favourite squares


I have another box frame spare and am not sure what I'll do with that one yet... I might experiment with my sewing machine with fusible fibres and washaway stabilizer and frame the result.

I will run out of space on my walls soon methinks as not only are there plans for lots of my 'stuff' going on the walls, but I recently saw a lovely idea on Boxoftrix's blog for storage ideas for buttons... closely followed by a 50p find at a boot sale so have set to work with the transformation using this ...

and this...

(its REALLY fine paper that is both acid free and colourfast when pva/varnish is applied to it; and bonds perfectly without seams to give a nice smooth finish)

into this...

(ok,ok, so its not entirely finished...)

but I wanted to share it & I wouldn't be 'me' without umpteen unfinished things to complete LOL this WILL get done, and will become the home for lots of upcycled spice jars refilled with the many buttons that I have hidden away out of sight and mind... so watch this space!
I bought the papers when I went to the stitch n craft show recently, from 'the decopatch place'. If you want to check out their amazing stock, have a look at their website www.thedecopatchplace.co.uk but be warned, there is a lot of 'I want' stuff there!!!

oh and I have learnt to crochet... well I've been shown how to crochet and somehow managed to produce a granny square, jury is still out as to whether I actually enjoy it yet though!

how many bobbles does a bobble hat need?

well, I was totally DONE with making scarves so it was suggested that I make myself a bobble hat for my next project... my mind being what it is didnt think plain hat with bobble on top no, no, no! me thinked it an ideal opportunity to make a very silly sort of hat utilizing the fact that I learnt to do bobble stitch :D

so I am proud to present my very bobbly bobble hat!

its not perfect... there are mistakes in it as I had to 'unknit' a bit and think I must have got a few stitches twisted but I'm happy with it as a first attempt and thats all that matters to me :D
however... its now warm enough outside for skimpy tops, shorts and sandals... and I have no travel plans for going anywhere cold enough to take my new hat!! so it shall have to sit, patiently waiting for a chilly day when its needed... I can wait... I 'm happier in the sunshine anyway.

For anyone who's interested in making a bobbly bobble hat - this is the pattern, I sorta made up the decreasing bit up as I went along following a few basics my mum told me

Using 4mm needles, cast on 100 stitches - this makes a hat to fit approx 22" round

Row 1 knit
Row 2 purl
Row 3 k7, *MB , k9; repeat from * to last 8 stitches MB, k7
*MB (Make Bobble) - knit into front, back and front of next stitch, turn and knit 3, turn and purl 3, turn and knit 3, turn and slip1, k 2 together, pass slipped stitch over = bobble completed
Row 4 -6 stocking stitch (purl 1 row, knit 1 row)
Row 7 k2 *MB, k9, repeat from * to last 3 stitches MB, k2
Row 8 - 10 stocking stitch (purl 1 row, knit 1 row)
Repeat Rows 3-10 to Row 44
Row 45 purl
Row 46 k4, k2 together. Repeat to end of row
Row 47 purl
Row 48 k6 *MB K7 repeat from *to end of Row. *note that at some point in this row you may have to knit 8 not 7 to keep bobbles in correct position * it worked better for me to do this by eye.
Row 49 purl
Row 50 k3 k2 together. Repeat to end of row
Row 51 purl
Row 52 k2 *MB k5 repeat from * to end of Row.*note that at some point in this row you may have to knit 6 not 5 to keep bobbles in correct position * it worked better for me to do this by eye.
Row 53 purl
Row 54 k2, k2 together
Row 55 purl
Row 56 k1, k2 together
Row 57 purl
Row 58 k2 together (you should now have 13 stitches)
Row 59 purl
Row 60 k2 together
pass thread through remaining 7 stitches and pull tightly, knot and use remaining length of thread to sew up hat.
Make a pompom /bobble and secure to top of hat.

Wear and enjoy x

upgrade from UFO to WIP = more cushions!

Another UFO has been promoted to a Work In Progress :o)

I found this long forgotten project lurking sadly in the bottom of a basket when I had a clear out in my workroom a couple of months ago. I had originally bought it about 8 years ago, stitched about an inch of the centre and decided that I HATED stitching on pre printed canvas... and quit! Anyway... I reminded myself that this year IS going to be the year I turn my stash into completed projects so off to work I set. I admit to getting completely & utterly mind numbingly bored filling in all the white stitches!! and wasn't enthused at persuing its completion but got there in the end :o)

It still has to be turned into a cushion but that wont take me long, I just need to work out what sort of backing I want to put on it. Also it only measures up at present to 10" square so I'll probly add another border to it to make it big enough to at least be classed as a useable cushion!
(The needlepoint kit was from Candamar Designs)

I've also been doing a bit more knitting and have made even MORE can-can scarves & can happily state that I have had enough of scarves now and dont think I'l be making any more for a Looooong while LOL
I made another square from my book too, which proved quite a learning curve as there was an error in the pattern!!! so I had to work it out for myself in the end, but this taught me quite a lot in the process about un-knitting/fixing !

I know I have to 'block' it as its gone a bit zigzaggy on the edges but its another pattern I can tick off as 'done' and another square closer to my sample blanket being completed :o) I'm determined that its gonna be a blanket and not just a few MORE cushions! LOL
(the material in the background was a 'must have' purchase, that I havn't decided quite what to do with, ...yet)

Despite the weather in the UK turning into summery /shorts weather, I have started on my bobble hat at last :o) after my mum showed me how to do a bobble stitch I thought it would be fun to make a bobble covered, 'bobble hat', it was tricky learning how to make the little bobbles but have since found a great online tutorial for those of you not lucky enough to have a mum like mine to show you .
click this link to take you to Heidi Bears great bobble stitch tutorial
I'll add pics amd pattern when there's more to show than the first few rows.

I went to the Stitch n Craft show at the Bath & West showground this week and nearly wore my feet out browsing & shopping. I bought lots of goodies and despite trying to clear my stash and my never ending 'to-do' list, I bought lots of lovely new stuff to add to to it!! hahaha... I never learn! but I am hopeful that my new goodies will be turned into completed projects over the next few weeks and not just delegated into the U.F.O. bin just yet ;o)