Gorgeous Gifts

Last week was MEANT to be my last week at school (had I not been signed off 4 weeks early).  And, to my surprise, Simon came home with this amazing basket of gifts for me (from my lovely class and their parents).....

The whole thing looked so pretty, I was reluctant to start opening any of the goodies to begin with.  Look at the toadstool paper!!!  

I'm not normally an overly-emotional person (and I COULD always blame my pesky pregnancy hormones), but I was really overwhelmed by the gifts as I opened them up.  Clearly, those little kids and their parents know me SO well, and put SUCH a lot of effort into selecting things that I'd love.  There MAY even have been a few tears.  

Here, have a little look at my gorgeous gifts.....

[a knit-your-own-teddy-bear kit]

[a red and white spotty Cath Kidston mug]

[pearly, heart-shaped buttons]

[pretty ribbons]

[a 'thank you teacher' bookmark]

[a cute toadstool ornament, now on display in my crafting room]

[a box full of multi-coloured buttons]

[and a precious book made up of pictures drawn by each of the children]

What a wonderful leaving present!!!  And what a lucky teacher!!!

Just in case any of the Owls' parents happen to be visiting, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  

Now I'm off to start on my knit-your-own-teddy-bear (I think I might well be able to do it laying down).....  :-)

Carly

x

   

Knitted Scarf-Thing

Once upon a time, before Christmas, I knitted a scarf-type-thing for my sister.  I intended to give it to her as one of her Christmas pressies, and put it 'safely' away.  Of course, I forgot where I'd put it!

So, I saved it up for all these months, and gave it to her for her birthday last week instead!  

Here it is.....

I didn't follow a pattern.  I just started knitting a scarf, then had the idea to add some duffle buttons and turn it into a collar-thingamybob.

I quite liked it.  And I think I might knit one for myself too, if I can remember what I did.

Am I attempting anything more difficult than rectangles of fabric in my knitting yet?  Errr..... no!!!  I must get on to that, as it was one of my crafty resolutions for 2013.....

Carly

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A Birthday Present for a Kniting Friend

Last week, a good friend of ours turned 40.  I'd bought a couple of little gifts to package up for her, but I wanted to MAKE her something too.  While browsing on Ravelry, I found just the the thing to knit for a friend who knits - a teeny, tiny sweater-in-progress brooch.....

..... knitted on a pair of snapped-in-half toothpicks!!!

I found the pattern here.

Of course, I had to make her a card too.  And I couldn't resist making ANOTHER paper and buttons bunting card.....

..... just in a different colour (you can see the red - ruby wedding - version here).

Happy birthday, dear Saffron, happy birthday to you!!!  

Carly

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Spiral Cowl

Hello, lovely ladies!  Thank you SO much for all your comments on my last post - and for all the name suggestions for my crocheted dolly.  It was VERY hard to pick - I really did like ALL of the ideas you gave me.  I've decided to call her Molly - it begins with 'M' (so goes with 'Mortimer'), and it rhymes with 'dolly' - perfect!  

Molly and Mortimer have had a whale of a time lately - they had the house to themselves for 3 whole weeks, while we were in the UK.  

We had a whale of a time, too!  We visited Simon's family in Devon, visited my parents in Staffordshire, spent a weekend on a narrow-boat (photos to come in another post), caught up with friends, went on two successful wedding-outfit-shopping expeditions, splashed out on lots of new hobby supplies, ate some yummy meals out, ate some yummy fish & chips in, worked our way through WAY too many Easter eggs, caught up on magazine-reading and TV-watching, and stocked up on essential UK food supplies - to last us until our next visit.  

As I haven't been at home, I'm afraid I haven't been keeping up-to-date with goings-on in our lovely crafty-blogging world (I cheated - my last few posts were scheduled).  I've missed reading about what you've all been up to, and feel very behind!  I'm looking forward to catching up this week.....

In the mean time, here's a quick show-and-tell.  I started this Spiral Cowl ages ago and, at last, it's finished.

I had to learn lots of new knitty things to make it, and the whole thing got ripped back more times than I can remember!  But I'm quite pleased with it now it's done.  There are a few little mistakes, but they're all hide-able if I wear the cowl the right way around.  Shhhhh! 

I think I may have to put it away until next winter, though.  It was 22 degrees here today, so I think that spring may be here at last - YIPPEEEEEEE!!!

Hugs to you all,

Carly

x

Teeny Tiny Hat

Hello lovelies,

This is going to be a quickie. I just wanted to do a quick show-and-tell of a hat that I made, last week, for a teeny tiny little friend of mine.....

  

The pattern in from the lovely Susie F Handmade blog. You can find it on Ravelry here.  

I was worried that it was a bit late in the year to be making a hat as a pressie but, as we've had MORE snow today, I needn't have been concerned!

Where are you, Spring???

See you all again soon, dear friends.....

Carly

x

Better Late Than Never

Ooopsie!!!  It’s almost the end of January, and I haven’t made my new year’s resolutions yet.  I guess it’s not too late (as it’s still January).  And I’m sure a wise man once said “BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!”

Deciding to ONLY set fun, crafty resolutions last year was a brilliant idea – no worrying, no guilt, no disappointments, no shame, no stress! 

So, there’ll be no dull diet plans or excruciating exercise itineraries for me in 2013.....  just lots of crafty capers and arty adventures - AGAIN!!!

How did I do with last year’s resolutions?  Here’s a quick review:

1.  Learn to crochet. Well, I did!  I’m still just a newbie, but I’ve completed a few crochet projects now – and you can tell what they’re meant to be.  So, tick!

2.  Make more things for myself (including some clothes).  I’ve knitted myself a few bits and bobs to wear, and I’ve made myself some jewellery.  But I haven’t sewn myself any clothes (which was what I intended last January).  So, yes and no to this one.

3.  Make more (and hopefully buy less) greetings cards.  Tick!  I have made more cards (especially Christmas cards) and bought less. I could still do better, though.

4.  Have a go at knitting things that are not just sewn-up rectangles.  Yes!  I’ve knitted a few things using circular needles, and a few things that aren’t rectangles or squares.

5.  Experiment with making more home accessories.  Tick!  Lots of cushions, a few papercrafty things to hang on the wall, baby quilts, different kinds of Christmas decorations.....  I would have liked to have experimented with more new patterns and ideas, though.  

6.  Improve my photography skills.  I think I have.  I feel more confident in using my camera now.

7.  Post more tutorials on my blog.  Sadly, no.  Sorry!  I only posted one last year.  That’s shameful, I know!  Must do better!!! 

Bearing my review of 2012, and thinking of what else I’d like to achieve, I came up with my CRAFTY RESOLUTIONS FOR 2013:

1)  Post more tutorials on my blog!

2)  Make some clothes for myself (sewing).

3)  Learn to follow a proper crochet pattern.

4)  Make more greetings cards – for different occasions.

5)  Expand the range of things I make to sell (including adding more home accessories).

6)  Venture into the kitchen to do some baking.

7)  Try out some crafts that I’ve never tried before.

If you have any suggestions for number 7, I’d love to hear from you!

Let’s see how this year’s resolutions go.....

I’m off to make a start right now.....

Carly

x

P.S.  Who else is IN LOVE with their Mollie calendar?

Yippeee! Crafty Birthday Pressies!

It was my birthday last week.  I had a lovely day, and lots of fantastic gifts.  

Simon bought us tickets to the the Cirque du Soleil 'Corteo' show, which was AMAZING.  If you get the chance, you should definitely go to see it.  I can't recommend it highly enough!  The acrobats were brilliant, and the costumes.....  Oh my goodness!!!  It got me wondering how complicated it would be to make a career change - from teacher to trapeze artist.  How long would the training take???  

Unfortunately, I couldn't take any photos of the show.  So, instead I thought I'd show you some pics of my the crafty pressies I received.....

Firstly, look at this cute box for my knitting needles:

I LOVE it so!!!  I love the little old nanny's outfit. I think I need a knitting outfit just like it!

And look what was inside it:

Aren't they the cutest needles EVER?  Who cares what they knit like - they have red and green toadstool tops!!!  Crafty friends always know JUST what will make us jump up and down with excitement when we tear off the gift-wrap, don't they?!?

Simon got me this:

It was on my 'wish list'.  It's a kit for making mini mobiles, which I thought would look good in my little crafting room.  If you haven't heard of the make before, check out djeco stuff.  It's for kids, but I think lots of you may well fall in love with it too!

This was also on my crafty wish-list:

I remember this from when I was little and, when I accidentally stumbled upon it while I was searching on Amazon, I thought it would be a fun book to have in my crafting library. 

So, look out for future knitting projects, teeny-tiny mobiles and pictures made from cut-up circles of paper in future posts.....

Happy weekend to you all, my lovely bloggy friends!

Carly

x

Bow-knot Scarves

Do you remember the i-spy game we played a few weeks ago, where you had to spot my knitting bag in the photo of our chalet at Center Parcs?  I couldn’t show/tell you what was inside it then, because it was a little secret. 

I was knitting my first ever thing that was NOT just a rectangle of some sort!  It was pretty exciting – and I really enjoyed the challenge.  Of course, there were a few lots and lots of swear words along the way, and a couple of a great many ripping-back sessions.  BUT, the finished project – a cute bow-knot scarf for my mom (for Mother’s Day) - worked out pretty well.  In fact, I liked it so much that I made myself one too!!!  Here they are - a brown one for Mom and a red one for me.....

I found the pattern on Ravelry.  It’s a free download from Katherine Burgess.  I’d really recommend the pattern – it was easy to follow (even for a real beginner like me), it didn’t get boring, and it only uses about 50g of yarn.  When I got to anything new, I just had a sneaky peek at some YouTube videos.  My favourite bit of the pattern (I apologise for my lack of technical vocab here) was making the little hole to shove the end through (to make the bow-knot bit).  I had to use one of those giant nappy-pin-type-things and felt like I was doing something really fancy!  ;-)

By the way, if you’re on Ravelry, let me know so we can ‘make friends’ on there.....

I hope you’re enjoying some sunshine wherever you are right now.  Look out for me in the Guiness Book of Records.  I think I have a claim to a ‘world’s first’ – I am slightly sunburnt.....  visiting ENGLAND..... in MARCH!!!  Feels funny writing about sunburn and scarves in the same post, but that's how quickly it seems to have gone from winter to summer.  

Hugs,

Carly

x

Lovely Crafty Friends

Firstly, I wanted to show you a VERY exciting package that I found, waiting for me in the letterbox, when I got home from work last week.....

Look at all those stamps.....  it must have travelled a very, VERY long way to get here..... what COULD it be?

The cutest envelope I’ve ever seen, and a parcel wrapped in pretty, stripy string. 

And what’s inside?

A gorgeous, happy-coloured handmade card.....

..... and a beautiful crocheted coaster/doily/mug rug!!!  Isn’t it gorgeous!?!  Thank you soooo much to my lovely blogging pal Kate (from Signed with an Owl)! 

Receiving such a gorgeous crocheted gift has made me want to learn to crochet myself more than ever!  I discovered that a few of the lovely Stitch & Bitch ladies can crochet.  So, maybe, if I’m good, they’ll teach me one day.....

Our first S&B session was FANTASTIC, by the way!  I LOVED it!  I’d only envisaged staying for an hour or so, but we ended up stitching and bitching (and eating cake) for 4 hours!!!  There were 7 of us there (hello to Catherine, Saffron, Aileen, Claire, Natalie and Johanna, if any of you are reading).  We were knitting, sewing on buttons, cutting out quilt hexagons, cross-stitching, and messing about with a VERY cool paper-embossing machine.  What fun! 

I started knitting a cowl, and did a bit of sewing on some make-up bags I'm working on.  I'll do some show & tell soon.....

Sitting around chatting, drinking tea, eating cake, and crafting – it felt really old-fashioned and ‘proper’.  Secretly, I was enjoying likening myself to the ‘Little Women’ girls! 

I forgot to take my camera along – sorry!  It would have been nice to show you what everyone was up to (and I’m sure you’d have been impressed by the cake assortment).  I’ll make sure I remember to get some snaps next time..... 

We’re already planning our next session – and a ‘field trip’ to the Creativa exhibition (Dortmund, 14^th-18^th March). 

Carly

x  

Problems Getting Started

I’ve been invited to my first ever ‘Stitch & Bitch’ session next Saturday – yippeeee!!!  A friend of mine (Saffron, who taught me to knit) has organised it as a chance for us girls to get together to craft, chat and eat cake!  Sounds like fun, doesn’t it???

BUT I haven’t done any knitting since before Christmas, I’m not doing any hand-sewing at the moment, I’m not having much luck with learning to crochet, AND I didn’t think the other ladies would appreciate the noise of my sewing machine interfering with their ‘bitching’.  So, a dilemma!  What to take to work on.....

I really want to do some more knitting, and increase my arsenal of skills.  So far, I’ve only knitted things that use knits and purls in different combos.  So, I decided to look on Ravely for a hat, scarf or cowl pattern (it’s COLD here!!!) that would force me to try out something new.  Then, if I came across any difficulties, I could get some help on Saturday.  Good plan!  I found a super-cute pixie hood hat, and a gorgeous spiral-patterned cowl.  I wrote out a shopping list yesterday morning, and eagerly dragged poor S to my favourite department store’s crafty department. 

That was where the problems began!  It turns out that German yarn labels don’t have the same information on them as ours.  They have a little gauge diagram, and NO equivalent of things like ‘DK’ or ‘chunky’.  So, I had no idea what to get for the patterns I wanted to work on, and everything I found that I thought MIGHT be okay was really itchy (I am terrible for this – things that other people think are wonderfully soft feel like barbed wire to me!).  So, I left the shop with nothing, feeling like we’d had a wasted afternoon.

 

Then, when we got home, I looked online for some yarns.  I found a GORGEOUS bulky turquoise cotton one (which I hope won't be itchy), and ordered a few skeins.  I think it'll be great for the pixie hood.  I hope it’ll arrive before next weekend – fingers crossed!!!

[Rico Big Cotton Super Chunky - Turquoise]

BUT, that didn’t solve my most pressing issue.  S was going out to meet his man-friends (I couldn't complain after the afternoon's shopping trauma), and I would be home-alone.  I wanted to amuse myself with some knitting and start on something to take on Saturday (just in case my new yarn doesn’t come in time).  The pattern for the cowl required 4mm circular needles, which I had (my ONLY pair).  And I had some red yarn that I wanted to use for the project.  I spent a two hours watching YouTube videos before I started, looking up how to use circular needles, researching what ‘knitting 2 together’ means, learning now to do a picot edge..... So, I was ready to go!  I cast on my 128 stitches..... 

THEN realised that the needles were much too long (60cm, when I needed 40cm) – AAARGH!!!  I might have said a naughty word or two and stamped my foot!  So, everything got shoved back into my knitting bag, and I did some more internet shopping (this time for some new needles)!

So, I can’t get started on anything knitty yet!  I’m just waiting for the postie to come.....

If my gear doesn’t come in time, I’ll just have to make some more of my little knot brooches – they’re quick and easy and I KNOW I have everything I need!!!

Does anyone else ever have days like this where you try SO hard to be productive, but end up just chasing your own tail and getting NOTHING done???

I’ll keep you up-to-date with progress on these two projects when I manage to get started on them.....

Carly

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