Yep, a definite pattern emerging here! I so need to get into the habit of updating this blog, and also of taking my camera everywhere with me 'just in case' - at least I should have had it with me when we went back to Pembrokeshire last month, but I forgot it and left it languishing at home...must try harder is definitely the saying of the moment for me!
Have had quite a busy few weeks though, my mum, step-dad and half-brother came over from Denmark for a visit. We did a few touristy things with them like visiting this great RAF museum near to where we live and spent a great few hours wandering round looking at all the planes (and I personally spent a good amount of time fretting over how on earth they managed to suspend great huge planes from the roof of the hangars and if they would fall! - Moi, a pessimist...?!...)
Have just been up to Edinburgh to say hello to all my colleagues in the office - hadn't realised but it's over 2 years since I started working from home and over a year and a half since I last went back to the office! So a few people have left and a few have joined, and we're now in a completely different office to the one I left in 2010 - not quite so nice as the old one, and a heck of a lot further to walk to from Waverley train station, my feet are still covered in blisters and aching from all the walking I'm not used to since starting working from home and having a 5 minute commute down the stairs!
Have done a bit of beading but not as much as I'd like over the last month or two, life has stopped play yet again! What I have been doing a bit of is flat peyote-stitch bracelets with a daisy pattern, fiddly at the start of the bracelet but quite relaxing once you get into the pattern, will try and remember to take a photo of them and get them on here. I think I'll have to try and set one day a week/fortnight or even month to keep this blog updated - I remember I was the same with a written diary when I was younger, often ended up with pretty big gaps inbetween entries! Will try and be back soon with some photos and more craftiness hopefully!
Marg xx
Thursday 11 October 2012
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Ooops...
...I appear to have lost July...! Life has really stopped play over the last month, busy at work and long, long days where I suddenly stop and wonder how it's already 10:30pm and bedtime?! So unfortunately less to show in the way of crafty photos too, although I would have had a couple of birthday cards to show, had I remembered to take photos of them before posting...have got to get my head round this blogging lark, and also of remembering to take my camera with me everywhere! Nevermind, will get there!
Did manage to squeeze in a trip to Spellbound Bead in Lichfield a couple of weekends ago when DH was away fishing, it's a good 45 minute drive over there, so obviously I needed to wander round the shop for hours and buy lots of goodies just to make it worth the journey...! Found my step-mum's birthday present there - she loves beadweaving with small beads so managed to get her this lovely box set of beads, hope she likes it.
Have got a bit of beading done too, getting quietly obsessed with bezelling round rivolis! Made these earrings using some Chinese rivolis I got at the last Harrogate beadwork fair, spotted the wonderful colours straightaway and grabbed a few, they're a bit different for me with the gold tones rather than my usual silver, but I like how they turned out. I'm hoping to open an Etsy store soon so I think I'll stash these away for them to go in there
So, not much to show for a month's crafting! Hopefully August will be a better crafting and blogging month for me!
Marg xx
Did manage to squeeze in a trip to Spellbound Bead in Lichfield a couple of weekends ago when DH was away fishing, it's a good 45 minute drive over there, so obviously I needed to wander round the shop for hours and buy lots of goodies just to make it worth the journey...! Found my step-mum's birthday present there - she loves beadweaving with small beads so managed to get her this lovely box set of beads, hope she likes it.
Have got a bit of beading done too, getting quietly obsessed with bezelling round rivolis! Made these earrings using some Chinese rivolis I got at the last Harrogate beadwork fair, spotted the wonderful colours straightaway and grabbed a few, they're a bit different for me with the gold tones rather than my usual silver, but I like how they turned out. I'm hoping to open an Etsy store soon so I think I'll stash these away for them to go in there
Marg xx
Wednesday 27 June 2012
Three weeks? Really?!
Oh oh, 3 weeks since my last post...not the best of starts to a blog- must try harder! Have had a busy few weeks though, a nice break in Pembrokeshire with the boys, although the weather was pretty rubbish and we came back a day earlier than planned after seeing the weather forecast!
But, 'silver lining' and all that - managed to get quite a bit more done on my ripple blanket, with the bonus of the already-crocheted rows keeping me warm as I worked on it!
(please excuse the many yarn-ends-yet-to-be-woven-in, plus the pretty dire colour capture/display from my rubbish camera!)
The main drama over our holiday and when we got back is that unfortunately, Mr Fox paid a visit to our garden and took 6 of the 7 chickens, in the middle of the day! The 7th, 'Bloomers' (she's a Light Sussex hen, looking like this, with lots of voluminous white feathers round the top of her legs, so my crab-like brain immediately thought she looked like she was wearing a big pair of lace trimmed Victorian undermentionables, and named her Bloomers) survived by virtue of the fact that she was getting very broody before we went on holiday so we put her in a separate penned-in area with a nest box.
On a much happier note, Bloomers has since hatched 5 chicks, of various breeds/crosses (when we saw how broody she was, yet how few eggs of her own she was sitting on, we grabbed a few of the other hen's eggs and put them in her nest). They're 2-and-a-bit weeks old now and growing fast. I'm resisting the urge to attach myself too much just yet, but they seem to be doing very well. Haven't managed to get photos yet because the British summer is...well...not very sunny right now... (biting my tongue big-time there!) but will try and get some snaps soon while the chicks are still doing cute things like sitting on mum's back (cute to me, probably not so much to Bloomers...)
Have been busy with beads since getting back, have got a serious addiction to spiral herringbone right now! But have also been stringing, making some gemstone jewellery using beads from here - have only ordered from them a few times but each order has arrived seriously quickly and the beads lovely - a couple out of the last order were cracked near where they'd been drilled - one phone call later and all sorted and replacements included in with my latest order - so impressed with the customer service, which unfortunately in my experience is often 'ok' at best, but can also be completely absent! These guys will be getting my business again for sure.
Along with the herringbone weaving and stringing, when I was 're-organising' (!) I found a few rivolis I bought a while back and decided to try beading a bezel on them but trying to make a necklace as well as the earrings I usually use them in. Pretty happy with how the set turned out (couldn't resist returning to form and making the matching earrings!) The rivolis are 14mm Swarovski in colour 'Vitrail Light' (to be honest, I couldn't capture the bright 'plain' colours of the yarn in my ripple blanket as they actually look, so I haven't got a hope-in-Helsinki of showing these lovely rivolis off as they really are! But they're a lovely mixture of a soft pink and pale sage green, different at every different angle)
Next on my to-bead list is an idea I've got for a necklace with several rivolis in different sizes...
Right, back to the beads now - along with the Vitrail Light rivolis I found a couple of dark purple ones, so I just need to decide whether to go the silver or gold route...I may be some time...
Marg xx
But, 'silver lining' and all that - managed to get quite a bit more done on my ripple blanket, with the bonus of the already-crocheted rows keeping me warm as I worked on it!
The main drama over our holiday and when we got back is that unfortunately, Mr Fox paid a visit to our garden and took 6 of the 7 chickens, in the middle of the day! The 7th, 'Bloomers' (she's a Light Sussex hen, looking like this, with lots of voluminous white feathers round the top of her legs, so my crab-like brain immediately thought she looked like she was wearing a big pair of lace trimmed Victorian undermentionables, and named her Bloomers) survived by virtue of the fact that she was getting very broody before we went on holiday so we put her in a separate penned-in area with a nest box.
On a much happier note, Bloomers has since hatched 5 chicks, of various breeds/crosses (when we saw how broody she was, yet how few eggs of her own she was sitting on, we grabbed a few of the other hen's eggs and put them in her nest). They're 2-and-a-bit weeks old now and growing fast. I'm resisting the urge to attach myself too much just yet, but they seem to be doing very well. Haven't managed to get photos yet because the British summer is...well...not very sunny right now... (biting my tongue big-time there!) but will try and get some snaps soon while the chicks are still doing cute things like sitting on mum's back (cute to me, probably not so much to Bloomers...)
Have been busy with beads since getting back, have got a serious addiction to spiral herringbone right now! But have also been stringing, making some gemstone jewellery using beads from here - have only ordered from them a few times but each order has arrived seriously quickly and the beads lovely - a couple out of the last order were cracked near where they'd been drilled - one phone call later and all sorted and replacements included in with my latest order - so impressed with the customer service, which unfortunately in my experience is often 'ok' at best, but can also be completely absent! These guys will be getting my business again for sure.
Along with the herringbone weaving and stringing, when I was 're-organising' (!) I found a few rivolis I bought a while back and decided to try beading a bezel on them but trying to make a necklace as well as the earrings I usually use them in. Pretty happy with how the set turned out (couldn't resist returning to form and making the matching earrings!) The rivolis are 14mm Swarovski in colour 'Vitrail Light' (to be honest, I couldn't capture the bright 'plain' colours of the yarn in my ripple blanket as they actually look, so I haven't got a hope-in-Helsinki of showing these lovely rivolis off as they really are! But they're a lovely mixture of a soft pink and pale sage green, different at every different angle)
Next on my to-bead list is an idea I've got for a necklace with several rivolis in different sizes...
Right, back to the beads now - along with the Vitrail Light rivolis I found a couple of dark purple ones, so I just need to decide whether to go the silver or gold route...I may be some time...
Marg xx
Friday 1 June 2012
What to take?...
Just a quick post today as we're heading off to my MIL's caravan in Pembrokeshire first thing tomorrow, so today will be mostly packing and fretting about the many things that will undoubtedly be forgotten! The one thing that's going round and round in my head is what crafty things to take! As it's a long bank holiday weekend here, it will likely as not rain for much of our week-long holiday, so I want to make sure I've taken plenty to do and try to stop the cabin-fever setting in! Think I'll limit myself to a little stash of beads, thread and needles, and will also try to smuggle my ripple blanket & yarn into the car boot when DH isn't looking! (hopefully avoiding the inevitable 'HOW much are you taking?!?!...at least until we get there and unload the car!)
I'm a good way through the ripple now, using Lucy's neat ripple pattern, also her interlocking colours idea and Stylecraft Special DK - I had a good bit leftover from the granny stripe blanket, but the hungry ripple soon ate it's way through that so I had to buy more, oh dear... ;-) I got my last Stylecraft instalment at this lovely yarn shop that's in the same village my sister lives, the lady who owns it is so friendly and helpful, she even showed me a little bit of cable knitting which dispelled a lot of my fears about what seemed too complicated a stitch for me to cope with! Will definitely have to give it a try in a scarf or something else fairly easy when I next fancy a bit of knitting. I came out of the shop a very happy bunny indeed with two bags crammed full of yarn!
Right, best get back to the packing/craft-packing dilemmas now! Will just leave with a couple of photos of 'the boys' taken in Pembrokeshire last year on hols - the dogs absolutely love the sea, fingers crossed the weather will be as kind to us this year as it was last!
I'm a good way through the ripple now, using Lucy's neat ripple pattern, also her interlocking colours idea and Stylecraft Special DK - I had a good bit leftover from the granny stripe blanket, but the hungry ripple soon ate it's way through that so I had to buy more, oh dear... ;-) I got my last Stylecraft instalment at this lovely yarn shop that's in the same village my sister lives, the lady who owns it is so friendly and helpful, she even showed me a little bit of cable knitting which dispelled a lot of my fears about what seemed too complicated a stitch for me to cope with! Will definitely have to give it a try in a scarf or something else fairly easy when I next fancy a bit of knitting. I came out of the shop a very happy bunny indeed with two bags crammed full of yarn!
Right, best get back to the packing/craft-packing dilemmas now! Will just leave with a couple of photos of 'the boys' taken in Pembrokeshire last year on hols - the dogs absolutely love the sea, fingers crossed the weather will be as kind to us this year as it was last!
Marg xx
Monday 28 May 2012
Where to begin?...
Hi! Where/how to start?! I've been fretting over this very first blog post for quite some time now, but I guess I'd better just get on with it! I've been thinking of starting a blog for a while, but even so I'm still amazingly late to join the party! But it will be good to have a record of the places I visit and of my crafty exploits! The practice will hopefully also help with my currently questionable photography skills!
So, a few photos of things I've made over the last little while (and of the two dogs, I think they'll be making fairly regular appearances on here too)...
This Granny Stripe blanket was my first 'big' crocheted item, I saw the pattern on the wonderful Attic24 blog and knew I wanted to give it a try. Up until that point my crocheting skills were pretty much limited to granny squares, and until I saw this pattern I'd never even thought of using the same stitch but in a straight stripey pattern! DH blanched a little when he saw the amount and variety of colours going into the blanket (I think my colour choices had been a little more sombre up until this blanket!), but he seems to have come round, and the dogs certainly approve of it's snuggliness! This is Malcolm enjoying the blankie, he was a rescue dog so we can't be sure of his exact age and birthday, but he's a parson russell terrier so we're told and is around 11 years old now, and still as mad as when we first got him!
I've also just made one of the May Roses that Lucy at Attic24 has designed, crocheted a couple of the leaves to go with it, the stitched them all together and added a brooch pin to the back, but it's already been posted to my Nana in Yorkshire as I made it for her 92nd birthday tomorrow, and forgot to get a photo before I packaged it up! I was really happy with how it turned out though and how easy it was to follow the pattern, so I think I'll be making quite a few more of them, might even manage to make myself a brooch/hair clip/bag charm/all three!
Have been doing quite a bit of beading too over the last couple of months - made this necklace for a friend's wedding last weekend, with amethyst beads, a pink/coral coloured shell bead from a bracelet I bought and a couple of sections of twisted tubular herringbone weave using tiny size 15 seed beads
It matched my dress and was nice and comfy to wear, but it was a bit of a rushed job, so might have made it differently given more time! Might take it apart and re-make but we'll have to see - I'm already working on a new rope necklace and have got an idea for another, so it might be a while before I can get back to the amethyst one! This is the current WIP - twisted herringbone again, but this time with size 11's in two colours - don't think I'll make it too much longer, thinking it will look nice as a fairly short necklace
Well, there was me worrying about not knowing what to say in this scary first post, and have just realised have been waffling on for ages! But before I go I'll just add a picture of our other dog Scally, seeing as Malcolm got his piccie on when he was modelling the Granny Stripe blanket! Scally's a border collie/springer spaniel cross, so he's also delightfully bonkers and he's 4 years old:
Marg xx
So, a few photos of things I've made over the last little while (and of the two dogs, I think they'll be making fairly regular appearances on here too)...
This Granny Stripe blanket was my first 'big' crocheted item, I saw the pattern on the wonderful Attic24 blog and knew I wanted to give it a try. Up until that point my crocheting skills were pretty much limited to granny squares, and until I saw this pattern I'd never even thought of using the same stitch but in a straight stripey pattern! DH blanched a little when he saw the amount and variety of colours going into the blanket (I think my colour choices had been a little more sombre up until this blanket!), but he seems to have come round, and the dogs certainly approve of it's snuggliness! This is Malcolm enjoying the blankie, he was a rescue dog so we can't be sure of his exact age and birthday, but he's a parson russell terrier so we're told and is around 11 years old now, and still as mad as when we first got him!
I've also just made one of the May Roses that Lucy at Attic24 has designed, crocheted a couple of the leaves to go with it, the stitched them all together and added a brooch pin to the back, but it's already been posted to my Nana in Yorkshire as I made it for her 92nd birthday tomorrow, and forgot to get a photo before I packaged it up! I was really happy with how it turned out though and how easy it was to follow the pattern, so I think I'll be making quite a few more of them, might even manage to make myself a brooch/hair clip/bag charm/all three!
Have been doing quite a bit of beading too over the last couple of months - made this necklace for a friend's wedding last weekend, with amethyst beads, a pink/coral coloured shell bead from a bracelet I bought and a couple of sections of twisted tubular herringbone weave using tiny size 15 seed beads
It matched my dress and was nice and comfy to wear, but it was a bit of a rushed job, so might have made it differently given more time! Might take it apart and re-make but we'll have to see - I'm already working on a new rope necklace and have got an idea for another, so it might be a while before I can get back to the amethyst one! This is the current WIP - twisted herringbone again, but this time with size 11's in two colours - don't think I'll make it too much longer, thinking it will look nice as a fairly short necklace
Well, there was me worrying about not knowing what to say in this scary first post, and have just realised have been waffling on for ages! But before I go I'll just add a picture of our other dog Scally, seeing as Malcolm got his piccie on when he was modelling the Granny Stripe blanket! Scally's a border collie/springer spaniel cross, so he's also delightfully bonkers and he's 4 years old:
Marg xx
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