La Belle Helene

Crochet lace scarves

2012-01-24T19:55:00.000Z

Goodness, hasn't January just flown by? I'd best get blogging again - can't have last year's post sitting at the top this long! So how have you all been? The creative ideas flowing for 2012? I have had lots of experimental ideas going on but nothing actually finished as yet to show you. I'll take some progress pics as soon as the rain stops and the light is better so you can have a peek:) But I can show you a few crochet lace scarves that were being finished off for presents that had to remain under wraps then.

In all, I'm on my fourth one of these - yes, that pattern is addictive!! - and they are perfect as a tv project now I know the pattern. The stitch is one I found in a chinese stitch pattern book so just a diagram to work from but crochet symbols are universal so it's all good. I liked the openness of the fan construction and how it gave a lacy, delicate feel despite being 4ply or Dk weight yarn. I haven't tried a very thin fingering or lace weight with this yet - could be very interesting to see how that turns out. Light gossamer feel I think, but the pattern may be too uniform and repetitive on that finer scale. Worth a try though, don't you think?

This version uses Debbie Bliss silk and gives such a beautiful sheen and handle. Gorgeous and soft as a scarf too. I'm on my second silk version right now using the powder blue colourway - very yummy to work with. Shame it's an expensive yarn option! The green version above is a DK acrylic that's very soft to the touch. It crocheted up very quickly and made a slightly bulkier and snug scarf. Loving the 'appliness' of that green:) Is that a word?? :) Anyways, you know what I mean!

A little close up of the fan pattern for you. I haven't got any photos of the scarves on as yet to show you the length etc but they are little wrap around the neck ones which you can tuck into your jacket or pin with a brooch. I did consider permanent button fastenings but the scarf draped too much to make them stay in place nicely so I abandoned that idea pretty quickly. Would work well with a good strong cable wrap pattern though..... more ideas;)

So that's all the christmas stragglers done and dusted so now I can start off this year with new work and ideas that are on the go right now. Fingers crossed for decent light for photos tomorrow - a little experimentation and playing going on:))

Till then,

elaine x

Happy holidays!

2011-12-24T17:57:00.002Z

Time to put our feet up and enjoy some festive cheer - if you aren't already:) Happy Christmas / happy holidays to everyone. Best wishes to all of you and enjoy the holidays! I'll leave you for now with a little snippet of White Christmas. Still haven't managed to watch it yet but I will!!! So let's sit back and sing along..... ' I'm dreaming of a white christmas......' Ah, perfect! :)

Happy Christmas to you all, with lots of festive love,

elaine x

150 Hawaiian flowers - all done!

2011-12-23T18:42:00.004Z

Hurrah, Hurrah! At last the Hawaiian flower blanket is done - finished, complete! Woohoo!!! And all that time I put it aside thinking it would take ages to complete, it only took a week to finish. Nothing like a Christmas deadline to move into ultra fast crochet mode, lol! I decided to stop at 150 flowers and make this a small bed/lap sized blanket. I arranged them 10x15 for a balanced rectangle and each flower is about 10cm wide so overall measurements approx 1metre x 1.5 metres. The pattern is Hawaiian flowers by Sarah London and is so simple to do.

Although I chose a bright and colourful palette for my niece, a lovely subtle colour combination would work well too. Mmm, imagine charcoals, powder blues, or a subtle warm ochre palette - yum! I found the higher the contrast in colours for the last two rows the better the flowers popped. And the more I did the better I got at choosing the right colour to finish each flower off. I did lay out the flowers first before that last row so I could get a good balance in the blanket overall. Then I piled them up in order, in rows of 10 and linked them together as I went.

The linking is really clever too. You make a little picot loop at the top of each flower petal and use that to link the flowers in place as you go. So no ends to sew in, and it looks great. There is an issue with only linking the tips of the flowers - it doesn't give the blanket much strength as a whole - as in a bit floppy ;) But if you accept that this is just meant to be a decorative overblanket and not a sturdy throw, then it's all good. I have seen a version where they stitched the petals more firmly together but the flowers lost their curve and become more angular points which I didn't like much. As a blanket, the bigger it gets the more solidity it gains so.... something to consider. The edges seem the most vulnerable but you could consider a solid border. Personally I like the floaty fragility of the fairy petals:) and a good press on the wrong side once finished and the flowers lie flat nicely while retaining the final chained ridge for definition.

So 150 hawaiian flowers done at last. I put this on my king sized bed and it only covered about a third of the length but all of the width. So if anyone has the staying power to want a full sized bed throw, then it would have to be about 15 x 30 flowers....... 450 flowers??? Ummm, maybe not, lol! I'd get too bored. Look how long it took me to do just this size;))) But if you were wanting a tv project for the new year then this one would be a good contender. Easy and fun to do, simple pattern and very visually effective. The instructions are very simple to follow so you know exactly where you are at every stage - which is good if you put it down for a while and then have to refresh your head to remember exactly what you were doing:)

Right, now I think it's time to relax a bit and enjoy the build up to Christmas with a wee drink and some nibbles - and maybe just another Christmas movie or two..... have to watch White Christmas and the Muppet Christmas Carol to feel that Christmas is truly here!

elaine x

Encapsulating textiles

2011-11-20T00:01:00.001Z

Catherine Carr glass

Came across this lovely artwork on my travels this week - crochet and knitted lacework trapped in glass. This mixing of medias is something I thought about a while ago when I shared a workspace with a glass artist friend. It seemed to me then that the fusion of thread and glass couldn't work as the fibre would burn out in the high kiln temperatures, leaving only a ghost impression if anything at all so I abandoned it regretfully. But now, wow, this glass artist has perfected the fusing of the two. And how lovely her work is too.

Her website gives us a little information on her processes:

"Catherine Carr Crochets & Knits with Glass.
Each piece has been individually knitted or crocheted by hand. They are then heated and manipulated through several firings at a very high temperature, eventually emerging as a formed glass vessel. Because of this hand crafted process, all the pieces are original and individual with no two being exactly the same.
By applying these traditional skills to an innovative process of recycled glass products she produces beautiful and delicate lace structures in which each individual stitch can be seen and where the openwork design casts striking dappled shadows."

The problem for textiles has always been one of strength for 3 Dimensional forms and for my filigree vessels I've played with wire as a core, varnish, pva, starch and am now considering resin - with varying degrees of success. But if the delicacy could be trapped in glass..... well now, that's a whole new avenue to explore. My mind is awhirl with the possibilities!

Now just how does she do it?? If anyone has any ideas, please do contact me while I go and ask my glass artist friend if she has any solutions:) If I find out, watch this space;))

elaine x

Synchronicity

2011-11-04T19:03:00.000Z

One lucky day

I've been thinking a lot recently about where my work is going. Creatively, makers are always analysing their work, developing and refining ideas as they go, progressing onto the next exciting path that suggests itself and fires the imagination and creative juices. Maybe me more that most? As I do love the journey just as much as the outcome, hehe:) On reflection, I think I've spent most of this year seriously considering the 'why' of making, doing what I do. Not that I could stop - no! It's too much a part of me, who I am, but more a question of are you doing what you really want to do - truly, honestly? You can be enjoying the creative journey but suddenly realise that you are still compromising on the dream. Still not having the perfect 100% fit that suits YOU, that unique individual creative path that is just right for you. And ultimately that is the point of being creative, being true to yourself, the 'why' to creating, whether it's music, art or the written word, that connection from the soul.

Not that what I've been creating is not me - it's all an evolving process - but it's more like I'm changing my perceptions of what my dreams are, or who I want to be as a creative person, and my ideas for my work are correspondingly changing too. Like stepping outside the box and realising it's just one box layered inside many other boxes :) We do so many things in life on automatic - grocery shopping lists that don't really vary much, the food we cook - our habitual routines tend to get somewhat fixed, rather than thinking about what we would like to be eating or doing with our creative time. And on a larger scale, actually looking at and considering what you truly want out of your life. The gradual realisation that you need to get out of any ruts and recognise things that are holding you back from being the most authentic self you can be.

Which can lead to all sorts of interesting thoughts like what really are your dreams and aspirations as well as those more damaging ones that creep in like self critical thinking about time lost, self sabotage, blinkered vision, lack of self worth or self belief - all negative and not helpful to the positive mindset you need to be truly creative in the first place. But it's good to take stock in life, and sometimes change is needed to help get out of those self-imposed ruts:) I like to think this means I'm gaining a little maturity in my thinking rather than having a mid-life crisis :)))

Well, this post went off on a tangent I wasn't expecting! All because of synchronicity. I was reading a post today about why we blog and how the balance can get skewed where we end up serving the blog rather than it being a means of expressing who we are - another habit, another rut to lift ourselves out of:) Interesting reading if you are a maker and a blogger. And synchronicity because it occurred just as I have been considering artistic direction and giving things a good shake up;) The consideration of why do I blog has now added to the thoughts of why do I make? And more importantly who am I making for? Me or the market? Am I compromising my dream accordingly? It's that old chestnut any artist/maker considers at one point or another and my answer has always been that the work should reflect your passion, your uniqueness and that love will come across in your work. Keeping the faith that with skill, uniqueness and a little market savvy, your work will sell because of the heart and soul in it. Maybe idealistic to some but that's what I think it has to be for me anyway so I don't feel I am compromising myself or my work.

Ok, lightbulb moment - I've just answered my own question about blogging:)) And the same philosophy applies to the bigger picture as well. How to live your dreams. Sometimes I make it more complex that it really is and discover I knew the answer deep down all along. Now I've just got to master the trick of recognising and being authentically true to myself!

It will be interesting seeing how this affects the direction of my work, life and my blog;) over the next wee while. I've been blogging less - you may have noticed! - when there was no work to show or little creative mojo going on, which, to be honest has been most of this year, on and off. And I miss blogging, talking and interacting with you all. So, times they are a changin:) Maybe less actual work to be shown at the moment but there is more to talk about here than just that - fab work others have created that is truly inspiring, inspiration from many people and places, maybe tutorials, as well as music, films, sunny days and hot chocolates, and the odd philosophical musings and meanderings on life (which turn into very long blog posts:)

Thank you for listening my friends ;) I would love to hear your thoughts and musings on this too. Till next time, elaine x

eeny, meeny, miny, mo

2011-10-19T16:47:00.000+01:00

Vivian

I've been doing a little re-organising of my room this week and as usually happens, I found a bag or three of unfinished knitting projects stashed away. I've been slowly working through my unfinished projects so I kinda knew these were lurking around but now all the accessories like bags, gloves and socks are complete, all that's left are the biggies. The garments. There are 3 tops sitting there in various stages of completion - Durrow, Jaden and Vivian.

Maybe this time I will get around to actually finishing one of them. With my track record, I'm being realistic sticking at only one:) And maybe, just maybe, I'll get on a roll and finish them all? Stranger things have happened! Each one is at a different stage. Vivian above is quite a complex pattern and I know the reason it got stashed was I made a mistake in the cabling so it will require ripping back and a lot of patience to fix. Either that or just start again. I was reluctant to take such drastic measures last time as it took me sooo long just to get that far, lol! Now, it seems less relevant so maybe I'll start again. It would probably be quicker than tinkering with all those cables and moss sts. But then, I do like a challenge.... :)

Durrow

Durrow, on the other hand is nearly finished. Both front and back panels of rib are done and I only need to complete the sleeves. The sleeves are a lovely fine cabled celtic looking design which should be fun to knit and as it's a chunky yarn, hopefully quickly too. Strong contender for first back on the needles.

Jaden

And Jaden. This lace top is more of an autumnal/fall knit so I really should be wearing it now. It has nearly both sides done but I messed up the pattern decreases on one. I can't remember if this meant I had to take the second lace panel back or whether I had past caring at that point:) Would be a strong contender except I feel guilty that this is the only one I was knitting for myself and I really should get the others done first. Maybe I'll indulge it as second on the list.

Right. I've decided....... Durrow it is. Needles to the ready!

Happy stripes

2011-10-15T17:32:00.002+01:00

Dearie me! I'd completely forgotten to blog about these other stripey gloves I was knitting. I think the last time I posted about these was last november - crikey! I didn't realise they'd been on the needles for quite so long! Well, about time they were finished and had their ta-da moment:)

They are based on the same pattern as the previous stripey armwarmers but I decided to make more work for myself and add fingers as well. And I do like how the little blocks of colour have worked out visually. The fingers are a little neat on the stitch count using the given pattern but as I have small hands anyway it worked for me. If you wanted to add some more sts, you could cast on a few more on either side of each finger as you start to knit in the round. Will work out nicely that way.

The yarn I used for these is Wendy's Happy - capricorn colourway. The colours are lovely and it self stripes so not too many ends for changing colours on the whole. I had to cut the colours for the fingers to get much smaller sections of colour so lots more ends to sew in around the fingers - which with this being a bamboo and nylon mix isn't so good at hiding the threads. I also found it made the fingers feel a little constricted where the threads were too. Not so happy with that aspect so something to watch out for next time.

As much as I love these colours, I don't think I would use a bamboo mix yarn for a gloves project again. It seems obvious that gloves need a little elasticity to fit but also to hold them up on your arm and with bamboo that nice give is missing. In fact, it's annoying. I'm finding the gloves have a tendancy to slide a little down from the elbow and after a good bit of wear look a little baggy. Not the desired look really! A wash would reshape them or a damp spray and shaping but I've been warned that this yarn has a tendancy to lose a lot of its colour intensity in the wash so I'm reluctant to try! All that lovely colour down the drain - I think I'll try a damp spray just in case! That and some hidden elastic thread around the cuff;) Just a thought!

Despite all that, they're still going to be fun to wear this winter. I still have 2 x half balls left so maybe a scarf in the pipeline? Hmm, maybe a textured chevron stripe? Suggestions anyone? Righty-ho, off to have a gander through Ravelry to see if anything takes my fancy.

Back soon! elaine x

Stripes!

2011-09-27T21:46:00.000+01:00

Time for a little catching up on projects. There are quite a few finished or nearly finished things going on at the moment that I haven't shown you yet - like these stripey armwarmers. They've been finished since last christmas but I just hadn't got around to taking photographs - sad but true. I completely forgot about them until I wanted to turn this pattern into gloves. The yarn is Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball - tropical colourway - and it really is as bright as the photo - yum! I do love the graduating colours and the contrasting stripe effect. So much so that I think these will stay mine instead of a present :) Bright and cheery gloves are a must when the colder weather is drawing nearer - although I'm not dwelling too much on that thought for now!

There is a slight difference in the colour blending if you compare each glove closely but I actually like the difference. Maybe not technically perfect but it gives them more character I think. Wow, me saying I can live without perfectionism, lol! Take note, it might not happen that often:) The alternate stripes are achieved using the same ball from either end starting with a strong contrasting colour - the aqua and the orange. This means though that somewhere along the line the colours meet. I did have to edit the where the two colours crossed over so yellow didn't meet yellow coming the other way but I just broke the yarn and took as much as I needed out to get back to a decent contrast again - hence the slight difference on each glove.

The pattern itself is a basic 4ply armwarmer shape with 2 regular decreases every 6 rows down to the wrist. I used a pattern designed by Brigids Hearth which you can find here. I chose to have a rib cuff at the top and a roll top edge at the fingers but you could have whatever you wanted really. I've now tried the roll top edge instead of the rib on my pink gloves - which are to follow soon - but it doesn't work that successfully, needs a bit of grip to hold it in place. Heyho:) We live and learn!

It's meant to be sunny tomorrow so maybe good light for more photo taking of new works in progress. There's a decorative crochet panel I'm toying with as well that I'm itching to develop further so I'll keep you posted on its progress as I go too.

Thanks for popping by today,

elaine x

Whole lotta knitting going on....

2011-09-10T19:52:00.000+01:00

The weather has been truly appalling this week so I've been indoors a lot planning and designing more than working on existing pieces. And although I could sit comfortably in the living room with a good film, I tend to find sitting at my computer with a decent space to put all my bits and bobs is more conducive to getting me in the creative ideas mindset. Kind of like a workstation where I focus on just work. It also helps that I can play music, browse Pinterest for new images and share them with you on my new facebook page - and probably check facebook and e-mails more than I really need to. But it's all part of the creative process, isn't it? :)

Also this weather reminds me that I can't really pretend there is anything left of summer :) and warmer, snuggly knitting is creeping back into my making list. This little project is just an experiment into the construction of armwarmers and the use of graduating colour, primarily using stripes. I love the contrasting colourways and how such a simple thing like changing proportions of colour can dramatically affect the whole look of the finished piece.

The three gloves above are all based on the same pattern using fingering weight sock yarns. The front two are Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball - colourway tropical fish, and the back pink/purpley striped yarn is Happy - capricorn colourway by Wendy. The wendy is a bamboo/nylon mix and it turned out much bigger and has no elasticity. Such a bad choice for gloves that should stay up your arm! But they look good so I'll keep them for myself. If anything they won't let me forget that lesson - probably every time they slip down, hehe.

But they are quite quick to knit up if you are using a pre-striped or graduating yarn. And no ends to sew in! The pattern is just a generic armwarmer/long glove pattern for 4ply/fingering yarns with regular decreases but what I'm really interested in is how I can take this form and manipulate it into something completely new construction-wise as well as playing with colour. And dyeing some graduated yarns specifically for this, of course:)

But the dyeing will have to wait a few days as all this rain has flooded the shed again so everything has to dry out before dyeing can recommence. Not a big worry though as everything is already up off the ground due to this happening at least twice a year, lol! But on the good side, I can stay nice and toasty inside and take advantage of the time to design some more. Who knows what will come out of it? I don't know either but it will be fun finding out;)

Back soon, elaine x

La Belle Helene on Facebook

2011-09-07T18:27:00.000+01:00

Sometimes there are just so many interesting things out there that don't seem to make it into a blog post - inspiring photos, tutorials, blogs, artwork, costume, pattern, design, architecture... So many things inspire us to create, experiment, explore and develop our ideas on the path to finding our own unique individual creative voice. So I've been busy these last few days setting up a new facebook page that pulls together all these elements - things I come across on a daily basis that inspire, excite and feed the creative journey for me.

It's been interesting to discover I seem to need both outlets creatively - the blog gives me the opportunity to go into much more detail about my work, the processes, techniques, materials and experimentation I enjoy whereas the facebook news page is more like little creative bulletins of inspiration, links, daily work updates etc.

It is also a great forum for conversation, discussion, sharing our creative thoughts together too so I'd love it if you could pop over and join my page so I can get to know you all and share the journey with you ;) If facebook is not your thing, no worries. My blog still remains the heart of my creative journey where I can document my progress, my thoughts, my ideas and development - with you. The facebook page is more of a daily creative resource if you feel you'd enjoy following:)

You can find the like button and page link below or use the facebook box in the sidebar. I look forward to seeing you all over on Facebook!

lace inspiration

2011-08-26T16:52:00.002+01:00

Lace parasol - created by Lenta

I've been browsing a lot online this week and keep getting drawn to the gorgeous lace designs that are out out there right now. So I thought I'd share a few inspiring projects with you that have taken my fancy. First, this beautiful parasol on Ravelry - I love how it uses such a simple motif to achieve such complexity in the overall design. And, of course, it makes me want to try and deconstruct the pattern so I can gauge the tension and construction elements to create a new design of my own.

You may remember I attempted something like this not so long ago and after several attempts of working out the tension for the filet, clusters and shell sts, it got abandoned and now sits languishing in a corner. But now I'm fired up again and ready to have some hooky fun. I think I should have used the proper crochet cotton as the sock yarn gave it a fuzzy look, not crisp and clean like I wanted so I'll have to rummage and see what I have to get started. Anyway, it will probably take me a little while to work out the pattern construction, which gives me plenty of time to get some cotton and do a bit of creative dyeing too. Yay!

Spanish peacock shawl - by MandaKR

The other beautiful design I found was this fine 2ply lace shawl - just wow! The actual pattern is designed by the amazing Meg Swanson called Spanish Peacock Shawl and this version is just stunning. I've always appreciated these circular shawls but haven't been tempted to make one till now. But I should really be thinking about making presents for that major event at the end of the year - don't want to mention xmas quite yet:) Not when I'm still hoping for a little late summer, lol! Still, this has jumped pretty much to the top of my to-do list.

Now, let's work out that crochet lace - chains, clusters and most importantly tension:) see you all soon, hopefully with a little more regularity than the rest of this month!

A happy, creative day to you all!

elaine x

Following your muse

2011-08-04T15:08:00.011+01:00

Source: stumbleupon.com via Elaine on Pinterest

Quote for the day found on Pinterest - no link to original owner to give credit but lovely!

This little quote typifies my week so far. I've been having a good physical and mental creative clearout - having a good hard look at my working and thinking habits and deciding what should stay and what should go. Quite, quite liberating. I mean, who knew I had so much fleece but haven't done felting for years? Do I still want to and would it matter if it wasn't there any more? Answer - YES. So what's stopping you getting around to felting? No organised space. Ok, no space you say? Then we have to make do with what we have and think carefully about how it is used.

So that's what I've been doing, cleaning house so to speak and deciding what stays, what is stored and what isn't needed anymore. Granted the last pile isn't that big as I know I WILL use most of my materials and equipment again, even if it isn't right now. The trick is squeezing it all in the space I have without overstuffing it but still having enough room to work comfortably. It feels like trying to put a duvet quilt back into its original packaging once it's been opened and fluffed up - damned tricky:)

I think if you are a maker, becoming a hoarder of materials comes naturally - especially if you use a lot of mixed media. You end up collecting bits of everything that could be interesting to incorporate into a collage someday:) Ribbon, buttons, old keys, luggage tags, fibres, yarn, fleece, pressed leaves, beads, wire, fabric scraps, letraset, stamps, ..... And equipment! - heat gun, sewing machines, knitting machines, looms, dye pots, wax pot, etc.... It all builds up and takes over your house, shed, loft :)

But it's the mental clutter it creates as well. It's good to know you have an arsenal of creative skills under your belt but sometimes it can cause confusion when you want to start a new body of work or get back into the swing of things again. That and the fear of becoming a 'jack of all trades, master of none'. If I spend all my time switching from one technique to another, then am I sacrificing that time when I should have been becoming proficient in just one skill? And then I remember, that is who I AM, work with it:) I am becoming proficient at being creative in my own way that is unique to me, so don't even give it another thought. NOPE!

It's a bit like a creative identity crisis from conditioning by society and creative teachers at college. They give you a framework that you should fit and I always remember thinking 'this model doesn't feel right for me' but you carry on persevering 'cause that's the way the creative process should be. So years later, you carry about old labels and images of yourself in your head - I'm a weaver, no, a knitter now, no, a teacher, no, a mixed media artist.....When I really should stop trying to shoehorn myself into a label. Creativity doesn't fit nicely into a labelled box, it tends to slop all over the sides and organically morph into new combinations and ideas. And that's what is so great about it. Following your muse and seeing where it takes you - the techniques and materials are just tools to get you there. Why not be all of these and more? Shrug off all that old conditioning and be who you are meant to be.

So what I really learned this week was that I am a patchwork of my creative experiences and although I probably don't need 4 or 5 knitting machines right now, I do need to make the knitter, designer, teacher, artist, part of the new creative me on the next stage of the journey. Sometimes a clearout helps you rediscover some jewels that have been lying hidden for all those years:) Time to use them and see where the muse takes me.

Inspirational

2011-07-24T12:55:00.001+01:00

Source: blog.freepeople.com via Elaine on Pinterest

Been playing around with Pinterest - a lovely online site where you can look through and save inspiring photos to your own pinboards. You can look through others collections, be inspired by photography, architecture, interiors, costumes, jewellery, artwork, textiles, colour, fabrics, yarn..... oh the list is endless! So that is where I've managed to lose a lot of time this weekend ;) It's also free to join, just click the invite button then look for the e-mail to join in your inbox. Then you can start pinning lots of pictures. This is addictive and to be honest I would have been on longer if my computer wasn't so slow processing the pages of photos. (anyone else have this problem? Interested to know so I can maybe stop blaming my computer if you do, lol!)

This pic took my fancy as a simple but lovely project for lights. As long as the bulb isn't too hot, I'd say this should be beautiful and practical. I love the see-through silks, just lovely. You could paint or dye your own silks too and it doesn't have to be patchwork, although I do love the boldness of the larger sections in these. Or you could cut-out sections filigree style, lacework dyed and stitched together? Mmmm, lots of ideas ;) Unfortunately there is no mention where this originally came from on the web so I can't give credit but passing on inspiring photos such as this here and through Pinterest is credit well deserved.

There is some making going on behind the scenes but nothing far enough along to show as yet as I'm spending too much time online looking at inspirational photos! A bit of decent light for photos today and I should have some Finished Objects to show you that for some reason haven't managed to get onto the blog as yet - like the lonely sock and some yummy stripey armwarmers. Also feel some pattern writing coming on...... not had that mojo for a while. Let's see where it goes today! Bye now!

Musings on a rainy day

2011-07-20T19:09:00.000+01:00

It's raining again but it's a softer kind of mizzle - mist/drizzle all wrapped up together. The cars are swishing by through the puddles, sounds outside are quite muted and it has a quiet, soporific feel, inviting you to relax for a bit in a comfy chair with a warm cuppa. I'm wondering if there is a good film on that I could lose myself in whilst comfort knitting. Might have to get out the dvd's and find an oldie....

You know what I really feel like doing today? Spinning. Out of the blue, not planned, and it's not as if I really need to start anything else new with so many things already on my to-do list. But it seems to fit this afternoon perfectly. I'll have to dust off the spinning wheel as it has been quite a while. In fact, there is a roving still being spun on it so that should be rectified immediately :) So I'm going to follow my muse today and just 'be'. I always find spinning quite meditative - keeping the hands busy whilst letting the mind wander off wherever it likes.

So a nice pile of roving to get stuck into. Now, just need to put the kettle on...... what does it matter if it's raining when there is good fibre yumminess to enjoy? Back soon with some spun yarn maybe? Enjoy your day!

Inspiration

2011-07-16T16:30:00.001+01:00

Creatively, actual making has been a bit thin on the ground this week as the re-organisation of tables and working space carries on. But I don't mind as it's giving me time to consider just where my creative input should be focused on. There is something so refreshing about a clearout - it gets you out of habitual thinking and allows you to look at your work and ideas with fresh eyes. Colour palettes, techniques, materials, we all have old favourites we fall back into using without always considering why or if it's the best choice. So I've been browsing my books, researching ideas and surfing online to find new inspiration to add to the creative melting pot, so to speak. And on my bookshelf was this book I re-discovered 'The Painted Quilt' by Linda and Laura Kemshall.

I featured this on my blog when it first came out - oh, 2007?? Yikes! But I still feel inspired every time I pick it up and get lost in the visuals. The combination of print, stitch, dyeing, colours and layers of visual language are just sumptuous and so distinctive in style. It made me realise that I love working with all aspects of markmaking - the texture, colour, layering, embelllishment, relief - 2or3D, fabrics, papers, experimentation, building up complexities using mixed media. And as much as I like my filigree vessels, they don't convey as much to me as these textile pieces do. It's the process of discovering new things that attracts me more than the outcome. I know all this about myself but sometimes being visually reminded is a good jolt back onto your true creative path.

I came away feeling full of inspiration and possibilities which lead to me realising my workspace didn't cater for messy materials like monoprinting or mixed media, hence the clearout and prioritising of space. Synchronicity has a lot to do with this too as I got offered two sturdy wooden tables for my workshop just at the same time. Of course I had to say yes :) A girl can't have enough messy worksurface in her shed! But something as simple as a change of furniture meant I had been unconsciously limiting myself creatively before then due to my lightweight 'that will have to do for now table'. Interesting how just a few changes open up so many possibilities.

So if you are feeling in a rut creatively, maybe a re-organising of your space or work habits will get your creative juices flowing again too in new and more exciting ways. You just never know where the muse will take you!

Red poppies

2011-07-07T17:24:00.000+01:00

Well, back inside today doing a spot of tidying up and re-organising my work space - commonly known as procrastination! - since the sun has decided to disappear and the clouds are making everything look grey and cool. Not summer at all! So to remind me of the sunshine, I thought I would show you these lovely red poppies that appeared in the garden this year. A neighbour down the road has some ginormous poppies in their front garden and I can only think the wind has kindly blown some seeds our way to give us these beauties. We've had so much wind and rain these last few days though, I was frightened the petals would be blown off before I could get out there with my camera. But I was lucky:)

Three out so far and loads of buds waiting for some more sunshine to bloom. One of these would fill the palm of your hand easily and mmmmm, the colours! I feel a purpley-red yarn begging to be dyed just looking at the centre detail and the intensity of that red. Now, what could I use that for???? Mind is whirring with possibilities!

I thought I'd wander around the garden to see what else has come out in bloom over the last week. Mostly the bright orange lilies which are settling in their new home very well this year and have many more flowers waiting to open too. Funny thing about these lilies. I split the overlarge original plant last year and planted two new plants further up the garden. This one above has kept the strong orange colour but has a much more complex flower centre - a double lily even, a flower within the flower.

You can see it better in this close-up. But the second plant has done something strange. It is a much simpler bell shaped lily with paler colouring and distinctive markings. Both the same plant, honest! It must be the soil or that one gets less sun than the other? But it's really interesting how plants do this - fascinating.

Now I just have to wait for the mother plant to flower now to see which genes the children have inherited :))

Well, back to tidying and actually getting some work done. Quite a few things to show you on the needles at the moment too so back soon with something stripey.... :)

Filigree circles

2011-07-04T15:57:00.002+01:00

As promised, I have photos of the filigree circles vessel for you :) Although it still needs some more height and more considered shaping when I get nearer to the top, I think it's working out quite well so far. I didn't like the randomness of the dyed yarns at first but it's growing on me more now when you see it all assembled in the round.

A wee bit closer for you. Each side of the circles has a distinct look from the crochet chain. In the last vessels I deliberately matched like for like and then decided which side would be the 'right' side but I've decided to mix them as another layer of textural interest going on. It's amazing how more relaxed you can be creatively when you've already decided that this is a tester so it doesn't have to meet the standards you automatically set yourself - and it's working out so much better because of it. So everything is a tester from now on :))

And a lot closer now;) Circles within circles. You can see a bit more of the crochet definition and the graduating colours in this one too. I am still mulling over whether I like the 'perfect' circles the wire creates v's the more organic circular shapes created without a core.... practical support v's aesthetics.... but why not room for both? :)

And the last one using the light to create shadow circles on the table. So far this is a simple vessel/bowl shape but I think it has the potential to morph and grow into so much more. Thinking of lots of interesting 3D forms..... Thank you everyone for your supportive and helpful comments here and on flickr. It really helps me along the creative path as I develop these ideas of mine.

Let's see where it goes from here, shall we?

elaine x

Ongoing circles....

2011-06-29T18:30:00.000+01:00

Just a quick progress check for you to see what I've been up to the last few days. The last time these crocheted circles made an appearance was away back at the end of february. Seems such a long time ago now. But I've been working on them on and off, crocheting and stitching away slowly, building up ideas and enough circles to make something with. This piece is more of an experiment - with a different type of wire (fail), with the length of dyed repeats (...maybe), and using families of regular circles to create the overall look. Mixed results so far.

It's not been in a hurry to emerge this one, just quietly ambling alongside all the other projects that have quickly come and gone. This month though, it has suddenly looked as if it is 'progressing' which gave me a spur to get working on it again! It's beginning to take on a 3D form and I've been taking newer photos today, playing with the form, light and shadows again so we'll be able to see them soon.

But for now, you can see the work in progress - my messy table! It's still not finished, still morphing and giving me new surface and 3D ideas which I'll have to get down on paper before I forget them:) - I think more time has gone into my ideas sketchbook than on the final piece so far:)) To help maintain its 3D shape it will need a bit more height and since all these circles in the photo are now used up, it could well be time to get back to creating wire circles and plan a little more crochet.

I'm also getting the urge to dye more yarns to use for these forms so lots planned for you to see soon :)

A long rambling walk

2011-06-26T18:17:00.002+01:00

The sun is shining and the day is so beautiful that I just couldn't stay inside for another minute! Today, I decided, is a day for a lovely long rambling walk - with camera in tow. It's a truly mild, balmy day with a little breeze to stop you from getting too hot or sunburned so perfect really. So outside we go away from all the noise and people and absorb nature's ambience:) Want to come?

In real terms, this lovely place isn't far from my house, I can see it from the window - so no travelling needed, just across the road, and down a wee lane and then you can wander and enjoy. In Cornwall there are a lot of old mining sites with pools and engine houses now merging back into nature, softening the stark industrial look these places would once have had. Now this man made lake is a haven for a huge array of birds, butterflies and plants. More like a nature reserve really. I always think this engine house would make a perfect artists studio - think of all the light coming in that top window space! And the view! Shame it's a listed heritage building!

Moving a bit to the left of the building you can see the reed beds and nesting places of the multitude of birds - except there wasn't a bird in sight for the camera today. I think they were enjoying the balmy breeze and soaring on the warm thermals. Can't blame them:) I can hear the buzzards crying way up high and some seagulls have come inland a bit too - noisy lot!

Back on our walk, we move away from the lake and climb up the hill to the top to see the view. Don't have a panoramic button on my camera but from here you can view Cornwall pretty much 360 degrees. Past the moorland, rolling over the checkered fields and trees and way into the distance. To the left is the south coast towards St Austell, to the right you can see St Agnes and Newquay. In front here, you can see very faintly the hills and dips looking over towards St Ives and Lands End. Beautiful. I stopped here for a bit and just enjoyed the peacefulness of the place.

After dragging myself away, we follow the path back down and along, passing banks of gorgeous Rosebay Willow Herb. I love these flowers and remember them everywhere as a child. They just seem so colourful and expansive, filling their space in the world. Hardy, robust but delicate all at the same time. I would have this filling my garden if it wouldn't take over and submerge everything in a world of pink!

We pass more and more pink and I finally manage to get a close-up without the wind blowing madly. I think it was deliberate:) Every time I would click, a gust of wind would suddenly appear to blur the photo. But I got one! Right beside the last place I want to show you on my little walk - the pool.

Hidden away off the track is another pool, surrounded by trees and has the feeling of an undiscovered treasure. You have to wade through a lot of bracken and brambles to get here but it is so worth it. You feel enveloped as if you have entered a secret safe haven. It's very peaceful and there is little noise other than the drone of bees visiting the flowers. Sigh of contentment. I could sit here for ages, just watching the water ripple or listen to the trees gently rustling in the breeze. It reminds me of 'Swallows and Amazons' a book I used to read when I was young, where the characters played on the water in small wooden boats with bright red sails, camping on the shore underneath the trees in an idyllic childhood of bygone days. This pool so reminds me of how I imagined that story all those years ago.

And then the world re-asserts itself and it's time to go home. Back through the bracken and past the lovely pink hedgerows, past the lake with its reedbeds, noisy seagulls and lonely engine house, with everyday noises increasing as you go. Soon the path rejoins the rest of the world and we are back home again, still savouring our little adventure. Just what you need to recharge your creative batteries ready to get going on some new work and ideas.

I'll be back soon enough though, to enjoy it all another day:)

150 flowers done!

2011-06-24T18:19:00.000+01:00

A little bit of crochet and the last row of flowers are done! Feeling good now. 150 flowers all ready to crochet into the finished blanket - at last! This is the bit I've been waiting for; the balancing of the coloured edgings against all the other flowers in situ - should be fun:) I might not be able to see the floor for a few days/weeks, but at least it will look colourful! I also have a feeling the cat will decide that this blanket should belong to her....of course;) I will try to catch her on the camera sneaking into prime comfy position - right in the centre, I'm thinking!

The weather here is very wet and dismal today so perfect for snuggling inside for some hooky time. Now, just need to find a good film to watch and I can get started. No deadline for this really but I need to get back on a roll and keep the crochet mojo going;) I haven't seen any finishing rows/borders on other versions of this - maybe nearer the time crochet blanket experts may have some suggestions for me? Maybe it won't look as if it needs one..... but all ideas would be very welcome!

Righty-ho, I'm off for some flower hooky fun. Starting the count - 149, 148, 147...... :)) See you all soon with another update!

143 hawaiian flowers - nearly there!

2011-06-21T20:39:00.002+01:00

Today the sun came out again after a very grey, wet and windy week. At last! The sun can make you feel so much better can't it? And this being the longest day today - summer solstice - it felt fitting that it should feel like summer at least;) Anyway, the sun came shining in the window and brightened up a pile of crochet stashed in a shelf waiting to be finished. The hawaiian flower blanket! Yes, all the pretty little flower motifs were glowing brightly and shouting 'Finish me! You know there isn't much to do....' and you know? they're right!

Half the problem with this project was I hadn't decided just what size I intended to make at the start. It swung from being a cot blanket to a kingsize throw - in a giddy moment of enthusiasm:) - then swiftly back again when I realised just how many motifs I would need for that large a project! So I decided to count the flowers and see just how many I would need to turn this UFO into a ta-da baby blankie. 143 is the count so far, but what size is that in real baby blanket terms? Hadn't a clue so I ran upstairs and laid out all the motifs on the bed to see the scale so far......

Forgive the photos - the sun being out for once affected the tones of the bright colours. Weird. Anyway, this is what 143 flowers looks like. I get 10 x 14 rows with 3 remaining flowers. I would say that looked big enough to me;)) So I've decided to go for 10x15, crochet another 7 flowers and call it DONE!

It will still need the final round of edging to create the petal look which means I can join as I go rather than have lots of ends to sew in afterwards. Well, that's the theory. And it will make it a little bigger - possibly, although I have left gaps in the layout to compensate for that final edging. I think it will look nice and jolly once it's all done - and I won't feel guilty every time I look at that shelf now:))

I'll keep you posted....;)

A bit of progress....

2011-06-16T17:51:00.002+01:00

There's been lots of loom tlc being going on this last week or so - the loom has been de-rusted, all the headles put back in their place and restrung with a shockingly white cord :) and the wood has been waxed and polished in layers till it's shining. Seems such a quick process summed up in one sentence but I seemed to be working on it over quite a few days.

Here she is, the little 4 shaft table loom all polished and looking a lot better than she did. See the dazzlingly white cord? :) I think the longest part was having to split and count the headles equally after cleaning and putting them all back on the 4 shafts again. Boring job so I grabbed some music to sing along to which made it seem a much quicker process, lol! I didn't need to sand or varnish the wood after all either as the beeswax polish worked into the surface really well and got rid of the water stains I had been worrying about. Seems they were only varnish deep - yay!

One thing still to do before I can get weaving again is to replace the cloth on the front and back beams. Ok, it's looking grubby but on unraveling, I found the fabric is brittle and perishing. Given that this loom is probably a good 40 years old, maybe more, I think the original fabric has done well! So I have some new, sturdy fabric ready to be cut, sewn and stapled back into place. Nearly there! Then I have the longer task of refreshing my memory on double weave - that could take considerably longer than the loom fixing. I think I need to have a really good app for my brain to retrieve all that info from years ago, lol! They probably will in about 50 years time but till then at least I have the internet:)

Just have to stop getting distracted by socks and 3D crochet vessels.... more on that to come :)

Have a good day whatever you're doing!

The lonely sock....

2011-06-13T17:32:00.002+01:00

As many of you know, I seem to fall victim to the deadly second sock syndrome on a regular basis :) I can race through one sock but fail to muster enough oomph to continue onto the second. I enjoy the challenge of the new pattern or technique but not the repetition of it - hence a lot of single socks, gloves, mitts and armwarmers are hibernating all over the place in their incomplete state, making me feel guilty every time I rediscover one.

So last friday, when I was looking around for an easy knit in the evening, I stumbled across this poor, lonely single 2x4 rib sock I started. No specific pattern for this one as I just knitted a basic toe-up sock with a short row heel and added a simple rib to compliment the busy hand painted yarn. The yarn isn't one of my dyed yarns:), it's from Zitron Trekking's hand art range. I've had it for quite a while and it's been tried out with a few sock patterns with little success. I love the randomness of the colour drifts but it always fights even the simpler patterns so rib it was destined to be.

Because this is for a gift, I increased my stitch count to 66 sts instead of my customary 60 to fit a large womans/small mans sock size. (If you needed to decrease or increase the size, just work with a multiple of 6 and knit as long as you need to the heel.) The sole is smooth, the top is ribbed and after the heel shaping, the rib is continued in the round for as high as you want to make them. The cuff is a nice stretchy 1x1 rib and the bind off is extra loose. I remind myself every time and still I always have to unpick the bind off. I think I'm knitting it soooo loose and then when you try and get the damn thing on it gets stuck at the heel :)) So, for me loose means looooose!

So, progress so far on the second sock? You will be proud of my staying power! I knitted all friday, saturday and a little of sunday night and I have raced through the cast on, zoomed up the sole, conquered the heel and am now on the home straight up to the cuff. Wooo! See what I can do when I just get past that second sock syndrome? :)

So now the lonely sock might actually become a matching pair after all :)

Diagonal silk bag

2011-06-07T18:01:00.003+01:00

While the headles from the loom are de-rusting in a basin of some acetic acid (brilliant for rust btw), I thought I'd show you one of the projects that has been finished recently. Now this one really deserved to be finished a long time ago and has been sitting in the hibernation pile for I think several years, which was silly as once I got started again it was such a quick knit. The only thing that stopped me at the time was the tendancy for the silk yarn to break at thin bits and drop stitches. Trying to find and and fix dropped stitches with such a scrappy yarn repeatedly made me sideline it until I could either think of a way to prevent the problem or gather enough patience to give it another go! So two years later, I had a plan and patience;) and we had a go.

Beautiful yarn though, such lovely rich colours to knit with, lovely. The pattern is from Knitty.com a while ago and is called 'Unbiased' by Stephanie Shiman. You can find it here. It's a simple but effective bag knitted on the bias in four separate pieces, then stitched together and a strap added. It's all done in garter stitch and on 5mm needles, so it knits up very fast indeed.

The original pattern makes a sizeable tote bag with 3 balls of the silk yarn but I couldn't afford three at £25 each at the time so I just got one and decided to scale down the bag a bit:) If you're on Ravelry, you can find all the mods on my project page at tootiefruitie as well.

I had to start a few times to get the right percentage of proportions for my one little silk ball but the bonus is the smaller it is, the less you have to rip back:) I revised the measurement of each of the 4 sections to:

Width = 5” along base which makes the full bag width 10” (with two panels together)

Height = 11” on outside edge

Height where two panels meet in the middle ‘V’ = 7”

I followed the pattern instructions for the assembly but had to make some adaptions for the strap. As it’s a more petite tote, I only used 6 sts for the strap width - ideally binding off each section to the last 3sts (instead of the patterns 5). As this only occurred to me afterwards, I K2tog at the beginning of each row till I had 6 sts remaining. I quite like this effect though as it looks like the strap is tapering down, so it’s all good.

The strap length was of necessity only as long as the amount of yarn I had left - I used every scrap left to graft the two strap ends together but you could make this as long as you like depending on the amount of yarn left. As it’s such a messy yarn no knots or seams show at all - perfect!

All in all this took me about 3 or 4 evenings watching tv to knit so quicker if you were on a roll:) The yarn was a pain to work with as it was unevenly spun and I kept having to untwist the ply just to get an evenish yarn to knit with. But do be careful not to untwist it too much as the yarn loosens too much and snaps and you have dropped stitches and another knot - she says feelingly! Saying all that I think the yarn is worth it for the richness and the handle of the silk.

This pattern makes me think about recycling scrap fabrics and spinning them together into nice chunky yarns. It would be really good way to use up all those scraps..... :) Another thing to add to my wish list! Right, I think the headles should be rust free by now so off I go to wash them off and rebuild the loom.

Bye!

ETA: About the rust - Only use acetic acid if it's not shifting any other way. I started with WD40 and some fine grain sandpaper, when that didn't shift the stubborn bits, I moved onto a brillo pad/wire wool. Only then did I use acetic acid/white vinegar and it has to be washed off with soapy water afterwards as the acetic acid can keep reacting with the metal even after it comes out of the basin.

June is bursting out all over :)

2011-06-05T20:08:00.000+01:00

June is here, the sun has been out, the garden has been going wild and the flowers are making everything have a bright and cheery look all of a sudden. I've been away for quite a wee while recently but now I am back and raring to get going again. I have some finished projects to reveal, some ongoing larger projects on the go and a huge list of things I suddenly want to fit into my summer - weaving, dyeing, pattern designing, lots of knitting;) and oh, yes, lots more knitting!

I've been tidying out my shed/workshop in preparation for all the 'work' that I will be doing :) After I cleaned out all the clutter that had accumulated, I discovered my loom will need a little tlc before I can get any making done. But new linen for the rollers, clean up any rust and possibly a new wax or varnish will bring it back to looking brand new - she says hopefully! Then I can get onto rediscovering double weave. By the time I have made the repairs, I will have had time to read up all about it and refresh my memory - nothing like a new challenge:)

This will be my weaving view out of the shed window (I had to rehouse a few spiders and clean the window first :) Can't wait till all the orange lilies and crocosmia come out in the right bed, then it will be a riot of bright colour. Jungle garden:)) Ah, a good name for a new range of dyed yarns maybe? I was meant to convert this back to grass this summer but I don't have the heart to get rid of all the lovely plants and the garden has far too many plants already to relocate them. What a shame, it'll just have to stay as it is for just a little longer, wink:)

Some beautiful inspiring displays in nature at the moment too. This is the climbing hydranga just outside the shed window, to the left. It's in a lovely sheltered spot so it should flower well again this year. I'll have to go around and take lots more detailed shots while the weather is good. I missed a lot of beautiful detail on the irises a few weeks ago as I just forgot to grab my camera and take some close-ups. Hopefully if I'm blogging more again, I'll remember to think blog, camera, photos a little more often!

Hope you are all getting a little bit of sunshine wherever you are today:)

elaine x

Blue skies

2011-03-05T19:40:00.000Z

Blue skies, sunshine and the wind has died down leaving a balmy early spring day. The sun actually feels warm on your face but it's still freezing in the shade. So we took advantage of the fresh spring feeling and decided to make the most of a wind free lunchtime and ate al fresco:) Albeit with a few warm layers on ! And, you may notice - salad! - organised in pretty patterns, just because I can :) And on the ryvita is some scrummy red pepper houmous - yum! Fruit juice in the lovely dinky cherry glasses. It has a juice jug to match and they are my favourites. Nice and jolly for warm days don't you think?

Aaahh! I feel like I've come out of a long hibernation - the fresh smells, the buds on the trees, the warm sun - they are all shouting it's nearly spring!! And all this sun is making me feel energised :) Energy, I have so missed you over the bleak grey winter months. It's all lovely and cosy bundled up warm by the fire knitting or crocheting but come March, I do love the cross into spring and it makes me impatient to be out and doing.

And doing is exactly what I have been up to the last few days. I've been looking around the garden now it's kind of warm enough to stand outside for more than a few minutes and a sad sight it is to behold - weeds everywhere, flowers needing deadheading - oops! - badly overgrown shrubs and trees, fallen leaves everywhere and weeds, weeds, weeds! A bit overwhelming but the sun is out and that heartens me for the lengthy task ahead. So, instead of crocheting my circles, I've been doing a little bit in the garden over the last few days. It feels like I've been doing a lot - and my back agrees! - but there are only a few tidy patches so far.

But amongst the tidying, digging and weeding, there are little gems appearing shyly in the sun...

Primroses....

Forsythia......

Camellia.....

All bringing some welcome colour back into the garden. I'm looking forward to seeing all these buds flower on the camellia - it will be festooned in lovely pink :) Long may the sunshine last!!

Happy dance :)

2011-02-24T21:52:00.000Z

Yesterday my creative mojo returned - to my great relief! I was on such a roll at the end of January with so many ideas buzzing around my head I couldn't make samples quick enough and then.....whumph.... a dry spell. Nada, nothing, zip. Maybe I used it all up in one go:) or maybe reality intervened and demanded my attention back in the real world, but may I say - welcome back! my life has been a bit flat without you!!

So new to the ideas pool is a variation on my filigree vessel. I'm just tinkering around with different wire types and strengths to crochet around and writing copious notes and ideas as I go. I thought I'd introduce some colour into the mix as the last one was uniform white and I wanted to compare and contrast a bit. The white one didn't have a wire base either and I'm seeing a lot of 3D moulding, bending and manipulating in this one's future.

I have the perfect circle shapes, then the ovals, and once I find the best wire, some organic squidgy shapes randomly altering the circumference any way it pleases. They might all work well together, they might prefer to be just a family of squidgy shapes instead. I don't know, but that is the beauty of it - and I never get bored experimenting:)

Beginning to group them together here but need to make more before I can gauge how effective they will be. The hand dyed yarn is working well on the bigger shapes but finishes abruptly on the smaller ones as the dye repeat is too long. But that's another element to play with! I don't want it overly stripey either so maybe just a slightly shorter length of skein. Or dye two varying length skeins the same colourway and hope I remember which is which!

Righty-ho, just another 10-20 more circles to go and then I can play with the 3D manipulation. Happy, happy! x

Blog hop

2011-02-06T00:22:00.001Z

I found this over at Creative Haven, thanks Terrie! A blog hop! I've seen sites where you can link your own work and blog but never knew it was called a blog hop - I know, I think I must be living on another planet sometimes :)) What a lovely idea. If you put the code in your own post, it will copy and post everyone who has entered so far automatically - nice! I managed to be number 99. I know what I'll be spending my time doing this weekend - 98 other links to check out :)

Fair Isle

2011-01-31T19:24:00.002Z

I've been playing around with an idea for a baby dress - Fair Isle intarsia to be precise - as a 1st birthday present for my niece. I have till April so hopefully that will leave enough time for me to actually complete it;) I was thinking about this while knitting the bird in hand mittens before christmas but when they took about two weeks to knit, I quietly shelved the idea away as my completion rate for garments, even baby sized ones, isn't stellar!

And then, this month my friend Marilyn over at the Room on the Left started experimenting with intarsia and writing her own patterns. Just about the time when I was thinking I really must get focused on my art work and put away my knitting for a bit, lol! That's always the way life happens isn't it? You make a decision and then, wham! Something comes and whacks you out of your comfort zone again, just as you think you have a tenuous grip on what you want to do. I think I'm getting a big neon sign telling me to find a happy medium :))

But back to the lovely fair isle knitting. Yes, it is very traditional looking, especially on these clothes, but there is the potential to be cookie and cool at the same time. If I get the right shape for a baby dress I think I could pull it off - that and my love of all yarns bright and beautiful! I do love the adult dresses but I don't have the patience or the figure for them, but I can appreciate them from afar.....:)

You know, I think I may be subconsciously being influenced from my youth. I seem to remember having a knitted fair isle dress in soft bluey purples and greys that was lovely and warm - and well fitting - but a 10year old can carry that off! The only thing I hated was the really tight ribbed polo neck - aaargh! Strangled every time! So no polo necks in this design!! I like the little rounded pockets though, might try to incorporate them. Now I just have to decide whether to go for a dress, hoodie top, tunic style to go over long sleeves.... :)

Seedheads study

2011-01-27T16:38:00.003Z

I realised while I was over on my flickr account that I forgot to post about some artwork I made for my family as christmas presents. I couldn't show you at the time as they might have been peeking on my blog and I didn't want to give the game away but now I can show you a little more. As is the way of presents made at the last minute, I didn't manage to get as many photos in good light as I would have liked but hey, I'm just glad I remembered to take any!! So here is the first piece I made based on dried flower head drawings from one of my sketchbooks.

Quick sketch of flowerheads

Fabrics before stitching

The background is two layers of different fabrics that were hand painted with dyes which were then stitched over using free embroidery. The background stitch size is a bit bigger than I wanted but my machine was playing up with the thread so I decided I could live with it:) The fabric strips for the stems were just stitched in place although I think it would be nice to fuse them with bondaweb to avoid having frayed edges - unless you want them as a feature. In fact you could just fuse the two layers of fabric together if you wanted to exclude the 'texture' of the free embroidery stitch altogether or keep the stitch and back it with wadding to have a quilted piece which would resolve the wrinkled effect.

The main issue I think with this is the close-up detail looks fine, all in proportion and balances well but when you stand back and look at the piece overall you realise there are areas that need a bit more attention. The stitch detailing is lost from a distance and it doesn't hold its own compositionally. I also got a bit carried away stitching the little curly stems at the bottom so I need to remind myself when to stop too! Hopefully I can get a really good picture of it in its frame soon as it looks so much more intense and detailed in real life. The poor light in these photos has bleached the intensity of the dyed colour somewhat.

This was more in the nature of a quick colour study in fabric and stitch. In retrospect, I would have planned the compostition a bit better beforehand if I had had more time, but saying that there are elements I really like and elements I'd like to change so lots of ideas to take forward for the next study.

New beginnings

2011-01-24T19:00:00.000Z

Ruby - mixed media collage 2007

Hello, hello! I'm back! Yes, back with a plan - of sorts ;) It's still very fluid and will probably be subject to lots of change as I go but, hey, the best plans should be flexible! As you can see, I've been doing a lot of procrastinating this week by focusing on updating the blog rather than plunging in the deep end workwise but it has helped me clarify what I'm wanting to do and where I'd like to go with my work and ideas. I've written up a little bit about that in my new 'about me' page, if you fancy a read but to summarise things, I'm going to move back into textile art again and spend more time developing my creative ideas with the ultimate goal of exhibiting and selling work. A big goal for this year but I'm happy just to make a start and see how things go.

This doesn't mean I will be abandoning knitting or crochet - not at all! I mean, who can resist lovely lace scarves and bird in hand mitten patterns? In fact, that is another thing I'd like to work on this year - designing patterns. I'm going to start small - hats, bags etc - and then work up to some big mamas like lace wraps or shawls. Ambitious, I know! But it will take as long as it takes and as long as I am enjoying the journey then who knows where any of this creative journey will take me?

It's taken me a while to commit to this new path - or more an extention of the old one - and I know the hard bit of just starting is hovering at my shoulder so I'm thinking about something I saw today on Kit's blog Diva Quilts. She's taking part in a quilt journal where although you don't have to commit to make something every day and you can work at your own pace, you do have the incentive to upload your work to a flickr group. I like the idea of some kind of structure to work to and a journal type of project seems more manageable to me. I think I would have to commit to a minimum of work per month though or I'd just drift! But how much is manageable? Maybe this week I'll give it a try and see how I get on. Some work may be 'in progress' but thats sometimes more interesting :) It may help me blog more regularly too!

So new week, new year, new beginnings. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

A little time out...

2011-01-08T19:10:00.000Z

'Music of the land' by Virginia Lee

There has been a bit of silence around the old blog since Christmas, which is pretty much a reflection on my creative state! But I don't think this is a bad thing. I just feel like I need some time to take stock - sweep out the old to make way for the new. Just what that new may be yet, I don't know but it's exciting thinking of all the possibilities.

In fact, when you get into the headspace that nothing is precious and you can decide what the story of your life is going to be - to be in full control of your choices in life - it's a heady thing! But don't worry! I won't be making any hasty decisions that I may regret later. I will be trying out new aspects of my life as I go to see how well they fit - a bit like clearing out a wardrobe and only putting clothes back in that flatter and are a perfect fit:))

So I'm going to take some time out to absorb all these rambling thoughts and new ideas, and try to make a new cohesive whole out of them. I will be posting on and off thoughout the month as I still have to catch up on all those infinished UFO's that are lingering, cluttering up the headspace as well as my storage - and knitting or crochet is a good occupation that keeps the hands busy whilst giving the mind time to think.

I will still be around on ravelry, flickr and facebook to chat and comment on all your lovely blogs so I look forward to keeping in touch with you all.

elaine xx

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-24T21:48:00.000Z

Happy, happy holidays! Time now to log out of blogland for a few days, eat lots of food and give presents. I do love giving people pressies:) So I hope you have a lovely time whatever you are doing this year for Christmas, make merry and enjoy and I'll see you soon!

Autumn leaves

2010-12-22T18:10:00.003Z

December does seem to be a month of sporadic blogging in between the knitting for christmas! So this is the reason everything has been rather quiet around here - the autumn leaves lace wrap. It's the rectangular modified version of the gail/nightsong triangular shawl called spring leaves, (ravelry link), but as I was using burnt orangey browns, I had to call it autumn instead:)

It has been a real joy to knit up as the directions are very simple and easy to follow, and watching the leaf motifs appear as you knit is amazing. Nothing like lace knitting to make you feel more accomplished :)) The only thing to be aware of with this pattern is that it's knitted from the centre out so you can have directional leaves, clever! BUT don't be put off by this as you don't have to think about grafting lace at all. No, it's all cleverly done with a provisional cast on and then picking up those stitches for the second half. You also get a lovely diamond motif where they meet and no sign of a join. Such a well considered aspect of this shawl.

When I realised this was knitted in two halves, I thought, aha! I have the perfect yarn all ready and waiting to be knitted. A sock blank, cedarwood, that I dyed last year has been sitting wound into 2x50gm balls, waiting to be made into socks. As I've moved away from socks somewhat, having two balls exactly the same for this shawl was perfect as I wouldn't have to worry about weighing the ball as I go;))

I managed to get 6 pattern repeats and the edging pattern each side from my 100gms (approx 400mtrs) but I did use a lifeline this time just in case I ran out before the chart finished. I do learn my lessons! The yarn is fingering weight and it was knitted on 4.5mm needles.

It was much more difficult to watch tv knitting this one. I tended to make mistakes when I lost concentration! so it was kind of knitted watching Terry Pratchett's Hogfather;

Miss marple's 'Body in the Library'- not her body but you know what I mean;) - from this lovely box set I got for my birthday:

And A christmas Carol - the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart - as it's so very nearly christmas now!!:

It's feeling a lot more like Christmas now.... only two more sleeps to go......

Deep red habitat

2010-12-13T17:23:00.001Z

Hello, hello! I've been sucked away into knitting for christmas land, where everything revolves around christmas television, nice munchies and speedy knitting as the deadline draws ever nearer - 12 days to go.....

But I have a finished hat to show you - a lovely deep red version of Jared Flood's (Brooklyn Tweed) 'Habitat'. I love this deep colour too! Even though I knitted a version of this hat a few years ago, it felt like a new pattern but it did seem easier this time around and quicker too. Does this mean I'm getting better?? Ah, ha, fate will slap me down for getting cocky:))

I wouldn't say I was totally in the zone knitting the cables or that it was a super quick intuitive knit for me on this occasion, but it was fast, only taking a few days whilst watching tv, which does tend to slow me down when I have charts to read as well as distract me. But you do need to be doing something else as well when you try to cram a lot of knitting in before christmas:) For those of you interested, this was knitted watching Ice Age - (ah, Sid the sloth cracks me up every time;))), the Mentalist and a few CSI's.

I do love the all over cabling on this hat and once the first few rows of pattern are done its easy to see if you are crossing over in the right direction - or not. Sometimes I catch myself expecting it to be wrong the first time - which in this case is just as well!! Just the one cross but at least I noticed straight away and not near the end! It was much easier to tink back a few rows than rip back two days work.

This yarn has a lovely lighter red fleck in it too which keeps the colour from being too solid but doesn't fight the cabling. One of the happy occasions where it's even nicer knitted than in the ball. And if you look closely at the hat laid out from the centre, can you see the flower shape? Like a 5 star petal motif, very subtle though. What a clever pattern. I don't think I noticed this the first time around.

So another knit down, and I don't really want to think how many there are still to fit into the 12 remaining days..... I really should have a better plan for next year - but I say that every time ;)) Off I go for some more christmas tv watching. What shall it be next on the needles?

Reflections.....

2010-12-06T18:01:00.000Z

Well, today is the day:) The 40th birthday has arrived and nope, I don't feel any different;)) Not that I expected to, lol! Today though has been lovely. I've managed to talk to all my family and friends, received lots of lovely thoughtful gifts and messages and pretty much gone through today on a bit of high:) My balloon is bobbing around in the living room making me smile when I look up at it and as it's helium, it will be around for a while yet as a happy reminder.

But although I didn't intend to, you do start to take stock and think just what have I been doing in those 40 years? 40 years, blimey! When did it creep up to that?? I'd like to think I'm focusing on enjoying life in the now so I wasn't counting:)) But there do seem to be bits that just flew by as chunks of years!

All this introspection has made me hunt out old photographs. I'm not very good at keeping a photographic record of myself as I don't think I photograph well most days but as I've been looking back I realise I really should have been documenting those younger days - when I looked my best!!! But then, when I'm about 80, I'll probably wish I took some photos of me at 40 so I could see me when I was 'young':)) So everything in perspective. Also, I find it interesting to see my parents and their old photographs so I really should be keeping a record for posterity myself.

Me at 21, (on the right) celebrating in the pub at art school

So, a yearly birthday photo? Mmmm, wait till I wash my hair, and slap some make-up on:) I was also thinking how I wish I had written thoughts down at the time - what was that girl of 21 thinking in that photo? Was she happy? Was she excited, nervous, confident? Funny how you can look more relaxed when it's someone you feel comfortable with taking the photo. The facial expressions look more genuine and less forced. OR maybe that's just the drink:)) Don't let the orange juice fool you, I'm sure there was vodka involved somewhere!!

I was never one for diaries or journals when I was young - "woke up, got dressed, had breakfast, ....." same old, same old:) Although I am aware of the irony now I keep a blog which is essentially a journal. Although I do usually stick to creative endeavours in it but that's probably because I don't want to bore you with the trivia of my day - unless its eye candy trivia like lovely cakes or yummy new yarn:)

But because I don't write it here either, then there is no history to these photos, no context to put them in other than the year and names on the back, and my faulty memory. I don't necessarily want to save everything to posterity but maybe a little background detail should be written: where was I, was it a good day, what age was I, what dreams or aspirations did I have? - as by the time I'm 80, I probably won't remember anything except the names of everyone I went to school with when I was 4:))) Sounds pretty much like a personal diary to me. Maybe I've finally grown into diary writing - as long as I don't have to write it every day - still suck at that as you probably know already:)

So, in the spirit of recording EVENTS, here is some lovely birthday cake eye candy for you to keep you going till I wash my hair and take 40 million photos till I get one I like:)

Thank you everyone for all my lovely birthday wishes and presents - now I'm off to have a piece of cake;))

Bird in hand mittens

2010-11-25T16:01:00.001Z

Well, that week went by fast! I've been knitting away trying to make a dent on my christmas list - mainly these bird in hand intarsia mittens. So far it's taken me most of this week to finish one, which was longer than I had planned for but I do love the way they are turning out.

There is something so lovely about intarsia mittens. They conjure up images of cold, crisp winter days with startlingly blue skies and having to wade through feet of snow to make snowmen or have a snowball fight:) Of course, the wearer of these mittens won't be getting cold hands as these are super snug! Having the two threads weaving in and out of the back makes it twice as dense and these are knitted tighter than normal gauge too so altogether more compact and toastie for the hands!

It's been a while since I've knitted any colourwork so it took me a bit to get back into the swing of things. The inside weaving came back quickly but keeping tension on dpn's at the joins was more problematic. I still have to block this first glove so I hope it evens out somewhat. Hopefully the second one will be a bit more even in tension. But of course, the pattern is so lovely that you won't notice a little thing like the odd uneven stitch or two now would you? :))

It's the attention to detail that makes this pattern work so well I think. I love the little braiding detail between the cuff sections and the picot edging - yum! I also love the way this pattern has the traditional birdseye pattern for the palm side of the mitten - very nice contrast - and this panel is very easy to knit too:) It looks just as good on the inside as the outside so I thought I'd show you that as well so you can see the weaving in of the threads. I must admit I am a bit of a perfectionist with intarsia and I like to keep it as neat as I can, so each floating thread is wrapped every 3 sts to keep larger catchable loops from forming.

And there is one more surprise with these mittens - the bird:) Yes, the bird that makes these bird in hand mittens is a little embroidered bird on the top of the thumb. Ah no, you won't be finding it on mine yet as I'll only stitch it in place once they are blocked but I can show you where it will be......

Okay, see that kind of white bird shaped blob at the top of the thumb? There! Yes, it does take a bit of imagining:)) but draw a little beak, add an eye, a bit of wing detail..... yes, it's there! and it will be on both thumbs so it will make you smile every time you see it. Lovely!

Well, I've cast on and done the picot edging of glove number 2 so back to the intarsia and braiding for the afternoon, snug inside watching tv while it is SNOWING outside. Yes, snowing! We never get snow this early - what is up??? It's not deep or lying much but it's not even December yet. But we may get a white christmas!! Time to hunt out my christmas films - and munchies. Is it too early to start on the christmas snacks?? See you soon! :))

Hmm, what next?

2010-11-16T22:31:00.000Z

Well the Brea bag is off the needles, sewn up and waiting the lining, handle and button. Fabric and button are sorted and should be here in a few days but I lost out on the belt on e-bay so I'll have to hunt around for something else instead - hopefully quickly so I can call this christmas present finished! I'll take some photos tomorrow in daylight but now I have to consider what's next on the needles?

I'm thinking that this lovely rectangular version of the Gail shawl I found on ravelry will be up next. The designer Jane left a comment for me to say that there is a written up rectangular version already called Spring Leaves - yay! I'm so glad I found that out before I started improvising :) And doesn't it look lovely? I am thinking more of a scarf width than a larger wrap so I will probably reduce the number of leaf repeats - 3 instead of 5? But it's so lovely I think I'll be returning to this one again when I have more time for a full wrap:)

But I'll need a tv watching project as well - I know I'd better not be distracted with detailed lace till I get into a flow again - so what else?

Well, I'm still thinking about the lovely red and white bird mittens but an alternative to them is Ysolda's lovely snapdragon flip-top mitts and matching beret. The advantage with choosing these instead is that I've already knitted the beret:)) but I don't have any more matching yarn for the mitts in my stash - oh dear, what a shame! I'll have to buy more yarn:)

And if I'm going to be buying more yarn, I may as well get some for the lovely skew socks :) Yes, I could dye some but I want to try out the regia sock yarn that has stretch in it - if I can find it online. I just think that's such a cool way to stop socks getting baggy. I know they look cool but after a while socks, well, kind of s-l-i-d-e :)) Either that or I'm not knitting them tight enough:)

And lastly today, the gorgeous cable 'Gordian' gloves designed by Julia Mueller. These have been on my to-do list for ages too. I love the complexity of the fine cabling - even on the fingers! Such attention to detailing make these such a special pattern. But I can't do them all so these may have to be saved for another time as I know how long gloves take me:))

So there will be lace knitting soon and there will be gloves/mitts/mittens - I just haven't decided which ones yet:)) Anyone else knitting along for christmas?

Brea bag

2010-11-15T16:50:00.001Z

One of my christmas maybe's has made it on the needles. Last in the mosaic, the brea bag has been in my queue of lovely things to make for ages. I didn't know who it was going to be for then but now, pattern and person have gelled together and we are steaming ahead in knitting this one up.

The Brea bag pattern is designed by Norah Gaughan for Berroco and is a very quick knit as it uses two strands of worsted together. You don't knit this in the round though so there are a lot of stitches to cast on straight needles. Thankfully, you are constantly decreasing each RS row so the numbers become more manageable very quickly. I did check my gauge on this one before I started as this was a stash yarn with no bands but it was spot on! I'm quite happy if this comes out bigger but any smaller and its more a purse;)

I'm planning on lining this one too once I get the fabric I want on E-bay. I've already spotted a belt I can adapt as a strap/handle so all I have to find is a really nice button. Still searching but I have a bit of time yet;)

When I was cropping my photos, I suddenly thought how easy it would be to adapt this pattern into a hexagonal cushion. Just increase the repeated sections to 6 on circulars and no seam either! If I bulked up the yarns I could get a really nice big floor cushion too. Or, make loads of hexagons and sew them all into a blanket/throw. One takes a couple of hours once you're familiar with the pattern and I'm sure I would get quicker with practice;) I imagine it would be quite heavy though if they were all double worsted weight.

With a bit of photoshop playing I've copied the full hexagon into a blanket pattern - Yum! Love the gothic style pattern the cables make and the bright red!! Maybe not so calming for a bedroom but it would look stunning as a throw over a sofa or chair, don't you think? But perhaps after the christmas knitting list is finished....:)

To do list......

2010-11-12T17:39:00.004Z

7. Crochet bag from squares, 8. Footstool Sideview

With the Christmas deadline drawing nearer, I thought I would make a visual list of things I'm considering making. Don't panic for me quite yet:)) Although there are 13 photos here and not all that many days left till the 25th December - I refuse to count to keep the panic at bay! - I'm not intending to make all of these. Some are either/or contenders such as the bags or mitts, for instance.

A lot of my images are favorited photos from ravelry that I couldn't find on Flickr so I'll give you a rundown for each one so I can credit the photo owner as well as give you the pattern details and links. This could end up a huge post so I'll post all 13 over the next few days. Today I think we'll do the first 4:)

Big and bold in the centre, the mosaic maker call this No 1:)

The lovely Eternal knot baby blanket designed by Daniel Yuhas. Very clever cable pattern going on in this one that I can't wait to try out - loving the looped ends! It will take a bit of time so it's a christmas maybe but more likely a birthday possibility as it would give me a few more months to make it;))

No 2 we have the super lovely elbow length crocheted opera gloves designed by Shiri Mor. The link is for the Lion brand site where you have to log in but it's free to join. I'm hoping these won't take too long to make as I fancy a pair myself! No fingers which is a relief as I always find in knit that the fingers take up as much time as knitting the rest of the damn glove! (hence no pics of stripey armwarmers as yet;))

No 3 - lovely lacy 'Gail' shawl designed by Jane Araujo. It may look familiar as I did nearly finish making this one before (I know..... UFO's lurking under my desk:)) This time though I need a rectangular wrap and I'm thinking this pattern would look lovely and hopefully be easy enough to adapt? If anyone has done this already, a link would be very handy! As the shawl has charts, I'm thinking this logically should be easier to translate into a wrap without increases - she says hopefully:)) The link is for Ravelry but again its free to join if you haven't already:)

ETA: Thanks to designer Jane Araujo for the info that Gail is already available as a rectangular shawl - yay! You can find the pattern here on Sew-mad's blog. So now all I need is the dyed yarn:)

No 4 is the super lovely Bird in Hand mitts designed by Kate Gilbert. Now these I've been meaning to knit for such a long time and I think now is the time:) They look super snuggly and there is just something about the red and white combo that works perfectly for me.

But I'm thinking I may need to leave a goodly amount of time for these as I'm a bit out of practice knitting intarsia and these might just stretch my idea of a quick knit:) But other mitts are in the mosaic later on so these are most likely to be an either/or pair. I do so feel like knitting them though - they seem to embody snow, log fires and christmas don't they?

Well, with three biggies in that list, I think my time has already been filled up! I think I'm going to have to weigh up just how long these will take to make in reality. Either that or knit a lot faster:)) Seems like I'm always wishing that:) but all I really need to do is get more organised and start earlier - which never seems to happen!

If anyone has knitted any of these patterns, I would be interested to hear how long they took you to make! Back tomorrow with the next list of possibilities!

What if?

2010-11-05T17:53:00.001Z

1. IMG_2866, 2. Criatura, 3. Ashville, North Carolina, 4. under the influence

Today has been more of an internet surfing day, looking for inspiration and lovely images on flickr while I let my creative ideas percolate away for a while in my head. It's amazing how long you can spend happily searching - and then you lose another chunk of time just composing mosaics :)

Today's search seemed to end up focusing on swirly patterns and form. For me, using a mosaic stirs up the creative thinking processes - to put wrought iron next to glass, glass next to dyed fabric and mixed media surface pattern, linking back to the swirly wrought iron patterns..... unusual elements together.... makes you think outside the box and start saying 'what if?'

What if I crocheted with a different material?

What if I worked in layers of patterns?

What if I cut away instead of added layers?

What if I crocheted in tubes instead of using a wire core?

Could I trap things inside? Encapsulate them?

Could I colour or paint the wire/thread after it is constructed rather than before?

What if.......?

Shadow play

2010-11-03T18:22:00.000Z

I wonder what this looks like with a shadow....... swirls and spirals......

Looks like a little snail popping up to say hello........

Would it look any good coiled around a bowl shape? Hmm, maybe not. Feels like it wants to be more organic and less moulded.....

Bit of a treble clef appearing in the shadows.....:)

Getting a little bit more complex now, adding a few more swirly shadows........

No idea where this may go yet, just thinking and shadow playing:)) Interesting to consider how the shadows integrate during the ideas process rather than at the end. Maybe a step forward or maybe just another fork along the creative path into something I haven't considered yet... I'm just going to go with the flow:)

Happy, happy:)

2010-11-02T21:42:00.005Z

There has been a little bit of christmas knitting going on over the last few days - yummy stripey armwarmer gloves:) I love these so much its going to be hard to part with them! But I can console myself with the fact I still have another ball of Wendy's lovely 'happy' bamboo yarn - colourway capricorn - stashed away that I can knit up for me another time!

This yarn is a soft 4ply/fingering weight bamboo mix - 75% bamboo/25% nylon - with a lovely sheen to it and it is knitting up very nicely indeed. The bamboo doesn't have as much elasticity as wool and although it's looking fine on 2.5mm needles, I think it would have been slightly better on 2.25mm's with my tension.

As an experiment, I tried a row using the continental knitting style against my usual method of 'throwing' and the tension was much tighter but knitted up a lot quicker. Hmmmm. Knitting whole lengths of stocking stitch in the round for these gloves would certainly go a lot faster this way although I still haven't spent enough time mastering all the stitches K2tog, SSK's etc. yet. But the second glove isn't the time to experiment unless I want varying tensions and sizes of glove:)))

So far, I'm onto the fingers of glove one but I'm shortening the colour runs of the self stripe sock yarn a bit as I want jazzy odd fingers - of course! I'm using an adaptation of Brigids Hearth's armwarmers pattern which you can find here. It's only designed to be long mitts from elbow to just over the thumb, but I like gloves and if you're going to warm your arm, it's a shame to leave the fingers out!! It's a quick knit though and perfect for self-striping yarns.

Actually, this would be a brilliant pattern to use up those leftover small balls of sock yarn and much more personalised too. Shame most of my stash is DK or bigger;) I'll have to hunt out another pattern or modify this one. Do you think Christmas is going to end up being on a theme of gloves?? Wasn't intended to be but it's an idea ....... ;)))

Deconstruction.......

2010-11-01T19:16:00.001Z

I've been exploring the world of crochet lace a lot recently, looking at their structure to learn how the complex patterns are actually constructed. It has a rhythm, a balance to its composition which is innately satisfying to me and somehow, don't ask me how yet, I want to translate the essence of this into my work.

I like how the negative space is just as important as the lace pattern - an equal integral part, yin and yang. Not that I'm going to launch soley into doily making but it's an interesting challenge to take something so obviously traditional visually and translate it into an unexpected contemporary outcome. Just thoughts, no final fixed idea in mind as yet:)

Deconstructing the pattern from photos also made my obsessive, perfectionist side very happy! Everything in its place, logically perfect and exact. To be honest, just drawing the pattern out was becoming a work of art in itself and I had to remind myself that a working diagram was the original intention and my time would actually be better spent crocheting!!

So the yarn has been chosen - a nice silk/wool mix this time instead of the sharp contrasts of mercerised cotton - and I am ready to go. I have had a little trial run to work out the tension of the pattern as this is the one thing that I can't judge perfectly as yet with crochet lace, and it seems good to go if I move down a needle size or two. This could be an unmitigated disaster:)) but hey, you have to start somewhere! So fingers crossed and off I go.......

Little red swing jacket

2010-10-25T17:46:00.000+01:00

A little finished piece of Christmas knitting for you - yes, I have one piece crossed of the list:) Okay, it's only little baby size but it makes me feel I am one step nearer getting there:) Also in chunky it knits up nice and quick! The pattern is the Baby tiered swing jacket/cardigan by Lisa Chemery - ravelry link was all I could find. It's quite a versitile pattern as you can knit 0-3 mths, 3-6mths, and 12-18mths with the option of a cardigan or jacket version. I personally wanted the jacket which is just a tier longer than the cardi as I thought it visually balanced better as well as being all the more snuggly for wintertime.

This is a nice quick knit too as it's knitted top down so there are no seams to worry about. One thing I would suggest if you are thinking of knitting this, is to read the pattern through first as although the instructions make sense, they aren't placed in a logical knitting order on the first page. Yes, you need to remember the buttonholes throughout but do the neck increases first, then think about where the first buttonhole should be:)) Otherwise, there is a lot of ripping back when you realise what you've done! (Treat the buttonhole section in BIG brackets and go straight underneath for the increase row).

It is a lovely pattern though and I really enjoyed knitting it. The way it swings is lovely! And I thought the little ladybird buttons worked really well - not too contrasty but enough detail to make them be noticed up close. Shame this is just on the small side for me:)) Although I haven't forgotten my dream of knitting a red version of Sylvi.

pic by Sadie Dayton on Ravelry

But I'm waiting on finding the right amount of yarn at the right price first as that will be a mammoth knit but oh, so worth it! I wonder if Sylvi is a top down knit..... imagine how heavy that would get on circulars!! Ouch! I can feel the weight:) By the looks of the picture, there are definite seams and I'd imagine the flower pattern is charted from the bottom up. Probably more manageable that way anyway. But, that will have to wait till the rest of the christmas list has progressed somewhat. Still, one down:)) Welcome little red swing coat, I'm sure you will be appreciated by one happy, bubbly niece. But shhhhh, it's a surprise!

Sun and shadow

2010-10-14T17:12:00.001+01:00

Hurrah! The sunburst vessel is finished - only it isn't quite a vessel any more! I've been crocheting away like mad this week to get this finished, confidently happy with my idea of a lovely wide, platter shaped vessel, and watching it slowly emerge. When I thought of these organic shapes, I realised I would need a simple form that would show them off to their best advantage so the previous bowl shapes were dropped quickly, and a shallow, broad expanse of curly swirly happiness sounded just the thing!

Putting them all together on the flat - ahhh:)) Now that is nice and bright, and yummily swirly. Kind of looks like very ornate script lettering in places..... But what about into the vessel shape??

Looking good I thought. Took a bit of time to get things placed just the way that looked best but I got there in the end and packed up another evening to get some shuteye. I had a niggling feeling I still wasn't showing this off to its best advantage but decided to sleep on it and hope for a fresh perspective in the morning. Luckily for me I didn't have to wait quite so long! You know how sometimes when you are very tired, your conscious mind has pretty much switched off and you're working on automatic pilot? Yup? Well, I was switching everything off for the night (including me) and heading up the stairs, passing the bowl dimly lit by the stair light, and it hit me. What if it wasn't a bowl?

I have been so locked into thinking 'vessel' that I had missed the obvious - a FLAT piece. Oh, the irony:)) Having a lightbulb moment when that fatigued doesn't do much to promote a restful night's sleep so I gave up and tried hanging it on the wall instead. Tah-da!

Oh, I like! Then I noticed the shadows it was creating....... ooooh! Off the wall it came and back up it went about a foot away, suspended quickly with some cotton from the ceiling. TAH-DA!!

Oh now, what would this be like as a ginormous circle? (Forgetting the fact that this has taken about two solid weeks to make and is only about 45cm/18" in diameter...) Looking at this impartially, the units are a bit too large in scale for the present diameter and would balance a lot better in a larger circle but I will have to have enough dyed yarn and patience to make such a big piece - as well as somewhere to hang it when its finished:))) But I'm thinking I'll have to have a go, somewhere in the near future. Until then, I'll reduce the motif size and stick to a more manageable scale - for now.....:)))

But on to the more practical aspects of the making. The wire is a total success. It bent so easily, maintained the shapes and as long as the spaces between didn't get too large, held together well. The units were stitched together as invisibly as I could make them and I tried to make sure there were enough joins for stability, without compromising the flow of the pattern too much.

The crocheted units have two distinct sides as well. There is the 'right' side which looks nice and smooth and the back which has more visual texture due to the form of the crocheted slip stitch. Again, I fully intended to have the right side facing out but when it was lit up for the photos, the reverse just came to life and it seemed really obvious that it should be the front. Happy surprises all round!

And lastly, the ends! Thank you everyone for all your very helpful and creative suggestions here, on flickr and on ravelry. I tried out a good few ideas but none seemed to gel well with these curly shapes. I eventually decided that any form of disguise was only drawing more attention where it wasn't wanted so I ended up exposing a bit of the lovely copper wire underneath and bending it into a small loop at each end. You can just see the loops in the close-up picture - little glints of copper (aaah, lovely!) - whilst practically helping to keep the stitches on the ends! It works for me till I can think of another solution.

So, it's all finished. I feel a little strange that this baby I've been working on has now been completed. It feels like I've been living with it constantly for so long that I don't want to start anything new quite yet. Maybe I need some quiet time to savour this little achievement and then get back into things tomorrow..... :)

Optimistic October

2010-10-07T17:56:00.002+01:00

Oh, the first fire of the Autumn. Today, it's very cool, the beautiful autumn sun of this morning has gone to be replaced by a light rain blowing through, spattering on the windows - brrr! The overcast clouds are making it feel later than it is too but soon it will be dark. Time for a hot drink and a snuggle up beside a warm fire I think - mmmm:) Makes me think maybe a lovely hot chocolate could be in order soon - I must get some marshmallows!

Only problem is, I haven't actually done much this afternoon as it's just so cosy and I don't feel like moving much. And the fire is hypnotising...... lulling me into a peaceful and quiet place. Most relaxing!

Lighting the fire has acted as a bit of a catalyst in other ways though. Suddenly it seems like I should be spinning, knitting warm cozy jumpers and making christmas presents - as well as considering hibernating for winter:) I'm also thinking that if I actually count the weeks I have left to make said presents those faint stirrings of panic might blossom into something more significant - so I won't look too closely for now...... The fire has just been lit and I still have plenty time, don't I?

Maybe I should start making a list, just in case. This will be the idealistic list. The list that gets whittled down to the bare bones by December till it resembles something of more realistic proportions. Even though I do this every year, I just can't help being overly optimistic in October!!

Wickedly fuchsia

2010-09-30T23:43:00.000+01:00

So time for a reveal! Yes, the long awaited wicked vest is now finished, blocked and buttoned and ready to wear. Only took me over a year to get this one off the needles but hey, at least this one managed it:)) I can finish small projects easily but long ones seem to die a death or end up in a long hibernation once I start getting bored. So I don't tend to make many big projects any more. Every now and again I try - like the hawaiian flowers blanket - but its very stop and start at the moment too. I LOVE the flowers, I enjoy making them too but I just don't seem to be able to be monogamous in my projects! Got to have more than one on the go:)

But the wicked vest has made it and it fits! This was an issue as I thought the ribbing and my use of a different weight yarn might mean a very skinny rib fit but no - whew! Looks nice and skinny on the dummy though:) Not quite so skinny in real life - probably because I don't have adjustable buttons to reduce my bum size :))) What a wonderful thing that would be!! I'm not totally convinced about the white shirt underneath either. I'm not really a shirt person so it looks and feels a bit uncomfortable on me - rather a staid look for me, even in fuchsia! So I think I'll need to experiment a bit till I get the right combo or it'll end up never worn, and that would be a shame after all that knitting and all that waiting!

I did manage to find some really cool rose shaped buttons for this though. I swithered on whether to have a contrasting or harmonious colour as I've seen lovely versions on ravelry that worked either way, but the subtle combinations won the day - if you can call bright fuchsia buttons subtle! But what a job I had getting the right shade of pink! I didn't realise how difficult it would be trying to match this yarn. It's not bright pink, nor rose and has a paler tone overall so nothing seemed to be 'just right' as goldilocks would say. Eventually I decided to go for see-through ones hoping that the yarn colour would come through and soften the overall tone of the buttons. I think it's worked rather well ;)) Girly but not girly, if you know what I mean.

Now, I have to consider the other poor projects in hibernation.... if I don't get distracted...... again! :))

tutorials page

2010-09-24T19:28:00.000+01:00

You may notice there is a new tutorials page appeared today! I decided to gather all the posts I've done so far that in some way consitute a tutorial or a how-to guide and put them together so we can find them quickly. Trawling through three years of posts can take some doing:)) and its much nicer to be able to put your hands on those pages you need rather than using the search button or going methodically through the achives.

It's still 'in progress' so I will be modifying and updating as I go so any feedback would be welcome! Now, I'm trying to work out how to make and upload free PDF files - anyone got a quick and easy solution to suggest?!

Back soon with a finished knitting project - yes, I know! Actually finished! :))) It's waited about a year and a bit so it's about time! A quick peek for you.....

Now, I wonder what that could be??? It looks wickedly fuchsia like to me :)

Sunburst

2010-09-22T19:27:00.000+01:00

I've been experimenting recently with lots of different ways to make strong enough 3D crochet vessels and I thought I'd give the most obvious method - wire - a try this time. I found some wires too inflexible and difficult to mould as well as being too skinny in diameter once crocheted, so I decided to try wire with its plastic coating still on - like the ones you find in electric cables. In the UK that will be brown and blue colours:) (the earth wire doesn't have a plastic coating inside the big grey tubing which I stripped off, just the bare copper - which is very nice in its own right and I will keep for later!)

Ok, so I have my plastic coated wire, and now I can see how it moulds - yummy! Perfectly easily. I thought I'd have to use long nosed pliers but in fact they made little awkward bends rather than smooth curves so I just went with moulding it with my fingers.

Then I started to crochet around the wire with some of my stripey dyed sock yarn - this one is 'mango' ;) Oooh, I'm liking this! Lets get onto another shape and see how it looks......

Oh yes, I think this will work! I will still have to attach the units together like the flowers in the green vessel but that's ok. I'll have to work out a solution to the wire ends though. If I fold them, there will be an unsightly lump in the spiral - not ideal at all - and I have to make sure the end crochet stitches don't slip off either. I'm thinking a little spot of glue but I run the risk of sticky mess on the yarn.....

Aha! Maybe I crochet a little end cap thingy - picturing knitted i-cords here, only in crochet:) A little tube end before crocheting around the wire..... off to see how that works. Back soon!

Fibre Optic weaving

2010-09-15T17:01:00.000+01:00

Thought you may be interested in watching this video on the use of fibre optics in weaving. Just fascinating how they have been able to use modern day technology such as twitter feeds and airport traffic reports to translate into compositions of woven light. Thanks to the daily art muse for the link!

progress check......

2010-09-15T16:45:00.001+01:00

I thought I'd just show you my recent projects mosaic for 2010 - so far.....:) Sometimes when you look back and think you have been making, making, making, you realise that overall, the finished pieces aren't quite as many as you originally thought! Still, there are still 4months of 2010 to go so I can still work on adding a few more things to the grand total. And there is always the christmas pile that will considerably add to the overall count! (I know! I don't want to think about it either but if there is any making involved this year, 4 months isn't that much time really. At the speed I seem to have been working at, I should have started last january!!)

1. flower vessel, 2. pineapple edging, 3. 58 flowers and growing...., 4. booties, 5. lace pattern, 6. jasmine cardi and dress, 7. limone cuff, 8. flower heads, 9. lily edging, 10. close-up of decreases, 11. little red shoes 2, 12. chloe buttons, 13. pineapple crochet detail

All the pics have a flickr link to see them in more detail too. Ah, I've just realised that there a few pieces missing - whew! Now I feel a little better ;)) The white filigree vessel isn't there or my more recent crochet samples and experiments, nor my recent sampling with new dyed yarn colours. That certainly pads things out a bit - and makes me feel a little bit better about where my time has gone:) Well, looks like I'll be updating the mosaic sooner than I planned!

I do update these mosaics on my projects page every now and again - tab under header - so feel free to pop over to catch up on anything new. Sometimes little things sneek in there (and on flickr) that I haven't blogged about - like my collage/stitched card on the left (no 8 flower heads). It's just an experiment that may lead to something bigger soon if I can drag myself away from my crochet vessel experiments - more on that soon.

Oh and on the knitting front, Jaden has been relegated to the short term hibernation pile - again! After having to rip back the completed front lace panel, twice, as the shaping decided not to shape - silly YO's again - I decided it was time for a sanity break. In a way though, it has given me time to experiment with the crochet and that's been working out well. I think I have cracked the whole keeping 3D shapes thing - well, it's working for what I want to do so far..... fingers crossed! It just takes a little while to crochet enough to make a decent sized vessel worth photographing! So in a day or two, hopefully I shall have enough to show you where its all going.....:)

Righty-ho, back to some more crocheting. See you all soon!

So who do you write like?

2010-09-06T22:18:00.028+01:00

Every now and then, I like to go random internet browsing - isn't it fascinating going from one link to another, to another and to yet another as you get lost in the miriad of internet trails, rings and webs:) I came across this link whilst browsing though my favourite blogs this week. You paste in a blog post or a piece of your own written work and click to see whose style your work most resembles. I tried my most recent post and I got......

I write like
Arthur Clarke

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

So, apparently I have a literary style like Arthur C Clarke:) not bad! I like science fiction and fantasy as well so maybe my writing style has been subtly influenced from an early age!

It would be interesting to know what parameters are used for this application - how many names are in there? I did test the program to see who popped up with other peoples writing so I know there is at least Jane Austen and H.P. Lovecraft. Sigh! Maybe my language isn't erudite enough to be Jane Austen or maybe I'm missing that wry, conversational style she uses. Or maybe it's just that explaining techniques makes things sound more technically written so therefore I mostly resemble the language and literary style of Arthur C Clarke's science fiction. It's a long time since I've read any of his books. Maybe I shall sit down and see if I can find any resemblance.......:)

So, who do you write like? I would love to hear from you in the comments if you try this out!

Edited to add:

I tried your idea out Kit and put a piece of my fiction writing in instead and, blow me down with a feather if I didn't get......

I write like
J. R. R. Tolkien

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

WOW! I feel an epic fantasy novel coming on:)))

Jaden

2010-08-30T18:53:00.002+01:00

Last week, I was rummaging through some bags looking for something to use as a core for some more crochet vessels when I came upon my stash of hibernating works in progress. Ahem! These were all nicely hidden out of eyesight, crammed into bags with patterns all patiently waiting to see the light of day. Although it's not really a bad thing to have a few outstanding projects on the go, every time I see these older ones, I do feel that pang of guilt - like I know I should really have persevered and not got sidetracked by something else newer and shinier.......

But, I've realised I've got a bit of a pattern going on with hibernating projects. Any problem knit that has to be ripped out more than 3 times means it goes in a bag to cool off for a while. In my head this means a few weeks till I finish something else and then I'll have regained enough grace to finish the damned thing (see? not a good knitting relationship going on!) In reality, at least for these bags anyway, it's been about a year... oops! So, I've decided to have a bash at getting a few of these finished off this time around.

Two projects seemed interesting enough to get my knitting needles back out - the Wicked Vest and Jaden. More on the vest to come but today, is the turn of Jaden. The pattern is designed by Ruby Lo and can be found free in the spring issue of knitty 2008. Now, since the top picture is probably all I showed you of Jaden last year, you probably won't remember it - all I remember is that the lace pattern kept going haywire on me and I gave up in disgust and, I think, knitted my lovely buttercup tunic instead.

But look! I've been knitting away over the last few days and we have some progress!! The scallop lace on the back is complete and I've shaped the waist so now it's onto the mindless st st for a few inches before shaping for the arm. I must say I was not enjoying this when I first restarted this. I ripped back the few rows I'd done and knitted some gauge swatches as I had no idea whether I was knitting to gauge or even what size I'd decided on a year ago. Then I started again and true to form, the lace pattern messed up LOTS of times - I'd rather not say just how many, just be astounded at my perseverance:))

Once I twigged what I was doing wrong, it did begin to get easier. In my defense, the pattern does presume you know to automatically start the lace pattern one stitch over in every section to account for the decreases for shaping - as I am a literal person when it comes to patterns, I was expecting the pattern to tell me that step ....:) But now I have the hang of it, I made a good bit of progress, yesterday especially.

Yesterday was TV knitting Jaden fest:)) I think I may have watched and knitted for nearly 10 hours on and off - so for those of you who are interested, I ended up watching:

'The mirror Crack'd' with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Kim Novak and Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple. I really enjoyed it! It's nice to have a change from Joan Hickson or the more recent ones with Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie. And although I knew the plot, it was still a very enjoyable 2 hours.

Next up was the recent CSI trilogy that featured Miami, New york and Vegas all linked to the same story - a good 3 hours there - although I was exausted after that and had a bit of a break for my evening meal:) After that, I settled down to watch....

Carry on up the Jungle:)) as it was on and a nice change from too much intense CSI. Always good for a laugh and Frankie Howerd was especially good in this - 'never has his gast been so flabbered:)) And then I caught a few more csi's on the tv as it was CSI sunday. I was totally tv'd out and actually getting a numb bum from sitting down so much, lol! But the Jaden had grown to the waist - yay!

Now the lace is done and I'm not making so many mistakes when I'm tired, the rest of the body should knit up quickly - well, as quickly as 4ply/fingering can at my average speed of knitting. This is when I wish I could speed knit. I think I would probably make more garments if they progressed quicker!

Well, back to Jaden and some boring stocking stitch - I wonder what's on the TV?! .............:)

Pineapple lace sampler

2010-08-25T16:28:00.006+01:00

Well, back as promised with some pineapple crochet for you. Although not as modern looking as the vessels, I wanted to go back to grassroots, so to speak, to get a feel of what crochet is all about and what aspects of it I can take forward into my work, especially stitches, structures, building up a form - drawing freehand with the thread. So I started with some simple pineapple doilies, working from the centre out using clusters and the pineapple stitch.

The pattern used for this sample is Vintage Crochet Pineapple Doily from the archives of Coats and Clark (- its free!) I've done some crochet pattern following a long time ago so it's not totally new to me but I needed to re-familiarise myself with crochet speak:) I began to realise that there is a bit of presumption in these older patterns - they expect you to know a certain amount already and there are small omissions in the pattern that must have been obvious to the designer - but not immediately to me!! So, I waded in, winging it a bit and I learned a lot just from making this little sample.

On the good side, I learned my tension is even and I managed an ok balance between yarn thickness and needle size so it shows up all the details of the lace when blocked, but I also learned that sometimes the pattern is right, even if you don't think it makes sense:))) Hence, this has no edged border as I dumped, as I thought, the unnecessary 3chain loop at the beginning of each new row along the side edges of the pineapple. My logic was good as far as it went - just not far seeing enough to predict what was needed for the next section!! Those extra 3 chains were designed to hold the lovely edging detail, which I now can't add - unless I fancy ripping it all back and starting again - which I do not! So, lesson learned:)

Still, it's lovely anyway, and although it's not maybe fashionable to like traditional doilies these days, there is something fascinating about their structure - how they morph from one form into another using clever increases and decreases, changes of stitch pattern and the all important use of negative space with those lacy holes - and there is a certain feeling of technical achievement as your work progresses and the pattern emerges. Very addictive! The real sense of achievement came for me when I was stretching out the lace to block - a real TA DA moment! All of a sudden, the pattern pulls out and you see, for the first time, how the pattern fits together and forms the intricate design that was intended - well, if you have done it right. I may also say, this is the time when you notice any mistakes - blocking lace isn't very forgiving of mistakes! But in this little sample, I was okay - whew!

So now I have the lace crochet bug big time and I have been crocheting away on ever more complex patterns to see what else I can learn. It is interesting how the lace looks on different coloured backgrounds - the deep pink is a high contrast to the white but the soft pink of the blocking mat gives a much softer, delicate feel. I used some of my undyed sock yarn for this sample and it's a little bit woolly for showing up the crispness of the lacy detail so I've been using crochet cotton for the next few experiments - but more on that tomorrow;))

Happy making! elaine x

Flower vessel

2010-08-23T16:48:00.003+01:00

'Ello, ello, ello:)) Yes, I'm back! Whew, no break intended..... just kind of happened. My power supply went on my computer so I had to stop blogging, then once fixed, I didn't have much to post as my mojo upped and disappeared on me - but it's come back this week with a vengence! So I have lots to show you so hopefully I can get back into the habit of regular posting again. I've missed chatting with you all :)

Today's little project - which you may recognise from my new banner - is a further experiment with the crocheted vessel idea. I wanted to try making a bigger unit before joining them together, hopefully giving the piece greater inherent stability as well as less sewing for me:) The unit was meant to be a circle surrounded by other smaller circles but the method I used to form the second row of units ended up looking more like petals so the flower motif was born.

I haven't used any wire or other form of internal strengthening for this one as I wanted to see if the bigger unit alone would achieve this. As it is, this small bowl holds its own - just - but I wouldn't want to make it much bigger without reinforcement. I will try either starch or sugar water on this to see if it gives a nice light hold to the form - well, thats what I'm hoping anyway. The yarn used is a remnant of a stripey sock yarn I had in my stash. I liked the randomness of the colours but I knew it had large stripes which the motif can handle. I wouldn't want it getting too colour crowded though as I like the simple form and the shadows too. (I know, me liking form over colour - what next?!)

I've just started experimenting with wire inside the units now - although crocheting around the form is proving to be a tad awkward with all the unforgiving wire in the way, there is no flow to the making so far. And I don't think I'll be bothering if it's a right pain in the rear to make :) Well, I've a couple of methods to try so we'll see how it goes.

So back to the 3D crocheting and some more traditional crochet for you over the next few days - more pineapples, clusters and shells than you can shake a stick at:))

See you soon! elaine xxx

And then there were 1, 2, 3, 4, ............ 58!!

2010-07-26T23:24:00.000+01:00

Well, the hawaiian flowers are growing, and growing, and taking over the floor really:) I just crochet a few every time I sit down to watch any tv - not that I've actually watched a lot of tv this week, if I had there would have been a flower fest!! but the blanket, it's a-growin'.

48 flowers and counting....

Yes, I've decided to make this one a full on flower blanket. I wasn't sure when there were only 9 motifs but I saw a lovely one on ravelry that changed my mind. (you do need to be a member to see that link but its free to join!) It looked like beautiful coloured floor tiles all pieced together to give a colourful mosaic effect - lovely! So, it was decided very quickly to expand the mini throw into a full blown blanket. This did mean introducing a few more colours to the palette so I could get more variety in how the colour tones are balanced and I'm still tinkering with it as I go. You may notice a couple of plum/pinks that weren't there before and an apple green has sidled its way in too:)

57 flowers taking over the floor....

I have no idea how big this will become - the last ripple blanket was about king size - so depending on how many flowers I need, I'm aiming for at least for a double so it can be a decorative throw or even a wrap? Big enough to be versatile anyway! At the moment pieced together in a rough rectangle, it's measuring 60cm x 75cm and that's without the final crochet edging around to join them all together. So maybe at least another 100 - 150 flowers? Sounds a lot but those 58 have kind of snuck up on me so I'm hoping my abstract crocheting whilst watching the tv will help the numbers rise without feeling like I'm trying too hard!!

(yes, there are only 57 flowers in the last photo but I've crocheted another one since then, so officially the flower count is on 58:))

Hawaiian flowers

2010-07-14T17:37:00.000+01:00

A little tv project going on at the moment... some bright colourful hawaiian crochet flowers, pattern courtesy of the wonderful Sarah London - go see her blog!! Colour and crochet heaven! The flower pattern was part of a mystery motif month last year and this link will take you to day one. Four days in all and on the fifth day, there are gorgeous photos to get you thinking COLOUR!

Every so often, I get a hankering to start a longer project, like my ripple blanket from a few years ago. Projects that are in units are ideal as I can work away and feel I am making progress with small completed motifs. Okay, I'm trying not to think just how many motifs it will take to make a throw or blanket/snuggy the size I'd love to make, but at the moment, I'm happy to pick up my flowers and crochet in a bit of downtime.

I've not put the final edging on my flowers as yet as I want to link the motifs as I go. For now, I can crochet a pile of flowers and play with the layout - that's the fun bit for me! Once I have them done, I can balance them with the final coloured edging. All is happy in the land of crochet;))

Extreme Knitting

2010-07-11T15:19:00.002+01:00

Thought you might like to see this video of extreme knitting by Rachel John - 1000 strands of yarn knitted on super big knitting needles. Amazing! The strands alone look like an art installation. Wish I had that stash:)))

Enjoy!

Cupcakes

2010-07-07T16:00:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, a lovely friend came to visit - bearing gifts! A huge cupcake to be precise, lovingly made with her son who decided it just HAD to have blue icing:) Doesn't it just make you want to put the kettle on to have a nice cup of tea and a large chunk of cake? Yes, me too!

And fresh strawberries and raspberries around the cake too - yum! Just this piece alone was very filling and I didn't need much in the way of food for the rest of the day, lol! I didn't realise you could get cupcake moulds this big - such a great idea. Apparently it's two moulds together so just like a cake only with shaping for the top. And then all the fun of decorating - if you don't eat all the icing mixture first:)

Looking online at some cupcake photos I found tiers of cupcakes used as wedding cakes - fantastic!! That is brilliant:) For myself, I don't like heavy fruit cakes and I can't really say, "excuse me, can I just have the icing?" So lots of little cupcakes makes a novel and very aesthetically pleasing cake, don't you think?

These are so gorgeous. The precision and delicacy of some of these decorations - lovely! I love the tall one - a christmas cake! Don't think they would last very long, do you? It could be a really clever exercise to keep children busy on the run up to christmas though - decorating and adding cakes to the tree - if they didn't keep disappearing into little tummies:))

Anyone for cake?!

Filigree vessel

2010-06-29T18:13:00.000+01:00

Two posts in one day! But now I've got my work in progress photographed, I was just bursting to show you what I've been up to this month. The problem of working on larger creative projects is that they take so long and don't look very exciting photographically speaking till near the end.

I've been playing with modular freeform crochet, building sections of crocheted loops into a 3D form. The original intention was to use white to focus solely on the form structure as I went, but for a lover of colour, I'm really liking the subtlety the white is giving me - especially with a light source behind creating all those interesting shadows.

Now the form is complete, the intention was to start incorporating wire and beads, weaving through the structure in an organic way, crossing and twisting over each other using different colours and thicknesses of metal wire and threading beads as I went. But now I like the simplicity of the white, would a riot of new colours and surface materials kill its delicacy? As it is, the form is not quite sturdy enough to sit on its own and maintain its pod-like shape and the wire's main purpose - other than being decorative:) - was to strengthen the form unobtrusively, so to speak.

I had considered using starch but it can leave a residue. Although the yarn used isn't all that special at this stage, it could be a feature I may not want to lose on another vessel. So, I think a series of small test samples are going to be needed exploring all these possibilities before I decide on a final course of action.

But it's all very exciting!! If I used starch, would that give a good ground to paint on? If I crocheted with wire instead, how would that look? Strength would no longer be an issue but what about the tactile element? Would there be enough fibre content to keep me happy? How could I incorporate more? I think I may have a series of vessels before I'm finished:))

I'll keep you posted!

Colour personality test

2010-06-29T13:45:00.024+01:00

Thanks to Kate @ The Garden Bell for telling us about this colour personality test. I'm a bit of sucker for these things:)) so I had to go and check it out straight away! It goes into a lot of detail so I've just edited the main bits of my results here. If you want to try this out, you can find it the link here.

Result of your test :

Your Profile : You are 48 % extrovert and 52 % introvert.

Independently of any order of importance :

You are creative, you always have new ideas, and your inspiration comes from the inside.

You are also strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled for yourself, and by your need to act and to move forward.
Finally you are able to listen to others, you show a good emotional intelligence, you know how to bring your support to others.

The qualities that characterize your personality at this time :

24 % Your creativity.
You are creative, you know how to see beauty, you are intuitive and your inspiration comes from the inside.

21 % Your energy.
You are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled to yourself, and by your need to act and move ahead.

20 % Your imagination.
You are a creative person, with always new ideas, and you know how to apply them.

17 % Your dynamism.
You are dynamic and active, you are determined in your actions, you know how to communicate your ideals and your energy, and thus, you know how to boost people.

16 % Your thinking.
You are attuned to others and you show a good emotional intelligence, which allow you to give support to people.

Finally, you are a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them to the fixed goals, you are a manager and a leader, and you know how to organize groups of people and how to give them your energy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there you go! Glad to see that creativity is at the top of the list:)) Actually it's very interesting how accurate this is as a personality test - hmm. I'm working more on my own creative work and less teaching at the moment which this reflects too. But good to know it at least thinks I have managerial and leadership qualities - who knew?! :)))

Back soon with some pics of the aforementioned 'creativity' !

Ready, steady, knit!!

2010-06-03T18:03:00.001+01:00

My poor blog has been neglected this last week or two! I've been outside making the most of the lovely sun and working with a friend who is learning knitting techniques. There has been lots of knitting, chatter and cake devouring but alas not much of that is bloggable! So for your delectation, I have a lovely video for all you knitters and makers to enjoy...:)))

Back soon with some garden pics - my, how the plants have shot up!! - and even, fingers crossed, some knitting:)

elaine xx

Cake

2010-05-18T17:32:00.002+01:00

Over the weekend, I got around to doing some baking. I haven't baked in, oh, such a long time, and I thought chocolate cake would be nice. But starting with an easy recipe - just in case! When I was young I used to 'help' my mum bake cakes and look through her Be-Ro cook book at all the pictures of the biscuits, cakes and buns inside.

So with my own Be-Ro cookbook to hand, I chose this picture:

Yum, yum, yum! Doesn't it look nice? Swirly chocolate topping and filling - perfect! First though, I had to top up the cupboards with some extra baking things. I thought I'd need lots of melted chocolate but this recipe only uses cocoa and chocolate butter icing. So off I went, weighing and mixing.....

.... till I got a nice smooth cake mixture. Then whap, straight in the oven, wait, wait, wait, then out and cooling while I whipped up the butter icing. Mmmm, was that tasty;-) I did leave enough to cover the cake, honest! The only problem I had was I was too impatient to decorate and tried to spread the icing when it was too runny! Ah, well, no swirly topping for me but at least I managed to cover it better when it had thickened properly:-)

Then we both had a nice slice of well deserved cake - that's the space from 2 slices, not me being greedy - just sayin';-)) Anyway, after the compulsory eating of all the leftover chocolate icing from the bowl, I wasn't needing a lot more sweet stuff! Well, it's a crime to just throw it away, isn't it? I must say though I remember having a much sweeter tooth when I was young - I was struggling:)

Needless to say the cake didn't last long and is all gone now. Maybe just in time to browse through the pages and pick another recipe?

Afterthought heel

2010-05-13T23:01:00.003+01:00

So, how do you like the new blog look? Been tinkering with Bloggers beta designer templates all day - lost a good few hours somewhere:-) I think it may need some more tweeking but I like the change. One thing I do like though is how this template highlights the page tabs at the top of the page - they were getting kind of lost before. But now they are more prominant, I'll have to revamp them too!

It's been a bitty week, trying to get some gardening done when the sun decides to come out, trying to spin but not with as much success as I'd like:-) and trying to make a dent in some of these outstanding WIP's that have kind of been hibernating - although not intentionally. Yes, there is an intentional pile:-)

Since I couldn't seem to find my spinning mojo, I looked out these lovely unfinished socks - Little Minx. Last time we saw these, I had decided to use an afterthought heel to keep the colour continuity with the Almond Zauberball bands and all I needed to do was finish the second sock to the top. A good few tv watching hours later and the sock length was done. Then I undid the scrap yarn holding the heel stitches and picked up my live sts onto two circular needles following Knitting up a Storm's tutorial. This method is so easy and very quick to do. It's just like decreasing a sock toe with a simple st st graft at the end. And they seem to make a well fitting heel too!

With the first sock I didn't colour match as exactly as I would have liked - you can see a little darker shading going on there - damn! It looked right at the time too so with the second sock I was more careful and it looks a lot better. These are knitted up bigger than my sock blockers so I'll need to get some modelled shots to do them justice and show off the pattern and the stripes - which is more pronounced that it looked when on the needles but it's all cool:-)

The weather is meant to be rainy and dull over the weekend, so that will mean no gardening time. Well, it gives me a chance to get the last of the DIY done and possibly look out some more hibernating knitting projects as well - unless I succumb to the african flower crochet bug that is going around here, here and here:-)) There is even a Flickr group where you can get the pattern and see other lovely variations. I may just have a little play with colours this weekend and see.... famous last words! But I'll just be glad to get some creative mojo going again so I can post a bit more often!!

See you all soon!

Pretty Fibres

2010-05-03T17:41:00.004+01:00

After a bit of a rummage through my roving stash this weekend, I came across this lovely hand painted roving by 'All the pretty fibres'. I think I showed you it last year when I bought it but I didn't want to spin it straight away till I had got a little more practice in spinning. So, okay, I haven't spent that much time spinning, only on Jelly Jelly and black coffee but I think as those were both plied yarns, I may try to spin a consistantly even single. That 'consistantly even' bit is going to be the challenge:-)

When I learned to spin, yonks ago, it was on a traditional wheel using rolags and all the spinning techniques seemed really easy. Now, on my modern louet with roving, it seems that all my previous skill has gone out the window - sigh:-) I still have some samples of those earlier yarns so I looked them out and although they weren't as super duper as I'd remembered, they still seemed more competently spun - with even tension throughout. Different wheel and tension? Different technique of using roving? Whatever, this is the wheel I have and the roving I've stashed so A+B has to equal a decent C!!

So I've spent some of the weekend, splitting some roving into even slivers. Well, as even as I can get them. Another area that could do with more patience! Now, I'm going to make sure the thickness throughout each sliver is as even as possible as I think this is where I slipped up a little last time and got a few thicker areas. And when I hit a thicker area, I changed my technique to thin it out as I went and it went a bit pearshaped regarding evenness - hey-ho! If I spun a bit more often I really would learn from my mistakes quicker;-))

I'm also interested in seeing how this particular roving will spin up. There is a lot of length to each section of colour so if I average 3 x length of colour on the roving as the length of the spun yarn, that's a lot of each colour. It's definitely going to be stripey! I know I could choose to spin the roving a different way to change this effect but I want to see how this one plays out first. If I like the effect enough, I may get some undyed roving to play with and expand my dyeing into fibres as well.....

Chloe

2010-04-29T15:41:00.001+01:00

Today I have the last of the baby knits - for now, anyway. Little baby girl arrived safe and sound last week and I think I will wait a bit before I knit anything new till I can get a gauge of what size she will need in the future. There is also the matter of summer coming up too when she won't be needing a lot of knits unless lightweight cottons.

So today we have 'Chloe', a lovely stripey ruffled edged little cardi designed by Alana Dakos of Never Not knitting. The design only costs $4 and you can use it from sizes 0-3mths right up to age 10-12. It's also a top down seamless construction so very few ends to sew in - yay! It's extremely well written so you could use the basic structure of increases to knit your own variations - solids, intarsia pattern, lace, embroidered daisies:-) I've also seen longer variations too, with and without the frill, crocheted edgings...... I've got a few new ideas already!

There is no button band so you have to make sure you wrap the alternating colours up the side neatly - as this will be visible on the inside edge. I pressed it carefully so you couldn't see it from the front at all. A light press with a damp cloth really helped the ruffle lie flat too. (all my yarn is 100% wool though so if you are using acrylic or another man made yarn, don't use a cloth at all, just steam it about an inch or so above without touching your knitting with the iron - she says from experience!)

There is no neckline edging either so your cast on row had best be neat as it becomes your top visible edge:-)) I used a long tail cast on but thats just my preference as it gives nice even edge with a bit of stretch. You can also go to the knitting help cast on videos if you want to have a litle play at learning new cast on methods. I love this site:)

The button loops are just a crocheted chain matching whatever colour stripe was in the right place and the buttons are more jolly daisies - which will match the little red booties for as long as they fit.

The only modification I made was to substitute DK yarn for the worsted weight stated. Worsted is meant to give you 18st - 4"/10cm and my DK was giving me 22st - 4"/10cm so for the 0-3mths, I just went up a size and its worked pretty well. The width is pretty close to size 1 and you can continue increasing every 6 rows at the end if you think the DK is running on the short side. I didn't find that a problem at this size although I'd be more careful if I was knitting a larger childs sizing.

Gosh, that turned into a bit of a pattern review! But best I write it all down now as I'll need to remember these things the next time I want to knit it:-)) Now I think I need something different on the needles - a lace shawl maybe? Like the lovely peacock shawl or Jane's lovely Luiza? I think I may have to dye up some yarn especially for both of these.

I'm also going to reaquaint myself with Vivian this afternoon. It's raining outside, no gardening today although the plants are loving all the water and are growing like weeds - I'm sure the weeds are too! But anyway, a perfect wet day to be sitting inside knitting and watching an old film or two, don't you think?

Sunshiny garden

2010-04-27T17:27:00.003+01:00

Hello, hello! Didn't mean to be away so long...... the sun came out and I started tackling the garden and, whoosh, time has disappeared - again! But things have been coming up in the garden, a little later than last year, but having a really sunny April has helped jumpstart a lot of the flowers - like these lovely tulips.

They are from a mixed bulb pack so I don't know the variety but they are lovely and bright! Of course, I did forget to plant them early enough so they grew rather later than probably everyone elses tulips but, hey! Same goes for all my daffs. I found the bulbs in a bag in the shed, um, the end of january and had to plant them in a rush. But they're all still flowering nicely albeit a couple of weeks after everyone elses:-)

Another lovely flowering plant in the garden is my pink rhododendron which is coming along nicely. It's only been in the garden a year but it seems pretty established in its little space now and looks happy catching all the sun.

One thing I love about the garden is surprise plants that grow. I haven't planted them and suddenly they are there! These lovely pinky purple flowers are one of them. When the leaves grew I decided to wait and see if it was a weed or a new surprise - yay! A surprise! I still have to look it up to see what it's called so if anyone knows, I'd be grateful. I do have lots of flower seeds to sew as well but I keep forgetting. Must put that on my to-do list pronto or it will soon be too late!

ETA: after checking, it's a drumstick primula - shame there's only one.....:-)

At least we are getting some more colour in the garden now. I do miss that in the winter and even early spring as I haven't got many crocuses or snowdrops planted as yet either so the garden can look a bit bare and drab. But that is a job for me to organise for next spring - remembering to plant them in time of course!

Have a lovely little stripey top finished to show you tomorrow now its all blocked and the buttons are on. Then I'm thinking of catching up on some dyeing and shawl knitting..... Back soon!

Little red shoes

2010-04-17T20:57:00.002+01:00

At long last I've got around to finishing these little red shoes. The pattern is 'tiny shoes' by Ysolda and they really are tiny! They're only 6cm /2.5" long and very dinky! I'm hoping they will fit straight away but I may have to knit an outfit to match them as they are a lovely bold red.

The original pattern doesn't have ribbon but as the design has a little row of lacey holes around the top as a detail, I thought I could use them to thread the ribbon through. I stitched the bow in place too just for stability although it also makes it possible to gather the edge in too to emphasise the shaping.

The pattern is very cleverly designed using an I-cord for the strap and then the shoe shape developing from picking up stitches from the cord itself. It's much more unusual to knit the shoe from the top down but it flows very well and only needs a little garter stitch grafting on the sole and you are done.

I had a little difficulty choosing buttons for these as the back fastening loops were quite deep and seemed to leave too much of a bump from the inside and I don't want to be bruising little feet now, do I? So I ended up going for a lovely bright daisy and I'm thinking some lovely stitched daisy flowers as a hem on a little red dress could be lovely. I think I likey:-)