Woolly whimsy

I was doing some pretty knitting lately for a friend’s wedding. Here is a poor photo of some of the cute and delicate buttonholes I knit. I ran out of time to take proper photos of them, but they are really pretty, knit using 3.5mm needles and a Rowan yarn called Kidsilk Haze Glamour in cream, a fine yarn with sequins in it. Not the easiest yarn to work with for this kind of thing, but the pattern was thankfully not too difficult itself and easy to commit to memory, so that I could concentrate on keeping an eye on where my needle was going. I think it is easier to knit with using a slightly larger needle but we liked the effect of having smaller stitches. Only one of the flowers has been finished with a button in the photo below.

And there were also other flowers made using the Rowan Kid Classic yarn which I haven’t photographed. I crocheted a couple of takeaway coffee mug cosies for the happy couple with the leftover yarn. Here’s the beginning of the first one, using a well-written photo tutorial from the firefly hook as a guide. I’m using a 4mm hook here with the yarn in drought and then I crocheted a couple of small hearts in feather and sewed them on:

Ahh! I managed to get my act together and take some photographs of the finished mug cosies. Although I was tempted to add a border of some sort with the Kidsilk Haze Glamour I ran out of time… I don’t have a takeaway cup at home, but the cosies fit these glasses and really make them so pretty!

A closer view… I love the colours. I think I might make myself something with the remaining yarn too! No idea what yet… but in the meantime, I’m dreaming of creating gorgeous yarn storage like Stephanie’s from the lovely blog All About Ami and I’m catching up with The Great British Sewing Bee on the BBC iPlayer. I’m still working on eventually breaking out the sewing machine I’ve had sitting under the stairs for almost two years, but I haven’t prepared a good space for a sewing corner yet, so… this girl will just have to dream for now…

Advertisement

New Year Firsts (ii): Threaded Thursdays

In a recent post, I shared my goals for 2013. In it, I told you that I wanted to get more creative with thread this year. I have known how to re-sew buttons onto my clothes for as long as I can remember, thanks to my resourceful mother. But I must say, the last time I did anything creative with thread was over ten years ago. In fact, it certainly feels like the last time I did anything truly creative was at least that long ago!

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been inspired by Martin’s Doodles. I’ve been following Martin almost since the beginning of my blogging journey, and if you have not yet popped over you really should. He makes my hometown look beautiful and interesting. Most of all, I love how he portrays people.

Martin entered a sketchbook in the Sketchbook Project in 2012 and is currently sharing what he has done, page by page. I’ve been toying with the idea myself, since a friend mentioned it about three years ago, but seeing that the project is no longer touring in Europe, I’ve decided against trying it.

Then last week, I was inspired by Marc Johns’ post, I make my own sketchbooks. I love Marc’s quirky illustrations, but in this feature post, he shares about his handmade sketchbooks and why he has been making his own for the last six years:

A nice, brand new leatherbound (not cheap!) notebook is intimidating for me. I’d want every sketch to be lovely and perfect. I’d want only my best ideas to grace its pages. In a nutshell, the preciousness would be too restrictive, and put a damper on my creativity. It would put a filter on my ideas. Not good.

I suffer from the inability to put pen to clean, crisp, new paper. I totally got that! And then I remembered a conversation not so long ago with a colleague. We had both done some rudimentary bookbinding in primary school. Some sugar paper and needle and thread. And that’s how, after about half an hour’s work, I came to be in possession of two new mini mini notebooks, made from scrap paper and some heavier grade paper taken from random marketing booklets:

I get fed up with all the brochures and junkmail that come through the door. It’s like 90% of the stuff posted through my letterbox goes straight through to the recycling at the back. Now I at least have some of it sewn up waiting to get graffitied on before it ends up in the bin. All I have to do is to start scribbling in them! Easier said than done, because I actually think they’re really cute… haha. Well, watch this space 🙂