Where are they now? : 2011 knitting and crochet blog week! (Day 4)

Yo! :D

Today the post is about the fates of past projects, basically where all the yarny items live now, enjoy....

Rice ball!!!! and Tiny the little circus elephant live on my special shelf with my collection of brooches and other handmade bits and bobs.They like it there as they have lots of friends to talk to :)

My mum has both her kindle cases in her room and uses them regulary to keep her kindle nice and snug!

My dad keeps the little halloween pumpkin I made him on his baking shelf in the kitchen. The kitchen is where keeps lots of the little items I make him as he spends alot of his time there each day ( making cakes, breakfast and dinners etc..) so he gets to enjoy them :D

The bunting I made him ages ago is also up on the wall in the kitchen:



I regularly use the slippers I made with the Hello kitty buttons and they are on the end of my bed with my pyjamas :0)

And finally the new home of my Red Nose Day monster is tucked up nice and tightly in my bed,

Hes just so lovely to hug!

Ill see you all tommorrow for a very special experimental post as part of the 2nd K&CBW,

Cioa!

Tidy mind, tidy stitches : 2011 knitting and crochet blog week! (Day 3)

Welcome! :)

Today is day three and the theme is orgainsation of your knitting/crochet supplies, projects, yarn etc..

I like to think I am quite an organised person, if I need something I usually know where to find it and I could probably tell you what I would be doing this time tommorrow.

I have a yarn box and also pattern/craft magazine box, see, all neat and tidy :)

However as my stash is growing there are beginning to be piles of yarn of yarn in different places around my room.....

And piles of magazines where my collection of those is growing too....

I will have to get more boxes!

Another thing I  have to admit to is that I have a number of un-finished projects due to me not being able to stick to one thing at a time, but I have a mental list of them and will eventually get round to finishing them all one day, I really will, promise!

I still have to finish Quirky (Alan Darts Christmas turkey) which was meant to have been  finished  for last Christmas but I had way to many presents to make, he will definitely be finished by this Christmas though, Its on my to do list!

All my needles and hooks are orgainsed nicely in little jars and I have boxes for both ribbons and buttons:

Im quite proud of how neatly and well organised I keep most of my crafting supplies as I'm usually on of those 'its organised mess' people.

e.g I give you my desk:

I can find everything I need on it but I doubt anyone else could!

Ill tidy it one day *LIE!* ahhahahhaa,

Bye!

Skill + 1UP : 2011 knitting and crochet blog week! (Day 2)

Bonjour :D

Today the theme is skills you have gained and over the last year.

I have gained a ton of skills this year, seen as two weeks from now last year I picked up my needles for the first time (well apart from when I was ten, but I only knitted for a couple off weeks then) and now I have designed quite a few of my own patterns!

I've learnt knit stitch, purl stitch, how to cast on and cast off, multiple ways to decrease, multiple ways to increase and how to put it all together and follow patterns :) I also now know about tension, yarn weight, intarsia knitting, fair isle knitting and grafting a seam together. All of which were things I had barely no clue about this time last year!

As well as starting knitting  I  have also taught myself how to crochet! At first it was a struggle and I didn't think I'd ever get it, but now I happily crochet and have even designed a few little crocheted items :0)

Spinning and dying my own yarn and needle felting are also things I tried for the very first time this year.

I love knitting, crochet and all kinds of fiber arts, they have changed my life for the better and now I can't imagine living without my yarn, needles and hooks :D

Even after all the things I have learnt this year there are sooooooooo many things I'm still yet to try and learn and experience such as knitting my own pair of socks, which I have just started recently!!!


Well I will see you all tomorrow once again for my post 3 of the 2011 knitting and crochet blog week :D

BYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEE <3

A tale of two yarns : 2011 knitting and crochet blog week! (Day 1)

Hi guys!

This year I am taking part in the knitting and crochet blog week :)

The theme for day one is  to writes about yarns that did and didn't work for you, so here goes:

The main consistency of my stash is acrylic yarn, which I love (I know everyone doesn't but I do!) the reasons for my love are:

• Its cheap so you can bee experimental and not worry if you get things wrong etc.. whereas with expensive yarn I have to make sure everythings perfect!
• You can get it in a hugggggggggeeeee range of colours
• It's easy to knit with
• And its easy to wash :)

Hayfield bonus DK and Robin double knit are two of my favourite acrylic yarns

Image from: http://www.cocklemoor.co.uk/page10.htm

Image from: http://www.ramseycrafts.co.uk/yarn.htm

Now... yarns I'm not a great fan of....

'Funky fir' and similar.

This is because it can be Very difficult (annoying) to knit/crochet with and also is mainly only useful for scarves etc... (What I mean is its not generally required for many patterns)

Image from: http://www.only-knitting.co.uk/Sirdar-Classic-Wool/Fashion/Funky-Fur

However when I see things such as this cutie it makes me think its not all that bad :)

Image from: http://www.ioffer.com/si/snow+man?price=1

Awww soo sweet!

Well that's post one, Ill see you all again tomorrow :D

BYE!

Look what I won!

Hey friends!

A couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway on: http://dreamknitter.blogspot.com/ I was sooo excited because I really wasn't expecting to win!......

.......And yesterday my  prize came!!!!!!! It was a mystery prize that Vanessa had fitted to  me personally so that made it extra special :)

I ripped open the parcel and saw all these wonderful gifts, It was really what I needed after a hard day :)

I got some beautiful sunny coloured sock yarn which I can use to make my first my first pair of socks - ever!

The ribbon she chose for me is gooorrrggggeeeouuuusss <3

and all the buttons and beads are really cute :3 I love the  music note one and the penguin!

The little mug stitch markers and book are cool too :)

(I cant wait to read it!)

Thank you soo much Vanessa, I love it alllllllllllllllllll

Ive got to go and buy some prezzies  for my brother's birthday now but I will see you all later :0)

Byeeeeeee x

P.s Keep your eyes peeled everyone as in April I will be doing a very special Easter giveaway!

Birthday Panda :o3

Hi guys,

Today is my friends birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYYY :D

I wanted to make her something special so I had a look through some patterns and thought I would make a panda from the latest book I bought; Amigurumi animals by Annie Obaachan.

I started to make him and finished the body fine but then all of the other body parts I made (apart from the eye patches and ears) seemed to come up the wrong size e.g. the head came out the size of a ping pong ball!

I had to create parts of the pattern myself so he came out in the right proportions but I got there in the end:

I was so pleased when my friend liked her gift :)

He is definitely going to a good home!

I got her some other stuff to including a heart cookie baking kit and a little box of hello kitty gum :D

Its my brothers birthday coming up really soon, and mothers day so I've gotta get a move on to get gifts etc.... sorted for those special days too,

See all you lovely readers very soon

BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ravelry swap parcel!

Hola amigos!

Today my March cute and quirky swap parcel arrived! This time the theme was funky food, heres what I got:

• 2 packs of beautiful stickers
• some little tiny felt tip pens (perfect for writing all those addresses on swap parcels :)
• some cute stationary with cakes and flowers on it
• and a cupcake notebook perfect for jotting my patterns in!
• I also got some sweets

Thank you to my swap partner!!!

I really do love swaps <3 I cant wait to take part in the next one now :D

See you all again soon,

bye :)

Comic Relief: Red Nose Day 2011

Hi!

Today is Red Nose Day :D

This year I wanted to do something to help comic relief as I saw a documentary on the kind of amazing work they do in the slums of Kibera in Africa and many other places.

So..... I grabbed my needles and proceeded to help people in the best way I know how, by knitting!

I got my parents to sponsor me to knit a monster :0)

I started him on wednesday and managed to finish him today

And the best bit is I raised £6 to help people around the world.

If you want to find out more, help or donate you kind find info on how to do so here: http://www.rednoseday.com/

Im off to give my new freind a cuddle now!

Bye :)

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Bonjour my friends :)

As many of you will know tomorrow is St Patricks Day!

I made a pattern for these little 4 leaf clovers which im putting up free to help you stay lucky and spread the cheer :D

They are really quick to make and can be made with scraps of any green DK yarn.

 

You will need:

• A 4.0mm crochet hook
• Green DK yarn
• A darning needle
• Scissors

Pattern:

Using a 4.00mm hook and green DK  leave a medium length tail of yarn and make a magic ring, 8dc into the ring (8sts)


Rnd 1:  *3tr into next st, slst* repeat from * to * 3 more times

 Fasten off.


To make up:

Darn in the 'Fasten off' yarn tail and cut so that it is not visible.

Tie a knot about 3 cm down the tail you left at the start (from the magic ring) then cut the yarn just below the knot, this creates the stalk.

Your little clover is now finished!

Abbreveations:
(I am using UK crochet abbreviations)

st(s) = stitch(es)
slst = slip stitch
tr = treble
dc = double crochet

I hope everyone enjoys the pattern and has a great St Patrick's day :)

BYE xxx

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Hi everyone,

I was really sad on Friday when I found out about the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. It is such a brilliant country and I had great fun on my holiday there.

I would like to send out my thoughts and wishes to anyone who has been affected and I hope that the country gets the help and support it needs to rebuild the areas that have been destroyed.

xxxx

Even more chirpy chicks

Hi guys!

Last weekend I sent off another 10 chicks to the charity. I created a couple of new designs and wanted to share them with you all :)

I made 4 chicks with little bow head bands....

.......Some Mickey and Minnie chicks......

........Three Hello kitty chicks .......

and finally I made a little apple chick :0)

awww I think hes sooo sweet!

It would be so great to work for the charity and receive packages of chicks, I would love to see the differentt designs people create :D

I'm off to bed now to dream up new designs :)

See you later amigos!

xxx

Mum's Birthday!

Hi!

Today is my Mums birthday!!!!! 

I finished the kindle cozy in time :D and also made her an apple cozy as an extra present because she liked mine so much:

I used a pattern on ravelry for sizing but then kind of made up the stitch pattern myself.

I made the apple cozy all in purple and then added a heart button and star bead to make it that extra bit special!

I wrapped them up along with the book and sweets I got her as well:

My mum was really pleased, she loved the lot! (and she thought the giant bow was cool too! :)

In celebration we've been up to london today to do some shopping and had a yummy pizza :P

I quite full now but I still might  be able to queeze in some sweets later!

See you all soon,

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

P.s. Keep your  eyes peeled for some cool stuff coming up on the blog throughout March! :)

Cool clothing

Bonjour les amis!

Last week I was looking for some new cool/quirky t-shirts on the internet. I had browzed several stores and thought I would  find nothing, but then I came across Cafe Press (http://www.cafepress.co.uk/) which sells loads of different t-shirts with hundreds of themes including knitting and crochet related ones that were realllllllllly cool!

Here are some of my faves!:

Pic from: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+yarrrn_shirt,367882815

I really wanna get this one for easter!

Pic from: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+crochet_chick_tshirt,465119755

Hahaha :)

Pic from: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+my_superpower_is_knitting_tee,331134578

 

so true........

Pic from: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+knitting_sitting_sheep_shirt,438947280

Pic from: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+tee,393909852

And last but not least....

......ANGRY YARN!

Pic from: http://www.cafepress.co.uk/+liv_shirt,492479097

I basically want ALL of them, however at about £18 each I'll have to grow my collection slowly! :)

 

They have bags too so I can say good bye to my savings, lol!

 

From angry yarn to an angry orange! I gave my sewing skills another spin the other day and made this guy:

 

 

Well, Ill leave you staring into his deep black eyes while I go off to buy t-shirts :0)

 

Bye!