3KCBWDAY7 - Crafting Balance

Hi,

I can't believe it is the last day of knitting and crochet blog week already! It has gone so quick! Ahhh well they say 'time flys when your having fun'!

Crafting Balance Are you a knitter or a crocheter, or are you a bit of both? If you are monogamous in your yarn-based crafting, is it because you do not enjoy the other craft or have you simply never given yourself the push to learn it? Is it because the items that you best enjoy crafting are more suited to the needles or the hook? Do you plan on ever trying to take up and fully learn the other craft? If you are equally comfortable knitting as you are crocheting, how do you balance both crafts? Do you always have projects of each on the go, or do you go through periods of favouring one over the other? How did you come to learn and love your craft(s)?

I am very happy to say I can both crochet and knit! :D

I started knitting because I wanted to make knitted toys like I kept seeing in the shops. My mum taught me the basics like how to cast on and off and knit and purl stitch and now I am continuing to learn new knitting techniques myself :)

I came to learn crochet because in all the knitting magazines I bought there would always be crochet patterns and it made me sad when I saw cool projects but couldn't make them. I felt like a whole fun-filled world was closed off especially when I saw super cute amigumi patterns! I found it quite hard to learn crochet as I had to completely teach myself. No one I knew knew how to crochet so they couldn't steer me in the right direction when I was  getting things wrong but with the help of Youtube and the very friendly people over at Ravelry I got there in the end and I am so happy I did :-) Now I am continuing work on learning more advanced crochet skills such as different stitches and as I mentioned yesterday I reallly want to try crochet intarsia soon.

In answer to how I balance my crafts, it usually just happens! :0P I choose (or design :o) a project that I want to do, whether it be crochet or knitting, and usually I end up alternating between knitting and crochet. I think I will start being more concious soon to make sure I get learning all those skills I want to learn for both crafts!

 Thank you all soo much for reading my posts this week (and thanks for all the other times you have stopped by and read them :) I hope you had fun! I have had TONS!!! of fun and have read so many interesting posts but other knitting and crochet bloggers :D

Thank you very much to Eskimimi makes for organsing the whole thing!

See you all again very soon,

Bye xxxXxx

3KCBWDAY6 - Improving Your Skillset

Hola!

Improving Your Skillset How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how's your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you'd like to have tried them by.
 
In answer to the first question in the challenge description I don't think I could ever reach the end of my knitting and crochet road! There are so many skills out there to try and to learn I think it would take more than a lifetime to master them all and that is partly what I like about crafting, your experience constantly grows as you try new skills and there are always new skills out there to try :)

I think my crocheting has definitely improved though I can start crochet with a magic circle and I have even made my own crochet hat pattern (my domo hat!) I can do intarsia knitting but I think something I really do want to try is crochet intarsia as I haven't yet tried this, I can change colours to make stripes but not create pictures and stuff by changing colours in crochet.

I would also like to work creating more clothing pieces and learning some of the construction techniques and general skills that go along with making those ( I still haven't tried making a full jumper or socks!!!). I would also like to try more knitting and crochet stitches and maybe create some interesting designs with them :) I have improved my cableing skills this year though!

One skill I am really happy to have learnt recently is how to make felt beads using warm water :-) That was super fun, I tried that when I made my mum's mothers day bracelet.

I know it is not knitting or crochet but I think my sewing is coming along (and my cross stitch skills are increasing too, mainly thanks to Laura from Cute crocheted creations for getting me into it :-) I really want to try sewing some of my own clothes soon for me I have sewn clothes for my Blythes and little toys and brooches but nothing that big really- yet!

I must also try knitting on DPN's soo too!!!!

Hehehe, See you all tommorow for the last day of knitting and crochet blog week!

Byeeeeeee xx

3KCBWDAY5 - Something A Bit Different!

Something A Bit Different It's back, and this time it has the most amazing of prizes (look for the prize for 'most creative post'). This was a massive success last year, and for many it was the highlight of the Blog Week, so this year you are challenged, again, to find a new way of blogging.
This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.There are no rules of a topic to blog about but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog.
  

  
   

 

  

 

3KCBWDAY4 - Season crafting

Hello :0)
  

  
A Knitter or Crocheter For All Seasons? As spring is in the air in the northern hemisphere and those in the southern hemisphere start setting their sights for the arrival of winter, a lot of crocheters and knitters find that their crafting changes along with their wardrobe. Have a look through your finished projects and explain the seasonality of your craft to your readers. Do you make warm woollens the whole year through in preparation for the colder months, or do you live somewhere that never feels the chill and so invest your time in beautiful homewares and delicate lace items. How does your local seasonal weather affect your craft?
   

Hmm.. this is another thing I hadn't really thought about before!

   

Up until recently my crafting I suppose has unconsciously kind of changed to fit with the season, like I made my Domo hat when the weather was kind of cold :) Now I suppose I do think about the seasons a little bit more for example I started making my bolero in preparation for the weather which  I thought was improving but it won't stop raining at the moment! Lots of the time however I just come up with a design idea and then get excited about it and start making it whatever the weather/season and whatever it is, I get cold easily anyway when most people are wearing shorts I'm usually still wearing a scarf and gloves, lol! :D

  

Like many crafters I have the usual seasonal/holiday projects for Christmas, Easter, Halloween and valentines day etc... I usually plan what I want to make for these but other than that I don't really plan projects in advance for certain seasons I mainly just go with the flow, when I want to make something I just make it. If it isn't that suitable at the time I just save it and use/wear it another time :)

  

UK weather is pretty unpredictable really so it is kind of hard to plan for example you expect summer to be warm but sometimes most days can be dreary so you can make something to wear in summer and not end up wearing till mid September!

 

Hehehe, I am really enjoying this knitting and crochet blogging-filled week! :D

  

See you all tomorrow for 'something a bit different'..... lol!

  

Bye XXX
 

3KCBWDAY3 - Knitting And Crochet Heros

Hola!

  

Wow, I can't believe it is day 3 already! The photographs other people had taken for the photography contest were really great :D I have made my nomination for the winner! :)
 

   

Todays Challenge: Your Knitting Or Crochet Hero Blog about someone in the fibre crafts who truly inspires you. There are not too many guidelines for this, it's really about introducing your readers to someone who they might not know who is an inspiration to you. It might be a family member or friend, a specific designer or writer, indie dyer or another blogger. If you are writing about a knitting designer and you have knitted some of their designs, don't forget to show them off. Remember to get permission from the owner if you wish to use another person's pictures.

 

There are many people who inspire me in terms of my knitting and crochet. I like Twinkie Chan's work, her crocheted food scarfs and the way they are constructed in pieces inspired my dice scarf and also some other designs I came up with that I hope to make in the future. Her stuff is very fun and funky and I love making my outfit fit with what I am doing that day sometimes e.g. If I am going for pizza I usually wear my pizza brooch and Twinkie Chan's Scarfs are perfect for doing that too e.g. you can wear her popcorn design to the cinema!
 

Another persons work that inspires me is Alan Dart. His toys are super, super amazing and detailed, I love Quirky (the Christmas turkey I knitted) and that was one of his designs. They all have some much character and he has a design for every season and situation which is great as again I love themeing things!
  

Jean Greenhowe is also inspirational to me, again on the toy side of my knitting and crochet. Her Garter stitch strips pattern book was particularly inspiring. The whole book is full of little toys that can be made just from garter stitch strips, something that seem very basic and pretty un-inspiring really she managed to turn into food, monsters, little cavemen, penguins etc... It is probably one of the best pattern books for beginner knitters everywhere :D

 

Annie Obaachan is also a kind of crochet hero to me to as her book 'Amigurumi Animals' was so encouraging to me to go ahead and get designing!

  

(This! and This! video also really encouraged me to just go for it with designing, and the old fashiondness of them is cool too :)

     

I wanted to mention my my nan in this post as she is one of my knitting heroes too. She died when I was still quite little but I can remember her and remember unwinding all her balls of wool (surprisingly she never got annoyed, I must have been too cute,  lol!) and I still have the toys she knitted for me when I was a baby:
   

 

Sometimes I think about the knitting related conversations we could have had now and wonder what she would say about my designs and ideas.... :-)

My mum said that both her nans knitted/crocheted too (my great nans, I used to have a blanket made by one of them :) and my mum knitted and sewed quite alot when she was younger too and made lots of cool costumes for school plays etc... so they are all inspirational to me really! I like the idea of following in all their crafty footsteps :)

As you can see there are quite a few people who inspire me and no doubt my list will continue to grow as my knitting and crochet journey continues.

  
See you all tomorrow,
 
Bye XxX

3KCBWDAY2 - Photography Challenge Day!

Hi,

  

Todays Challenge: Photography Challenge Day!Today challenges you to be creative with your photography, and get yourself in with the chance to win the photography prize. Taking interesting photographs in this instance isn't about flashy cameras or a great deal of technical know-how, it's about setting up a story or scene in a photograph and capturing something imaginative. Your photograph(s) should feature something related to your craft, so that might be either a knitted or crocheted item, yarn, or one of your craft tools. One example of setting a scene would be to photograph a girl in a knitted red cape walking through the woodlands with a basket of goodies, as in the Red Riding Hood tale, or you might photograph a knitted gnome hiding among the flowers in your garden

  

It took a lot of thought to come up with what I wanted for my photograph, but I got it in the end! I hope you like it :P:

 

I call it 'Watch what you fish for!'

Hehehe, I had lots of fun in the rainforest bit at London Zoo outside the pirhanna tank with my crochet hook and camera but I probably looked a bit crazy :0)

See you all tommorrow for day 3!

Bye XXX

P.s If you haven't already checked out Laura's Blog Cute crocheted creations you definately should as she is also taking part in the knitting and crochet blog week and her first post was very interesting :) I can't wait to read the rest!

3KCBWDAY1- Colour Lovers

Hi everyone :)  
     

Today is the first day of the annual knitting and crochet blog week! I am very excited as I had such fun taking part last year :-)

   

  

Todays challenge: Colour Lovers Colour is one of our greatest expressions of ourselves when we choose to knit or crochet, so how do you choose what colours you buy and crochet or knit with. Have a look through your stash and see if there is a predominance of one colour. Do the same with your finished projects - do they match? Do you love a rainbow of bright hues, or more subdued tones. How much attention do you pay to the original colour that a garment is knit in when you see a pattern? Tell readers about your love or confusion over colour.

  

Really I usually just go with the flow with colour, unless I am trying to make something resemble in particular e.g I had to do bright orange for my brother's mini ami astronaut :) My stash is pretty unbiased really I have got a bright and dark shade for all the colours going! See:

 

   

When I start a project it doesn't often take me long t o decide on colour I just look in my stash and whatever takes me is what I go with, sometimes when I look in my stash I think 'oohh If I make it in that colour then I have this ribbon that would look good and oooh those buttons I bought a while ago and....' and then I get started. Other times when I am not as clear on what I want to make I take one ball I like and pick up another ball one by one and place it next to the other ball until I find two colours I think really complement each other and let the ideas flow from there. And Some other times I know exactly what I want and go to my stash to find it! lol!, As you can see I really don't have a strategic plan :P

  

I like pretty much all colours as there is always a use for every one and inspiration can be found in each one and similarly each one can make beautiful things :-)

     

When I look at patterns, again, sometimes I pay attention to the colour and sometimes not. Occasionally I don't even see the original colour I see it in a completely different colour, the colour I think it would be perfect in and then I head to the yarn shop and buy that!

  

At Christmas I find the amount of red and green I use increases though, as they make me feel super festive! Different colours do make me feel different things, for example red usually makes me feel warm and reminds me of apples and orchards and forests and kind of autumny whereas pink makes me think of summer and fun and being young (I wore quite a lot of pink when I was younger :0) If a certain design makes me feel a certain thing then I usually choose the colour to match those feelings.

  

It was such fun thinking about colour as part of today's challenge, I don't think I have ever thought about it soo much before, as I say it usually makes me feel things

 but I have never tried to write these feelings down!

 

I can't wait for day 2! (And I am looking forward to finding out what all my blogging friends think about colour too :)

 

See you all then,

 

Byeeeeeeeee xxxxx

Another ATC (and a fluffy friend!)

Hi!
  
Yesterday I finished off the ATC I have been making for my dad out of the fishing boat Mouseloft kit I finished about 2 weeks ago, I added the little message '... beside the sea' to remind my dad of strolling along the beach in the Isle of Wight watching the big ships go by :):

It was fun to use more of the papers I got ages ago, I found a few different blue ones and used them to make the different wave bits at the bottom. The very last thing I am waiting for is my ATC stamp I ordered from Crafters Companion so I can stamp the back :D I'm hoping that will come tomorrow! I hope my dad likes his ATC when I finally give it to him :-)

In completely un-crafty related news the Gremlins Gizmo I bought myself (after I ordered my stamp, hehehe I had a bit of a shopping spree and I bought another Domo too) arrived the other day :D I couldn't help sharing a picture he was just tooo cute! :3

Awww I love him <3 He hums his little tune and sways when you clap your hands, even more adorable! Me and my family watched Gremlins 2 ( I watched Gremlins 1 a few years ago and forgot how much I loved it) about two Saturdays ago and I thought It was great so I had to get my own Gizmo :) Hehehe, I am cuddling him now :P

I am off now to knit a few more rows on my Bolero (I still have my fingers crossed my idea will work out!)

See you all soon,

Bye! xxxxx

I love self striping yarn :)

Hi everyone,

I am back home now and when I got back I wanted to start a new project as for once I had been quite good recently and managed to finish some (rather than start about a 100 and finish 2 like I normally do!!! :-) I thought something for summer would be good so I had a rummage in my yarn box to find some yarn for inspiration and found these two balls I picked up aggggeesss ago when I was in Cornwall and I had an idea a mini colourful bolero:

Here is what Ihave knitted up so far, I love all the colours :D I am switching between the light and dark ball every 10 rows so I get a kind of even theme going all the way through. The yarn is soo fun just watching the pretty stripes and patterns appear :o)

It is a bit difficult to explain how I am going to turn this into a bolero but hopefully it will work out, it's just and idea I had when I looked at the wool :) I can tell you it will have some kind of a crochet border (when I finally decide which one! :P)

I will keep you all updated on my progress!

I hope you all had a nice weekend :)

See you all soon,

Bye! xxx



Chocolate Easter egg making!

Hi!,

Today was the day I got to go Chocolate Easter egg making :D I had been excited about this for  agggeeesss so was very pleased the time had finally come! I Came up  with my design last night (it was inspired by the sea and jewellery :) in the centre I wanted to put a chocolate star and two chocolate sea horses facing each other and then different sweets surrounding the centre and finally some piped white chocolate decoration, I was not sure how much of my idea I would be able to create in real life but our expert chocolate making teacher was really nice and in the end I managed to create my design exactly :-) Here is my chocolaty creation:
  

It really was soo fun! They had mini vats of chocolate which we had to fill our molds with and then huge bags of sweets to decorate our chocolate with.

Hehehe, I signed the back in white chocolate too :P

It was very funny when we were in the chocolate making room as there are glass windows you can look through to see the people making the chocolate and there were lots of people looking at me and my family, hehehe!

Here are my mum, dad and brothers creations too:

Egg on the left is my Dads (mine is in the middle :P) my mums is on the right and then the big bar in the front is what my brother made he decorated a quarter for each of us with our fave sweets on so I promised I would share my egg with him too! :0)

I'm off to eat a little bit more now, it is extremely delicious! I would share it with you all if I could :)

I hope everyone is having a nice week,

see you all soon,

Bye! xxxx

P.S. A big huge massive thank you to Tricia who awarded me the Liebster blog award the other day!!! :D You should definately go vist her blog: here! she has got some lovely makes on there! :)

Happy Easter everyone! =:0)

Hi,

HAPPY EASTER!!! (:<>)

I hope you are all having a fantastic Easter :-) Luckily I have internet where I am in the IOW so I didn't have to wait and wish you a belated Happy Easter when I got back. It is also good because I get to show you all my Easter makes and goodies not-late too :D

It is a tradition in my family that my dad sets up a little Easter egg hunt in the house for Easter for me and my Brother, look at all the yummy goodies I found hidden round the house for me this morning!!!:

 

There was also a big Lindt bunny hidden too but he didn't last past breakfast, hehehe :P I am a very lucky girl!

You have probably spotted Catherine in there, she is wearing the Easter egg costume and Easter bonnet I made her especially to wear today:

The egg costume is a felt sandwich board style thing, I came up with the idea about two days ago and luckily finished it just in time yesterday!

The little straw hat came in a pack of about 12 I bought in the Hobbycraft January sales for £1.99, I knew I would find a use for them when I bought them and I was pleased to finally use some of the Easter ribbons I bought last year as well :)

In other holiday news I got to go my favourite little craft shop on the Island and picked up these two little cross stitch kits, I am going to make the little carriage one in commemoration of the Queens Jubilee :o)

On Tuesday I am off to make my own big Easter egg at the chocolate shop :D I am soooo excited!!!! I will definitely be posting up pictures, hopefully it will turn out well not just like a big choclately mess, lol!

See you all soon,

Bye! xxx

ATC fun :)

Hey!

After making the ATC's for the swap I did with Laura I have wanted to experiment and make more, so the other day, I did :-) I had lots of little cross stitch kits I finished a while ago (some of you may remember me posting about them) and have been trying to think of what to make them into and I thought why not make them into ATC's to expand my collection? I also made a different version of the 'American diner' one I made for the swap:

They really are so fun to make! They are quick and easy and really get your creative thoughts flowing :)

I am off to the Isle Of Wight again tomorrow for Easter :D Yay! Guess what.... for Easter this year my mum booked for me and my family to go and make our own big Easter eggs at Chocolate Island, I am so excited!!! I will be sure to keep you all posted if I have Internet access but if not I will make sure to post all my holiday snaps and news when I get home :0)

I hope you are all having a nice week!

see you all soon,

Bye xxxx